POV: Benny
"So what do you think he is, Nessa?" I asked. "A vampire? A werewolf? A witch?"
"He's a werewolf," she said calmly, holding up a strange-looking ring.
I frowned. "How can you tell?"
She turned the ring over in her fingers, studying it closely.
"This is a Moonlight Ring," she said slowly. "I've heard about them in old stories, but I didn't think they were real."
"What does it do?" I asked.
"It allows a werewolf to use their abilities while in human form," she explained. "That makes them stronger than most vampires. And their bite…" She paused for a moment. "Their bite is lethal to vampires. It kills them in under twenty-four hours, and there's no cure."
I let out a low whistle.
"So what do we do with him?" I asked. "You know it's not a good idea to keep him around with all the kids here."
She shot me a sharp look.
"I'm their mother. Don't you think I know that?"
"And I'm their uncle," I said. "And even if I can't use magic, I'm still the man of this house—and your older brother."
Before she could respond, we both heard a groan coming from the basement.
"He's up," she said.
I sighed.
"Well," I muttered, "let's go see what he wants."
POV: Nero
I woke up somewhere dark.
My hands were chained above my head, holding me in place. The room wasn't completely dark, though. Thanks to my enhanced vision, I could still see fairly well.
But something felt… off.
My senses weren't as sharp as usual.
Then I looked down at my finger.
The ring was gone.
"Fuck this," I muttered.
A moment later, I heard a door open, and light poured into the room.
Footsteps followed—two sets.
Eventually Benny walked into view, along with a middle-aged woman. Judging by the magic I felt lingering in the air, she was definitely the one who had knocked me out earlier.
"Well," I said with a tired smile, "I think we got off on the wrong foot."
The woman stepped forward slightly.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Nero. Nero Tone. And as you've probably already guessed… I'm a werewolf."
"Yeah, we know," Benny muttered from behind her.
The woman continued staring at me.
"Why are you here?"
"To see you," I said. "I need your help with a little project of mine."
"You've got some nerve," Benny scoffed.
Before I could respond, he stepped forward and punched me straight in the face.
My head snapped to the side.
I spat some blood onto the floor… then smiled.
"I mean," I said casually, "I wasn't joking."
The woman narrowed her eyes.
"Well then," she said, "what exactly is this project?"
"Before I answer that," I said, "could I know your name, Miss Bennet?"
She hesitated for a moment.
"My name is Nessa."
"Well, Nessa," I said, "I want to go beyond what I am now. I want to become something more than just a werewolf."
I leaned forward slightly despite the chains.
"I want to become something amazing."
"A hybrid."
"A hybrid between a vampire and a werewolf."
She stared at me like I had lost my mind.
"That's not possible," she said. "You can't be both."
"Well," I replied calmly, "I'm not sure if you know this, but there already is a hybrid out there. His wolf side has just been sealed."
I watched her carefully.
"I'm sure you've heard of him."
"Niklaus Mikaelson."
"One of the Originals."
Her eyes widened.
"I thought that was only a myth," she said quietly. "He truly is both?"
"Yes," I replied.
She was silent for a moment before looking back at me.
"Even if that's true," she said slowly, "why would I help you become a hybrid?"
"Because," I said, "first, I would owe you—and your descendants—a favor. Second, I would protect your bloodline for generations."
I paused.
"And third… you would be able to heal Benny over there."
Benny frowned.
"What are you talking about? You're chained down."
"Yes," I said. "But you see, I'm not just a werewolf."
I smiled.
"I have my own tricks. Like creating poisons."
Benny's expression hardened.
"When I first met you," I continued, "I could smell magic on you. I knew you were connected to a witch. So I used a special poison."
"One that will kill you in a week."
"And only I know the cure."
I tilted my head slightly.
"And no amount of magic can save you."
"You're bluff—"
He didn't get to finish.
Suddenly he started coughing violently.
A moment later, he spat blood onto the floor.
