The Tribrid's Return

"Athena, I know you haven't been home in a long time, but you need to calm down.", Grandma says as she frantically follows me around my room, "Your mother is in horrible shape right now, and your anger is not going to help things if you come back to the pack like a hurricane, hell bent on destruction.", trying to reason with me, as she picks up pieces of clothing from the ground that I've dropped while trying to pack my duffel bag. I stop and turn to look at her, throwing my hands in the air in frustration, "So you just think I should walk in, all prim and proper? Like they didn't just randomly banish me away to the swamps of New Orleans, with some woman I didn't even know at the time?! I'm not a pure blood, Grandma. They sent me away because they're embarrassed of me. They knew I would never be accepted if the pack found out that I'm a hybrid. I'm actually surprised they even called you and asked you to send me back home for a few days to visit her.", I confess as I turn back around to start packing my clothes again. I hear my Grandma sigh from behind me, "Actually, you aren't a hybrid, Athena." I slowly turn towards her, squinting my eyes in confusion, "Of course, I am. It's why I've been stuck in this humid hell hole for five years, learning how to control my magic." "No, sweetheart. I'm telling you that you aren't a hybrid, because well...you're actually a tribrid. You're not only werewolf and witch, but you've got vampire in you as well.", she says to me as guilt floods her facial features. "What?", I whisper out. My grandma looks down at the ground and sighs as she walks over to the armchair, sitting down in it before looking back up at me, "I secretly took some of your blood the other day during one of our spells, when you weren't looking. I've been sensing it for years now, but I had to make sure of it before I let you go back to your pack, so I could tell you. I did this special type of spell that separates your blood into the different types of races that you are. Just like I thought, your blood separated into three different types; werewolf, witch, and..." "Vampire?", I interrupt her as tears form in my eyes. "Athena, don't you dare cry, my sweetheart. There hasn't been a tribrid in this world for centuries, my darling. You are destined for great things! You were meant to be born!", she says to me as her hand cups my check, while tears form in her eyes as well. *** My name is Athena, and apparently, I'm a tribrid. You heard that right. Equally, three parts of each race; werewolf, witch, and vampire. I spent thirteen years on this earth believing I was a full-blooded werewolf. I believed that my bloodline had been from The River Crescent Pack for generations and generations. Somewhere along the way, though, that pure blood was tainted, and I was the result of it. Apparently, eleven months before I was born, my mother met her fated mate. My biological father was hiking through the mountains near our pack territory, searching for some rare plant, when my mother caught his scent while she was running in her wolf form. My biological dad, Anthony, is a witch. Well, a warlock if you want to be proper about it, but that just sounds weird to me, so I like to say witch. She ended up running away with Anthony, travelling to New Orleans to be with him. Anthony couldn't live away from New Orleans for very long, because the source of his magic came from the spirits of past witches in his family who were buried there. Also, my mother couldn't bring him back to the pack, seeing as inter-supernatural relationships are unaccepted. The only exception of inter-supernatural relationships I've ever heard of is The Voo Doo Clan near New Orleans, who are made up of hybrid witch-werewolves. My parents were actually looking into joining their clan and raising their future children there someday, but that never happened. Tragedy struck, when my mom and Anthony ran into a group of vampires in the woods one day. They attacked my parents, and my mom was fatally injured from one of their bites. She had only been dead a couple of seconds, when a grief so strong consumed Anthony, that he couldn't bare it. Anthony summoned black magic to save my mother's life, even though it was forbidden by the spirits. Black magic is so dangerous and so strong, that once called upon, the witch using it will more than likely die. That's why it was forbidden, because it either kills them or takes over their body, turning them evil. My mother's life was spared that day, but Anthony died while trying to save her. Little did they know, my mom was pregnant with me at the time. Since my witch side is technically still human, the vampire's fatal bite to my mom bonded with that side of me in the womb. Because I'm part werewolf though, and werewolve's can't turn into a vampire from their bite, the vampire's blood lust in me is subdued until my wolf dies, leaving me with only a vampire's amazing healing powers and abnormally fast speed for now. At least, that's what my grandma says she thought, when she was explaining her thoughts to me and telling me the story in my room the day, I was leaving to return to River Crescent. My grandmother is Anthony's mother and loved my mom like her own daughter. When Anthony died, though, she knew it was only a matter of time before my mom would return to her pack, unable to properly grieve until she cut all ties with anything that reminded her of Anthony and was around her own