The Hybrid Mate

Chapter 15

It was spring. It was a pleasant sunny summer day in New Zealand. Not in the United States... it was still autumn over there, where the leaves had changed colors or dropped from their branches. And the blank zone in the mountains? Most likely covered in thicker snow than when Izzy left the area. It had been 2 months since Joshua knelt in front of Izzy and Sebastian, who sat in that SUV in the middle of the snow-covered forest high in the mountains.

It had been 2 months since he declared his loyalty and willingness to serve his King and Queen.

It had been 2 months since Gabriel cursed the heavens, the netherworld, and the earth... and every single living creature or plant that lay before him. 

It had been 2 months since Ezekiel relished his turn in smacking the back of Gabriel’s head to shut him up, so the council could not find them by the sound of Gabriel’s scream. That, of course, was not possible... but Gabriel thought it to be true for about 5 seconds, then threw Ezekiel the severest scowl the demon could muster afterwards.

It had been 2 months since the reapers teleported Izzy from the middle of the forest of Northeast U.S. to New Zealand. It took 2 days before she recovered from teleportation. Her headache and dry-heaving abated on the third day. And it had been 2 months since she had seen or heard from her hybrid mate and King, Sebastian Stroud.

 The reapers sent Izzy to New Zealand for her protection. Madame Freya was the next best thing to act as guardian since the reapers had to return to the U.S. to check in with the council and serve their duties. Izzy was told to expect few to no communication from anyone of them... also for her protection and safety. After all, she was supposed to be hiding from the council. Her bloodlines were emanating its powers much more than before, although one still had to lock their focus on her before they could identify the various scents that would brand her as Queen.

 One night, Madame Freya assumed two reasons for the no communication order by the “hidden” King. First, as Ezekiel’s pretend mate, Izzy was supposed to have rejected Ezekiel as her mate and thus communication or linking would cease. Second, the bondmate energy between Izzy and Sebastian had gotten more powerful as soon as they set foot on New Zealand grounds, and that was without Sebastian marking Izzy as yet. That combined energy was unknown to the council, so it was safer to separate and lessen the possibility of signature signals from popping up on the council’s monitors.

 It baffled the witch and the reapers how the bondmate energy of the pair increased by a thousand-fold after their feet touched the ground.

And the reason? No one else knew but Izzy and Sebastian. That was because Sebastian admitted to her a secret... a secret he had hidden for years, besides the fact he carried the bloodlines of royalty. 

 Izzy remembered the last day they were together...

Sebastian had his arms wrapped around her and kissed the crown of her head as they looked out towards the fiord, standing near the waterfalls.

 “I don’t want you to go,” Izzy whispered as she pressed her head against her mate’s hard chest. Her heart was weeping. Izzy recognized her heartache was not because of the mate bond, but it was the sadness engulfing her as she would miss the love they shared in these short few weeks. The mate bond was pure physical attachment and its needs, but her heart was speaking the words of security, trust, faith, and love for this hybrid mate of hers.

 Sebastian tightened his embrace and uttered, lips against her head, nose savoring the sweet scent of his mate, “I don’t either, My Love. I finally found you and I don’t want to let you go. But I have to. You’ll be safer here. Us together would be less conspicuous because staying apart does not magnify our energies. And as much as I hate it, I need to show myself to the council and pretend you don’t exist.”

 Izzy shifted her head to look up at Sebastian and asked with curiosity, “Why is that? Madame Freya and the guys mentioned that to me, too. They somehow perceived an unusual surge in our energies when we arrived here. Zeke and Joshua thought it was strange but cool, and Gabriel said it creeped him out."

 Sebastian let out a deep sigh and kissed Izzy on the forehead. And then said, “Izadora, My Love, just as Freya said, you are coming to your full potential. You, here, now... it has tapped into your combined bloodlines’ powers. Setting foot here was the only option for you. Not just to keep you safe, but also to reignite your bloodlines’ maximum potential. Your presence here completes you... what you held suppressed for so many years is now free of the shackles you gave it. But you must still hide from the world until you master self-cloaking your individual bloodlines, or at least cloaking them all at once.”

 Izzy knotted her brows and complained, “My Love, can you please stop talking gibberish? I have no clue what you just said. Well, at least the first part of what you said.” She pressed her lips together but still held her arms around his waist.

 Sebastian chuckled and reached up, cupping her face in his hands. He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her gently.

 “My Love...” Sebastian kissed her on her forehead. 

“My Queen...” He kissed her once more, but on her cheeks.

“My Izadora...” He touched her lips with his, gentle at first, which became more fervent. Sebastian held her face, not allowing her to pull away, just as Izzy tugged and pulled him closer with her arms.

 Once they both released the kiss to catch their breaths, Sebastian whispered, “Izadora, welcome home...” He trailed off as he watched Izzy’s face. Several expressions crossed her face at that moment, surprise, doubt, confusion... 

Bewildered by her mate’s words, she echoed. “Home?”

