The Unveiling of the Hybrid

Just Another Morning

Star's Point of View:

Waking up is a struggle. I am not a morning person in the least. With a grunt, I roll out of bed and onto the floor. Looking at my phone on my bed stand I can see that it’s 7am. Perfect, I think to myself. Now I have an hour to get ready and some time to walk to classes. I hop into the shower, do the bare essentials of scrubbing down my body and washing my hair. Done with the ensuite, I turn to the closet, pick out my outfit and give myself a quick glance over in the full body mirror I have beside my bedroom door.

Standing at my five feet high reflection I see long curly brown locks adorn my face and cascade down to the middle of my back. I am wearing my thin round wireframe glasses which place an emphasis on my big dark brown eyes. Light blue jean shorts that reach just above my knees give a good contrast to my tan skin and shows off my clan marking that's on my right leg. The marking is almost the entire size of my calf and is of a wolf head in a dream catcher. In addition, I am also wearing a tight fitting white t-shirt with short red sleeves. My eyes linger on the eyes of the wolf on my leg for just a moment before I’m disturbed by some knocking at my front door.

“Star! Star! Get your ass out here right now, I have something important to tell you!” shouts my best friend Stacy as she continues to hammer my front door with her fists. Sighing, I quickly grab my backpack from the back of my bedroom door, place it on the kitchen table and open up the front door. Staring back at me as I open the door is Stacy. Stacy and I have been best friends ever since we met each other in the first grade when we first became neighbours. Despite being best friends we are as different as night and day. Unlike myself, Stacy stands at five feet six inches and has pale fair skin with some freckles on her face, perfect vision, bright almond shaped green eyes, and straight red hair that she keeps in a pixie cut. I consider myself to be an introverted person, I like my space. Stacy on the other hand is not so introverted and can often be found as the life of the party no matter the crowd.

Today I see that she is wearing a pair of black cut off shorts and a dark navy blue tank top with a plain black baseball cap. On Stacy’s right shoulder blade is her clan tattoo, a raven head encircled by a crown of branches. Most people find us to be quite the peculiar duo. Usually, clans prefer to stay to themselves. Though it is not uncommon to have some friends in other clans it is uncommon to have a best friend from another clan and intermarriage between clans is strictly forbidden, resulting in a penalty of death.

In today’s society, there are what are referred to as clans. When a person born into a clan reaches puberty, their marking appears on their body due to an ancient agreement made amongst the gods. Each marking represents the were-creature or supernatural identity of the clan. For instance, mine is of a wolf and therefore I am a werewolf and possess the abilities to physically shift into the form of a wolf. Stacy, is a wereraven and possesses the ability to shift into the form of a raven. Despite what the common folk may believe (i.e., humans/nonweres), were-creatures do not necessarily resemble their animal form when in human form though they can display similar behavioural traits. I for one am definitely guilty of growling, grunting, yipping, and whining on occasion. Stacy on the other hand displays behavioural characteristics of a raven at times.

I smile as I let Stacy inside the kitchen. “What’s up Stace? So much excitement in the morning, better be good, haven’t even had breakfast yet,” I say using the nickname I’ve given her. She seems to be bursting with energy, moving up and down as if she can’t contain herself, “Ahhhhhh! You would not believe it! You would not believe it!” she exclaims. “I won’t believe what?” I ask. “OMG, STAR! Fane is back!” Stacy squeals with a high pitched voice like a fangirl, thus making it hard for me to actually pay attention to what she was saying. “Agh, easy on the ears,” I startledly replied. “STAR!” she yells. “Yes?” I reply back sarcastically. “Fane is back,” she says in a quieter voice.

My breath hitches for a moment and I stop pouring myself a cup of coffee. “What? When? Why?” I ask in disbelief. “This morning at 6am, I saw his truck pull into his dad’s driveway across the street when I woke up to get ready for the day. I don’t know why,” she answers rapidly all in one breath. She is smiling ear to ear. This girl has got it crazy bad for that guy. I can’t really blame her though. Fane is also our childhood friend and lives across the street from us, the three of us have been friends since the second grade when Fane first moved into town. For some reason, the three of us just clicked. Fane is in the demon clan and his marking is a pair of bat wings on his upper right arm encircled with a thick black ring. Like Stacy and myself, Fane is also a dominant.

