"Tell me what's bothering you, dear," Mom says when we take our seat in the living room.
"I need you to tell me how the vampire king plans to use my blood to revive his brother."
"You're doing no such thing!" she screeched, understanding immediately why I'm asking the question.
"Mom, werewolves are dying. More every day. I can't sit back and continue to allow my people to die because of me."
"You're not responsible for their deaths. Only the vampire king is responsible for that."
"I'd love to believe that, but it can't be pure coincidence that he started killing werewolves after we rescued you from his prison."
"The vampire king hates werewolves. He might've been planning to go to war with us for a long time. Maybe it just happened after I was rescued that he suddenly decided to wipe out the werewolf clan."
"Mom, you know there's very little chance that's true. I've decided to offer myself to him with the condition that so he stops killing werewolves."
"You'll do no such thing. I promised your parents I'd keep you safe, and I will. I forbid you from going anywhere close to vampire territory."
"Mom. Forbidding me isn't going to stop me, and you know it. I need you to tell me how he plans to use my blood to revive his brother. Also, tell you in case I don't return, you must tell Nate "
"You can't do this Elizabeth. You're all I have," Mom says, tears forming in her eyes. She already knows deep down. I'm not going to back down. She just wishes I would. Same as I wish I didn't have to.
"I know, Mom. But I'm the only one who can save the werewolf kingdom."
"There has to be another way. You can't sacrifice your life like this," Mom says, with tears streaming down her face. I stand up from my seat and walk over to hers to comfort her.
"I wish there was, but this is the only way," I say, sniffing as I try my best to hold back my tears. I hug her as she cries more as my words sink in.
The following morning, I walk into the woods close to the house to clear my head. I plan to leave for vampire territory in a few days. Mom cried so much I was afraid she'd become sick. She was able to stop when her body got dehydrated, and she had no more tears to offer.
I can't imagine what Nate will do or feel when he finds out. He might not even care when he finds out I'm half a vampire. It might make it easier for him to deal with my death. My train of thought is interrupted when I hear rustling in the bushes behind me. I quickly sniff the air to find out what species is in the bushes.
"Come out, young one," I smelled a werewolf. The little pup comes out from behind the bushes. "What are you doing here?" I ask.
'I'm lost,' She mind links me. She's in wolf form. Werewolves first shift when they are ten. From the size of her wolf and voice, she should be ten or eleven years old.
"Shift back to human form."
'I don't know how to shift back.'
This is very common when werewolves first start shifting. It's hard to shift back to human form and vice versa.
'Are you from this pack?'
'Yes.'
'Alright, follow me. I'll take you home.'
"Thank you, kind she-wolf."
"You're welcome young one," I say, patting her head.
The little pup runs toward my legs and stays beside me as we walk to the packhouse. I wonder who her parents are. On our way to the packhouse I smell blood and not just blood, vampire blood. I quickly ask the pup to hide in the bushes as I try to find the vampire. I'm about to shift into my wolf before the vampire appears so I can tear it into shreds but stop when the vampire reveals himself.
"Liz," a familiar voice says
"Mason," I say, running to catch his body before it hits the ground. "What happened to you?" His whole body is covered in blood.
"Please help me," he says before he blacks out.
I quickly throw his body across my back and run home to try and save his life. I make sure not to forget the pup, asking her to run with me back to the house. I wonder what Mason's doing here? And what's he doing here wounded? It's a good thing the woods aren't far from the house.
"Mom!" I shout, bursting into the house with Mason on my back.
"What's wr—" she pauses when she sees me dragging someone on my back. "Oh, my goodness, what happened to him?"
"I don't know, but can you get me medical supplies so I can treat his injuries? I can't take him to the hospital," I say, dropping his body on the couch.
"Why can't you ta—" she pauses once she sees that Mason is a vampire. "What do you need?" She asks, understanding why I can't take him to the pack hospital.
"Anything to stop his bleeding. He's bleeding a lot."
"Alright, I'll run to the pharmacy and get you everything you need to stop his bleeding."
"Thank you, Mom," I say, tearing Mason's shirt so I can find where he's bleeding. He's losing a lot of blood. I fear I might be too late to save his life. He has cuts across his chest. One runs from his shoulders down to his waist. Who could've harmed him like this?
"Who are you?" Mom asks on her way out. She must have seen the little pup I came home with.
"I found her in the woods. She doesn't know how to shift back to human form yet. I was taking her to the packhouse when I found Mason. Please help me take her. I'm sure her parents must be worried looking for her."
"Sure, no problem. I'll be back soon. Come on, little one," Mom says to the pup, but she refuses to move. Her big eyes are fixed on Mason. She must be terrified seeing so much blood.
'Little one,' I say, walking to her. I pass my hands through her fur to get her attention. Once my hands get in contact with her fur, her eyes lock with mine. I can see the fear in them.
'Everything is alright; no one is going to hurt you.'
'Why is there so much blood on him?' she asks, her voice shaking. She's scared and must be on the verge of tears.
'He's injured, but I'm going to fix him up. He'll be fine. You have nothing to worry about.'
