The Hybrid Series

OLIVE

Freak.

That’s me.

I struggle to make friends, made worse by my low self-esteem due to years’ worth of bullying.

I would love to say it’s just a select few that take an instant disliking to me—but no. You see, my mom and I have moved around a lot, usually once a year, sometimes twice.

It’s been this way ever since I turned thirteen and my wolf emerged. Since then my mom will scoop me up and move at the first sign of trouble.

It’s become quite an annoyance for me, but I know she’s only trying to protect me however she can.

I try to keep my head down. It’s not that I like drama, I just seem to attract it. It never used to be this way. I was once quite a popular girl in my school with a bunch of friends.

But when I got my wolf, my scent changed, as it does with every wolf. That’s when the bullying started.

You see, my tormentors—who are the she-wolves of the pack—tell me I “smell weird.” I’m not sure why—but it is true. My scent is just…odd.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t smell bad. I don’t suffer from body odor, nor do I stink like a skunk. I just smell different to other wolves; this seems to be the reason I have a target on my back.

With every pack I move to, it always ends up the same. They take one whiff of me, tell me I smell weird, and then start calling me names.

They block me from anything social, and then they physically bully me. Which is fine… Well, it’s not, but I’m not really interested in having friends anymore.

After all, my friends in my first pack turned their backs on me so quickly, why would I want or need friends like that anyway?!

The guys, on the other hand, appear to find my scent intriguing. I don’t think I’m unattractive, but I wouldn’t say I’m drop-dead gorgeous either.

I have long dark-brown hair with reddish-golden hues that show when the sun hits it just right, rich chestnut eyes, a scattering of freckles over my nose, and full, plump lips.

The fact that guys tend to find me intriguing just makes my attempts at being a lone wolf that much harder.

They usually try to sit with me or befriend me, but this just makes the bullying worse from jealous she-wolves.

I’m not sure why they waste their time trying to sit with me either.

Maybe it’s simply pack mentality, so they try to keep the pack together at all costs, or maybe they see me as some kind of damsel in distress.

Little do they know it’s actually their attempts to engage with me that cause my distress.

The first time we moved, Kelsey Richards—my former best friend—decided to take the bullying up a notch.

She was angry because Sam—her crush—had asked me out… As if that’s something I had any control over.

I was sitting under my favorite tree, reading a book to pass the time and minding my own business. Sam had come to sit with me and tried to engage in conversation.

I simply gave him one-word answers and continued to glare at my book, refusing to make eye contact. I hoped this would be enough for him to get bored and leave. It wasn’t.

He asked me if I would like to grab a bite to eat sometime. It was kind of sweet, but I didn’t want my life to be harder than necessary.

I said no. He was a nice guy and all, but not my type, and I didn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention to myself. Less attention, less bullying.

That didn’t stop Kelsey from getting pissy about it anyway. Kelsey came storming across the field, murder in her eyes, practically frothing at the mouth.

Suddenly, she screamed, “HOW DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE SLUT! Sam is ~mine and you’re trying to take him away from me!”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to deal with her crap.

I tried to explain things. “Kelsey, he asked me if I wanted some food. I said no. I don’t want Sam. He’s all ~yours.”

Clearly, she took no notice of anything I said because the next thing I knew she lunged at me, screaming like a banshee. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and tried to yank me down to the ground!

She hadn’t laid her hands on me before. I was shocked, to say the least. I could feel the anger start to boil within me immediately, bubbling away, threatening to boil over and take over completely.

How dare she? was replaying over and over in my head.

You will regret that, you bitch! I screamed in my mind.

I pulled myself free and stood, glaring at Kelsey, my breathing ragged and heavy, almost panting.

A scratching sensation started itching from my shoulder blades, threatening to break through the surface.

It felt strange, but I assumed it was my wolf. The sky rumbled and darkened, black clouds I didn’t remember seeing before covering the sky.

Kelsey paled and backed away, tripping over her own feet and landing on her ass. All she could stutter while pointing at me was, “Y-y-your e-eyes!”

A crowd had gathered from the commotion, and everyone’s heads snapped toward me. They stared, wide-eyed, then one by one they shouted, “FREAK!”

I snapped out of my rage almost instantly. I ran toward the school, pushing past the crowd.

I caught a glimpse of myself in a reflection in the school’s windows. My eyes—they were a vibrant green, but they were flickering like flames.

I could also see a dull, green aura covering my entire body, so dull you probably wouldn’t notice at first.

Confusion filled me.

What’s happening to me? I felt the tears threaten to fall. I squeezed my eyes shut, turned, and ran away.

Teachers tried to stop me, but I plowed on, head down, ignoring their pleas for me to stop. I ran all the way home that day, which was a good ten miles.

I came bursting through the front door like a bat out of hell and ran straight into my mom’s embrace.

My mom is the most precious person in my life. We are best friends. In fact, she’s my only friend.

She’d always made me feel better when I got picked on. When I was six years old, children made fun of my freckles. They would say I had dirt on my face.

My mom, however, told me they were angel’s kisses. Needless to say, the next day I went in bragging that I was practically the chosen one because I had so many “angel’s kisses.”

It worked though. Everyone was jealous and wanted to be friends with the chosen one. Even now she does what she can to help me through my torment, although now my problems are a bit more serious…

However, she’s fantastic at the art of distraction.

She looks a lot like me. We both have brown hair and chestnut eyes. The only difference is she has fine smile lines around her eyes.

