Tyler had jogged through the woods of the Great Smoky Mountains for a good five minutes as he searched for the Salvatore vampire or for the hybrid. It took the Lockwood werewolf another four minutes before he finally spotted Damon walking between two thick trees.
"Hey!" Tyler called as he quickened his steps to join the Salvatore vampire.
Damon was tense as he quickly looked over his shoulder before the Salvatore vampire immediately released a loud groan when he spotted Tyler. "Great. Now I have two werewolves after me on a full moon," Damon sarcastically muttered.
Tyler rolled his brown eyes at the Salvatore vampire. "I'm here to make sure you don't get bit," the Lockwood werewolf stated.
"You better not bite me, then," Damon absently mumbled as he warily glanced all around the woods for the wolf. The Salvatore vampire absolutely could not take the chance of getting bitten again.
"I won't," Tyler grumbled in annoyance as he stomped after the Salvatore vampire.
Damon glanced over to the Lockwood werewolf before he lightly chuckled. "Hey, don't blame me if I don't---" the Salvatore vampire had began to utter before he was suddenly tossed halfway across the forest.
"Shit," the Lockwood werewolf swore once he realized what was happening. "Damon, you good?" Tyler asked the Salvatore vampire while he kept his brown gaze locked onto the hybrid, who was back in his human form.
Damon groaned as he slowly stood up from the ground. "Yup," the Salvatore vampire mumbled before he turned his attention over to the hybrid.
"I was wondering where you ran off to, mutt," Damon taunted the growling beast.
"Die!" Ray shouted before he charged right back at the Salvatore vampire.
The hybrid slammed Damon into the ground before he pounced on top of him. However, before Ray could attempt to kill the vampire, Tyler quickly grabbed Ray by his shoulders before he threw him off of Damon.
The hybrid swiftly stood up before he moved his gaze over to his attacker. Ray snarled when he locked eyes with the werewolf's orange ones. "Trader!" Ray growled, "how could you defend a vampire!?"
The Lockwood werewolf lazily shrugged his shoulders as he and the hybrid circled around each other. "It's easy when you love someone who cares for them," Tyler stated.
The hybrid either didn't hear what Tyler said or he just didn't care as Ray went full speed at the Lockwood werewolf. Tyler braced his body for the attack before they both went tumbling across the clearing. The full moon had a grasp on both of them as their claws came out before they tried to maul one other.
"I hate werewolves," Damon grumbled to himself before he used his enhanced speed to pull the hybrid off of Tyler. The Salvatore vampire knew Emily would have his head if he let her best friend get hurt when Tyler was supposed to be helping him.
However, Damon's choice of action quickly became a mistake as they hybrid instantly turned his sharp fangs over to him. The Salvatore vampire groaned at the sight of the angry beast before punches, knees, and kicks went flying out as Damon and Ray tried to fight for dominance.
"Why can't we just talk about this?" Damon whined after he got tossed to the ground for the hundred time by the hybrid.
Tyler grabbed the hybrid's arm and snapped it before he slammed the hybrid against a thick tree. "I don't think this guy wants to talk," the Lockwood werewolf muttered.
Ray loudly snarled as he shook off the pain that was caused from his back hitting the bark of the tree. "Die!" The hybrid shouted as he swiftly kneed Tyler in the stomach. "Die!" The hybrid growled as he elbowed Tyler's nose. "Die!" The hybrid yelled as he threw Tyler as far as he could before Ray rushed back to the Salvatore vampire, who his anger was mostly targeted towards.
Damon could feel his body growing tired as he continuously fought the growling beast. The hybrid was just too strong for Damon to face during a full moon.
The Salvatore vampire forced through the exhaustion he felt as Damon dug his boots into the dirt before he wrapped his fingers tightly around the hybrid's neck.
Damon felt a sense of anxiety enter his body when he began to feel his boots slide across the dirt as the hybrid tried to pin him against the tree behind him. The Salvatore vampire knew he was going to be a goner if the hybrid gets him cornered.
Damon could feel his fingers slipping from around the hybrid's neck before he suddenly felt all the hybrid's anger and strength just give out. The Salvatore vampire was confused as he slowly released the hybrid before Damon got his answer.
Once the hybrid's body had slumped down to the ground, Damon came face to face with his brother, who was holding the hybrid's bleeding, dead heart between his fingers.
The elder Salvatore tiredly huffed as he stared across at Stefan. "You couldn't have came sooner?" Damon muttered as he began dusting the dirt and leaves from his clothing.
Stefan released an amused chuckle. "What's the fun in that?" The younger Salvatore vampire taunted Damon with a small smirk lazily resting on his lips.
