The Hybrid Queen Unedited

The cool night air hit my face as soon as I walked through the door frame and into the night. It was still a shock to be outside after being in a cell for a year. My feet dragged to a stop. Elijah turned to face me. I stood there for a moment. I wanted to shift. I did. I wanted to join in on the ceremony. Yet I was not sure if I could shift right now. It had been painful the last time I had shifted. I was not ready to put myself through that quite yet. And certainly not with Elijah here. He watched me for a moment and then turned to face the woods that expanded out beyond the vast manor behind me. As much as I wanted to shift and be one with my nature self, I felt oddly out of place. How was his pack okay with all of this?“What is it?” Elijah demanded. The sharpness in his voice surprised me and made me look up at him. “I’m sorry... I guess I don’t understand,” I admitted. Elijah sighed and nodded, turning away from me. A moment later a grey wolf jogged from the darkness. She looked up at Elijah, her ears pulled back to her skull. Elijah did not speak again. He just walked into the darkness, the shadow’s swallowing him up.I must have made him mad somehow. I replayed what had just happened and I did not understand what he was upset about. Had I said something to upset him? The grey wolf whined at me and looked back into the woods behind her. I shook my head. “You go...I will be there in a moment,” I assured her. Amilia hesitated for a moment. She whined once more and I urged her on as I walked to the side of the house and crouched down in the tall grass, stripping my dress off, leaving it in a small heap on the ground. I knelt down onto the soft moss covered forest floor and let the change take over me. It hurt. Not as much as last time. It was bearable.

Once fully on all fours I stretched myself out and before I knew it I was running at full speed, jumping and dodging branches and tree roots. It felt so nice to be able to run like this. I had thought I would never be able to run like this ever again. I ran forever. I ran and ran. I never wanted to stop. I would never stop. I raced around trees and up the side of a small dune, kicking dirt and rocks up behind me. A small rabbit jumped out before me and I dashed after it, my mouth watering. I needed to eat. I would find another offering for Kwatee and offer it for him. I needed to eat. The rabbit screeched at me and took a sharp left, diving into a narrow and much too small hole in the found.I sighed. So much for dinner. I slowed a little, coming to a steady jog, slowing my breathing. As I ran, I began to skim the area, looking for prey again. It was not long before I noticed someone was following me. I glanced around, slowing my stride, coming to a stop by a stream. I sniffed the air deeply. It was such a wonderful smell, the night air, the wet, mossy dirt beneath my paws. There was also an odd smell. Something beautiful. Mouthwatering. I heard a low growl behind me and I turned to see Elijah standing there, big and towering. He lowered his head, never taking his eyes off of me. I did not realize he had been carrying something in his mouth until he dropped it. It was a dead chipmunk. I looked from him to the chipmunk. This was the ceremony of Kwatee. Giving your kill to someone in your pack was seen as a welcoming or a friendship token. He was telling me I was welcome. I walked up to him slowly, bowing my head to take the dead animal into my maw. Before I could look back up at him a rabbit came scrambling from the bushes, running for its life. And then I was knocked into the dirt of the forest floor by another wolf. The wolf immediately growled and snapped at me. I backed away from him but the wolf kept coming at me. I had gotten in the way of his prayer and now he wanted to fight. But Elijah growled at the wolf before me. Collin! Back away!I look up at Elijah from my crouched position near a tree. It was Collin? He had been so nice before! As I waited for the situation to defuse, I realized I had herd Elijah in my head. But that was impossible. There was no way that could happen unless I was part of the pack or I ...had been imprinted on. Then it hit me. I had imprinted on the Alpha. Did he know? How would he take it? Had he already noticed? What if he didn’t want me? I was weak and frail and unimportant. I was only here for the time being. I had planned on leaving as soon as I could get my hands on some money. Before anyone could say anything else, there was a long drawn out howl that cut through the night. Both Elijah and Collin snapped their head’s in the direction it had come from. The howl had been urgent, indicating something had happened. Collin blew at me once and then turned and ran in the direction the howl had come from. Elijah padded over to me and waited for me to stand. I grabbed up the chipmunk he had given me and began digging a hole in the ground. It was custom to offer the kill back to the earth that way Kwatee would have the food when he came out during the next full moon. It is an odd cycle, I will admit, but it is tradition. Once I was done, Elijah rubbed his head on my shoulder, indicating for me to follow him and keep close. Had he made the connection then? Did he know I had imprinted on him? Was he mad? I heard him snort in my direction and my thoughts fell away. I had forgotten he could hear me now. I wonder when that happened. Did it happen just now during the kill giving? Or when he first saw me in the woods? It would explain why he reacted the way he did. Elijah cut off to the right and I followed him down a narrow path, skipping over roots and vines that littered the forest floor. We came into a clearing by a large lake that glittered in the moonlight. The entire pack was here. There