*edited*

It's been a week. A week.
Dr. Saltzman had sent out an old friend of his to track down both Rafael, and Landon. The hunter was successful. Even after the kind letter Rafael left Laya, the two had barely spoken since he's been back.

In the matter of a week, the Salvatore School had only gotten worse. To top it off, two local girls went missing the night before. The Sheriff suspects the Salvatore School students can help solve his case.

"Given our recent influx of monsters, the Sheriff and I have decided we need to take drastic action. Please give him your full attention." Laya sat next to Hope, the pair of girls exchanged a hesitant glimpse before doing as instructed. They gave Sheriff Donavon their full attention.

"Like Dr. Saltzman was saying, local girls Dana Lilien and Sasha Stoteraux didn't come home last night. Now, Dana sometimes skips town for a few days to party, but this is a first for Sasha." Students passed the photos of the missing girls, whispering amongst themselves as they were able to put a faces to the names.

Dana Lilien was popular for making the life of any Salvatore School student a living hell. Sasha though, her eyes were kind. She didn't seem like a child who would normally get into trouble.

Laya passed the photo along to the girl on her left, refocusing on the podium. "Thank you, Sheriff Donavon. Now, while the knife is away with Dorian and things are quiet on this end, it won't hurt to assume the worst." Laya paused, realizing Dorian could be in trouble.

"If Dana and Sasha ... "

"Dude, if you don't stop mugging me. You heard Ol' Blue Eyes." Curiously, Laya fixated her hearing on the vampires. They're conversation sounded much more interesting than two missing girls.

"Dana has a history of running away."

"I saw you feed on her," MG whispered back.

"Yeah, feed. Not kidnap. MG, I'm telling you━vampire, to vampire━this ain't on me." The conversation sounded over from there. For the most part, Laya trusted Kaleb. He wasn't a killer, that was for sure.

"Now, I'll need a few of you to volunteer to go to Mystic Falls High under the guise of an exchange program meant to improve relations between our schools, which unfortunately, is necessary, given recent events. Now, I give you permission to compel them, to gather materials for locator spells, because any information we can get will make all the difference.

Dramatically, Lizzie stood.

'𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. '

Laya chortled, merely glimpsing over to Hope. "Well, I guess that I can set aside my differences with Dana for a day, because that is what heroes do." Laya scoffed, from across the way she could hear Penelope snort into her hands.

"So... " Lizzie turned to her father. "I volunteer as tribute."

' 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘢 '

Laya let slip a giggle, the witch sitting to her left gave her an odd look earning a smile from Hope. "You're gonna be real embarrassed when I prove you wrong," Kaleb muttered pushing off of his seat. "I'm in."

Laya's head turned just as MG shot up from his seat. "I'm in, too."

Hope went to stand, and Laya tried to pull her back to but to no avail. "I'd like to help."

Laya stepped up to Rafael's door. Now that Landon was back, and identified as some sort of mystical creature he was aloud to stay, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

"Do you think they're gonna kick me out?"

"They gave you some clothes. I think that's a good sign."

Laya could hear clothes moving, almost like Landon tossed his hands in the air. "From 1993." Laya let slip a giggle. The pair whispered something inaudible to the hybrid before the door to Rafael's dorm got viscously pulled open.

Laya flinched at the sudden action, Landon stood in the doorframe. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop."

Rapidly, Landon shook his head back and fourth. "No, uh, it's alright. Come in." Laya stepped in. Immediately, the hybrid caught Rafael's gaze.

Laya stared for a moment. It was quiet, an intense exchange between the wolves. Finally, Rafael's lips drew into a smile, and he patted the open spot next to him.

Laya padded over, gently sitting down. Rafael fixated his attention back on his brother. "Come on, man. We have both been places where nobody has wanted us before. You know the drill."

"Yeah. Keep my head down, make myself useful, don't pick fights."

"Exactly."

Still sitting on the bed, Laya cocked an eyebrow. "Don't listen to him. That's not living, that's fear of rejection. Landon, if you got any problem with 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, you come to me, alright? I'll handle it."

