Knots of the Hybrid Queen: Claimed by Four Alphas

Chapter 23: OVERTAXED

Day two of training and I’d managed to not explode anything in the last four hours which felt like progress except my head was pounding and my nose was bleeding and apparently using vampire powers on an empty stomach was a terrible idea.

Nobody had mentioned that part.

I sat on the ground with my head between my knees while Draven pressed a cold cloth to the back of my neck and lectured me about hydration and caloric intake like I was a child who’d skipped lunch.

"I ate breakfast." The words came out muffled against my knees.

"Toast and coffee isn’t breakfast." His voice had that edge that meant he was worried but trying not to show it. "Your body is burning through energy faster than you can replace it. You need protein. Fat. Actual sustenance."

"I’ll eat after—" Another wave of dizziness hit and I had to stop talking to focus on not throwing up.

Through the bond Kael’s concern spiked sharp enough to make my chest ache, and thirty seconds later he was kneeling in front of me with a protein bar I absolutely didn’t want.

"Eat." Not a request.

I took the bar because arguing with an Alpha King while my vision was swimming seemed like a bad life choice, and managed three bites before my stomach decided it was done cooperating.

"That’s it." Kael stood, scooping me up like I weighed nothing. "Training’s over for today."

"We still have two hours—"

"And you’re bleeding from your nose and can’t stand upright." His arms tightened around me. "We’re done."

Pride wanted me to argue. Exhaustion won.

I let my head fall against his chest and tried to ignore how pathetic I felt being carried off a training field like I’d actually gotten hurt instead of just pushing myself too hard like an idiot.

Through the bonds I felt Riven’s worry mixing with Thorne’s quiet concern mixing with Draven’s clinical assessment of exactly how badly I’d overtaxed myself, and God I was so tired of being the weak link in a chain that was supposed to save everyone.

"Stop that." Kael’s voice rumbled through his chest. "I can feel you spiraling."

"I’m not spiraling, I’m being realistic." I closed my eyes. "The demon attacks tomorrow and I can barely use my powers for four hours without passing out. We’re going to lose."

"We’re not going to lose."

"You don’t know that."

"I know you’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met and you don’t know how to quit even when you should." He adjusted his grip, pulling me closer. "I know two days ago you couldn’t call shadows at all and now you can hold them for thirty minutes straight. I know your blood control has gone from ’exploding dummies’ to ’actually moving the blood where you want it.’"

"Barely."

"Barely is better than not at all." He pushed open the door to his room — our room, I guess, since I’d been sleeping there since the claiming — and set me on the bed with the kind of care that made my throat go tight. "You’re improving faster than anyone expected. You just need to stop trying to do it all in one day."

"We don’t have more than one day." The truth tasted bitter. "Tomorrow night the demon comes and either I’m ready or people die."

"Then we make sure you’re ready." He sat beside me, his hand finding mine. "But not by running yourself into the ground. Not by bleeding yourself dry trying to prove you’re strong enough."

"What if I’m not though?" The question came out smaller than I meant. Scared in a way I hated admitting. "What if I get out there and freeze? What if my powers don’t work when it matters? What if I’m just—" I had to stop, breathe, force the words out. "What if I’m not the Hybrid Queen everyone thinks I am?"

The silence stretched long enough that I thought maybe he didn’t have an answer, which honestly would have been better than whatever platitude he was probably coming up with.

"You want to know what I think?" His voice was quiet. Serious in a way that made me look up.

I nodded because my throat was too tight to speak.

"I think you’re terrified you’re going to let everyone down. I think you spent two years surviving alone and now you’re surrounded by people counting on you and that scares you more than the demon ever could." His thumb traced circles on the back of my hand. "I think you’re so busy being afraid you’re not enough that you can’t see you’re already more than we need."

The tears came before I could stop them, hot and humiliating, and I turned my face away because crying in front of him felt like losing some battle I didn’t know I was fighting.

"Hey." His hand cupped my jaw, turning me back. "Don’t hide from me."

"I’m not—" My voice cracked. "I’m just tired and my head hurts and I’m scared and I don’t know how to do this."

"Do what?"

"Be what you need me to be." The confession tore out of me. "Be the Alpha Queen. Be the Hybrid Queen. Be strong enough and powerful enough and—" I couldn’t finish.

"I don’t need you to be any of those things." He pulled me against his chest and his arms came around me solid and sure. "I just need you to be you. Scared and stubborn and still showing up even when you want to run. That’s enough. You’re enough."

I pressed my face against his shirt and let myself cry, really cry, for the first time since the claiming, and through the bond I felt his absolute certainty that he meant every word.

The problem was I didn’t believe him.

How could I when tomorrow night I’d have to face a demon that had been dormant for decades and my powers were barely reliable enough to not accidentally kill someone on my own side? frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

The knock on the door made me pull back, wiping at my face with the back of my hand.

"Come in." Kael’s voice. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Riven entered with a tray of food that smelled incredible and also made my stomach turn. "Isabelle sent this up. Said you needed to eat before you pass out again."

"I didn’t pass out." But my voice was weak and unconvincing.

"You were thirty seconds from it." Draven appeared behind Riven with what looked like medical supplies. "Let me check your vitals."

"I’m fine—"

"You’re not fine." Thorne’s rough voice from the doorway. "Let him check."

Four alphas, all worried, all hovering, and I was too exhausted to fight them.

Draven’s hands were cool and clinical checking my pulse, my eyes, the blood vessels in my nose, and when he finally stepped back his expression was carefully neutral.

"You overtaxed your vampire abilities. Your body’s trying to compensate by drawing from your wolf side which is why you’re dizzy." He pulled out what looked like vitamins. "Take these. Eat. Rest. Tomorrow you train for two hours maximum."

"The demon—"

"Will still be there whether you train for two hours or ten." His voice went firm. "Killing yourself before the fight won’t help anyone."

He was right. I hated that he was right.

I took the vitamins because arguing seemed pointless and managed half the food before my body decided it was done, and then I was lying down with Kael stretched out beside me and Riven reading in the chair and Draven organizing medical supplies and Thorne standing guard at the window.

Protected. Surrounded. Claimed.

And still convinced I was going to fail when it mattered most.

Through the bonds I felt them trying to push confidence and certainty and faith, and I wanted so badly to believe them.

I just didn’t know how.