Hybrid Alpha’s Prettiest Obsession

slipped up

Mina

She was usually a quiet one, but today... Today she looked like she was about to fall apart. I slipped, almost dropping the brush. The clang of metal hitting the ground was enough to make heads turn, earning me glares from the others around me. One of the guards shot a nasty look in my direction, but luckily, he didn’t say anything. I muttered a curse under my breath, quickly picking up the brush. But my mind wasn’t on the guard or the mess I’d made. I ignored them. The worry in Stacy’s eyes pulled me in, and before I could stop myself, I stepped out of line and made my way over to her.

“Stacy,” I leaned over to her when I thought the coast was clear. She jumped, her eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.

“What’s going on? You look like you’re about to lose it.”

“I—nothing. It’s nothing.”

I frowned, not buying it for a second. “Don’t give me that. You’re shaking.”

She hesitated, glancing around as if expecting someone to be listening. I waited patiently, and when she finally spoke, I had to strain my ears to hear her. “It’s my contract.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Your contract?”

She nodded, biting down harder on her already damaged nails. “I don’t know what I signed. I didn’t even read it properly, I just… I didn’t have a choice.”

Well, who had a choice in this queue? No one f*****g had a choice. I let out a low bitter laugh, the sound harsh and sharp in the silence. “None of us had a choice, Stacy. But some of us are in worse trouble than others.”

She blinked, confusion clouding her face. “What do you mean?”

I sighed, pulling the crumpled piece of paper from my waistband and holding it up. “This. It’s a blood contract.”

Her eyes widened in horror. “You… you signed in blood?”

I nodded, the sick feeling in my stomach returning full force. “Yeah. I didn’t even know what a blood contract was until now. Still have no idea, but you get the gist.” I shrugged, feeling helpless. “That’s why I’ve been quiet, why I’ve kept my head down. I have a feeling you don’t mess with blood contracts. This could mean they own us now, Stacy, more than we’ll ever understand.”

Stacy stared at the paper, her face growing pale. “Is… is that why you haven’t been saying much? Because you know what it means?”

I wished I did, I thought, shaking my head slowly. “No, I don’t know everything it means. But I know enough to be scared. It’s not just a piece of paper, it’s a life sentence.”

Her lips trembled. “So what does that mean for us now?”

I sighed again. It could mean a lot and at the same time, nothing. “It means that no matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, they own us. There’s no way out of this. Not unless…”

I trailed off, the thought of the Subtle Rebels creeping into my mind. Could they really offer a way out? Could they break the hold of the blood contracts? Maybe I injured myself while signing the contract... I didn’t know, but I was too scared to hope.

Stacy’s voice shook as she spoke. “What do we do now?”

Who was she asking? Me? I looked at her, feeling just as lost as she was, yet my mouth opened on its own. “We survive. We watch our backs. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll find a way to break free.”

Stacy’s face paled even more as she stared at the floor, her hands trembling as she fidgeted with her already tattered sleeves. She knew I was lying. Get better? We weren’t the sick ones! Break free? It was such an irony because we weren’t locked up. They called us the abnormal ones. Stacy's mind... I could see her mind spinning in circles, struggling to find sense in everything happening around us.

I pitied her for some reason. She had no one like Malakai.

Bloody… where did that come from?

“Do you ever feel disgusted?” Her voice was quiet, but the words hit me directly. She sounded a bit like Tito. “Being... being nothing more than a s****l stimulator for these beasts? Day in, day out, just... just doing it for them.”

My heart thumped painfully in my chest, and I clenched my fists to stop my hands from shaking. s****l stimulator. That was what we were. She was asking the one question I never wanted to confront. For a moment, I didn’t say anything, allowing the silence to grow and settle between us, overpowering and thick. “I’m a dancer,” I whispered, more to myself than to her, as if saying it out loud would make it more real. “That’s what I do. I’m nothing more. I don’t… I don’t do what you’re implying.”