Hesitantly, Landon gave the girl a nod. Laya seemed pretty confident in her abilities. He should be fine. 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦.

"We need today to go well, Lan." Laya shook her head pushing off the comforter. "No. You need this to go perfect." Once again, Landon sent them hybrid a nod. "Otherwise, I'm as good as gone."

Landon grabbed his duffel from behind Laya heading for the door with Rafael close on his tail. Loudly clearing his throat, Dr. Saltzman stopped in front of the boy's door.

"Landon. You have a minute? I think you might be of some use today." Rafael swallowed hard anxious by the tone of Alaric's voice. Laya nudged the werewolf in the shoulder giving him a reassuring smile.

*******************

Sitting in the mess hall, Laya hummed along to the song playing through her earbuds whilst she studied her offensive spells. The magic wasn't yet sanctioned at the Salvatore School, but sometimes rules were meant to be broken.

In the empty spot next to Laya, Rafael set down his tray. The hybrid turned, smiling warmly as she pulled an earbud from her ear.

"You know, the wolves usually eat outside," Laya informed. "Then why are you in here?"

Laya chortled, amused by the wolf's response, "Touché." Laya glimpsed back down at her notebook silently repeating the spells in her mind. "Besides, I'd rather hang with you."

Laya let slip an unintentional giggle. "I didn't see you at the assembly." It was a weak attempt at changing the subject, but Rafael didn't seem to much mind.

"I'm kinda still figuring my way around this place." Laya knew it was a lie. She could see how uncomfortable Rafael felt. He didn't yet believe he belonged.

"If you need anything━"

"I know. You got me, like you got Landon. Which reminds me, thanks for promising to watch out for him. No one else here actually cares."

Laya frowned. "Landon's good people. Pretty nice, kinda wimpy though." Rafael laughed. "Speaking of Landon, why didn't you ditch and go play detective with all the other kids?"

Laya snorted, glancing yet again down at the spells scribbled into her notebook. "Well, I'm actually working on offensive spells for class. They only teach defensive magic here, but I personally think that the curriculum needs to evolve."

Rafael made a face, looking down on Laya's notes. "What?"

"Oh, nothing."

"What?" Laya repeated with a smile.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around this being a normal conversation here." Simultaneously, Laya and Rafael shared a laugh. "Got it. So ... meaning you're happy to be back?"

Rafael paused, pondering over the question. "I'll be happy when I know Landon can stay." It was a truthful answer. Laya could see how much the apparently not so humanly hapless human meant to Raf.

"I hope he can for your sake. And his." Laya grabbed Rafael's speaking quietly. "You need to be careful of Jed. He can be mean when he doesn't get what he wants."

"And what is that?"

"You."

Right on time, two firm hands massaged Laya's shoulder in a comforting manner. "Laya, you mind if Rafael and I have a little chat?"

Laya pulled away from the alpha's grasp, faking a smile. "No problem." With her short answer, Laya pushed herself out of her seat.

"Soon as Laya and I are done," Raf interjected.

"Actually, newb, I'm your alpha. You're done when I say you're done. Same goes for Laya. Only difference is, she knows to obey." Nervously, Laya fixated her gaze on the table.

Some part of her was furious at being shy of Jed. Nobody made her shy. Emilio stepped up behind Rafael just as the new boy stood.

Rafael took a bite from his baby carrot, glaring challengingly Jed's way. Laya pulled out her phone showing the two wolves the screen, "Well, would you look at the time. As fun as this hurricane of toxic masculinity is, I have to get to class."

"I'll walk you." Laya grabbed her books off her table just for Raf to take them from her hands. Laya snatched up her phone shoving it in her back pocket with the earbuds still attached.

The hybrid then proceeded to head past Jed, Rafael by her side. A strong force landed on Laya's rear causing the girl to whip around.

Rafael glared at Jed. Laya simply smiled, taking Raf's hand and pulling him away from the alpha.

