Chapter 12

Author's note: We've finally arrived at the last chapter of this work. You may wish to reread chapters 4 and 8 to understand some of the explanations/references mentioned here. I appreciate everyone's support as you followed this story from a simple one-shot to a multi-chapter work. I am grateful for your patience as I experimented with my writing, creating darker characters and a much more savage world than I normally craft. I look forward to reading your thoughts and hope that you'll take the time to review my work. Thank you all for embracing the dark Klaroline that I created; it's been a fun ride and I hope you'll continue to follow me on my future writing projects!

Warning: Delicious smut!

"Much I have travelled, much have I tried out,

much have I tested the Powers;

from where will a sun come into the smooth heaven

when Fenrir has assailed this one?"

— Poetic Edda

The hush that had followed the final sacrifice was tension-filled, as though the earth itself was hesitant to draw breath as it anticipated the ritual's violent completion. Klaus roared as the silver moonlight seemed to electrify his sweat-soaked skin. The woods were filled with the raw, cracking sound of his bones breaking to expand his form. Powerful muscles rippled just under his skin, filling out new spaces as nature redrew the lines of his magnificent body.

Coarse gray and white fur burst forth, ripping through the pale flesh with ease. Klaus' eyes glowed a savage gold, possessing a wildness he had never exhibited before in all his centuries as a vampire. He flexed his powerful paws, scraping his claws across the cold earth. He was even more magnificent than Caroline's dim memory recalled, and she gasped as she took in the massive beast that now loomed over her.

Capturing the predatory gleam in his eyes, Caroline was awestruck. "Do you remember who you are now? Who you are to me," she asked breathlessly. She stretched high above her head to grasp his enormous jaw with both hands, tugging him close to her. "You are Fenrir, god of werewolves." She stroked his gray- and white-speckled muzzle with trembling fingers. "And I have felt your absence for eons, my love."

His low growl was almost gentle as he traced the smooth curve of her neck, breathing in her scent and emitting small chuffing noises. The golden fire that flared in his eyes failed to diminish the calculating intelligence that dwelled there. He clearly understood her words, and with time, the telepathic link they once shared would be restored.

Caroline dug her sharp nails into his dense coat, scarcely believing that all of her careful plans over the centuries had finally come to fruition. He was here with her and he was whole. The scent of the blood sacrifices clung to the night air, and she inhaled the heady mix of torn flesh and bone and stolen life force. "Now you understand that breaking your curse unleashed not only the werewolf but also unlocked your memories. Long ago, when you were Fenrir, we thought our existence infinite, and we ruled our lands and people side by side, feasting and fucking together as we pleased. We were gods and couldn't fathom our demise."

Her sapphire gaze blazed as her words sharpened in fury, "Then, a prophecy was foretold that you would kill Odin and trigger Ragnarok, the apocalypse. You bravely met Odin on the battlefield, and I proudly watched as you bested him time and again. During one of your skirmishes, you swiped at Odin, digging your claws into the earth and creating the Sogn Fjord in your wake. Odin knew victory had evaded his grasp, so the baseless coward employed deceit to secure his triumph."

He growled with heated aggression at her words and the obvious sorrow that bled into her voice near the end of her narrative. He angled his head toward her, silently nodding in understanding as they both relived the dark memories of their shared past. Her hands curled into fists as she sorted out her thoughts of anger and fear all those eons ago. "I watched as Odin performed his cheap parlor trick of soul manipulation, extracting your soul and pushing it into the ether of the universe until the day it could latch onto a new body and take possession. My powers of premonition showed me that it would be ages into the future before your soul would inhabit a newborn child. I knew that once Odin found the infant, he could easily end its life and destroy you in the process. I bided my time until that fateful day when I located the baby and concealed it from Odin, thus ensuring your survival."

Caroline favored him with a wistful smile. "I watched over you as best I could, knowing that if I stepped in too frequently, it would rouse Odin's suspicions." He gently nudged her soft cheek with his cold, wet nose, reassuring her of his presence. "My foresight showed me how you would suffer during your mortal life as well as that of your immortal one, but I also saw clearly the path to restoring your memories and I understood the roles we needed to play to accomplish this."

He suddenly crouched down, the powerful muscles rippling in his long forelimbs as his bones cracked loudly, shifting his massive body back to his former state. As he slowly rose to his feet, gloriously bare in the silver moonlight, he raised his hands to cradle her face, a loving smile touching his full lips. His gravelly voice settled into her heart, making its home there once more. "Even before I met you, my love, I longed for you. When you finally revealed yourself to me long ago when I sought your assistance with the doppelganger, something inside of me called out, and I felt a contentment, as though I had finally found my place."

Caroline gazed up at her lover in wonder, overcome with emotion. Her voice shook slightly as she confessed, "It nearly destroyed me to keep this secret from you. Soul manipulation is ancient, fragile magic." She touched his bare chest with an unsteady hand. "If Fenrir's soul had learned of its past memories before they were properly unlocked during the ritual, the ceremony would fail without the memories and full powers being restored. You never would have been whole."

