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“What’s it like being a hybrid?” she asked before biting into the savory meat.
“It’s like being at war with yourself constantly. At least it was. Having access to my wolf full time has made it easier to reconcile both sides of myself. I feel more…” He paused, searching for the right word. “...balanced isn’t the right word, but it’s the closest thing to what I’m feeling. I still sense the bloodlust and the need to be in control that comes with my vampiric nature, but my wolf weaves in a sense of peace that was missing. It’s easier to tap into the stoicism that comes with being an Alpha wolf. The contentment to observe and strike when necessary.”
Flora let out a snort and raised a brow. “Since when do you show any sort of restraint?”
“When it comes to you? Never.”
“But how did you become a hybrid? You said you were a wolf of Sampson. Your father, but he’s not biologically yours?”
“No. I should have only been a vampire. My mother was a human and my father a royal vampire.”
Flora’s eyes widened. The ramifications of him being Lachlan’s son still blew her mind. “Then how…”
“My mother was one of the humans selected to be a part of the hunt. A barbaric tradition held by the Scottish and American courts.”
“I know what the hunt is. I was set to participate before August chose Emery.”
Draven snapped his lengthened fangs in her direction and let out a deep growl. “You will never participate in any hunt so long as I am breathing.”
Flora shrunk back and threw up her hands. “Believe me, I don’t want to. But what happened to your mother?”
“She participated as she was ordered to. Compelled to. The King used her then left her for dead. He discarded her like yesterday’s garbage. My father was there to keep the peace as an enforcer. He didn’t trust any other wolves since the moon was full. So as the future Alpha to the pack, he volunteered to ensure there were no deaths. But Lachlan didn’t give a shit. He’s a King after all.”
Draven ran his hand through his tousled hair and gripped its length. His jaw was tense, and Flora wished she could take away his pain and frustration. She knew all too well what it was like to have a monster for a father; to know that the person who gave you life should be scrubbed from the earth with a steel brush.
“The moment Sampson laid eyes on my mother, he simultaneously knew she was his mate and that she was meant for death.” Draven shook his head and brought his hand down to scrub his face and chin. “I can’t even imagine what he was feeling. If I found you..”
His voice trailed off, and he looked out over the lake. The muscles between his shoulder blades tensed and when he spoke again his words were harsh and short. “I would tear apart heaven and earth to spare you that fate. And then murder the one who took you from me.”
And yet he wouldn’t turn her. He didn’t even realize the hypocrisy in his statement, but she wasn’t about to point that out to him. Draven spoke of forever as if hers was the same caliber as his; he’d yet to realize he’d have to say goodbye to her. Or if he had, he’d yet to deal with it. And at the rate he was heading, it would be too late when he realized he wanted her to be at his side till his dying breath.
Draven turned his gaze back to Flora, any hardness gone and replaced with love. “My father prayed to the Goddess for guidance, and he swears to this day he got an answer from her, clear as day.”
“What did she say?”
“Turn her,” Draven whispered.
Flora had always assumed that his mother was a wolf prior to him being born, but now that she considered it, it didn’t add up. If she had been, he wouldn’t be a wolf of Sampson, he would have gained his wolf from his mother’s lineage.
“And that’s how you hold your claim to Moon Ridge.”
Draven nodded. “Sampson turned my mother and when he did, he gifted me, though barely conceived, his wolf. I’m an anomaly that shouldn’t exist, but I do. A royal vampire-wolf hybrid.”
“How do you become a wolf?”
Draven pressed his lips together and shook his head as he stood and began to pace. “I recognize that look in your eye, Flora. If you thought the process of turning into a vampire wasn’t for the faint of heart, you won’t like how a human becomes a wolf.”
“But—”
“I’m going to tell you because you are my mate, and the future Luna needs to know how her pack can be made, but it’s not an option for you. It’s dangerous. Deadly. Most don’t survive the turn. My mother shouldn’t have.”
Flora turned away from him to hide the tears that welled in her eyes. She knew he spoke from a place of protection. Hers and his own. She would survive if he died. She’d hate every moment of it, but she would survive. Draven wouldn’t. His wolf was tied to her through the bonds of their mating. When she died, he would mourn her for the rest of his life. He would physically survive, but mentally there was no way her protective wolf could live without her.
A tear slipped down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away. She’d be responsible for the worst years of his life. All because she would one day die.
It wasn’t fair. She needed to find a way to stay with him. To be Draven’s forever in the same way he was hers.
Flora swallowed hard.
