My nipples instantly harden, and I bite down on his lower lip. He doesn’t so much as flinch, laughing lightly. But he does pull away, regret in his voice. “Unfortunately, I really do have to get going.” He smooths his suit, eyes running over me. “To answer your previous question, being an alpha heir isn’t as simple as it seems. I have to workhard, study business practices, learn from allied packs about leadership. I’ve attended several meetings here over the years.”
My heart is still racing, but I try to pretend everything is fine, like he didn’t just tell me he knows exactly how turned on I am. “What kind of meetings?”
A pause. “The last time I was here, we discussed hybrid shifters.”
My brow furrows. “A meeting over hybrid shifters? Weren’t they outlawed many years ago?”
“They were.” Hardness enters his voice. “With good reason. They have a tendency to get very violent very quickly, especially when their magic manifests. They’re dangerous to normal shifters.”
A cold sensation slithers down my spine. “Dangerous how?”
“There was a massacre many years ago. Some shifters from our pack lived close to another pack that had hybrid shifters.” His jaw clenches as he speaks. “The hybrids attacked them out of nowhere. Killed everyone. Men, women, children. No one survived.”
My throat constricts. I’ve never met a hybrid shifter. I barely know anything about them except that they have both witch magic and shifter abilities. The combination sounds powerful, but a massacre?
“What did you talk about at the meeting?” I ask quietly.
“Some packs disagree with our policy of immediate execution when hybrids are discovered.” Matter of fact, emotionless. “We’ve gotten some packs on board, but there are those who resist. They think hybrids deserve a chance.”
“A chance at what?”
“Life.” He shrugs. “But I disagree.”
My ribs feel too tight. “Surely not every hybrid is dangerous.”
“Some creatures simply should not be allowed to exist.” The finality in his voice chills me.
I stare at him, really look at him. This is the cold heir I’ve seen with others. The one who makes harsh decisions without flinching. But this isn’t about pack politics or power struggles. This is about living beings.
“I find it disturbing you feel that way,” I say, holdinghis gaze.
No change in his expression. “You don’t know what hybrids are like. It’s easy to say when you’ve never faced one.”
“I’ve never faced a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean I’d condemn an entire group to death.”
“This isn’t up for debate.” Sharpness enters his voice. “I have to go. Don’t think about the issue, Violet. It’s not as if it will affect you.”
He walks out, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.
I sit frozen on the bed, still staring at the space where he was standing a moment ago.
“Don’t think about the issue.” As if I can simply forget what he said.
I fall back against the pillows, my mind racing. How can someone be so tender one moment and so ruthless the next?
I press both palms to my face. Maybe this is who he really is. A future alpha who makes hard choices, who sees the world in black and white. Who condemns without question.
But then, there’s the massacre he mentioned. Children died. I can understand why that would shape someone’s view. Why it would make them angry, even afraid.
Still. Immediate execution? No trial, no investigation, just death?
Nausea rolls through me.
I get up and pace the room, unable to sit still. This luxury suite feels suffocating now. The ocean view that seemed so beautiful earlier now only reminds me how far I am from home, how alone I am with my thoughts.
I don’t even know any hybrid shifters. I’ve never seen one, never heard of one in our territory. They’re like ghosts, these creatures that supposedly exist but remain invisible.
What would it be like to be born that way? To have both witch magic and shifter abilities?