After class, Laya found herself talking to Rosa. Emilio's twin sister. They chatted for awhile until Rosa realized she was late to her class.

After losing her only friend to school, Laya decided to go to her dorm ready for a nap. That's when she heard it. It started as one loud thud, and a boy cried out. Then it got worse, Laya could hear rhythmic hits landing on something, or 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦.

Laya hurried over to the sound. Lying on the ground, surrounded by wolves, Rafael was getting the ultimate beat down.

𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦. Laya knew she wasn't supposed to interfere in pack's initiations, but she couldn't help it. "Hey!" It was a weak attempt. The wolves ignored her call.

Laya's eyes fell shut as she concentrated on pulling power from her wolf. Laya's eyes morphed into a striking electric blue. "I said 𝘏𝘌𝘠 !"

The wolves who were previously attacking Raf, fell to the ground. They screamed as a deafening ring pierced their ears. When the magic stopped, all the wolves ran, but one.

Jed stood as Rafael tried to push off of the ground. Jed was faster though. In one swift blow, Jed's foot landed on Rafael's cheek. "To be continued."

When Jed left, Laya rushed over to the beaten boy's side. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Get off of me!" Eyes glowing a bright gold, Rafael pushed the hybrid back. Blood dripped from his mouth as he pushed off of the ground. "Just ... stay away from me."

Laya fell back onto her rear watching the new wolf trudge away. Sitting there, the hybrid contemplated the consequences of helping Rafael. What did she do?

Overall, Laya made a decision. Rafael did deserve her help. He was a newly transitioned wolf, it was normal for him to have outbursts.

It didn't take much for Laya to track him down. Rafael was in the old mill behind the school having what Laya liked to call an anger attack. A more violent version of a panic attack.

"Raf. Raf!"

"I told you to leave me alone!" Rafael growled out.

"No. I can't do that until you━No. Just calm down!" Laya tried to soothe.

Rafael grabbed Laya's shoulders, "It's not━it's not safe."

"Calm down!"

"It's not safe! Get away!"

Laya remembered it all. The rage, the pain of recently losing a loved one. Laya completely understood Rafael. She just want him to know he wasn't alone. Like Marcel did for her.

"Calm down." Laya could hear her voice strengthen. The hybrid focused on how her brother taught her. "Close your eyes and breathe." Rafael's eyes screwed shut doing as he was told. "Just like me."

Rafael was still panting, but it was slower. "Good." Laya's hand fell on Rafael's chest, soothingly massaging him. "Breathe." When Rafael's heart beat steadied, Laya smiled softly. "Good. That's more like it."

Rafael's eyes peeled open, and the wolf met Laya's gaze. "Was that magic?"

Laya chuckled softly. "No. Just ... months of my brother teaching me, I guess."

"I didn't mean to scare you."

Once again, Laya laughed gently. "No. You can't scare me." Rafael pulled away, looking to anything but Laya's penetrating gaze. "Hey. Hey."

Finally, Rafael's vision fixated on the kind hybrid. "What scares me is that you're dead if you don't submit." Rafael sighed glimpsing to the door behind Laya. "Hey, no, it's just the way it is."

"You were the one talking about making a change, right?"

Laya scoffed. "I meant adding an elective, not launching a revolution."

"Laya━"

"Jed's an alpha, okay? We're wolves, okay? That's just the way it is. There's no other way."

"Kelaya." Her full name being called, pulled Laya's attention to where Raf was pointing. On the upper level of the mill, hanging from the ceiling was some sort of white substance.

It got eerily quiet. Laya made a decision. The hybrid quietly hiked up the stairs, Rafael following close on her trail.

In the middle of the upstairs, covered in whatever this white substance seemed to be, lie a human being. Slowly, Laya stepped closer. "It's Sasha."

Pulling some of the white stuff away from Sasha's face, the human girl suddenly gasped, her eyes flying open.

Surprised, Laya stumbled back, falling into the white substance. "Uh..."

"Are you okay?" Rafael inquired.

