The Alpha's Hybrid Mate

Chapter 8

“I’m a hybrid. My mum… she’s a vampire. That’s why we don’t live in a pack.” Her words echoed in his head. A hybrid, that’s what she had been hiding when he asked about her family. He was desperate to know more about it. “And what about your father?”

Vanessa squirmed in her seat. “I don’t know who he is. All I know is that he must have been a werewolf, obviously, and from what my mother told me, he… he r***d her” her last words were nearly inaudible, her pain evident in her face.

“I’m sorry,” Raffaele murmured quietly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to Alan Sorrenti telling his woman that she was the only one for him. And Raffaele realized that that’s exactly how he felt as well. He didn’t care what she was or who her parents were, he just wanted her to be with him. Although he had to keep the future of his pack in mind. Would they accept her for what she was?

“I don‘t care about this. You being a hybrid, I mean. You are my mate, the moon goddess herself paired you with me, and I trust in the mate bond,” he finally stated. He could hear her breath out, as if she had been holding her breath the entire time while waiting for his reaction.

“I should probably come clean though as well, then,” Raffaele chuckled sadly. “I’m not just living in the packhouse. My father is the Alpha and I’m his oldest son.” Vanessa’s head snapped towards him, her mouth slightly agape.

“What?” Her question wasn’t more than a whisper.

“Yeah…” he drawled slowly.

“I don’t know what to say now,” Vanessa opened the car door. “I’m sorry, Raffaele, I… We both need to think about this. Please,” she pleaded with him, effectively shutting down the argument on his tongue.

“Alright. I hope you still had a nice evening, though?”

“The best,” she smiled coyly, before getting out of the car and walking towards her cottage, leaving him alone.

Raffaele waited until she disappeared behind the trees before he started the car again, turned around and drove back home. There were many things he needed to think about, but if he was being honest with himself, what she told him didn’t change anything for him. He didn’t lie to her about that. He really didn’t care. But he was afraid she would consider walking away from him because of his status. How ironic, others wanted to be with him because of that. He sighed. There was nothing he could do about it now, he just had to be patient and allow her to get used to this.

As he reached home, he parked his car and went straight to his room. It was fairly late on a weekday, so everyone else had already retired. After brushing his teeth and changing into his cozy shorts and sleepshirt, he got into his bed. He wondered if she was still awake. He decided to send her a small message, she could read it in the morning.

Raffaele: Goodnight, farfallina (little butterfly)

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

Vanessa: Farfallina?

He chuckled.

Raffaele: Yes, when we left for the restaurant today, the first song we heard was Farfallina by Luca Carboni. So now, it will forever remind me of you.

Vanessa: Thanks for tonight. I really enjoyed it.

Raffaele: It was my pleasure. And I haven’t changed my mind, I still would like to see you again.

Vanessa: We’ll see. Goodnight for now!

Raffaele: Goodnight, farfallina!

At least she didn’t ignore him, that made him feel hopeful. And with that thought, he fell asleep.

~~~

The next morning, he woke up when his mother knocked on his door. “Wake up, mein Schotz (my darling), breakfast is ready!” He grumbled, but resisted the urge to request five more minutes of peace. He slowly rolled out of bed, his eyes still half closed, and shuffled towards the bathroom, where he just pulled his sweat pants over the shorts and then went downstairs to the kitchen. He could have kept his eyes completely closed and followed the wonderful smell blindly. Coffee, that was the most important part of his breakfast, and his mother wordlessly placed a full cup in front of him as he sat down. She knew he needed it to function. She then turned around, filled a plate with scrambled eggs and placed a toasted slice of bread next to it before setting it on the table. “Speck?”, she asked (Speck is a South Tyrolean kind of bacon). He shook his head while taking the first few sips of his steaming coffee. Only after emptying half the cup he put it back down and started eating his breakfast. His mother was sitting in front of him, sipping her cup of coffee with milk and sugar. He never understood how she could drink such a sweet concoction early in the morning. He didn’t miss the way she looked at him, like she was trying to figure something out. He just grunted while chewing, indicating that he was ready for whatever she wanted to say.

“And, how was your date?” Raffaele nearly spat out the piece of toast he had just bitten off.

“Don’t look at me like that, I am your mother. Do you really think I don’t know when you are going out on a date? You were wearing proper clothes, you took your BMW and I could practically feel the nervousness radiating off of you when you came down the stairs. And no, I didn’t tell your father,” she added, when she noticed his stare.

“Thanks, mum,” he mumbled.

“So?” She didn’t give up.

“I don’t know, mum, honestly. It went well until I told her about me being the Alpha’s son. I don’t know if she’ll come around to that.” He left out the tidbit about her being half vampire, it was too early to discuss that with his parents.

His mother eyed him carefully. “How important is she to you?”, she softly asked, as if she already knew his answer.

He sighed. There was no harm in telling the truth to his mother about that, he guessed. “She’s my mate, mum.”

His mother just silently nodded, as if he merely confirmed what she had already suspected. Then she got up, walked around the table and put her hand on his shoulder. “She’ll come around, don’t worry. Trust in the mate bond, mein Schotz, the Moon Goddess is never wrong.”

After she left the kitchen, he finished his breakfast in silence and then decided to go to the gym. Maybe a tough workout was what he needed to take his mind off the things he couldn’t control. It was Friday already, tomorrow afternoon he had to go back to Milan, which meant he only had tonight and tomorrow morning to see her again. He forced himself to stop thinking about her for now, went to his room to get changed quickly and then jogged over to the pack gym. But even though he tried his best and was absolutely exhausted after a few hours, all he could think about when he went back to take a shower was that pair of blood red eyes.