The Salvatore brothers tensely stared at one another in a thick silence before it was interrupted when Tyler came jogging back into the clearing. "Stefan," the Lockwood werewolf murmured in surprise.
Tyler was honestly shocked to see the younger vampire in front of him. The Lockwood werewolf hadn't been involved in the searching for Stefan all summer but it was still a surprise to see him here right now.
It kind of disgusted Tyler by how easy it was. The Lockwood werewolf didn't understand how Stefan could be this close to Emily and not seek her out when it was obvious to everyone that she has been struggling over his disappearance. Stefan was an absolute piece of crap in the Lockwood werewolf's eyes.
Stefan moved his gaze behind his brother before he clinched his teeth together at who he saw. The Salvatore vampire could physically smell his girlfriend all over Tyler's body. Stefan, of course, knew it was his fault as for why his girlfriend would take comfort in the werewolf but it didn't make it any less painful for Stefan.
"You shouldn't be here," Stefan exclaimed as he angrily pointed his finger at the Lockwood werewolf with a sharp glare to his green eyes.
"Yeah, well, someone has to watch over Emily after you ditched her," Tyler carelessly muttered as he took slow steps towards the Salvatore brothers.
"It wasn't my choice," Stefan snarled as he got right up into the Lockwood werewolf's face.
"Alright, let's just calm down," the elder Salvatore ordered as he squeezed himself between Stefan and Tyler. He pushed on both of their chests to separate them before a fight could break out between the vampire and the werewolf.
Stefan had to force himself to take a couple extra steps away from the Lockwood werewolf before he did something bad. The Salvatore vampire had always respected Tyler and his friendship with Emily but Stefan wanted nothing more than to tear the werewolf apart right about now.
Stefan paced around while he roughly ran his fingers through his hair for a few tense seconds before he swiftly turned to face his brother. "I thought I told you stop following me," the younger Salvatore snapped.
"Oh, I heard you," Damon stated as he held up his hands in innocence. "But it's hard to do that when you are calling Emily and giving her hope," the elder vampire exclaimed as he shot his brother a warning look.
Stefan slightly flinched as he instantly recalled the night of his girlfriend's birthday. However, Stefan would never mention his moment of weakness. "I didn't call her," the younger Salvatore confidently muttered.
Damon threw his head back as he released a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, okay," the Salvatore vampire mumbled as he rolled his blue eyes.
Damon focused his gaze back onto his brother as he grew serious. "You know she's not going to give up on you," the Salvatore vampire solemnly told Stefan. "That girl will go to war for you," Damon muttered as he slowly shook his head, "as stupid of an idea it is, she will do it in a heartbeat."
Stefan felt pain as large as the state of Texas force its way into his chest at the thought of his girlfriend going toe to toe with the original hybrid for him. That was the absolutely last thing Stefan wanted to happen.
The Salvatore vampire wished Emily would stop looking for him. It just gives Klaus a larger of a chance to finding out that she's alive. It would absolutely kill Stefan if the hybrid were to find out the truth.
"She has to stop," Stefan insisted. "I'm never coming back," the Salvatore vampire stated as he shook his head. Stefan focused his gaze solely onto his brother before he begged with as much emotion as he could, "get her home. Make sure you can keep her there this time."
"Oh, don't you worry," Tyler exclaimed with a wide smirk rising onto his lips. "I'll make sure Emily is nice and warm in my bed tonight," the Lockwood werewolf taunted the vampire.
"What did you just say?" Stefan snarled as he took three large steps towards the Lockwood werewolf.
"You heard me," Tyler cockily murmured. "You don't seem to care for her anymore," the Lockwood werewolf stated as he shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be happy to take your place," Tyler added.
The Salvatore vampire tensely glared at Tyler before he released a shockingly loud snicker. "She may never forgive me for leaving and every other shitty thing I have done this summer," Stefan began before he announced with a wide smirk, "but she will never choose you."
The Lockwood werewolf felt all of the anger in the world rise up in his chest. Tyler could feel his body heating up as he glared at the Salvatore vampire. "I should just kill you, so Emily can finally move on from your sorry ass," Tyler snarled before he felt his shoulders beginning to break and pop -- product of the full moon trying to activate his wolf.
"Woah, woah, woah," Damon exclaimed as he quickly moved the werewolf away from his brother. "Forget about him," the elder Salvatore ordered as he focused his attention onto Tyler. "You need to go deal with the full moon right now," Damon reminded the werewolf.
Tyler tightly squeezed his brown eyes closed as he took a long and deep breath to calm down the anger he felt. "I can't," the Lockwood werewolf mumbled once he looked back at Damon. "I need to make sure Emily is safe," Tyler insisted.
