Hybrid Aria 1-4

Lily POV

I keep my eyes glued on the man that destroyed my life, destroyed my wolf. Refusing to even blink, my heart pounding and adrenaline making me antsy as it pulses through my veins. Little red dots appearing through the dust directly aimed at both me and Tabitha and her newborn baby. When suddenly I heard Layla’s voice in my head, she sounded drugged and her words slurred, but she was furious and she wanted blood.

“Bout time you came to the party” I snapped at her, “we need to shift” I tell her but she shakes her head.

“We can’t”

“What do you mean we can’t shift?” I ask, keeping my eyes on Kade as he saunters into the room. The only thing separating us is the dining table in the centre of the room. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and hear my father groan.

“Darian is hurt, I don’t know why, but I am too weak to shift. I have tried, I think whatever is happening to him is affecting us,” She tells me.

Kade drums his fingers on the table and I see his men turn their guns on my father as he stands up, a hand on his head disorientated. His eyes snapping to mine in panic as he takes in the predicament we are in.

Kade chuckles before taking a seat at the table like this is a casual get together.

“Well, isn’t this fantastic, the only person missing is Aria” He says and I feel Layla growl loudly and it bursts from my chest loud and menacing and even makes goosebumps raise on my arms.

Kade nods to his men as seven men redirect their guns to me.

“Well that is a problem, see I drugged your mate and it should have taken down your wolf when he died. So I am a little confused, I must say” He says, rubbing his chin, his beady eyes looking at me, like I am some sort of science experiment. In many ways, I actually was.

“He isn’t dead, Lil” Layla says, when she feels my panic at his words.

“Let me forward,” Layla says, pulling at our link.

“What?” I ask, confused why she would want to come forward when she can’t shift.

“Let me forward, I am more than comfortable in your skin as I am mine” She growls again and Kade stands up nodding to his men and I feel a dart hit me in the centre of the chest. Layla lurches forward shoving me back before launching herself over the table straight for Kade but he moves just in time and she hits the ground before turning.

I feel us shifting only we aren’t, I couldn’t explain the sensation that rolled over me, but claws extended from my hands and I felt my canines protrude but we weren’t on all fours or in wolf form.

Suddenly guns start going off everywhere. All aimed at us but Layla was quick and it was like time stood still or slowed dramatically as I literally watched the bullets dodge past, but she was quicker moving with precision and speed as she started ripping the men to pieces. The mind link opens up suddenly and I hear Damien’s wrath flood me, which only spurred Layla on. Callie’s voice echoing in my head,

“Hold on, we are on our way” I was too focused on what was happening to reply. Suddenly I see Kade tackle my father straight through the roller shutter and they crash through the window in the backyard. My father is trying to fight back when he is kicked off the verandah. The distraction cost us, as I felt a knife slide between my ribs. Layla and I look down at the blade hanging from our side, our breathing instantly affected, and I cough. We stumble back into the table and watch as the man advances on us, a murderous glint in his eye and a sadistic smile on his face as he heads toward us to finish us.

When suddenly a brown and white wolf launches at him completely jumping over the top of the table before sinking its teeth into the rogue’s neck and shaking. Blood splattering everywhere as she nearly completely separates his head from his body, his body going limp on the ground, and I try to figure out who the she-wolf is.

I know Callie’s wolf and it wasn’t hers. I hear Tabitha’s baby screaming and I look in her direction, only she isn’t there, but her baby is laying on the towels on the floor unharmed and I know the wolf that just saved me is Tabitha.

The entire kitchen and dining room are littered with body parts from the tornado that was Layla. Tabitha shifts back and pulls the knife from my ribs. Luckily it wasn’t very big and only collapsed my lung but as soon as she pulled it out in this weird form of half shifted, I felt myself healing, shocking both Layla and myself. I heard my father grunt making me snap my attention to the yard and Kade had my father by the throat pinned against the tree. We run, jumping completely over the veranda and onto the grass.

Kade smiled cruelly, his eyes flashing as I tried to run toward them to stop him.

“I will see you soon Lily” He says, before plunging his hand into my father’s chest. I hear someone scream loudly, the noise echoing loudly back to me. Watching as my father’s eyes go to mine, filled with shock before pain, then they go hollow as I watch the life fade from his eyes, as Kade rips his hand out of my father’s chest.

My father’s heart in his hand before he drops it on the ground. I keep running trying to get to him and Kade takes off disappearing, but I don’t care. I just need to get to him, get to my father.

Dropping to my knees, I clutch onto him, pulling his head and shoulders onto my lap. I rub his face and clutch his hand.

“No, no, no not him, please not him” I scream at the moon goddess. Layla howled in my head, and I can hear someone sobbing and I turn looking for the person making the horrid noise before I realise the person is actually me.

