Hybrid Aria by Jessica Hall novel Chapter 23

Aria’s POV

Walking downstairs, I find Lily playing with Amber. They were both sitting peacefully playing with a dollhouse and some barbies. Sitting next to them on the floor, I watched.

“Can we visit Zoe? I miss her,” Lily asked with a frown on her face.

“I can send Zane with you; I have a few things to look into,” Reid said, walking over to us. Lily beamed at him. Excitedly, she stood up, running off before coming back with some pictures she drew.

“Can I also go back to school?” Lily asked. I went to tell her not yet, but Reid decided to answer for me.

“Would you like to go to school with Amber at the Pack's school?” asked Reid. Seems like he has everything figured out, so I didn’t object.

“Yes,” she squealed excitedly, throwing herself in my arms. Looking up at me, she sniffed me before sitting back. “You smell different, Ari.”

“That’s another thing we have to talk about Lily, we are going to join the Blood Moon Pack, that’s why I smell different.” I thought Lily may be a bit disappointed joining another Pack that wasn’t connected to our family, but she looked just as excited.

“Really, we don’t have to hide anymore?” I shook my head, tears springing in my eyes at her excitement.

“Come on, we will go see Zoe and talk about it more when we get home,” I told her. Zane walked out standing beside me. Reid was on the phone now but pulled the phone from his ear as we were about to leave. “We are going to have a bit of a ceremony to introduce you to the Pack as the Luna. We can also do Lily’s initiation ceremony as well,” he said, handing me his credit card. “Here, find something nice to wear. Zane will escort you just in case you run into anyone from your old Pack,” he said before kissing me on the cheek.

When we arrived at Joe’s Diner, Lily took off and ran straight through the doors. Walking into the diner myself, I was greeted with a hug from Zoe. She hugged me so tight I didn’t think she would let go. Marcus also came out, picking Lily up and throwing her up in the air.

“Let’s go make pancakes, Lil,” he said excitedly. Lily followed him to the kitchen.

Turning back to Zoe, she had tears in her eyes. “I thought that Alpha killed you, but when he came in looking for you and Lily, I knew you must have escaped.”

Being shocked at her words was an understatement, I was completely gobsmacked. Zane gave me a nod before sitting in one of the booths. Zoe ushered me out of the diner and into her studio, walking behind the tv that sat in the corner off the wall. She pushed on the wall, which opened up, showing some stairs. I followed her down the stairs. As we walked down, lights started flicking on. They must have been motion sensor lights, little LED lights were running on each step. When we reached the bottom, the lights turned on and revealed a bunker.

Along the walls were tv screens. I could see different angles of the diner and the street outside as well as the back entrances. Looking at Zoe, she gestured for me to sit down at a long stainless-steel table that looked more like a medical table than one you would eat at.

“What’s going on, Zoe? What is all this?” Looking at Zoe, I came to realise I didn’t know Zoe as much as I thought I did. She never really spoke much of her life with her husband. Mainly she asked about us or told us what she had planned or what she might have done that day, but nothing personal. I just assumed the memories of her life with Joe were too painful, and so I never pushed her for answers.

“I’m shocked Reid didn’t say anything.”

Looking back over to her, I said, “What? He knew all along?”

“No, only recently when I figured out he was your mate. I kind of told him to back off and leave you alone,” she mumbled.

“So, what is all this?”

“My husband used to be a Hunter. This was our weapons bunker.” Zoe got up and pressed a switch on the wall. The wall opened a hidden compartment, and the whole wall on the inside uncovered an arsenal of weapons. Standing up, I walked over, examining them carefully. There were weapons for every sort of supernatural creature plus some I had never seen before.

“What’s this,” I asked, pointing to a ground ball with a pin in it. It appeared to be a grenade but was clear with a gold liquid in it.

“It’s a wolfsbane grenade.” A shiver ran down my spine. Turning back to Zoe, I watched her carefully. She didn’t seem fazed about being in my presence. No matter who Zoe is or what her past contained, I knew I could still trust her.