I f****d Malakai. I was more than a dancer to him. In my own demented mind. I wasn’t expecting Stacy’s eyes to flash with anger. It was a new kind of rawness she was breeding, and boy, it boiled to my disapproval.

“Snap out of it, Mina! You think that’s all you are? You think dancing is all they see when they look at you? How long are you going to keep lying to yourself?”

This was Tito speaking through her. He was haunting me, always. He was hunting me through Stacy. Her words stung, but it wasn’t the sting of truth. It was the sting of being accused, of being exposed in a way that felt unfair. I was furious, and the rawness of her frustration transferred instantly to me.

My insides felt like acid.

“Oh, look at you, high and mighty now, huh?” I taunted, feeling brand new, my voice dripping with cold sarcasm and all-around bitterness. “What happened, Stacy? Why are you so damn fidgety all of a sudden? It couldn’t be just some ordinary contract getting under your skin, right?”

She got my point because her face instantly twisted in discomfort, and I could see her struggling with whatever deranged thoughts were going through her mind. “It’s not just the contract,” she mumbled again.

Yesterday, she was accusing me of being blemish. I was a f*****g sheep handed to a lion for slaughter. How could she shame me? And now, I showed her the bloody contract. What was that? She was feeling sorry for me? They were bullocks. “Then what is it?” I demanded, taking a step closer, my eyes narrowing at her. “You’ve been walking around like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. What’s got you so terrified? You were so sure of yourself, so confident. Now look at you, shaking like a leaf.”

There must be something wrong somewhere.

She flinched at my words but didn’t immediately respond. I could see the internal battle she was fighting. Something was taking turns destroying her, something much bigger than just a bad contract. The silence stretched between us again, and I began to think she wouldn’t answer.

Then she spoke, in the same irritating voice that made me strain so hard to hear her. “It’s them, Mina. The ones behind the contracts. They’ve... they’ve got their eyes on me. On us. They’re watching everything we do.”

My heart sank. I had suspected as much, but hearing her say it made it real. “What do you mean?” I asked, trying to keep my cool. I was already in a panic mood! And it was increasing by the second.

Stacy’s eyes flickered nervously to the guards at the large gateway, as if expecting someone to appear at any moment. “This contract, yeah? Is to keep tabs on everyone. It’s not helping us as we thought. I overheard one of the guards talking about it. They’re not just watching; they’re controlling every step we take. And this f*****g contract? It’s not just about work. It’s about our lives, Mina. They own us. And they’re making sure we know it. They are taking out those unable to keep a contract.”

This wasn’t a new thing. But something about the way she said it made my blood run cold. Control. Of course! And ‘those unable to keep a contract,’ it wheezed past my ears like nothing. But I had caught it. I had planned to squeeze the forsaken contract and pretend I had nothing, but… they would kill me. They were real. Without a master…

I would die.

I swallowed hard as I processed her scary words. They sank in loud and clear. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” My voice cracked, slipping out the desperation I thought I had under control. “We could’ve figured something out.”

No. Tito would hate me forever. This news changed everything. There was no escaping from their viper clutches.

“I didn’t know what to say,” she admitted, her eyes welling up with tears. “I was scared. I still am. But there’s no escaping them.”

No, that wasn't true. My stomach churned with anger and helplessness. I heaved heavily, feeling like throwing up. It wasn’t just the dancing, the contracts…

I would never understand why things got worse for us by the second. It was as if the authorities were getting afraid and had to do something about it. I sighed, pressing a hand to my forehead.

“So what do we do? What are we supposed to do now?”

“We keep our heads down,” she whispered as if it would help. “We do what they want, and maybe... maybe we’ll survive long enough to find a way out. But don’t think for a second that you’re just a dancer or a halfling. You’re in this just as deep as I am, Mina. And they won’t let us go so easily.”

No. They wouldn't let her go easily. This advice wasn't for me. I carried half of their blood. I was no mortal. I was partially stronger than Stacy. I would do everything to survive. I would find the subtle rebels and use them for my escape. There was no more pretending, no more hiding behind the lies I’d told myself to get through the days.