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In Memphis, Tennessee, Ray Sutton walks into Southern Comfort bar with an eased expression unaware of those who had been long awaiting his arrival. "What's up, man?" Red, the bartender, greeted the man with his usual smile. "Hey Red, get me a beer," Ray requested as he sat on the stool, his shoulders slumped from a long day working hard. In the silence, Niklaus approached Ray Sutton and leaned his side against the bar with his usual classic smirk. "Ray? Ray Sutton?" Niklaus questioned despite knowing he was indeed the man he had been searching for. "Who wants to know?" Ray sassed back with unease, it was clear that Niklaus' presence wasn't wanted.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Niklaus informed him with amusement in his eyes, "We started in Florida, Pensacola. I met a young chap there who you used to work with before you moved to Memphis, now he directed me to two lovely young women. And they led me here. . . to you." Ray swallowed carefully hearing his words, Niklaus picked up on his unease immediately and it only deepened the Hybrid's amusement. "I think I'll be going," Ray moves to stand up but Niklaus stops him, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Not so fast, mate. You only just got here, now your type are very hard to come by," Niklaus expressed giving Ray the answer he needed about why he had been searching for him.

Uneased, Ray moves to go the other way but stops at the sight of Cordelia who sends him a sympathetic smile. "Don't make this harder than it has to be, Ray," Cordelia warned, her voice was soft and Ray felt eased in her presence; it caused confliction in his mind. "You're the Starlight, aren't you?" Ray asked breathlessly, rumours had spread like wildfire in dry weather about the Forbes girl who had accepted her potential as the Saturn Starlight which she unknowingly misunderstood the title for ─ she had yet to learn her true power. Cordelia furrowed her brows at the respect and admiration that burned within Ray's gaze, the awe was something that uneased her knowing what direction this encounter would go.

Picking up on her unease, Stefan approached and wrapped his arm around Cordelia's waist, pulling her close to him while watching Ray cautiously. "Vampires..." Ray commented with Stefan's presence, his attention turned back to Niklaus while Cordelia leaned more into Stefan's side; the couple moved aside leaving Alex to step forward ready for his next orders from Niklaus. "You're swifty swift, Ray! Yes! My friend there is a vampire, such is my other friend there," Niklaus expressed motioning to Stefan and Alex while brushing off the Starlight part in an act of caution and protection, "Alex has compelled everybody in the bar so don't look to them for any help. I, however, I'm something else, a different kind of monster. I've got some vampire. I've got some wolf."

Ray's heart rate sped up at Niklaus' words, he wasn't stupid enough to ignore the rumours about the Original Hybrid at full power; many of Niklaus' enemies had gone into hiding now that he had unlocked his full power. "You what?" Ray asked in disbelief, surely they were just rumours. "A Hybrid, Ray," Niklaus confirmed Ray's fear, "You see, I want to create more of me. Now you being the first werewolf that I've come across in many a moon, pun intended, Ray!" Cordelia coughed to cover her snort, she had quickly learnt that Niklaus' humour was actually entertaining. Niklaus covered his joy with his smirk, but inside his heart skipped a beat knowing he made Cordelia smile.

"I need you direct me to your pack. So, where can I find them, Ray?" Niklaus continued. "You can't compel me, it won't work," Ray replied, brushing off the question in connection to his pack. Alex raised a brow, a sadistic smirk appearing on his face as Niklaus nodded his head. Alex turned to the bar, pulling something from his pocket as he did. "Can you bring out the darts now?" Alex asked the compelled Bartender, the man nodded before doing as he was asked. "Tell you what, Ray. We're gonna play a little drinking game, something I like to call truth or wolfsbane," Alex informed Ray as he pulled out a pouch of Wolfsbane, pouring it into his hand before crushing it with his fingers. "Oh, this is gonna be fun, Ray," Niklaus mocked.

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Cordelia sat with Stefan in the corner booth of the bar furthest from where Niklaus and Alex were interrogating Ray Sutton. Stefan took notice of every flinch that Cordelia had when a cry of agony echoed through the bar, she had to fight every urge to run forward and stop Niklaus; they may have an budding friendship but that didn't mean getting in his way won't have consequences. Niklaus had been very clear that nothing would stop his path of creating Hybrids, they would thank him one day is what he claimed. Cordelia held on to that belief, she watched Tyler and Mason struggle with the transformations; Hybrids could be an opportunity for werewolves to be free from the moonlights hold over them but she'd rather test the theory on strangers than someone close to her.

