Discovering Me

The nerve

“Did you see how she was crying on his shoulder? What did she think you were going to do, eat her?” Tia asked as we walked down the hall to go back to our rooms.

“I’m sorry, but that was so wrong! We need to appeal to the elders or something. They weren’t even in the cafeteria and we were already sitting eating our food.” Janet vents out.

“What happened? Why did we have to leave?” Amber innocently asks.

“ Her ex-boyfriend is what happened.” Tia says, scowling.

“What do you mean by her ex-boyfriend?” Alpha Donnie asked, and he and Luna Tina walked out of the bar we had just walked past.

“Alpha, Luna” they say in unison, greeting him.

“Hello. Now speak!” he commands.

“Alpha Rashawn and his mate had me escorted out of the cafeteria for violating the restraining order.” I explained.

“Did you know he was in there before you went in?” He asks.

“He wasn’t even in there. We were sitting down eating before he and his mate arrived. They were still at the door when they decided to have her snatched up.” Tia tells him.

“It’s okay. I’ll order something and have it delivered to the room from now on. I promise I will stay away.” I stated, remembering his words after the trial.

“What room are you guys in? I’ll make sure to have food delivered to you for meals. I know it doesn’t seem fair, but it's what's best. I’m not just saying that as your Alpha. I’ve known you girls your whole life. You’re like little sisters or cousins or something to me.” Alpha Donnie sincerely said.

“They’re in room 121 and we’re in 123,” I told him.

“How does Chipotle sound? I have a craving for a steak burrito bowl.” Luna Tina asks.

“That sounds great. We love Chipotle”, Janet says, and we agree.

We gave them our order and were instructed to wait for it to be delivered to our room. Amber requested groceries to be delivered for the rest of the stay as well, since we have a kitchenette and she even offered to prepare our meals for us, saying cooking is her therapy.

Getting into the room, we opened the adjoining door and began making plans to all go into Janet and Tia’s room to watch a movie while we waited for the food to arrive, when I got a knock on my door. Thinking it’s the food, I answer the door as Amber goes into the room to get settled, but that’s not the case at all. I answered the door and saw Alpha Rashawn outside of all the people.

“NOPE” I say, trying to close the door in his face, but he holds it open.

“I just want to tell you something really quick,” he says.

“You have a restraining order out on me. I can’t be near you remember.” I yelled, still trying to close the door.

“It’s about that,” he says as I continue pushing on the door trying to get it to close.”Listen!” he yells, forcing the door open and throwing me back.

“OH HELL NO!” Tia yelled, walking into the room.

“I know that is not who I think it is.” Janet said, following her.

“Ugh.” Alpha Rashawn growls as he finally backs out of the room. “I just wanted to apologize.” He says as we finally slam and lock the door.

“He wanted to apologize, huh? Isn’t it too late for that?” Janet says.

“Girl way too late. Thank you guys for having my back” I said as we heard a knock on the door of the other room. “Your turn,” I said as we walked into the other room.

“Do you all have crazy exes?” Amber asks and we all start laughing.

“No just me apparently,” I said as Tia opened the door. This time it really was food.

We ate and watched a movie, played a few games, then decided to get to bed since Tia and I had training early in the morning. As I was climbing into bed, I got a notification on my phone a video was airdropped. I opened it and saw it was a surveillance video taken from the night of Alpha Rashawn's party. It showed the whole thing of Candace walking in behind me. Attempting to walk away and the whole fight. Then the end had a message that said “sorry. You can’t say anything.”

“OH NO NO NO NO!” I yelled and the girls all came running to my side.

“What happened?” Janet asked.

“The video. It disappeared. It’s not in my files, photos, or messages, I don’t see it anywhere.” I said.

“What video?” Tia asked.

“The surveillance video” I replied.

“What surveillance video?” Janet asks.

“From the night of the party. I swear. It was just sent to me with a message saying ‘sorry, you can’t say anything’, then it disappeared. I tried to watch it again but I couldn't pull it up. I didn't delete it but have no idea where it went.” I explained.

“Let me see.” Tia says, grabbing my phone. “Yup, you’re right, there is no evidence of the file anywhere. Maybe we should call Alpha Donnie to have him get a tech person.” she suggested.

“But didn’t the message say you can’t say anything?” Amber asks.

“Or else what?” Janet asked.

“I wouldn’t want to find out. He seems scary.” Amber says, and I can feel the fear coming off of her. I really don’t want to worry her.

“She’s right, guys. What's done is done. Let’s just focus on the future and leave this whole incident in the past.” I said, putting my phone back on the charger on the nightstand.

