Loreli POV:

After two days of bedrest I'm itching to get out the door but Klaus stops me. He takes a moment to thoroughly scan me up-and-down.

"Nik I'm okay. I'm completely healed." I say

"I needed to be certain." His eyes meet mine. "Promise me you'll be safe."

" I promise."

I can't believe after five years that I'm going back to Tray Mountain. I hadn't been there again since I left. When I had finally found the pack with Freya's locator spell they were hiding out in Cross Mountain in Tennessee. I had kept one of Emma's bracelets that she had stashed in a tree after I had been abandoned.

Thank you for saving me. I left this so you can always find me.

She wrote in a letter attached to the jewelry.

I've kept that bracelet on my nightstand next to our picture ever since. She used to sneak down to see me for months after I was abandoned.

She asked me questions about what it was like to turn for the first time. I explained that it was the most painful thing I've ever felt, every bone in my body breaking, but that becoming a wolf was the most amazing thing and you couldn't even put it into words just how freeing it was.

Then one night she came to me and said that they were leaving but she didn't know where. The next day she was gone and I haven't seen her since.

I snap out of the memory and notice Klaus watching me with concern.

"What's wrong?" He asks

" I'm just thinking about the last time I saw her. Five years has a lot of time." I say

I calculate the distance in my head. Tray mountain is 575 miles away. I can run at a speed of 15,000 so I'd get there in two minutes and 18 seconds.

I calculated my speed one weekend by racing Hayley. My phone told me I ran five miles per second.

Still not faster than Nik but I'll take it. I had thought to myself.

Nik can run 24, 000mph. We get faster over time.

I decide I'm gonna stop on the way to feed at least a few times. There's not a lot of humans around Tray Mountain. At least not in the area we used to stay.

I say goodbye to Hayley and hope and give them both hugs. I reassure hope that I'll be back in a few days at the least. I give Nik long hug and promise once again that I'll be safe. I give him a kiss and then I'm off.

By taking my time it takes me approximately 20 minutes to get to Trey Mountain including feeding.

I take a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the forest. I take a moment to stretch. Big mistake. The next thing I know I'm tackled to the ground.

A woman with long dark black hair tackles me.

There's at least 20 people surrounding me in a matter of moments.

My old wolf pack.

A dirty blonde haired woman is rushing down to us.

"Wait!" She calls out

Everyone freezes.

She gets over to me and helps me up. For a moment she doesn't speak. Then her eyes widen with realization and she punches me in the jaw.

"What the hell?" I ask

"You deserve that." She says calmly

I guess I did kinda dump the position of Alpha on her...

"Everyone this is Loreli, the woman who helped us gain our freedom from those old assholes." She tells the crowd

She motions for me to follow her and we all climb up to a clearing full of tents, canopy tents, tables and water jugs.

I almost ask how they managed to bring them up.

Duh. Werewolf strength.

She brings me over to a camper and opens the door. I walk in and sit on the couch. The crowd had dispersed, all going to do various activities.

" It's been a long time." Emma says

"Yeah. How has it been, since I left?"

"After you killed Hector, the rest of us banished the older members of the pack, the ones who surrendered anyway." She says distantly

She grabs a bottle and takes a swig.

Whiskey.

"The ones who didn't surrender were killed. After I took over as leader I banished their ridiculous ritual. There hasn't been anyone else who triggered their curse by taking an innocent life, not intentionally. Those who were abducted could return to their families if they wanted. Those who decided to leave the pack did." She says

"We went from 45 members to 27 in a span of a month or so. We take in those who have no place once they trigger their curse."

"I always knew you'd be a good Alpha." I say with a smile

She smiles back and we sit for awhile, relaxing.

I want to tell Emma about me becoming a hybrid but that isn't news that everyone takes lightly. There are a lot of people who hate my kind whether it's witches, vampires or even fellow wolves.

I decide to hold off.

I'll tell her when the time is right.

"Would you like a tour?" She asks breaking my train of thought

"I'd love a tour." I say

She takes me across a garden where they are growing vegetables and fruit. There are stakes in the ground marking which foods are which.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers...

"It took awhile to get the garden started along with renovations. There were quite a few bad storms which caused a mud slide. We had to move towards the other side of the mountain until last fall after everything had settled."

"Damn." I say

She shrugs.

"That's life on a mountain. So what about you? Where are you living?" She asks

"New Orleans with my boyfriend and his family."

Calling Nikklaus Mikaelson, the Original Hybrid my boyfriend feels wrong. On so many levels. Our relationship goes so much deeper than that.

"Oh who's this boyfriend of yours?" She asks

Sharing this information with her might be devestating. She might kick me out, out of fear or hatred. Or she might not even care.

It's a 50/50 shot.

"Klaus Mikaelson." I say

Her eyes widen.

"I've heard that name. Original hybrid right?" She asks

"Yeah." I say

"He treats you well? Hybrid or not I'll kick his ass." She says

There is no doubt or sliver of fear in her eyes.

"He does. He's even saved my life once or twice." I say

She laughs and shakes her head.

"Lorelei always the rebel."

No wolves in the pack ever had last names. Only first names. I never really understood why except that that's the way Hector wanted it.

We hang out for a few more minutes then she says that it's time to meet everyone.

They are all done with their projects for the day and are heading over to us.

"There's about 50 gallons of water from the stream. Leslie fixed the showers and Keith and Ash headed down the mountain to the stores for supplies." A man with dark brown hair and blue eyes says to Emma

"Thank you James." Emma says to the man

He nods.

"It's going to be a full moon tonight." Someone comments

Emma nods slowly.

"As everyone is aware, we must all prepare for the full moon tonight. The townspeople do not approach the mountain as they know it is dangerous but we must still be vigilant. Make sure you have your bags of clothes, chains if you use them and anything else you may need. We have a few hours until sundown. Those who are out working will return by then and we'll all be ready." Emma announces to the pack

She turns to me as everyone goes to get ready.

"Some of us have regular jobs to help pay for the things we can't make here. There's about 10 of us or so that work at retail, restaurants or online. In my spare time I work online as a customer service rep. It's not much but it helps."

"Thank you so much for having me here Em. I know it's been a long time. I'll be back though if you'd like to spend more time together but I think I should head home." I say

Truth be told, I'm starving and since I didn't tell Emma about my transition, she'd be wondering why I wasn't affected.

We hug and I take off. I stop to find a bite in Arkansas and head home.

Klaus is sitting in the bedroom with a book when I walk into the bedroom. As far as I can tell everyone else had gone to bed. I had grabbed a blood bag from the fridge before making my way to the bed.

He sets the book down as I enter.

"I trust your reunion went well?" He asks

He gets up and hugs me tight then we sit down on the bed together, me on the right, him on the left.

"Yeah it went really well. It's so crazy looking at how the pack flourished after everything."

"Because of you." Klaus points out

I shrug

"I might've killed off the cult leader but Emma took care of everyone else and helped the pack heal." I say

Klaus shoots me a look.

"What?" I ask

"Don't sell yourself short love. Emma played a very big role yes but so did you. You threw the first blow." Klaus says

We sit in each others company for a long moment.

"How would you like to spend the day together tomorrow? Rebekah is going to take Hope for the day and Hayley needs to deal with some things with my brother."

"I'd love to."

As soon as the last drop of blood is gone, my eyes are closed and I'm out.