Hybrid

ELEVEN

⫷ JAMES ⫸

My wolf always tries to justify my anger. Always find a way to place the blame on everyone else. Aria is my mate. She should be mine by now, dammit!

Human James knows that's ridiculous. I've named that subconscious voice Mini Caleb, not that I'd ever admit that to him. I know he would remind me that Aria is a human who has been under a lot of stress lately. I fucking kidnapped her, and now I expect her to jump in my arms and sing 'I Will Always Love You.' Get real, James Blackwood.

Still, that anger is one strong son of a bitch. Lashing out at Aria wasn't my finest point, and I immediately felt like an ass.

I need to tell her the truth about me. I need to tell her that her own parents are keeping secrets that I'm desperate to find out. I will tell her.

It's been rattling my mind ever since her parent's came over. What they told me, it wasn't anything I was ever expecting. About her attack. About how her heart stopped beating. How her lungs ceased to breathe in oxygen. About how she was brought back to life. There's more to it; I have this gut feeling that there is so much more to the story. Greta and Daniel were reluctant to tell me, regardless of how much I stressed that leaving me out of the loop could put Aria in more danger than she was already in. When I tried to push the issue, Greta looked terrified. They were scared of something, or someone.

"A few rogues have been spotted near Alpha Christopher's pack," Caleb informs me in my office. "They've been caught and are under interrogation." Caleb and Gem went straight from the mall back to pack ground; not that that surprises me. Though Caleb is the rational one, he's not very social.

I pull my eyebrows together, trying to hear him and read documents scattered out in front of me. "He's still good with our alliance?"

"Yes," Caleb replies. From my peripheral, I see him setting into the seat across from my desk. "He will do what he can. No rogues have been noticed anywhere near our borders." He pauses a moment, clearing his throat to gain time. "Your father's people have been doing some of the monitoring around here, too."

Frowning, I push the papers away and turn my complete attention on the furrow in Caleb's blond brow. "They'd be idiots to attack so soon," I mutter as I tap a pen on the corner of the desk. "They'll hide while they get stronger. Maybe get more recruits." A growl vibrated out of my chest. "I just wish I knew what they wanted."

"We have powerful packs on our side," Caleb reassures in that calm voice he uses to try and soothe my wolf. Dammit, it works most of the time, too.

I drop the pen, and turn my head up to the ceiling and fold my arms across my chest, away from his constant examining eye. "I'm telling her tonight."

His silence should irk me. Hell, if it were anyone else, it would. Instead, I wait, eyes on the ceiling, for my friend to speak his otherworldly wisdom. "Do you think she'll stay?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not."

"I suppose keeping her in the dark will only drive her away. Keep in mind her past; she has had two run-ins with wolves. Both were traumatizing." I finally look over at him to see his body leaned forward, hands clasped in front of him. "On my call with Alpha Christopher's Beta, he mentioned something else."

"Yeah?"

Caleb rubs his thumb along the edge of his jaw. "He confirmed that the rogues are after Aria, but there's more... They've been after her for a while; long before you found her. She has something they want."

⫷ ARIA ⫸

I like pretending to be someone else. Sometimes, pretending is easier than reality. In the wall-length mirror, I no longer see Aria Parker. Instead, I see a ballerina from the mid-1900s, straining herself on bloody feet to try and make it big. Her eyes are full of hopes and dreams, and her aching body forces itself to utilize the grace and elegance she's been taught.