I Hate That I Love You

Chapter 5

"I'm your new Alpha, now," Hope smiled.

Dissent rose through the pack in an instant.

"Are you kidding me?" "She doesn't count as a wolf-" "She's a filthy vampire!" "There's no way in hell we're letting a bloodsucker become-"

"If you think I don't deserve the role of becoming your leader," Hope said, raising her voice above the crowd's, "Any of you are free to come down here and challenge me to a fight."

After a few seconds of nervous chatter, a burly boy with rippling muscles stepped forward.

"Carlos," Hope greeted him cheerfully. "How brave of you to take me up on my offer. Shall we?"

Lizzie watched, entranced by the level of confidence Hope possessed.

Carlos made the first move. He leaped into the air, and came hurtling down towards Hope. Contrary to what the universal law of gravity dictated, Hope didn't crumble under Carlos's weight. Instead, she grabbed him by his wrist and flung him aside easily, as though he were nothing more than a small puppy dog.

Everyone gasped when Carlos's body went flying into the opposite wall of the arena. The marble walls cracked on impact, and Carlos fell to the ground, unconscious and barely breathing.

"Who's next?" Hope asked as she dusted her hands off.

A girl who was either really brave or really stupid made her way to the front of the crowd. Within thirty seconds, the girl had been beaten unconscious by Hope, who hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Hey!" Finch shouted, when Hope continued to punch the girl's face again and again, even though several seconds had passed by since she had fallen unconscious. "Leave her alone! You've made your point, okay?" Finch said.

Hope tilted her head and stared at Finch. "You're the new girl," Hope said. She dropped the girl's bloodied body and gave Finch her full attention.

"I'm guessing you don't know how things work around here, so I'll let you off the hook just this once," Hope said. "But if you care about the safety of your own life, you'd do well to remember... Never, ever, threaten a Mikaelson."

Hope's eyes flitted over to Lizzie and MG. Lizzie sunk against the wall, and tried her best to melt into the background.

"So the rumour's true," Hope laughed. "One of the Salvatore School's little lambs decided to walk straight into our wolf den. How are you feeling after last night, MG?"

The wolves began to gather around them, eagerness glinting in their eyes. Clearly, the bad feelings they had for Hope could be easily brushed aside at the prospect of watching Salvatore students get humiliated.

"If I were you, I'd be thrilled. Your work has caught the attention of all the local news stations. What are your plans for making it to national television? Oh- Causing a massacre at a college, perhaps?" Hope smiled. "Or maybe you can take a leaf out of the book belonging to the man your adorable little school was named after. I heard Monterey is fabulous this time of year- why not go wipe the entire place out, just like Stefan Salvatore did?"

Lizzie stared at Hope. How was this evil person the same girl who had gotten furious at Kaleb for putting people's lives at risk? 

Perhaps the answer was as simple as any. Hope Mikaelson only had one rule, and that was 'never kill'. Clearly, she didn't care that much about hurting other people's feelings or tormenting them with their greatest fears.

"Let's get out of here," Lizzie muttered to MG, pulling him out of the arena as the wolves threw taunts at them.

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