Sebastian nodded, then wrapped his arms around her again to squeeze her in a tight hug. 

After Sebastian noticed Izzy relax into his chest, he murmured against her head, “Keep this to yourself, My Love, and you alone. New Zealand is home... to you... to me... to both of us. No one in this world knows where the Supreme Body rooted their headquarters. Everyone assumes they move around, no permanent place. That is a half-truth because the Supreme Body patrols the entire earth. But they live here...”

Izzy shot her head up to gaze at her tall mate and inquired, incredulous, “Here? The Supreme Body is here? On this island?” 

“No, Izadora,” Sebastian replied, his voice soft and deep. “In this island. Inside the mountains, under the sea, within the island.”

“I don’t understand...” Izzy trailed off, trying to comprehend what Sebastian just told her.

“They are not located where people can easily find them, My Love. They are a hidden governing body. This helps them avoid attacks towards them. Attacks we’ve learned the council has instigated.” Sebastian frowned and his eyes darkened as he said the last part.

 “So, that’s well and good, telling me about the Supreme Body’s actual home quarters. But that still doesn’t explain the extra surge of our bondmate energies.” Izzy shook her head.

 Sebastian smiled and said, “It does.”

After a deep sigh, he kissed her forehead once again and continued, “I’m sorry for making it not clear enough for you. My Izadora... the Supreme Body is our home... where we sit as King and Queen. So, as soon as we both touched the ground when we arrived, our bloodlines exploded and recognized our home. Every single bloodline that runs through your veins recognized its home and awakened more than it already has.” 

He gazed at his mate and watched as realization dawned on her lovely face. Sebastian kissed her again, thinking he would never tire of doing so. And he was relishing every single second with his woman.

 “My Love, you mean to say...” Izzy paused, unable to complete her statement, stunned. Learning and accepting you have bloodlines of royalty were two different things. Finding out that all this was real and not a dream was unfathomable.

 “To answer your unspoken question, My Love,” Sebastian admitted, “Yes, your destiny has always been to be here... your home... our home. Your destiny has always been to be by my side. I just had to search for you all those years.”

He paused as Izzy lifted her eyebrows in curiosity. Sebastian released her from his embrace and pulled her to sit on a rock and sat beside her.

 With his arm around her waist, he started, “I have known my destiny very early. I have been working to right the wrongs of the council. But they are too stubborn for their own good. As much as I am capable, the elders of the Supreme Body preferred I work in the shadows, undercover, if you will... compare it to gathering intel first before acting upon it. The Supreme Body found my family as soon as I was born. This is my birthplace, Izadora. Under the gentle guidance and protection of the Supreme Body, my hybrid parents were also born here and lived here until I was born. They told my parents I was the one they had been waiting for... now they just had to wait for my perfect mate.”

Izzy reached up and caressed her mate’s cheek and gazed at him in awe and could not believe how blessed Sebastian was to have grown up under the caring guidance of the Supreme Body itself.

Whereas Izzy… after she was born, she was immediately shuttered into an orphanage. Izzy knew how lucky she was to have her loving adoptive parents, although she realized they were never equipped to handle her bloodlines if she did not suppress them as her parents recommended back then.

Sebastian pulled her closer to him and kissed the temple of her forehead. He heard his mate’s thoughts just now and wanted to comfort her. It was not her fault that her biological hybrid parents feared the consequences if the council found out about their offspring.

The Supreme Body could only offer the haven of the blank zone for hybrids who did not carry any criminal record. And now, the council was trying to control that haven, too. That was highly unacceptable.

Sebastian felt Izzy lean on him, so he tightened his embrace and confessed more about his past. It was only fair because he knew everything about her, but very little about him.

“My Love, I have searched for you since I was 10 years old. I was only 10 when I first noticed a strange sensation... a tingling down my spine and my chest tightened. It was an inexplicable pain. When the human doctors could find nothing wrong, my parents took me to the Supreme Body to have one elder look at me, considering the elders knew I was a hybrid. My parents were smart enough not to take me to the council. Even back then, the council feared hybrids; they feared the power hybrids possessed.”

Sebastian paused and smiled, “That was the time when you were born, My Izadora. The elders mentioned this to my parents. Not to me, of course, because I was a kid. If they told me my future wife was born, I would probably have said ‘Eww’. That topic would gross out a kid, right?” Sebastian chuckled and received a light slap on the arm from his lovely mate, leaning on him at that moment.

Izzy quietly listened to Sebastian and realized how long he had to wait for her to come into the world. Izzy turned her gaze towards him and flashed her sweetest smile and said, “I love you, Sebastian Stroud. Thank you for being so patient waiting for me.”

She meant it, the deep emotion spreading from her heart and soul. She recognized that what she felt for this man was more genuine than she ever thought.

Sebastian ducked his head and kissed Izzy with so much passion, trying his best to show how much he loved her in return. Izzy reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, and as Sebastian felt her pull him closer, their kiss became deeper and lasted so long until someone clearing his throat interrupted them.

