Regret ▻ The Originals [2]

15

Many of the werewolves who weren't under Finn's control and their children had returned to the Bayou, where they were once again living in the encampments for their own safety. Many of the werewolves were collecting firewood and other necessities in preparation for the Unification ceremony.

Two young boys were throwing around a baseball, which they accidentally dropped onto the ground. As it rolled away, one of the boys chased after it, where it ended up landing right under the foot of Klaus, who had just arrived.

Klaus crouched down and smiled at the boy as he picked up the ball, but instead of handing it to him, he carried it with him to address the crowd, "I wonder if you lot can help me. I'm looking for the tribrid who calls herself your queen," Klaus announced loudly and the group stared at him in silence, causing Klaus to sigh impatiently, "I'd prefer you tell me where she is before I grow irritated. After all," He paused as he tossed the ball back to the boy, just before turning to the rest of the crowd, smiling, "There are children present."

Hayley rolled her eyes, walking through the crowd before finally standing in front of Klaus, "She's doing what she's been doing for her whole life: Doing whatever it takes to protect the people closest to her."

"I don't think you know exactly what Ophelia's about to do, Hayley," Klaus told her, causing her to sigh.

"Yes, I do," She informed him and Klaus frowned in confusion, "Do you think she would take the truth serum without asking me? I told her it was okay."

"You what?" Klaus raised his voice to Hayley, clearly angered. He calmed down after a moment and let out a sigh, "I'll deal with you later. First, I need to find Ophelia before she makes a great mistake that will put us all in danger."

Before Hayley could stop him, Klaus vamp-sped off, leaving Hayley alone with the wolves, all of which stared at her in confusion.

_____

Ophelia, who was near the lake at the edge of the woods, used her magic to skip rocks along the water farther than it would if she was just using her hand. After a moment, Jackson walked up behind her to join her, "You scared me," He told her, causing Ophelia to jump, startled, before turning back to face him.

"I could say the same to you right now," She commented and Jackson quietly chuckled before continuing on.

"I was worried you ran off in the middle of the night," He said, causing Ophelia to let out a sigh.

"No. I was just out here..." She trailed off, "I decided to turn and be free for once. I missed that feeling," She paused, tossing another rock into the water as Jackson picks up a stone to skip as well, "Listen, Jack, I know I'm supposed to divulge my great secrets, but I--I can't. I can't even tell you why I can't. It's that bad."

"Ophelia, do you really think there's a secret you have that's so bad you can't tell me?" Jackson asked her and Ophelia gave him an obvious look.

"It's not safe, Jack." She reminded him quietly, "I'm serious."

"When have we ever been safe, Ophelia?" He asked her, clearly not getting where she was getting at, "Now, our people have been cursed, hunted, exiled. But you and me, this wedding? We can change all that. We can create a new pack, one with your ability to turn at will! So, we give each other our secrets. If we don't, then the transfer of power won't work, and we're back to where we were."

Ophelia nervously bit her lip, which Jackson immediately noticed, "Look, even if we call off the wedding, there's still something that I need to tell you." He told her, causing Ophelia to let out a sigh.

"Jack, I'm sure you've lived quite the crazy life, but I can't imagine that your secrets are anything like mine. I had three centuries worth of secrets," She reminded him.