The Hybrid Mate

Chapter 6

The bright morning sun was a welcome sight, but Izzy was not particularly fond of getting out of bed because it required moving and so did walking. Her entire body ached, especially her pelvic region.

Standing in the shower, she could feel how sore she was between her legs. Izzy remembered glimpsing her bondmate’s “package” and it was marvelously large and firm. She blushed profusely at the memory. Who would have thought “little petite Izzy” mated with a tall, handsome, super-hot, lean muscled specimen of a man, oozing with s*x appeal?! Izzy could not get over his masculine scent of forest earth and rain. Her mother would be proud!

Izzy was now standing out in the backyard with her face all screwed up in full concentration. She just received her first lesson in mastering the mind link communication. But Ezekiel was her mentor this morning, and not Sebastian. Sebastian had left with Joshua and Gabriel at dawn to meet with the council regarding the hybrid criminals they picked up the night before.

“Come on, Izzy. It’s so easy!” Ezekiel smiled, but his voice hinted slight impatience.

“It’s easy for you, Zeke! You’ve been doing this all your life.” Izzy plopped to the ground in frustration, pulling a few tufts of grass.

“What did you call me?” Ezekiel furrowed his brows slightly.

“Zeke. Short for Ezekiel.” Izzy tried closing her eyes to focus on communicating by mind link again.

“I like that. No one has ever given me a nickname. Not even my parents.” Ezekiel sat beside Izzy on the grass.

“Well, now you have one.” Izzy turned and gave Ezekiel one of her sweetest smiles.

“You’re so pretty, Izzy. And nice and a fantastic cook! No wonder Seb loves you. I wish I found my mate.” Ezekiel started pulling bits of grass from the ground, mimicking what Izzy did.

After hearing what Ezekiel said, Izzy froze and turned to stare at him. “Sebastian loves me?”

“Of course! Sebastian’s your mate. Don’t you?” Ezekiel looked at Izzy incredulously.

“Uh... maybe I do? I certainly have feelings for him. And I miss him terribly when he’s not here. And especially now after last...” Izzy trailed off, realizing she did not want to reveal what happened behind closed doors to Ezekiel.

“Don’t hide it. I know you guys mated last night... and almost the night before. We all know.” Ezekiel got up and brushed off his pants.

“How did you...?” Izzy looked up at him with wide eyes and mouth agape.

Ezekiel chuckled and replied, “We can detect when one has a mate and if they’ve already been claimed, Izzy. You really need to learn the other senses of your other species. You’ve been too human too long. Now, continue practicing, I’ll be right back.” Ezekiel shook his head and walked back into the house.

Izzy sat with her mouth still agape. The shock was an understatement, for sure. Izzy raised her arms and tried smelling her skin, wondering if it had a distinct scent, but all she got was the flowery scent of her body lotion she applied after the shower.

Ezekiel caught her trying to sniff her body when he walked out with two glasses of water. The sight of her sniffing herself got him giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Izzy pouted. She disliked being laughed at by her friends, even more by a half-demon.

“You’re so silly. You trying to sniff yourself. It doesn’t work that way.” Ezekiel offered her a glass of water as soon as he sat on the grass beside her.

“So, you’re going to tell me I need my other species to make smelling identification work, right?” Izzy rolled her eyes.

“Tell me, Izzy. How does Sebastian smell to you?” Ezekiel took a sip of his water.

“Why do I need to tell you that?” Izzy frowned, suspicious of any tricks Ezekiel might play on her. He already laughed at her. Why not play a trick on her?

“Humor me,” Ezekiel gave her a small smile.

“To me, he smells like forest earth and rain.” Izzy was specific.

Ezekiel smiled and said, “To most of us, Seb smells like pine, timber, rock, and fire.” He was more specific.

Izzy raised her eyebrows, confused about the difference in odors identified.

“See, that is the dragon in you identifying the essence of your mate. It is what your dragon smells. To us, especially men, we pick up the scent specific to the person or species. And truthfully, it can still vary amongst us. But as you can see with my answer, this is how we recognize Seb as a hybrid. There is too much variety in his scent.” Ezekiel ended with a meaningful smile.

“That doesn’t bode well for hybrids, huh? They can’t hide from you... reapers.” Izzy drew her eyebrows together, feeling sad for the innocent hybrids that were being captured by order of the council.

“That’s why we only capture the criminals and send the innocent ones here in the blank zone. The council has not identified down to the specifics who these hybrids are until we bring them into the detention center. I’ll let you on a little secret, Izzy...” Ezekiel trailed off as he saw Izzy rocking her head.

“No. No. No. Don’t tell me any secrets, Zeke. I need to master the mind link first before you tell me any sensitive information. No matter how curious I am. Just don’t.” Izzy said with determination in her voice. And she added, “You have already told me enough that I’m too scared others will find out. All they have to do is read my mind.”

“OK, fine. I guess you’re right. Try thinking about your human memories each time you meet any creature. You never know if they’re human or not. Especially since you can only sniff your mate and no one else right now.” He chuckled.

