The Hybrid

Claire comes into my room and opens my curtains; I groan and hide under my blankets, "Good morning, Princess." She told me; I raised up and smiled at her,

"Morning." She smiled and started picking up my room, "You don't have to clean my room; I'm almost twenty. I can handle it.". Claire gave me a small look,

"It's my job." She told me simply, "Your parents are downstairs in the dining hall; I believe they wanted to discuss the ball for your birthday on Saturday." I nodded and got up, and began getting dressed, "Oh, and you have a dress fitting at midnight." I mentally screamed,

"I have plenty of dresses; I can just wear something I already have," I told her, but she went to make my bed and completely ignored me as she worked. I smiled and slipped on a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt. After brushing my teeth and putting on some makeup, I headed downstairs to meet with my parents.

It was dark out. My parents decided that it might be better for everyone if our 'mornings' were actually at night; that way, more people could come and not be killed by the sun. I entered the dining hall and smiled at my parents. They were talking amongst themselves; they looked so in love. "Good morning, sweetheart." My father said; Mom turned and smiled at me,

"Morning." I kissed Dad's cheek before sitting across from my Mom, "Claire said that you wanted to talk to me about the ball?" I asked; they nodded,

"We wanted to know who you wanted to invite?" Mom asked, "I know you said that you wanted to invite everyone, but we were wondering if you had a more specific reason?" I shook my head,

"No, I just thought it would be fun to have everyone here. It's a ball, not a council meeting." I told them, though, not everything I told them was the truth, but they believed me anyways,

"Okay, well, good." Dad said, "I'll have the invitations sent out immediately." Mom smiled at me and took my hand,

"What color is your dress?" She asked; I thought of the dress that I was going to be wearing and smiled,

"It's dark red with black as an accent color." I told her, "You'll see it at the ball." She huffed playfully before turning to my father,

"Don't forget, my brothers and their families will be arriving tomorrow night." Dad nodded and looked at his phone,

"Sorry, darling, I need to get to work." He told her, "Douglas wants to go over a contract to form an alliance." I raised an eyebrow,

"An alliance? We're not even at war with anyone." I stated,

"That may be, Selene," Father said, "but it's better to have allies for when trouble does come rather than be staring at the barrel of a gun." He had a point. Dad kissed Mom and rubbed my head before heading to his office. I scarfed down my breakfast and got up,

"I've got to go too; I promised Amber that I'd show her a few dance moves," I told my Mother while walking over to kiss her cheek. She grabbed my hand,

"If you want to talk, you know you can tell me anything." She said; I smiled and nodded,

"I know, Mom." I started for the door, "Love you!" I shouted as I headed to see my cousin.

Amber was in the dance hall, but we called it the room of mirrors, "Hey there, Am's, you ready?" I shouted; she hugged me,

"You know it! I've already stretched and everything!" I smiled,

"Great!" I stood beside her as we watched ourselves in the mirror. We worked on a routine for months and wanted it to be perfect. Amber was having trouble with the middle into the end, so we agreed to work on all of it today. Before I knew it, we had it down and was about out of breath when Amy came in,

"Hi, Mom!" Amber shouted as the song ended; Amy clapped for us. We took a minute while I got some water, "What's up?" Amber asked her,

"You two do know that it's nearly midnight?" Amy asked; I groaned, "You two need to get to the dress fitting, and then you should both go take showers." Amber and I giggled at the last part. I turned to Amber,

"You think you got the routine down?" She nodded, "Okay, let's go." We turned everything off in the room and headed to see our dresses.

Amber went first with a semi-ball gown with a gorgeous purple tone. It had the kind of sleeves that hung loosely on her arms with a sweetheart neckline. The dress was absolutely stunning on her, "You look incredible." I told her, she just smiled,

"Thanks, but it's just a dress. It's not like I'm the daughter of Aphrodite or something." I chuckled at her comment,

"Even better, you have two moms who both look like they are the daughters of Aphrodite." This made her face turn fifty shades of red in a matter of seconds,

"It's your turn. Go put your dress on; I want to see it!" Amber demanded; I knew better than to argue with her, so I did. I stepped into my dress, the seamstress came behind me to lace the back. I then stepped onto the stage and looked at myself in the mirror; the dress's bodice showed off every curve I had, all the good ones at least. The corset back made it a little snug, but it helped bring my breasts up just a bit which helped insinuate the sweetheart neckline. The black belt made my waist look smaller than it was and the ballgown style of the dress flowed with every move I made. I turned to show Amber, whose jaw was to the floor.

