The Hybrid
Chapter 39 - Surprise

I hum when something tickles the inside of my thighs, feeling something wet press against core making me squirm slightly. My eyes shoot open, looking down to see familiar chocolate brown hair. Vulcan’s head is nestled between my thighs whilst one of his large hands lies on my stomach, holding me down on the bed.

“You are insatiable!” I gasp, hearing him chuckle in response.

“Only for you.”

This is the fourth time he has woken me up to have his way with me. I don’t know how much stamina and energy he had until last night. It was hard to keep up with him but I somehow managed, my body paying for it later as I immediately fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.

I’m snapped out of my thoughts when he resumes pleasuring me, my gasps and cries echoing in the room. Vulcan loves how responsive my body is to him, it craves his touch all the time.

Eventually, I become undone underneath him, screaming his name as I lie back on the bed, a panting mess of wild hair and dazed eyes. Chuckling huskily, he moves forward and peppers kisses on my mark. I bite my lip harshly, feeling lust rise within me the more he pays attention to his mark.

He pulls away making me pout, a devilish expression on his features as he speaks. “Good morning, baby.”

“A very good morning, indeed.” I muse out loud, a booming laugh escaping his lips.

“Come here, I’ve got a warm bath running for you.” He holds his arms out, making me grin widely and step out of bed.

I wince, hearing him rush over and grab my waist. I look up at him and smile to reassure him that I’m okay, it’s just my area down there that is making it hurt to move.

“Sore?” He questions, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

I nod, my cheeks burning in embarrassment when I realize we’re naked. He smirks boyishly before picking me up and carrying me into the bathroom where the smell of roses wafts up my nose and soothes my senses. Gently, he lays me down in the water until only the top of my chest can be seen. I sigh in content as I feel my muscles begin to relax, sinking further into the mass of bubbles and closing my eyes.

I feel him press a kiss to my forehead as he slips into the bathtub behind me, pulling me into his chest. He is so sweet to do this for me, knowing how sore I would be this morning. I blush thinking about last night, we finally made love to each other and I’m glad I hadn’t given this special moment away to just some random man. Mentally sending a thank you to the men who took up the roles of being boy repellent in my life, I relax against my his warm body whilst he presses gentle kisses on my skin from behind.

After, I replace myself making my way downstairs with Vulcan following suit. He is clad in black jeans and a dark blue, cable-knit sweater making him look delicious. I just want to drag him back to bed and have a repeat of last night but, my stomach calls for attention. I’m dressed casually in a pastel pink sweater and black jeans as I walk into the kitchen thinking of what to make.

“Want some eggs and bacon for breakfast?” I ask whilst looking in the fridge to see if we have the ingredients.

“Nah, I already ate.” He grins whilst walking over to me, his arms encircling my waist.

I frown in confusion, pulling back to look at him. My mouth opens to ask him when exactly had he eaten breakfast when I realize what he means. I gasp loudly, my eyes widening at the sexual innuendo.

“Vulcan!” I shriek in embarrassment, smacking his chest while his laugh booms in the kitchen.

“I’m just kidding, Роза. I’ll help you make it.” He smirks, grabbing the packet of bacon. (Rose.)

I huff, patting my heated cheeks to calm myself down before grabbing the eggs and making my way to the cooker. Vulcan and I work on making breakfast in a comfortable silence and before long, we are setting the food on the kitchen island. Vulcan takes a seat while I grab the orange juice from the fridge.

I turn to see him grinning widely, making me smile in confusion. “What?”

His smile becomes soft, a content glint in his eyes. “You are mine for eternity, Aurora.”

“And you are mine.” I whisper as I make my way to him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

I smile when he presses an open-mouthed kiss to my mark. It had surprised me when I first saw it, my skin has deep indentations of Vulcan’s teeth where he had bit me. He had explained that when Alphas mark their other halves, mates receive a mark just like mine whereas common wolves will receive a tattoo-like, small illustration of their mate’s wolf.

Just when I have taken a bite of my breakfast, I jump in shock when a loud buzzing sound enters my mind. I wince, holding my head as it only gets louder and louder. It feels like so many people talking at once, jumbled up words of conversation spinning like a broken record on repeat in my mind.

“V-Vulcan.” I whimper, squeezing my eyes shut.

“Hey,” He murmurs, concern in his voice as he rubs my back. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“It’s like there’s people talking in my mind.” I explain, opening my eyes to see him smile in understanding.

“It’s okay Aurora, that’s just the mind link. The pack must be feeling your presence as a Luna.”

“Oh wow, how do you all handle this? It’s kind of overwhelming.” I smile sheepishly, watching him laugh in reply.

“We don’t because you can control when you allow people to talk to you. Imagine putting up a wall in your mind. Concentrate really hard on it and you will eventually feel the voices stop.”

