Meanwhile, Klaus was hooking Hope's car seat while also waiting for Hayley and Ophelia to meet him at the car, "Let's get out of here, shall we?"

Unfortunately for Klaus, when he turned to get into the driver seat, Hayley and Ophelia were standing in front of him with an unamused expression, "There is a scared kid out there, and I can't just turn my back on her." Hayley argued with Klaus in a stern tone.

"And, tragic as that may be, it's not my problem. Neither is it yours. Get in the car. Both of you. We're leaving." Klaus demanded as he walked over to the driver's side and opened up the door.

Before he could, Ophelia used her magic to close it before she vamp sped in front of Klaus, blocking him before he could open it again, "We're not going anywhere." She argued firmly, showing no fear as she stood up to Klaus.

"And I suppose the two of you going to stop me?" He questioned the duo, looking amused by them, "Perhaps you'll get Cletus and your other foul-smelling friends to help?"

"Those friends of mine are helping us, Klaus, no questions asked, despite the fact they have problems of their own," Hayley reminded Klaus, clearly growing frustrated, "And all you've done is insult them."

"You don't get it, do you?" Ophelia suddenly spoke up, causing Klaus to turn to her, already waiting for the list of insults she was prepping to throw at him, "You know, this is exactly the reason why we're here in the first place. Maybe if you hadn't been a dick to every single person you've met in the ten centuries you've been alive then we wouldn't even be on the run. I'm honestly thinking that the reason they even want me dead is that they know how much I mean to you," She paused, taking a step toward him, "I have a lot of enemies, but that's because they fear what I am. The list of people who get along with me is far larger than that list, unlike you, who literally has ten people who even tolerate you."

Klaus was clearly hurt by Ophelia's hurt, but decided to conceal it with anger, "I have always done what I needed to do to protect our family from numerous enemies," He argued with Ophelia, taking a step toward her as well, "I make no apologies for my methods."

Hayley scoffed in frustration and annoyance, deciding to speak up as well, "Do you even hear yourself, Klaus? You're incapable of even pretending to be a good person. And you can justify it all you want with strategy, and 'us versus them,' but at the end of the day, the enemies that you have are the ones that you made. And to top it all of, you've burdened Ophelia with those enemies as well because of her loyalty to you," She paused as Klaus glared at her, knowing that she was right, but refused to admit it out loud, "Is that what you want for your daughter? Is that how you want her to see the world? I'm not just gonna stand back and let you raise her to be just like you, Klaus."

"If it's your impulse to trust in the kindness of those outside the family, all the more reason you need my protection!" Klaus argued with Hayley angrily, "Ophelia, as well."

Hayley, who clearly reached her limit, sighed, before ending the argument while also slamming the car door closed after Klaus tried to open it, "I am gonna go speak to that girl, because she needs my help. You're gonna stay here and shut up. I've earned at least that."

"Hayley, listen to me—" Klaus tried to stop Hayley, who was beginning to walk away.

"There is a very good chance that one day, our daughter will be dealing with the same thing that Kayla is dealing with. And, if that day comes, I hope that someone makes it their business to help her, too." Hayley explained to Klaus, who was starting to understand where she was coming from and remained silent, "Being kind doesn't make you weak, Klaus." She reminded him before walking away.

After Hayley had walked off, Ophelia began to think about what her friend had said about someone being there for Hope when she broke her curse. She winced, clutching her stomach as she became filled with a bad feeling of something bad happening regarding it.

She decided to ignore it and turned to Klaus, who was still thinking about what Hayley had said. She sighed, scoffing at him before heading to the passenger's seat.

"And what's wrong with you?" Klaus questioned when he noticed how Ophelia seemed to be upset as well, "What have I done to wrong you?"

"A lot," Ophelia snapped at Klaus before getting into the car and slapping the door shut.

Klaus exhaled deeply, climbing into the car as well. He sat there for a long moment, waiting for Ophelia's outburst, which he knew was coming.

Just then, Ophelia inhaled sharply before turning to him, "You know, you talk all this crap about having to protect not just Hope from enemies, but me as well," She paused, giving him an angry look, "But do you realize that you're the reason I have all these enemies? All those years ago, you came to me, you knew I was spoken for, but you just had to have me. And I'm not stupid, I know you only pursued me at first because you craved the power," She paused, noticing the ashamed look on Klaus' face, "I was naive and you knew that. You knew I would fall in love with you and betray the wolves and witches for you. I lost my family because of you."

