Chapter 4
1347 Words
The cell is cold, sterile, and completely white. No windows. No color. Just endless white walls that seem to pulse with artificial light.
It's been eighteen hours since they took me from Byrde.
My skin burns like I have a fever. Luna is curled so tight inside me I can barely feel her. Every heartbeat hurts. Every breath feels like drowning.
"This is what withdrawal looks like," the enforcer says through the speaker. "We're monitoring your vitals. If the bond was fake, you'd be fine."
I curl tighter on the narrow bed, my body shaking. "How is Byrde?"
Silence.
"Please," I beg. "Just tell me if he's okay."
"That would compromise the test."
I want to scream, but I don't have the energy. The mate bond feels like a wire pulled too tight, ready to snap. Without Byrde's presence, it's agony.
The door opens. Vera walks in, looking perfect in a cream dress.
"You look terrible," she says sweetly.
"Get out."
"The enforcers said I could visit. Family support and all that." She sits on the single chair, crossing her legs. "Father sends his regards. Oh wait, he's not your father, is he?"
"What do you want, Vera?"
"To watch you suffer." Her mask drops, showing pure hatred. "Do you know how long I've waited for Alpha Byrde? How many years I've prepared to be his Luna?"
"He's my mate—"
"Mates can be rejected." She leans forward. "When this is over, when you've failed, he'll reject you. And I'll be there to comfort him."
"He won't—"
"Won't he? Look at you. You're pathetic. Weak. You can't even handle a day without him." She stands. "The real entertainment starts tomorrow."
"What do you mean?"
She smiles. "The Council approved an addition to your test. Since you claim to be his mate, you should be able to feel if he's in danger, right?"
My blood goes cold. "What did you do?"
"Me? Nothing. But accidents happen. Rogue attacks. Challenges. Who knows what might occur while you're locked away?"
"If you hurt him—"
"You'll what? You can barely stand." She heads for the door. "Enjoy your week, sister. If you survive it."
The door slams shut, and I'm alone again.
Hours pass. Or maybe days. Time means nothing in this white hell. The pain gets worse, spreading from my chest through every nerve.
Then I feel it—a sharp stab of pain that's not mine.
Byrde.
He's hurt.
I scream, clutching my side where I feel his pain. Something's wrong. This isn't just separation. He's fighting.
"Help!" I pound on the door. "Something's happening to him!"
No response.
The pain intensifies. I feel his rage, his desperation. He's badly outnumbered.
Luna suddenly surges inside me, stronger than she's been in years.
Must help mate, she growls.
"We're locked in," I tell her.
No cage holds us. We are more.
"More? More what?"
Instead of answering, Luna pushes forward. But it's not a normal shift. Power floods through me—wild, ancient, impossible.
My bones don't break; they reform. My vision sharpens beyond normal wolf sight. When I look at my hands, they're not quite human, not quite wolf.
Something in between.
Something that shouldn't exist.
The door tears like paper under my claws. Alarms blare. Enforcers rush toward me, but I move faster than thought. One touch and they drop, unconscious but breathing.
I don't understand what's happening to me, but I don't care. Byrde needs me.
I run, following the bond like a rope pulling me home. The facility is larger than I expected, but nothing can stop me. Doors break. Walls crumble. Anyone who tries to stop me falls.
Outside, the forest calls. I run faster than any wolf should, trees blurring past. The bond pulls stronger, more desperate.
I burst into a clearing and freeze.
Byrde is surrounded by twelve rogues. He's bleeding from multiple wounds, his black wolf magnificent but overwhelmed. They're toying with him, wearing him down.
One rogue lunges for his throat.
I move without thinking. My hand—not quite hand, not quite paw—goes through the rogue's chest. He drops instantly.
Everyone freezes.
"Impossible," one rogue whispers. "She's a—"
I don't let him finish. The power inside me explodes outward. Three rogues simply dissolve. The others run, terror in their eyes.
Byrde's wolf stares at me, eyes wide with shock.
Then he collapses, shifting back to human form. Blood pools beneath him.
"No, no, no." I drop beside him, my strange form shifting back to human. "Byrde, stay with me."
His eyes flutter open. "Wendy? How...?"
"Don't talk." I press my hands to his worst wound. Heat flows from my palms—healing energy I didn't know I possessed. "Just hold on."
"You escaped. You came for me."
"Always," I whisper, tears falling. "I'll always come for you."
His wounds close under my touch, leaving only faint scars. Color returns to his face.
"What are you?" he asks softly, no fear in his voice. Just wonder.
"I don't know."
Footsteps approach. The enforcers surround us, weapons drawn.
"Stand down!" Catherine's voice cuts through the chaos. She walks into the clearing, taking in the scene—the dead rogues, the blood, us. "Lower your weapons."
"But she—"
"Is something the Council has been searching for." She kneels beside us. "A Hybrid."
"That's impossible," the lead enforcer says. "Hybrids are myths."
"Look at the evidence," Catherine says calmly. "She broke through reinforced steel. Killed rogues with a touch. Healed an Alpha's mortal wounds."
"My mother," I whisper, pieces clicking together. "She was one, wasn't she?"
Catherine nods. "Anna was the last known Hybrid. When she died, we thought the bloodline ended."
"Marcus knew," Byrde growls, sitting up despite my protests. "That's why he hated her. Why he kept her weak."
"Hybrids are dangerous," the enforcer says. "The Council—"
"Will do nothing," Catherine interrupts. "She's my son's mate. She passed your test—the bond is real. And now she's under my protection."
"The law states—"
"The law is outdated." She stands, power radiating from her small frame. "Times change. Adapt or be replaced."
The enforcers exchange looks, then slowly back away.
Catherine turns to me. "Your mother left something for you. Something Marcus hid. A letter explaining what you are."
"Where?"
"Hidden in your old pack house. In the Luna suite that should have been hers."
I help Byrde stand, his arm around my shoulders.
"This changes everything," he says. "The Trials—"
"She still has to do them," Catherine says. "Being a Hybrid doesn't automatically make her Luna material."
"Mother—"
"But," she continues with a small smile, "it does make things more interesting."
A car pulls up. Martha jumps out, tears streaming down her face when she sees Byrde.
"You stupid, reckless boy," she sobs, hugging him tight. Then she hugs me too. "And you, brave girl. Come, both of you. You need rest."
As we drive away, I lean against Byrde, finally allowing exhaustion to take hold.
"You came for me," he murmurs against my hair.
"You're my mate," I say simply.
"I love you."
The words are quiet, almost lost in the engine noise. But I hear them.
"Byrde—"
"I know it's too soon. I know we barely know each other. But when they took you, when I thought I might lose you... I knew."
I turn to look at him. His eyes are vulnerable in a way I've never seen.
"I think," I say slowly, "I might love you too."
He kisses me then, soft and desperate and perfect.
When we break apart, I see Vera's car following us.
"She won't give up," I say.
"Let her try." His eyes flash dangerous. "You're a Hybrid. My mate. Future Luna. She can't touch you."
But looking at Vera's face through the windshield, twisted with rage, I'm not so sure.
The Trials are in two days. Something tells me Vera won't let me make it that far.
At least not alive.
- Writer