Stefan hated seeing Cordelia's inner turmoil about their situation, he wished he could take her away from it but Niklaus rarely let the blonde out of his sight; something that Stefan understood considering he also barely let Cordelia out of his sight. It wasn't difficult for an outsider to see how possessive Stefan and Niklaus were over Cordelia, they didn't like when the eyes of other men or women focused on her in desire and lust. And though Cordelia felt tingling in her lower stomach whenever she heard a possessive growl from Niklaus or the tightening hold of Stefan's arm or hand; she tried her best to keep them in check so they wouldn't kill anyone innocent.

Stefan cupped the side of Cordelia's face, turning her head to look at him as his gaze softened. "It's gonna be okay," Stefan assured her earnestly, the worlds struck her harder than she was expecting. "With you by my side, I don't doubt that," Cordelia replied softly before she leaned forward and claimed his lips. Stefan didn't hesitate to kiss her back, it was one of his favourite things to do. His hand moved to hold the back of her head as he deepened the kiss, Cordelia felt her heart pounding like a stampede; as it did everytime she and Stefan kissed. Niklaus was distracted for a moment, his gaze flitting over to the couple causing conflicting emotions to stir.

Envy was a main emotion, he desired to kiss Cordelia─to claim her as something more and with each day coming closer to the full moon; his wolf yearned for it too, to claim his mates as his own. Yes, mates. His primal wolf side had taken claim over both Cordelia and Stefan, he desired both however, Cordelia more; as expected. Annoyance was second knowing that despite the budding friendship with both of them, they still held Niklaus at an arms length; any romance was still unlikely to form anytime soon. Happiness was the last, knowing that his mates at least had each other was soothing to his desires and inner turmoil. Seeing Cordelia happy, even if he wasn't the reason for it, was more than enough for Niklaus Mikaelson.

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Meanwhile, back at the farmhouse in Memphis, Damon and Alaric pull up intrigued to find any clues that could lead them to find Cordelia and Stefan. Alaric missed Cordelia greatly, the seventeen year old had become a daughter to him during the time of his first arrival in Mystic Falls all the way when she left. He missed her teasing comments about his alcoholism, the remarks about how Alaric could deny it but Damon was indeed the man's best friend, and finally, the encouragement towards doing better in his life which included building one with Jenna. So when Damon mentioned driving out to Memphis to follow a clue that Liz found, Alaric was eager to join him hoping to find his pseudo-daughter.

Damon's phone rang, it was clear who it was but the older Salvatore ignored it while mentally preparing to be scolded by his girlfriend later that night. "Elena?" Alaric asked with a sigh, he even knew how passionate the girl had been about finding Cordelia and Stefan. "I don't know why you don't come clean and tell her where we are," Alaric added as they walked towards the house. "Because Liz said this was a half lead, nothing too promising and I don't want to get my girl's hopes up," Damon answered him with a shrug. "Yeah, well, they're all half leads and I'm your accomplice. What do you want me to say to her, I'm living there now," Alaric replied, though he was still iffy about the relationship between Elena and Damon.

"Things going good with Jenna then?" Damon asked with a small smile, he was internally glad that Alaric had found peace since Isobel's death. "Yeah. I'm surprised that she wanted to stick around despite everything but... I really see a future with her," Alaric replied awaiting for Damon to tease or mock him for those words. "Yeah, well, we all deserve to find happiness in the end. Ain't that what Cori always said," Damon reminded Alaric who smiled softly at the familiar words that Cordelia had said a few times. "It's quiet," Alaric commented as they stood on the porch of the home, there was no signs of anyone living. "Yeah. Too quiet," Damon agreed, he pushed open the door and stepped through the threshold confirming he was free to enter.

Alaric followed behind him, closing the door before looking around the space to see bloody handprints on the walls. The bodies of two women lay disfigured on the living room floor, the wounds looked as though a rabid pack of coyotes had gotten to them. "This was definitely not Stefan's work which means we don't have to worry about losing humanity Stefan," Damon expressed to Alaric who sighed in relief, they all didn't want to watch Stefan go through a daunting bloodlust detox. "Which means it was Alex, right? The Heretic that Katherine warned us about," Alaric replied to Damon who nodded, the older vampire had informed them of Alex being a sociopath who enjoyed killing; one who held more hatred than they knew.

"It's nasty, isn't it?" A female voice startled the two men, they turned their heads to see a blue eyed blonde standing in the doorframe with her arms crossed. "Who the hell are you?" Damon asked, his stance defensive. "Relax, Salvatore. I'm chasing down the same path that you are," The female spoke with a smirk on her face, "I'm looking for the Starlight, Cordelia Forbes." Alaric's body tensed at those words, "Oh yeah, friend or foe?" The girl scoffed in amusement, "Neither. I'm simply a messenger girl." Both males were still tense in her presence but it didn't deter her as she smiled, clasping her fingers together. "The name's Nina Bell," Nina introduced herself, her eyes focused on the two dead women, a soft sign leaving her lips.

