Therianthrope: The Hybrid's Curse

Lily Nawassa looked up from the microscope and rubbed her neck. It was sore from being in one position too long. She let out a growl of frustration when she didn't get the results she wanted. Lily took a long slow breath in hopes it would calm impatient frustration. "Understanding before correction," a soft voice chuckled from behind her. It belongs to her mentor, friend, and colleague. Veronica gave her a ghost of a smile as she stood there with her hands behind her back.

Like all vampires, she had a deathly pale skin tone that her reddish brown hair made stand out even more. Her clothing while was modern made was fashioned during the time she had been alive, the Victorian era Lily assumed though she knew little of history and even less of fashion. Her light brown eyes with a touch of the vampiric red tint twinkled with her amusement at Lily's impatience.

Lily blew out a puff of air causing her black hair to lift away from her face before she complained, "it's just we've made so little progress in all this time." Veronica gave her another smile, only slightly showing the fangs hinted to the dangerous predator she could be. Lily supposed for a dead woman Veronica didn't feel the need to be impatient as she had all the time in the world.

"Actually I think we've done quite well considering how incoherent Doctor Thompson's notes have been. The wolf guarded his work as a mother would her newborn babe. You can't expect to unravel his life work in a few years," she explained to her with her mentor tone.

"I know, I know" she replied, leaning back in her chair. The old frustration warmed her blood and made her anxious.

"Go on Lily, it's late and you've been here all day," Veronica told her with a dismissive wave. She didn't need to be told twice. Lily stood up from her chair and rubbed her sore shoulders. She sometimes wondered if their lack of progress wasn't a sign from God that maybe it was better this way. Three years ago, Lily was just an average everyday human except for her adoptive family were werewolves, her father being the alpha but his beta/pack doctor Xavier Thompson had changed all that.

Xavier didn't agree with werewolf thinking of survival of the fittest and decided to change things. He took those he decided were "special" and changed them into the ultimate creature. James Lacrosse was his first. He took the werewolf boy of thirteen and twisted him until his wolf side turned into a monstrous beast worthy of any Hollywood horror flick. To bring James out of his self-proclaimed exile and back to pack territory, Xavier purposely caused the death of one of the packs teenagers and near-kidnapping of a second twenty years later.

During this time, Xavier decided to better control James he would create a mate for him. That's where Lily came in. She was the bride to James' Frankenstein. To this day she still didn't know why he'd chosen her. She and James never got along very well. At some point, Xavier decided that wasn't enough and decided to change her into something even worse, a hybrid of werewolf and vampire. She had the power to shift between being a monstrous werewolf to a vampire. While in the pure form of each species, she looked no different from normal vampires or like James' beast shift.

She could also change the dominance between the two, like a sliding scale. Through some practice, Lily had found a good mix of the two that made her almost feel normal. She still clung on to the hope that she could one day fix what Xavier had done to her and become a human again. After three years, though, she was starting to lose faith and it was the thought of her son that kept her going. A.J. had been conceived after her change and she feared nonstop that he may have inherited her condition.

In fact, the little boy had been tested with every test her and Veronica could think of to indicate if he was a hybrid like her, but so far the test only indicates the beastly werewolf mutation that she and his father carried.

Lily still periodically tested him and would so until either the tests results showed more, she found a way to reverse what had been done to her, or A.J. went through his first shift and stayed a normal healthy werewolf boy. Werewolves though didn't go through their first shift until they hit puberty so she still had plenty of time, but she had never really been one with much patience.

Lily left the lab and walked down the empty hallway and out of the large sterile looking building that served the Montana Aequivalere research laboratory. The Aequivalere organization was a compilation of most of the supernatural creatures that in existed in this world/planes of existence. They played referee between the species making sure they more or less behaved themselves and kept the human population blissfully unaware of their existence.

Lily started working for the Aequivalere once Xavier had been dealt with and they offered to hire her on in attempting to decipher the research. She jumped at the chance, not only because she wanted to learn a way to reverse what Xavier had done, but she also needed away to get away from James. Guilt and something else Lily didn't wish to name washed over her when she thought of James Lacrosse.

As much as she wanted to be able to claim the wounded party of their not so friendly parting Lily knew she couldn't. She found him to be irritating, a little cocky, and a general pain in the ass but with distance and time, Lily saw she didn't come close to giving him a fair chance. She had blamed him for things that he had no control over or simply wasn't his fault. At the time she didn't care about any of that, she just wanted him to be the bad guy so he was.

