The Hybrid Mate

Chapter 13

It was only early autumn, but the foliage painted the bright golden, red, and orange hues expected later in the season. This was the blank zone, after all, located higher in the mountains under the canopies of centuries-old trees.

The first snow had already fallen here, several weeks earlier than expected, down in the city and suburbs. Snow-covered trees and rooftops made for a picturesque winter scene in early fall.

 But out here in the forest, the winter scene was breathtaking. Although Izzy would have preferred wearing her winter down jacket, the black cloak she wore provided her with enough warmth along with the wool sweater underneath. Madame Freya had told her to keep the cloak as a gift and wear it as long as necessary.

 A chilly breeze whisked through the forest, causing Izzy’s cloak to flap in the frigid wind and her long blue-black hair seemingly float in the air. The snow crunched underneath their boots as Izzy and Sebastian walked hand-in-hand towards a small clearing under a thick canopy of trees.

 “We will stand close, but enough to give you and your parents some privacy, My Love. We could have just let you be. But Ezekiel’s and Gabriel’s concern appears justified. To be honest, I’m now concerned if the council is trying to circumvent the Supreme Body’s standing order that anyone in the blank zone is free from being monitored by the council. There are a lot of hybrids here whose ID cards still do not possess their pictures. If you ask me, I think this is Ja—I mean, the First Officer’s way to get you through their bloodline scanners.” Sebastian tightened his grip on Izzy’s hand and avoided mentioning Jaden’s name to his mate, remembering how she flinched at it each time.

 “Is that why you chose the forest?” Izzy asked, glancing up at her tall mate in a long black wool coat.

 “No prying eyes, no eavesdropping ears, and quiet enough to sense any disturbance if the council were to intrude.” Sebastian smiled, trying to sound at ease, but an odd feeling scratched inside him like something bad was going to happen.

He secretly did not trust the so-called safety net that the Supreme Body created. Sebastian knew the council would always find a way to get what they coveted, even if it meant going against the Supreme Body law.

 After stepping over a huge tree root, the forest floor flattened out and Izzy could see an area the size of her old school gym, covered in snow, surrounded by snow-covered bushes with fall colors peeking underneath the mass of white. The snow at this higher elevation was heavier than where they lived at the top of the hill near the town.

 “You ready?” Sebastian gazed down and smiled.

 Izzy nodded and within two seconds, she heard a whooshing sound. Out of nowhere, Joshua appeared with her mother standing at one side and his big arm around her father’s shoulders. As soon as they materialized completely, Sabrina looked up at the forest trees while Samuel bent over and vomited.

 “Mum! Dad!” Izzy beamed and rushed toward her parents, but then stopped.

She turned and glanced at Sebastian, ran back into her mate’s arms and planted a delicate kiss.

 “I love you.” Izzy gazed with loving eyes and tears at the corners, threatening to fall.

 “I love you, too, My Izadora.” Sebastian smiled back. “Now, go to your parents. You have at least 30 minutes before their disappearance will register on the council’s city monitors. Your father is not of concern, but your mother is a witch. And they closely monitor witches and warlocks.”

 “OK. Thank you, My Love!” Izzy flashed her sweetest smile, then turned back to run toward her adoptive parents.

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 Sabrina witnessed her daughter hug and kiss the man named Stroud, Izzy’s mate. She could not help but smile at how fortunate her daughter was in finding her mate despite the danger that came with it, being a hybrid or as the council called her kind, an abomination. Sabrina always thought that was a terrible term for people like her adopted daughter. It was not their fault they were born with mixed bloodlines.

 “Dad! Are you OK?” Izzy stroked her father’s back, still bent over after being teleported for the first time in his human life.

 Samuel waved his arm but remained bent over, hoping he did not have to retch again.

“I’m OK, Izzy. Go hug your mother first. And for the record, I don’t want to travel that way again!” Samuel dry heaved once again.

 “Sorry, Dad, but you will have to endure it one more time to get home.” Izzy reminded her father.

 “Izzy!” Sabrina reached out to hug her daughter.

As Izzy wrapped her arms around her mother, she could see Joshua and Sebastian disappear from her peripheral vision. Giving her family the privacy her mate had promised her.

 “Oh my!” Sabrina gasped and released her hold of her daughter, appearing as if shocked by an electrical spark.

 “What’s wrong, Mum?” Izzy raised her eyebrows, startled by the sudden rejection of her mother’s touch.

 “No. Nothing, my dear. I’m sorry.” Sabrina offered a meek smile. “I just... I just sensed the energy in you, Izzy.”

 “Hey, Izzy! Now I want my daughter’s hug.” Samuel recovered enough and reached to embrace his daughter. “We missed you so much! Your Mum and I thought the council had for sure... let’s not dwell on it, right? That big guy Joshua said we only have about 30 minutes.” Samuel squeezed Izzy tight, knowing the chances of seeing his daughter again would be slim.

 “I’m fine, Dad.” Izzy worked to prevent her happy tears from falling.

 “They treating you OK?” Samuel stepped back and glanced at Izzy, making sure she looked well from head to foot.

 “Yes, Dad. I’m like part of the family.”

 “Yeah, reaper family. Who would have thought? Right, Honey?” Samuel chuckled, amused at how his daughter’s captors turned out to be her saviors. He glanced over at his wife and frowned, noticing the odd stare Sabrina had toward their daughter.

“Honey? You all right?” Samuel held his wife’s hand.

