THREE

LIANI

 The next day I woke up never wanting to drink again. “ I told you,” Iris says while I'm throwing up in the toilet. My head was pounding and I didn’t have the energy to argue with her.  

It didn’t help that I had taken in a lot of different information last night regarding my species. “I'm a hybrid,” I whisper to myself while looking in the mirror. “WE'RE A HYBRID,” Iris says. I head downstairs for breakfast and the entire pack is there. It was weird because usually, it was just a few of us around this time. Others were either working or attending school. I had classes online so I usually got up early to train with the warriors. I guess I loved that my parents encouraged me to train with them when I was younger.

“Great, you’re here.” Alpha Luke said as I sat at the table. Demetri was eyeing me more than usual lately and it was weird. “Not really, he’s the Alpha’s son, and it's normal for them to be mated with a beta’s daughter.” I cringe at the thought of being mated to him. It's not like he was ugly. He was extremely attractive. He was well built, with brown hair that stopped at his shoulders, thick eyebrows, hazel eyes, and full lips. But, I just didn’t see him that way. I know my 21st birthday was approaching in four days so I would be able to find my mate soon.  

When I sit down at the table I say “S-sorry Alpha, I wasn’t aware of the meeting.” 

“It’s okay. It was very last minute, but now that everyone’s here, we can begin. This morning the pack received an invitation to the Lycan Kingdom.”  Everyone including myself gasped. People were whispering amongst themselves confused as to why we were invited. Alpha Luke clears his throat to get everyone’s attention and they all fall silent. “It says here that EVERYONE in the pack must attend.” All eyes fell on me. I had never left the pack lands. Even the club Aella and I go to is literally up the street. He clears his throat again and looks at my mother “I’m sorry Maya, but you both must go. We can't risk angering the King and Queen.” My mother nods in agreement. 

 “Does it say why we’re invited?” I ask shyly. “It’s a royal ball.” The alpha responds. Excited whispers began filling the room. However, the Alpha was not finished. “It is 4 days from today.” I look down kind of upset that I wouldn’t get to celebrate my birthday the way I wanted to. “Who cares!!! We get to go to a ball.” Iris says excitedly. 

 When everyone dispersed it was just me, my mom, Aella, Demetri, and the Alpha and Luna. “Well," my mother begins. “We must hide her scent.” The alpha says sternly. What?! What are they talking about? They must be talking about me, I thought. “Alpha, with all due respect, without my powers I can’t do that.” My mother responds. Worry spreads across the lunas face. “Why do I have to hide my scent? Do I smell bad or something?" I ask ignorantly. “No, but you don't smell like an ordinary wolf.” The Alpha says sternly. “We’ll just have to keep her far away from the king and queen,” Aella says. Did she know about what I was? “Had to,” Iris says. 

When we all agreed that I would just stay out of the king and queen's sight during the ball, everyone eventually dispersed until it was Demetri, Aella, and myself. “OH, MY GODDESS!! I can’t believe we’ve been invited to the royal ball!!” Aella said eagerly. “Did you know?” I ask sternly. “W-what?” Aella said. “Did. You. Know?” I asked again. This time more slowly since she acted as if she couldn’t comprehend what I said. “I-I” she stuttered. I felt bad even acting like this with my best friend, but how could she not tell me? 

“We just found out,” Dimitri said. I felt relief and guilt wash over me at the same time. Aella has always been a good friend to me and here I am being a bitch to her. “When?” I asked. “Last night, when your dad appeared before you and your mom. Obviously, my mom and Aella didn’t see him, but my parents had known what you and your mom were because your dad was my dad's best friend and beta.” Dimitri replied. I looked over at Aella who was obviously hurt that I disregarded her excitement. 

“Ael-“I tried to say before she stormed off. “Damnit!” I whisper yelled to myself. “She’ll get over it. You are going through a lot right now.” Dimitri said. I felt the empathy in his voice. “I know, but I shouldn't take my anger out on her.” I started biting my nails and pacing the room lost in my thoughts. It’s a bad habit I’ve had since I’ve spent most of my time alone outside of Aella, Sydney, and my parents. “Hey-“ Dimitri said as he grabbed my waist pulling me from my thoughts. My heart pounded with how close he was to me. “Get him away!” Iris snapped. So, I took a step back. 

“I’m sorry Li, I didn’t mean to upset you.” He said. “I-it’s okay. Thank you for bringing me back to reality” I replied trying to lighten the mood. “Anytime.” He said as he smiled with his hands in his pockets. He stood there awkwardly for a minute.  “Goodnight Li,”  he said right before he walked back over to me and kissed me on my forehead. 

“Wipe it off!” Iris whimpered. “Goddess, what is wrong with you Iris?” I asked. “He’s not our mate.” She replied. “And how would you know? We won’t sense our mate for another 4 days.” I snapped. I knew that Iris would know who our mate was better than I would. So I felt kind of guilty that I was snappy with her. 

These last 2 days have exhausted me energetically, so I went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.