"No, Raf, I think I'm stuck." Laya was beginning to panic, she couldn't get out. Rafael tried to help, clawing at the white matter it only stuck onto Rafael's hand as well.

Trying to stay calm, Laya scanned the room. There was nothing there. 𝘠𝘦𝘵. Laya gave up on trying to stay calm. Her mind already playing through the worst━case scenario. "Raf, were stuck."

Laya was scared to say the least. Thrashing around, the hybrid tried to desperately to pull away from the webbing. "This is bad," Laya declared. "Whatever spun this, it's gonna come back and its gonna eat us."

"Can't you just witch us outta here?"

Laya breathing wasn't growing uneven. "It's━it's not that simple. I can't. I'm scared."

"Hey, it's okay."

"You don't understand. It's my stupid emotions. I can't━I can't focus when I'm scared like this." It was hard for Laya to admit that. She was scared all the time, but it wasn't very often the hybrid got stuck in a life or death situation.

"So, uh, so you just gotta be happy." It sounded as though Rafael was speaking more to himself than Laya. "Oh, screw it."

Rafael stepped forward shoving his lips onto Laya's own. For only a second, Raf pulled away before pushing back into this kiss again.

Laya smiled leaning her forehead onto Rafael's. "That was unexpected."

The wolf's cheeks tinged a light pink as he looked to the ground, "Sorry."

"Don't be." Finally, Rafael lifted his head, smiling softly. "Uh.. did it work?"

"I don't know. The room's still spinning." The sound of footsteps lingered in the background of Laya's hearing. "Someone's coming."

A pale boy from Mystic Halls high with sandy colored hair, stepped into the mill. If Laya remembered correctly, that was the same boy who tossed a milkshake on Lizzie whilst the Salvatore students got stuck doing community service.

"Hey! Hey! We're trapped up here!"

"Connor?" Laya remembered.

The boy turned, showing his full face. The right half wasn't human. No skin. It looked to be a colossal spider. That would explain the unnatural amount of spider webs.

"Damn," Rafael whispered.

Revealing his face, more of the skin fell off of his face. Now, fully revealed as an Arachne with a human body, the spider rapidly clawed up the wall of the mill.

"Laya, now would be a good time for one of those offensive magic spells you were talking about."

Laya's eyes morphed into their cerulean counterpart, and the hybrid yelled, "𝘐𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴!"

Red hot flames flew from Laya's palm, and landed on the Arachne. The blast knocked the spider off it's tracks. Leaving it in flames as the monster shrieked.

"Alright, I think you got him." When the flames fanned out, leaving nothing more than smoldering skin, the Arachne gave out another screech. "Or, we just pissed him off."

The human body had completely melted, and now Laya was staring at a full on spider. A monster more terrifying in its authentic form.

In the matter of seconds, the Arachne disappeared. One thing any being on the planet earth knew. A spider is never really that scary... until it disappears.

"I think he's still out there." Right on time, the Arachne let out another deafening screech. It crawled out onto the beams. In a single jump, the spider was above Laya's head.

The hybrid screamed. "Hey! Douchebag!" The Arachne turned, and Landon's face dropped realizing he'd actually done exactly what he was planning to, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

"Oh." Landon hastily left the mill as Hope so heroically entered. "I hate spiders," the tribrid muttered. Rafael turned to Laya. "You need to get us outta here."

Laya looked around, "Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap."

" ... do I need to kiss you again?"

Laya shook her head; closing her eyes, all she needed to do was concentrate. Laya could feel her own power flooding in.

The hybrid's eyes flew open, "𝘜𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳." The webbing released Laya's hands.

Laya waved her hand, freeing Rafael as well. Now escaped, the first thing Rafael did was pull Laya into a hug. "Your eyes ..."

"... they're blue." Laya smiled, nodding. Bringing her back to her reality, Hope yelled. "Lizzie, I need your help!"

Laya bounded down there stairs to help Hope. "Laya, take my hand." Doing as told, Laya took her hand in her own. Lizzie followed after the hybrid.

"Repeat after me," Hope instructed. "𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘴." The three witches repeated the spell. Slowly, still holding on to each other, the witches raised their hands.