“If you say so, I still don’t like that b.itch.” Janet says, walking back into the room.

“I don’t either. See you in the morning. Call us before opening up any more messages so we can see them too.” Tia said, walking back into her room.

The next morning, we met with the others that were training as warriors in our pack for Alpha Donnie’s morning training session. He always starts us off with a 3-mile warm up. He expects us to start as soon as we get in. Tia and I are a few minutes early to give us enough time to set our bags in the locker room and fill our water bottles. I plug in my ear plugs, do a quick stretch and start my laps zoning out in my thoughts.

I can’t believe that Alpha was trying to come to my room and I think he sent me the video. That means he knew I was not trying to attack his mate. He could have had me executed. He didn’t even appeal to get the punishment or restraining order dropped. I thought our friendship at least meant something. WOAH. I’m winded as I’m tackled to the ground.

“LEXI!” Alpha Donnie yells. “What is going on with you? Control your aura. Calm down. What’s going on with you?” he asks out of breath.

“Sorry Alpha,” I said, looking around, noticing everyone staring at me. “I’ll go take a breather.” I said, getting up to walk into the locker room.

“No. Come here” Alpha Donnie says, putting his arm around me and walking me into an office in the corner. “What is going on? Your eyes were glowing red and if you weren't moving at a vampire pace I'd think you were going rogue. It took my Alpha strength to even tackle you.”

“Promise I'm not going rogue. I was just thinking about some of the things that happened yesterday.” I replied, ashamed I couldn’t control myself.

“You mean being escorted out of the cafeteria? Or is there more?” He asks, studying my face. I really know I should tell him there’s more, but would he believe that Alpha Rashawn came to my room last night? And that message said not to say anything. I can't really even know who it was from because it was some random number and there’s no proof it was on my phone. Noticing my hesitation to answer Alpha Donnie continues, “ I take that as more has happened. Were you in your room last night?” He asks.

“Yes Alpha. I didn’t leave” I honestly answered.

“Good. I don't know what happened, but I want you to do the same tonight. I don’t know what is going on, but I will have you escorted back to your room now. Get some rest before your class and remember I’m here to help. You can tell me if something is wrong. That's the only way I can protect you.” He says, opening the door.

“Thank you Alpha.” I said, walking out. I have to get better control of this. He said I was moving at vampire speed. “Hey Alpha, instead of going to my room could I go into the hybrid class that’s going on now?” I asked.

“Sure. Hey Jeff!” he yells to one of the top warriors and he comes right over. “I need you to stand guard this morning for Lexi. She’s going to the training room across the hall.”

“Yes sir.” he says, looking leery at me.

We gather our things and walk across the hall. I’m now a few minutes late for that class. Looks like they are already warmed up and are in pairs.

“Well, who do we have here?” I was asked by the instructor.

“Hello. My name is Lexi. I’m sorry I am late. I was in with my pack training but after an incident, I thought it would be best to come train here. We were instructed yesterday about the time of your training,” I explained.

“I see, Lexi. I am Jacob Millowoski, one of the head trainers at the hybrid academy. These training sessions are way different than your normal pack training sessions. If you think you can keep up, you're welcome to attend. I will expect you here 15 minutes early to warm up from today onwards." He takes a moment to analyse me then continues, "Your vampire aura is strong right now. I’m assuming that is what you’re talking about as far as the incident. If you need to feed that thermos, there is blood. Take a quick sip and get in rotation.” He says.

“Thank you, but I don't need to consume blood. I’ll just put my bag here and will go in rotation.” I said to him and put my bag down. I turned to Jeff. “Hey, I think I’ll be okay in here if you want to go back.” I told him.

“I’m going to stay. I’m curious about how the training is different. I’m always looking for new ways to challenge myself.”

“Okay.” I said as I walked to join a group. Training started off similar to what I’m used to but at a much faster pace. I’m honestly having a hard time keeping up, but I keep trying my best. By the end, every part of me is in pain, including the hair on my head. Literally. We were instructed to channel our inner chakras and redirect it. When doing that, it made my already big hair stand up even bigger.

“You did good for your first time here” I heard Jacob say as I held on to the wall and finished off my water bottle.

“You think? I had a really hard time keeping up. I don't know if I'm any good at this.” I replied, feeling self-conscious.

“But you’re still standing. You’ll get better. Try to come to class later. It will help you to keep up at the academy.” He says, walking away to talk to another group.

That's right. My goal is to get away from this chaos here.