"What?" I asked; she just stared at the dress, not even answering me, "Amber?" Nothing. I clapped my hands in front of her face, which got her out of her trance, "Is something wrong?" I asked her; she shook her head,

"You look absolutely gorgeous, Selene." She had me twirl slowly, "Why strapless?" I looked in the mirror,

"It's a corset back, so I didn't see the need for straps," I said simply. The seamstress looked my dress over,

"It looks like the only thing I need to fix is the hem; it's a bit long." I nodded; she pinned it where it needed to be fixed and had me stand there for a bit. I hung the dress up then went with Amber. It felt like forever, but it was only twenty minutes until I could leave.

"What do you want to do?" Amber asked me; I shrugged my shoulders, "Wanna go to my room?" She asked,

"Sure," I replied.

When we got to her room, we immediately sat down on the couch, "So, is there a special someone in your life?" Amber asked me; I gave her a look and shook my head,

"No, there's no one." I sat up and smirked at her, "Do you?" She blushed lightly, then turned away,

"Not really; I've been talking to someone, but I don't think it's going to go anywhere." I nodded,

"Well, you'll have time to meet the love of your life at the ball this weekend." We giggled. Amber turned on the TV as we lay on the couch. I pulled my long, dark curls into a ponytail; looking over, I saw my cousin asleep. I decided to walk around her room a bit. I saw the pictures of her and her moms. Then the photos of the two of us, and smiled at the thought of those days. I thought about when we were children and smiled. I sighed; why does time have to fly by so fast? After finding a book to read, I went back to the couch and sat there in silence until Amber started to snore.

After reading half of the book, I feel my phone vibrate and answer, "Hello?" I whispered,

"Hey, can you come to the garden?" I raised an eyebrow,

"Phoenix? Is that you?" He chuckled lightly,

"Yeah, it's me. Can you come?" I looked over to Amber, who was still asleep, "Please, Selene, I've already talked to your parents, and they said it was fine." I smiled and shook my head,

"Okay, I'll be there," I told him as I stood up. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

"See you soon." He said before hanging up the phone. I sat there for a moment, thinking; I hadn't seen Phoenix since we were children; I was curious about who he had become. I slipped the phone in my pocket and left a note for Amber before heading to the garden to meet up with Phoenix.

I walked out to the garden to see the tall redhead smiling; I called out to him, "Phoenix Mackenzie!" He turned to face me with the biggest smile on his face as he pulled me into a hug, "I can't believe you're home! How was the trip to Scotland?" I asked as we sat on the bench looking over the garden; his face beamed with joy,

"It was incredible! Father took me to Inverness, which was absolutely gorgeous. We went to other places as well, and even managed to find my two-hundred-year-old grandmothers' grave. It was unmarked, so it was pretty difficult, but we found it nonetheless." He told me; I smiled and grabbed his hands. We were close when we were younger, but his father took him away to practice his magic in their homeland, Scotland. Phoenix and I were devastated, but Mom and Dad managed to talk my Aunts into moving here with Amber after he left. That was ten years ago.

"I'm glad it was a pleasant trip; I just wish it didn't take you away for so long," I admitted, his face flush; I couldn't help but notice all of the differences in him since we last saw each other. He was a lot taller now, perhaps nearly six-foot, his red hair was messy, and those blue eyes I used to tease him about, just as crystal clear as I remember,

"What about you, little hybrid? You've grown." He said to me, acknowledging my changes, "You're not as skinny as I remember." I punched him playfully, which made him laugh, "What have you been up to?" I placed my hands on my knees and, looking over the garden,

"Nothing really," I told him, "Amber and I have been working on dance routines, and then there's the ball coming up." I sighed,

"What is it?" Phoenix asked me; I looked at him,

"I don't know," I answered, "I thought we could pick up where we left off, I suppose. I didn't expect so much to change." He gave me a smile,

"Selene, we were six when I left; surely you didn't think that we'd go back to being six-year-old children again, did you?" I got up and leaned against the pillar,

"Of course not, I just," I was so scared to admit that I had a crush on him all those years ago, "Nothing, forget it." I looked at my watch and noticed what time it was, "Sun will be up soon; I should head in." Phoenix stood,

"Selene," I put my hand up,

"Bye, Phoenix." I then went back inside, taking a plate of food to my room.