kind. Just like my grandma thought, my mom left within the week, unaware of the child she was carrying along with her. A month after my mom returned to The River Crescent Pack, she learned of her pregnancy. My adoptive dad, Sebastian, the man who raised me, was best friends with my mom. Sebastian had lost his mate as well when he was only eighteen years old, when she was brutally killed by werewolf hunters. When my mom confided in him about her pregnancy, my dad proposed to her that day, saying he would raise me as his own and stay by her side no matter what. The two of them loved each other already because of their bond through friendship, and since both had lost their mates so tragically, the two of them figured their marriage was the best life for the two of them to live. Since I never showed signs of magical powers growing up, my mom decided to wait until my eighteenth birthday to tell me about my true father, Anthony. When I was thirteen, though, my powers all of a sudden appeared and she panicked. She sent me to my grandmother's house in the middle of the night, never telling me the true story of how I came into this world. My mother never even told me who my grandmother was, only that she was a woman who was going to train me on how to control my magic. The minute I walked through the door of my grandmother's house, my mom immediately left and returned to the pack, abandoning me and making me feel ashamed of who I truly was. When I was fourteen, I found pictures in the attic of my mom and Anthony. I could tell by the love in their eyes that it was my mother's true mate. I saw a different type of bond between them in those pictures, than I had ever seen between my dad and my mom growing up. When I confronted my grandma about the pictures, she told me who she really was to me and also told me my true heritage. However, she left out the part of my mom being bitten by a vampire and dying and the black magic that was used to save her life, saying instead that Anthony died at the hands of a vampire himself. Every truth that was hidden from me these past eighteen years, came out in my room the day I was packing up to return to the pack. The entire story about who I was came to light then and there. My grandma told me that I was destined for great things, and to never let anyone make me feel ashamed of who I am. My grandma told me not to hide it, either, because The Mood Goddess and nature never make mistakes. So, I took her words to heart, and held my head high as I left her house to return home to my pack. *** Athena's P.O.V. The bus pulled up to the station at two in the morning, four miles away from where our pack lives in the woods on the river. I took off walking through the woods in my human form, with my bag slung over my shoulder. Usually, we are taught at a young age to stay in wolf form when travelling through the woods this late at night, just in case of rogue attacks. However, since I'm a tribrid, I'm not too worried about it. I have my powers to protect me in human form, if need be, I can shift into my wolf form, and if all else fails and I die, I will become a vampire. I don't know much about being a tribrid, but I know it would be hard to kill me. There's literally nothing in this world that scares me, so I decided to enjoy the nice stroll in the peace and quiet. I've made it a mile and a half into my walk through the woods, when I hear a thundering sound running towards me. I know that sound better than anything, it's a werewolf coming my way because they've caught my scent. Suddenly, I hear growling behind me, and I turn around to meet the piercing blue eyes of a giant grey wolf. The grey wolf stops growling and sniffs the air, before taking a couple of steps back. They're acting as if they are caught off guard and confused, before they finally walk into the bushes to shift into their human form. "Athena?", the pack member says to me with tears in his eyes, while pulling on a pair of shorts that are hidden in the bushes a few feet away. A lump forms in my throat as I look at the grown man standing in front of me, as realization hits me that it's my younger brother, "Gavin?!", I scream as I run to him and jump into his arms, wrapping them around his neck. "I can't believe it's you!!! You were only eleven when I left!", I scream as I step away from him, looking him up and down. He starts laughing at me as he looks me up and down as well, before a wide smile covers his face, "Hadn't even had my first shift yet when you left. Where have you been, anyway?! Mom and dad wouldn't tell me." I furrow my brows at him, "They...they didn't tell you?", I whisper at him as I step a few more steps back from the sudden shock at hearing his confession. Gavin shakes his head, "No, they just said you had to leave for a little while." "So, no one in the pack knows about me?", I ask him as I look around the woods and then back at him. "Of course, they know about you, sis! You're a werewolf. You're one of us and a part of this pack!", he says as he chuckles awkwardly while staring at me with confusion, clearly not understanding what I'm talking about. I shake my head at the frustration that's taking over, "No, not the fact that I'm a werewolf. They seriously never told anyone why I left for five years? Why I just randomly went away at the young age of thirteen?" "What are you talking about, Athena?", he asks me as he furrows his brows and takes a step towards me, looking concerned now. "Nothing.", I