Hybrid

Chapter 18

"I need to talk to you guys," I tell my parents. "It's important." Max, Mara, and I take a seat at the island now that there's spots open. My parents are across from us, leaning against the counter.

"Did something happen? Are you pregnant?" my mom asks. I feel my cheeks go red, because the answer to that is "I don't know". I ignore that question.

"That's not what I need to talk to you guys about," I say, but I see the way my mom looks at me. She's going to bring it up later once my dad and Max are gone.

"You know."

I look at my dad. He's looking at me with concern, like he doesn't know how I'm going to react now that it's out in the open. Then he glances at Lacey, and his eyes suddenly have a terrified look in them. Huh?

"Yeah," I say, but I'm still confused as to why my dad is still looking at Lacey.

"Know what?" my mom asks, looking between the two of us.

I'm taken aback, because I thought she knew. I thought my dad would have told her. But now I know why he looks so scared. I'm not the only one he's been lying to.

"I told you how my first mate, Hannah, died giving birth to Brynn," my dad sighs. He leans forward, resting his elbows on the counter and burying his head in his hands.

"Yeah, you told me the pregnancy was too hard on her body," my mom says. "What does that have to do with this?"

"I didn't tell you the whole story."

"What else happened?"

My dad remains silent, and I can tell that this is hard for him to talk about. I wish I could jump in and help him tell the truth, but I can't for two reasons. I don't know what he's told Lacey, and this needs to come from him.

"Ethan, you can tell me," she says softly, placing a hand on his upper arm.

"I told you that Hannah had previous health problems, and that's why the pregnancy killed her," he eventually says. I'm listening closely, because this is the first time I'm ever being told about my birth mom. The smallest of smiles grows on my face, because even though I know this isn't going to be pretty, getting to hear about the woman who gave birth to me brings a new, happy feeling inside of me.

"Nothing was wrong with her. She was perfectly healthy," my dad says, and I know what comes next.

"Then how did the pregnancy kill her? She was a werewolf, she should have been fine," my mom says. There's a hint of frustration in her voice, but you wouldn't be able to tell unless you knew her extremely well. Her voice rises just a little bit, but it's not noticeable unless you've been around her for long enough to know exactly how her voice normally sounds.

My dad lets out a breath that it sounds like he's been holding, and then he finally says it. "She wasn't a werewolf. She was a vampire."

My mom gasps, taking her hand off of my dad's arm. I don't realize that I've stopped breathing, and I let it out as slow as possible. Below the counter, Max places a hand on my thigh. I can tell that he's even more surprised by this than I am.

"That's why Brynn's pregnancy killed her. Because she was a vampire, and her body wasn't made to carry a hybrid." My mom's eyes dart to look at me, and then back to my dad.

"So you lied to me?" she chokes out in a whisper. Tears well in her eyes, and she's getting paler by the second. She looks like she's going to be sick. "After everything I told you?" She takes a step away from him, and then another.

"That's why I didn't tell you, Lace!" my dad says, raising his voice. Lacey doesn't flinch. He finally takes his head out of his hands and looks at my mom. "Because Brynn is my daughter and she will always come first, but I couldn't lost another mate!" I can hear the desperation and guilt in his voice, and I want more than anything to be able to fix all of this.