I sat there, thinking about my reunion with Phoenix; he had grown to be so handsome. I went into my bathroom and took the coldest shower I could stand, but the thoughts of him rang in my mind. I stood there, letting the cool water run down my body before washing. After I was done, I stepped out and began drying off. Wrapping my towel tightly around my body before entering my room. It was already becoming light out, so I rushed over to the curtains and shut them tightly, then I hurried off to my closet and got dressed. Climbing into bed, I laid down, thinking about everything that's happened today as I drifted off to sleep.

I opened my eyes and saw hooded figures standing around me; I looked around, they formed a circle around me. They were chanting something, but I didn't understand what they were saying, "What's going on?" I asked, but no one answered me. I looked down to see I was standing in the middle of a Wiccans circle. The circle began to glow and shot up, engulfing me in its light.

I awoke with a start, sweat pouring down my face; what was all that mess about, I wondered to myself. I shook off the feeling as I shoved my blankets off of me. I stood up and stretched, shifting my weight to either side as I went over to my desk and began to write. Ever since I was a little girl, I'd write down every dream I ever had, whether it was terrifying, confusing, or even sexual. After writing everything down, I looked at the clock, it was only six o'clock in the evening. Clearly not going back to sleep, I start getting ready for the day. It's Thursday, which means that the ball is only two days away. Since we hadn't had a ball in a while, my mother wanted me to take a few classical dance lessons. Especially since Amber and I are into more modern forms of dancing rather than the traditional. I slip on a red crop top as well as my high-waisted, light-washed jeans along with my combat boots. Wanting to look cute, I put my hair in pigtail braids and brushed my teeth before putting on a bit of makeup. As I came out of the bathroom, Amber burst through the door and set me on the bed, "Phoenix is back?" She asks; I nod, "What did he say?"

"Nothing really, we talked about his trip, and that's about it," I told her, though she didn't believe me for even a second,

"So, you're telling me, the entire time the two of you were sitting in the garden, alone, you weren't thinking about him attacking your neck and having his way with you?" I scoffed at her question as my face flushed,

"Of course not!" I exclaimed, "We haven't seen each other in years. Why would I think of him like that?" I asked; she shrugged, "And for the record, he wouldn't have his way with me. In fact, I'm pretty sure it would be the opposite." Amber didn't hold back her laughter at my statement, which earned her a 'go-to hell' look. There was a slight knock on the door, and then it opened; Mom entered the room with a big smile on her face,

"Your uncles, aunts, and cousins are here." She told me happily, "Come on, they're waiting for us." I nod, and the three of us head downstairs.

I hadn't seen my cousins in a while; Mom walked in front of Amber and me; as we went down the stairs, the tension went through my body, causing me to stop in my tracks. Amber put her hand on my shoulder, "You okay?" She whispered; I snapped out of it almost as quickly as I went in and smiled,

"Yes, I'm fine," I whispered back as we caught up with my mother. I could hear the laughter of my uncles and saw they were talking to my father. Mom wrapped her arm around his waist, and he kissed the top of her head. I hugged all four of my uncles before turning to my cousin, but one stared at Amber, "Chris, you okay?" I asked; he ignored my question as he took Amber's hand and kissed it gently. I looked at everyone else to see if they knew what was going on, but they just watched in awe. Amber looked almost as confused but her face flushed, clearly getting flustered from the sudden notion from Chris.

"What's your name?" He asked her,

"Amber, Amber Elizabeth Serkan." She told him,

"That's beautiful." He told her, "I'm Christopher Koray Alcmene, eldest son of Alpha Jackson Alcmene." I went over to my mom and nudged her,

"What's going on?" I asked; she smiled,

"Amber is Christopher's mate." She stated; I raised an eyebrow,

"How? Aren't they cousins?" I asked. She giggled and shook her head,

"They're not actually cousins, Selene. They are both your cousins, but they're not actually related to each other." I nodded,

"How come I haven't found my mate yet? I'm nineteen; shouldn't I have found him by now?" I asked her; she shrugged,

"Perhaps you haven't met him yet." She told me, "Just be patient, Selene. It'll happen at some point." We watched them flirt for a few minutes until everyone carried on with their own conversations.

