by Anna Lewis
Now it was time to put them out of their misery.
***
“Okay?” I asked, scanning my eyes around the room at the very nervous bunch of new students. “Any questions?”
I never thought that I would like teaching. In fact, when they first told me it would be my job I was a little dismayed. But it turned out I actually adored teaching. Sure, I was only doing the basics at the moment, like introducing the newbies to the course, but the further I trained in a more specialist way, the more lessons I would be giving.
Surprisingly it suited me down to the ground.
Muth was still doing well in his team leader role, and Arden had taken to helping with billing and laws very well. Sephy, Brad, and a group of the other werewolves loved their runner jobs, so everyone was happy.
Being in such a positive, wonderful place had my mood on a constant high, and I didn't see that ever subsiding. This was it, this was where I was meant to be, and to be honest I couldn't believe that it had taken me so long to make the decision to stay. In hindsight it was such an easy decision.
As students held their hands up, and asked me a round of questions, I felt needed, I felt complete. I was starting to think more and more that this was the place that I wanted to be forever. Sure, I could still go home to see my grandma, but this was where I wanted to make my permanent place of residence.
It was no secret anymore that I was in a relationship with both Muth and Arden, and much to my surprise no one even batted an eyelid. They all just accepted us for what we were, and that helped me to fall deeper and deeper for the both of them. I was teetering dangerously close towards love, and I no longer minded the seriousness of that.
As the class filed out of the room, about to embark on the biggest adventure of their lives – not that many of them realized that yet – I smiled secretly to myself. I recalled being in that position, knowing without a doubt that I would only be at the Council of Species for a few short weeks. I remembered how naïve I was, how little I knew about the other species, and it made me want to go back in time and scream at myself.
Now though, now everything was different, and it was about to change all over again.
Months had passed, during which time I'd gotten to know so much more of myself. I was confident now, comfortable with who I was, and content to be here. And tonight I would tell them all…
“Hey there,” Muth popped his head around the door, sending me that heart stopping smile. “You up for that welcome party tonight?”
Usually, I would want to go, I loved partying and having fun, but tonight I had something different in mind. “Actually, would you mind if we stayed in tonight?” I asked. My heart raced in my chest. I tried to keep the smile down, not to give myself away, but it was so difficult when I was bursting with the secret that I had inside of myself. “Just the three of us?”
Sensing that I needed him, in the way that he always did, he nodded and agreed with me right away. “Of course. In fact, Arden is in my room right now. We could go and meet him there if you wanted.”
“Sounds good.”
I slipped my hand happily into his and allowed him to lead me away, just as I'd done once before when all of this had kicked off. If only I'd known back then that it wouldn't be a one night fling, that it would be the start of something incredible instead…
As we stepped into Muth's room, I felt my pulse rate kick up another notch. I was so excited, and that must have been showing on my face.
“What's going on?” Arden asked, sounding a little nervous. He sat up straighter and stared at me with concern plastered across his face. “You look… weird.”
“Both of you sit down, I have something to tell you.” I hopped from foot to foot as they obliged, glad to finally be able to get out the thoughts that I'd been having for a while now. “Okay, so I think that things have been going really well between us?” They both nodded enthusiastically. “And… well, I don't know about you, but my feelings are… growing stronger.” I felt my face heat up as I finally confessed everything. “So strong that… it might actually be… you know, love.” I cringed as I waited for them to laugh at me, but instead they both gave me very intense looks.
“Are you suggesting that you want to change?” Muth asked abruptly. “Because if so, I'm all for that. I have known for a while now that I'm in love with you, and I would do anything to have you sticking around forever.”
“Me too,” Arden agreed, sounding very enthusiastic for me. Relief flooded me as I realized that they were both on board. To be honest, I didn't have a backup plan if they weren't. “I love you too, and I would love that.”
I bit down on my lip as I considered the seriousness of becoming a hybrid. That was a real commitment, there was no backing out of it. It was final. But I wanted it. I wanted to be a part of the magical, special world that they were all involved in. I wanted to be a dragon hybrid, to live longer, to have all the chances to have a real relationship with them… including one day even babies.
I had already cleared it with my grandma, who was as cool with this as she was with me staying at the Council of Species. Now it was time to take that brave step and to finally make that happen. I wasn't even anxious about it, not that I knew much about the process. I was just sure that I was more than ready for a change.
It was time for me to move on, to finally start living.
“I do,” I said. “I want to become a hybrid, I want to become one of you.”
***
I stared at my brand new reflection in the mirror, admiring myself from every angle. The process of change had been far more painful than I was expecting, but it was all worth it now.
I still looked like me. I could still see myself in there, but I looked a lot better too. My legs seemed longer, my torso slimmer, my breasts bigger and a better shape. My face had altered too, but in an amazing way. I had chiseled cheekbones now, and bee stung lips. I looked like a photo shopped version of the person I once was. There was no way that I could be described as normal and boring now!