I sigh and close my eyes, imagining that I am putting up a huge wall in my mind with myself on one side and the loud chatter of pack members on the other side. I shake my head in frustration before looking to Vulcan, who only encourages me to try harder. It takes me a while before I finally feel the voices drift away until all that is left is complete and utter silence.

“Better?”

“Much better, thank you.” I grin, feeling butterflies in my tummy when he pecks my cheek.

After we finish breakfast, Vulcan teaches me how to use the mind link, replaceing it highly amusing when I freak out when he divulges that he can listen in on my thoughts and feel every emotion of mine, in addition to being able to talk with me at any time.

“Can I shut you out sometimes or is that only with pack members?” I ask, genuinely curious to know more about the mind link.

“Uh...no. It’s um – you can only do it with pack members.” He nods, smiling at me.

I stare at him skeptically, noticing that he keeps glancing around the room a lot instead of meeting my gaze like before. I brush his weird behavior away before nodding, a feeling of relief spreading within me. Why am I feeling relieved? I wonder, frowning before my eyes widen in realization.

It’s Vulcan who feels relieved!

I smirk wickedly, knowing he’s hiding something from me that has to do with shutting him out of the mind link. Of course, I would never block him out, I’m simply curious of what the mind link can do. It’ll be fun to see his reaction when I block him though, I need to get someone to teach me, and fast.

One week later.

It has been a long routine of rigorous training for the pack. Vulcan would come back late at night only to leave right before I woke up. I rarely see him anymore. A war is approaching and the threat of the vampires loom above the pack like a dark cloud. Everyone is tense, waiting for any kind of sudden action.

I sigh loudly, playing with my food as I sit in the empty house. I’m allowed to train three times a week but Vulcan has warned me in advance that I will not be fighting alongside him. I know it’s stupid to protest, what use will a human be in a fight against supernatural creatures? I’ll be the first one dead.

The reason I’m sitting here instead of training out there like everybody else is because, according to Vulcan, I was “roughed up again.” I swear that man makes me want to pull my goddamn hair out but also take him up to our bedroom and have angry, hot sex. I only have a few bruises and scrapes yet he’s acting like I went to war and came back covered in blood and gore.

Hearing the door shut loudly, I put down the plate of food and wait for him. The sound of the television blares softly in the background as my eyes focus on the dark clouds in the sky outside the window. He finally walks through the door, looking tired and worn out.

I hear him let out a heavy sigh as he plops down next to me on the couch and pulls me close. Humming in content when his lips press against my neck, I turn and peck him on the lips before running my hands through his hair. He groans at the action and hides his face into the crook of my neck, murmuring out a “don’t stop.”

Knowing how stressed out he is, I don’t and continue. Eventually, I end up giving him a massage before asking him if he’s hungry. He nods tiredly and I get up to go get a plate of the pasta I have made. Returning from the kitchen, I wait for him to sit up before handing it to him and placing a glass of water on the coffee table. He takes hold of my hand and pulls me down to sit beside him with me gladly obliging. I cuddle into his side and rest my head on his shoulder, releasing a short yawn.

Ever since we found out about the approaching war, I have been helping around at the pack house with the ladies so that our warriors will be fed as soon as they return from training every day. I also take care of Vulcan, massaging his tense muscles, cooking him food and finishing paperwork in the office with Vanessa. I want to help in some way and if that means keeping him as stress free as possible then, I’m all for it.

Of course, Vanessa being Vanessa had teased me relentlessly about how Vulcan and I are finally a mated couple. Apparently, I reek of Vulcan’s scent and everyone knew that we had mated the second they realized they could mind link me. I was dying of mortification. The whole time my cheeks were a shade of fire truck red and I couldn’t be more relieved to finally finish the work before rushing out of there.

“How was training?” I mumble, flicking through the channels before I settle on ‘Friends.’

“Good. Those vampires are no match for my pack, the only blood spilled will be theirs.” He growls, inhaling my scent deeply to calm his beasts down.

“You have a vampire beast though, do you hate them?” I ask, wondering why he reacts so aggressively whenever they’re mentioned.

“I don’t hate the species. How can I hate a part of myself?” He sighs, playing with my hair. “I hate a select few because their families hunted my parents down like savages and killed them, based on a speculation that my mother had birthed a hybrid. I’ve held resentment for them ever since. However, this war is happening because they just can’t be respectful of my decision not to rule.”

“A speculation? But, you were locked up at the time and they didn’t realize that you were their son?” I frown in confusion.

“Hunters locked me up.” He reveals, a pained look in his eyes. “Hunters are humans that have discovered our existence and want to eradicate us from this world. The vampires didn’t realize I was their son until I escaped the prison I was in, took over their kingdom and got my revenge.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this, Vulcan.” I admit when he was finished with his food and is now playing with my hair.