Finally, the Arachne flew back into the railing of the mill's second level. With their last word, the spider exploded. Stray meat, and orange blood soaked the entire mill including the three girls.

Following Lizzie and Hope our of the mill, the girls met up with the boys. Rafael had gotten Sasha from the webbing.

Apparently, Raf escaped whilst the girls fought the Arachne. And they won.

   Laya could've taken a hundred showers, and never actually felt like she got the orange Arachne blood off of her. The goo stuck to her as an eery reminder of the previous day's events. "Was she bitten?"

"No," Laya replied calmly. The hybrid's eyes fell on MG compelling Sasha. It didn't seem to right to her. It didn't seem fair that she had to remember everything bad that ever happened to her. Her brain liked to keep a permanent log of all of her worst experiences.

Laya left. She didn't want to watch anymore.

'𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳?'

'𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺'

Leaning against the wall of the Salvatore School's entrance hall, Rafael waited. When Laya noticed the boy, he smiled. "I, uh, didn't want to go to the wolves by myself."

Laya grinned throwing her arm around his neck and directing the wolf  through the labyrinth of the Salvatore School.

Finally, the pair came upon the basketball court. Together, Rafael and Laya hid behind a column on the outer rings of the gym. "Are you sure that you want to do this?" Laya questioned. "You know I got your back, whatever your decision."

Rafael sighed, pacing in a small circle. "You saw what they did to me. I don't think going lone wolf's an option anymore. Do you?"

Laya tossed her hands in the air defensively, "Don't look at me. I'm already a part of the pack."

"Look, after Cassie died, I thought Landon was the only pack that I'd ever have. I didn't think that I needed anyone else. Be honest with me. Is this school, these people ... keeping Landon here ━ is it worth it?"

Laya glimpsed back to the court. In one swift movement, Emilio had snatched the medicine ball from Jed. A cheeky grin graced his lips.

"This place is flawed," Laya admitted. "Every single person here is cursed in some whether it's blood or just life. Everyone has issues of their own that they're dealing with. But, we're all in this together. Every single person here, we look out for each other."

Laya's vision fell back on the pack. The hybrid watched her friends with a small smile. "So, yeah. It's worth it. And if everyone decides that Landon isn't, I'll have his back just like I got yours. No one here is alone."

Laya looped her arm in Rafael's pulling a grin onto her face. "Now, come on." Laya directed the boy to the middle of the court. The hybrid pulled her thumb and her pointy finger in her mouth sucking hard. A high pitched screech of a whistle caught the pack's attention as they all stopped simultaneously.

The ball, having been dropped rolled over to Laya, and Rafael's feet. "Little help?" Rafael gave Laya a hesitant glance to which the girl replied with a smile.

With that, Raf picked up the ball tossing it to Jed. "Foster kid, Laya. You back for more?" Laya silently prayed Jed didn't know she had stopped his little 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 earlier. Right on time, Jed questioned, "Or did you bring Laya to protect you again?"

Laya found the wooden tiles more interesting than Jed's penetrating glare focused on her. "I killed my girlfriend." Laya's eyes flew up finding Rafael's face surprised by the confession.

"It was an accident. I was behind the wheel, and I lost control. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. Landon had to tell me that she was dead, and I don't know anything else. Am I apart of the pack now?"

The silence was burning and uncomfortable. Rafael's fingers found Laya's pulling them into a comforting hold. "Take a knee."

Laya met Jed's gaze, "What?"

"He's gonna submit to his alpha, he takes a knee." Rafael turned to Laya, the hybrid having captured her bottom lip with her teeth in a brutal hold. Jed stepped back with a smirk.

"Nah, I'm just playing. It's your ball." Jed tossed the medicine ball back to Rafael. "You're in the next round."

Laya grinned at the alpha, excited by Rafael's entering into the pack. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave."

Rafael's eyebrows pulled into a concerned furrow, "What? No, stay."

