The First Chimera.

Chapter 17 - Secrets Revealed, A Chimera Alone.

*** Xander's POV ***

I stare at the place Ria had vanished from. The image of her now burned into my mind's eye. Her lips a dark bruise colour, how pale she'd been.... and the changes that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Her eyes, those flashes of colour, the differences in her scent, the aura that had poured out of her.

She wasn't just a hybrid. That was glaringly obvious now.

Turning on my heel, I march back up to my parents suite, and bang into their bedroom, the Beta family now sitting in chairs, while my father and mother sit on the bed, my sister wiping her cheeks as she sniffles from her place beside our mother.

"Is someone going to explain what happened today to me?" I ask, my voice calm, controled, cold. Taking the chair that was most likely left out for me, I glared at my best friend. Zane flinches but maintains eye contact.

"What do you want to know?" Beta Chase asks, his arm wrapped around Esmay, her head leaning on his shoulder. I sigh internally at the hollowed out look to her eyes as she stares at nothing. A look I've seen before.

Nothing about Ria's family's reaction is considered normal. Yes, she's left the pack, although I never felt her severe from us, for whatever reason, but she's alive. It's not as though she's died. But the pain that radiates from them is very real. Zane rubs his chest, his hand a white knuckled fist, his eyes darting to the door as he fidgets as though he's going to run after his sister at any moment.

"Let's start with something easy. Why were you on the southern border when the fight was on the northern border?" I turn to face my father. He's still pale, though his gaze is sharp, assessing.

"I went to protect Ria. Those rouges were sent to "collect" her. I couldn't let them get to her again, not after the last time. I thought I could handle them without Ria being involved." He answers with a heavy sigh, guilt pinching his features and punching me square in the gut.

"Why were they after Ria?" I ask, watching my mother as she stands and walks over to sit beside me. She grabs my hand and sighs heavily before her eyes glaze over quickly, then clear. Her jaw clenches for a moment before she starts to speak.

"To answer that question, you need to know the truth of Ria's adoption and why we've been so secretive concerning her." She says, glancing at Beta Chase, who pulls Esmay into his lap and gathers his three children around him. I watch stunned as even Zane leans into his father, angerily brushing the tears sliding down his cheeks away as he mutters to himself. I frown at them, trying to understand their sudden grief, but nothing clicks.

"Ria was given to Esmay and Chase by the Goddesses Alexander. She's not just a hybrid. She's the first of her kind. The goddesses called her a chimaera." Erebus and I freeze, surprise rooting us to the chair.

"What the fu'ck is that suspose to mean?" My heart hammers against my ribs, my palms growing clammy.

"The goddesses, Artemis, Hekate, and Selena came to us, asked if we'd adopt their daughter, but we'd only recently ascended the thrown after your grandparents deaths. Looking after you and being new rulers was already too much." My father picks up the story, watching my mother's shoulders slump in relief that someone was going to help her tell this story.

"I didn't want to let our goddesses down, so I asked if Chase and Esmay would be open to adopting the child. Esmay agreed straight away and wouldn't let Chase deny her the gift of a daughter." Dad continues, a smile tugging up the corners of his lips, even though it doesn't meet his eyes. I turn to stare at Zane, who's staring into space, still rubbing his chest, his features pinched in pain.

"What did they mean when they called Ria a Chimaera?" I clear my throat, ashamed that my voice had sounded so small.

"That's harder to explain without her here, but she's a hybrid of sorts of every race the three goddesses have created. She's all of them in one body." My mother explains, watching me as I gape at her, even Erebus is speechless. Shock then gives way to denial, and I shake my head, unable to wrap my head around what's being said.

"She'd go mad having that many voices in her head, that much power. It can't be contained in one body." I mutter to myself.

It was the wrong thing to say.

A loud, threatening growl rumbles from my best friend, Kakoa and Zane, glaring at me, ready to launch themselves at me in attack.

"It's the truth. Alpha Order it from all of us." He grates out, Beta Chase touches his son's shoulder, and Zane huffs in annoyance.

"Why did you hide it from us? From the pack?" I ask, staring at my best friend, my beta, my brother in arms. Guilt crosses his features, and he hangs his head, unable to maintain eye contact with me. That's when I knew that he might be loyal to me, and our pack, our people, but his loyalty to his adopted sister will always win. If I were to betray her, Zane would stop me. He'd protect Ria with his life if necessary. I know just from looking at him that if I gave him an ultimatum, make him choose between me and Ria, I'd lose my best friend and Beta.

"We wanted her to have a normal childhood. If everyone else knew, they'd have wanted her for themselves, and we just wanted her to have what every other wolf pup gets to experience. The power she holds is enough to make anyone mad with greed. We wanted her to grow up without fear, knowing she was loved, not because she was powerful, but because she was herself." Beta Chase says, and I sit back, watching them all.

"Is that why you're so closely bonded?" I nod to her family, noticing how pale and tired they all look. Jayla and Tao even appear to have fallen asleep leaning up against their father.