This earned him a hard punch on his shoulder from Izzy, but Ezekiel did not even flinch.

“We must train you in combat, too, just in case. Izzy, you’re such a weakling.” Ezekiel ducked away from another punch, a stronger one this time.

“Let’s get me to master the mind link first, OK, Zeke?!” Izzy scolded her mentor.

After several more unsuccessful tries, Izzy lay on the grass, exhausted and nothing she did even involve physical labor. The mental effort appeared to be more exhausting.

Izzy complained in frustration, “Why is it so hard? How come I can just think my thoughts and Sebastian can hear me, and I can hear him, but you can’t, Zeke?”

“Because you and Seb are bondmates. You already have the innate connection via your dragons. I’m half-demon and the demoness inside you apparently went on a one-way trip to the netherworld and didn’t want to come back. She probably got upset with you when you sent her packing by suppressing her for so long.” Ezekiel smiled teasingly.

Izzy scowled and threatened the half-demon reaper with another punch, but changed her mind. Instead, she asked, “Zeke, isn’t the mind linking with Sebastian enough? Shouldn’t I just master that more and learn to block thoughts that way?”

Ezekiel lay beside her on the grass, both looking up at the clear blue sky. “Sorry, Izzy. The dragon mind link is exclusive to dragons or dragon-blood people. If I understood anything in the car when you and Seb were mind linking, it was most likely the demoness in you that slipped up to the surface. It couldn’t have been Seb because he is excellent at blocking the links. And because the dragon mind link is impenetrable. Not even any random dragon can hear another dragon unless it was on purpose by the one communicating. It’s the demon channel, like Gabriel calls it. That mind link is accessible or hackable by any other species if they have the ability because most demons, not all, tend to be braggarts. Demons like to let everyone know about anything.”

Ezekiel turned his head to look at Izzy and said, “It’s the demon mind link you need to worry about mastering. It’s got its flaws in security if you want to compare it to computers.”

Izzy nodded slowly, understanding the urgency of her training. Her mind was too much of an open book, and if she learned about things that others shouldn’t, she and those involved would be at risk with the council.

Suddenly, a low, dangerous growl rumbled from inside the house, getting louder as the owner of the guttural sound stepped out into the backyard.

Ezekiel jumped up, separating himself from Izzy and hurriedly said, “Seb! We’re just talking, OK! Chill! She lay down. So I—“ His explanation cut off by a hand wrapped around his throat and sensed his feet floating up off the grass below.

Izzy’s eyes shot wide open, seeing Sebastian lift Ezekiel by his throat with one hand. Damn! He’s strong! And she felt herself cream between her legs. Do something, Izzy! Before he kills Zeke! Her mind screamed.

“Sebastian Stroud! Put him down!” Izzy never sounded so authoritative before... must be her dragon.

Sebastian glanced at Izzy and saw his mate frowning at him. He immediately released Ezekiel, who fell on the ground, coughing.

“Even if he is my friend, Ezekiel should know better not to lie beside my mate!” Sebastian’s fury was clear in his actions and on his face, a severe scowl with his emerald eyes now near black-red.

Izzy marched over to Sebastian and placed her hands on her hips and looked up at her very tall mate.

“Zeke does know better, and we were just talking. We were both exhausted from training my sorry-weak-ass with no success. He was telling me the importance and necessity of my mastering the demon mind link because our dragon mind link is apparently foolproof. And since I know the council operates on the demon mind link more, well, obviously, I need to learn, don’t I?!” She then strutted off back into the house, but just before she got inside, Izzy bellowed back, “Since you get so jealous because of this bondmate thing, then why don’t you teach me, instead of having a very handsome, chestnut-haired, blue-eyed half-demon be my mentor!”

Izzy turned around so fast, her hair swung and smacked Gabriel on his face as he was getting up from retying his lace-up boots. Gabriel blinked and grimaced at first, then smiled as he liked her scent of lavender and rosemary.

This earned another growl and severe glare from Sebastian when he passed by Gabriel, on his way to follow Izzy up the stairs.

Gabriel shook his head and called out to Sebastian, “It’s her hair that hit me, OK! And that’s what you get for finding your mate! Your hormones are on overdrive!”

Ezekiel walked back in with his hand on his throat.

“You OK, Ezekiel?” Joshua patted him on the shoulder.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I understand Seb, though. I can see myself the same way if ever I found my mate.” Ezekiel rubbed his neck while he sunk into the sofa. He then chuckled and said, “Did Izzy really just call me very handsome? Wow! That’s a compliment from that little mushroom.” Ezekiel grinned and chuckled, giddy from the praise.

Gabriel ambled over to Ezekiel, then smacked the back of his head, “Wipe that grin off your face if you don’t want Sebastian to up and kill you.”

“I’m joking, Dude! Geez! But she still called me handsome. You are all a witness.” Ezekiel ducked, missing another swipe from Gabriel, but received a light slap on his cheek from Joshua.

“That should pipe you down,” Joshua said and sat down, turning the TV on.

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