“I know you have questions. If you take a seat, I want to show you something.” Sitting back at the table, Zoe walked back up the stairs and came back with a photo album. Opening it up, I saw a picture of Zoe with her husband. “I married Joe when I was 18. Joe was 19 at the time. I came from a Catholic family, so when I found out he was a Hunter, I instantly thought I married a nutter.” She giggled at the memory. “But after a little time, I came to see for myself. I never agreed with any of this, I couldn’t bring myself to stand on the sidelines either, so I was also a Hunter for a while. I helped track them down but didn’t get involved in the war, Joe preferred it that way anyway. He was a bit old fashioned, said it was too dangerous for a woman. Joe came from a family of Hunters, and when his parents died, he took over. He was raised to believe all supernatural creatures were dangerous and merciless killers and that he needed to rid the world of their evil. When he was in his early twenties, he met a man. They became best friends, but he soon discovered his friend wasn’t human.”

Zoe turned the page revealing a picture of Joe and another man. The man had black hair and a strong jawline; he was tall and strongly built, he also had orange blazing eyes. But that’s not what I found the most astonishing thing to this story; the necklace around his neck- it was my necklace. Picking up my necklace between my fingers, I looked at the wolf’s head before turning it over to see the back, which I realised had the same face as the man in the picture. It captured his features perfectly, even the eyes which were the same orange as mine now.

“That’s my father, isn’t it?” Zoe nodded sadly.

“Yes, your father was my husband’s best friend. When he found out, he was shocked but then realised his view on them was ruled by fear. They weren’t much different than us. Yeah, you have your bad eggs, but they usually keep to themselves. So, after he found out about your father, he quit. Your father was a good man, and after a while, he became family. A few years later, as you know, me and Joe couldn’t have kids, so we went and visited an orphanage, and we adopted a little girl. She was 3 at the time. She was abandoned on the side of the road when the authorities found her, and we raised her like our own.” I looked at the little girl in the picture. She reminded me of Lily.

“When she grew up and was about 10, she shifted into a wolf for the first time. Gave us quite the shock, but your father knew all along. He helped teach her to hunt, how to bond with her wolf. Your father also helped us keep her hidden. When she was 21, our daughter and your father established a relationship. They fell madly in love.” Turning the page tears sprung in my eyes. It was my mother standing with my father and a huge baby bump. “Not long after you were born, the Hunters my husband worked with found out about your father. My husband tried to get them to understand that he wasn’t like the rest of the Vampires they had come across, but they refused to listen. One day they trapped your father and Joe. They were ambushed when they were out hunting, killing them both. My husband tried to save your father, but in the end, it got him killed. Your mother was devastated, and for a while, she left. She came back a few times when you were younger but never stayed long.”

“So, you’re my grandmother? Lily’s grandmother?”

Zoe smiled sadly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but Alpha David refused to let me be a part of your lives. So when you stopped in that day looking for a job, I knew it was my chance to be a part of your lives. Your mother used to send me photos of you growing up before she died. Alpha David was very controlling when he met your mother, and when he realised she was his mate, he kidnapped her. I thought I lost her. He forbade her from having contact with me, but after a while, the bond was too strong, and she stopped fighting to leave. A few years later she had Lily. We kept in touch secretly, but once David came into the picture when you were 7, I never saw you in person, only by photos. David forced your mother to have you hypnotised to forget about me. That’s why you have no memories of me.” Come to think about it, I haven’t got many memories from my childhood, only dribs and drabs.

I had tears running down my face. Standing up, I hugged her tightly. I still have a family; Lily and I aren’t alone anymore. I have someone to connect me to my family.

“Aria, there something else, your father wasn’t a Vampire, he was Hybrid. A powerful one at that. He wasn’t a werewolf. He was a Lycan. When we met your father, he was 440 years old. My husband discovered after a lot of research that your father was the first Hybrid in existence. Your blood holds so much power. I didn’t want to tell you earlier because if David found out that you could take him and his Pack, he would have killed you, and I knew you wouldn’t want Lily left behind to be raised by that monster.” I just nodded my head. There is no way I would want him anywhere near her, especially after finding all this out.

“The more you feed, the stronger you will become, but you also need to be careful about the Hunters. You may not hear of them, but they are still around. They find out about you, they will come for you. Your bloodline is old, rightfully you would be considered an original Hybrid. You can’t shift because you don’t have a wolf. Your Lycan blood means you aren’t a mutation, you're something special. Your blood holds the past of when Lycans ruled when Lycans were considered Gods of Alphas.”

“We shouldn’t tell Lily, not yet I don’t want to confuse her or scare her,” I said, which Zoe agreed.