The Hybrid
Chapter 19 - Shopping Bans

I’m currently out in the woods for a walk. I’m also not right in the head because I chose to go alone despite Vulcan’s warnings to not wander around the territory without him or a guard. Crying out in shock as I trip over yet another stone, I dust myself off and curse Vulcan for not letting me tag along to his stupid pack meeting.

″You’re not allowed yet.″ He had said before leaving me in his house that looked like a thousand wars had happened when we had that week-long separation. What was I, a little girl?

″Aurora Maxwell?″ A voice calls from behind, making me snap back to reality and turn around.

Three men dressed in a blue, white and gold uniform step out from the trees in sync, a scroll in the hands of one man. I eye them suspiciously when I realize they know my name. Their faces are hidden by the hoods of their royal blue cloaks, making it impossible for me to see their faces. I feel uneasy at the sudden change in the atmosphere as the man in the middle holds out the scroll to me.

″We are unable to travel any further as we have other commitments, will you please deliver this to King Romanov for us?″

″Sure,” I reply, making them beam at me. “What’s in it for me?″

″What do you mean?″

″What’s in it for me? I’m not Vulcan’s messenger who runs out to collect his mail for him.″ I deadpan, crossing my arms.

″I’ll give you twenty bucks.″ The deep voice deadpans, while the man fishes in his pocket and pulls out the dollar bill.

″Sold!″ I grin, taking the scroll and money from him before waving goodbye and watching them walk away, chuckling to themselves.

I return to Vulcan’s house slowly, looking up at the puffy, white clouds floating across the blue sky, the green leaves of the tall trees swaying in the gentle wind. It’s a beautiful day with a warm breeze blowing my locks askew. The birds chirp from their nests and squirrels and rabbits run around, making me smile...until I trip over a vine for the fourth time today. Screaming in anger, I untangle my leg before marching my way back with my fists clenched by my side.

I can hear noises as I near and soon, I break through the treeline and stumble out of the woods. Looking up, I see Vulcan halt in his speech on a large rock that seems to be a stage for the huge number of people crowded around it, each and every one of them staring at me.

″Aurora?″ Vulcan frowns and gestures for me to approach him, my name echoing in the clearing because of the microphone in front of him.

Gasps and murmurs erupt in the crowd as I make my way up to him, frowning at them in confusion. Some are even squealing in delight which I find quite weird.

″Hey,″ I accept his hand, that’s outstretched towards me, and let him pull me up onto the slab of rock. ″Some men told me to give this to you.″

″Twenty dollars?″

I look down at his hand before snatching the money from him and placing the scroll in its place. ″Oh no, that’s mine. I charged them to deliver this.″

I look around at the vast field littered with people as he reads the scroll. I smile and wave back at the people who wave at me before turning to face Vulcan, who is now looking at me with wide eyes.

″Were they in a blue, white and gold uniform, with cloaks?″

″Yeah! How’d you know?″

″Aurora,″ He sighs and rolls up the scroll, handing it over to Indigo who chuckles at me. ″You charged the Royals?″

I hear shocked gasps echo in the quiet afternoon while I frown up at him. Our conversation can be heard by the crowd because of how close we are to the mic but none of us notice.

″Is that like the royal mail service in the werewolf world? Of course, I’d charge them! I’m not their errand girl, they should do their job properly.″ I huff and cross my arms, hearing the crowd holler and cheer in agreement, drowning out Vulcan’s groan.

″Everyone is dismissed!″ Vulcan shouts over the noise making the crowd of people disperse, some heading towards the large pack houses and others heading into the forest.

He turns back to me as I grin at Indigo, frowning before pulling me away and closer to his side. I imitate Indigo when he rolls his eyes at Vulcan’s possessive behavior, snickering when he growls at us.

″Aurora, the people you met in the woods are royal guards of the werewolf council.″

″Oh,″ I drag the word out in realization before shrugging. ″I’ll tell them it’s your fault that I charged them, you didn’t tell me about them so now you’re in trouble.″

I break free from his hold and walk off in the direction of his house. I hear him say something to Indigo before catching up to me and intertwining our hands. We make our way back with Vulcan talking about his territory and pack proudly.

″So, you’re the Alpha, Indigo is the Beta and you both manage the majority of America?!″ I question in shock, looking up at him as he shuts the door and follows me to the kitchen.

″Yeah, have been ever since we both turned nineteen. After I escaped, it took almost a year for me to find my siblings, Indigo and previous pack members who had fled.″

He props me up on the kitchen counter before standing between my legs, his eyes trained on his hand that is currently playing with my hair. I’ve learned that Vulcan likes contact of some form whenever I’m near him. He tends to get very possessive from time to time and likes to keep me within sights, that also means holding onto me.