Hunching up her shoulders against the cold air that blew around her, Lily pulled her coat tighter. Three years, she thought to herself gloomily, and I still can't stand this cold! It's not even November yet, she continued to silently complain. Her body refused to adapt from the milder Midwestern temperatures to the cold of Montana. Instead of walking home like she usually did Lily walked towards a small bar with a weather worn sign that read "Big Al's."

The smoky air made her sensitive nose crinkle in disgust, but at least it was warm. She scanned the bar then walked over to the corner table where a lone man sat hunched over a bottle of beer. Lily grabbed a chair and moved it over next to him. "Hey handsome," she greeted and rubbed the top of his head, mussing his short brown hair.

He shot her what she assumed to be a confident and sexy look with a crooked smiled that would win over most women, but it only moved her to laughter. She sat down and took one of the untouched beers sitting on the table and took a long drink from it then let out a satisfied sigh. "Hey Lily," he greeted her back, his tone cheerful but she could detect the sad undertones. "Today is the day," he added with a sigh, dropping all pretenses of cheerfulness and she could easy see the pain that still haunted him reflected in his muddy brown eyes.

"Yeah I know," she said, her own tone somber. "It seems so long ago yet I remember it all just like it was yesterday." She lifted her bottle. "To Lacy..." she started but he shook his head.

"No," he told her, his bottle remaining on the table. "Sorry, Lily but not this year or ever again. I'm done mourning her, feeling guilty for her, or any of that bullshit," he spoke bitterness overtaking the sadness in his voice. Lily set down her own bottle and gave him a small nod.

"Yeah, I guess your right Chris. Three years have been more than she deserves" she replied. Lacy, her adopted sister, and Chris's mate. She tried to kill Chris and then tried to get Lily to turn her so that she could claim James as her new mate. She had tricked, bound, and beaten Lily when she had refused. Lily eventually turned the tables on her sister and planned to give Lacy back to her father, but the vampire Bianca killed her first.

Chris lifted his beer and took a drink. "It's been three years and I think it's time to stop looking back and start looking forward," he told her and a small sheepish grin spread across his face.

"Oh really? So does that mean that you and Xin Qian..." she asked and now his face lit up and showed her a small bite mark on his bicep with a small Chinese character in the center of it.

"Who would have thought it was possible," he said, letting his sleeve fall back in place. "But Xin Qian and I've been talking about it and I don't think Lacy ever really was my mate. I think Xavier did something to us to make us think we were. He must have known..." he explained, pausing looking a little sick before finishing. "That she'd hate me and would do anything to get rid of me."

Lily shook her head with a slight scowl. "I wouldn't put it past that bastard," she said, almost growling but then smiled at Chris. "But I'm glad Xin Qian is so persistent," she finished, taking another drink and causing him to laugh. Lily hadn't known the little werewolf-witch for long but it was enough to know that Xin Qian was the most cheerful, kind, and thankfully annoyingly persistent person she'd ever seen.

Lacy's rejection and death had left Chris, a broken man, but Xin Qian somehow had managed to piece him back together again. He still had his moments, but Chris was almost back to the same old laid back and the carefree man she had known before Xavier shown his true colors.

"It's been confirmed," Chris said, changing the subject and looking somber again.

"Confirmed, are you sure?" Lily asked as she lifted her bottle for another drink.

"Yep, the five prisoners that escaped last week Silvano and Bianca are among them," he told her then set down his empty bottle, pushing it a little bit from him and Lily set her bottle down, no longer desiring to have another drink.

"Wonderful, just freaking wonderful," she said sourly. Silvano was a local vampire king that had first come to assess Lily when they realized she was different. At first he seemed only concerned to make sure she wouldn't succumb to blood lust like most newly made vampires did, but when Xavier was dealt with the vampire king went against Aequivalere orders and tried to kill her simply for the fact she was a hybrid. In response the Aequivalere had him and Bianca, his liege imprisoned.

"The rumor is that they are going to call you in," he continued and Lily glanced over at him with narrowed eyes and he held up his hands. "Just what the rumors are. I'm not the only one that's heard them either Xin Qian has heard them too."

"I have no clue why. I'm not a guardian nor do I have any kind of fighting skill besides the pure brutality of my monstrous personalities," she stated, but he simply shrugged in reply. "Well if it's really true then I guess I'll be hearing from the higher ups soon enough," Lily finished.

