Hybrid: The Prophecy

Chapter 7

The next day, Brynn and I run to the area where her and Max are planning to build their home. The entire time, my mind is consumed with thoughts of Kai. His laugh from last night echoes off the walls of my mind, and I ache to be back with him. I ache for the peaceful calm I get when I'm with him that I've stopped fighting against.

I don't tell Brynn about him.

Brynn runs slower than she usually would so I'm able to keep up. I feel like I'm dragging my feet with every step I take. I'm not running as fast as I can, so Brynn is running much slower than she's used to after a month of having her hybrid abilities. We weave through the trees, but the same rush of adrenaline doesn't fill my blood stream. It's just not doing it for me today.

I'm not paying much attention to Brynn other than to make sure she's still in front of me, so I don't fully process when she comes to a halt. She has the brains to turn her body so that when I inevitably crash into her, my face collides with her ribcage instead of her butt. I regain control of myself and watch as she shifts into her human form, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. Her arms are folded right above the small bump of her stomach. I shift back, avoiding her gaze and looking anywhere else.

"What's going on?" she asks right away, her voice soft and calm. "And don't say nothing. You're barely running faster than a jog, you T-boned me, and you're refusing to meet my gaze. What happened with Kai last night?"

There's no hiding this from her. Why did I think I would be able to hide anything from her when she knows me so well? There's no point in denying it, so I don't.

"I accepted the mate bond."

I meet her gaze, her dark eyes boring into mine. They soften when I tell her what's going on, and there's a spark of excitement that appears in them as well.

"Oh!" she says, her gasp somehow still soft and not surprised at all.

There's a knowing glint in her eyes along with the excitement, and her lips form a smirk to match the look in her eyes. The corners of my own lips turn up when I ask, "What's that look for?" With one of my eyebrows raised as well, we stare at each other for a few moments before we start laughing.

"Absolutely nothing," Brynn grins through her laughter, and it makes me start all over again.

I sit down on the forest ground, scooting so I can lean my back against one of the towering trees. Another minute passes before I manage to calm myself down. Brynn has joined me on the ground, stretched out a few inches away from my feet. She has her eyes closed, and her hands are resting on her stomach. I think about the baby growing just beneath them, and flash-forward images of when the baby is born fill my mind for a few seconds.

I return to the present and ask, "Really, though. What was that look for?"

She turns her head to the side to look at me, remaining silent for a moment before speaking. "I knew you were going to give him a chance. I wasn't sure at first, but by the time we had him in the cell, I just kinda knew. I didn't think it would happen this soon, but I'm also not surprised. The mate bond is a powerful thing."

My next question is stupid, but I ask it anyways. "How did you know?"

Brynn chuckles as she rolls onto her side, holding herself up with a hand and her elbow resting on the ground. "Mara, I've known you since we were in diapers. You've been waiting to meet your mate since the day we knew what they were. No matter what horrible crimes Kai has committed in the last who knows how many years—"

"—Seven hundred and eleven—"

"—you're too...what?"

"He's seven hundred and eleven."

Brynn cracks a smile at my words. "Going for the older men, I see."

I find a little twig next to my hand and throw it her way. "Shut up."

She laughs and continues, "As I was saying, no matter what Kai's done in the past, you're too stubborn to let go of your mate. It's something you've looked forward to your entire life, and you're not going to give up on it right away. If you were, you would have rejected him the moment you met him."

Her words sit with me for a while, and we each take in the peaceful silence that settles over us. I pick up a leaf and slowly start peeling it as I replay her words and my thoughts over and over again in my mind.

Brynn is right, proving the fact that she knows me better than I know myself. She knew that I would accept the mate bond with Kai eventually. Deep down, I think I did too. Why did I keep visiting him in the cells if some part of me wasn't willing to give in? And like Brynn said, why did I not reject him right away? There was clearly something in me holding onto him and everything that could be.

I scoot away from the tree and lay down next to Brynn, shifting so there's not a rock digging into my back. I close my eyes, and my hearing amplifies to listen to the tiniest things in the forest. The shifting of the leaves in the light breeze, the squirrel climbing up a tree to my right, the slow trickle of water from the nearby creek.

I think about Kai, and I feel the small smile grow on my face. I know me and him being together isn't going to be an easy ride, but I also know that giving into the mate bond last night felt like the first fresh breath of air as I broke the surface of the water. Figuring us out is going to take time and effort, but if it means the feelings I already have for him will continue to grow, I'm there.

I think about my future with him and the life we can grow together. Having kids, creating our family, growing old together. We'll plan lots of activities and vacations with Brynn and Max and their kids. It's going to be the life that Brynn and I have been talking about having with each other since we were five years old.

"Mara," Brynn says quietly, breaking the silence and snapping me out of my thoughts. The tone of her voice worries me, and I turn my neck to the side to meet her gaze. The look on her face doesn't help my worry.

"What?" I reply, my tone matching hers even though I have no idea what she's about to say.

Her next words come out slowly, and I see the pain in her eyes and hear it in her voice as she says them. It's no match to the sinking feeling of dread that overtakes my entire being.

"If you and Kai ever get pregnant. . .you'll die."

i have no words for why this took so long to update. this semester has completely kicked my ass so much that i had to quit my second job. i'm starting to figure out my schedule more now so hopefully it won't take so long for the next update!

thank you all for sticking by and being patient with me. you have no idea how much the support and patience means to me, especially with how rocky the last couple of months have been for me.

vote and comment what you thought!