The younger Salvatore felt his fingers twitch and the thought of killing Tyler quickly came back to his mind. Stefan absolutely despised the way the Lockwood werewolf was speaking of Emily. It was like Tyler was the worried boyfriend when it should be him.
"I got her," Damon quickly promised to the Lockwood werewolf. "You can't exactly be of any help to Emily if you're trying to eat her face off," the Salvatore vampire reminded Tyler.
Stefan released a cackle before a smirk rose onto his lips. "She definitely wouldn't love you, then," Stefan murmured as he taunted the werewolf.
Damon kept one hand tightly grasping the front of Tyler's shirt to keep him in place before Damon looked over to his brother with a glare. "Shut up," the eldest Salvatore ordered before he muttered, "you're a coward. You can't even face her."
"D-Damon, make sure she is okay," the Lockwood werewolf stuttered out while he tried to keep control of the beast inside of him. "Make sure Emily knows I didn't leave her. Make sure she knows what happened, okay?" Tyler desperately begged to the Salvatore vampire.
Tyler would honestly rather die than to ask a vampire for help but this was about Emily. The Lockwood werewolf didn't want Emily to become worried about him when she was already so stressed.
"I will," the eldest Salvatore promised before he pushed onto Tyler's chest. "Now go get somewhere safe and away from here," Damon ordered the werewolf. The last thing the Salvatore vampire wanted was to get bit by Tyler after helping him out.
The Lockwood werewolf quickly nodded at Damon before he moved his gaze over to Stefan. "You don't deserve her," Tyler muttered with a sharp glare to his brown eyes. Tyler didn't give the vampire a chance to reply as he quickly turned around and ran further into the woods before his anger could get the best of him again.
The Lockwood werewolf ran as fast as his legs could move to find somewhere secluded. Tyler didn't have the chains he usually used for his transformation this time around. The werewolf could only hope that Emily gets out of the Great Smoky Mountains very soon.
Meanwhile, the Gilbert twins and the Saltzman hunter were currently sitting in Alaric's black SUV with the sisters in the back and the hunter in the driver's seat. They were all very anxious as they each kept their eyes locked outside the windows for any sign of a vampire, a werewolf, or a hybrid.
"I don't like this," Emily mumbled after a good five minutes of tense silence had settled between them. "I don't like sitting and waiting for something to happen," the Radkova witch groaned as she threw her head back against the leather headrest.
"I should have gone with them," Emily whined.
"Hey, I'm sure they're okay," Elena quickly told her sister as she tightly grasped Emily's hand in her own. The Gilbert girl, of course, couldn't say that for certain but she knew Emily and herself needed to hear that right now. Elena could only hope and pray that everything was okay in those woods.
"Let the vampire and the werewolf fight the hybrid zombie mountain man," Alaric told the Gilbert sisters as he kept his blue eyes continuously glancing around the clearing with his crossbow tightly held on his lap. "I'll take care of keeping the humans safe," the Saltzman hunter stated.
"I'm a witch for crying out loud!" Emily exclaimed in frustration. "I should be out there help them," the Radkova witch mumbled.
"Sometimes a fight isn't always ours to step in," Alaric consoled the young witch as he turned around in his seat to face the Gilbert sisters. "It's okay to let someone else take the charge," the Saltzman hunter uttered, "you don't always have to be the one taking the brunt of it."
Emily couldn't help the tiny smile that rose onto her lips as she stared across the Saltzman hunter. Alaric's words were exactly what the Radkova witch needed to hear right now.
While Emily did hate feeling helpless by just sitting here and doing nothing, she knew the vampire hunter was right. This wasn't her fight to take part in. If she exposed herself and her magic right now, Klaus could see or find out about it. Emily knew she needed to keep herself hidden until it was time for them to bring Stefan back home.
The black SUV was silent for a minute or two before Elena busted out in a giggling fit. "You sound like a dad," the Gilbert girl murmured in amusement.
Alaric quickly turned his gaze over to the human girl in surprise. "What?" The Saltzman hunter gasped.
"It's a good thing!" Elena quickly promised as she waved her hand. "It's just really sweet how caring you are with us," the Gilbert girl explained with a small smile shining across her face.
"She's right," Emily jumped in as she agreed with her twin sister. "It's cute," the Radkova witch murmured with a light shrug of her right shoulder.
"Oh, whatever," the Saltzman hunter bashfully muttered before he quickly turned back around in his seat to hide the heating blush that rose onto his cheeks.
Alaric wasn't a big fan of compliments, so he chose to just ignore it and move on. Of course, it doesn't mean it didn't affect the Saltzman hunter. While Alaric acted like he was indifferent to the Gilbert sisters' words, it actually meant a lot to him.
