Indebted - The Vampire Diaries (The Hunter Book 1)

AU Chapter - Forgotten Love

A/N - This chapter is an AU chapter, set during Indebted (from Chapter 19), where Hope accidentally travels to the past after Lovesick Chapter 44 and ends up meeting a Wolfgang that is very different to the one she knows.

Wolfgang Nachtstern walked through the halls of Mystic Falls High, searching for Bonnie Bennett. The sooner he found her, the sooner Klaus figured out why his hybrids weren't working. And then, Wolfgang could extricate himself from the mess of the Mikaelson family, disappear for another twenty years or so and figure out what the hell was going on between him and Katerina Petrova. 

The hunter came to a stop as a woman burst into the school, her brown hair flipping over her shoulder as she marched in, looking around her as if she was trying to make sense of where she was. Wolfgang's signature smirk graced his lips; she would be easy pickings. The Superior Original walked towards the stranger as she turned to look at him, freezing up as she took in the sight. The Nachtstern vampire stopped in his tracks as his hazel eyes met hers.

Even when narrowed in confusion, her oval eyes were striking. The light from the hallway seemed to bounce and reflect off of her glittering blue irises in a way that made him want to let out a gasp, the cerulean eyes inviting him in and threatening to consume him with their profound depth. Wolfgang would admit that something about them felt familiar like he had maybe seen them in another life.

"Wolfgang." She said softly as though she recognised him, her voice sounding almost relieved that she had found him. The Nachtstern's pink lips twisted into a frown, his eyebrows furrowing as he regarded her with narrowed eyes. He had never seen her before in his life.

Yet, for some reason unknown to him, his brain had decided that now was the perfect moment to note that her brown hair was actually a silky auburn, to realise that her perfectly shaped eyebrows drew attention to her feline eyes and her full lips seemed like they were waiting for him to kiss her. Warmth bloomed in Wolfgang's chest at the sight of her, his lips parting at the unfamiliar sensation before he shrugged it off, releasing himself from the stupor this woman had induced.

"How do you know my name?" Wolfgang demanded roughly, his piercing hazel eyes growing cold as he regarded her warily. The girl's pretty lips turned downwards into a frown in a way that reminded him of his own expression. Why did this woman seem so familiar to him when he was sure he had never seen her before?

"Why wouldn't I know your name, Wolf?" She asked, scoffing slightly as her cerulean eyes narrowed at him. The fact that she used the nickname reserved only for his sister did not go unnoticed and Wolfgang opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it, "Honey, it's me, it's Hope."

"Wolfgang, why are you dallying? You have a witch to hunt." Klaus shouted out as he appeared at the other end of the hallway, looking at the hunter and the girl. Wolfgang nodded in response as he registered Klaus' words but made no move to leave Hope's side, his gaze still fixed on her. Her eyes had narrowed with confusion again but a second, much deeper emotion had flitted across them for a moment at the sound of Klaus' voice. Was it pain? Wolfgang couldn't tell and it annoyed him. In fact, it completely infuriated him that he was unable to decipher anything hidden in her transfixing eyes besides her confusion.

"She knows who I am," Wolfgang explained as Klaus caught up with them, looking at the shorter woman as she turned her gaze to the hybrid. Finally, Wolfgang could tell what she was feeling. Hope, as she had inadvertently introduced herself, felt grief at the sight of Klaus Mikaelson. But why would she be grieving Klaus? This girl was full of questions and Wolfgang had a niggling suspicion that only she could provide the answers. 

"And? You weren't exactly discreet when you came to town before." Klaus replied, gesturing lazily at Hope, "Just compel her and be done with it."

"It won't work," Hope said, looking between them as if she had overcome the shock of seeing Klaus. Wolfgang narrowed his eyes at her, his lips parting as he turned to face her once more. Hope met his gaze, a theory as to what exactly was happening beginning to form in the tribrid's mind, "I'm a witch. I can't be compelled."

"I can compel anyone." Wolfgang scoffed, his lips curving upwards into his signature smirk. Hope shook her head defiantly, crossing her arms as she fought to hide away her emotions, replacing them instead with the neutral mask that Wolfgang - her Wolfgang, that was - had shown her how to create, "Not me. I'm a very special kind of witch."

The Nachtstern vampire fixed her with his piercing stare, his smouldering hazel eyes seeming to penetrate deep into her soul with their intensity before he leaned forward, inhaling deeply as his fingers brushed against the skin of her neck, holding her in place gently. Hope flinched at the action, trying not to allow herself to feel the powerful sensations that she usually felt at the mere touch of his skin. Wolfgang stood back as he gulped, his eyes still fixed on her, dumbfounded, as his brain went into overdrive trying to process what her scent had shown him.

There was the obvious scent of strawberries that surrounded her, the smell appealing to his senses, threatening to consume him. But beyond that, there was the unmistakable scent of a witch, and, despite that, there was also the scent of a werewolf. Yet, what confused Wolfgang more than the two scents was that buried beneath the other two species was also the scent of a vampire. Wolfgang frowned, casting his mind out as he tried to detect the supernaturals nearby.

There was Bonnie Bennett, her magic calling out to him. Still in the school was Rebekah, her presence strong. Besides him was Klaus, the hybrid's presence strong and there was also his own. And above all of them, burning brightly like a raging inferno, was Hope's presence. It was almost intoxicating in the way that it overwhelmed him, her very existence calling out to him on a primal level as the urge to bite into her neck just to get a taste of her blood rose in him. 

One thing, however, was certain. Hope, whoever she was, was something he had never encountered before in his life.

"What on Earth are you?" Wolfgang asked, looking at Hope with amazement, his eyes dipping down to the pendant around her neck. The tribrid fought back relief at how familiar that expression was. Although Wolfgang was using it now, it was not for the reasons that she was used to. Hope let out a breath, looking between Klaus and Wolfgang, who were regarding her carefully, as though they had no idea what to make of her. The Mikaelson tribrid inhaled, gathering her courage as she steeled her nerves before she spoke, meeting Wolfgang's inquisitive gaze rather than Klaus'.

"I'm a tribrid, the only one of my kind." She said, "And you won't believe this but, um... my name is Hope Mikaelson."

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