They continued to drink for a little longer, remembering times before Xavier had messed with their lives as they always did when the anniversary of Lily's changing came around until both went their own way home. Lily unlocked the door of her small apartment with a little smile, hearing the excited giggles of A.J. "Hey Wendy, I'm home" She called out when she stepped into her home, closing the door behind her.

"We're in the kitchen," Wendy called out. Feeling the tension of her work with Veronica and from the news Chris had given her ease out of her shoulders she walked into the kitchen to see Wendy handing A.J. a piece of carrot with an almost sheepish expression.

"Nice try but I can spot a wolf in sheep's skin a mile away," Lily told her. "How many cookies did you feed him this time?"

"Only two, I promise..." Wendy told her and Lily narrowed her eyes at the teen.

"Yeah two, like I believe that. You are so lucky you're the alpha's daughter or I'd eat you," she teased her and Wendy scoffed at her.

"Like I hadn't heard that before and just so you know dad said go right on ahead," she told her with a laugh and Lily smirked at the teen.

"You know I use to think I was good at pissing off your dad but I'm starting to think Nick just has a low tolerance for women," she said with a thoughtful tone that cause Wendy to burst out laughing.

"Oh, I'm so telling him you said that," she said, getting A.J. out of the high chair and handing him to Lily.

"Please do. It's been nearly a month since he's threatened to kick me out no matter what Aequivalere has to say about it. I'm starting to think he doesn't care about me anymore" Lily said with mock worry. Nick was the alpha of northern Montana pack and didn't like Lily's lack of respect for his position. He also didn't seem to appreciate that his daughter tended to share the same lack of respect. Lily had no idea why he blamed her for it.

There was a sound of a car horn indicating Wendy's ride was there to take her home. The teen huffed in a complaint. "I wish he'd just let me drive! This town doesn't have enough people to actually have traffic," she complained as she left. Lily shook her head and kissed her son's cheek.

"And how was your day?" She asked him and he prattled a quickly garbled response that only allowed her to discern a couple of words. "Well I hope that's good then," she replied, walking to his bedroom to get him ready for bed. It wasn't long before he fell asleep and Lily sat on the floor next to the small bed. She brushed his dark hair that was only a couple shades lighter than her black hair while she watched him sleep. It still amazed her just how much he looked like James.

Really the only thing she saw of herself in him was her bronzed Native American skin tone, the rest was an almost mirror image of his father. Her stomach clenched remembering that James had no idea that A.J. existed. At first she excused her silence by the large possibility that A.J. would have never made it to term but when he did and came into this world as any other healthy infant she deluded herself into believing that she wanted to make sure he was healthy as he seemed before she told anyone. Now she was running out of excuses, even bad ones, for her silence.

James had a right to know that he was a father, she knew this. Just as she knew A.J. deserved to actually meet the man she had told him about several times but every time she picked up her cell with the idea of telling James she remembered how once their bond was broken he had seemed to completely forget that she existed. She allowed herself to believe it was proof that anything James had felt for her was simply because of that stupid mate bond.

The feeling of rejection hurt her more than she had ever admitted to anyone and Lily couldn't stand to see A.J. rejected in the same manner. Maybe when he was a little older the rejection wouldn't hurt so much or maybe A.J. could understand that like Lily's mother, James didn't want to have some mixed blood child dragging him down or at least that's what she told herself.

Her cell rang, breaking her out of the painful thoughts and memories and she stood, quickly answering it. "Good evening Lily," Queen Hazar greeted with her silky smooth voice filled with its strong Arabic accent.

"Good evening Queen Hazar, I was talking to Christopher Lyons earlier and I have a feeling you would be calling me," Lily replied, leaving her son's bedroom.

"So you know the subject of my call then good," the Queen stated. "I request that you come to the manor tonight as I wish to take immediate action in retrieving the former king and his liege." Lily inwardly groaned; stating that she was requesting Lily to visit her was just a polite way of telling her to get her butt over to the vampire queen's home ASAP.

"Of course, I will need some time to find someone to watch my son but I guess I can be there in about an hour or so," Lily told her, trying her best to keep her tone neutral and not irritated as she felt. Her therapist Charlie, another vampire, explained that giving into negative feelings, like irritation, would prevent her from moving on from her past and living in the present.