Damon and Alaric watched as she muttered something Latin under her breath, the bodies of the two women were cleaned up of blood and open wounds. Their clothes altered to white dresses before grey sheets materialised over them. "It's always sad to see another life enter the Gardens of Eden but such is life," Nina wistfully spoke before looking up at Damon and Alaric, "Until we meet again, gentlemen." Nina turned and walked out the door without looking back, both males were confused by her actions and magic; never seeing something such as what she did. "Should we be worried about her?" Alaric asked Damon who stood silent. "We have other things to worry about," Damon reminded Alaric, the two turning back to the bodies now at rest.

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"You know, I'm happy to let you and Stefan return to our hotel room to let off some of that steam, if you need," Niklaus teased as he sat down across from Cordelia, she looked up from her chicken tenders and tilted her head. "What?" Cordelia muttered which only amused Niklaus more who leaned forward, snatching a chicken tender for himself in the process. "Did you know, love, that not only are emotions heightened for wolves and vamps, but they are horny all of the time?" Niklaus asked her, a playful smirk on his face despite the words being entirely true. Cordelia bit her lip at those words, her mind trailing to the first time she and Stefan had been intimate; even if it had only been a one night thing at the time ─ But a four round night.

Since she began her route of forgiveness towards Stefan, letting him in romantically, they had only been intimate twice since but very hands on in between. Niklaus' smirk deepened as he noticed the flush of pink that appeared on Cordelia's face, he watched as she squirmed a little in her seat along with her thighs squeezing together. The sight was building a strong desire in Niklaus' chest, the tension between the two forming deeply and he was tempted to let it slip that he hadn't been intimate with anyone since finding out that he had a soulmate; it had been a long two years for Niklaus Mikaelson but he truly believed the wait would indeed be worth it. "You're insufferable," Cordelia noted seeing the teasing grin on Niklaus' face.

Their attention is taken by a grunt leaving Ray's mouth, he had been chained to the wall; his body littered with darts that had been dipped in wolfsbane. Alex sat across from him, a glass of water mixed with wolfsbane in front of him that he was using a dart to stir. As Stefan made his way back over to Cordelia with a strawberry milkshake he had managed to find ingredients for, Alex took the dart out and tossed it at Ray. The impact causes another cry from Ray, the sound no longer caused Cordelia to flinch but tugged at her empathy. The other patrons within the bar continued their day as though nothing around them was happening.

"Ray, you can end this right now. Just tell me where your pack gathers for the full moon," Alex requested, though he was enjoying this, he knew it was affecting Cordelia so he wanted it to be over. "I can't..." Ray whimpered painfully, he wouldn't endanger his people. "I know, I know. You live by code and all that, but see, he's not gonna let me stop until you tell me. And I do whatever he says, so. . . That's the way it goes around here," Alex expressed to Ray but Stefan noticed the undertone of hatred that Alex seemed to carry leaving him unsure about Alex's loyalty and presence. One of the compelled women wandered over to Niklaus, "Hello, Mister Klaus, I have some more information for you." Stefan and Cordelia perked up confused at that.

"You told me to tell you if I saw anything, one of the guys spotted Damon at the farmhouse," The women informed Niklaus, the sentence had hit Stefan and Cordelia hard. "Well, thank you, Claudine. You'll just tell your friends to keep up the good work," Niklaus replied to her, she bowed her head to him before walking away. "My brother is still on our trail?" Stefan questioned witj uncertainty, his hand grasping Cordelia's tight. "He's getting closer, I'm gonna have to deal with that," Niklaus remarked, as far as he believed, Elena was Damon's girl and Niklaus had killed her; Niklaus believed that Damon wished for both revenge and the return of Cordelia and Stefan ─ Something Niklaus refused to happen.

"Woah, hold on," Cordelia snapped, her angered gaze focused on Niklaus, "Let Stefan handle Damon, Niklaus." Niklaus raised a brow at her tone, she was indeed the only one he'd allow to speak to him in such a way. "Why should I let him leave?" Niklaus asked her, his question hit the couple in a way they weren't expecting. Stefan assumed Niklaus only wanted Cordelia, they were soulmates after all, however, the knowledge that Niklaus wanted Stefan's companionship too was. . . Heartwarming. "'Cause you know I'll come back," Stefan told him truthfully, Stefan loved his brother but Cordelia was the love of his life; he wouldn't leave her behind. "Fine. But I expect your return to be quick," Niklaus accepted.

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Rosemary Speaks. . .

I wrote these two chapters on the 29th of December, 2024 however, they were released in 2025. So welcome to the new year, wishing you all the best.

How are you feeling about Nina Bell?
Who is she?

How do we feel about Niklaus?

How do y'all feel about Niklaus trusting Cordelia so easily?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Questions?

See you in the next chapter!