Warrior | Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 4

"There wasn't much room to be triggering anything," said Graciela. "I was always being monitored. I would never do it intentionally, and as for accidents... we were guarded from that. Once, my brother Carlos got into an accident because he was speeding on the highway. He called my dad immediately and he paid big money to get the best doctors on the case, and miraculously, the guy he hit survived, only barely. He was paralyzed, but alive. My other siblings were more careful."

"Triggering your curse sucks, but if it ever happens, you just accept it and move on. Don't let the guilt drag you down. You'll never forget the fact you killed someone but if you use your powers for good... then you make peace with it. Just be better than your siblings and trust me... you'll be fine."

Graciela was silent for a moment. "Thank you," she said about a minute later. "Nobody ever gave me advice like that."

Hayley didn't respond. She motioned for her to stop, then suddenly swiped her leg out, knocking Graciela to the floor in time to whirl around and catch two arrows that were shot at them. "Is that your best shot?" asked Hayley, taunting whoever fired the arrows. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that if you're gonna kill a hybrid."

Graciela sat up, seeing a man with a sword. "Hayley," she said nervously. "Are you sure you can fight a guy with a sword when you don't have a sword?"

"STOP!"

There was no fight, thankfully. Hayley whirled around to face the man with dark hair that approached from behind. "Jackson?" she said.

"Hayley," he responded, "I see you met my friend Ansel."

The man with the sword was confused. "You know her?"

"Yeah, actually, I do," said Jackson. "She was supposed to be my wife." He motioned for them to follow him over to a trailer, which had a seating area outside of it. "Who's your friend?"

"The Guerrera Miracle Baby," said Hayley. "Jackson, Graciela. Graciela, Jackson."

He tensed. "You brought a Guerrera here?"

"Elijah took her in. He found her at the house and because her siblings gave her only their side of the story, he made sure she got the right one. She's a Mikaelson now, apparently."

Jackson sat down. "After Francesca Guerrera took over the wolves, she offered me a moonlight ring as long as I'd call her Alpha. I declined. So, a couple of her brothers dragged me out here and left me for dead."

"I'm sorry about that," said Graciela softly.

"Wasn't you that did it," he replied. "No hard feelings." He rubbed his hand over his face. "By the time I healed up, word had spread about what happened to you, and to your baby." Hayley looked down, and it dawned on Graciela that not even Jackson knew the truth about Hope. "So, I knew it was over, and I just drifted. And that's when I met Ansel. See, he's been teaching me the old ways, the traditions. What it means to be a wolf."

Hayley scoffed playfully, "You mean by living out in the ass-end of nowhere?" She laughed loudly, but Ansel was not amused.

"Hey, easy," said Jackson. "Your kind makes him ornery."

She frowned. "My kind? Jack, whatever you and your friend think of me, my kind is the wolves. Even if they did pledge allegiance to a witch. All that means is they need an Alpha. Ollie needs one, too."

"Yeah, I heard about that. The thing is, Ollie betrayed me. He plotted with the Guerreras. He spilled his own people's blood."

Hayley sighed. "He was trying to make up for that."

"It doesn't matter. Witches have him— he's dead. Not that I care."

"You don't want to be the Alpha? Fine. I'll save Ollie myself." She got up, and motioned for Graciela to follow her, but stopped as Ansel made toward them. "Hey, you got a problem, old man?"