Disclosure:  Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. 

Pre Edit Count –   2,457 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Love the Way You Lie (Featuring Rhianna) by Eminem.

Previous:

She laughs, and he pulls her up to him then kisses her deeply.  He steals her breath away, and when he lets her come up for air, he smirks down to her. “A forewarning of what I am planning for our celebration.”  He watches her with a smile on his face and in his eyes.  His familiar lands on his shoulder and looks down with its head cocked, studying its mistress.

She snorts. “I swear, every seven seconds,” she teases him, her love coming through. She is also laughing at the bird who is so like Damon it wasn’t funny.  Though she can see the difference now; Damon as the Raven keeps his blue eyes, but his Raven familiar is bigger than normal.

He laughs as his familiar flies off to make sure there are no problems, and offers his arm to escort her back to the house. “At least.  But would you have me any other way?” He looks down adoringly at his Mate, waiting for her rejoinder knowing it will make him laugh.

She lifts an eyebrow and answers, “Let me think about that,” as she playfully shoves him away.  The two play the rest of the way to the house, making the rest of the household look out at them carrying on. Seeing the smiles on their faces do more than the hour did to prepare them.

The two Mates are everything they are fighting for, and the fact that they are still fighting for the right future is enough to make everyone decide to make this ritual a success.  That decision is enough to have Bonnie’s eyes glow as she smiles softly and says, “Right Choice Made” in that bell-like tone that is Gaea speaking through her.

Now:

Watching the area with his senses wide open and with both his and his Raven’s eyes, Damon lands them gently where the ritual is going to take place after having dropped Alaric off earlier.

He meets Jasper’s eyes, and while he doesn’t like the hybrid, he cannot deny he would rather have him at his back than Demetri.  On the way over, he and Jasper had discussed it, and Jasper had finally mentioned the old stand-by about the devil you know versus the devil you don’t.  But when Bella had let Damon know that she would rather have Jasper patrolling than Demetri, that had been the end of that.

However, he watches gravely as Jasper and Demetri both take off to patrol until Caroline and Tyler can take over, at which time Demetri will return to stand guard to try to sense anything that may get through the lines.  Damon glances over the area and sighs as he runs his hand through his hair. This area is not ideal for what they are trying to do, but when are the places for witches’ rituals ever in an ideal location?

Standing there, trying to sense through the elements as she can feel him doing, Bella watches her Mate and comments, “Odd that only a few days ago you would be trying to kill Klaus to prevent this from happening.” She can feel the conflict inside of him, and is guessing what it may be.

He nods as he uses the wind to search the area, then scans the earth to make sure nothing is below them. “Though I wonder about how, when we saw the other way, I never influenced the fire to save her.” It is telling how he admits so easily faults he can find in himself during the previous timeline, ones that show him that his whole heart wasn’t where he thought it was at the time.  No, this woman before him, she is the one that he had been waiting for – not Elena, and certainly not Katherine.  Looking back through the timeline, there are hints of it.

Nodding as she feels him using his senses with the very elements to keep them safe, she adds, “Because you were still hiding.  Damon, you didn’t really take all that much seriously until the end.” She is blunt, telling her Mate that she has already thought of the reason.  Her Mate was scared of being hurt, so he learned not to take life seriously, for in his life everything was taken from him.  He had learned to hide himself, and it was not until he realized that Bella would be it that he allowed himself to be complete again.

He turns to look at her, and searches her face. “Until you were close to me.” He, too, had searched the timeline, and had seen that the cracks in his way of being had started when he was close to his Mate. He had felt at that moment that it was all or nothing, that he could be whole again, and the crack in the glass surrounding his heart had widened.

Nodding, she smiles at him. “I love you, Damon Salvatore,” she tells him, knowing that the simple statement tells him everything that he needs to know.

He smiles and moves forward to take her in his arms, and kisses her briefly, murmuring to her, “Love you too, Mia Carissima.”  Then he raises her left hand and kisses the ring he had placed there. “And this is not everything. It is a promise; I will make sure everyone knows that you are mine, my equal, my better half.” The last is said softly as he looks into the brown eyes of his Mate, his emotions flowing through their bond, but also there in his eyes for those like her to see.

