The Hybrid Queen Unedited

The way down to Larson’s cell was a long one. It reminded me of the pound. The cells were located underground, in a basement-like holding area. Each cell had been made, fixed with an iron and silver door. I wondered at that. “Why iron?” I asked Elijah as we walked. He glanced around. “The Fair does not like iron,” he said. “Iron burns a fairy. There was a time when we were at war with them.”I nodded and we came to a stop before one of the cells at the end of the tunnel. Collin was there, waiting and he did not look pleased. He was looking at me, his eyes on my throbbing Mark. He growled. “She should not be here,” Collin demanded. Elijah shook his head. “She is my Queen and she has every right to be here!,” Elijah snapped at him. Collin nodded and wrenched the door open. I saw Larson cower away in fear, just like Summer had when she had seen me when I... was not quite me. I sighed. I still had to figure that one out too. I really hoped Larson would be able to fix this. I did not want Elijah to cancel my plans for making the trip to Vancouver. I would not let him. “On your feet scum!” Collin snapped at him. Larson stood to his feet, never taking his eyes off of Elijah as he stepped into the room. I stayed outside. There was no way I was going in there. Confined spaces, as I now realized, freaked me out. I felt my breath coming a littlefaster now. I did not like being down here.

“Are you okay?” Collin asked me.

I turned to face him. He was watching me closely. “I’m fine,” I replied and stepped a little closer to the cell. I stopped at the threshold, not daring myself to enter. Too many things about the Pound were running through my head right now. I cursed myself and pushed the dark memories away. I had to do my best to pay attention. No reason to let my PTSD get in the way now. “Why did you come here?” Elijah asked, his voice calm but deadly. I watched as Larson bowed his head and fell to his knees. “I came here to serve the Royal Family, Your Grace!” he said, almost as soon as Elijah had finished speaking. Elijah sighed. “You are human. I am not. I can hear your heartbeat and I can see you eyes are dilated. You are lying to me,” he stated. Larson looked up at him now, his eyes wide with fear. “Please,” he begged. “Please, he will kill me if I say anything!”Elijah stepped closer to him now, giving him even less room then he already had. “I will kill myself you if you do not tell me now!” he said. Larson flinched away from him. “Faye is special!” he almost screamed. “She had special blood!”I rolled my eyes. “We already know this! I was the daughter of the Alpha of my family before the attack and the new Order was set in motion!” I tell him. Larson shook his head. “There is more to you than meets the eye, Your Grace!” he said as he fell to his knees and bowed before me. We waited for him to say more but he remained silent. “Speak, human!” Elijah ordered. I did not flinch this time. Or I did my best not to. I did not like seeing Elijah angry like this yet I was unable to bring myself to not understand him. I understood why he was so mad. I would have been too if I was in his place.

“She had mixed blood! She is a hybrid!” he screamed as Elijah grabbed him up by the collar of his torn shirt. No one said anything for a moment. I felt like I could not breath. Elijah slammed him into the wall.

“How do you know this?” he demanded.

Larson let out a small wail of fear. “Please, he will kill me!” he cried. “Who?” I demanded. “Who will kill you?” I had my suspicions yet I needed proof. “Please don’t make me say it!”I growled and stepped into the cell now, my anger overpowering my fear. Elijah was surprised when I walked up and gripped Larson around the neck and raised him off his feet. I could feel my teeth poking my lips as I spoke. “Speak! Tell me now!” I said as I reached up with my other hand and gripped his wrist. I flicked it to the side and the cracking of bones echoed through the small room and down the hallway, followed by Larson’s screams of agony. “Tamit!” he screeched. “Reid Tamit! He will kill me!”I drop him to the ground, my heart beating hard in my chest. “That’s impossible! Reid is dead!” Collin said, confused. Larson scrambled away from me and cowered in the corner, as far away from me as he could get. I turned and walked from the small cell, my breath suddenly coming hard. It was hard to breath down here. Were the walls shrinking in on me? I clawed at my neck, ripping the shirt around my neck. I was running before I understood what my body was doing. I was headed for the back gardens, the tree line where we had had the Kwatee Hunt. Elijah was at my side, grabbing me up in his arms before I could protest. He gripped my hands and made me face him. “Faye!” he said, his voice stern and demanding. “Faye look at me!”I tried to pry his hands off of me. I needed to go. I needed to get out of here. “Let me go!” I ordered. Elijah shook his head. “Faye, stop!” he said, warping his arms around me.

