The Hybrid Queen Unedited

Amilia dressed me in a simple, long sleeved, floor length navy blue dress, a white sash wrapping around my slim waist, bow tied at the base of my lower back. She grumbled a little, trying to figure out what to do with my hair. In the end she decided to pinning it up in a simple half knot, leaving the rest of my raven hair flowing down in wavy locks and leaving my Mark on full display. Amilia had said it was important for them to see I was already Marked by the King and that I was his Mate. She insisted that they would be more respectful. I was not at all sure how I was going to approach the Elders. I had never met them before and I was worried about messing up and embarrassing Elijah. Amilia had told me that the Elders Council had consisted of three people. One of them had been Reid. Since he had been assumed dead for over a year, they had not found a replacement for him. Amilia had told me that they Council always consisted of three people. If there was a matter that needed to be settled that was beyond the power of the King, they were to step in and would vote on how to best deal with whatever situation was before them. The majority vote would win. Even before the new Court System had been put into place, it was rare that they were ever needed outside of any major proceedings. If a wolf killed another wolf, the matter would pass over Elijah and would go straight to the Elders. They were direct links to the Great Spirit and the Moon Goddess. It would be up to them to decide the fate of the convicted wolf. As we walked down the hall to the throne room, I could not help but wonder where Sophia was. I had not seen her all day and I wondered if Summer had been telling the truth when she had said that Sophie had been looking for me. That question was answered when we entered the throne room. She was up on the podium, beside Elijah’s throne. She looked up when we entered the room. My eyes however never left the podium. “Faye!” she called, as she hurried down the steps. “There you are dear! I know it is early but your throne arrived today and I was not sure what Elijah wanted to do with it for the time being before your becoming queen. I figured today, given the circumstances, he would not mind if you saw it a little early,” she said. I gazed up at the chair, covered in blue satin, the black ivory polished to perfection. There were initials at the round top of the cair. T.Y. I felt a lump rise in my throat. Tamit and Yansa. Elijah had too much thought into this. And he must have ordered this as soon as I arrived here, or at least a few days after. It took time to make such a fine piece. “You look stunning. However there is something missing,” Sophie told me, waving to one of the maids by the door. She was holding a box in her hands. Once she reached us, she handed the box over to Sophie who handed it to me. “I have already spoken to Elijah. He is on his way back home as we speak. He is furious that the elders were called. He does not want you to face them alone,” she told me. I nodded and opened the box. I gasped at what was inside. Inside the box, nestled in the blue velvet cushion, was a round circlet headpiece. The gold metal gleamed in the candle light of the throne room. Set with white gold roses and thorns, the crown weaved in and out of its circle. I shook my head. “You don’t like it?” she demanded. I looked up at Sophie, her face worried. “No! It is beautiful! I love it!” I assured her. “I am just worried. I have never had to deal with the elders before. What if I mess up?“I demanded. Before anyone could answer, a familiar voice echoed through the hall. “I won’t let that happen, Love!”

I felt my skin light up and burn at the sound of his voice. I turned to the door and saw Elijah walking toward me. Forgetting the room full of people, Sophia standing there with a crown in her hands and that the Elders would be here any second, I ran down the podium and into Elijah’s arms. He laughed at me and scooped me up, kissing me deeply. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on your way to New York?” I demanded. Elijah nodded. “I was, then I got a call from both my mother and my sister, saying how Summer had called a meeting of the Elders. I turned around as soon as I hung up!” I smiled. “I am glad you are here,” I told him. “And I am sorry that you had to come back!”Elijah shook his head. “I was not going to let you face them alone,” he answered. I caught a glance of Amilia in the doorway. “About your sister-”Elijah sighed and set me back on my feet. “She is pardoned. Summer on the other hand, I will deal with her once I get rid of the Elders,” he said. I bit my lip. “She said her father is one of the Elders,” I told him. I was not sure if Elijah knew this or not. No one had ever really spolem about the Elders around here. “I think she was hoping to have me displaced,” I told him. I watched his eyes go cold and he took my hand. “You are not going anywhere and anyone who tries to get rid of you will be banished!” he answered. I thought for a moment. As much as I disliked Summer, I did not wish her harm. Even after she had asked one of the mutts to try and force me. I did not want to see her go to the pound and I knew she would be caught if she tried the life of a rogue. Perhaps she would be able to go to the Black Keep with her father where the Elders resided. Before I could answer, Collin walked in, stopping in the middle of the room, looking stressed.

“The Elders have arrived, your Majesties,” he said and bowed before us. He did not say another word; he turned in his heel and walked back the way he had come. I felt Elijah place his hands in my shoulders. He turned me to face him.