″Wait, how old are you?″

″I’m twenty-four, why?″

″That’s like, a six-year difference. You’ll be getting grey hair before me!″ I tease, chuckling as I hop off the counter and make my way into the pantry, rummaging around for some food. ″Why don’t you have any food?″

″Because,″ He catches me by the arm as I walk back out and pulls me to him. ″I don’t cook often.″

It makes sense, I guess. When would a busy Alpha like him find time to cook for himself? Suddenly, an idea pops into my mind and I grin. It’s something no-one ever lets me do: grocery shopping. This is my chance for I have an unsuspecting victim! I look up at him with the most innocent expression, widening my grey eyes which always seems to work.

″Can we go get some food, please?″

Vulcan stares at me suspiciously for a few minutes before nodding and grabbing the keys off the microwave. I whoop excitedly and run out to the garage. Finally, someone is actually letting me go grocery shopping, I think to myself, as I follow Vulcan to the shiny, red car and strap myself in.

He drives out of the garage and onto the dirt road, heading through the woods and onto the smooth, black tarmac. We drive for fifteen minutes with me switching radio stations and singing along off tune to whatever songs I know. Before long, we reach the supermarket and are making our way into the store with a shopping cart.

″No-one lets me go grocery shopping.” I sigh happily as we start walking down the first aisle.

″Wait, what?″ Vulcan pulls me back by the hem of my shirt. ″Why not?″

I shrug innocently, although I know the reason why. ″Don’t know. The last time I went was with Damon and he banned me from grocery shopping.″

10 minutes later.

″Babe, put that back.″ Vulcan sighs tiredly as he places three packs of bread into the cart along with two packs of buns.

″I am not a pig and how can you say no to Nutella? Nutella is life, Vulcan.″ I exclaim, waving it at him before placing it in the cart.

″Right, you’re definitely banned from grocery shopping after this.″

″Eh, at least I tried.″ I pout sadly before frowning in confusion when his eyes snap to my lips and flash a bright gold.

″Uh...never mind, you’re un-banned.″ He murmurs, shaking his head with a smile when I grin before running off to a different aisle again, ignoring his calls.

I walk around the store, making faces at little kids when their mum’s aren’t looking and checking out products that I have never seen before. After a while, I wander around and finally find Vulcan in the frozen food section talking to Damon and Sophia. The two turn around at the sound of my footsteps and groan audibly when they can’t see me because of the amount of food I’m carrying.

I dump it all into the cart before turning to them. ″Hi guys!″

″I hope you learned your lesson.″ Damon says to Vulcan before messing up my hair whilst Sophia hugs me.

″Unfortunately, I did.″ He replies, pulling me back to him with an unimpressed look to which I respond with a toothy grin.

After shopping, we drive back to the territory with me arguing with Vulcan over why I can’t go back home. Even the school excuse doesn’t work. I cuss Damon out for sending more of my things over which means that Vulcan has won and I’m now a ″sore loser″ as he called me.

I grab the two heavy bags from the boot and make my way inside, sticking my tongue out at him when he passes by, chuckling at my actions. Hearing him slam the door shut before following me into the kitchen with two last bags, he sets them on the table. I have just grabbed a Snickers bar when I’m lifted up and propped onto the kitchen counter.

Frowning at Vulcan, I rip open the wrapper. ″Why do you always carry me around? Don’t you get tired?″

He laughs as he puts the food in the pantry, his form visible in the open doorway. ″I like carrying you and you barely weigh anything anyway.″

I hum in reply, too caught up in unwrapping the chocolate bar. Taking a bite, I lick my lips to get rid of the caramel. When I look up, Vulcan stands before me with an intense look in his eyes, the gold specks back again and shining bright.

″Oh, do you want a bite?″ I mumble, holding the bar out for him to take.

He sets it aside before leaning in and pulling me onto his waist, carrying me out of the kitchen and up to his bedroom. I look around at the destruction, frowning at the thought of how much it’ll cost to fix everything and get new furniture.

But I don’t have much time to dwell on it though, as Vulcan walks through his door and kicks it shut behind him before throwing me on the bed. In a flash, he’s hovering above my body and pinning my wrists to the bed beside me.

″What I’d like to take a bite out of,″ He starts, his voice husky and deep, shooting tingles down my spine. ″Is you, Моё сокровищ. I bet you would taste sweet.″ (My treasure.)

He presses his lips to mine in a toe-curling kiss. I whimper at the fierceness of it, tangling my hands into his hair and tugging on it gently. Groaning, he swipes his tongue across my bottom lip making me open my mouth to let his tongue wrestle with mine.

His fingertips skim my bare legs before slipping under my blouse and caressing my waist. My body arches at his warm touch, my skin burning up as his lips nip and suck down my neck and across my collarbone. It’s hot and heavy, a kiss that leaves me desperate for more. Boy, can this man kiss.

