A Different Breed ▻ Legacies [1]

17

"What even happened between you and Jed?" Rafael asked Valerie curiously as they walked down the hallway together, "Something's up with the way he was around you. He even calls you by your nickname and it seems like the only ones who do that are the people that you consider close to you."

"You call me, 'Val', does that mean you're close to me?" Valerie questioned curiously, clearly trying to change the subject on purpose.

Rafael sighed, shaking his head, "You do that a lot, don't you?" He asked her, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Do what?" Valerie replied. She knew what he was talking about, but wanted him to actually say it.

"Change the subject," Rafael replied, "When you don't want to answer something, you change the subject."

 Valerie sighed out, knowing damn well that he was right. She was silent for a brief moment as she walked down the hallway together, not knowing whether or not to tell him. Finally, she decided that she trusted Rafael enough to tell him the backstory about her and Jed, "Last year, we hooked up a couple times. What I didn't know was he was technically using me, trying to get closer to me to convince me to join the pack. I got mad at this and the anger got the best of me."

"What'd you do to him?" Rafael asked, his eyes wide.

"I clawed his face," She replied quietly, sounding ashamed as she covered her face. Rafael couldn't help but laugh at this, causing her to sigh, "It's not funny, Rafael! I was really hurt. I don't like when people use me and I take revenge to a whole other level. Just like my mother."

  "I can see that," Rafael laughed once more as they continued to walk together.

   Meanwhile later, Valerie left, Rafael was about to walk up to the second floor when Jed appeared, "Foster Kid. I've been looking for you," he greeted Rafael.

 Rafael placed a fake smile on his face, about to turn around, "I'll catch up with you later. I was actually just looking for Valerie before we headed to class." He lied to the werewolf, turning around only to be cornered by two other werewolves.

 Rafael seemed to be confused as to what to do before he finally walked up to set of stairs to talk to Jed face to face, "Look, uh, Jed, right?" He asked and Jed quietly chuckled, "I don't want any problems."

"Neither do we," Jed replied, "We just want to initiate you into the pack. Same with Val. Okay. The process is simple. You triggered your werewolf curse this month, which means you killed somebody recently. Maybe on purpose, maybe not. All you gotta do is tell us the story. That's our rite of passage."

"Yeah, I'm not really a pack kinda guy," Rafael replied, not showing any fear towards Jed.

  As Rafael went to get past him, Jed stepped in his way, "You still don't get it, do you?" He asked him annoyed, "You don't have a choice. You can either submit or you can bleed and then submit. It's your call."

 Rafael was in deep thought for a long moment, trying to think of what to do. Finally, he ran forward, trying to make a run for it. Before he could, Jed, grabbed him up and threw him over the railing. Rafael fell through the air until he hit the ground hard, causing him to groan in pain.

 Jed hopped over the railing, landing on his feet before the rest of his pack joined him. One of Jed's pack members held Rafael up as the other punched him numerous times in the face. As he went to go punch him again, Rafael caught his hand, only to be punched harder.

As he let him go, the other pack member punched him in the stomach before letting Rafael fall forward. As he did this, Jed ended up kicking him in the face, causing Rafael to fell on his back hard.

 All three werewolves began to kick Rafael repeatedly to make him learn his lesson to hurry up and join the pack. 

 Hearing the fight, Valerie rounded the corner to see what was happening, "Hey, stop it!" She shouted loudly, but she didn't get a reaction. 

 Seeing no other way, Valerie glanced around to make sure there were no teachers around before lifting her hands up, "I said, stop it!" She yelled out angrily, causing the whole hallway to shake, including the chandeliers and walls. The wolves screamed out in agony, clutching their heads as they dropped to their knees.

 As Jed's pack members ran away, Jed stood back up, glancing over to Valerie, who glared at him angrily. Rafael went to go sit up, only to have Jed kick him hard in the face, "To be continued. I'll be back for you, too, Val. Remember." Jed glanced between Valerie and Rafael before walking off.

 Once Jed and his pack were gone, Valerie ran over to Rafael, kneeling next to him. Blood stained his teeth and he was badly beaten, "Hey, are you okay?" Valerie asked Rafael concerned, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Get off of me!" Rafael shouted at her, lifting his head up to reveal his eyes glowing yellow as he inhumanly growled.

 Unlike anyone else who would have been in her position, Valerie didn't flinch at all, she didn't even move a single muscle. Beginning to calm down, Rafael weakly stood up, "Just stay away from me. It's better that way. Just stay away." He told her before walking off.

 Still kneeling on the floor, Valerie watched as Rafael limped away. A sad look grew on her face as he watched him do so. She felt as though, if it wasn't for her, Rafael would have joined the pack. He saw her as a lone wolf and probably thought he could do the same exact thing. But that wasn't how it went.

 Valerie was able to scare them off any time they tried to get her to initiate. But she always knew she wouldn't be able to hold them off forever. Valerie finally stood up, in deep thought. She thought about it; If she were to join the pack, she could help keep Rafael protected against all the bad things that came with being a part of a part. That's if he ever spoke to her again.