Dominants of clans have their markings on the right side of their body and possess the natural talents and skills to be in leadership positions such as an alpha, luna, beta, clan leader, or delta. In rank of power, each clan has one leader that acts as a king/queen for that clan. Below the clan leaders are the alphas and lunas. Each clan has three branches under them and each branch is ruled by an alpha, luna, or both. Alphas are male and are in charge of a branch of a clan and are tasked with making sure that day to day life runs smoothly in addition to being in charge of security measures and war tactics. Lunas are the female version of the alpha but are also in charge of setting up daycares and education systems within their branch. Betas are second in command and can take over for the alpha or luna when the need arises. Betas can also challenge the current alpha/luna for the right to be the next alpha/luna. Deltas are third in command and are in charge of training the warriors and the overall security of the branch.

Then there are those with their markings on their left side of their body. These are the nondominant positions such as warriors, omegas, and non ranking members. Warriors are fit and slim, with natural physical abilities that allow them to excel in fighting and are hence trained as warriors, acting as security guards and militia to the branch. Omegas act as scouts. They are weak but fast and nimble, giving them the perfect skill set to scope out new territories or assessing situations. Non ranking members have no particular skills or traits of a ranking member but still possess the ability to shift into their were-creature/supernatural form.

In total, there are 7 clans and they are the wolves, ravens, demons, vampires, witches, bears, and common folk. The seven clan leaders make up the council. The council is a governmental body in charge of keeping peace among the people and to prevent any one group from possessing too much power to ensure that no power is abused. The seventh chair on the council is the Head of the Hunt, which is the name for the leader of the hunters. Hunters are a highly trained faction of humans that utilize generations of knowledge and advanced technology to protect common folk from the other six clans, particularly the rogue. Rogue are what we call members of the clan that over thirsted for power and abused their powers to harm innocents. Thus, they have been separated and banned from their clan territories, giving them the name of rogues.

The past 60 years have been peaceful. Ten years ago the council came together to build an all inclusive university to increase the friendliness between the people and encourage peace. Stacy and I both attend this university as graduate students. I’m working on obtaining an MFA in the Fine Arts while Stacy is working towards gaining a doctorate in Environmental Sustainability and Its Practical Uses with Architecture. Although we are dominants with rankings, that doesn’t necessarily mean that once a ranking is given that you will be in that position. Stacy and I are both lunas, but our parents are alive and well, so they currently hold the positions of alpha and luna for our branches. Thus, allowing us freedom to enjoy our lives. Fane is also an alpha. However, we haven’t seen Fane since he graduated high school. He went to study abroad shortly after his mother died. It’s been four years since we last saw him, hence the excitement from Stacy this morning.

The three of us have had some video calls over the past four years but they became less and less until we stopped video calling each other 6 months ago and we haven’t heard from him since. Hmmm, I wonder what he is up to, I think to myself. Stacy seems to have settled down and is now eyeing my bowl of yogurt on the counter. I sigh and head to the fridge, handing her the backup bowl of yogurt I made in advance knowing that she often comes over in the mornings without eating breakfast herself. “How is it, that you get up before me and still don’t find the time to eat breakfast before coming over to my house?” I ask.

Smiling sheepishly, Stacy replies, “Well, it’s not that I don’t have the time but more so, I much prefer to eat meals here for free.” I glare at her. “ Plus you always have food ready for me. If you don’t like it then don’t be an enabler,” she playfully teases me. I roll my eyes and mutter to myself, “Star, you have gone soft. I should pour some ice water on her to get her to shut her yap.” Stacy eyes me with caution “What did you mumble to yourself?” “Ohh, you know, nothing big, just some wishful thinking,” I sigh in response. Stacy continues to eye me warily. “You know you’re doing it again right?” “Doing what?” I ask slightly annoyed. “You get the most demonic looking ass smile when you have your wishful thinking. Your eyes go nearly black too, gives me the heebie-jeebies,” she shudders after air quoting the wishful thinking. “If you didn’t make so many wolf noises and have that marking I would swear that you’re part demon,” she says, pointing her spoonful of yogurt at me. I roll my eyes at her and respond, “Pft, you and your imagination, Stace.”