"Actually it will be closer to an hour and forty-five minutes," the queen replied, clear amusement in her voice as she obviously had one of her little flashes into the future and Lily slowly and exaggeratedly rolled her eyes but had a small smile on her face.

"Then I will see you in about an hour and forty-five minutes," Lily said humorously before hanging up.

True to Queen Hazar's vision or flash or whatever it was, Lily arrived at the queen's manor at one hour and forty-three minutes since their phone call. "Ah good you have arrived," the queen said as a greeting when she saw Lily. Hazar lounged on a purple fainting couch, looking as if she was posing for a painting.

She was dressed in elegant satiny royal blue Arabic gown with a matching veil covering her hair and face, drawing attention to a vampire's most lethal weapon, their eyes. Her eyes were dark, almost black that gleamed blood red if the light hit them just right.

She looked to the others in the room, most of them familiar faces. In the chair to her right slouched the demon Crocell, who appeared more like a poster boy for surfers than a demon. "Greetings once more little hybrid," he said in an Australian accent and giving her a lazy wave of his hand, his voice reminding her the sound of a waterfall.

"Hey Cro," she replied and returned his lazy wave. Next to him lying on the floor was the ever smirking face of Karya, a dryad. Her skin was pale but with a healthy pink touch to it that seemed to just bring out dark green almost black hair with bright green highlights. To Queen Hazar's left was the dark and brooding angel, Uriel. Jessie Hart and Dorin Stancu each stood in a stiff preparation of the edges of the Queen and her council.

Dorin was a vampire and one of Silvano's men before he betrayed the Aequivalere, he was also Queen Hazar's youngest liege. He was still a good four or five hundred years old, though. Dorin stood just a little taller than Lily and Jessie with an average build and strong Romanian features. He had assisted Lily getting some control over her vampire side while Bianca had tried her best to make Lily lose that control.

Jessie was Lily's favorite member of the Aequivalere. She was the archetype for Fem Fatale. She was beautiful as she was deadly. As the head guardian, she was an expert in how to take down any creature quickly and the best part yet, she was just a simple human. Everyone regarded her with wary caution and Lily loved it. Too many of these big bad creatures thought of humans as weak and easy prey.

Next to Jessie and Dorin, were Donovan and Evangeline, she hadn't either that much lately. Donovan was a large bulky man that seemed to take up half the spacious room all by himself with long dark hair tied loosely behind him. He dressed in a similar fashion as Jessie. He was one of the Aequivalere's best fighters hands down and a fairy. Evangeline or Evan for short, seemed petite and frail in his company. As usual her face was difficult to see with her sunny blonde hair blocked it in wavy clumps.

"Let us begin," the queen began. "As you know, the former king Silvano and his liege Bianca have escaped and they have done so with help. Since his flight, several people who have been suspected of aiding or supporting the rogue lycanthrope doctor Xavier Thompson have also disappeared. There also have been two attacks on our electrical storage system in an attempt to retrieve the wolf's research that we have in our possession, I think the term is hacking," the vampire explained with a tone that she suggested she cared little for computers or such devices.

"Why would Silvano work with anyone that supported Xavier?" Lily asked with a displeased frown. "I thought it was well known that he hates hybrids. He killed Dorin's brother for being one and willing to lose everything to attack me against your orders. Why now would he support someone or some group wanting to get their hands on what was done to actually make hybrids?"

"We're not yet sure," spoke Uriel with his deep thunderous tone.

"Maybe losing his title and territory made him consider options he had otherwise discarded," offered Crocell.

"Whatever the reason, an attack on the Aequivalere high secure files along with freeing one of maximum security prisoners is something we can't take lightly," Jessie spoke up, earning a small nod from the vampire queen. "I'm assuming you want me to detach a full tactical unit to follow his trail?" She added, but Queen Hazar shook her head softly side to side.

"No, my dear guardian that would be a waste of time. Silvano would never leave a trail that we could follow for he has always been very gifted at disappearing without a trace," the queen answered Jessie and sat up. "No, we must draw the former king out," she explained then looked to Lily. Lily did her best to keep her expression neutral, having finally figured out why Hazar had invited her to this little meeting.

"And what makes you think he'd come after me? I mean surely he would know if I leave myself only slightly vulnerable it would be a trap," she asked the queen who smiled at her.

