The Vampire’s Hybrid / Book Four ✔️

She had forgotten about her two-day isolation as soon as her fingers touched the palm of his hand. The comfort and safety that she felt at that moment took away all of her stresses and worries as he led her outside and down the small path that led into the Pack village.

The people, the staring had all disappeared and all she could see was him. Their relationship was so natural. She had never felt like her true self around someone she barely knew, yet Lucas came into her life, and she felt like they had known each other their entire lives. Ava wanted to ask him if he felt this way too - If he felt that spark of hope and new beginnings, but instead, she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to ruin what they had, and as he kept looking down at her with that sparkle in his soft brown eyes, she knew that words weren’t needed.

The pathway leads through the small village. Pack members were going about their business as they prepared to share their home with the other pack. Now that her Alpha has become the ruler of the entire island, the two packs are trying to figure out how they will conjoin and work together. Ava tried to avoid the situation at all costs but she knew that sooner or later, fingers would be pointed at her for the blame of the unruly, unorganised chaos that was slowly unfolding before their very eyes.

Her eyes brightened at the sight of the ocean and small docks that held only his ship. Ava didn’t exactly know what she was expecting when she came close to it but it looked nothing like the ship she had imagined. Despite seeing this ship from a distance, she still had some delusion that it would scream royalty, that it would be in your face and prove to everyone below it that it was made from royal blood but instead, she was faced with an ordinary ship. Ava wasn’t going to say it out loud but it looked out of place for Lucas, a little too classy but also a little too plain for him and then she remembered that he came here because of his brother’s order and then it all clicked into place before he opened his mouth.

“I left my ship at home.” He said as he held her hand and gently guided her up the ramp. “Zack’s ship is a little much for me but it has cabins so I wasn’t going to say no when he offered for me to use it.”

“Yours doesn’t have cabins?” She questioned as she smiled softly at the few crew members who smiled at her in a friendly greeting.

Lucas shook his head. “I barely leave the kingdom and when I do, I travel with Raph and we use his ship. I don’t see why I have my own but it was given to me and I’ve kept it.”

Ava bit her lip and hummed. “Maybe it is for future reference. The world is changing after all.”

He gave her a sideways glance. “Is there more that you haven’t talked about, little wolf of mine?”

The way he called her his little wolf made her body shiver and her cheeks turn red in flustered horniness. Ava avoided eye contact as she looked around and tried not to think about the intense stare that he held on her. “Some things I cannot say. I might change the future of all the kingdoms if I tell you what I’ve felt.”

He nodded in understanding. “What can you tell me?”

She considered mentioning Marley and Sawyer, she didn’t know why but their names were on the tip of her tongue before she blew at a few loose strands of hair that decided to fall into her eyes. “You will see in time.”

The amusement that shined in his eyes made her grin before he gave up and took her towards the cabins. The small stairs were surprisingly spaces as they could both fit and walk down side by side. Rows of doors lead down a small corridor and at the very end, she could see an office due to the door being open. Ava could sense that Mackenzie had been in this very ship, she could sense the lingering smell of sex but she wasn’t going to mention that as they passed the door that was Zachariah and Mackenzie’s room.

She looked into each room, six in total with three rooms on either side. Once they walked past Lucas’s, Ava couldn’t help herself but pause and peek inside. He watched her with a raised eyebrow but didn’t say anything as she walked into the room and felt that he never stayed in there. His scent was so distant that she wondered if he ever slept at all and as she turned to look at him, her eyes turned into concern. “Do you sleep?”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I do but not in here.”

Ava tilted her head in confusion. “Your scent is nonexistent, it is as if you haven’t travelled for two weeks.”

Lucas looked down at his feet as if he was suddenly shy before he looked up again and nodded his head towards his window. It was quite large for a window and Ava did look at it and wonder why it was big enough for a human being to squeeze through it. “I climb up onto the side of the ship and sleep there.”

Her eyes brightened as she walked towards the window and sure enough, she smelt him there. Her fingers grazed the latch as she opened it and watched the window open on its own. “Can I see?”

“Of course.” He said in a whisper before he approached and helped her get her body through the window. Ava hated that she was so short but as soon as she felt his hands grasp her waist, she was suddenly thankful for her misfortune.

Once she was through, sudden dizziness hit her as she looked down and eyed the water below. Her breath hitched as she questioned why this was such a good idea before she moved down the wall and watched as Lucas followed behind her. “I wasn’t expecting the movement.”

He snorted before he slightly paused and came towards her to take her hands. “You’ve gone pale, we can go back inside before you pass out.”

“No, I’m okay.” She said as she tried to steady herself. “I’m not used to ships.”

“It’s worse when it is moving.” He commented while he gently moved her down to a more secure location. Ava sat down on the ledge, her legs hanging free while her back leaned up against the wall. Lucas followed straight after before she spoke.

“How can you sleep up here? Nobody can see you and one wrong step and you’ll drown!

His thumb rubbed the back of her hand as they sat shoulder to shoulder. “I’m used to it. We would travel everywhere when I was a child, to new islands and kingdoms outside of ours. We would travel for months at a time and when Zack and Raph’s arguing became too much, I found this spot knowing that I would be hard to find and stayed here. Zack has his office in the castle, and Raph has his abandoned, run-down ship in the middle of the woods but the only place I had was here.”

“Is that what it is like to be royalty? To be left behind?”

Her questions seemed to be odd but his eyes held everything. The way his heart skipped and the way his touch would slightly tighten whenever he talked about his brothers. His life has been lonely and despite his brothers finding their mates, his loneliness has increased. “Only if you are the last-born son. Raph and I were not meant to be.”

“But you were.” She said as she squeezed his hand. “But remember, I can’t tell you why.”

He chuckled and gently removed some hair from her face. The wind wasn’t acting in her favour but it seemed as if he was using every excuse to touch her today. “Are you feeling better?”

Ava smiled, his simple touch seemed to have calmed her nerves just enough for her to ask such a ridiculous question considering what he had just talked about. “What is it like to be the second prince?”

“What is it like being mated to a prince?” He questioned back with a knowing look in his dark eyes. “You are one special little wolf.”

She shrugged and looked away from his eyes as she gently swung her legs. The sun cast a shadow over them as it slowly went down and yet she couldn’t enjoy the beauty, not fully. “I’m an abomination, Lucas. I’m no female that should be crowned as your princess.”

“Never say such things!” He snapped with such force that her eyes shot into his. His anger flowed through him and she instantly regretted saying what she had just said. “Never, ever think of yourself so lowly! You deserve to be my princess, you deserve the luxuries of my castle and the welcoming arms of the people who live there. You deserve everything that I will give you because you are everything to me, Ava. I have treasured the thought of you from the moment I was taught about the mate bond. All I have ever wanted was my own mate to spoil and hold and now that I have finally found you, I refuse to listen to you degrade yourself when you are much more than that.”

Ava’s eyes were so wide that she could feel the wind flow through them but she couldn’t blink, she couldn’t look away as he had placed his forehead onto hers and held her face with his free hand as if his life depended on it. She remembered what he had said three days ago when she killed Shane and ran like a coward. She remembered every word but for him to repeat himself in such a way that his voice cracked in verbal hurt, she couldn’t help but hate herself more for hurting him with her own words. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He softly said as he rubbed his nose against her own. “But I do want the list of names of the people who have put such things into your head.”

She shot back away from him, only his fingers were around her cheek and neck while she tried to read his face. “You won’t kill them, right?”

He smirked, the look alone made her bottom half turn into a liquid puddle. “I have an assassin for that.”