As soon as she sat me down, I felt a weight lift.

Everything that had happened spilled out between sobs. She scooped my face into both of her hands and lifted it until my eyes met hers. Tears streamed down my face.

She looked at me with such love and sympathy. Using her thumb, she wiped away my tears. She kissed my forehead and told me how much she loves me and how special I am.

She told me that she would fix this.

Little did I know, my mom’s idea of fixing things was to leave that night and move to another pack. It’s been this way ever since. Every time the bullying picks up, we pack up and leave.

I think my mom is worried about my emotions getting out of control, or maybe she’s just worried I truly am some freak of nature.

She tells me my dad was extremely powerful. He left when I was one. My mom has been pretty heartbroken ever since, but she hides it well.

I try not to speak of him because it physically hurts her to think of the mate that left her. I can see the pain behind her eyes whenever she is close to other mated couples.

Watching them, seeing what she once had, but no longer does.

Apparently, I have a strong wolf. My mom is the daughter of a powerful beta.

I’m already aware my wolf is different. Not only because of her eyes but because I am faster and stronger than your average wolf—even faster than alphas, maybe even stronger.

Who knows, I’ve never fought one! I hide this well. I deliberately make myself slower and don’t put my full strength into things.

No point in drawing more unnecessary attention to myself.

I also learned quite early on that the alpha command has no effect on me. I just pretend it does and purposefully submit to them, even if it does upset my wolf.

I don’t want to attract more attention to my freak status.

When my eyes change color, it’s because my wolf is emerging.

I hear you ask, “Are wolf eyes usually a vibrant green that flickers like flames?”

No, no they’re not.

For this reason, I avoid shifting around anyone but my mom.

Her eyes tend to freak people out, considering most wolves’ eyes are brown, hazel, or blue. The more powerful wolves such as alphas have silver eyes, and kings will have gold eyes in wolf form.

My wolf is called Raven. She’s feisty in ways I could never be.

She’s a large wolf—fully black—which contrasts her vibrant, strange eyes nicely. Her coat is so dark and shiny it practically sparkles under the moonlight.

She’s beautiful, in my opinion, even if her eyes do intimidate others.

I try my best to keep my emotions under wraps because I don’t want people to see my wolf’s eyes. I’m already odd enough because of my scent. I don’t need another Kelsey Richards episode.

So yeah, that’s me... The freak.

Since that day six years ago, we’ve been on the move a lot. I’m nineteen now and my mom and I are now on to our latest pack: The Dark Wood Pack.

We have been driving for six hours already. The sun is getting warmer, and the forest is getting denser. This makes Raven practically purr in approval.

She can’t wait to dig her claws into the dirt and let off some energy.

Do you think there will be any hot wolves to finally get our claws into? Raven sighs longingly.

Quit drooling. I’m not interested in meeting anyone, hot or not.

Raven huffs. You say that now but when we meet HIM, you’ll get wet just being near him.~

I grimace. Ugh! Seriously, Raven, keep it together!

Mmm, you’ll feel different as soon as you feel our mate’s tongue trailing up to our—

RAVEN! I squirm uncomfortably, which earns a suspicious side glance from my mother.

“Are you okay, sweetie?”

I blush. “Yeah, I-I’m...just really nervous about this whole new pack thing.”

Nailed it, Olive. She won’t suspect you’re lying about your horndog wolf with that fantastic excuse. Not like you’re a well-seasoned pack transfer already.

Mom narrows her eyes at me, clearly suspicious.

“Well, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ve got a good feeling about this one!”

I roll my eyes and look out the window.

Sure, Mom… You said that about the last ten packs.

We sit in silence for the next ten minutes.

“I know what will cheer you up,” Mom blurts as she rummages in her glove box. She gets out a CD.

I smirk. Oh here we go.

She presses play and Hey Jude by the Beatles plays. I chuckle, and in no time, we are laughing and shouting the “NA NA NA NANANANAAAA” parts directly at each other.

She was right. I do feel better.

After another half an hour, Mom starts to get excited and bounces in her seat, tapping the steering wheel with her palm.

“Eek! Look! We are here!” she declares.

I sit up in my seat, eyes wide in awe, taking it all in. It’s a large town hidden within the forest.

We drive down a dirt road surrounded by trees. Mom pulls up to where two male wolves stand on guard and rolls her window down.

The wolves approach the car. “Name and reason for visit,” asks the shorter, blond wolf.

“I’m Sasha Dubois, and this is my daughter, Olive Dubois. We are new transfers.”

“ID and documentation, please,” says the larger of the two males.

Oh my goddess. He is hot. Raven drools.

Ugh! Raven, you think anything with a cock is hot.

Can you blame me? Not like you allow me any dick.

I mentally facepalm, flushing red.

Horny wolf!

Mom hands over our ID and acceptance documents.

The Dark Wood Pack is a community solely for werewolves. They don’t have anything against humans. In fact, they do have humans living there, but only because they’re mated to werewolves.

The alpha, Alpha Max, believes it’s better for wolves to be able to grow up amongst their own and not feel like they have to hide what they are.

Mom pulls past the guards. The dirt road leads to cobbled streets. It has old-town vibes about it. The houses are made from stone with white picket fences.

The gardens are full of flowers and stunning shrubbery. The town is so picturesque. It looks like it could easily win a few town awards.

Mom slaps my thigh excitedly. “This is going to be good for us, Livi!”

I smile back at her, still not completely convinced.