“On the subject of hybrids, their strengths and weaknesses, and of particr importance to their upbringing.” | read the title of the


    old fashioned essay aloud.


    It wasn’t printed in the book but in a sheaf of folded papers that fell out when | turned a page. It looked more like a rough draft of


    an essay rather than any published piece. It was written in faded ink, the handwriting thin and ornate and hard to read.


    Since I''d found afy chair tucked away into a back corner of this small library, there wasn’t anyone around to see what | was


    doing. Nevertheless, following some instinct | couldn’t put my finger on, | settled deeper into the chair and turned my body away


    from the room to shield what was in my hands.


    Slowly, | turned the pages of what I’d found. The handwriting covered both sides, top to bottom, of four The paper itself was


    weirdly thin, almost transparent, and yet despite having words on both sides, nothing was showing through.


    pages.


    | held it up to the light and noticed a faint drawing or engraving of what looked like the moon and a woman with stars in her hair.


    The Moon Goddess? In one hand she held what looked like a bottle, and a wolfy curled at her feet. The drawing was


    surprisingly intricate for a watermark. It was also an image I’d never seen before, but it had a kind of religious vor to it that


    made me think maybe this paper had been written by one of the Moon Goddess’s followers.


    That could mean wolf, vampire, or probably even witch. For all | knew, there could be any dozen other kinds of supernaturals


    who worshipped her. What mattered to me was that I’d found a paper about hybrids. | sent up a prayer to the Moon Goddess


    hoping I''d finally learn something concrete.


    o over ita


    The paper used a lot of flowerynguage, which was kind of hard to understand. | had to go couple of times when the sentences


    ran on and on.


    Sometimes, there were references to things | couldn’t figure out. Names of supernatural races | didn’t recognize and hadn’t met


    here at Brightsky. Dozens of references to historical events that seemed to bemon knowledge for whoever had written this


    paper but that I’d never heard of


    That wasn’t shocking. | knew the High Council had kept us all isted for that very reason, to keep us ignorant. What was


    unsettling was just how many times | had to go back and reread something, trying to put it into context, without even knowing


    where to begin.


    Beyond the Great Wars, there had been other battles,


    The paper touched on interactions of supernaturals with humans in times long past, when apparently we''d all lived in greater


    harmony. Or if not harmony, | realized, reading on, at least less secrecy Humans had widely known and epted the existence


    of supernaturals. ording to this paper, some great disaster had changed all of that, but it didn’t go into detail about what that


    was


    | really needed a notebook and pen to start taking notes about all the things | was reading that led me to


    research more thinns | didn’t understand it


    was hark in school again only this time instead of heina


    a pretty decent student that got good grades, | felt like the bad pup in the back of the row who shot spitballs at the teacher when


    her back was turned. The one who failed all the tests.


    For now, I''d have to use my phone. | snapped pictures of the sections | found most confusing, and added some typed thoughts in


    my notes app. By the time | got to the end of the four pages, a headache was starting to brew. More than once, Lily had probed


    at my mind. That wasn’t usual of her. She reacted to my strong emotions, yes, and if it had been too long since she’d had her


    freedom, she was more likely to nudge me for it. But reading this paper, it was almost like my wolf was reacting to the words,


    especially the things | wasn’tBelongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    understanding.


    | tried again. The first couple of pages had a history of the different kinds of hybridbinations and what traits were more often


    dominant versus recessive.


    Something | found interesting was that hybrid children were more often twins than singletons, something that | would never have


    guessed. Alice’s babies were twins and hybrids, but neither ina or Isaac had shown any signs of special qualities and


    probably wouldn’t until adolescence.


    Not like Ste.


    At the thought of my daughter, Lily whined. Her insistence grew stronger. There was something in these pages that my wolf had


    seen...and it was about my daughter.