THE HYBRID'S DESTINY

CHAPTER 001

CLARISSA'S POINT OF VIEW

Clarissa awoke when the first rays of light started to reach out across the sky, a streak of pale pink in the darkness. Her body was long accustomed to the early rise. Most of the warriors of her pack had started their shifts about noon, but she had made it her custom to be up early before the sun. At five in the morning she was already walking the boundary, and no lycan dared to enter their territory.

She got out of her cabin, and the frosty morning air stung her. She could feel the old burden of her bow and quiver of arrows on her back. There could not be any mistakes. She had her pack on her watch and she would not fail them. She had made her name one of the best warriors, and she was going to maintain it.

Clarissa looked around her as she approached the river, the normal silence of the woods around her. There was not a sound to be heard but the distant calls of birds and the rustling of the leaves. She believed in the silence, at least. She went to the edge of the water and crouched, swallowing long, steady draughts of cool river water. The feeling of the water running down her throat was pleasant, soothing.

Then something changed in the air.

The senses of Clarissa were sharpened, her instincts overstrained. She stood still, and looked around her, trying to see where the disturbance had come. She heard the faintest sound--footsteps, strange and slow. All her muscles were on the alert to respond.

She was familiar with this place, and no one was supposed to be here.

She leaped into the water, and vanished beneath the surface. Her gestures were fast and precise. She pulled an arrow out of her quiver, the point sharp and in readiness. The footsteps were more distinct, closer. Somebody was encroaching on her territory. Clarissa was aware that the lycans were infamous in terms of disrespecting boundaries, but this? This was different.

Clarissa stood and waited, watching the trees and listening to any movement. The river was opaque, the black water churning around her legs. She held her bow still, her hands aimed at the place where she felt the danger. She was crouching there, submerged, and she could feel the tension in her body--waiting, watching, listening. She would wait to the last moment before acting.

The figure suddenly came out of the trees. A lycan. Male.

He was larger than any werewolf she had ever seen, and his body was strong. His manner was assured, indisputable. He was not any lycan, he was the gamma of his pack. Clarissa could sense his presence before he had even come into full view. She could feel the weight of his eyes on her, yet he had not yet laid his eyes on her.

Adrian. The name just came to her. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was due to the manner in which his presence appeared to take over the space around them.

ADRIAN'S POINT OF VIEW

Adrian was running in the woods, and it was a fresh and clean morning. He was fond of the early hours. The silence of nature, the feeling of strength that followed the opening of the eyes of the world. But this wasn’t just a morning jog. No, this was not new, this was a ritual he had been doing over the years. Adrian, as the gamma of his pack, had learned to watch his territory. And soon, very soon, he would be the alpha.

He was remembering the competition he had won, the bloody battles that had raised him to this seat of power. He had killed fifty lycans in one day. They hadn’t stood a chance. His strength was unrivaled and his self-esteem was not shaken. Adrian was aware that he had earned the right to lead.

However, this time, when he ran in the woods, something was different. The air was strange with energy. Something was off. Adrian felt it even before he saw her.

The river was before, a well-known landmark. Yet the water moved. Somebody was encroaching on the territory of his pack. The heart rate of Adrian increased. He knew this territory. No one is expected to be here this early and definitely not without permission.

He hastened his step, his brain already reckoning his course. His frame was made to push, to run. He was aware that he was capable of dealing with whatever danger was on the other side of the river. But as he came to the bank he beheld the figure.

A werewolf. A woman.

Adrian didn't hesitate. She was an intruder, a threat and he could not put up with it. He leaped into the river, and the chilly water smote him, without a second thought. He had no time to waste.

The woman turned and her eyes met his as he narrowed the gap between them. She pulled an arrow out of her back, but Adrian was quicker. He caught the arrow half-way along its flight and tossed it aside, his gestures were graceful and well-coordinated. He was close now—too close.

Adrian grinned. This would be easy. Werewolves could not stand a chance against lycans no matter how good they were. He could feel the power running through his body. He was stronger. He was faster. And in a little time she would be another corpse in the ground.

She rushed at him, and at one time Adrian was impressed by her courage. But that was all it was--stupidity in a cloak of courage. She was not going to live through this. Adrian knew that. He was too powerful.

But just as he was going to strike something strange occurred. The water around them seemed to flow. The water, hitherto still, now started to boil. Adrian was hit, and the undertow carried him and her off. He could not see anything, just the rushing water and the sense of being tossed about, a moment.