“He has to be lying! There is no way he is telling the truth!” I told him as I started pacing back and forth. Elijah just watched me for a moment. “I think he is telling the truth, Love,” he said reluctantly. I turned to face him now. “What, you’re siding with him now?” I demanded. Elijah walked up to me and gripped my shoulders. “Of course not! However, think about it! He is human. He knows there would be no point in not telling the truth!” he told me. Deep down, I knew he was right. I knew there was no reason for Larson to lie when faced with an angry wolf. Yet I could not bring myself to reason with this. He had spoken about my father. He had spoken of him like he was still alive. I turned back to Elijah. “I think he is telling the truth, Elijah,” I told him. I watched as Elijah looked back at me, puzzled. “What?” he asked me sharply. I swallowed. “About my father? I think he was telling the truth!” I tell him. Elijah nodded. “Okay?” He was confused. I shake my head, irritated. “No! He is alive, Elijah! I saw him!”He looked at me as if I was crazy. “You saw him? Your dead father?” he asked me. I nodded quickly. “Yes! Only he was not dead! I saw him last night. Before you found me in the hallway! I was only my way to speak to you about going to my old Pack House. When I was on my way, he was there, in the window! I saw him!”Elijah nodded, rubbing my arms. “Okay. You saw him. I believe you!” he said. I sighed. “What is going to happen with Larson?” I demanded. “He will stay locked up for now,” he said. “It will be a while before we can decide what to do with him. First, we need to talk about you going back to Vancouver. If you really think your father is alive and if Larson is telling the truth, I need to reconsider you leaving tomorrow,” he said as we set off down the hallway. I sighed. I should have known he was going to do this. I should have just kept my mouth shut for once. I stopped and Elijah stopped with me.

“I have to go,” I tell him firmly.

Elijah nodded. “I understand that, I do. Yet I have to think of what is best for you, what is best for my Pack. We have not even mated yet, nor have we announced you as Luna! What would I do with myself if something happened to you? What would the Tribe do?” he asked me as he touched my face. I tried to reason with myself yet I was stubborn. “Elijah, I have to go!” I tell him firmly. He sighed and dropped his hand from my face. “I know,” he said. “I already have the Jet waiting for you to go. You leave first thing tomorrow,” he said. I sighed in relief and wrapped my arms around his waist. He was so tall and warm. I nuzzled my face in his chest. “Thank you,” I whispered. Elijah placed a small kiss on my head. “You better not let anything happen to you,” he said as he held me. “And I have one request,” he said. I looked up at him. “Oh, and what’s that?” His face was serious and hard. “I want you in and out of the house before sunset!” he said. I did not need to ask why. I knew why. Vamps already outnumbered us. Vamps had the ability to change a human at will. Werewolves had to be born into it. Again, the thought of having Elijah removed from the throne by Beta contenders made me uneasy. It worried me. “I will be in and out before sunset!” I told him. Elijah nodded and turned to another cell. “Good. Let’s see if our Vampire friend is willing to talk now,” he said as Collin walked up and opened the door. The smell of burnt flesh greeted us before the door was even all the way open. Elijah sighed and I peaked around his arm to see what was going on. There was a smoldering pile of ash on the ground and a heap of charred cloth. Above the clothes and ashes, was a hole in the wall about the size of a basketball. I sighed. The Vamp had chosen the easy way out. I grumbled and turned to leave the cell. “Who was supposed to be down here watching her?” Elijah demanded.

Collin mumbled something but I ignored it. I needed to get out of here. The smell of the burning flesh brought back memories I did not want to think about.

((***))

I spent the rest of the day in the library, my nose stuck in books about Vampire History. Once I got tired of that I made my way back in my room where I packed a small duffel bag with some clothes and an extra pair of shoes. I would need the room for things I was planning on taking with me back here. For one I knew of a few things I would be bringing back with me. A picture, framed, that sat on my bedside table. It was my parents wedding picture. My mother, with her long blond hair and blue eyes, in a simple wedding dress, lace sleeves and her hair done up in a simple bun. My mother had always been a simple woman. She did things her own way, however, never really relying on anyone other than my father. My father on the other hand, he had been carefree and a fun person to be around. The memory of him playing with me at a young age was so dim now. I could hardly remember him sometimes. He had been away a lot. My mother had said once, he was away, working for another pack. Looking back on it now, with the new and very little information I had to go, I wondered if she even knew my father? Or if anyone really knew my father for that matter. I shoved a pair of shorts and a tank into the bag along with a pair of sneakers. I sighed. I wondered if my clothes back at my old Pack House would even fit me anymore. I was no longer curvy like I had been. I tossed my back onto the bed when I heard a knock at the door. “Come in,” I said as I pulled a black skirt from my dresser.