'You're sure he's going to be fine? I saw a lot of blood, Liz.'
I told her my name while we were walking to the packhouse.
'I promise you he's going to be fine, Elena. Just follow my Mom. She'll take you home.'
I also got to know her name.
'Okay, goodbye, Liz.'
'Goodbye, Elena,' I say before she walks out with Mom.
"You were amazing dear, I can already see how great you'll be with my grandkids," Mom says before she walks out.
Unfortunately, that won't happen because I won't have kids, I thought. I won't live long enough to break the curse on Nate to give myself such an opportunity.
"Liz," Mason groans in pain. His eyes are still closed.
"I'm here," I say, quickly rushing to his side. "Don't worry; I'll save your life," I say, holding his hand tightly to give him hope that I will.
Mom comes back in a record of time with a lot of hospital supplies. I quickly take them from her and begin to work on saving Mason's life. Mom helps me wear the gloves. I take a huge chunk of cotton wool and dip it in hydrogen peroxide. I use it to clean his wounds. Everywhere I touch on his skin with the cotton wool, he winces in pain. He has a lot of cuts on his chest. Who did this to him? I don't know how many times I mutter 'sorry' to him, but by the time I'm done, I'm saying it like a mantra.
I used the bandages Mom bought and covered his wounds. He'd need stitches, but I'm not a doctor, so I can't sew his wounds. I don't know how to, and I couldn't even if I was told how to. I would feel like I'm hurting him more than helping him by passing a needle through his skin. Bandages are what we will use to stop his bleeding for now.
Once I'm done with his upper body, I remove his pants to see if he has any injuries. His knee seems to have popped out. I close my eyes and pop it back in place. I'm starting to think being a reporter is the wrong career path for me. I clean a few wounds around his legs and face. Once I'm done attending to his injuries, I carry him to our guest room with Mom's help. It's a good thing our guest room is downstairs. Mason's wounds would have opened if we had to take him upstairs.
***
I open my eyes and turn in the chair I'm sleeping in when I hear Mason trying to say something. I quickly run to his side to find out if he needs anything. He caught a fever during the night, so I had to stay close to him to ensure his body temperature was down. I must've fallen asleep in the chair.
"How are you feeling?" I ask, placing my hand on his forehead to check his body temperature. His fever has gone down a little.
"Better," he says, with a hoarse voice. "Please help me sit up."
"Sure," I say, wrapping my hands around his torso so I can lift his upper body.
"Thank you," he says once I'm done adjusting the pillows behind his back.
"What happened to you? What are you doing here? How did you even get here? How did you know this is where my old pack was?" I threw all the questions I wished to ask him the moment I found him in the woods at once.
"I'll try to answer all your questions, but first, can I have a glass of water?"
"Sure, I'll get one for you from the kitchen. Give me a minute," I say, walking toward the door.
"Thank you," he says before I walk out.
I quickly fetch a glass of water from the kitchen and walk back to his room to give it to him.
"Here you go," I say, handing it to him.
"Thank you," he says once he's done drinking the water. "I was punished for helping you rescue your Mom. I was locked up and was only able to escape last night. I'm here because this is the last place the vampire king would look for me. I drove here after I stole a car from a human. The vampire king mentioned you live here once when I was around him."
"I'm sorry this happened to you because of me. I'm sure you wish you'd never met me."
"It's not your fault; I knew the consequences of helping you rescue your Mom. You don't have to feel bad about it."
"I'm still sorry."
"It's fine."
"Thank you for not hating me. Do you need anything? Are you hungry?"
"I'm fine; you did an excellent job with my wounds. Thank you"
"You don't have to thank me. It's the least I can do for putting you in this situation."
"Regardless, thank you, and there is something important I need to tell you."
"I'm listening."
"I went to visit my daughter a few days ago. The witch helping me keep her safe told me something important about her I think you should know"
"What did the witch say?"
"She told me my daughter can never be marked."
"Why?" I ask, confused.
"Because, she's a hybrid."
"I don't understand."
"The witch said, if a vampire or werewolf marked a hybrid that they would die."
"I don't believe you!" I say in shock.
"I'm sorry, Liz, but it's the truth. If Nate marks you, he will die."
"No, this can't be the truth. I don't believe you," I say, tears forming in my eyes as the implications of his words drowns on me.
I can never be with Nate. Ever.
We can never complete the mating process, even if he broke his curse. I'll still be a vampire, and if he marked me, he'd die. I can't believe because I'm part vampire, it will make the love of my life die. I don't want to believe this.
"I'm sorry, once again," Mason says, with sympathy written all over his face.
Tears flow down my face as I realize I can never be with the one I love because of what I am. I quickly run out of the guestroom and upstairs to my room. Once I'm inside, I hear Mom walk in. She must've heard me crying. She asks me what's wrong and I tell her what Mason told me. I don't even know what I'm going to do. I've been planning to sacrifice my life for the werewolf kingdom, but this is different. Even if I survived the war, I still can't be with Nate. Why was I cursed with being a hybrid? Right now, I wish I was never born.