Wanting to break the moment, Bella laughs. “No talking like that.  Don’t you know that the ones who do in the movies are the one who die first?  So, no talking like this is something huge in our life.  It’s just a normal, everyday night for us.” She tilts her head to the side. Her eyes give her away to her Mate, but he continues her little ruse.

Swinging her around in his arms, he laughs and then teases her, “The one who dies is the one who is talking about going back to his lady love.  I have mine with me.” He gives her a noisy kiss to the side of her head. The two calm down some, the joking and teasing helping to soothe their nerves.

But the reason they are here is not far from either of their minds.   In the midst of her chuckles, a noise, a change in the winds that they are both monitoring, has her turning her head, and he steps in front of her as they make out the rest of them approaching.  He gently pulls her a little more behind him, making sure she is safe. As much as he jokes with her, he cannot shake the feeling something big is going to happen tonight, and this woman he guards is everything.  He will do what he can to make this ritual a success, but if it comes down to his Mate, or the ritual?  His Mate comes first.  Every. Fucking. Time.

Since everyone is present, they soon have the sacrificial wolf and vampire in their respective circles, with Damon and Bella making sure the fire keeps them contained.  With the ritual being magical, the two of them have to work together, but since Bonnie wants them to help, it is easier to do. Their powers blend in a new way, but one that the two will remember how to use in the future, with devastating effects.

Damon chuckles as he watches the vampire and Jules both stare at the dome of fire encasing them, but neither one feels the heat.  It is unnerving to them and he can see the expressions on their face.  He is not happy with either sacrifice, but he will leave them to Klaus to kill, knowing that the other man will not allow anything to threaten their family.

He smirks to himself.  Bella has been hurt by the betrayal of one family, but another is forming around her now, and she will find out that they will go to their end fighting for their family. Not only the ones by blood, but the others, too, are drawn to his little Mate.

The rest of them come and take their places, with Demetri in front of the two mates since neither trusts him.  He smirks but takes his place as he vows to earn the trust of the two behind them.  Everything he has seen tells him that they are the two to convince.  The world is shifting, and he is a survivor.  His instincts tell him that the little female that he had thought to be Jasper’s mate is the key to it all. Though, if she was his mate, he would teach her that females are meant to be seen and not heard.

Tyler gives Jules a look of disgust, having been there when Elijah made her tell them the plans she had, and he could not believe that they would threaten the one person who didn’t make him feel as though he is a freak.   He has no trouble with her being the sacrifice.  Not with how she used his uncle’s name to make him more trusting of her only to later discover that Mason had not trusted her at all.

He and Caroline have taken off to do their part to make this happen, with Klaus promising Tyler that this is the last time he would feel this pain. Bonnie has cast a spell for the night, one that took a lot of power, to allow Tyler to control the Darkside, his wolf, and not attack Caroline.  Though Klaus has told him that he is the cure to the poison of a werewolf biting a vampire.  He had given Bella his blood in a vial in case something happens, and Caroline as well in case the spell was brought down and Tyler bit her.

The two Mates watch as Klaus hands Bonnie the moonstone, meeting her eyes.  She takes it and, chanting, drops it on the altar as a fire springs up.  It surrounds the stone, and the fire that encases the three is made more powerful as the spell channels through them.  It is also halting Jules’ transformation and making the other vampire also feel the same pain, as though he has not fed in months and is still whole.

Jules is on the ground screaming as the change is being repressed, making her feel the same pain Klaus has felt for years.  She finally looks over at Elena in her own ring and gasps out, “Everything I did, I did for Tyler.  I didn’t want him to be alone.” She believes he should be part of their pack, that he would be in so much more pain not having a pack.  And with his family lines, he would be a powerful addition to her pack.