Adrian found it hard to keep his bearings, his instincts playing him about as the water tossed him. But as he turned back up he saw that the woman was struggling still more. Her bow and arrows had been lost in the wrath of the river. She was desperately fighting the stream.

Adrian was able to put his feet under him and propel himself to the surface. He was able to sense the attraction of the current, but it was not the same. The river appeared to be alive, its power was bent on holding both of them at its mercy.

CLARISSA'S POINT OF VIEW

The water tugged at Clarissa and dragged her downstream, and her heart pounded. Her feet struggled with the current, but to no avail. The river was now a monster, tossing and roaring and taking her and the lycan. The man--Adrian, she thought--was struggling, too, but she had no time to pay attention to him. She had to survive.

She kicked her legs, and tried to swim to the bank, but the current was too strong. The sound of the water was roaring in her ears, and it silenced all other things. Clarissa choked, and her arms ached with the effort of swimming against the stream.

Then there was a new danger. Two crocodiles, with cold, predatory eyes, rose just before her. She stood still, her blood frozen. She could not run away. The animals were much too quick, and they were gaining upon her.

Clarissa’s mind raced. She had to get to safety. Adrian, the lycan, was already dead, and she could see him approaching, his massive strokes cutting through the water. But the crocodiles were quicker.

She heard a scream--a blood-curdling scream that ripped the air. It was her voice, the horror in her chest pouring out into the world. It was too late, she kicked harder. One of the crocodiles had seized her leg, and its jaws were shutting with a bone-crushing hold.

The pain was immediate. Clarissa might feel the cold water pouring into the wound, but the creature did not release. It pulled her deeper into the depths. The second crocodile was already approaching her other leg.

The fight to survive made Clarissa blind. The river was foaming at the mouth, and she could not get away. The pain, the current, the creatures--all of it was too much.

But Adrian, who had been absent, seemed to be wavering. Something changed in him, a hesitation. He turned back, and before he could reach her the water was already red.

Blood. Her blood.

ADRIAN'S POINT OF VIEW

Adrian’s heart raced. He couldn’t understand it. He ought to have continued swimming, ought to have left her. Yet he was unable to do it, why I know not. Her scream had ripped him open, and now he could only think of the fact that she could be gone.

He swam back, and pushed against the current with all his strength. The blood-red water filled his eyes as he came to the place where she had been. His breath caught in his throat. There was no sign of her. The crocodiles had seized her, pulled her down to the bottom, and now there was nothing but the silence.

But was she truly gone? Adrian’s mind screamed at him. He did not know what to do, what to think. He had disappointed her, but was it too late to mend this?

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CHAPTER 002: A Dangerous Encounter

CLARISSA'S POINT OF VIEW

Clarissa had gotten up earlier than the first light of the day, as she had gotten up every morning. She still had to get ready to go to work and it was still dark when she left her bed. The warriors of her pack would begin their patrols at noon, but she was not like them. Clarissa had always liked to start her rounds much earlier. At five a.m. she was already on the border, ensuring that all was safe and no lycan dared to enter her land.

She picked up her bow and arrows, her weapon, and went to the river. It was cool in the morning, and it stung her skin, but she was used to it. She had a silent calmness about her, and only the rustling of the leaves and the distant calls of the birds. This was her daily routine and she did not mind it.

She bent down on the bank of the river and drank deeply of the water, enjoying the coolness. But then, something shifted.

A strange noise. The acute senses of Clarissa sprang to action. Her heart was wild with listening. Footsteps. Not the usual sounds of the forest. This was different. Clarissa was too familiar with that feeling--it was danger coming.

She plunged into the water without a second thought, noiseless and quick, as a shadow. Her motions were drilled when she drew an arrow out of her back, in case of any danger that was approaching her. The water was rippling and she was sinking deeper, the cool river engulfing her as she was ready.

Clarissa looked at the trees. Her ears heard every slightest sound. There. She saw somebody passing through the woods. A lycan.

Adrian. The name seemed to be spoken by the mind of Clarissa even before she could see him clearly. He was a large, broad-shouldered man, and he moved with the silent confidence of a hunter. His eyes swept the room, his eyes keen. But he did not know she was here, yet.

She held her breath, waiting. The lycan failed to notice her presence and he continued with his approach, yet Clarissa did not halt. Her fingers were steady, and she notched an arrow and pointed it at his heart.

ADRIAN'S POINT OF VIEW

Adrian had got up early, as he always did. The dawn was his hour to escape all, to lose himself in the woods and to savor the loneliness. He was fond of woods, of the open air, of the quiet of nature. Being a gamma, he was to watch over his territory and in a short time, he would be an alpha.

