Hybrid Aria by Jessica Hall

Aria’s POV

Driving back to the Pack house, Reid didn’t say much. He seemed to be thinking about what I said. After about ten minutes, he finally spoke. “Do you know why I hate Hybrids?”

Shaking my head, I looked over at him. Reid was staring out the window. “No, I don’t know,” I said. Reid thought for a few moments before speaking again.

“I wasn’t an only child. I had an older brother: his name was Alexander. He was 4 years older than me, and he was meant to take over the Pack when my father died. He never got the chance, though. When I was fourteen, my father took me away on Pack business with him. My mother and older brother stayed behind. Alexander was meant to go, but I begged my father to take me instead. We were gone for three days when my father got called through the Pack link saying the Pack house was under attack. We shifted and ran all the way home. My father screamed in agony every time he felt a Pack members link break, but he didn’t stop running because he knew his Pack needed him. When we arrived at the Pack house…” Reid went quiet, trying to find the words to express what haunts him.

“When we reached the Pack house, Pack members bodies were strewn across the place. Men, women, even the children that didn’t have a chance to get to the bunkers. All ripped to pieces, their blood staining the soil where they lay. My brother was fighting for his life and the Packs, but we were outnumbered. My father screamed, clutching his chest. It was the most agonised scream I had ever heard. I felt like my chest was being crushed. I will never forget the feeling of my mother’s link breaking. My brother dropped to the ground feeling it too, feeling my father’s heartbreak through the Pack link. I ran towards my brother to help when a man put his hand through his chest, ripping his heart out right in front of me. I killed the man, ripping him limb from limb. The last image of my brother has haunted my dreams ever since...” Reid’s hand clenched into tight fists white-knuckled he continued.

“When my father managed to get to his feet, he became crazed at the loss of his mate, my mother. The loss of my brother was the last straw. He slaughtered every single one of them. We lost half the pack that day. My father wiped out the entire other Pack, every single person. He didn’t care if they were involved or not, he went after them anyway. They were a rival Pack, my father had a dispute with them a few weeks before. They waited for my father to leave so they could attack, and they enlisted the help of the Hybrids. I hate them for what they did, not just the fact that they killed my family but for what they did to my mother. The Hybrids ripped her to pieces. It took us hours to find her entire body.

and killed every Hybrid in the city with my help. I promised him I would kill every Hybrid I came across, promised to keep the Pack safe. A few years after, when I was sixteen, my father took his own life. My father couldn’t handle the pain of losing his mate. I found him hanging from the ceiling in my office. Losing a mate will send a wolf crazy or make them bitter and angry. My father went crazy and killed himself, leaving the Pack to me. That’s why I hate Hybrids. It doesn’t matter if they weren’t involved. I have seen what they can do, I know the destruction they are capable

sat there gazing out the window trapped in his memories. Reaching over, I grabbed his hand. Reid ripped his hand out of my grip, and a growl escaped his lips, making me flinch and pull my hand back. We had pulled up outside the Pack house. Opening the door, Reid walked inside, slamming the car door behind him, leaving me sitting in the car. I felt terrible not because he rejected me but because he had his own secrets, his own pain. A pain I couldn’t take from him. Feeling through the bond, I could feel how hard he struggles with himself being around me, but at the same time, I could feel how much he rejects those feelings, pushing them aside for me. I felt guilty. I know I didn’t kill his family, but that didn’t make me feel any less guilty knowing that my kind were the ones to cause his heartbreak and knowing I was also making him break the promise

a few minutes lost in my own thoughts, Zane came over, opening the door. He waited

looked at me, worriedly. “I’m fine, Zane.

to

of him. I just hope one day Lily could have a father figure in her life that adores her. But if not, she always has me. I will always make sure she knows that above everything. That her happiness will always be more important than everything else that life throws at us. But to keep her

it doesn’t come to that, and if there is any way to stop it, I promise Lily I will try. After all, as much as I can’t stand David, it doesn’t change the fact that he is her father. Lily may want nothing to do with him now, but that could change when she is older, and if there is a chance they could build a relationship, I will have to make sure she gets that chance. So, for now, I need to find a way to defuse the situation

the first thing I noticed was heaps of Pack members. There were about a hundred people in the yard setting up long tables and placing out chairs. There were men setting up what looked like a DJ station and dance floor. Women were happily chatting amongst themselves, setting the tables. A large group of teenagers were hanging lights from the trees and on

for you, Luna, you and Lily. The Pack members are excited to meet their Luna finally. We never thought Reid was going to find his mate. He has always been so closed off to everyone until you came into the picture, so everyone is naturally

I looked for a linen cupboard, wanting to take a shower, but couldn’t find one after a few minutes. I walked back downstairs to the hallway. Walking past the bedrooms before coming to Alpha Reid’s office, next to it was a cupboard and opening it, I grabbed a towel out. As I was about to turn to walk back upstairs, I heard talking. “Calm down Alpha, if you go back and kill him, Aria will never forgive

fucking care. I hate them, hate them all.” I quickly dropped my head going to walk off back to the stairs when the floor creaked. Looking through the gap of the door. I made eye contact with Reid, who was glaring directly at me. His canines protruding, his face was distorted with anger. I couldn’t seem to pull my gaze away from him. His anger was strong, thick, reaching to me through the bond. I suddenly felt like my blood was boiling,