Elena shakes her head and tells the woman in disgust, “You tried to kill Damon, you killed Rose.  You threatened those I care about.   You planned to take Caroline and torture her.  The only reason you were stopped is because you were being watched.  Everything you did was to cause pain.  Tyler is fine as he is.” Her voice is strong with her conviction.  Whatever Tyler needs can be found in this family that is springing up around them.

From his place Tyler howls in support of Elena’s words, and in thanks that she is proving to be the same loyal and trustworthy friend he had known all his life.  It had only been Stefan’s influence that seemed to change his friend into someone he barely knew, and now she sounds like the girl he had played with when they were little.

Klaus just smirks as he comes to the edge of Jules’ circle and nods to his niece and her Mate. They lower the dome, and he walks in to her.  He shakes his head as she turns and goes to attack him, his hand shooting out and going through her chest to wrap around her heart.  He snarls at her, “This is what you have earned planning against those who are mine.”  And with that he rips out her heart allowing her to drop to the ground.

He feels the power coursing through him, and cannot help but grin as the pain, for the first time in his life since it had appeared, lessens.  He throws back his head in triumph knowing that the ritual is working.

Remembering his niece’s feeling that something will happen, he turns to the vampire Damon and Bella brought him, chuckling.  He slowly approaches him, and the vampire tries to back away from him, but Damon shakes his head as Bella thins out the shield and lets him feel the heat.  Neither had liked the modus operandi that the vampire had used to get his victims, and how he preferred to kill each and every time.  No one is feeling kindly towards him.

Both are prepared when the vampire tries to bolt as Klaus steps up to the dome, and instead of allowing the dome to fall as they did with Jules, the two open a hole for him to step in.  However, the effort is more than they expect, and the dome flickers.

The vampire takes the chance and jumps out of the top where it has faded, and while burning, he goes to attack the two who had brought him to this hell.  He knows he is going to die, but he will get his revenge in some fashion.

When the dome crashes down, Damon pulls the flame to flare in front of himself and his Mate as Klaus roars and rushes the vampire. This is part of what Klaus has feared, that his newest family member would be in danger.  And here it is, happening in front of his very eyes.  The rage he feels coursing through him causes him to brutally grab the vampire’s spine rip it out.  With a gleam in his eyes, he meets Damon’s look and nods in appreciation for the male holding back from killing the vampire who threatened his Mate. He then drives a stake through the vampire’s chest. The power that washes over him is enough to make him want to howl in triumph.

Damon is panting from the effort it takes to not kill something that tried to attack his Mate, and only the fact that his senses are still heightened from that attack allow him to catch the sense of another coming. He snarls as a blur flies towards them, and he manages to bring up the shield just as Bella screams.  The honorless asshole had tried to attack the weakest one in the group, and Damon is seething as he looks at the being he holds in their shield.

Klaus is quick to move toward his niece to protect her from this blind attack, but he is pushed back by a blast of wind.  He turns in the air, and stares at the man who has tried to kill him so many times. A snarl reverberates through the air as he recognizes the man who is trying to take his family from him once again.

Mikael, their father, is beating on the shield Damon had pulled up, screaming something that they couldn’t hear. But the impact of each of the blows is visible and is making the shield vibrate.

Bella, her eyes dark, stands up, and Klaus can see the blood seeping from her back, and realizes that Mikael must have attacked her before Damon captured him in the shied. The rage that is seeping through him is iced over by the fact that she is hurt.  The newest member of the family, one he has allowed himself to love again, is hurt.  His brain kicks in and he realizes that they need to complete the ritual.

He yells at Damon, “Hold him!  If he gets out of there, he will ruin the ritual!” With those words he stares down to the man who holds his heart as well as the rest of the family’s, literally in his hands.

Gritting his teeth, Damon nods, “Finish it.” He bears down with his impressive will to keep the vampire in the shield until he can kill him for hurting his Mate.  He can feel her pain and no one is allowed to hurt her!

