The Alpha’s Hybrid Mate

Gina’s POV

"You can’t seriously be considering it." Dad’s voice was low and sharp, the kind that meant he was trying not to explode.

"I’m not considering it," Mom hissed back. "I’m simply telling you. The Alpha King’s nephew arrives in less than a week, and he’s already asked for a girl from our pack. ’Arianna’ was his choice."

"No!" Dad snapped. "I won’t have that girl representing our pack in the royal palace. Not her. Not with that blood running through her."

"She’s the only one they’d want," Mom said bitterly. "You think they’re going to pick Gina, when she barely survived her last duel?. When she’s

constantly second to a vampire?"

My breath caught in my throat as the last statement from my mother hit me. I was in the hallway, and the wall barely separating me from them did little to filter their conversation.

They were talking about Arianna . Again. And from the way it sounded, it was clear that they thought, or instead knew, I was beneath her.

"She’s not one of us," Dad said, his voice hard as granite. "I wish we had never adopted her in the first place."

"Well, you did, and there is nothing you can do about it, unless we act fast," Mom said with a low, contemplative tone.

"She won’t marry him," Dad growled. "I’ll see to it myself.

I didn’t hear the rest. I didn’t really need to. Everything inside me burned. Was it out of jealousy? Yes, but more than that ’ panic’ .

If Arianna married the Alpha King’s nephew, she’d become royalty. Immediately attaining a status that makes her untouchable. She’d be granted royal blood binding, maybe even immunity from werewolf laws.

The past wouldn’t matter anymore. And that would be the end of me because if she rose... she might come for us, especially me.

She had every reason to, given how I’ve been treating her.

That night, I waited until the house was dark, then I slipped into Mom’s room while she was getting prepared to retire to bed.

"I heard you," I said softly, leaning against the wall. "You and Dad. About the Alpha King’s nephew."

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t even bother denying it.

Instead, she looked at me over the rim of her cup. "Then you know we can’t let that happen."

"I have an idea," I whispered.

***The Next Day***Colewas easy.

If I could get him to play his role the way I needed, framing Arianna and ruining her chances with the Alpha King’s nephew would fall right into place.

"I think Arianna’s planning something," I murmured. "She’s been acting strange ever since she found out the Alpha King’s nephew is coming."

Cole frowned. "She barely even talks to anyone."

"Exactly. She’s hiding something. And what if she seduces him?" I leaned in. "She is a vampire. They’re good at that sort of thing, using their charm to manipulate a person’s mind and gain control.

What if she marries him and then uses it to take revenge on my family? On us?"

His jaw clenched in annoyance, as if he was digesting the news. The idea was working its way under his skin.

"She wouldn’t dare do that..." he voiced out in a sinister tone, uncertainty clear in his expression.

"She told me once," I whispered, "that she dreams of burning this house down one day. Of making everyone who hurt her pay." That was a lie; she never said that, but I had to make him see what I wanted him to see.

"I’m scared,Cole," I said gently. "What if she ends up with him? Don’t you see? We’re going to be doomed, not just my family, but you and I.

She can manipulate him against us because the power would be in her hands." I said, gently caressingCole’s palm to ease my worry.

He hesitated, then nodded slowly.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

That was exactly the words I was expecting from his mouth in order to set my plans in motion.

He would go to her room. Pretend to care or maybe repent of his shortcomings, try to make her see that he would pick her side henceforth and then draw in for a fake kiss.

I’d handle the rest.

The plan worked perfectly. Dad was highly disappointed in Arianna, and I saw him vent his anger on her.

The pure pleasure I derived from seeing her in misery, from seeing her humiliated and hated over and over again by my parents.

No matter how good she gets at anything, no matter how hard she works to best me, that doesn’t change a thing.

She is still the illegitimate, outcast, vampire, black sheep of the family

*******************

Later that night, I found Mom in the sitting room, pretending to read a book.

"It’s done," I said, simply looking straight at her side view.

She looked up, and for once, her smile didn’t feel fake. It was cold, calculating and proud.

"She’ll never be chosen now that her reputation has been dragged through the mud ", she said. No Alpha in his right mind would take a mate with a reputation like that."

"Do you think Dad will believe it?" I said gradually, taking a seat next to her.

"Your father will see what he wants to see," Mom said with a knowing glance. "The girl reminds him too much of the monster who killed his mother. He’ll take any excuse to punish her."

That reply brought me so much satisfaction, and I guess she knew that because she looked at me knowingly, the corner of her lips curling up in a slow smile.

I looked toward the hallway where Arianna’s room stood, silent and dark. I wondered if she was already up from the lawn and in her room, nursing her wounds. But I didn’t care, she has

"She’ll hate me forever," I said, bile rising in my throat. But I didn’t care, after all, I never even liked her; she made my blood boil.

She looked up at me with one eyebrow raised, and as if on cue, we started laughing.