“I have to say,” Sephy burst out from behind me. “You wear dragon well, it sure looks good on you.”
I could almost feel her pride. It was emanating off of her, in the way that I imagined that Muth – and probably Arden too – always did. Everything made a lot more sense now, and I was grateful for that.
“So, what's next for you?” she asked me curiously. “Are you in it for the long haul now? I mean, is this thing… forever?”
I'd spoken to her about it a bit, but clearly it wasn't enough if she still felt the need to clarify. I knew exactly where my head was at, I knew for sure what I wanted, and I couldn't wait to get started with that. “I know it's crazy,” I confided in her. “But I love them both. I never thought that I had the capacity to love one person, never mind two. But I do… enough to take this amazing step.”
“And… are you glad?” she asked curiously. “I just want to check because I know that it's all a little overwhelming…”
I spun around to look at her, a big bright smile spread across my new, pretty incredible face. “I have never felt so certain about anything before, I have never been so happy.” And I really did mean that. I felt ecstatic, overjoyed, in the place I was supposed to be. This all felt so right. “Now, are you ready? We have a double date tonight.”
In a way, this was my unveiling to the rest of the world, not that I really cared about that. I wasn't bothered how the rest of the world saw me, only what the men that I loved thought… and from our experience shortly after I changed, they liked the new me very much.
“I have something to tell you, before we go,” Sephy grabbed hold of my arms and stared deeply into my eyes, panic emanating off of her. “I think that Brad might be about to propose.”
“You guys are getting married?” I blurted out before I could think properly. “I mean… congratulations! That's good news, right?”
She shook a little, showing her anxiety. I knew that she was something of a commitment-ph
obe, but she seemed so into Brad. That had to be real, right? I'd never seen her so dreamy over anyone before.
“I'm just scared. He might even do it tonight, and I don't know how I'll react.”
“You do want to marry him?” I said. This was so strange, I needed to get to the bottom of it before showing my new body off to anyone else. This was far more important.
“I do, I just… what if I freak out when he does it?”
She looked so small, so worried, that I couldn't help but giggle as I pulled her in for a hug. She'd been through all of my issues with me, now it was time for me to do the same for her. And I was more than happy to do that, it was what friends did, and this friendship was incredibly important to me.
“Well hopefully he does ask you tonight… then I can be there for you. I'll even answer him if you like!”
Before she could answer me, my phone bleeped loudly with a text message. “That will probably be the boys, growing impatient,” I murmured to her. “I'll just message them and tell them to wait. I'll tell them that I can't stop staring at my reflection…”
But it wasn't them, it was my grandma, just sending me a text to tell me that she loved me. When I thought about her, back at home thinking of me, wanting to know how I was, it made me well up with tears… but they were happy tears. I had everything now, a family member that I loved and who would talk to me whenever I needed her to. I had a friend who looked after me, and who trusted me enough to let me help her with her issues too… a real friend, someone that I could finally be myself around. And I also had my boys, my love, a happiness that I hadn't even been looking for.
I came to the Council of Species thinking that the most I would get out of it was some new knowledge, and instead what I'd discovered was a whole new life. It was all so much better than I'd ever wanted. It was the furthest thing from the normal human life, the boring humdrum job, in the tiny little town that I'd always grown up in, and I was so damn grateful for that.
‘I love you too xxxx' I texted her back quickly, my heart filling with love. ‘And thank you… for everything xxx'
THE END
= Bonus Book 6 of 11 =
Never Ending Love
Book 1: The Rebound
Abbie sighed as she climbed off of the plane, just to head straight onto the train that would take her home. She absolutely loved her career as a dancer, which was great because she’d spent her whole life trying to achieve it, but it wasn’t as glamorous as she’d assumed it was going to be. She thought it would be exciting to travel the world, to see different places, and to dance for all kinds of weird and wonderful projects. But the reality of it was a lot of travelling, a lot of sitting around waiting, and a whole heap of very late nights. In fact, she spent most of her life absolutely exhausted!
The world tour that she’d just been on with a semi-famous female singer had been amazing. The celebrity might have been a massive, trouble-causing diva, but the rest of the dancers were great – and that made her job easier and a lot more fun to do.
However, the star had just been caught with cocaine around her nose by a newspaper photographer, and although it wasn’t public news just yet, it would be very soon, so they had been forced to cut the tour short while they sent her to rehab. Her clean cut (very false) image was about to be destroyed, and her PR team wanted to be on top of it before the story exploded.
Abbie was sad to leave all of her new friends behind in such an abrupt fashion, but she was very excited to get back to see her boyfriend of three years – Greg – whom she had missed like crazy whilst being away. They texted and spoke on the phone a lot, but it wasn’t the same as seeing him in person.
