Bloody Symphony | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 16

She had to jog to catch up to him.

"Aiden," she said, ending up at his side. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"Everything," he snapped. "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of having to do everything Klaus says. Jackson should be standing up for the whole Pack! This is why we were so worried when Klaus was trying to get at you— because we knew he'd think himself King of the Pack. He basically does, anyway! Because your brother isn't doing shit to stop him!"

He sank down at the side of the lake, and she plopped down beside him, the two staring out at the rest of the forest, far in the distance. "Jackson has to do certain things to keep us safe," said Natanya. "I don't like it either. But he has to play it carefully. If he resists too much outright, Klaus could kill some of the wolves to make a statement. Maybe Jackson and Hayley are planning something... I don't know."

"He wanted us to go after Finn as a group. If we had done it that way, Mikael would have killed all of us. Because of me, only Jerick was lost. I just think sometimes... I'd make a better Alpha. I was the one taking care of everyone while you two were off in the middle of nowhere with Ansel. You, at least, have made it clear that you don't want to be a part of the Pack. But he's called himself the Alpha for a long time, and to just abandon them, then come back like nothing happened? It pisses me off."

"You have the qualities to become Alpha," she said quietly. "And I think you'd make a good one. Just like sometimes, when I'm mad at Jackson, I think I'd make a good one, too. He may be angry at the prospect of someone challenging him, but there are some things he needs to improve on. While I wouldn't like to see that break you two apart... I wouldn't exactly say I'd be against you challenging him if you felt there was enough reason for it. Jackson knows he has to earn his place every day. I used to challenge him all the time when we were younger, if you remember. Eventually, he proved that he was more than equipped, so I stopped."

"He needs to do better," muttered Aiden. "I hate this. It makes me want to leave, too. But you're barely going to turn twenty-five in a few months. It's gonna take me a whole year."

"Maybe Jackson will be more lenient with you," she said. "Aiden... is there something else bothering you? I've never seen you so agitated."

"It's nothing," he said, though she could tell he wasn't being truthful. "Just stress, you know, I'm trying to keep myself and Josh safe, but it feels like the whole world is gonna swallow me whole. If I lose him, I don't know what I'm gonna do, Nat. I love him. I don't think I've ever loved someone as much as I love him."

"I won't let anything happen to either of you," said Natanya. "We're gonna figure all this out. This evil witch bitch is gonna get defeated, just like every single enemy the Mikaelsons have ever had."

"And what if she doesn't?" asked Aiden. "What if they can't kill her?"

"Everything can be killed. Just like they can be killed, so can she. Will it be easy to find out how to do that? Probably not. But we're in this to protect Hope, and we'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. I'll talk to Elijah about getting Klaus off our ass, and we'll do our part on our own terms."

"Alright," said Aiden, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Thanks. Klaus is just... he's terrible. I hate him. You think you're safe with him then he just proves that he's as cruel as people say. I know people say he's been better lately because of Hope, but is it really better if he's still mean to everyone except his daughter? Good for her, having a dad that's there for her... a dad that cares so much and will do anything to keep her safe... but he's so mean to everyone who's trying to help her, too. He's convinced he's the only one who can protect her. He doesn't realize that he can't do it entirely on his own."