Roman's Hybrid: The Return of the Moon

JULIA JAXON "Alpha Roman's troops were closing in on the packs surrounding ours, " voiced the beta of Rosemoon Pack—my pack—to Alpha Kristopher, my adoptive father. "Tighten security. I want every corner in this pack guarded. " My dad's hardened voice was different than the tone he usually used. I wasn't allowed to be a part of these conversations. My father wouldn’t let me—something about being fragile or not having a wolf and stuff like that, like that would stop me… I, being the obeying daughter that I was, did what any obeying daughter would do... I eavesdropped on their conversations. I even developed a stealthy skill. Nobody detected my scent or my heartbeat. Nice, huh? I was doing great with my head against the closed door, basking in all the forbidden conversations up until... "Oh hey, J.J. What’re you doing?" called Alex, the beta's son, from behind me. After that, the voices inside the room hushed ever so suddenly, and damn—if looks could kill, I might as well have written Alex’s eulogy. The door was pulled open from the inside, and there went my balance. This was getting better and better. The force of gravity did its thing, and I went flying to the cold, sturdy floor. When I looked up, I wasn't expecting a smile, but I sure as heck wasn’t prepared for the blank expression on my father's face. It made me feel a bit of guilt. He was tense, his shoulders rigid, glare ever so intense, and boy—it would've been interesting if I wasn't the one on the receiving end. “s**t, ” was all Alex said before jumping over my leg and making his way inside. And for the five seconds that passed, the only noise that filled the silence was the hard beating of the organ inside my chest and the constant tick tock tick from the clock. One of the many reasons I hated the damn wooden thing. "You wouldn't even believe me if I told you I was cleaning the doorknob, " I said. I wondered if he bought it. "Tsk, " was the only sound he released from his clamped lips. Oh well... guess he didn’t buy it then. I sighed before getting up. "Look Dad, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I just... " I released a sigh. I wrecked my head for excuses and only came up with... "I'm sorry. " Lame, right? Being the big softie that he was, Dad extended his hand and pulled me up. "How much did you hear?" he voiced. "Oh, not much really, " I replied, swatting my hand in the air. I think he would've believed me if I hadn’t released that freaking awkward giggle. "Julia... " He dragged the name. Sigh. "I might have heard something about the conqueror closing in on our pack. " I blurted quickly. Apparently, the Alpha of Silvermoon had devoted the past months to forcefully acquire other packs on the continent and place them under his rule. He was insane—a maniac even. No wonder his pack had no Luna. No woman would want to mate with a morally compromised wolf. And as much as my father tried to keep it from me, I knew it was only a matter of time before he attacked our pack, killed our leaders, and reigned his dictatorship. As the Alpha's daughter, I wasn't off his list—neither was my brother Kylian or Alex. Roman made sure to wipe out the bloodline of current leaders to prevent any retaliation or revenge. One of the many reasons he was a sick son of a... "I don't want you having to worry about this. You're safe. " I wanted to believe him, I did but he was making it hard by not believing it himself. "Why don't we just give in?" There was no harm in doing that! Perhaps Roman would spare us. Father looked at me like I had offended him. Did I? "I would rather die with my honour still intact than willingly bow to another man!" There went Alphas with their pride. "So you admit that we're going to die?" I meant that as a joke. The uptight Alpha next to me didn’t detect the humour. "It was a joke dad. " He didn’t get time to reply. One of the patrolling wolves stopped in front of us to catch his breath. He smelled sweaty, probably from the sweat running down his shiny forehead. The young wolf gulped before stuttering the words out... "Alpha, we... we're under attack. " All colour drained from my face. My dad didn't need to be told twice. He abruptly let go of my hand and departed with the words, "Stay here, Julia. I don't want you anywhere near the battle. " "But Father, I can fight, " I said. No, I couldn't fight—but Father didn’t need to know that. "Not without your wolf you can’t. " Then he turned and strode away down the long hallway along with the young wolf. Darn stupid wolf. It was all I heard around here. Most she-wolves were able to turn at eighteen, but me... twenty-one years down the line and still nothing. I didn’t even have a wolf. If I had a wolf, she would've been growling at the disrespect. Yes, I couldn't shift, but that didn’t make me weak. I was able to shoot arrows. In fact, I was pretty good at that. That was when I had an idea. I dashed across the hallway to my father’s weaponry room. It was usually locked, but with an impending battle, it was sure to be open so the scouts could get their weapons. The door was half open when I got there, and inside stood two young wolves, probably there for their share of explosives. Act cool, I told myself. They won’t even notice you're here. The silence that covered the room after my entrance told me they noticed. Oh well... "Hi, " I said. They nodded and continued their chatter. I pulled a bow and an arrow from a stack of weapons in the closet and walked out. Father told me to stay put but didn’t say where to stay put. So here I was, on my way to fight for my people. Technically, I wasn’t disobeying. I was creatively interpreting his orders. There were advantages and disadvantages to living in a big packhouse, and currently, I was only seeing the disadvantages. It took too darn long for me to reach the back exit. Now if only I knew where the battle was taking place... I looked around and my eyes landed on a scurrying she-wolf, running around telling others about the infiltration. I grabbed her by the arm and asked, "Is there any chance you know which part of the pack is being attacked?" "The eastern side, near the main entrance. " Well, that was easy. She didn’t even put up a fuss. How boring. I liked interacting with difficult people… They reminded me of - well - me! With determined steps, I made my way there. I wasn't far from the battle—that much was evident from the nearby growls and clanking of swords. As I got closer, the noise got louder. So did the stench of blood that lingered in the air. I gulped. Was it too late to turn back? What was I even thinking? I shouldn’t have come out. I should have stayed in the packhouse. I increased my pace so I could reach my destination faster. There were many corners to take but as soon as I came across a clearing the first thing I thought was... I definitely should've taken Dad's advice. Wolves were sprawled out everywhere—some dead, some deeply wounded, and some still fighting. I didn’t know which ones were on our side, and the scent in the air was a mixture of blood and both Rosemoon and Silvermoon scent. My eyes scanned the area of wolves for my dad, Alex, or any known face in the crowd. I came up with nothing. A low growl sounded behind me, and damn, if my heart didn’t just skip a beat, it leapt all the way to Mars. With shaky knees, I turned and came face to chest with a... what was it? Half-turned, half-wolf, half-human. I gasped. It was a lycan. A very menacing and bloodthirsty-looking lycan. I looked up to get a better look at the man’s face. Most of it was covered in blood so there wasn't much to see but his eyes... they held an emotion that had me gulping saliva down my throat. Whether it was the power crazed look he sent me or the way he held contact without blinking, it had a not so good effect on me. He stood in his position and I did the same. For seconds that passed none of us moved, only ours eyes which were still held in a trance. Should I break contact or would that be off turning for him? Why the heck did I even care what he thought? The man or Lycan in this case broke it by growling out the most inconvenient word possible… “Mate. ” Oh boy.