Greg had been acting a little strangely recently, and Abbie was convinced that she knew why. She thought that he was finally going to propose, and she absolutely couldn’t wait for it. She’d waited a long time for him to show any sign of taking their relationship to the next level, and she’d dropped enough hints, so it was definitely time.
She stared at the reflection of her tired expression in the window of the train, critically examining her long dark hair and her green sleepy eyes. This wasn’t how she wanted to see Greg for the first time after so much time apart, but she was also aware that he wouldn’t be bothered. That was the best thing about their relationship. They were so comfortable around one another. He loved her no matter what.
Abbie smiled secretly to herself, pleased that she’d kept this homecoming a secret. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she burst in and completely surprised him.
He was going to be blown away!
***
Abbie crept through the front door, trying desperately to keep her giggles inside. The closer she got to seeing the love of her life, the more hysterical she became.
It was already late, so she knew that he would be in bed, and she half-expected to find him sleeping too. Despite that, she snuck quietly into the bathroom and made herself look a little more presentable, just in case. She smoothed down her hair and quietly washed her face, looking happier with each passing second.
The tiredness started to give way to something else, and she couldn’t wait another second longer.
“Honey, I’m hooome,” she sang out as she swung the bedroom door open.
But the sight that greeted her was the last thing in the world that she was expecting.
“What!?” she gasped, as her brain tried to process what she was looking at. Logically she understood perfectly, but it was taking a while for the emotional side of her to catch up on that. “What the fuck is going on?”
Greg was naked, on his knees on the bed, and in front of him, on all fours, was a woman that Abbie didn’t recognize. She was young, slim, blonde and very attractive. She actually noticed that fact before she realized that her boyfriend was fucking her.
This stranger was screwing the man she thought that she was going to marry.
“So… you aren’t going to propose then?” she heard herself asking stupidly.
“Oh my God, oh fuck,” Greg finally snapped into action and he pushed himself off of the stranger. “Oh shit, Abbie, what the hell are you doing home?” He ran his hands through his hair, looking like he wanted to tear some of it out. “I didn’t think… you aren’t supposed…”
“No,” she gasped, trying to actually get some breath back into her body. “I’m not supposed to be here. I’m still supposed to be away working.”
She watched in horror as the girl threw the bed sheets – Abbie’s bedsheets – over her naked body, growing redder by the second. She couldn’t work out if this girl knew about her or not… but she certainly looked more embarrassed than shocked.
But she didn’t matter. Not really – it was him in the wrong.
“Abbie…” said Greg. He put his hands on her shoulders and she flinched as if she’d been burned.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she snapped angrily. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me!”
“Abbie, I’m sorry,” he continued pathetically. “I didn’t mean…”
“You didn’t mean for me to find out,” she snapped, before spinning on her heels and walking back outside once more. She couldn’t be inside there anymore, trapped by that horrible atmosphere. It had been making her panicky and claustrophobic. It was much better out on the cold where she could actually sort out her brain.
The only problem was, what did she do now?
***
Living back with her parents at the grand old age of twenty-four was not how Abbie envisioned her life, but she hadn’t been left with any choice. Her cheating scumbag boyfriend had made that decision for her.
Her breakup with Greg had quickly gone from awful and emotional, to downright nasty and she’d been left with no choice but to return to the city. It was unfortunate that as a very successful banker, he earned a lot more than she did. The house they had lived in belonged to him outright, so that left her with nothing.
She eventually found out that the woman he was screwing th
at day was just a random chick – even he didn’t know her. She was just one of many, which made Abbie feel very sick. Greg had obviously been acting like a single man the entire time they were together, which was horrendous. She’d been dedicated to him, faithful to him, and he hadn’t cared about her at all.
She wasn’t sure what that said about her judgment, only that it wasn’t good. She’d loved a man that had done nothing but fuck her over.
Luckily the one good thing about her being back at home was that it had allowed her to reconnect with her old school friend, Lauren. They’d been best friends through most of their youth, and had only drifted apart when Abbie moved in with Greg, so it was nice for them to find each other once more.
It certainly helped Abbie to begin the awful moving-on process.
“Come on,” Lauren moaned on the phone. “You’ve been back for weeks now and we haven’t been out once. This party will be great, I promise you.”
Abbie still wasn’t quite feeling up to it, but as this party had been organized by Lauren’s event management company she couldn’t see any way that she could say no.
“Okay, I’ll be there,” she sighed. “What should I wear?”
She suddenly panicked about the lack of decent clothing that she had sitting in her wardrobe. As she spent most of the time on the road, she had started to live in sweat pants, using only the fancy outfits they were given on set to make herself look good.
“Don’t worry,” Lauren insisted. “We get sent hundreds of outfits from designers wanting to get their clothes photographed. I’ll send something over to you this afternoon.”
“Okay, thanks.” That was the clincher. There was no way that she could get out of it now! “I’ll see you then.”