Jed smirked. "Yeah, stay. The game is nothing without the infamous Laya Jones." The hybrid laughed, "Well, just so you know, y'all suckers going down."

Landon Kirby sat on the docks behind the school. The human boy skipped rocks upon the lake's surface when he felt a presence standing behind him.

Landon truly didn't care enough to look. With everything that happened that day, he was beginning to grow tired of the Salvatore School. "So much for my plan to spend the day as a normal teenage girl."

Landon didn't understand Hope Mikaelson. Some part of him was wondering if she wanted his sympathy, but after their previous interactions she wasn't going to get much. "Did good back there."

The compliment confused Landon. "Yeah," was all the boy could get out. "Felt nice to be part of the the team ..." Landon grabbed another rock from the pile he had collected. "... until you all accused me of being a monster."

Landon finally met Hope's gaze. Unintentionally noticing how the moonlight accentuated all of her best features. How her skin almost looked angelic.

Hope's face fell, "I'm sorry."

Landon looked away. The tension between the two could've been cut with a plastic knife. "It's just gonna take us some time before we can trust you again."

"Yeah. I got that. Repeatedly." Anger swelled in Landon's chest, the bonsai headed boy had grown impatient.

"So, let me lay this all out for you at once. I don't know why I was drawn to that knife anymore than I can explain why a supersized spider inhabited the body of a kid who used to bully me in high school. I don't know why creatures we've only read about in books are make cameos in Mystic Falls. I don't have an explanation for any of this."

Landon paused, inhaling sharply. "And let's be honest, neither do any of you. So as far as I can see, we're supposed to be in this together. And this morning, all I wanted to be was sitting here. Part of all of this. Spending time with you. But all day long you ridiculed me, and then you hung me out to dry. When it mattered. You wanted to know what it's like to be normal? Congrats, Hope. You're officially normal."

Landon pushed off of the docks, kicking his pile of rocks into the lake. Landon headed back for the school's gates not wanting to stay with Hope any longer.

Walking down the gravel rode, Landon was abruptly knocked off of his feet. The human could feel a section of his palm was skinned by the dirt below him.

Like before in the werewolf transitioning cell, a force invisible to Landon's own eyes pulled him through the trees. Finally, it stopped, dropping him in the dark.

Insects trilled, but Landon couldn't see anything. "Raf?" Landon called out anxiously. "Don't worry." The voice was female, it sounded oddly familiar. "We're just here to warn you."

Landon threw his hands in the air. "Well, go ahead then."

"It's about the girl your friend has been getting cozy with." It took a moment for Landon to understand who he was speaking about. Then, it struck him. Laya.

"She murdered her family. The only one who survived was her brother. Then, he was brutally killed to whilst she watched. Laya's screwed up, okay? I just wanted to warn you and your boy."

Landon truly believed someone was pulling his leg. Someone was messing with him. Or maybe, someone had gotten jealous of Rafael's new friendship with the hybrid. Landon played along.

"She just seems so ... 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵."

A loud scoff broke through the silence of the woods. "About as innocent as a murderous lion." Landon tried so hard to see the boy who was now speaking. Whoever it was smart though. The shadows covered his face, hiding his identity.

"You never told me who you were."

"Doesn't matter ━ just keep your boy away from her."

"Okay."

No response. Landon assumed the pair had left. Suddenly realizing he was alone, the human hurried back to the Salvatore School. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴?

After the wolves played a few rounds, Rafael volunteered to walk Laya back to Hope's room. The pair would stop at Laya's dorm to get her some clothes for the next day.

Laya grabbed a few things tossing them in her only duffel. Standing outside her door waiting, was Rafael.

At the sight of the new boy, Laya grinned. She understood she needed to get a handle of her emotions around him, but he left her on a repeating short circuit. Laya need to talk to Dorian. He was the only one who understood her.

Together, Laya and Rafael began their trek to Hope's dorm. "I got a question." Laya smiled, a gesture signaling for Rafael to proceed. "I understand if you don't wanna answer."

Now, Laya was curious. "Go on."

"What's going on with you and Jed?"