Adrian had made his, and the training was hard. He had climbed his way to the top, killing fifty powerful lycans to show his power. No one was stronger than him and soon he would be the one to lead the whole pack.

Today was, however, to be like any other. But as Adrian ran along the riverbank, he had a queer drawing, something was wrong.

A disturbance. Something felt off. His instincts cried to him. His muscles were in time as he came near the river, and he moved rapidly.

And then he saw her.

A werewolf.

Adrian narrowed his eyes and looked at her, knowing she was an intruder. No one was supposed to be here. She was encroaching on his pack. His blood was boiling with the necessity to defend what belonged to him. He sprang into the river, reckless, willing to fight the enemy.

The werewolf just caught sight of him, and in a moment she had her bow. The arrow shot him full in the face, and Adrian did not move. He picked it up with little trouble, and sent it away as an inconvenience. It was a mere nothing in comparison to the power of a lycan.

Adrian smiled grimly. This would be over in a second. She was no match for him.

Then something queer occurred. The water in which they were seemed to boil. The river started to drag both of them under, and Adrian slipped on his feet, the current being much stronger than he expected. The water threw them about like nothing.

Adrian struggled against it, holding on to anything he could, but it was too much. The water kept on driving them down the river, and then, all at once, the strength of the stream dashed both of them into a wider, smoother section of the stream. The head of Adrian appeared, and he drew a breath, rattled but not to be shaken.

Clarissa was not far behind him, but she appeared to be managing the water with a great deal more dexterity than he was. She was swimming in front of him, and her body cut through the water like it was nothing but air.

But as he was about to overtake, he saw something--two crocodiles. They came out of the depths, with glinting eyes. Adrian felt his heart beat jump a notch higher as he saw that they were going straight to Clarissa.

Clarissa did not stop and kept swimming, yet it was clear that she was not doing well. The crocodiles were closing in on her, their huge jaws snarling near her.

His instincts made Adrian swim away, to leave her to her fate. But then, as though something in him broke, he was swimming toward her, and all the rational thought in his head was forgotten.

Her scream was heard in the air when one of the crocodiles caught her leg. His heart thumped steadily inside him. He stroked harder, without thought, his strong strokes slicing through the water, and he was beside her.

CLARISSA'S POINT OF VIEW

The crocodiles were catching up Clarissa, and her heart was beating. She struggled with the water as much as she could. The work was sore on her legs, but there was no time to rest. The animals were too quick, and they were nearly on her.

One of the crocodiles bit her in the leg and a sharp pain ran through her. She screamed, and the scream was full of agony. The water around her turned dark as her blood mixed with the river. The other crocodile was close behind, its jaws snapping, on the point of attack.

Clarissa could not see clearly, and she was aware that this could be the end. She had never been so scared in her life, yet she did not want to give up. Not now. Not because she had been through so much.

But before she could drown in the water she heard something. A movement. Adrian.

He was swimming toward her. She had a glimmer of hope, the first time.

Adrian arrived in time to save her when the crocodiles dragged her down. He seized her, and pulled her out of the mouths of the animals, and both struggled to get to the riverbank. Adrian was powerful, and his muscles pushed him on, as he dragged her to safety.

Clarissa fell on the beach, choking, shaking. But her injuries were healing. She was able to experience the same tingling sensation when her body was healing itself, the process quicker than any lycan could handle.

She sat up, gasping in short breaths, and looked at Adrian. He continued to stare at her, and his eyes were narrowed as he appeared to judge her. His eyes no longer showed anger, but a curiosity.

Clarissa took two arrows at her back, and a fierce determination in her eyes. She wasn’t about to back down. This werewolf would not escape. Not after they had done her mother.

Clarissa was running, her heart a-thumping.

Adrian stared at her, and Clarissa had a sensation in her. A warmth. A connection.

A scent. The sweetest smell she had ever smelled of.

Mate.

The heart of Clarissa jumped. Her wolf, Viola, said the word in her mind, and Clarissa stood motionless, not knowing what was happening.

This couldn’t be right. This was a lycan. An enemy.

First of all, Adrian seemed as confused. He moved towards her with his eyes open in disbelief.

"Mate?" his voice was full of wonder, he said to himself.

She shook her head, attempting to sort out the confusion of feelings that were swirling through her. She shook her head, trying to sort out the mishmash of feelings that were swirling through her.

No, she said to herself, and withdrew.

But it was too late. Adrian was already heading her way, with a nervous smile.

Could this really be true? Was the lycan before her her mate? And what would this mean for the battle between their worlds?