“I don’t know, sounded pretty devious when you were wishing for ice water to pour all over her,” a deep voice playfully says. Stacy jumps out of her seat, startled by the new voice, accidentally throwing yogurt in the process and messing up my kitchen table. Her reaction is hilarious and I can’t stop myself from laughing. “Good to see you too Fane,” I say, wiping tears from my laughter filled eyes. Fane apparently slipped in through my front door when we weren’t paying attention. Stacy, not so amused, begins to pout. “I can’t believe I was happy to see you... jerk.” “Oomph,” I say, giving Fane a good luck with that kind of look. Stacy hearing my oomph turns from Fane to face me “And what’s that I hear about pouring ice water all over me, Star?” she accusingly asks.

I begin to whistle and respond innocently, “Why, Stace, whatever are you talking about? I’m as innocent as the moon.” Fane chuckles and mutters under his breath, “Bullshit.” Stace laughs as well and says sarcastically, “Uh, huh. You’re innocent alright, as innocent as a spawn of Satan.” “Pft, Satan wishes he knew me,” I mutter. “There you go again! Always muttering, so not fair. You know I can’t hear as well as the demon, bear, and wolf clans. You sneak!” Stacy exclaims. “At least Fane is back, now I can know what you’re always muttering to yourself,” she says. I glare at Fane daring him to reveal anything I mutter. He just whistles and nonchalantly pretends to not notice my glare. Great, now I gotta keep a filter on it, I think to myself.

After Stacy cleans up my kitchen from her mess and we’re both ready to go out the door, Fane walks up to us and announces casually “So, today I’ll be in grad school with the both of you.” Stacy, forgetting any anger she felt, jumps and squeals right by my ears “AHHHHH! OMG this is AWESOME! Gang’s back together again.” I back away and wince, rubbing my left ear thinking to myself Evil, little birdy. Loud birdies may get bit. I side glared at her for the briefest moment but was still seen by the both of them. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Stacy mutters. Fane makes no comment and appears slightly uncomfortable. I turn around, not saying anything and lock my front door. Stacy hugs me from behind and says poutingly, “Come on Star, I promise I won’t squeal in your ears anymore.” I sigh, “That’s what you say everyday and yet here we are.” Fane softly chuckles.

There’s about half an hour left to get to the university. Luckily it only takes fifteen minutes to walk there from where we live. Despite Stacy and myself having parents, we live by ourselves. Our parents left our houses and moved to the territory of our assigned branches to act as the alphas and lunas. Stacy and I however, wanted to stay in the city so that we wouldn’t have to leave our childhood homes and could be close to the university. Of the raven clan the three branches are Midnight, Dawn, and Sky. Stacy is from the Dawn branch, known for its wise, intelligent, yet outspoken and playful personalities. The wolf clan’s three branches are Moon, Lunar, and Black. I come from the Black branch, the branch of the wolves that are most feared and criticized due to our traditional views and our fighting and strategizing abilities.

Then there’s Fane. Fane comes from the Underrealm branch, the most powerful of the three demon clan branches and is said to also be the most close minded. Despite this, his personality and demeanor suggests he’s a rather open minded person. The other two demon branches are Flight and Tempted. Each branch of every clan has its own specialty and often has members with similar personalities and common mindsets. Fane’s father is the alpha of Underrealm but has been having a housekeeper check up on the family home for when he decides to visit and for when Fane returns.

As we walk to the university which is named Universal University, a crappy name, I know, Stacy fires question after question to Fane which he contemplates and answers each one considerably. Fane returned after being informed that his father, Ryan, has decided to step down as alpha soon because he has been nominated to replace the clan leader, Zelphira, who has decided to go into retirement. Thus, Fane will soon have to take over as alpha for Underrealm. Being that we are all in our first week into graduate school, Fane has two years to get his degree before having to come into the position as alpha. Additionally, in those two years Ryan will be training for clan leader and Fane will be learning the position of alpha. This is huge news as it's far sooner than any of us expected and most alphas or lunas don’t come into position until they reach thirty. However, Fane will only be 24 by the time he graduates with his master’s degree in Business Finance and Operations Management.

We’ve reached the doors of the school and are fifteen minutes early with some time to spare before we have classes so we walk to a nearby picnic table outdoors. Sitting down, I take a moment to notice how Fane has changed. His skin is tan with piercing grey eyes and tousled jet black hair that is a little on the longer side. A few stud earrings are on one ear. He’s in his usual clothes, dark jeans and a tight fitting black t-shirt, enabling Stacy and myself to see the rippling muscles underneath. He’s fit and in shape but not bulky. Although he is more built than he was in high school. He also seems a little taller, as if he stands at six feet tall. Stacy’s been giving him quick glances since we’ve seen him this morning.

