Royal Hybrid

Annoyance

I tap my fingers restlessly on the front cover of the book I had been reading. Do I want to read more? Or do I want to leave my knowledge as is and call it at that? I can't help but let my mind wander.

There's a lot that I don't know about our clan life. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why they never taught me anything. After all, I am supposed to be the next alpha regardless if something happened to my father. 

"Gah," I groan as I fall backward onto my bed. Landing with my head on my pillow, I let the book settle on the mattress beside me.

That's the one thing I know. When the alpha's son or daughter turns sixteen, they are supposed to be taught how to run their skulk. That didn't happen for me, and here I am- nineteen with no concept about anything around me.

Tap. Tap. Tap. I launch myself upright as someone knocks on my door. "Yeah?" I question the tapping noise.

Eeeek, the door sings as it opens slowly. "Topaz?" my mother softly sings as she pokes her head around the door.

"Mmm?"

"I'm sorry about earlier, I'm just trying to protect you," she whispers, still hidden somewhat behind the door.

"I know, I just want to learn everything I can to be the best alpha. Like-" I stop myself abruptly before mentioning my father. I feel the sting of tears nibbling at my eyes as I fight them back. I can't cry in front of her, since I know how hard she's struggling. "I just want to be the best I can be, like all the alphas before us," I smile bitterly, hoping I sold my quick rephrasing.

Sadness flashes across her eyes but quickly vanishes, "I know. Crevan won't ask you to shift or train that way anymore, so why don't you go see if he'll tell you a little more about it?"

"I might," I agree as I nod my head.

"I love you, Tobi. I have paperwork to get back to," she smiles as she leaves, closing the door softly behind her with a soft plunk.

I smile at the nickname my father used to call me when I was younger. I think her using it is her way of trying to make me feel better, in some weird motherly way. 

Mmm. I grunt as I propel myself off my bed and onto the cold floor once again. 

There's no reason to change my clothes since my mother has made it clear to Crevan that I won't be allowed to shift around him. Besides, I doubt he'll want to physically train me since most of our fighting is done in animal form.

With no hesitation, I grab my black leather canvas mini backpack and quickly stuff the notebooks my uncle gave me inside. Perhaps I'll read them later, or maybe I won't. It depends on how well everything goes.

With a deep breath, I sprint out of my room. Quickly I head toward the outside forest clearing, where I last saw my uncle. I don't exactly know where he's at, but I'll be able to track him pretty quickly. I'm a fox-shifter after all, so it's easy to follow smells.

______

My uncle isn't in the clearing where I left him with my mother moments before. I inhale deeply and get a stale scent that I don't recognize and my mother's, so it must be his. Effortlessly, I follow the smell further into the woods. My uncle's back is turned toward me as he appears to be looking for something, glancing back and forth from his surroundings.

"Uncle Crevan?" I question as I follow behind him. 

Startled by my sudden appearance, he jumps slightly, spinning around.

“Topaz?” he questions with a furrowed brow.

“Yep,” I confirm, popping the p. I situate the backpack that hangs off of one shoulder, so it's not about to fall off.

He unfurrows his eyebrows and sighs a deep sigh. “Don’t sneak up behind me like that."

“Uh-huh.” I didn’t sneak up behind him. He just wasn't paying attention.

“Why are you here?” he grunts as he turns around and continues looking for whatever he had been before I frightened him.

"My mom said you'd still teach me things," I huff in annoyance at his rude demeanor. 

When I first met him, he was sort of nice, but now he seems like a royal ass. Perhaps it was because of my mother? Either way, he shouldn't treat me like that. After all, I'll be the alpha of this skulk soon.

"There's only so much I can teach you without shifting, Topaz," he states blandly.

"But, I barely know anything about clan life as it is," I groan as I stomp my foot impatiently.

"You know enough, and it's why I gave you those books," he says as he rummages through the dead leaves covering the ground.

"About one of those books-"

Crevan swings back around and glares at me, even more, annoyed than before. "Topaz, you can ask me that later. Right now, I'm trying to track something important."

"If you couldn't hear me behind you, how good of a tracker could you be?" I ask seriously. He just got here, so there's no way he's already found something or someone on the clan's territory. I don't even smell anything odd around us.

He gives me a hateful stare, which causes me to purse my lips. What'd I say wrong? 

"If you're going to be a smartass, why don't you go back and read the books I gave you," he suggests.

"So, what exactly are you looking for?" I ask, ignoring his suggestion.

"The Royals have what's called a bounty out," he shrugs gently.

"What's the Royals?" I question. I have a general idea, but I'm not exactly sure it's what it is. King and Queen maybe, but I didn't realize our land had rulers.

He slides his hand down his face, "Are you being serious?"

I nod my head sheepishly, my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"The Royals are a who, first of all. There's three of them, a werewolf, a fox-shifter, and a vampire. They are the strongest of the species and usually work together to create rules to protect us. That's really all you need to know," he says as he stands up to face me. 

"What about the others? Witches, and so on?" I ask. I figured there'd be one for every Mythical.

"They have their own rules. The three royals have all usually clashed against each other, which is why they work together now," he suggests. So a bunch of old chickens sit around and boss a few Mythical races around, got it. 

"Ah," I hum in amusement.

"Look, I'll teach you a few things tomorrow morning. Right now, I just want to get familiar with the grounds in case anything happens while I'm here."

"Really?" I squeal in excitement.

"Really, but you better be bright-eyed and busy tailed in the morning," he smiles gently, his rudeness faded away.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll ask mom if I can go hunt tonight," I giggle with excitement. If she lets me go out hunting tonight in my animal form, I'll be even more energized tomorrow morning with a fresh kill under my belt.

"You go do that," he laughs as something catches his eye. Whatever it is, I could care less! He's going to teach me more, and I'll be closer to becoming the alpha. Maybe that will give mom some much needed rest.