I was talking to my younger cousins when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to see Phoenix standing behind me, "Phoenix, what are you doing here?" I asked,

"Your father invited me over to discuss the alliance in my fathers' place." He explained, "Dad had an emergency in Salem, so he trusted me until he returned." I nodded. We saw Amber and Chris talking and flirting with each other, "I see Amber is enjoying herself." I smirked, placing my hands on my hips,

"They're mates," I told him; Phoenix turned his attention back to me, clearly surprised,

"Well then, okay." He thought for a moment, "Do you have a mate?" I was curious by his question, but answered honestly,

"No, I don't." He nodded his head lightly at my answer, then dad came over to us,

"Phoenix, you look well." Dad told him, "Are you ready to discuss the alliance?" Phoenix nodded,

"Thank you, your majesty, and yes, I am." He smiled at me as he followed my father to the office.

I followed Selenes' father up to the office; he opened the door, "Close the door and have a seat." He told me; I did as he asked. I was usually not scared of vampires, but this was the king of the vampires, so I was nervous. I waited for him to say something out of respect for his rank. He looked over some papers before turning his attention back to me, folding his hands on top of his desk as he stared me down. I could feel a small bead of sweat roll down my face, "Phoenix," He started, I perked up immediately, "the arrangement your father and I have concerns you and my daughter." I tensed,

"What do you mean, your majesty?" I asked,

"Nick, please." I nodded, "And what I mean is, your father and I think it might be best to join us, like the vampires and werewolves." My heart was beating fast as the thought of what he'd say next ran through my brain,

"Do you mean...?" I didn't even get the second to ask when Nick blurted out what he and my father agreed on,

"An arranged marriage." He stated, "Between you and Selene." My brain was running too fast to even think of what he was telling me, but then I thought of Selene,

"Does Selene know?" I asked; he shook his head, "She's going to protest." I told him,

"She wouldn't be her mothers' daughter if she didn't protest against this." Nick told me, "Aiday should be telling her now." I nodded. When we were children, Aiday and Nick would sit us all down and tell us the story of how they met and how Aiday almost died until she finally admitted that she was in love with Nick. One night, we asked to hear the story; Aiday was pregnant and went into labor. They had Claire escort Selene and me to another room. Claire tried to hide the truth from us, but I could hear the screams, then the silence, and then more screams, followed by more silence... I knew what had happened because it had happened to my parents. She had lost the baby. My thoughts were confirmed when Nick came down and held Selene and cried, telling her that she had two baby brothers who joined the angels. "Phoenix?" Nick called; I shook myself from my thoughts,

"Yes, sir?"

"Will you agree to the arrangement?" He asked; I thought for a moment, but he continued. "If you do this, Phoenix, you'll have my crown when I retire. You'll have everything you see before you as well as an alliance with the wolves just as I do now. Not to mention, you'll have a beautiful and strong young woman as your wife and queen." I let the information run through my brain, but before I gave my answer, the door was kicked open. I turned to see Selene marching in and slamming her hands on the desk, staring her father down. Aiday followed but stayed far away from her daughter,

"How dare you! How dare you use me to gain an alliance!" She screamed. I tried to sneak away, but Selene grabbed the collar of my shirt and turned to me, "You're not off the hook. Did you give him an answer?" She asked me; I gulped, terrified as her ordinarily light blue eyes turned blood red,

"No, I didn't," I answered, which made her release me, and ran over to Aiday. "Is she okay?" I asked; Aiday gave me a look then smiled,

"Let me put it simply," She told me, "My family had it easy when they did this to me." I stood there, watching Selene yell at her father.

After nearly thirty minutes, I had enough. I went in between them and shouted,

"Enough!" They both stopped yelling; I turned to Selene first, "They're wanting to ensure your future, Selene, and am I really the worst choice for a husband for you?" She stayed silent, then I turned to Nick, "I agree to the arrangement," I told him; Selene was about to yell at me, but I stopped her, "On the condition of a willing bride." They were both surprised. Selene's eyes returned to their blue color, which made me smile.

