A Different Breed ▻ Legacies [1]

50

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rafael snapped at Jed, clearly getting defensively, "And, look, you don't need to pretend like you give a crap about me just 'cause I'm your alpha."

Rafael rushed over to Jed, snatching the medicine ball from his hands, "Hey!" Valerie spoke up loudly, rushing over to the two boys before turning to Rafael, "There's no need to be an ass. I'm the one who allowed him back into the pack and there's no way I'm going to let you talk to him like that! He might have made mistakes, but we've all been in a position like his before so don't act like you're any different than him."

Rafael stared at Valerie wide-eyed, just as the rest of the pack did, "What?" She asked the pack annoyed and every single member immediately avoided eye contact.

They didn't want to admit it out loud but it was clear that she sounded exactly like an alpha at that moment. A kind of Alpha they desperately needed. One that would accept people for who they are. One that wouldn't abuse their power and definitely not one that would only become Alpha just to have a vote in the Honor Council.

As Klaus Mikaelson once said while referring to her mother: A true leader, a queen, is someone who's powerful, fearless, and unlike him, merciful. And that kind of leader was exactly what Valerie happened to be at that moment, there was no denying that. No matter how much Rafael was supposedly their 'Alpha', it was clear who the real leader had been all along. Valerie.

"The game's back on," Valerie spoke up, snatching the medicine ball from both boys, "Come on."

_____

In Alaric's Office, after being let out of the cell by Alaric, Ophelia stood with the human man alongside Hope, listening to the voicemail Landon had left on Alaric's answering machine, "Hey, Ric. Sorry to take off like that, but I just needed a little time. So I'm going camping for a while. Hopefully, I can catch up on classwork later. Tell Raf and Jed hi for me."

At the end of the voicemail, the phone beeped before Alaric shut it off. Hope frowned after listening to the machine while Ophelia and Alaric shared a glance, "Jed?" Hope spoke up in confusion, "Why would he say hi to Jed? You should go after him. Something doesn't make sense."

"Hope," Alaric tried to get Hope to stop for a moment, but of course, the girl continued on.

  "Triad already tried to come for him once. It's not safe for him out there." The teen girl stated in concern.

"We kept a massive secret from him, and I think he just needs some time to process that. I think we should respect his privacy and just wait." Alaric explained to Hope, who gave him an angered look before storming out of the headmaster's office, clearly unhappy with his orders.

Once Hope left, Ophelia turned to watch her leave as she stood up from her seat, letting out a large sigh. Alaric stared at Ophelia for a moment, immediately reading the expression on her face as she avoided eye contact with him, "I know that look," He spoke up, causing Ophelia to finally look him in the eye, "What's wrong?"

Ophelia was quiet for a long moment as she pressed her hands down on Alaric's desk, leaning forward a bit, "These kids have been through so much lately. It's sickening to watch," She admitted to him quietly, a look of sadness in her eyes, "I've done everything that I can alongside Emma to help Rafael, but the side effects of Hope's elixir are getting worse. And it's all my fault because I'm the one who allowed her to do it," She paused, letting out a sigh in defeat as she was consumed with guilt, "He's losing time, having flashes of aggression. I think he's still sliding between his wolf mind and his human mind. Three hundred years ago, my elder brother, he..he, uh, went through the same thing and it didn't end well. I don't want the same thing to happen to Rafael. He's innocent in all of this."

Alaric noticed how Ophelia's right hand shook a bit as it rested on his desk. He sighed, placing his hand over her own in comfort as he gave her a reassuring look, "I will I'll keep an eye on him." He assured her in a confident tone.

Ophelia looked down at his hand on hers before looking him directly in the eye, slowly moving her hand away awkwardly. No matter how much she wanted to keep it there, she couldn't, it was too soon, "You've been running on fumes these past few weeks, Ric. It wouldn't hurt to bring in someone else to help, maybe even assist in researching Rafael's condition," She paused, giving Alaric that immediately told him that she was referring to Dorian.

"Dorian is too proud to come back," Alaric reminded her, "You know that."

"And you know how much I respect you, Ric," Ophelia replied in a calm tone, "A lot more than you think. So listen to me when I say this. I don't think it's his pride that's the problem. It's yours."

Ophelia sent Alaric a small smile, just before leaving. After doing so, she closed the door behind, placing a hand over her stomach as she practically felt butterflies. Something she hadn't felt in a over two years, "Screw this," she muttered under her breath, trying her hardest to forget about Alaric as she walked away.

_______

After deciding to have a separate room, Alaric had given Valerie Penelope's room, which happened to also be the room Josie had been staying in after her fight with Lizzie.

Valerie was sitting on her bed, dozing off while doing her history homework when Josie suddenly waltzed in, causing her to immediately sit up, "She seriously doesn't get it!" She complained to Valerie, "After everything that's happened, Lizzie's still doesn't get it. This isn't about me needing space from her. This is about every waking moment of my life, I'm being suffocated by her. She doesn't understand that we shouldn't just have our own rooms. We should have our own lives. That she and I should be our own people."

"And did you tell her how you feel?" Valerie questioned Josie curiously as she stood up from her bed and walked over to where Josie stood.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure I triggered one of her meltdowns," Josie admitted quietly, "Is it bad that I don't feel bad?"

"Well, it's not your fault that she refuses to take the medicine that controls her meltdowns," Valerie commented and Josie knew for a fact that she agreed with her, "It's okay to want to be your own person. I mean, that's what I did and I'm fine. I mean, yeah, I miss Hope, but I'm finally being honest with everyone about how I feel. Including you."

Josie couldn't help but smile at Valerie, "And thank God for that," She commented and let out a large laugh as Valerie jokingly lifted her up off the ground, "Valerie! What are you doing?"

"Classes are over for the day, I think it's finally time we 'binge-watch and chill' like I suggested we do a few days ago before you blatantly rejected my offer, don't you think?"

"Sounds amazing," Josie smiled as Valerie set her down on her bed before she stood in front of her, "I never got to tell you how sorry I am for being so rude to you the other day. I can't even remember why I was being so mean to you, to be honest."

"It's all in the past, Jos," Valerie assured Josie with a smile on her face as she walked over to her desk and picked up her laptop before walking back over to Josie, "What show should we binge?"

"How 'bout Teen Wolf?" Josie suggested, "I mean, it's not like we've already watched all six seasons together twice in the past."

Valerie laughed, getting under the covers with Josie before they opened up her laptop to watch their favorite show together.

AN: Well, here's both some Valerie+ Josie content and Ophelia + Alaric content. I promise, Alaric and Ophelia will be together by the end of the season. Even if she knows she has feelings for Alaric, Ophelia's hesitant bc she knows she'll never truly get over Klaus.

As she once said to Klaus in my book Regret, "I'll never love someone like I love you."

And that's true because when she was dating Marcel for NINETY YEARS and then got married to Jackson, in both relationships, she was still thinking of Klaus the entire time.

But Ophelia is going to learn that she needs to get over Klaus if she ever wants to be happy again.  He's dead and there's no bringing him, which means she has to move on, as Klaus tells her to.