were at least thirty of them. Or was it “us” now?They were gathered around something in the middle of the lake bank. Elijah pushed his way through the crowded and then stopped next to Collin who looked up at his Alpha. The connection was still weak and I only heard a few parts of what was being said between them. My link was still too weak. Time would fix that. Elijah turned back to look at Amilia as she walked to stand beside her brother. She must have said something to him because he immediately turned to face me. Faye? his voice echoed in my head and I walked toward him now. There was an odd smell in the air. I knew the smell yet I could not put my finger on it. I had come across this scent before. It was not a scent I would want to remember. Elijah turned to stop me but I was already there. I had never seen anything like it and I was sure the image would forever be burned into my mind. It was a dead wolf, mid shift. Female. She had grey fur and -... and I knew her face. It was Kat. I could not contain myself at the sight. I should have asked to look for her the moment I had left the pound. My pack was dead, what made me think that my best friend had survived that night? I whined and lowered myself next to her deformed body and placed my head on hers. I am nor sure how much time had gone by but I felt a hand touch my head. Not a paw, but a hand. I looked up and saw Amilia standing there, some clothes folded under her arm. I looked around. We were alone and Kat’s body was gone. I scrambled to my feet. I must have fallen asleep and shifted back in my sleep. “Here, put these on,” she told me as she handed me the clothes. It was a sundress and some flip flops. I dressed quickly while Amilia waited with her back turned. I looked around. We were alone. Just us. No Elijah. No Collin. No Kat. “Where is she?” I demanded. Amilia sighed. “They moved her to the morgue,” she told me. I did not wait for her to say anything else. I started walking back to the manor, my heart sinking. If she had been alive all this time, who else from my pack was still alive? Were there more? I would never be able to ask Kat. Ever. She was gone. Just like everything else in my world. As I entered the Pack House, Collin was waiting for me. The look on his face was grim and he stepped forward to stop me as I headed for the stairs. I glowered at him. “I can’t let you up there, Faye,” he told me. Amilia was right behind me. “Why not?” she demanded. Collin sighed and rolled his eyes at us. “Because our King demands it. He wants everyone back in the ballroom,” he said. “It is an order,” he added when Amilia tried to pass him again. She stopped, still looking up the stairs, debating. She growled at Collin and then flounced from the room. I turned to follow her but Collin caught my arm. When I turned, the look on his face was shocked. He dropped my arm quickly, as if the touch had shocked him. “What is it Collin?” I asked him. He shook his head. “I’m sorry!” he admitted quickly, bowing his head. “I didn’t know!” He did not look up at him, his eyes fixed on his shoes. “Know what?” I demanded. Collin did not answer me. He just bowed to me and backed away. “Truly, I am sorry,” he said and turned his back on me, looking anywhere but at me. I sighed and followed Amilia into the ballroom. Elijah was not here yet. “Where is he?” I asked her. “Why do you care?” Summer asked as she came to stand next to us. I gaped at her. She was dressed- or not dressed- in her skimpy black lace thong and her push-up bra. Again putting her model-like body on display. Some of the men in the room were staring at her, licking their lips at her. She ignored them all and rolled her eyes. “I mean it is not like he cares about you,”I felt my anger boil for a moment. “Shut your face, Summer!” Amilia snapped at her.Summer smirked at me but did not push Amilia. She walked further into the room, rubbing her body onto the males around her. “See, I can have anyone I want here,” she said. “You, Faye? You are just a whore!” she hissed as she backed away from us and into the crowd. She smiled as a group of male wolves turned to look at me. Some of them smiled at me and rubbed their hands together while looking me up and down. “There has been a confirmed death on our turf!” Elijah’s voice boomed into the room as he walked up to his throne. He did not sit. He stopped, looking at his pack. “I want this placed locked down. No one is to come or go-”“Why?” Someone I could not see demanded. “It was one stray rouge. Not one of us! You know as well as I do they do not last long!” I could feel the room looking at me. “Because this happened in our own backyard! One of us could be next! And before I lose a single one of you, I will do all I can to prevent that!” he declared. There was a small murmur that ran through the room.“What about hunts?” someone else demanded. “No one but the guards and hunters are to leave this manor until the responsible person for this crime is caught. Effective immediately!” Elijah said, his voice crushed down on the room, the power of the Alpha King. Elijah sighed and took a seat on his throne. “Now, we should continue without fest! Everyone should make their way to the dining hall!” The room began to empty and Amilia dragged me to her brother. Elijah had his eyes on me the entire time. I gulped. A servant dressed in black and white robes walked up to him with a glass of wine. “What is it, Amilia?” he asked as he took a glass of wine from a servant. He got to his feet and walked over to a small table where there were more glasses and a bottle of wine. “Faye knows the girl!” she reminded him. Elijah turned back to face us, handing me a glass of wine. “So I have been told. Who was she to you?” he asked me. His voice was still harsh, gruff even. I take the