"Lost your family?" Klaus asked, giving her a look of disbelief, "The reason your father even married your mother was so that the two of them could have a child like you, one that would merge the factions. He raised you to be a weapon and never allowed you to be a child. And the second you turned eighteen, you were forced that wed that bastard Archibald. And the second your father saw that your children weren't like you, he despised you. He wanted more of creatures like you. Your husband was a drunken fool who hit you frequently. I saved you. And yes, I admit, I first pursued you because of your power, but I fell in love with you, Ophelia. Why do you think I spent two hundred years with no one but you?" He confessed to her, "In the centuries I had been alive, I had never met someone quite like you. I would have done anything for you. I didn't trust nor care for anyone other than my family until you. You influenced me like no other."

As Ophelia was about to speak up, Klaus continued on, "And I know what you're going to say. That it may be true, but I burdened you with all of my enemies, but don't think for a second, that I would ever let anyone near you," He assured her in a genuine tone, "For centuries until his death, Mikael was my greatest enemy. I spent nights lying awake, fearing that he might catch up to me during my time in New Orleans. I feared what he'd do to you the most. And in 1919, when I thought Mikael had killed you..." He trailed off and Ophelia was shocked by the look in his eyes, it was almost fearful, "It had been ninety years until I could finally speak your name. Thinking that you were dead, it changed me. I had become more ruthless than I had ever been before, killed more than I had ever killed before as well."

Ophelia had tears welled in her eyes as she avoided eye contact with him, "Why are you telling me this?" She asked, sounding insensitive, but in reality, she was just trying her hardest not to do what she really wanted to do.

"Many reasons," Klaus responded, a slight smile on his face as he tried to contain his sadness, "But the most important one being that whatever you think my intentions for you had been all these centuries, you're wrong," He paused, "I've always loved you and there wasn't a second I hadn't been in love with you as you presumed."

   There was a moment of silence between them before Klaus spoke up once more, "Though I must say that my ego has quite been bruised by the fact you haven't kissed me yet," He commented, a devilish smile on his face as he stared at Ophelia intently, "I don't recall you ever having such self-control. At this point, you would have already been tearing off my clothes."

Ophelia rolled her eyes and shook her head at Klaus' comment, "Not true," She argued, avoiding eye contact.

"Look at me," Klaus insisted, trying to convince Ophelia to stop what she was doing and finally look him in the eyes.

Ophelia's lip parted as she slowly turned to Klaus, clearly feeling the need to kiss him as well. She sighed in defeat, turning her head to see Hope innocently staring at the two of them from the backseat. She chuckled lightly before turning to Klaus once more. "Sorry, no can do," She responded in a calm tone.

Klaus was about to question her on why when he turned to see what her reason was, "You're probably right," He commented, his lips curling upwards into a smirk, "Wouldn't want you tearing off my clothes in front of the child."

Ophelia's mouth gaped open and she slapped Klaus on the arm in annoyance, "You're such a pig!" She scolded him, causing them both to laugh.

____

   After Kayla had returned home, Hayley was standing in the woods alone. Klaus and Ophelia soon came out of the woods to join Hayley, Klaus looking a bit embarrassed about his behavior earlier with Hayley.

Hayley turned and looked confused when she saw the duo. "Where's Hope?" She asked them concerned.

"With Hollis. You trust him, I trust you..." Klaus trailed off and Ophelia smiled at him proudly, "Baby steps, as it were. Seems I owe you an apology, little wolf."

Klaus looked uncomfortable, but forced himself to look Hayley in the eyes. "I've given you and Ophelia a thousand reasons to abandon me, but you neither of you have yet. So, thank you. For my sake, and for our daughter's," He paused, sitting down to Hayley at the fire while Ophelia began to walk over to the memorial made by the wolves in honor of the people they had killed to trigger their curse.

  Ophelia caught the ID that Kayla hung on the tree out of the corner of her eye. She turned to get a better look at it, immediately becoming horrified. "Oh, my God," She muttered under her breath, causing both Klaus and Hayley to turn to her.

"What's wrong?" Hayley asked Ophelia concerned.

"What is it?" Klaus asked the same as Hayley asked her question.

"This was no random attack," She informed the ground, taking the ID off where it hung to see that it had "Kingmaker Land Development" stamped above the photo of the man Kayla accidentally killed, "These wolves around aren't just disappearing. They're being hunted."

Hayley looked to be horrified by the news while Klaus' eyes widened in shock.