Playing With Fire (gxg)

Ch. 1 - Background

I don't know if I was dreading today or if I was excited. It was the first day of the semester and I was indifferent on if I wanted to go back to school or if I wanted the break to last a little bit longer. On one hand, school did give me something to do but it was damn hard. I was starting my second year of grad school and I wasn't studying the easiest subject in the world. I was studying cybersecurity. It was such a complex and new field that even our professors were constantly having to learn and adapt, but that's why I decided to get my degree in it. I thrived in the challenge. If someone told me something was impossible, I would obsess over making it possible. Call it ambition or determination, but I just get a thrill from overcoming obstacles. And my life was chock-full of them.

I was unluckily born a hybrid. Hybrid wolf-human, that is. Not that there was any other kind of hybrid. Werewolves were the only species that could get humans pregnant. Something about how their genes were still very similar to each other. But it was against supernatural law for wolves to mate with humans. Not because there was any hatred towards humans, in fact, wolves were always very friendly to humans. It was how dangerous the result of their mating could be. Their offspring would be killed, and both the mates would face the death penalty for the crime. But how dangerous could a hybrid really be? How could I be so dangerous that I would not only be sentenced to death before I was born but send my parents into the grave with me?

Supernaturals are crazy hard to kill. They're immortal and the older they get, the stronger they get. Most are obsessed with power because power means everything in the supernatural world, probably just the world in general. I, on the other hand, am the biggest threat to their power. Not because I'm stronger or faster. I honestly forget most of the time that I am supernatural because I'm just as strong and fast as any other human. In fact, the only time I'm reminded of what I am is on the full moon. The time I'm forced to turn and the only time I can turn. Though if you do get me mad enough in my human form, my canines do pop out and my dark green eyes will begin to glow. Quite the dead give away that I'm not so human after all. That's why I've trained my whole life to control my emotions. If anyone were to know who I really am, I would be killed immediately. Why, you may ask? Because my venom can kill any supernatural creature in one bite.

I mean it only makes sense if you think about the evolutionary purposes of it. I can't outrun you. I can't outfight you. But I'm stuck being immortal too. So hybrids have to have some sort of weapon. Right? It's only fair. If only other supernaturals saw it that way. No, to them I am a bright glowing kryptonite. Which if they really got to know me, they'd know that I'm no killer. I don't just go around thinking about who I should kill today. I'm not psychotic. In fact, I have nothing against other supernaturals even though they all want to kill me. Though if they try to kill me, I certainly am not going down without a fight.

Which brings me to where I am now. Living in a rundown, tiny apartment with three werewolves. I know what you're thinking. Why the hell am I living with people that want to kill me? Two reasons. First and most importantly, they think I'm human. See supernaturals think that a hybrid's most powerful weapon is that we can kill you with our venom. In my 24 years of experience on this earth, I tend to disagree. It's the fact that I blend into the sea of normalcy. Supernaturals can sense all other supernaturals except one deadly blind spot. Hybrids smell like humans. I could kill a supernatural before they could ever even register what happened to them. That is what makes me deadly and why I have an invisible target on my back. All the more reason why control of my emotions is a feat of life or death. Living with humans would be much less anxiety-inducing but there is one glaring problem.

This brings me to my second reason for living with the enemy. I have to turn every month. It's a little difficult to explain to humans that I just randomly disappear once a month. Living with wolves I don't have to make excuses and I can trust that they will steer clear of the apartment every full moon. Which is great for me because I can stay protected indoors. The wolves at our school have an exclusive 'camping club.' Which I find hilarious because there is no camping involved. They created it so that they have an excuse to go on a "camping" trip once a month. Which just so happens to be always when there's a full moon. What a coincidence, am I right? I swear if humans just looked a little bit closer at things, they would be shocked at what they discover. So, every month when my roommates tell me they're going camping I have to try not to laugh.