“Can you do this?” he asked me in a hushed voice.

I looked up at the throne he had made for me. It was terrifying to look at. However when I looked back at Elijah I knew I would be able to face anything and anyone who came through those doors. I smiled and nodded. “Yes,” I told him. Elijah smiled and he becond his mother to him. She handed him the box that had my crown inside. Reaching inside, Elijah drew it out and placed it gently on my head. When I looked back up at him, the look on his face threw me off. The lust and passion in his eyes made my knees weak. He leaned in, his lips close to my ear, his hot breath washing over my skin.“You were born for this!” whispered. Then, so quickly before anyone could see, he pressed his lips to my Mark. I felt his mouth linger there for a moment, his tongue sweeping across the Mark. He then leaned away, a satisfied smile on his face. This ass! He was getting me all worked up on purpose. I growled at him , turning on my heel and walked up to the podium. The room had cleared and I could hear footsteps coming down the hall. Elijah joined me, a smug smiled on his face. I rolled my eyes at him and looked at the doorway, my eyes fixed there. The footsteps were getting closer. They would be here any second. I started to doubt myself again. I had told Elijah that I would be able to do this but now, when faced with what was coming, I wondered why I had gotten myself into this mess knowing who was coming. Why hadn’t I just remained in my room?

Collin was the first through the door. “Your Majesties, The Elders have arrived to see you,” he said and gestured for them to enter the throne room. Elijah nodded, his hand resting on mine. One by one, three men came to stand before us. Collin cleared his throat. “Elder Samuel, Your Grace,” he announced. Elder Samuel was a short old man, his hair gray, his posture slightly bent over. His skin was like worn leather. He bowed before us and smiled. “Elder Michael,” Collin continued and a tall, blond haired man stepped before us, bowing low and throwing me a dazzling smile. His face was angular with sharp edges and sculpted curves. He could be not much older than Elijah. “And Elder Luke,” Collin said at last. By the look on his face I could only suppose that this was Summer’s father. He was tall, blond and was built. His face however, had the same arrogant sneer to it. He looked up at me before he bowed and I felt Elijah shift in his seat. “Welcome, Elders,” Elijah said, his tone calm and welcoming. “I am afraid I was unaware of your arrival until just a few moments ago. I was in a hurry to return and meet you. However I have failed to hear why you have decided to come at such short notice,” he said. It was Luke who stepped forward first. “I received a worrisome call from my daughter, Your Grace, about a new Tribe member. She claimed that this new member was a threat to the Tribe, and by extension, a threat to you, Your Grace,” he said. Elijah stared at the man, his face impassive for several seconds before he smiled and looked to Collin who was standing at attention by the big double doors. “Go and fetch Summer for me, would you, please, Collin,” he said. Collin nodded once. “Yes, Your Grace,” he said and went down the hall. I watched Elijah now. What was he up to? “And who is this beautiful lady beside you, my King?” Samuel asked as he stepped forward. Elijah smiled and brought my hand to his lips. Small shocks went up my arm as he pressed a small kiss to the top of my hand.

“This is my Mate and soon to be Queen,” he said.

Luke smiled. “I figured as much. I see her Mark clearly now. Freshly placed, if I am not mistaken,” he mumbled more to himself then to Elijah. I felt myself blush. Why would he be asking about that? The bond between Mates, and how and when they Mark each other is a private matter. I was annoyed that he would even ask. “And have you Mated?” he pressed. He was looking at me now. I felt my face close down and become hard. I was seriously insulted that he would even ask me that. Elijah cleared his throat and grabbed my hand a little tighter. “No offence, but I doubt that is any of your business,” I said calmly before Elijah could speak. Luke looked up at me and smiled. “I know you,” he said, surprised, after a moment. “You know me?” I demanded. “How?”Luke cleared his throat again. “Your father, of course. I mean, I have never personally met you, Miss, however I knew your father,” he told me. Elijah growled, the sudden noise filling the room. “Reid is alive, you fool. And you will address her as Your Grace or Your Majesty,” he warned. Luke looked up at us in surprise. “Reid is dead, let me assure you,” he said, as if Elijah had never spoken. Both Michael and Samuel looked at us in surprise. Before anyone else could say anything, Collin returned with Summer in tow. Once she saw her father she ran toward him. Luke hugged her tightly and then held her at arms length to take her in. Once he saw the dirty state she was in, he growled, turning back to look at Elijah. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. “I send my daughter here to be well looked after and help you defend your Keep and this is how she is being treated?”