Damien POV

I thought for sure I was dead until I suddenly felt something force me back and that someone was Lily and Layla. Her panic pulled me back. Even Darian thought this was it. Yet waking I felt this strange tug forcing me to my feet and suddenly my wounds started healing rapidly. Pain that filled my body was now gone.

“Layla” Was all Darian muttered, and I felt him force the shift and run towards the pack house. Alarms blaring loudly and I hear Darian mind link the entire pack. Telling them to get to their Luna, their angry echoes forcing me to run faster.

Running, I notice the bodies of the wolves that I originally went looking for dead just on the northern forest edge. Not having time to stop, we ran through the town keeping in the direction of the pack house.

“How are we still alive?” I growl. Nothing makes sense. I felt myself dying, felt my soul slipping into oblivion…

“I think when we marked her our life line became tethered to Layla’s somehow, I can’t explain it. I could feel her getting weaker and us getting stronger” He tried to explain, which just worried me. If Lily’s wolf is weakened, can they still shift? Can she fight her way out? But most of all, can we get to her in time?

As we get closer, I see Callie and around twenty warriors run alongside us. Heading toward the Packhouse. When it comes into view, I hear the wailing of a woman screaming hysterically from the back end of the pack house. Her cries are guttural and heartbreaking. Rounding the corner, we all skid to a stop, my paws ripping up grass as I stare at what I see.

Lily in the middle of the yard next to the mighty Banyan tree on the ground, rocking back and forth, clutching someone in her arms. I see Tabitha standing horrified on the back verandah, tears running down her face as she stares at Lily. I can vaguely hear the sounds of a baby crying but tune it out as all I can focus on at this moment is my mate.

Shifting, I walk towards her, linking the pack to search the forest. She doesn’t even look up as I approach, completely lost in her grief, and I see why when I see the man in her arms is her father. His lifeless eyes looking up at the sky, hollow and dead.

Moving behind her, I touch her shoulder and she growls loudly and I realise her and Layla are one at the moment. I feel Darian shake his head in warning and I can feel through the bond a mix of burning anger and sorrow.RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only

“Lily” I say but she doesn’t answer. Just continues to rock back and forth, cradling her father’s head.

“Lily” I repeat and her head whips around so fast I thought she was going to attack me, her eyes blazing before recognition hits her and they suddenly lose their light.

“He’s gone, he’s gone because of me” She sobs, her hands clenched in what’s left of his shirt. I hated my father, but seeing her like this, I could tell she truly loved hers. I always thought of Lily as strong, even when she didn’t think she was, stronger than life and vibrant, compassionate. Yet looking at her now, she looked broken. Devastatingly broken. And I didn’t know how to fix her.

Crouching down beside her, I brush her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear.

I wasn’t used to dealing with tears, not from her, and I was lost with what I should do to comfort her. Usually I caused tears, not try to stop them. Looking at Lily though, I wanted nothing more than to stop her pain, take it from her like she did me.

“Come on” I tell her, trying to get her up, but she refuses to let him go. Callie and Max both walk into the clearing and Callie comes over to her.

“Lily, we will take care of him promise, go with your mate” She says and I am suddenly grateful for her pain in the ass being here. Callie usually frustrated me to no end. Always challenging my authority, but I could tell she loved Lily and considered her a friend. Maybe that’s why they get on so well, they are a lot alike.

Callie grips Lily’s face, forcing her to look at her. “Go with your mate, I will look after your dad okay” Lily nods her head, her blonde hair looks like it has been dipped in blood. Lily stands and Max comes over, picking the Alpha up.

Lily looks at him, and I can feel her through the bond as she forces herself to harden her resolve and pull herself together. Callie squeezes my shoulder as she walks past, and I nod to her as she follows Max. Max’s voice echoing to me loudly as he tells me Kade wasn’t found. Leaving more questions as to how he got in without the Pack seeing him here.

Placing my arms over her shoulders, I tug her against me and she relaxes slightly against me as we walk into the house. Walking in, I am horrified at what I see. Body parts strewn throughout my kitchen and dining-room, smashed windows. Kitchen doors ripped off and a hole in the wall.

Lily walks in like she doesn’t even see them, just stepping over and trudges blood all over my floors. I shake my head at the sudden urge to clean the house, forcing myself after her.

“I need to call my sister” Lily says, not even looking back at me as she walks out fast leaving me in the kitchen gobsmacked.

I don’t understand, if Lily couldn’t shift, Did David cause this mess? I said to myself, looking at the body parts scattered everywhere. When I thought my shock couldn’t get any worse, Tabitha walked in, her voice hitting me first as I turned to her.

“I think her wolf did that, except that one. That was me. The rest was her though” Suddenly my eyes darted down when I saw something wriggle in her arms. My eyes go to the baby she held, she hugs her a little tighter. I step forward when Tabitha shakes her head, and I don’t understand until the scent hits me.