Bella is mad, but he can tell she is hurt badly, and pulls her close to him.  He almost sighs in relief as she concentrates and helps shore up the shield.  Damon can feel that the vampire inside of it is somehow leaching the strength away as he pounds on it.  His Mate adding to the shield makes it stronger, but they both look at each other as they feel the power being taken from it.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Bella concentrates on the shield, feeling that it was imperative to keep it up.   The ritual has to be completed – this is why she and Damon need to be here, and she will not fail!

Standing at Bonnie’s side, Elijah burns with the need to protect his daughter and his Mate, but he trusts his family to do what they can.  He can tell that the two that had sensed Mikael can’t do anything more than what they’re currently doing, and that they now have to rely on Demetri as a warning system for any other attacks.

Never mind what he thinks of the hybrid, he has to acknowledge that he had heard the hybrid try to give warning at the same time Damon had reacted.  So he hoped the hybrid can warn them, knowing the speed of his father is nowhere like any others. These two all of a sudden are the only ones keeping them all safe, and if there are more out there he hopes that the three patrolling will take care of it.  He also hopes they don’t try to come to help; it may hurt the concentration he feels from his children.  Unable to leave Bonnie undefended with an untrained vampire hunter, he growls as he watches the two women who are his life and prays that the Mates can manage to keep the shield up until after the ritual is finished.

Klaus moves towards Elena. He notices that her dome is down since the other two need everything they have to hold the Original Vampire Hunter in their cage. He walks up to Elena, and cupping her face, asks, “Ready love?” He looks compassionately into her eyes, trying to calm her down.   They need to hurry, but there is no need to frighten the girl.

She takes a deep breath, and he tells her, “The ritual says I have to drink until you die.  I will drink, then break your neck to cause your death.  I am sorry for the pain, love.  But I thank you.” He looks intently into her eyes as he makes sure she understands.

Staring into his eyes, she nods, telling him, “Hurry.”  She turns to face Elijah, needing to have that contact with him in what she knows will be the last moments of her human life.

He nods, and then quick as lightning, bites into her neck. His own eyes meet his brother’s as he sends his regret to him, trying to make him understand this is not what he wishes to do, that he has no wish to cause him this pain.

Unable to keep it in, Elijah snarls as his instincts scream at him to attack, and he holds himself back while vibrating in place.  He then understands the struggle Damon had when the vampire had tried to attack his Mate, and then again when Mikael attacked.  And he acknowledges that if the Vampire can do it, he will be the one to kill Mikael for the pain he has caused his mate, Elijah’s own daughter.

In the weakening shield, Mikael laughs, the shield having been thinned out enough to allow his voice through.  “Elijah, how weak are you?  There is your brother, draining your Mate!  How long are you going to have to wait until she comes again, if she even can with the reason for being a Doppelganger is over?” He mocks his eldest, the one who he killed first to make him the vampire he is today…the one that he sacrificed to their Gods to make the others and him powerful enough to be here today and to defend against the werewolves.

Hearing the words, Damon’s eyes flash in anger but he says nothing as he works to keep the shield around the vampire even though he wants nothing more than to kill him where he stands.  He can feel the blood running down over his hand that is keeping his Mate held to his own back as he growls at the vampire in front of him.

Turning his body in triumph, Klaus meets his stepfather’s gaze as he drinks.  His hands rise to do as he promised, and Mikael lifts an eyebrow at his stepson.  “Are you sure that this will work?  That killing her will complete the ritual?  All it would take is a few more draws of her blood and you will ensure your freedom from the curse.”  Mikael is desperate and will do or say anything to stop this travesty from becoming real, from allowing the Hybrid free of the curse they had placed on him long ago.

And in that moment, Klaus understands Bonnie’s warning to stay true to the path.  His eyes meet his brother’s again and he then breaks his brother’s mate’s neck.  He freezes, unable to catch Elena before she falls to the ground, as the power from the curse being broken rushes into his body. It is amazing as he effortlessly turns into his wolf.  The strength, the sheer force of knowing he is finally powerful enough to take on his stepfather, to protect the family who has just sacrificed so much for him, has him lifting his snout into the air as he howls.