I can tell she has a crush on him, whether Fane knows it or not, I’m unsure but I feel as if she is pretty obvious about it though I don’t believe she intends to be. I, however, am not discreet and squint at him like a puzzle that needs dissecting as I ponder what he’s done these past four years to change. He seems to have a different aura about him, more mystery enshrouds him like a cloud of secrets he seems to be keeping. Fane, of course, catches my squinting and sighs, “Star, what are you doing?” I reply honestly, “Thinking.” Stacy asks, “About what, Ms. Little Intenseness?” I reply with a tongue clicking sound, “Tch... stuff.” Stacy says teasingly, “Oohhh, were you now? Because it looked to me that you were undressing Fane with your eyes.” Stacy laughs at her teasing retort. Fane looks at me quizzically. I reply in my monotone voice that I use when I become disinterested in things “Well, besides the fact that it would appear none of us have really changed our wardrobe these past four years. It also remains unsaid that secrets are secrets left unspoken to speak them would be to be broken.” I sigh and get up from the picnic table, briefly stretching out my arms over my head with a slight yawn. “And with that, it’s time to get to class.” I say and head for the front door, ready to go to my first period of the day.

Stacy looks at Fane, “Huh, I wonder what that was about,” she says. Fane looks at her confused. “I’m not sure,” he replies. Stacy and Fane get up and follow me into the university. They quicken their pace to catch up with me. “Star, wait up, you speed walking ninja,” states Stacy. “But this is my normal walking speed,” I reply, to which Stacy replies with, “Yea, I know. Avoid the crowds yada yada. You know you used to walk leisurely, enjoy the journey to the classrooms.” Fane, who is walking at my other side asks, “Yea, what happened to the Star that used to always tell us to enjoy life at our leisure?” “Y’all know you’re talking about highschool right? I haven’t been a slow-mo since I started college,” I answer. Stacy says, “Yeah, yeah. I know.” Fane turns his head and looks from me to Stacy. “Wait, why since college?” he asks but is interrupted by some nearby whistling and catcalls.

“Lookin’ good Stacy!” shouts Puck, from the vampire branch Bloodlust. “Nice rack Stacy!” shouts Puck’s friend and quarterback jock, Matthew, also from Bloodlust. “Hey, Star is just as beautifully endowed,” chirps in Asmodeus from the demon branch Tempted. “No, way. That woman scares me, she may be a wolf but don’t forget she is in line to be luna at the Black branch. Those people are monsters,” replies Puck. “I don’t know. I enjoy a challenge. I’ll take a dark temptress any day,” states Asmodeus.

Stacy waves, “Hey boys! Enjoy your day!” I mutter under my breath unable to filter myself , “Always encouraging them, what a naive little birdy.” To which Fane and Asmodeus both hear. “Oh godz, I think I just got a boner,” says Asmodeus. Puck and Matthew look at him quizzically and turn their heads to me questioningly. “s**t,” I curse under my breath. And here I am supposed to keep my thoughts inside, I think to myself, I am obviously failing miserably. I lightly slap my forehead, annoyed with myself. Fane looks amused by my reactions as we walk away from the trio.

“Ugh, I hate people,” I state. “I know. That’s what I’m for. We are the perfect balance. You’re an intimidating introverted people hater and I’m an extroverted bubbly people lover!” Stacy replies with a smile. I scowl, “Uh huh, right.” Fane looks at the both of us. “So I guess that explains the fast walking,” he says while rubbing the back of his head with his hand. “You two seem to be pretty popular,” he states. As we walk past more people, he notices eyes glancing our way.

Stacy replies, “Well, as far as I’m concerned, I’m liked by all clans and peoples. Star on the other hand tends to draw in the attention of just the demons and wolves. It wasn’t always like that though. First year of college everyone talked and looked at Star too, until one day some bear slapped her ass when she was in the hallway and she kinda went berserk.” “Berserk, you say, why? What’d she do?” Fane asks with a piquing curiosity. “I ripped off his arm,” I replied nonchalantly. Fane looks at me with shock and lust. Stacy snorts, “Pft, yea right. If you call a split second full transformation into a wolf going into beast mode and tearing an entire limb from his body just ripping off his arm.” She emphasized the last few words with air quotes. Fane stops in his tracks, “It’s no wonder everyone else doesn’t dare to interact with her.” “Well, he shouldn’t have touched me,” I reply using my same tone. Stacy rhetorically and playfully asks, “Are you sure you’re not a demon.” I sigh, “You just said so yourself. I went wolf in front of your very eyes. Everyone knows that mixed clan marriages are forbidden. The biggest you’d get nowadays is a friends with benefit thing and that only became popular in the past five years. Now shut your yap and head to class.”

