Chapter 1
Marcy's POV
"Sweetie! You're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" My mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
"I'm almost done!" I yelled back as I finished applying my mascara.
"Honey, calm down, I already packed some blood in your purse so you can teleport us there." I heard my dad tell my mom. He was definitely way more patient than Mom.
"I don't teleport, I jump, Rey." I hear her scold.
"Same thing. You disappear and reappear somewhere else." Dad teased.
I made my way down the stairs as my parents kept playfully bickering at each other. Normally, I wouldn't put this amount of effort into my appearance, but today was a special day. It was graduation.
I've been looking forward to this day since I was 9. I know that it seems a little dramatic for a 9-year-old child to look forward to graduating high school, but I have known since then that as long as I stayed in this city I was never going to be accepted.
I was a half-breed. Being a half-breed is the worst thing you could be in this world. When I was a kid, I used to think it was the coolest thing ever. I thought I would get the best of both worlds. That I would have a wolf I could talk to and turn into. I could be immortal and jump like Mom does. Find a mate or a partner and have immortal pups. But that dream came crashing down when I started school.
I was the only one like me. I was the only one who went to two different schools, werewolf school during the day and vampire school in the evenings. I had parents of different species. I thought it was normal until the kids started teasing me and calling me a half-breed. I was bullied relentlessly. Told I didn't belong, beaten and mocked by the kids at both schools.
By the time I got to high school, I had become an expert at blending in with the shadows. I wasn't sure if it was because of my vampire genes or if it was an ability unique to me, but I was able to completely conceal myself in the shadows.
I could see everything and everyone, yet no one could see me. I hadn't told anyone yet, but I also discovered I was able to jump as well. Unlike Mom, I didn't need blood if I jumped too far or too many times. I used this to my advantage and steered clear of everyone the best I could, hoping I would eventually be forgotten about.
There was a time I believed I would find my destined mate or my partner, but my teachers told me there would be no way I would find a mate because the Moon Goddess would never mate a werewolf to a half-breed, especially not to one who is half-vampire. And the Father Vampire would not dare partner a pureblood vampire with the likes of a werewolf.
That's how things were for centuries. Although vampires and werewolves live together in the city and even have romantic relationships with each other, a werewolf has never been mated to a vampire and a vampire has never been partnered with a werewolf, and they most definitely never procreated with each other. That's just how it is.
Mom told me not to listen to them because it wasn't true. She told me that hybrids do get to fall in love. She and Dad were the perfect example, since they were partners. But as I got older, I found out they were chosen partners not destined. Why they chose each other over their mate and partner was beyond me. I knew that no one would choose a hybrid for a mate or partner, and I had finally accepted that.
So today is the day I get to graduate. Twice actually. My wolf graduation was about to start and later on in the evening, my vampire graduation would commence. Mom was right. We were running late.
"Aww, Sweetheart, you look beautiful," Dad says as he wraps me in one of his signature bear hugs. "When you find your mate, he had better understand how lucky he is to have my beautiful daughter as his mate," he said proudly. I rolled my eyes, knowing not to get my hopes up, and just smiled at him.
***
The ceremonies were uneventful. I heard many people whispering about me here and there, but ultimately, no one bothered me, which was a first considering how much they loved to torment me every chance they got. I decided to skip the graduation after party and instead go to my favorite spot.
I made sure no one was watching, then I quickly jumped to the old weeping willow in the forest near the lake. No one knew this place existed except me, and at first I didn't think it was real. I saw it a lot in my dreams and one day, when I was having a particularly hard time hiding in the shadows, I closed my eyes to focus, but when I opened them, I was here. From what I understand about jumping, I now know that was the first time I jumped.
There was something special about this place. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I knew there was. Willows are not native to this land, and there was only one of them as far as I could tell. Someone had to have planted it here and cared for it, yet I have never seen any signs of people.
Being a hybrid, I should have been able to easily sense other supernatural and humans, but I didn't pick up anything. It seemed almost frozen in time, changing colors with the season but never aging. I have been coming here for four years and it hasn't changed, unlike the trees surrounding it.
As I sat underneath the willow, I started to think about how different my life could be now that I am finally graduated. I'm no longer forced to go to two schools, no longer have to see the faces of my tormentors and can finally live freely. I got accepted to a university on the other side of the country and planned on blending in with humans.
I wanted a normal life. One where I wasn't constantly reminded that I didn't belong due to my hybrid status. I wanted to be able to walk around with my head held high without people constantly looking down on me. I wanted to live like a human. I smiled to myself as I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of what my life would be like come Fall.
My phone vibrating in my back pocket woke me a few hours later. I looked at the screen and noticed I had stayed far longer than intended and my parents must have been worried. Dad called me at least a dozen times and Mom twice that.
I went to call her back when a dark, shadowy figure caught my attention. If I were human, I definitely would have missed it. The figure was frozen still, almost as if it was trying to blend into the shadows, but I was better at it than it was.
Quickly, I jumped into the willow, hiding in the shadows to get a better look at the figure, when my phone started vibrating again. I quickly pull it out of my pocket to silence it, but when I looked back up, the figure was gone. What was that? Shaking my head, I quickly called Mom back.
"Marcy, honey, are you okay? Where are you?" My mom fired at me, her voice laced with worry.
"I'm fine Mom, what's going on?" I asked, now concerned.
"You don't know? There was an attack at the graduation party. If you're not there, where are you?"
"On my way home now. Where's Dad?" I asked as I started to panic. I knew he would be looking for me, especially since I didn't answer.
"He went searching for you when you didn't answer."
Panic overtook me as I thought of my dad and jumped to where the party was. It didn't take me long to find my dad, and before he could notice, I grabbed his arm and jumped back home, landing right in front of a very shocked mom.