I stood up and took a few steps towards them. “She is the one who ordered to have me thrown in the cells, daddy!” she said, pointing a finger at me. “She is also the one I called you about. She is some kind of freak or something!”Anger flared up inside me. Me? A freak? She was the one pissed about me having Elijah. I was about to speak when Elijah got to his feet. “Are you really going to stand there and blame her?” he demanded. His voice was loud, echoing off the stone and marble in the room. “She is the one-”Elijah was before her in a flash, his hand locked around her throat. “I heard what you tried to have those useless thugs do to her! Did you really think I would not find out?” he demanded, lifting her, her feet dangling in the air. “Your Grace!” Luck gasped. “I am sure whatever my daughter has done, she did not mean it!”Elijah turned his head to look at him. “Didn’t mean it?” he demanded. He dropped Summer to the floor, turning to face Collin once more and nodded. Collin did not say anything he just left the room once more, disappearing down the hall. “I will show you how much she meant it. She enlisted two of my Hunters to do her dirty work for her. Faye is my Mate. Summer assaulted her by getting someone else to do her dirty work. But it was an assault all the same. Treason, some may call it. An assault on the King’s Mate, is an assault on the King himself,” he said as he ascended the steps and stopped beside me. I knew he could hear my heart hammering away in my chest with the tension in the room. “She has been through enough and I will not have her harmed. By anyone,” he said as he raised a hand and brushed my cheek. He sighed and turned to face the tree men, and Summer who had a hand wrapped around her neck, glaring at me. Everyone turned when Collin returned to the room, a dirty burlap sack over his shoulder. Elijah nodded and Collin stepped between us and them and dumped the contents of the bag out onto the floor. Summer screamed and I turned my head away quickly as the two heads rolled out and around onto the floor. Elijah did not flinch.

“Now, normally, I would never kill anyone. However, they had more in mind then roughing her up a bit, if you get my meaning. Had they gone through with it, let me assure you, Summer would be dead, her head alongside these bastards here, on my floor,” he said, his voice deadly. Luke shook his head. “I understand you Grace,” he said quickly, reaching for his daughter. “I will take her to the Black Keep and she will learn her place-”“Home?” Elijah demanded. “Oh she won’t be going home. There is a van waiting outside for her. She is to spend six months in the Northside Pound,” he said as he took his seat beside me. This shocked me. I had not been expecting him to choose the pound as a form of punishment.I cut Elijah off quickly. “My Love, is that really the best place?” I asked him. Elijah looked up at me, surprised. “I mean, sure you could send her there for six months, however I think banishment would be best!” I said. I did not like Summer, and I did not trust her. She was no friend to me and she had shown me nothing but resentment since I had arrived here. However much I disliked her, I would never want to see her in a pound. No one deserved that. Not even Summer. Elijah watched me, his face puzzled, calculating. I am not sure if Elijah had realized why I had said this, but he nodded. “The Queen has spoken,” he announced. Summer scoffed. “Oh please! She is not even your Queen yet!” she spat at him. “It would be best if you did not speak again!” Elijah warned her. Her father tugged her back, holding up a hand to Elijah. “No! You can not take me away from him! I love him!”Luke shook his head. “We need to go now!” he said. Elijah cleared his throat once more. “I will have her escorted to the border where she may leave. If she returns, she will be arrested and put on trial for treason,” he said. With that he waved his hand and a man, dressed all in blue walked into the room. He grabbed Summer by the arm and escorted her from the room. Luke followed her, after turning to bow quickly to his king and scurried out of the room after his daughter. Samuel and Michael were the only ones left now. “It seems your council is getting smaller and smaller,” Elijah noted.They both bowed their heads. “I do believe we were summoned here for no real reason-...” Samuel stopped, looking up at me. “However, we were curious about your new Mate, My Lord,” he said. I looked up at Elijah who nodded. “She has gifts, yes. She is learning them,” he said. They both nodded, glancing at each other. “There is still the matter of Reid-”Elijah stood now. “Reid is, as of right now, our enemy. We do not know his intentions and we do not know why he is after Faye. The Queen wishes him no harm until she is able to get answers from him. You may now both take your leave, as I have grown tired of the pair of you” he said as he turned and faced me, holding out his hand. I reached and placed my hand in his and we both left the hall. Once we reached the stairs, Elijah pushed me against the wall. “Are you alright?” he demanded as his hands roamed my body. I smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am,” I answered him. I knew we would be alone for the rest of the evening. “I have an idea!” I told him.Elijah raised an eyebrow at me. “What is it?” he asked me. I leaned up and kissed him. “Mate me!” I whispered in his ear.