𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 ━━ HOPE MIKAELSON ll

8

“WE FOUND HIM WANDERING the woods, half out of his mind," Dorian explained to Alaric and Jaxon as they walked inside, "he didn't settle down until we compelled him."

"Does he remember anything?" Jaxon questioned earning a sigh from Dorian who looked at the boy, "tell him what you saw, Dennis."

"I—It was some kind of animal," Dennis responded, his voice shaking, fear clear in his eyes, "like a— a hyena mixed with a wolf, with huge claws. It grabbed me. I thought it was gonna eat me, but then it spit me out."

"Does that ring any bells?" Alaric asked to which Dorian shook his head, "closest thing I could find was a Shunka Warakin. Until this morning, it was a Native American myth. Roughly translated, it means "carrying off dogs". Lucky for Dennis, according to Ioway legend, all it eats are werewolves.'

Alaric and Dorian then turned to look at Jaxon who scoffed at the concern in their eyes. "Lucky for me, I'm immortal."

"You, maybe. Not the rest of the students..." Alaric said, frowning.

"It's not a full moon," the demigod reminded, "they risk nothing."

"not Rafael."

"Right." Jaxon groaned, "he's still out stuck in his wolf form. I completely forgot about him."

"Sure, you did." Alaric muttered sarcastically, "go out there. Find him. I'll inform Hope."

**

Jaxon took his sweet time to reach the Salvatore school. Once he stepped in, he heard Hope's voice along with Landon's so he made his way towards the sound only to find himself entering Landon's room.

"Then I'm coming along," he heard Landon say just as he walked in.

"Sorry but I fly solo." Hope responded, her eyes going to Jaxon as he walked past Landon and stood next to her.

"Jaxon?" Landon's brows raised in confusion, "you— you know her?"

"What does it look like?" Jaxon asked before turning his back to them as he grabbed one of Rafael's shirt and brought it close to his nose before sniffing. "I just needed a new scent."

"I was about to perform a locator spell," Hope responded, nodding towards what she placed on the ground.

"I know," Jaxon said simply before a small smirk found it's way onto his face, "wanna race to him?"

"This isn't a game." Hope muttered, "i think it's better if we stay together."

"We are together." He retorted, his smirk still present on his face. Before Hope could say something, Landon decided to intervene..

"I thought you said you don't fly solo." Landon exclaimed, growing annoyed at the two who ignored him, pretending as if he wasn't there, "I'm coming along. He's my best friend."

"You do realize I could freeze you again, right?" Hope questioned earning a shrug from him before he asked, "would that spell last forever?"

"Long enough for us to be away," Jaxon responded with a nod as he made his way towards the door.

"We could use a hand." Hope said to the demigod who halted in his steps. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at her, "seriously?"

"He's stubborn," Hope said, eyeing Landon who found himself smiling in victory already. Jaxon rolled his eyes before walking out of the door, not bothering to say anything.

"Just try to keep up," Hope gave in, bending to pick up the bag before throwing it at Landon then she walked out, following Jaxon.

**

They were in the forest, Hope following the map she had in her hand while Jaxon was trying to catch a scent of Rafael's as they walked.

"He's close," Jaxon informed the two earning a nod from Hope who pointed to her map, "yeah, Raf should be up ahead."

"Cool." Landon mumbled making Hope look at him, "meaning not cool?"

"Sorry," Landon said, "It's just nothing."

"Meaning something," Hope said making Jaxon roll his eyes at her internally.

"It's stupid," Landon began, "but when Raf was first stuck as a wolf, he used to always hang out with me, but then he, like, he stopped. Like, he forgot or he moved on."

"And you're worried that it's gonna be the same when he's human again?"

"Told you it was stupid," Landon scoffed resulting in Hope shaking her head, "I don't think it's stupid. It's painful to lose someone that you love."

"Yeah," Landon said, "oh, I know all about that. I grew up in the foster system. Getting bounced around from family to family made me want to shut everybody out until I realized life's a lot harder without someone watching your back."

"And you're just opening up to some girl you just met?" Jaxon couldn't help but ask. Landon went quiet at that before he cleared his throat, opened his mouth and was about to say something when they heard someone yelling, "help! Help! Somebody, help!"

Landon took off, running after the voice while the two ran after him, Hope shouting, "Landon, wait, stay back. You don't know what's out there!"

The three of both stopped in their tracks when they came face to face with a huge black animal, looking very similar to a wolf. "I  have an educated guess," Landon breathed out, looking up at the animal in fear.