″Vulcan.″ I gasp, making him hush me before straightening up to pull off his shirt and throw it carelessly behind him.

He slips off his shoes before taking off my black boots, both pairs hitting the ground with a loud thud. I gulp in anticipation as he kisses his way up my legs before his lips meet the curve of my neck.

“Staying away from you for a week drove me fucking crazy, Aurora.” He says, his voice guttural, hands wrapping my legs around his waist. ″Боже, все, что я сейчас хочу- это сделать тебя своей навсегда. Но я буду ждать." (God all I want to do right now is to make you mine forever but I will wait.)

“Couldn’t you have said all that in English?” I groan in annoyance, I literally have no idea what he said.

He smirks at down at me in response before laying on his back and pulling me onto his chest. I’m battling my inner turmoil though, wondering if I should ask the question that has been playing on my mind for the past few days. Oh, heck! I’ll just go for it, I deserve to know.

“Can you tell me more about mates? Sophia has this tattoo thing on her neck but she won’t tell me anything else besides that it has to do with mates.” I frown, crossing my arms on his abdomen and resting my chin on them.

″That is a mark to show everyone that the male or female belongs to someone. It allows access into your mate’s mind, I will be able to feel your emotions and immediately know if you are in any danger. Once I mark you and we mate then everything will be intensified. These tingles too.″ He murmurs, running his fingers up my arm, making me shiver in pleasure. ″I’ll become more protective and possessive than I already am over you.″

I nod in understanding. I had done all the questioning downstairs, anything that popped into my head, I asked away so all that is left for me to know is, ″What does the process for marking entail and mating, what’s that?″

″It strengthens the bond between you and your mate. You won’t be able to mind link with me until we mate and then you will feel my emotions just like I can with yours. Marking comes before mating but because I’m a little bit different, I must do it at the same time. If not, it’ll hurt you.

Marking is where I bite your neck to show everyone that you belong to me and mating means making love. I can hold off on marking for some months but eventually, I must do it on a full moon when my beast can’t resist the pull any longer. If not, I will turn possessive and kill anyone in my path to get to you. After completing the process, you will hopefully be carrying my pups and leading the pack with me as my Luna.″ I look up to see him staring at the covers with furrowed eyebrows and nodding to himself.

I jump off him and the bed to stand on the floor. He did not just say what I think he did, I yell internally whereas my conscience flashes naughty images in my mind.

″No, no, no! We are not doing that! How the heck does that even work? I’m not carrying wolves inside me! And you will not bite me, you need to find another mate, dude.″ I state, turning around to pick up my boots.

Before I can leave, a hand grabs my arm from behind and throws me back on the bed. I scream in shock, freezing when Vulcan crawls up my body and pins my hands above me into the pillows. His grip is tight and eyes blazing in anger. Streaks of red flit through them, making me gasp quietly. Is that a wolf thing?

″Now, listen to me closely mate.″ He starts, voice low and hushed. ″I will not choose another mate because you are mine. You will let me please you and you will carry my pups and stay by my side until the day I’m buried six feet under the fucking ground. No man can look at you, think about you or even breathe your way. You belong to me and me only and don’t you fucking dare tell me to let you go, because I won’t. Not now, not ever. Understand?″

I sigh, rolling my eyes. Sophia had told me bit about mates over dinner and how possessive they can get; it seems like she isn’t wrong.

″Well, aren’t you charming. Did anyone ever tell you that you curse too much?″ I mutter dryly, looking up at him with an arched brow.

″They didn’t live long enough to finish that sentence. You however, can make it up to me with a kiss.″ He smirks, tapping his right cheek.

I laugh and push him back, his body easily hitting the mattress below. Feeling brave, I climb on top of him and straddle his waist, smiling when his hands grip my hips. I lean down until my lips are just a breath away from his. Watching him shiver and close his eyes with a low groan escaping him, I smirk before jumping off him. His eyes snap open to see me laughing as I roll off the bed and onto the floor, smacking him with a pillow.

I hear his feet hit the floor and squeal, ducking down to watch the pillow land on the floor beside me. And soon we’re caught in a pillow fight. Vulcan claims that he let me win because I’m his mate, but it’s clear that he got his ass whooped by a girl.

I pant lightly as I place the pillows back on the bed, turning around to see Vulcan fix the covers. As if feeling my gaze, he looks up and smiles his beautiful, genuine smile that my heart seems to skip a beat at. Walking around the bed towards me, he pulls me to his chest by the arm, tucking my hair behind my ear.

″Ты такая задира.″ He whispers before pushing me back down on the bed, his body soon hovering above mine. (You are such a tease.)

And then? Then I lose myself in his kisses and sweet words until we both fall asleep with me wrapped up in his arms. I slip into a blissful sleep with one, last kiss to the lips and Vulcan whispering ″mea lux.″ (My light.)

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