The Mikaelson family had never been peaceful. New Orleans breathed with their influence, old alliances, and the shadow of dominance stretching far beyond the city limits. Power always carried its price, and life beside them rarely allowed for anything ordinary. But once you became a Mikaelson yourself, chaos no longer felt unfamiliar. It became home.

Marrying Elijah had been a dream come true, though very few would call life beside a thousand-year-old Original a fairytale. The house in New Orleans stood proud and quiet, old and elegant, soaked with history older than most of the streets surrounding it. Its walls were often visited by his siblings and almost never by outsiders. This place belonged to the Mikaelsons. And you belonged to them too.

The new surname suited you surprisingly well.

You were a strong vampire. You knew how to protect this house during Elijah’s absence and you did so without hesitation. This was never merely about a residence. It was about family. Territory. Something that was never surrendered without a fight.

The night was cold and dark. Silence wrapped around the house, broken only by distant rain and the quiet creaking of old wood. You had been sleeping peacefully, tangled beneath heavy blankets, when suddenly something pulled you from sleep.

Not a sound.

A feeling.

That instinct which appeared only when something was wrong.

You sat up slowly in bed and froze, listening into the darkness. For a moment there was complete silence… and then you felt it.

A step.

Downstairs.

The subtle pressure of weight touching the ground near the entrance of the house.

Not a human wandering outside. Not coincidence.

Someone was on your territory.

Beside you Elijah shifted slightly, awakened by the movement of the mattress alone. His eyes opened almost immediately, too accustomed to danger to ever truly sleep deeply. In the darkness his face remained calm, though his gaze quickly found your tense silhouette.

He lifted himself slightly onto one elbow and asked quietly, his voice still rough with sleep:

“What did you hear, love?” he said calmly, though there was no trace of exhaustion left in his eyes.