Joshua stood a few feet away, eyes averted and back turned towards them.

“What is it, Joshua?” Sebastian asked as he pulled away from Izzy.

“My King, it is time to leave.” Joshua lowered his head and replied in a solemn tone. He preferred staying in New Zealand. It somehow offered peace, and Joshua did not sense any great disturbance or tension created by the council’s presence. It was as if the council did not exist here in Milford Sound.

Upon hearing what the big man reaper said, Izzy tightened her embrace around her mate, not wanting him to leave. The ache in her heart had worsened to a throb at the thought of Sebastian leaving her side.

Sebastian returned the tight hug and whispered, “It’s OK, My Love. I will come back. As I said, I finally found you, so I will make certain we are not apart for too long.”

“Promise?” Izzy whimpered.

“Promise.”

“I love you, Sebastian.”

“I love you, My Izadora.”

After another long moment within each other’s embrace, Sebastian pulled away. He got up and walked to where Joshua stood. Sebastian gazed lovingly at Izzy and implored, “Wait for me, My Love.”

And in one breath, both Sebastian and Joshua disappeared.

New Zealand... her actual home, according to Sebastian, was a place she always wanted to visit but never thought she could. The place was beautiful, breathtaking... and silent... except for the pattering rain. Apparently, Milford Sound was notorious for high rainfall. So, Izzy constantly wore rain gear fit for a trekking adventurer when she got out to sit on the rock by the waterfall where she last hugged Sebastian.

Milford Sound had a small village, but Izzy was not staying there. Instead, Izzy was bunking with Madame Freya inside a mountain. A hidden cave deep within the mountain, behind a waterfall.

It afforded protection from the council’s ever-constant prying seekers. This was a new group of supernaturals recruited to seek out the hybrids but not to engage. Instead, they were to contact the reapers to follow through with the capture. The newest council law was for the reapers to focus on gathering... capturing. Identification of hybrids or abominations was now the duty of the seekers. 

And it seemed there was no council influence here at Milford Sound, or at least this part of New Zealand. It was becoming obvious that the Supreme Body’s presence here had caused no need for council business on the island.

But then again, Izzy remembered Sebastian telling her that the Supreme Body’s home or headquarters was unknown to the world. Izzy only learned this because Sebastian told her... because she was the Queen and it was her home.

So, here Izzy sat on her lounge chair deep within the mountain at Milford Sound. Two months with no word from any of the reapers and no word from her mate.

Izzy was trying to read a book to distract her mind, but she was missing her mate too much. Madame Freya had already gone to bed, pleased that they finally made a breakthrough and Izzy succeeded in cloaking most of her bloodlines. It only took all of 2 months to get to this point. It would have been quicker if Sebastian, her mate, was here to help her with the task, according to the witch.

Izzy let out a deep sigh, frustrated that the book was not helping in keep her mind off missing her bondmate. So, she closed the book and replaced it on the bookshelf. 

As she approached the side table to turn off the bedside lamp, she felt a presence at the doorway of her bedroom. Izzy spun around, hoping it was Sebastian who returned to her. Instead, she saw an older gentleman with long silver hair matching his beard. He reminded Izzy of the historical Chinese movies she used to watch when she was a kid.

“Good evening, Queen Izadora.” The older gentleman’s voice sounded younger than he looked. Izzy watched him bend over into a respectful bow before straightening.

“I am Elder Chen. I know it is late, but under the cover of the night is the safest for you to travel. Please follow me.” The older gentleman reached out his long-sleeved arm, motioning for Izzy to walk towards the doorway.

Izzy furrowed her brows and asked, “Why should I follow you? Where are you taking me?” Izzy did not feel prickly to suggest suspicion, but Izzy still wanted to inquire.

Elder Chen pressed his lips together, then sighed, recognizing that the queen was still young. He acknowledged the fact her husband might have divulged nothing to her at all.

“Please, My Queen. I am a member of the Supreme Body. We need to discuss a few matters with you. On behalf of the other elders, I apologize for not introducing ourselves to you as soon as you arrived. The King mentioned you still needed to learn how to cloak your bloodlines. So, we had to wait until you achieved that ability before we invite you to your home. To travel at night will ensure your safety from the council’s seekers and reapers. The council hardly makes it out this far, but we promised King Sebastian that we keep you safe at all times.”

At the mention of Sebastian’s name, Izzy felt her heart skip a beat but ached as well, remembering how she missed him.

“My Queen...” Elder Chen motions his arm towards the doorway again. “Shall we go?”

“What about Madame Freya?” Izzy remembered her witch friend and mentor had gone to sleep.

“The skillful witch will be all right. Please follow me, My Queen.” Elder Chen did not wait this time and moved to leave the bedroom.

Izzy bit her lower lip, hesitating for a moment, then moved to follow the elder who had disappeared beyond the doorway.

As soon as Izzy stepped out of her bedroom, Elder Chen touched her shoulder and both disappeared. Both teleported to the hidden empire within the depths of Milford Sound.

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