Regret ▻ The Originals [2]

13

After Klaus and Ophelia had dropped off Cami at the safe house with Hope and Elijah, they ended up bringing Hayley along with them back to New Orleans.

On the way back to New Orleans, Ophelia had texted Jackson to meet her at the compound, which he ended up doing.

She entered the compound, just before heading up to her room to find Jackson standing on the balcony, reading from the journal of notes that consisted of what he had heard Ansel say in the months he had known him.

"Hey," Ophelia greeted Jackson as she stepped onto the balcony, causing him to turn to her, "I'm glad you came."

"Well, you called. I'm here," Jackson replied with a small smile on his face, "Has something been wrong? I asked you to marry me and then for three days, I hear nothing from you. It's a good thing I'm a secure guy. Well, sort of."

"What do you say, Jackson?" Ophelia asked Jackson with a smile on her face, "You ready to do this thing and get hitched?"

"Woah, it's not that simple," Jackson reminded her, "It's a mystical unification, not a married where we get hitched in Vegas."

"I've never been to Vegas so I wouldn't even think about doing that," Ophelia commented jokingly as she sat down on the chair on the balcony, "But yes, I understand. I get it."

"Look, Ophelia, as long as the werewolves need those stupid moonlight rings, they'll be under the witches' control," He informed her as he took a seat beside her, "Now, if we want to stop that from happening, we have to do this thing by the book. And I mean literally. I mean, we have to find a shaman who can perform the ceremony...trials to endure, devotion rituals."

"A what now?" Ophelia asked, chuckling nervously, "Wow. This is uh..this is very intimate."

"Well, it is a marriage," He reminded her, "Look, I know we're diving into this thing a bit fast, but I think it's amazing that you would do something like this for the sake of your people. It shows how good of a person you are," He paused, noticing how Ophelia didn't seem to agree with that part, "You look like you don't agree with me on that, but you are a good person, Ophelia. I'm also looking forward to the getting-to-know-you part. Because I wanna know you. Every side of you. Not just the part of you that you show when you're around the wolves. I wanna know both the good and the bad. And I'll show you every side of me, too."

Ophelia froze, feeling guilty about Jackson not knowing about what had happened between her and Klaus. Right on time, she heard voices on the first floor in the courtyard, causing her to sigh in relief as she smiled slightly, "They're here." She informed.

"What? Who?" Jackson asked her confused.

"Come on, I'll show you," She told him as she stood up, holding her hand out for Jackson to take.

Jackson smiled just before taking Ophelia's hand as she led him to the courtyard, where a large group of werewolves were congregating, including Aiden, who was in the middle of talking with Jerick and Hayley, "What's Jerick doing here?" He asked her confused.

"Aiden rounded up the most influential wolves around so that they could all talk," Ophelia informed him.

"About what exactly?" Jackson questioned, even more confused.

As if on cue, Marcel, Josh, and Gia entered alongside the rest of the vampires, "About all of them," Ophelia replied, a small smile on her face.

Jackson seemed a bit worried as the vampires entered, not knowing how the wolves would react. Jerick began to walk toward them alongside the other wolves.

Marcel stopped in front of him and gestured for his vampires to stop where they were.

Meanwhile later, in the courtyard, the werewolves and the vampires were still in the process of trying to form an alliance, led by Ophelia, who had help from Hayley, "You wolves are here because you want freedom. And, I promise you, if you stay, you will be free. But..." Ophelia trailed off as she looked back at Marcel and the vampires, who seemed interested, "We need as much help as we can get."