 “Izzy...” Sabrina started, “Have you been able to wake your bloodlines?”

 Izzy bit her lower lip and nodded slowly.

 “Do you know it is more than three?” Sabrina asked, almost in a whisper.

 “What are you saying, Sabrina?” Samuel questioned as he gazed at his wife, then at his daughter, who nodded her reply.

 “You need not tell me what they are because I can feel the power in you.” Sabrina walked closer to Izzy and embraced her once more, tighter this time.

“Oh, my child!” Sabrina whispered, “They are the bloodlines that scare everyone.”

 “What do you mean, Sabrina?” Samuel came up to them and wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter.

 “Sam, your daughter needs to be careful. I can see why Mr. Stroud is so protective of you, Izzy. If he’s your mate, then I’m assuming he is like you?” Sabrina needed to confirm her suspicion.

 Within her parents’ embrace, Izzy nodded. At first, her mother’s reaction shocked Izzy but remembered Madame Freya’s response to her the first time they met. Izzy almost forgot her mother was a witch. 

 As she pulled away from her parents’ embrace, Izzy watched as her mother curtsied slightly and bowed reverently toward her.

Izzy shook her head and enveloped her mother’s hands in hers.

 “No, Mum! Don’t do that!” Izzy pulled her mother back up to stand.

 “What’s happening?” Samuel asked, confusion written on his face.

 Sabrina smiled and tucked her daughter’s hair behind her ear and said, “Izzy, my child, I can’t help it. I have to show respect for royalty. It’s ingrained in our blood.”

 “Royalty?” Samuel echoed, still confused.

 “No parent of mine will bow before me, Mum. Please! It’s me! Plain old Izzy!” Izzy rolled her eyes and chuckled.

 “Royalty?” Samuel repeated, frowning more fiercely than before.

 “There’s nothing plain about you, Izadora, my Queen. And Sam, Honey, your dear daughter and her mate are the ones the council fears and the ones the Supreme body has been waiting for so long.”

 “Huh? I don’t follow, Sabrina.” Samuel scratched the back of his head.

 “I’ll explain it to you once we return home, Honey. We need to be back in the safety of our house after placing more wards before I can tell you. Especially now that we’ve met the future.” Sabrina smiled and caressed Izzy’s cheek.

 “Oh, Mum, I’m not...” She trailed off as she noticed her reaper friends walking towards them.

 “Sorry, Miss Izzy, Mr. Barrett, Mrs. Barrett,” Joshua glanced at her, then Izzy’s parents. “But we have to return now.”

 After seeing Izzy’s questioning look, Joshua added, “Ezekiel noticed a few council member vehicles coming into range of the blank zone. We don’t know why. Boss Sebastian said it’s wise to return now before they pick up your mother’s presence here.”

 As Sebastian strode up to where they stood, Sabrina curtsied and bowed even deeper than before, directing her reverence toward Sebastian.

 “Mum!” Izzy grabbed her mother’s arm and forced her to stand back up before the other reapers noticed, but it was too late.

 Joshua, Gabriel, and Ezekiel stood with stunned and perplexed looks on their faces.

Sebastian cleared his throat, recognizing that Izzy’s mother instinctively reacted to his presence, different from when they met the first or second time.

 “Uh... I’m sorry,” Sabrina whispered, “Before at the house, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful to you, my Ki—”

 “Mum!” Izzy interrupted her mother before she could finish.

 “No disrespect received, Mrs. Barrett,” Sebastian said in a calm voice, but a slight twitch was noticeable in his jaw. “It is hard to cloak fully from a witch, especially here in the blank zone.”

 Sabrina nodded and smiled, then averted her gaze. It was also inherent that a subordinate being should not stare at royalty. It was easy to gaze at Izzy because she was her adopted daughter from infancy. But the man named Stroud exuded an immense power that bounds a mere witch to yield. And she felt this same power in her daughter, although she could tell Izzy had just awoken such strength.

 “They are 10 minutes away from the border,” Ezekiel called out, glancing at his phone.

 “You need to go,” Sebastian ordered Izzy’s parents and gave Joshua a slight nod.

 Izzy hurriedly hugged her parents, “I love you, Mum… Dad. I promise I’ll keep in touch.”

 Before Joshua wrapped his enormous arms around their shoulders, Samuel remarked, “Ugh! Not again.” He dreaded the retching that awaited him once they returned home.

 “Wait!” Sabrina called out to Sebastian and her daughter, who had started to walk away from the clearing. 

 Sebastian and Izzy stopped and turned, looking back. Sabrina stepped away from Joshua’s grasp and focused her attention at Sebastian, which he gathered to mean his mate’s mother needed to speak to him privately. 

 Then, Sebastian heard Sabrina speak to him through a private mind link.

‘My King Sebastian, I know you will protect my daughter, your mate, your wife, to the ends of the earth. But there is one thing you need to know that I just found out a few minutes ago. Besides her being human and part-dragon, I know that you have sensed the wolf and witch in her, too. I always thought My Queen Izzy was part demon. But... but she has no demoness in her.’

Sebastian raised his eyebrows as he stared at Izzy’s mother. Not sure if he heard her correctly.

Sabrina stepped back and allowed Joshua to grasp her shoulders again. And just before they disappeared, teleporting back to the suburb, Sabrina smiled and left Sebastian one last message.

‘Her demoness is naught because the power she’s exuding is that of an angel.’

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TO BE CONTINUED

THANK YOU FOR READING!