Then the huge wolf lowers his snout and grins at his stepfather who stops trying to get out of the shield; he instead backs away into the farthest point of it. Fear of his stepson courses through his entire being, and for the first time since becoming a vampire, he is in terror for his life, of no longer being on this earth.  He has so much more he needs to do!

Now that the ritual is complete and Klaus is able to shift, Elijah is by his Mate’s side, and picks her up.  He then pauses and stares at his daughter, needing to save her at the same time.  Damon solves the issue, demanding, “Take her and GO!” He is holding Bella to him, his mind frantically working as he tries to feel why his Mate has not yet healed.  He does not need the additional worry of Elijah and Elena on his mind.

Elijah stares into his son’s eyes, then nods, trusting him.  Damon takes a second, having to allow his Mate to assume the weight of the shield, as he sends a pulse through the earth. This is the signal to inform Jasper, Caroline, and Tyler that the ritual is done, but that something has happened to fuck it all up.  When he feels Elijah and Elena leave, he acknowledges Jasper’s pause for the concern that it is, and supports his Mate as Jeremy, Demetri, and Bonnie are all brought in behind him and made to stay there by the accompanying gust of wind.

Noting that the hybrid has Bonnie in his arms and hat Jeremy is riding piggyback on him, he glares at the vampire as he shoots a pulse of air at Klaus, unsure whether to leave him, or take them all at the same time.  Bella is hurt too badly for them to keep the vampire in the shield, and Damon knows that while they can all leave, the intruding vampire would get free.

Klaus growls as he feels the pulse, and with another growl he gives Damon a quick look, then keeps advancing slowly on his hated enemy.  He will kill his father.

Before Damon can think of another solution, Bella’s legs give out, and he sweeps her up in his arms as he takes off with them all, Klaus included as the shield falls.  He needs them all away, knowing that his Mate would be worried about her uncle if he didn’t bring him along. As soon as Klaus sees Bella in Damon’s arms, he stops fighting the ball of air that is taking them through the air at a speed he couldn’t believe.

The vampire turned hunter of his own kind tries to jump to catch them, but Damon has them moving as fast as he can, trying to get them all to safety before his powers fail without his Mate’s accompanying energy.  These balls of elemental power are not as easy without her shield.

They all land roughly on the back lawn of the home, and Damon rushes his Mate inside as Klaus forces himself back into his vampire state. He then storms through the house, calling for Jonas to raise the spell which would protect the home from any who did not belong, There is no time, they need the dwelling protected as its mistress is down and nothing is in their minds but her as they rush through the house.

Jasper, Caroline, and Tyler run through the doors just as the light crashes down around the house, signifying the spell is in place.  They halt as they see the trail of blood, Jasper growling and his eyes going black as he smells that his Bella is the one spilling the blood.

Elijah comes out of the room that Elena is in, his worry for his daughter enough to allow him to leave his Mate’s side.  He nods as Caroline and Tyler slide into the room to watch over her as he, Klaus, and Jasper storm into Bella and Damon’s room

Damon is trying to get her to feed from him but growls when she can’t swallow, and nods in gratitude as Elijah takes her head and coaxes her throat to take his blood.  He is almost panicking, only the long years of solitude and the knowledge that keeping a steady head would be better to help his Mate making it possible.

Klaus soon turns her over enough to see what caused the injury, and snarls as he sees the white oak stake in her back, barely missing her heart.  Before he gets a chance, Jasper grabs it, pulls it out, and flings it across the room.  Klaus covers the wound with his hand and applies pressure to try to stop the bleeding. All three members of her family are operating as one to save the tiny woman before them.

The four watch as the wound in her back slowly closes, and breathe out a sigh of relief. And when she chokes, all the males’ shoulders relax as they realize she will be fine.  Damon is leaning over her, needing to see her eyes the minute she opens them, and the others watch anxiously for them to reconnect.

Bella’s brown eyes flutter, then fly open to meet her Mate’s worried eyes.  She tells Damon, “I remember what I forgot.”

Final count:   4,642 words.

Fairfarren~Wendy

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