Laya sighed, finding the maroon carpet more interesting than the change of conversation. It was a liable question. Everyone wanted to know.

"It's complicated."

"So, you two are together?"

"Um, no. We're just friends. He's kind of, uh, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦."

"Most people call that possessive." Laya's front teeth captured her bottom lip in a merciless hold. Rafael could sense the hybrid was growing uncomfortable, but he had to know one more thing about his apparent new alpha. "Is he gonna be mad at me for earlier?"

Laya shook her head rapidly. The hybrid knew she was lying, Jed would probably send the pack after Rafael if he ever found out. Laya didn't want to think about that though.

The rest of the walk was silent. After their painfully long hike, Laya and Raf stopped in front of Hope's door. Laya stopped, pulling on a fake smile as she turned to Rafael. "Thanks for walking me."

Rafael grinned back at the girl before he shook his head which only confused Laya. "Screw Jed, this is worth it." Laya still didn't understand. Rafael gently grabbed the back of Laya's head, pulling her closer before shoving his lips onto hers.

Explosions flew from the kiss. It was passionate, but soft. Almost as though Rafael was worried if he pushed to hard, he'd break her. "Cough cough."

Laya's eyes pulled open, glancing both ways. On her right, stood a smirking Hope. And on her left, a cheeky grin graced MG's lips.

It took one simultaneous glimpse between Laya and Rafael to laugh. Hope giggled watching the two. Finally, the pair stopped. "Laya, as your best friend, I'm instructing you to tell Rafael goodbye and get inside."

"But, 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘦," Laya whined.

Hope cocked a sassy eyebrow, and Laya sighed. "Thanks for walking me." Rafael nodded. Before she knew it, Rafael had Laya wrapped tightly in his arms.

Giddily, Laya stepped into Hope's dorm. Hope followed her, bidding her farewell to Rafael before shutting the door. Laya was ready to tell Hope everything.

They usually kept each other updated on everything, but since Rafael had enrolled in the Salvatore School Laya's life's been hectic.

Before Laya had the chance though, Dr. Saltzman had entered Hope's dorm like it was his own. "I specifically asked you to wait." Hope launched forward out of her bed ready to protest. "I know, but ━"

"No buts." Laya let slip an unintentional giggle earning the glare of Alaric.

"But━" Hope repeated.

"━No buts. There are no buts, Hope."

Laya kept her maturity in control deciding it best to stay quiet. "Being a hero is not more important than being safe."

"I'm not a hero, Dr. Saltzman. The only reason I was trying to be is because Lizzie has been treating me like a social mishap, and maybe, for once, I actually cared."

Laya twiddled with the stitching in Hope's comforter. "Look, the only reason she hates you so much is because she wants to prove herself to me. Because, I trust you for reasons that I hope Lizzie never has to experience. That's why I founded this school. That's why there are rules."

Dr. Saltzman's gaze landed on Laya, and the girl scoffed. "The only reason why we're alive today is because we broke the rules. "Today, Hope did a spell that saved us, a spell that we would've known if the school taught us offensive magic. And then Lizzie ━ 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 almost dies yesterday because you didn't tell us to be on the lookout for monsters."

Hope watched Laya with a small smile. "The past couple of days have proven that you cannot protect us from everything," Laya continued strongly.

"We have to start learning how to protect ourselves." Dr. Saltzman glanced to Hope sitting on her own bed. Alaric rubbed his temple heaving out a sigh. "Oh, God."

"Is this that moment they talk about when teachers lose all control?"

"Dr. Saltzman," the girl spoke simultaneously.

Alaric sighed, "I will take it under consideration. Okay? Now... go to bed."

Once the headmaster exited the girl's dorm, Hope turned to Laya. "Where did that come from?" The hybrid smirked, the previous events lingering in her thoughts. "I guess I felt like launching a revolution."

Laya laid back onto her pillow. "You want to talk about it?" The hybrid giggled, pushing off of her bed to sit up. The girls stared at each other smiling in unison. "You would not believe the day I had."