Alaric had gone through a lot with Emily and Elena. Whether it be a pack of werewolves, original vampires, doppelgangers, or even the girls' mother and his ex-wife, Isobel. The Saltzman hunter had come to love the sisters as if they were his own daughters at this point.
"Awe, don't be embarrassed," Emily playfully cooed before she placed her left arm over the Saltzman hunter's back as she gave him a slight back hug. "You're like family to us," the Radkova witch told Alaric. "Thank you for looking out for us," Emily praised as she gave the hunter's shoulder a tight squeeze before she released him from her embrace.
"Yeah, well, someone has to," Alaric mumbled as he awkwardly scratched the side of his neck, "you Gilberts are quite stubborn."
"Hey!" Elena exclaimed before she jokingly added, "it's all apart of our charm!"
Alaric turned around in his seat once more to look at the twin sisters. The Saltzman hunter raised up his hand that adorned the magical Gilbert jewelry before he announced, "I'm keeping the ring by the way."
The Radkova witch quickly raised her hands up in innocence. "Hey, we wanted you to have it anyway," Emily told the Saltzman hunter with an amused grin playing on her lips.
The trio of the hunter, and the witch, and the human shared a series of chuckles before something suddenly caught Elena's attention. The Gilbert girl pressed her face against the cool window before she gasped, "it's Damon!"
Elena didn't even think twice as she quickly opened the back door to the Saltzman hunter's black SUV before she rushed out to her boyfriend.
"Lena! Wait!" The Radkova witch worriedly called out to her twin sister. Emily hurriedly jumped out of the SUV to follow after the human girl. They had no idea if there was any hybrids waiting in the distance to show themselves, so Emily definitely wasn't going to let Elena run off on her own.
Elena completely ignored her sister's warning as she ran straight into the Salvatore vampire's chest. The Gilbert girl tightly hugged Damon to her chest before she quickly pulled away. "What happened? Are you okay?" Elena worriedly asked as her brown eyes scanned her boyfriend's body.
"I'm fine," Damon promised as he grasped the human girl's face with his palms on either side of her cheeks to get Elena to focus on him and not looking for injuries. "Bite free and as handsome as ever," the Salvatore vampire muttered with a smirk before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss onto Elena's lips.
While the human and vampire couple were having their moment together, Emily quickly realized her best friend was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where's Tyler?" The Radkova witch worriedly asked. Emily couldn't help it but every single bad thought entered her head at the disappearance of the Lockwood werewolf.
Damon pulled away from his girlfriend and looked over to the Radkova witch. "He's okay," Damon assured the brunette. "He got the wolf tingles and had to go deal with them," the Salvatore vampire explained with a playful smirk. "By the time we make it back to Mystic Falls, he'll be there waiting for you," Damon promised.
Emily instantly released a breath of relief from the vampire's words. The Radkova witch felt so happy that nothing horrible had happened to Tyler. Not to mention, Emily was also very happy that the wolfsbane and her spell had worked this long from causing Tyler to transform. It meant no deadly bite for the Salvatore vampire like last time. Emily was really relieved for that.
Once the Radkova witch had calmed her thoughts and body down, Emily quickly remembered why she had been so worried to begin with. "Wait," Emily called out to the Salvatore vampire before she asked, "what even happened out there?"
Damon released a loud groan as he leaned his forehead against his girlfriend's temple. "Can I relax before you start interrogating me?" The Salvatore vampire whined from exhaustion.
"Let's just get out of here first," Alaric told the group as he anxiously glanced around the dark forest across from them. The Saltzman hunter wanted to get the sisters and himself as far away from the Great Smoky Mountains as possible right now. Alaric didn't like being this close to hybrids and werewolves during a full moon.
"Fine," Emily mumbled with a deep pout onto her lips. "But you're telling us everything you guys saw or I'm sparking you," the Radkova witch threatened Damon with a slight tone of playfulness in her voice as she flicked out flames from her fingertips. "I'll ask Tyler if the same, so you better not lie," Emily warned the vampire as she narrowed her green eyes at him.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Damon muttered as he lazily waved his hand at the Radkova witch. "Let's just get out of this hell hole," the Salvatore vampire mumbled.
The Radkova witch lightly chuckled as she slapped her palm against Damon's shoulder. "Come on, you big baby," Emily teased before she led the group back over to the Saltzman hunter's black SUV.
While Emily was all smiles while she teased the Salvatore vampire as the group finally relaxed a little bit from their tough day, Emily silently prayed to whoever was listening. Emily prayed that something did actually come out of them coming all this way to the Great Smoky Mountains. Most of all, Emily prayed that Damon and Tyler had found something useful during their chase with the hybrid.