Chapter 39* Alone

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"Now what do we do with all this?" I asked, my voice echoing in the heavy air of the cemetery.

Klaus turned to me, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Clark, these women are lying. This is impossible. There is no way a woman could give birth to children from different men at the same time. It doesn't make any sense."

"Actually, it is possible," I replied calmly. "Listen to the sound of their hearts."

He stopped, his face hard, and bowed his head. For a moment, there was silence, broken only by the wind whispering between the tombstones. Klaus listened—first Hayley, then Elijah. Then, with a cold gleam in his eyes, he said, "Kill her, and the babies, too. Do you think I care?" And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving a trail of tension in his wake.

Hayley was shaking, her fists clenched. "Enough of this, I'm leaving." The witches moved to stop her, but Elijah stepped forward, his posture rigid as a wall.

"No one is going to touch her," he declared, his gaze fixed on Sophie. "I'll take care of this."

Sophie nodded reluctantly, and the other witches backed away. Elijah walked away with Hayley, leaving me standing in the weight of the shadows and the damp smell of the earth.

I stepped closer to her, my voice softened with concern. "Hayley, I know this is scary for you and me. But I will take care of you and my son…or daughter."

She looked up, a shy, warm smile lighting her face. "Clark… Thank you."

"No need to thank me, Little Wolf," I replied, returning the smile.

Sophie stepped closer, her brow furrowed. "Listen, Clark, I don't mean to underestimate you—your magic is impressive. But you're no match for a coven of witches, much less Klaus."

"Really?" I replied, arching an eyebrow. "I'm a little special, you know?"

She was silent, her eyes suspicious.

Minutes later, Elijah returned, and the witches began to murmur about Klaus. Agnes, one of them, crossed her arms. "Why do you think you can control the hybrid?"

"I can't," Elijah admitted, his tone firm. "I don't even know if I can do it. But now that they have aroused his wrath, tell me: what prevents my brother from killing them instead of cooperating?"

Sophie picked up a straw doll, removed a pin, and pierced her hand with it. At the same moment, Hayley let out a groan, her hand bleeding. "What is this?" she asked, frightened.

"My sister cast a spell before she died," Sophie explained, her voice cold. "It connects me to Hayley's life. If anything happens to me, it happens to her too. In other words, her life is in my hands." She looked at Elijah. "Klaus may not care about this child, but you clearly do. So if I need to hurt her, or worse…"

Elijah stepped forward, threat veiled in his stance. "You dare threaten an Original?"

"I have nothing to lose," she countered. "But you do."

I turned to Sophie, my tone sharp as a blade. "Threaten her life again, and I'll rip your head off so fast you won't even notice it until the other side."

The tension grew, a thread stretched taut and ready to snap. Sophie stared at me in disbelief. "Are you an idiot? Didn't you hear what I just said? If I die, she dies."

"You don't know me," he said, snapping his fingers. "I'm no ordinary werewolf. Let's try again—pierce your hand."

She hesitated, surprised, but did as she was told. The pin went straight through the doll, but Hayley remained unharmed. A murmur of astonishment ran through the group.

"That's impossible!" Sophie exclaimed, her face pale. "My sister died to do that spell, how could you…"

Elijah looked at me, a subtle smile playing on his lips. He saw that I cared about Hayley—and, even more, that I was strong.

I snapped my fingers again, restoring the spell. "Done. Now pierce the hand again."

Sophie did, and this time Hayley screamed, blood dripping from her hand. Everyone stared at me, startled.

"What are you?" Sophie asked, her voice shaking.

He smiled, relaxed. "Just a werewolf who knows how to use a little magic, that's all."

"Why did you reconnect the spell?" she insisted, still stunned.

"I don't wish any harm to the witches or anyone here," I explained. "The moment Klaus finds out his son has been threatened, he'll kill all of you without a second thought. So I reconnected the spell as a precaution. You protect Hayley, I protect you. Everybody wins in this deal, don't you think?"

Silence fell, heavy and filled with shock—not at what I'd done, but at the words I'd chosen. Sophie thought, her eyes wide: This guy is worse than Klaus. I'm in his hands. When he gets tired of me, he can kill us both with a snap of his fingers.

"So? Did we close the deal?" I asked, looking at each of them in turn. "I want to hear from everyone."

After a few seconds of thought, they nodded reluctantly. "Great," I concluded, satisfied.

Elijah left, probably to find Marcel and retrieve Sophie's sister's body. I turned to Hayley, exhausted. "Listen, I have to go. I'm tired of this trip and all this mess."

"Okay, Clark," she said, her eyes shining with gratitude. "Thank you for everything you did today… and I'm sorry about all this."

"No need to apologize," I replied, my voice softening. "What happened was our fault. And hey, it wasn't that bad, was it?" I gave a mischievous smile.

Her face flushed slightly, and she looked away. "It… wasn't bad at all."

I smiled back and said goodbye. I needed a hotel for the night. Even though I was a werewolf, fatigue was pulling at me—hunger, thirst, sleep, all reminding me of my humanity. I could outlive a normal person, but immortal? It wasn't even close.

The next day, around 11am, I was eating a sandwich when the phone rang. Riiing, riiing, riiing.

"Hello?" I answered, wiping my mouth.

"It's me, Clark. Sam."

"Sam, hi! How are you?"

"Sensei Lawrence said you had to travel," she said, her voice hesitant.

"Yeah, I'm in Louisiana. Some stuff happened, and I had to come here."

"Clark…" She took a deep breath. "Listen, I can't look at you the same way. What you did to that girl… it hurt me so much. I need some time."

"Are you breaking up with me?" I asked, my chest tightening.

"Yes," she replied. "I was going to talk to you in person, but you were away."

"I see." I paused, hearing the muffled sound of her sniffling. "Is this what you really want?" She's probably crying. Her sobs are audible. 

"It's… it's what I want," she said, between sobs.

"Okay, Samantha. If that's what you want, I can't force you to do anything. May you find peace in your decision."

She didn't answer. She just hung up, the silence on the other end piercing.

"Okay…" I muttered, putting the phone down. "Looks like I'm single again."