We go our separate ways and head to our prospective classes. After texting each other, we confirm to eat lunch together, which Stacy and I usually do anyways but now Fane will be joining us. We join each other at a dining table in a café. Luckily, Universal University caters to all of the people's dietary needs. I sit down with my plate of elk, boar, and goat, all on the rare side, just the way I like it. Stacy sits down with her eggs, nuts, and berries and Fane sits down with his medium rare cooked steaks, eggs over easy, and mashed potatoes.

Stacy eyes my plate with a frown, “You know, your branch is the only branch of wolves that still eat their meats raw, right?” I look at her with a your-point-is kind of look while chowing down on my elk. Fane just eats quietly and watches the interaction. “Well, it’s disturbing to watch. It’s kinda gross and it's no wonder that people are scared of you when they can see your teeth tear into the raw slabs of flesh on your plate each day,” she says. “If you don’t like it then don’t watch. Besides, the vamps have bottles of blood. Not too different, in my opinion,” I reply while chewing on some goat. Stacy replies with some berries in her mouth, “Yea, but the bottles aren’t transparent. It's not like people see the blood unlike you with your meat plate over here.” Finished with his plate Fane responds, “Seriously, Stace, we’ve been friends for how long? We’re all different. Respect her diet, it's not as if you haven’t seen her eat before. I’m sure there have been times when people have looked at you grossed out from when you eat caterpillars and grubs, but we don’t ever say anything about it.”

Finished with my plate, I push away from the table, pick up my garbage and throw it away. Returning to the table, I grab my bag and check the clock on the nearby wall. Hmmm, 10 minutes left till next period. Early it or nah? Eh, screw it, I’m feeling lazy, I think to myself. Stacy looks over at me guiltily. “Sorry, Star. Forgive my judginess?” she asks. “Nothing to be forgiven. Didn’t bug me anyways,” I reply in short. She smiles in relief. Fane smiles as well. “Great. Now that we’re all chummy again. Why don’t we hang out tonight?” he asks. Agh, this poor friend of mine. Be ready for disappointment, I think to myself. “Not gonna happen,” replies Stacy. “Why, not?” asks Fane. “Star works 5 nights a week and unless you’re ready to ruin a diurnal sleep schedule, she’s a no go on the weekends,” replies Stacy. “Hey, I’m naturally a crepuscular creature, be grateful to be in my presence during the weekdays,” I reply with my hands up in the air.

“You work? Where? Why?” asks Fane. “I’m the manager over at the Dusk till Dawn art gallery on Sleepers Street,” I reply. “Really? Wow. Congrats. That place is hella hard to get into,” replies Fane. “Thanks and because I need the money. Got bills to pay and a family that doesn’t care,” I respond. “Ah, yeah. Sorry. It’s been awhile. Forgot the whole family dynamic thing,” he says, awkwardly. “Don’t sweat it,” I say.

It’s been awhile so I don’t blame Fane for forgetting my crappy home life. Despite both my parents being healthy and happy, their happiness doesn’t necessarily include me. My mother, Starla, is nice to me and loves me but my father, Marcus, has always openly been an asshole to me and expressed his disdain for me. However, my parents are true mates, they were destined for each other by the gods and bear one another’s mark. I could never bring myself to ruin my mother’s happiness and when push comes to shove, she discards me when it pleases Marcus. Needless to say, Marcus and I are not on the best of terms.

So, I’m stuck fending for myself, as I have been since I reached puberty and gained my ability to shift. Most wolves hit their shifting age between fourteen and sixteen. My unfortunate soul, however, hit puberty at the ripe age of ten, practically unheard of for wolves. I’ve been living on my own ever since. Whenever I had trouble, Fane’s and Stacy’s parents would help out, attend my parent-teacher conferences and so forth. My parents gave me an allowance for living expenses, but only until I was fourteen. I’ve been working ever since. I’m brought out of my thoughts when I hear Fane’s voice.