“What do you mean, Aurora? You don’t think we’ll win?”

“No, not that.” I shake my head, frowning in confusion. “I just...I have this unsettling feeling that something big is about to happen...and not in a good way.”

He smiles before shaking his head. “You’re just worrying too much, Роза. Come, I’ll run you a hot bath to calm you down. We can take it together?” (Rose.)

I sigh, placing my hand in his and letting him pull me up before squealing in surprise when he crouches down and picks me up. Laughing loudly, I smack his chest while he grins cheekily at me. But as he carries me up the stairs, I can’t help but think that what I feel is right. This foreboding feeling is not something to be brushed off.

We decide to visit the pack house after we had taken a bath and Vulcan had caught up on sleep. God knows how I got him to agree, he didn’t see why he should but, anyone can tell that he is physically and emotionally drained by his harsh routine lately

Everyone is chattering away excitedly about Christmas being a month away and how they have yet to get present shopping done. Personally, I don’t bother with any of that until the last minute where I’ll end up panicking and finally get my shit together.

I wonder what I can get Vulcan, I bet he’ll be very hard to shop for. The more I think about what presents to get everyone, the more I miss my parents. It’ll be my first Christmas without them. My heart aches in sadness as I realize, remembering how Mum would play Christmas songs day in day out until Dad would become frustrated and shut it off only to have a war ensue between them. I don’t mind Christmas music but, if someone plays it as excessively as my mother used to, I would get fed up eventually. But, I would always sneak down past my bedtime to watch Christmas movies with them, regardless of the fact that we have watched them countless of times before.

I’m pulled out of my thoughts when some pack warriors rush in, yelling for the Alpha. Vulcan stiffens and we look at each other in worry before he stands to face them as they run in.

“What is it?” He asks in a gruff tone, noticing their stern expressions.

“Vampires.” They snarl, making everyone, including myself, gasp in horror. “They’re streaming in through the borders, fast approaching onto main territory. Give us the orders, Alpha.”

Vulcan growls angrily while I press myself closer to his side, his arm wrapping around my waist. “Get the children and any women or men not fighting in the bunkers, gather everyone else who is fighting up front. Wait for my signal to attack.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

They get to work and everything around me turns chaotic, women and children rushing through one of the corridors where a door will lead to numerous safety bunkers. I inhale sharply as Nikolai, Caia and Vanessa come up to stand beside me.

“Indigo, get them in the bunker and come back out front as soon as you’re done.” He nods, pulling Vanessa away. “Caia and Nikolai, I want you to promise me that you will stay in there, you two need to be safe along with Aurora. I don’t want to see any of you outside until I come back, understood?”

They nod worriedly before stepping forward to hug Vulcan and murmur something to each other. Vulcan squeezes their shoulders before pulling away and nodding at them to go stand by Indigo and Vanessa.

Finally, he turns to me. I shake my head when he grabs me by the arms and pulls me close. My hands fist the material of his shirt as my breathing quickens. This is it. He’s going to leave and I don’t know whether he will come back in one piece or if he will come back at all.

“Aurora -”

“Please don’t go.” I whisper, begging for him to stay.

“You know I have to, baby.” He murmurs gently, cupping my face with both hands and wiping away the tears I hadn’t noticed streaming down my cheeks. “I’ll be back before you know it, Aurora.”

“Promise?” I ask, looking up at him with teary eyes.

He leans forward and presses a lingering, firm kiss to my forehead. I sigh in bliss, feeling a blanket of safety wrap around me. Pulling away, he gazes into my eyes with an unknown emotion before nodding.

“I promise you.”

I reach up on my tip toes and hug him tightly, pressing my lips to his. He kisses me back, lips gentle and soft as they move against mine. I feel his hands slide down my body, his arms eventually winding tightly around my waist to keep my knees from buckling. Tingles spread at the contact, eliciting a soft groan from him as he pulls away, dejectedly. He leans forward to peck my lips again before brushing them against my ear.

“I love you, Aurora.” He murmurs huskily, his hands tightening momentarily.

I smile through my blurry vision. “I love you too, Vulcan. So much.”

“Not as much as me.” He winks, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Now, promise me you will stay with Caia and Nikolai and wait for me to come back. I cannot stand the thought of you being in danger so please, don’t do anything stupid.”

I smack his chest indignantly before sighing and nodding. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

He growls in annoyance, eyes darkening at my words. “Never speak about your death.”

Rolling my eyes and nodding, I pull him close. “Please be careful. Come back to me in one piece.”

“I promise, little mate. You are my everything, I wouldn’t dream of leaving you. Just you watch, I’ll be back before you know it.” He replies firmly before walking over to where the others stand waiting for me.