wine from him and look at my feet. “She is-...she was...She was my best friend. She was at my pack house that night. When we were attacked,” I told him. Elijah sighed. When he spoke next his voice was soft, kind even. “I am sorry, Faye,” he told me. I look up at him and realize we were alone. I wish Amilia would stop doing that. When I look back at him, his face is thoughtful. He looked like he wanted to ask me something but he wasn’t sure if he should. I cleared my throat. “Your Grace-”He shook his head at me. “Call me Elijah, please,” he told me. “Did you know she was still alive?”I bite my lip. I was not sure how to answer him. I had always hoped she had been alive. I had been on the run for a month before the pound caught me. I had become tangled in a snare of razor wire. I looked down at my wrist. The scars were still there. They would be for a few more years to come. Elijah stepped forward and gripped my wrist, flipping my hand to look at the scars, making my heart jump. His fingers ran over the ivory skin, tracing the cuts and curves , tracing the blue vein of my wrist, his fingers leaving a trail of fire on my skin. “How did this happen?” he asked me, not taking his eyes off of my skin. I pull my hand back from him. My skin burned where he touched me. It was a nice, pleasant feeling yet the memory of that night was ruining the moment for me. Elijah sighed and dropped his hand when I pulled away from him. He did not look pleased about that. “It was from a snare I got caught in, running from the Snatchers,” I told him. Elijah nodded and then leaned against the table behind him. “And as for your former question, no, I did not know she was still alive. Had I known, I may not be standing here right now,′ I answered him.Elijah smiled at me. “Well, despite how you ended up here, Faye, I am glad you did,” he told me. I looked up at him but he was already leaving the room. I could not figure him out. One moment he was so dismissive of me and the next he was so caring. “I had a maid get you another dress. I am sure you do not want to be the only one who is in jeans,” he told me as a maid appeared at my side. She had a dress bag draped over her shoulder. I nodded to myself and followed her to an empty dressing room. As I stripped off my jeans and tshirt, I waited for the maid to come help me with the dress. She never came. I heard something solid hit the floor and I turned to face her. I would have screamed but the air seemed to have left my lungs. The maid, who had stripped off her clothes and was standing there in her undergarments, had a long silver dagger in her hand. “You were not supposed to survive that attack! And even if you did, you never should have left that pound!” she hissed at me. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” I demanded.She rolled her eyes at me. “Who are you? What do you want? Why, why, why?” she mocked me in a shrill, high pitched voice that was meant to be mocking. She flipped the dagger in her hand, pointing the hilt at me. “You have no idea who you are or what you are meant to do, do you?” she hissed at me. She sighed and played with the tip of the dagger. “Just leave! I won’t tell anyone you were here!” I promised.The girl laughed at me. “Sure you will. You are the queen!” she said. I shook my head. “No, I am not!” I insisted. “Elijah has no clue that I have imprinted on him! So he would be furious if you were to harm his future Queen and Luna! He would kill you!”The girl shrugged at me.“I was told I may die tonight. Although I have nothing more to lose after I kill you and I would be fine with meeting the sun if it meant fulfilling my mission!” she answered and she began to walk around me. I stood there in my bra and panties, watching her. I watched her as she circled me, her eyes never leaving my face. She would be fast, I knew that. I would not be fast enough to run from her. And I was not about to try and run down the hall in nothing but my underwear. Elijah would have a heart attack. Not because he saw me half naked but because others would. Alpha’s were possessive of their mates. I sigh. There was only one way out of this. I had to fight her. I had not been in a real fight for a very long time. My muscles were soft and I was weak. The Vampire laughed at me. “Do not even try and run, she wolf. I will kill you!” she said as she came at me with the knife. She must be even more stupid then I thought. She swung the dagger at me but i side stepped her, the blade catching my upper left arm. I clapped a hand to it and growled at her. Before she could react I pounced on her, grabbing her free arm and sinking my teeth into her flesh. The Vampire screamed as loud as she could and punched me in the face, sending me flying across the room and crashing into a vanity table. I sit up, a growl ripping up my chest as the Vamp comes at me. Before she can reach me though, she stops, staggering slightly. I laugh at her. “You are a new Vamp, aren’t you?” I asked as she fell to her knees. She looked up at me, the fear and anger were clear in her wild red eyes. “See, I think that you are. And that means you have no idea. No one has taught you what you need to know,” I told her as I got to my feet, brushing glass from my hair and my skin. The vamp glowered at me. “Know what, bitch?” she seethed at me. The door behind me burst open, the door flew to the side off the hinges. Elijah was the first person through the door, followed by Amilia and Collin. I grabbed up and robe from a dresser and covered myself but not before Elijahgot a good look at me. I saw him blush and look away quickly. I tied the robe into place and turned back to look at the Vamp who was now surrounded by wolves. “The bite of a werewolf kills Vampires,” I told her.And then the room erupted into chaos.