say as I shake my head, "Why are you on patrol, anyway? You're only sixteen." Gavin let's out a strained chuckle, before looking down at the ground and shaking his head, "A lot of things have changed since you've been gone. We have a new Alpha that's taken over our pack. Apparently, he is the actual first born of our previous Alpha, Phillip, that no one knew about. Damon is actually Phillip's second born, not his first born. Alpha Callan was the result of an affair that Phillip had before he met his fated mate and our previous Luna, Selene. Alpha Callan's mother never told Phillip she was pregnant with him. Two years ago, though, Callan showed up out of nowhere, taking his rightful spot as the new Alpha. He has everyone learning how to patrol starting the very first time they shift and has started taking over smaller pack's territories that surround ours. He's on a complete power trip trying to prove himself, but he's an amazing Alpha and knows what he's doing. He doesn't tolerate disobedience, and he definitely has a short temper when it comes to pack members stepping out of line. You'll meet him tomorrow at training.", he explains to me as he walks over and places his hand on my shoulder, "Come on, let's go see mom and dad. Mom has been in really bad shape but looks like she's starting to improve. The pack doctor seems to think she will survive, even though he can't figure out what's wrong with her." "You go ahead, little bro. I'm going to take a walk, through town. It's been a while since I've seen everything and I just want a little bit of nostalgia in my life before I go straight home.", I say to him as I give him a small smile. "I understand. Besides, I need to keep patrolling anyway. It wouldn't be a good idea for me to make a pit stop at the house, instead of handling my responsibilities.", he says to me, before he shifts back into wolf form and takes off into the woods again. Two and a half miles down the river later, I finally make it into the town square. Everything looks exactly the same, the coffee shop, the library, the training center, the school. Nothing has changed at all. It was like I never left, except for the small fact that I did. "Well, hello there.", I hear a deep, masculine voice say from behind me, his scent suddenly enveloping my whole body. I turn around to see a tall, muscular man standing behind me, as my wolf starts howling, mate, in my head. He has bright green eyes and caramel-colored hair that's messily brushed away from his face, like he's been running his fingers through it all day long. A scruffy beard that is groomed to accentuate his jawline, the strongest jawline I've ever seen in my life. He stands with a sense of authority while his large arms are crossed over his chest as he stares down at me. I stand there staring at him, as I try to keep my jaw from dropping on the ground. My eyes trail up and down his defined physique uncontrollably, before I'm finally able to compose myself. THIS is my mate? He's absolutely gorgeous. However, anxiety takes over as I start to think about the fact that he will surely reject me when he finds out what I am. I quickly compose myself as I use my magic to try and control the mate bond. I don't want to even feel it, if he's going to reject me before long. A smirk pulls at the corner of his lips, as he looks me up and down with curiosity, "I don't believe I've ever seen you around here before. Are you lost or something? You really shouldn't be wandering around at night, all alone in a place you've never been." I scoff at him as I roll my eyes, "Trust me, I can take care of myself." "Oh, yeah? Is that right?", he asks me as he lifts one of his eyebrows questioningly, while his smirk pulls up a little more. "Yeah. This is my hometown, so I know exactly where I'm at.", I say as I turn around to walk away from him. He quickly steps in front of me, blocking me from walking any further, "I know for a fact that this isn't your home. I know everyone in this town, and you aren't from around here." I squint my eyes at him as I grow more irritated, "Actually no, obviously you don't know everyone. I lived here until I was thirteen, and then I left for five years. I've just returned to town because I heard my mom is sick." "Why exactly did you leave for five years? I haven't heard of anyone from this town leaving when they were younger. I would know about it, trust me, I know everything.", he says as he steps closer, while an uncontrollable growl vibrates through his chest. I start laughing at him as I nod my head, "Oh, I see. You're the new Alpha. Callan, is it?" His serious face drops for a split second, before amusement takes over his features, "You...you've heard of me? Exactly who are you?" "My name's Athena Gerard; Sebastian and Allison Gerard's daughter.", I say to him before looking down at the ground, "I thought maybe my brother was joking, but I guess my parents really did keep me a secret." "Now, I don't know why anyone would want to keep a beautiful woman like you, a secret.", he says to me as he licks his lips and bites the bottom one, before lifting his hand and brushing his finger softly against my chin. I furrow my brows at the sudden tingling sensation where he has touched, before stepping away and scoffing at him with amusement, "Trust me, I'm too much woman for you to handle. You might as well quit while you're ahead, ALPHA.", I say mockingly, before I wink at him and turn around to walk towards my childhood home.