"I agree to the condition," Nick stated, making the note on the contract then handed me the pen, but I looked to Selene before I signed,

"Do I have a willing bride?" I asked; she gritted her teeth. Aiday placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a weak smile. Selene turned to me and gave me a serious look,

"Yes," She said, "you have a willing bride." I nodded and signed the contract, but under my line, I drew in another and handed the pen to her,

"I'd like for you to sign," I said; she took the pen and signed the contract as well. Nick signed after her. I took the contract and muttered a spell which caused the papers to glow with a lock and chain wrapping around it then disappearing.

"What was that?" Selene asked,

"It was a binding spell; it will bind us until death do we part," I told her; she nodded before storming out of the room. Nick and Aiday smiled at me,

"I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into," Aiday told me. I rubbed the back of my neck, thinking the same thing.

"You may go, Phoenix," Nick told me, which resulted in me running after Selene.

Selene was in the garden. She sat under the gazebo, her soft sobs were audible to me, and I felt horrible about what just happened only a few minutes ago. "Selene," She looked towards me,

"What do you want?" She asked; I sat beside her, wanting to hold her, but only placed my hand on hers, which made her flinch,

"Please, I didn't want to hurt you. That's the last thing I want." I told her, "I just don't think you should have been passed off to just some random wizard because that's what would happen if I wasn't an option." I stated, she stayed turned away from me; I was getting pissed off now and stood, "Am I really that terrible?" I asked her, "Would it truly be Hell for you if I am your husband?" I turned, about to walk away and calm down until she grabbed my wrist, which had me turning to face her. Selene looked up at me with sad but hopeful eyes,

"No," She said softly, "it's not horrible. I just wish it was my choice." She told me; I nodded and sat back down and took her hands in mine,

"That's why I made the condition. I wanted it to be your choice." I told her. She looked down for a moment, and before I knew it, she placed a soft kiss on my lips which surprised me. She blushed and turned away from me,

"I-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that." Selene stammered, but I smiled lightly as I placed a finger under her chin and guided her back to face me before placing a kiss on her lips. Before long, we were making out. The beautiful woman I have loved since we were children is in front of me, kissing me. I kept my hands on her face, refusing to travel further, out of respect for her. When we pulled away from each other, we stared at each other for a moment, both of us blushing wildly,

"I should get going. I need to tell my father that I'm getting married." I told her, she nodded. I kissed her once more then started walking away, but I turned back once more, "I'd like to take you on a moonlight walk at midnight, will that be alright?" I asked her; she smiled lightly and nodded,

"Pick me up at midnight." She giggled; I grinned at her little joke then headed off to set a few things up.

It was nearly midnight. I was making a few last-minute arrangements before I picked up Selene; Father was so excited to hear that we would be married and even told me where my mother's engagement was to give to Selene. I had the box in my pocket and grabbed a bouquet of moon roses, Selene's favorite flower. I took in a breath as I saw her making her way to the gazebo. She wore a light blue dress and sandals, her dark hair was curled, and she wore a little more makeup than usual. The moment she was close enough, I kissed her cheek, "You look incredible." I told her; she blushed lightly,

"Thank you." I handed her the bouquet, which she happily took, "Oh, my favorite; I can't believe you actually remembered." I smiled before extending my arm, she took it, and we began our walk.

We stayed along the stream and talked, reminiscing about the good old days when we were children and even joking about our families. It wasn't long until I had her cover her eyes for her surprise. "Can I open them?" She asked; I guided her to the stable ground then smiled,

"Yes." She opened them, and her jaw dropped; I had set up twinkle lights and a small picnic with soft music playing in the background,

"Oh, wow," She said, "Phoenix, this is too much." I smiled as the light in her eyes danced around. After eating, we started dancing together, laughing, and when the moment was right, I got down on my knee and pulled out the box, "Phoenix...."

"I know we are already engaged, but I still want to ask you properly and present you with a ring," I told her as I opened the box to reveal a two-carrot, rose gold ring. Selene's mouth dropped once more after seeing the ring, "Selene Summer Serkan, will you marry me?" I asked and waited for her response; Selene smiled lightly and nodded her head. I slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her as I spun her around. I thought to myself, this will be the most memorable night of my life.