Nessa rushed to his side immediately.
"You see?" I said calmly. "Isn't this a good deal?"
She tried using magic to help him, but just like I said…
It didn't work.
"Just free me," I said, "and I'll give him the cure."
She slowly turned to look at me.
There was pure anger in her eyes.
But she also knew I was right.
With a wave of her hand, the chains snapped apart and fell to the floor.
I stretched my arms with a small sigh of relief.
"And I'd like my ring back," I added.
She threw it at me without a word.
I caught it and slid it back onto my finger.
The power returned instantly.
My senses sharpened.
My strength returned.
I grinned slightly.
"Alright," I said. "Now let's begin."
But before we could continue, I heard a small voice upstairs.
"Mom? Uncle Ben? Are you in the basement?"
It sounded like a little girl.
Now that my ring was back, I could hear every heartbeat in the house.
Besides the two adults in front of me…
There were ten more.
Ten children.
Damn, I thought.
Nessa, you've been busy.
"Do whatever you want to me," Nessa said quietly. "But don't hurt my kids."
I raised my hands slightly.
"I would never hurt children, Nessa," I said seriously.
"That's not the type of person I am."
-
After that little exchange between us, I was introduced to the family.
Nessa had ten children, which honestly didn't surprise me. It was the 1300s, after all, and she carried a powerful witch bloodline. Families tended to be large during times like these.
The oldest stepped forward first.
"This is Amara," Nessa said, placing a hand on the shoulder of a tall girl who looked about sixteen.
Next to her was a boy a little younger. "Jonas."
Then came Sarah, Micah, Lydia, Elias, Ruth, Daniel, Naomi, and the youngest, a little girl named Grace.
They all looked at me with different expressions—curiosity, suspicion, even a little fear.
Which was fair, considering I had been chained up in their basement three days ago.
"Well," I said.
We were now standing in the attic, where Nessa kept all of her spells and grimoires. The place was packed with old books, candles, strange herbs, and symbols carved into the wooden floor.
At this point, it had been three days since the whole chained-up situation.
And I still hadn't given Benny the cure.
Not yet.
Instead, I had spent the last few days gathering the ingredients Nessa needed. She was recreating the spell that had originally turned the Mikaelson family into vampires.
And that required a lot of things.
Some of them were simple.
Some of them were very much not.
We already had the sun, obviously.
I had also managed to get a piece of the White Oak tree during my travels, something I had kept after hearing rumors about its importance.
But the final and most important ingredient…
Was the blood of a doppelgänger.
And that was the one thing we didn't have.
Which was exactly why we were standing up here now.
"So," I said, leaning against a wooden beam, "you know how to find her, right?"
Nessa frowned slightly.
"I don't have anything that truly belonged to her," she said. "Nothing strong enough for a proper connection."
Then she held something up.
"Apart from this."
It was the necklace I had given her earlier.
I had bought it while traveling. The merchant claimed it once belonged to the Petrova family, which immediately caught my attention.
Of course, there was no guarantee the man had been telling the truth.
But if he had been…
Then I had gotten unbelievably lucky.
"Just do the locator spell," I said.
Nessa sighed but didn't argue.
She placed the necklace into a small metal bowl and began heating it until the metal slowly melted into a glowing liquid.
Once it was fully melted, she poured the silver liquid onto a large map laid out on the table in front of her.
Then she began chanting.
At first…
Nothing happened.
The liquid just sat there.
But then it started to move.
Slowly at first.
Then faster.
The metal crawled across the map like a living thing until it finally stopped.
Right on a small village not far from Salem.
I leaned over the map.
"Well," I said with a grin, "that's convenient."
Nessa looked up at me.
"You're going after her?"
"Of course I am."
I turned and headed for the stairs.
"Alright," I said, already moving. "I'll be off."
With my enhanced speed, I shot down the stairs and out of the house.
"Wait, Nero!" Nessa shouted behind me.