The door flew and Amilia walked in, a backpack on her shoulder. “Are you ready for tomorrow?” she asked me. I turned to look at her. “Yes. What are you doing?” I asked, nodding to the backpack. “Oh, I was on my way to the gym. I was gonna see of you wanted to come with me since you were not at training today?” she asked me. I turned to face her. “Sorry. Elijah is taking me out for dinner,” I told her. Amilia dropped her bag to the floor and walked up to me. “Great!” she said and turned me back to face my dresser. “I will help you!” she said. She picked up my brush and began brushing my hair. When she began to pull it up she stopped, her eyes fixed on my newly placed Mark. “You and my brother Mated?” she almost squealed. I felt myself blush. “No!” I said. “Just.. we just Marked! That’s it.”Amilia smiled at me. “You will make a beautiful and gracious Luna, Faye. I know you will. I have seen it,” she told me. I sighed. “How can you be so sure? I mean, I can’t even see myself a few days from now because of everything that is going on. From someone trying to kill me once I arrived here to being called Luna. That is so much to take in,” I told her. Amilia nodded, the smile was gone from her face now. “I know. Yet there are things to be considered. Many things,” she said. I rolled my eyes. “Too many things,” I agreed. Amilia finished pinning my hair up and then proceeded with make up. “Do you know about the Vamp that died?” she asked me. “I was there when we found her. I have to admit, I was surprised she killed herself. She has been down there for a few weeks now. I would have thought she would have confessed to something,” I told her. It was odd that the Vamp had held out that long. Normally, Vamps, like Wolves ran in groups. And the longer one was away from a Coven or a Pack, the weaker they became.

Amilia nodded. “I know. I would have thought she would have cracked too. Yet she seemed oddly calm the last few days,” she mused. She stepped back, looking at my face and hair. “You are presentable!” she announced. I walked over to my closet and pulled out the thin white dress and put it on. I was just coming out of the bathroom when someone knocked on my door. Amilia went to open it while I put on my flats. Elijah walked into the room but stopped when he saw me. I looked up at him and smiled. He was dressed in a black button up shirt, black slacks and his hair was a windblown mess, like he had just been out for a drive with the windows down. Before I could say anything he was on top of me, his lips pressed firmly to mine, pressing me back into the sheets of my bed. He kissed me, his lips desperate and needing. I could feel my heart pounding my chest and I knew he could feel and hear it to. When he pulled away, I felt a little hollow and upset. I loved his lips on mine way too much. He laughed at my face. “I’m sorry, Love. You just look... irresistible,” he mumbled. I smiled through the blush on my cheeks. “Well, thank you, Your Grace, but we have a date to get to and we should get going,” I reminded him. I did not want this altercation to go any further then it had to. I was not ready for that yet. Elijah nodded and jumped up off the bed, offering me his hand. “Then please, we should get going,” he said. I took his hand, my heart jumping around in my chest again as we touched. “Where are we going?” I asked him, as we walked hand and hand down the hallway. Elijah smiled and shook his head. “Nope, I am not telling you yet. You will see when we get there,” he said. I pouted a little but let it go, my mind wandering back to Larson. I sighed and tried to shake him from my mind. I was leaving for Vancouver tomorrow. I was going home. It had only been a year yet it seemed so much longer then that.

“Tell me what you are thinking,” Elijah whispered in my ear. I looked up at him. We were standing outside the Manor. His sleek convertible was parked at the mouth of the driveway, looking incredibly tempting. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. “I’m sorry,” I sighed. “I guess I am just distracted with everything that is going on.”Before Elijah could answer, his phone was ringing away in his pocket. He sighed and fished it out and looked at the screen before he declined the call and shoved it back in his pants. “Are you hungry?” he asked me. I smiled as he opened the door for me. I got into the car, loving the feel of the leather seats and the rich smell of Elijah. His scent was all over the car. He must use this car a lot. I sighed and leaned back in the seat in content. “I am starving,” I tell him. I hear him chuckle and I look over at him. I hardly ever heard him laugh so it was nice to hear. He frowned when his phone rang again. Elijah pulled his phone out and looked back at the screen again as he started the car. The engine rumbled to life. It was louder than I thought it would have been. With my world having been so quiet for so long, loud sounds still made me jump out of my skin. Elijah grimaced as he read a text that came in and I Leaned over a little. “If you have to go-“I began but he cut me off quickly. “No!” he said quickly. “We are going out to eat. I have to leave tonight,” he said as he slammed his phone into the console. “I have to be in New York tonight because I have a meeting with the Beta there of the New York Tribe,” he rolled his eyes. “These tribes can not do anything right!”I felt my face fall. “You are leaving tonight?”He looked over at me, his face going from annoyed and frustrated to loving and soft. “I’m sorry, Love. I will be back as soon as I can. Perhaps I can meet you in Vancouver and we can travel home together?” he said. I smiled at that. I knew it was going to be a hard trip, going back home. I knew I would need him with me. “That would be great!” I said. Elijah leaned to me and pressed his pips to my cheek. “Then let’s go have some fun,” he said and together we took off down the street.