"Yes, the goddesses blessed our blood bond to her, but the more we bonded with her and her beasts, the more connected we became. She's been shifting since her birth, and it really is so easy to love her, to love them all. In a way, I guess you could say we developed a siren family bond." Beta Chase nods to himself, that slight smile full of paternal love and pride.

"So the rouges want her because of her power?" I ask. Ice runs through my blood at just the thought of the rouges having access to such power.

"We believe there's a couple of reasons why the rouge's want her. The first is her power. If the rouge's Alpha found a way to manipulate Ria or force her hand, she alone would be able to wipe out every ruling family." My father states, and my jaw drops.

"She's that strong?" I whisper, my voice a little high pitched. Zane chuckles darkly at my reaction and smirks at me, knowing everything that's taken place over the past six years.

"Yes. If she was a vengeful person, we'd end up just like those rouges did today. Thankfully, she was raised with love and care and knows we respected her and loved her and her beasts. It's why her bond to her family is so important moving forward. I'm pretty sure she'd come to our aid in a fight just to protect her family." Mum says, smiling at Beta Chase, who sniffs, unshed tears glittering in his eyes as the light outside the windows dims.

"The other reason we believe they are after her is far more sinister. We believe the Rouge Alpha will try to create a forced mating bond with Ria. She's technically a hybrid, a perfect unity of the species. She'd be considered the perfect Luna for them." Dad grimaces as Zane's snarl bounces off the walls.

"Could she be manipulated to follow order if she's mated to someone?" I ask quietly, a strange emptiness spreading through my chest. An echo of pain slices through my heart at just the thought of Ria belonging to another. I scoff internally at myself. I have no right to lay a claim on her, no right to hope for the Goddesses answering my prayers.

Ria deserves all the love and happiness a mate bond can give her, and after everything I put her through.... My head snaps up, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of my stomach.

"How did the Rouge Alpha find out about Ria being a hybrid, or Chimera?" I ask, watching my father, my breath frozen in my lungs.

"The summer before Ria was kidnapped, we took a family holiday to a lake. It was the only time in her childhood that she and her beasts could be free to be themselves. I hadn't checked the area that morning, and I believed we were safe. I was wrong. We were attacked by a large group of rouges. Esmay was injured badly, and Ria went on the attack at harm being done to her mother." Beta Chase sighs, guilt heavy in his voice.

"Only she didn't just shift. She used magic and shifted multiple times in her desire to protect her family. One of the rouges escaped, and I'm guessing ran straight for their rogue alpha. Ria was going to give chase, but Zane jumped on her in an attempt to calm her and her beasts down. She's never handled seeing her family hurt." Beta Chase kisses his mate's forehead while Esmay whimpers, pressing herself into her mate.

"Ria told us recently what happened to her during her captivity. I do not wish for her to ever go through it again," Dad shakes his head in disgust.

Before I can utter another question, however, Gamma Austin walks in, followed by omega's with trays of food. Glancing out the window, I stare dumbfounded at the night sky, unable to understand how time could have moved so quickly.

"Have you told him?" Gamma Austin asks, nodding his head in my direction. Dad nods, and his Gamma sighs with relief while a make shift dinner is placed before us all. Beta Chase gently wakes Tao and Jayla, quietly encouraging them to eat while Zane glares at the meal, digging his fist into his chest. It's only once Beta Chase has gotten his family to start eating, mentioning how Ria wouldn't want them this upset, that Gamma Austin contines his report.

"As per your request, the other rulers have informed their heirs. Her description has also been logged, and all packs, dens, and covern's across the kingdoms have been informed that she is of no threat and to not attack or engage unless she approaches. The other rulers have followed suit, so hopefully, she'll not be attacked if she wanders into another pack. My only worry is that we've not been able to give them detailed descriptions of her beasts." Gamma Austin updates my father while taking a seat beside beta Chase, holding Esmay's hand. His gamma instincts on high alert.

"Did you know about Ria?" Dakota asks through mind-link, he and Sam coming to sit beside me as Delta Kyle updates dad on the battle, which rulers helped on the front lines and who helped with healing the injured Dinner is eaten in silence, my thoughts whirling.

"No. I had no clue about all this." I tell them honestly and force myself to eat.

"You hurt her!" Erebus growls, and shame colours my cheeks. I know I hurt her, I know I pushed her away. Maybe she would have been able to stay if I hadn't been an asshole to her.

Zane gasps, clutching his chest. He doubles over, falling side-ways to land heavily on the floor, crying out in agony. His muscles stiffened as Kakoa and he fight for control, half shifting, snarling and screaming through gritted teeth, his claws digging into his chest. I jump on him, food falling to the floor and chairs clattering to the floor. Dakota and Sam help me restrain him, Erebus pushing our alpha aura at our friend while we struggle to prevent him from ripping his own heart out.

"Something's wrong. Something's wrong with R-Ria."