I let go of his hand sadly and start following Indigo who is leading us in the direction of the bunker. Before we turn the corner and disappear, I turn to look at Vulcan one last time. He stands by the door where we had left him, staring at me with love and worry. I smile shakily and blow him a kiss, saying “I love you” through our private mind link. He shakes his head in amusement before saying it back, winking at me before waving at me to go with the others. I look back at him sadly before nodding and turning the corner.

It feels like my heart is breaking as I walk with the others to the safety bunker. It doesn’t feel right just leaving him, something inside me is screaming to run back to the safety of his arms again. I know if something happens to him, I won’t be able to survive. Just the thought of him hurt makes my heart ache in sadness.

We are guided down a long hallway and to an open bookshelf that people are crossing through into a large room. My brows shoot up in surprise over the clever idea, this way we will be disguised and safe. Stepping in, I look around the incredibly large room made of steel walls. Bunk beds are lined up against them which are now occupied by mothers and their children. As I walk past people to make my way over to where Nikolai, Indigo and Vanessa sit, pack members whimper out a greeting making me nod back and smile in reassurance.

I sit down, making myself comfortable for I know it’ll be a while before Vulcan and the rest return. Indigo pecks Vanessa on the lips before hugging her tightly and whispering out a “I’ll see you soon.” I place my arm around her shoulders and pull her in for a side hug, rubbing her arm soothingly as she watches him walk away with saddened eyes.

The bunker is shut with a loud thud and placed on lock down. Bars slide out and wrap themselves intricately against the door to seal us in before a red light flashes and then all is quiet. I look around at the scared and worried expressions of the women and children, making my anxiety over the situation increase. Taking a deep breath, I will myself to be calm. If the Luna herself isn’t calm and collected in what is a terrifying situation, then the pack will be uneasy.

We wait in silence, and occasional hushed whispering, praying for the men and women who are out there fighting for us, to return.

Vulcan Romanov’s P.O.V.

I march angrily towards the borderline, flinging away the beaten down trees in my path. My beasts are itching to rip out the hearts and fangs of the those vampires who have infiltrated my territory. Cowards, I spit mentally, they don’t have the balls to attack like men.

I reach the clearing where Dragos stands with an army behind him. He’s the leader of a clan up north of my pack lands, always offering support when I was once their King. Unbeknownst to him, I had discovered that he supported his family taking part in murdering my parents. Stepping through, my warriors stand unwavering behind me as their eyes are narrowed on the opposition before us. I raise a brow at the blonde haired man, crossing my arms as I stand before him.

“We have a proposition, King Romanov.” He speaks, voice cold and unflinching as it tears across the clearing.

“Whatever it is, you can shove it up your pale, dead ass.” Indigo counters back as he walks up beside me.

I smirk as the vampire fumes, red eyes swirling in anger. He steps forward to approach him, stopping when I growl lowly. “Touch a hair on my Beta’s head and I’ll give those fangs of yours to him as a necklace.”

I can hear the snickering of my warriors clash with the hissing of the vampires. They only have until dawn to wage a war before they’ll have to flee back to their land. This is going to be quick. I cock my head to the side, waiting for him to speak up again. His deep glare focuses on me and I wave at him to hurry the fuck up. I don’t want to keep my mate waiting for too long.

“You had a chance to rule two kingdoms my Lord, yet instead you bring us that pathetic excuse of a King, Julius?! Nevertheless, we are extending our hand to join forces and wipe him and his army out, making you our successor once more. Either that or we take your mate instead. I heard she’s quite a beauty.” Dragos smirks, causing an immediate echo of snarls and roars from us at the threat on our Luna.

“Rip each and every one of their hearts out, on my count. Show no mercy. Leave Dragos to me.” I growl in the mind link to my warriors, who snarl in reply, ready for a war.

“You really had some fucking nerve entering my territory and threatening my mate, Dragos.” I roar, the trees shaking at the sound, animals scurrying away and birds leaving their nests in horror.

The response is immediate. Loud hisses escape them and their eyes brighten in blood lust, fangs extending in a bid to hunt for blood. I can feel my warriors shift, their threatening growls matching the hunger for blood. The full moon is out tonight, hanging clearly in the sky, heightening our thirst.

A deadly smirk appears on my lips, watching as Indigo stands beside me, not yet changed into his werewolf. We have Lycan blood and years of experience behind us, our transformations will be needed only if the fight takes a turn for the worst.

“I’m going to enjoy ripping you piece by piece, Dragos. Then I’ll paint your coven red with your blood.” I snarl ferociously, watching his fangs extend in reaction.

I walk forward, Indigo having my back, knowing I’m going to give the signal to attack any second now. The vampires tense and ready themselves, Dragos equally holding back from attacking us. He’s waiting for me to go first; like the weakling he is.

“I declare war.”