"Oh, he'll go after you if he had the chance, even knowing it was most likely a trap," Dorin spoke finally. "As the source of his downfall, his pride would demand that he'd return the favor. Also if he is actually working with these supporters, owes them for aiding his escape, or as Crocell suggested, open to new options then again he'd want to get his hands on you," he finished.

"The digital copies of the research have been wiped from the computers and any other digital media leaving only the hard copies that you brought us," Karya jumped in. "With the increased security of those files you, hybrid, are the easier option."

"So you need me to play the part of vamp bait?" Lily asked and the queen gave her an affirmative nod.

"It wouldn't be so odd for you to visit your family after so much time away. Your hometown is familiar territory for the king and would put him at ease. It would allow us the advantage when setting up a trap," the queen explained.

Lily put her hands on her hips as she thought about their plan. She couldn't say she was a fan of this plan but at the same time Lily could see it working. "What about the local alpha? Wouldn't he be a little upset if you go playing in his sandbox?"

Queen Hazar smiled, but it was Uriel who spoke. "We've contacted your brother and he's given us permission to attempt to apprehend the vampire in his territory but," the angel explained and Lily felt a small smile break across her lips.

"To apprehend him but not that his sister is going to be playing the part of bait?" She asked, knowing already the answer. Uriel almost looked sheepish as told her that Tony, in fact, didn't know of her part.

"What good is a trap if the fly knows the spider is waiting?" Crocell jumped in. "There's no way the alpha pup could resist taking some precautions to keep you safe which would tell the king that something was up," he finished.

"It is true, your brother as soon as discovers your part or the rogue vampire we're hunting is the former king Silvano he will not be able to suppress his lycanthrope instincts of protection. Despite any argument we could give him against it, the alpha would implement his own measures of protection and Silvano wouldn't draw himself out," the queen explained.

"You're right he would. He's very protective of his family and his own," Lily agreed, smiling at the remembrance at the many times he had tried to be protective of her. At the time, it simply annoyed her but now she understood why he did it. The queen got up from the fainting couch in a smooth, elegant motion, walking towards her till the vampire stood at her side.

"That concludes this meeting," the queen started with a dismissive wave of her hand and everyone started to get up and leave the room. "Jessie, make the necessary arrangements and be ready to depart by pre-dawn," she stated as she placed a hand on Lily's arm in a silent request for her to stay. "Take your son with you, Lily," Queen Hazar told her once everyone was gone and linked her arm in Lily's.

"What? Take A.J.?" she repeated in disbelief, letting the vampire queen guide her into the moonlit gardens. The waning moon still full enough to adequately light the large gardens. Lily shook her head in refusal. "No, I can't take him. It'd put him in too much danger. If Silvano found out about him if he doesn't know already that would make him a target," Lily explained and the queen gave her a small close-lipped smile.

"Is it Silvano you're worried about or James?" She asked, giving Lily a knowing look that made Lily bristle with irritation but before Lily could reply she continued. "It's too dangerous for him to stay here. At your home, he'd be protected by those who would put down their lives for him. Lily, my dear hybrid, you have more enemies in the shadows than in the open."

"Of course I do," Lily grumbled as they walked and the queen laughed a sweet sounding laugh that brightened her mood a little.

"You also have more friends if you'd let them be," the queen retorted then stopped walking and turned to face Lily. "You're not as alone as you think you are and letting someone in doesn't need to be hard as you make it seem, remember that Lily," her tone serious then she started walking again.

"What? Wait, what is it you've seen?" Lily asked, stopping the walk and looking at Queen Hazar. She stared at the vampire's face, trying to decipher her expression and the meaning behind her words.

"You have a chance to choose and to change Lily. Take the time and choose wisely," Queen Hazar told her then held up her hand to stop Lily before she could say another word. "No, that is all I'm going to say. It's for you to decide and I wouldn't have my words taint your thoughts. Now go, prepare all that you need, get some sleep, and keep yourself safe. "Queen Hazar stated, clearly having dismissed her.

Lily started back to the compound as the vampire queen resumed her walk. She wanted to argue but knew better than to argue with Hazar, if she didn't want to say more there was no way to make her speak. Lily couldn't shake the feeling that Queen Hazar was saying goodbye to her as if Lily wasn't going to return.

Cold dread filled her and she mentally shook herself, telling herself she was overthinking things. Everything would go fine. In a week or two she'd be back working with Veronica in the lab like always.