[3] Bloodline • Legacies ✓

xxxiii.

chapter thirty-three.

Hope was sitting under the gazebo behind the academy, her mind was on her cousins that she hadn't seen since they had rescued them.

Matthias and Rhea had told them that they weren't ready, Rina and Malik needed time and not everyone scolding them for leaving in the first place. They knew that everyone would scold them along with making sure they were okay, but neither of the parents wanted that right now for their kids.

"Hope?"

Hope was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice, she turned her head to look over her shoulder and smiled at the sight of Rafael. "Raf."

"I didn't know you were back." He said softly while sitting beside her. "They said that you would be out for a while."

Hope nodded and turned to look back at the vast forest in front of them. "I will be, I need to get my thirst under control before I can safely be put amongst the other kids."

"You're doing good around me." Rafael said with a smile on his face.

Only, he didn't know that Hope was actually struggling. Her nails were digging into the palms of her hands that she was sure to break skin at any moment and then he would know. She could hear the sound of his beating heart, the pumping of the blood that ran through his veins, and her vampire senses were itching to sink her fangs into his neck.

"I'm not actually." Hope told him honestly. "I can hear your heart, how your blood is pumping through your veins and it's taking everything in me not to attack you."

Rafael's eyes widened. "Should I go?"

"No." Hope shook her head with a stiff smile. "It's good practice."

Rafael nodded his head, and he couldn't help but feel bad for her. He wanted to help but he knew that he was no vampire expert, so her family was the best people to help her.

"So, I heard about your unique blood." Rafael started and Hope stilled. "I don't get it."

"What's there to get?" Hope asked with a shrug. "My father and uncle can create hybrids but have to use the blood of a doppelganger to complete their transition, while me and my cousins only have to use the blood of a doppelganger to complete our own transition and our blood completes any hybrid transition we create." Rafael didn't understand it and Hope could see the gears turning in his head making her crack a smile. "Don't think too hard, you'll get wrinkles." She joked while poking his forehead.

Rafael chuckled, "Wouldn't want that."

Hope hummed and for a moment, she didn't realize that she wasn't struggling anymore. "How have you been settling in?" Hope asked him after a moment of silence.

Rafael thought about it before speaking, "The pack is very welcoming, though I don't understand the whole Diego fiasco."

"They fear beings more powerful than them, it's natural though." Hope said. "There was a time when the vampires chased the werewolves out of the city and while that time is long gone, it doesn't erase the history or lingering fear."

"I think you're being a little too nice." Rafael said to her with a frown. "What they did was wrong regardless, Diego wasn't even a part of that history in any way." He sighed and looked down. "Hope, you died."

Hope could hear the pain in his voice, the anger that he possibly held towards himself for not being able to stop what had happened. She hesitated but placed her hand on top of his clasped ones. "Raf, you can't blame yourself for what happened, and neither can Diego."