Bound By The Bond

|C8| SHIFT

C 8 | S H I F T

"Can you shift?" Xander asked me, glancing at me from the corner of his eye as we wandered deeper into the forest.

"Not anymore," I admitted, staring into the dark mass of trees huddled ahead. "It's been around five years since the last time I did."

"I didn't realise hybrids could even do that," he murmured and I shrugged, continuing to move in unison beside him.

"You're the ones who keep telling me I'm a hybrid. This is the first I've heard of it," Xander's steps faltered beside mine at my words, though he quickly recovered.

"You didn't know?"

"Nope," I swallowed, shrugging once again.

"Do you know what else might in your blood?"

"Human? I've never heard of werewolves mating with anything else. Most people at the compound didn't know what I was. They generally assumed I was a human."

"Historically we have only mated within our own species or with humans, yes. But that is not the case now. The Royals are an example of that."

"Oh, right," I bobbed my head, vaguely recalling what Remi had taught me when we were preparing for our mission.

This mission.

"The Fae. They arranged a cross-species bonding with werewolves to secure the Royal line and keep it strong, right?" Xander nodded, his strides slowing slightly.

"Right."

"So what about me?" Xander's steps stopped completely this time and as I turned to look at him, my brows scrunched with confusion.

"What about you?" He carefully asked, cocking his head to the side as he studied me.

"Well, what else is in my blood?"

"Oh..." he trailed off, his lips twisting as he thought about his next words. "We don't know. We can't quite pinpoint it," he confessed, striding ahead once again, his steps quicker this time.

"Well that's not helpful," I laughed, the quiet sound somehow loud in the stark silence that surrounded us. "I really hope you're not taking me to a murder cabin somewhere. I actually like my life, you know," I cocked an eyebrow at him as he stalked ahead, though despite my words for some reason I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

At least not while he was oblivious as to why I was really here.

"We're here," he abruptly exclaimed, stopping by a seemingly random, giant tree. I stopped by the base of it, taking a moment to note that it would take at least three of me and Xander to wrap our arms around it as I followed Xander's gaze up to the canopy above. I frowned when I noticed a large structure nestled in the branches, my heart jolting when I realised it looked to be a... treehouse.

Without explanation, Xander started climbing the rungs of what appeared to be a ladder that had been nailed into the trunk. I wordlessly and quickly followed him, gasping when I finally emerged from the hatch and onto the wooden boards of the literal house perched up here. I gazed up in awe at the glass ceiling and into the blanket of unobstructed stars overhead, my breath catching.