Hybrid

Chapter 13

"We should go for a run," I tell Max, popping a carrot into my mouth.

We're sitting in his kitchen with Mason and Molly, eating lunch and trying to figure out what to do. After a very, very R rated morning, we decided that we should at least attempt to get out and do something other than lay in bed all day. Mason and Molly were coloring in the kitchen, and when they saw us they wanted to help make lunch.

I take a bite of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Mason ever so kindly made for me, waiting for Max to respond. "Okay. We'll go after we clean up lunch."

"Can we come?" Mason asks, throwing the red crayon he was coloring with down on the counter. It rolls across the remainder of the surface, falling onto the floor and landing with a small click.

"No buddy, it's just gonna be Brynn and I," Max says, ruffling Mason's hair. Mason pouts, jutting his bottom lip out and crossing his arms. He leans back in the stool, burying his chin into his chest.

He's mastered this look, and I can tell that it works most of the time. I'm sure it would work on me if I hadn't mastered the invincibility to it.

Hey, with nine younger siblings, I had to figure out some kind of defense.

"But I want to come!" Mason says.

"How about we bring you guys to the pool later?" Max bargains, and I realize that he is totally a sucker for the pout. I glance at Mason, and the glint in his eyes is all I need to put all the pieces together.

Mason knows exactly how to play the game to his advantage. He's not even a player, though; he's the fucking game master.

He's one of the the smartest six year olds I've ever come across, and the only people he's in competition with are Lexi and Levi. They were pulling pranks on everyone before they could even walk.

I grin as I watch the exchange between Max and Mason. The pool was the perfect bribe, because Mason snaps out of it and agrees. He goes back to grab his crayon, not realizing it rolled off the counter. I walk around the corner of the island, picking it up and handing it to him.

"Thanks Brynn!" he chirps, returning to his coloring book. He's working on another transformer, but I don't know the name of this one. He's so focused on it already though that I don't want to interrupt him.

Max and I do the few dishes there are, then head out the back door. He grabs me as soon as we're out and pulls me in for a kiss. I giggle, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my fingers in his hair. I love his hair.

"I love you," I whisper, not even attempting to hide the wide smile on my face. He makes me happier than I ever thought possible, so why should I try to hide that? There's absolutely nothing wrong with being beyond happy.

Max grins, resting his forehead on mine and tightening his arms around my waist. "I love you too, B." He places a delicate kiss on the tip of my nose, and I smile. How is it possible to be this in love with someone this quickly. I haven't even know him for a week yet, and he already means more to me than anyone else.

"Come on," I say, pressing my lips to his once again before pulling away and shifting into my wolf. He follows in my lead, and the two of us race into the forest. The wind rushing through my fur ignites a happiness inside me that can only be caused by this. I tell myself that I'm going to go on runs more often, because I miss it.

Max is on my tail the entire time, and at some point it turns into a game of tag. I'm taking the most complicated trail I can, jumping over fallen logs and dodging trees and skirting around thorn bushes. Max never fails to keep up with me though, and the second we reach a clearing he lunges for me. His wolf tackles me to the ground, and I shift back into human form. I'm laughing as his wolf stares down at me, and I know by the look in his eyes and the way he's cocking his head to the side that if he were in human form, he would be grinning.

I reach up and press a kiss to his nose. It's moist and feels funny under my lips, which only makes me laugh more. Max finally shifts into his human form as well, rolling off of me and onto his back. He's laughing too, and soon I don't even remember why we were laughing in the first place. All I know is that this feeling inside of me is like cloud nine, and I don't ever want it to go away. It's like all the best feelings in the world are being combined into one big feeling. Waking up on Christmas morning, the last bell ringing on the last day of school, being so in love with someone that you don't even know how you got by before meeting them.

A rustle of leaves sobers both of us up, and we scramble to get back to our feet. There's no one in sight, but I can hear the heartbeats of three people to the left. Max and I both turn our attention to that direction, and I search the trees for the source of the noise. It doesn't take more than a few seconds before the three people appear. Two boys and a girl, all around our age.

"Who are you?" Max calls out as they approach. Subconsciously, he wraps an arm around me and pulls me into his side. I know he didn't do it because he's trying to protect me and doesn't think I'm strong enough to hold my own ground; he would have hid me behind him if that were the case. He has faith that I can handle myself, and my love for him grows tremendously in that moment. How, I have no idea. I don't know how it's possible for my love to keep growing for him when I already love him so much.

The three people don't say anything until they're right in front of us. The girl is smiling at us, her blonde hair pulled back into a braid. She's tiny, and if I were to guess, she barely stands at five feet. Everything about her, from her to size to her hair to her face, makes her look like she's completely innocent. There's something off about them though, and my intuition is telling me that this girl is not in fact innocent. The two boys are identical, both with a mess of black curls on top of their heads and bright green eyes staring at Max and I. All three of them smell similar to Max, and right away I know why.

They're hybrids. The same type as us. Half werewolf, half vampire.

"I'm Daisy, and that's Rory and Ryker," the girl, Daisy, says. The authority in her voice makes it clear that she's the one in charge, and the two boys are her accomplices. "And you're Max and Brynn."

"How the hell do you kno-" Daisy cuts me off, and a little flicker of annoyance goes off inside of me.

"Nevermind how we know who you are," she says, waving her hand in dismissal like it's not a big deal. It is a big deal, though. Everything about this is weird. The fact that they're hybrids, they know Max and I are hybrids, and they managed to track us down is too coincidental to not be suspicious of them.

"We're hybrids too," Daisy says, like we don't already know that. "And we want you guys to join us."

Join them? For what?

"What do you mean, join you?" Max asks, his voice clear of any emotion. A shiver runs down my spine, because I don't like how it sounds.

"We want you to join us in taking over the werewolf and vampire worlds."