The Hybrid's Hope

Chapter 12: A Sister's Insight

Levi

Hope and I have only ever argued about one thing. Children. Not about if WE were going to have them, only if SHE was going to have them. I’ve always felt strongly that any child of hers would be perfect. She’s always worried that any child of hers would be different and therefore suffer the way she has.

When I park the car, I feel like every good thing that happened this weekend has been ruined. Hope reaches for the door, but I take her arm, stopping her.

“I love you, Hope. That hasn’t changed. I don’t like this. I don’t like hiding my mate from the world. But I’ll respect your wishes. However, you should know that I will travel to every continent, every island, every possible place in this world if it means getting the answer we need about having children.”

“Levi, you should just …”

“Do not! Do not tell me that I should reject you and find someone else. I do not want anyone else, Hope. I want you. Only you. It’s always only been you.”

She looks at me with sad resolution in her eyes. I know she thinks I’m wasting my time. Fine. It’s my time to waste.

“I’m sorry if this ruined your weekend,” I say.

“Nothing about you ruined my weekend, Levi. You made it so special. I love you too. I hope you know that,” she says.

“I would know it more if you kissed me,” I say hopefully.

She glances around, making sure no one is watching us, then leans over and kisses me quickly.

“I have to go.”

“I know.”

We get out of the car together, and I get her bag, then watch her walk into the packhouse to go pack her things. At least I’ll get to spend the morning with her before I have to report for work.

When I walk into he packhouse, my sister is there, almost like she was waiting for me. She probably is.

“Come talk to me,” she says, nodding her head in the direction of her office.

I nod, knowing it’s useless to refuse. She’ll just find another way to talk to me and truthfully, it will be nice to talk to someone who I know is insightful enough to ask the right questions so I can keep my promise to Hope and still tell my sister what’s going on.

When we walk into her office, she closes the door and looks at me. “So, are you mates?”

I breathe a sigh of relief that she asked me outright.

“Can I sit?”

“Absolutely.”

“Yes, we’re mates. Hope didn’t reject me, but she didn’t let me mark her and she wants to keep our mate bond a secret,” I tell her.

“For what purpose?” Grace asks, coming to sit beside me.

“She says that it will give her bullies more fuel to make fun of her if they know we’re mated but she’s not wearing my mark.”

My sister raises an very arrogant, very Alpha, eyebrow. “There’s a way around that.”

“That’s what I said! But …”

I drop my head in my hands.

“It’s the child issue, isn’t it?” she asks.

I nod, scrubbing my face with my hands. “She wants me to reject her and go find someone else, as if I could ever be with someone else.”

I close my eyes and shake my head. “I’m sorry if this is TMI, but Hope and I were together over the weekend, and it was the best experience of my life. I don’t want to share that anyone else except her.”

“So, what are you going to do about that? How are you going to resolve this between you?” she asks.

“Hope wants to try and find her biological father.”

My sister looks surprised. “That’s new.”

“Yes and no. I think Hope has always wanted to know more about her father, and wanted to know if he is an Alpha bear. She wants to use the resources that Holstin Enterprises has to try and find him and I told her I’d help her. In doing so, I’m hoping we come across some of the scientists who were involved in the research or at least have some knowledge about the research that they did back then and can tell us if Hope’s children will be ‘normal’,” I say, making air quotes with my fingers.

“That could be dangerous, Levi. If those scientists are still trying to do research on shifters …”

She cuts off as I snarl. “I dare them to try and hurt my mate.”

“You’re an Alpha male, Levi. They would want you, too. You need to be careful. We took out a lot of those hunters and scientists back in the day, but I doubt they all came after us. There probably are some still out there. Just please, be careful. You’re the only brother I have. I don’t want to lose you and I don’t want to have to tear this world apart because someone hurts you,” she says, not joking at all. My sister, being a Guardian, has the power to do a lot of damage.

I was just a toddler when the hunters came after them and killed nearly everyone in our three packs. The story is that my sister drew on the power of everyone around her, what was left of the Guardians, the werewolves, and even the humans. Somehow, she divided that power into two forces, one to heal and one to destroy. Then she sent a blast of power so strong that it was like a concussion bomb going off. The werewolves, even the ones who had died, survived. The hunters did not.

“I understand your desire, the need to have a child, Levi. That is something that we both share. Go and search, see what you can find. But if you can’t find what you’re looking for, there may come a time when you have to decide which is more important – Hope or having a family.”

“The answer to that will always be Hope,” I say.

“Are you sure about that, Levi?”

“Would you have left Eli if he couldn’t give you pups, Grace? Would you have given up your mate bond, found someone else who could give you pups, started a family with another man? Or would you have lived your life with the man you love?” I ask, turning the question back around on her.

She smiles at me.

“You and I are a lot alike, Levi.”

“Hopefully in good ways.”

“I think so. What can I do to help you?” she asks.

“I don’t know yet, but when I do, I’ll reach out.”

“When you know, I’ll be here.”

“Thank you, Grace.”

“That’s what sisters are for.”

Not for the first time, I thank the Moon Goddess for giving me such an amazing woman as my sister.

“Not all women would have been as gracious as you and allowed me and my mother to live here, Grace.”

“Not all women are worthy of being Guardians either. It was the right thing to do and I’ve never regretted it.”

I hug my sister, then make my way up to the bedroom that she and Eli maintain for me here in the packhouse. I don’t come back as often as I’d like and now that Hope will be living in the city, I doubt I’ll come back very often at all, but it’s nice to have my own space when I do return to the pack.

When I get to my room, I drop my bag and look around. I already miss Hope. Since her family is the Beta family, she’s on the floor just below this one. I want to go to her. I don’t want to spend a single night away from her. But after the intense conversation in the car this afternoon, and knowing she’s probably saying goodbye to her family tonight, I stay in my room, going to bed early so the morning will come sooner when I can see her again.