He saw the trepidation and uncertainty in her eyes and he quickly sought to reassure her. "Your fears are unfounded, my goddess. My memories as Fenrir and Niklaus have intertwined. I loved you with every part of me as Fenrir and I loved you just as fiercely when I was simply Niklaus. I understand the need for cloaking your true intentions these past centuries, and your determination to make me whole once more is a debt I can never repay."

Caroline coiled her fingers through his, vowing darkly, "Odin will pay for what he's done to you, to us."

His steel gray eyes darkened as he nodded in agreement. "Indeed. His treachery and cowardice will be known once we seek our revenge." A wry smile teased the corner of his lips as he added, "Not to mention the filthy lie he put forth that we were siblings."

Her mouth twisted in distaste. "I will carve the truth into Odin's blasphemous tongue." Furrowing her brow, she said with a twinge of worry, "What Nadia proclaimed before you sacrificed her — about Odin's followers searching for the six ingredients — was it idle boast or something more?"

He shook his head, smoothing back her golden curls. "Her duplicitous nature renders it difficult to discern, but we cannot rule out the possibility that Odin has commanded his faithful to scour this world and the next for the set of mystical ingredients that will supposedly bind me."

"Which is one of the reasons why I secured the Bennet witch as our ally. Her lineage holds ancient magic that can help render those cursed ingredients impossible to find. We will be victorious, my love," she swore, clutching his hands in hers once more.

"Of course we will, my clever goddess," he rumbled. The dangerous gold bled into his gaze as he dipped his head down to capture her shell-pink lips in a hungry kiss that promised to swallow her whole. He slipped his strong hands inside the dual slits of her long skirt, grasping her thighs and easily wrapping her around his waist.

She eagerly rubbed against him, pushing aside the bunched silk so that he could feel her core, slick and weeping with want, against his skin. He hissed at the sensual touch, sliding his nose along her jawline as he breathed in her intoxicating aromas of honey and vanilla. He rained down punishing kisses at her collarbone, tugging at her ivory flesh with his teeth, marking her thoroughly with his bite. In his aroused state under the full moon, he was helpless to prevent his body from reacting as his fangs slid under her skin, desperate to taste the wanton lust in her blood.

At the first prick of his fangs, Caroline gasped, tightening her thighs around his waist as she shuddered in his arms. She could feel his cock stirring beneath her bottom, and she let out a groan as he slowly sank to the earth with her still clutching him. She ground down into his lap with a sinister smirk, teasing the tip of his member until it was barely nudged into the cleft of her ass. With a soft rocking motion, she embedded him further into the crevice of her cheeks, their combined arousal sweetly perfuming the air.

"Little minx," he growled, gritting his teeth, "teasing my cock as though it can be tamed."

"Then tame me," she challenged with blue eyes blazing.

With a snarl of fangs and claws, he yanked her from his waist and twisted her body to all fours in one fluid movement. His knees pushed into the cool earth as he rose behind her, tearing away the gleaming azure fabric until she was laid bare before him. He reached under her trembling body, sliding one long finger through her dripping slit until he found her clit, so inflamed with desire that she nearly screamed when he pinched it, plucking at it like a harp string.

A few more torturous tweaks of her overly sensitive flesh nearly sent her careening over the edge, so he hastily pushed his aching cock inside her soaked core. He groaned at the feel of her beautiful body flexing beneath his, so perfect, so right.

She clamped tightly around his thrusting member, refusing to allow his engorged flesh to leave her center for more than a moment before her body greedily called out for him to fill her once more. She moaned as she felt the tip of one finger dancing at the entrance of her anus as he continued his powerful strokes.

Noting how her muscles puckered in anticipation, he teased, "Shall I pleasure you here as well?" He swiveled his hips just so, pulling a hearty groan from his lover. "Tell me what you need," he commanded.

Caroline whipped her head around to face him, her blonde curls swirling about her shoulders. "Stretch my flesh that craves your touch. Make me whole," she demanded, biting down on her lip as she met his bucking hips once more.

He smoothly slid one finger past her ring of muscles, pushing at the delicate tissue until they bent to his will. Soon, he added another finger, spurred on by her breathless groans. Once he deemed her trembling body ready, he withdrew his length from her dripping core and filled her tight chamber with a satisfied sigh. He drove his cock in and out, delighting in her whimpers that grew into ecstatic cries as she came around him.

Soon, he found his own release and he gripped his cock as he spilled his seed onto her cheeks and cleft, marking her thoroughly with his musk. He pulled her into his body as they lay upon the bed of dried leaves, bathing contentedly in the silver moonlight as they caught their breath.

Hours later, Caroline rose to her feet, holding out a small hand to help him up. A mischievous grin graced her pink lips as she said, "Now, shall we go see about our revenge?"