The Hybrid’s Second Chance
Chapter 20

Cornelia's POV

After my meeting with the elders yesterday, in which all they wanted to talk about was me ending my class earlier than expected, I was sitting in my office working on student schedules for our next round of classes. Suddenly, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. Something was wrong with Julia; I could feel it. She was in pain. I stood up and locked the door to my office; teleporting seemed too dangerous, so I decided to astral project to her first and teleport if absolutely necessary. Sitting back down in my chair, I focused my energy on Julianna and taking myself to her. When I opened my eyes, I was standing in the woods. I looked around trying to find where Julia was, then I spotted her behind me standing in a clearing near some equipment. A man was running at her with a knife. Julia turned and ran at full speed into the woods. I glided after them in my invisible form. The man threw the knife and it hit Julia in her lower back, causing her to fall to the ground.

"NO!" I yelled, but realized in this form, there was nothing I could do. Julia pulled the knife out and rolled over to face the man who advanced towards her, but a large tan wolf came from behind and sank their teeth into her arm. Julia took that opportunity to get to her feet and keep running. I didn't stay to see how the fight turned out but followed my daughter, thinking of a way to help her. I couldn't show myself to her because that would raise questions, and we looked so similar she would know instantly. I continued to follow her until she collapsed under a tree. I bent down beside her and whispered in her ear.

"Keep going my love, you have to keep going." She rolled over and began to crawl, and I stayed with her the entire time. I wasn't supposed to use my mind powers on anyone without their permission, but I was desperate. It came to my attention; we had now entered Lycan territory. I could sense them and smell the nearby lake. Maybe I could get one of them to follow me to her. Julia finally fell to the ground and wasn't moving anymore. I had to get someone to her now. Coming out of the woods, I spotted a man and woman walking. This had to be the Alpha. I could sense his powerful aura, but it was more than an Alpha aura. The girl had one too, but not as pronounced. I went to his side and whispered in his ear.

"Take her for a run in the woods to the lake."

"Would you like to go for a run in the woods?" he asked the woman, who protested. I huffed out in anger.

"Ask her to go for a walk," I breathed into his ear again.

"Right, just a walk?" I went over to the girl now.

"Go for the da*n walk!" I told her.

"Fine, but just a quick one." They went for their walk, much slower than I would have liked. Finally, they came to the lake where the Alpha asked if she wanted to go for a swim, to which she responded no. I was about to whisper in his ear again, when he stopped and sniffed the air.

"Mate," he said out loud. The girl he was with seemed just as surprised as I was.

"Holy sh*t," I breathed. Julia was his mate, which meant he was her second chance.

"I have to find her," he said to the woman, who did not look happy in the slightest. The Alpha took off into the woods, leaving this girl yelling after him. I glided along behind him, making sure he found her. I breathed a sigh of relief, as I watched him scoop Julia up in his arms. The girl had followed him and began arguing with him.

"For fu*k sake." I went over to him and whispered in his ear again. "Just take her and leave this woman here."

"I need to get my mate to the hospital." I stood there as he ran off towards his pack with Julia cradled in his arms. I pulled myself back into my office and got to my feet. Telepathically, I told Dianna that she had to come to my office right away. A few minutes later, she burst into my office without knocking. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

"Close the door," I told her. Once she had, I started telling her what had happened. "I got a feeling Julia was in trouble, so I projected myself to her. She was in the middle of the woods running from a man with a knife. He hit her with the knife, but before he could do anything else, Sandra came and stopped him. Julia kept running and eventually passed out. I found a Lycan Alpha and led him to her."

"Wait, how did you lead him to her?" She knew what I was about to say.

"I might have used my mind suggestion powers on him."

"Cornelia, you know that's against the law. You can't use mind powers on other supernatural beings. We're not allowed to meddle in their lives or force them to do something."

"I didn't force him, I just guided him to her. Thankfully, I did, because it turns out he's her second chance mate."

"What? What about Logan? What happened to him?"

"I don't know. Marvin must have told her she could reject him and helped her escape."

"But if Sandra was fighting one of her own pack members, that means she's going to be in trouble."

"I know, and I didn't see Marvin anywhere either."

"Are you going to go back and look for him?"

"Yes, now that Julia is safe in the Lycan pack with her new mate, I'll go look for Marvin."

"What is he's dead?"

"Then there's nothing I can do for him. Can you make sure no one comes in?"

"Of course, but be quick." I nodded my head and went to sit in my chair again. This time, I focused on Marvin and where he was. I opened my eyes, and I was in a cold, dark place. It was made of old stone, and there were barred doors lining a narrow hallway. This must be the dungeons. I could hear some voices coming from down the hall. As I got closer, I could make out what they were saying. "Sandra, it's going to be okay. Julia is going to be fine."

"You don't know that. I saw her get hit with the knife. She's probably bleeding somewhere in the woods alone and scared." I peered into one of the cells and saw Marvin, sitting on a bed wearing a gray shirt and shorts. Looking into the cell next to him, I saw Sandra sitting on a bed in the same gray outfit.

"Hopefully she can make it to a nearby pack or something," Marvin said.

"The Alpha is going to kill us," Sandra told him bleakly.

"Yeah, probably." he responded. I pulled myself back to my body to tell Dianna what I saw.

"They're in the dungeons. Sandra said the Alpha is going to kill them. It looks like they got caught trying to help Julia escape."

"Oh Goddess."

"I can't let them die. We have to help them!"

"Cornelia, we can't. We can't interfere with their lives or their fate. Maybe this was what was supposed to happen all along." I couldn't accept that answer. These people have loved my daughter like their own for the last 15 years. They had risked their lives to help her escape. This couldn't be how their life ended.

"You're singing a very different tune than the other day when you wanted me to go talk to Mavin and ask him to help Julia escape."

"That was different. You were only asking for his help to make sure she lived. You didn't have a hand in anything. You're talking about teleporting them out of their cells to Goddess knows where. It's too dangerous. We can't get involved." "I'm sorry, I can't accept that."

"Cornelia, don't. What if the elders find out?"

"Then I'll take their punishment knowing I saved two people's lives." I closed my eyes and teleported myself back to the dungeons, into Marvin's cell. I knew Dianna couldn't follow me because teleporting was an upper-level power that she hadn't mastered yet. "Cornelia!" Marvin said in a surprised yet hushed voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get the two of you out. I can't let you die for saving my daughter."

"Marvin, who are you talking to?" Sandra asked.

"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you," he said.

"What?"

"I'll tell you in a second. Cornelia, you need to get out of here before someone sees you."

"I'm not leaving without the two of you. I can get you out of here."

"No, our fate was sealed the second we decided to fight. This is our punishment. The Alpha might have mercy on us, and just keep us down here."

"How am I supposed to leave knowing I could have saved you both?"

"Because this is the way it's supposed to be. If we die, Julia is going to need one person looking out for her. You can't do that if you save us, and your coven finds out." I knew he was right, but it didn't make things any easier. I investigated Marvin's determined face. It was clear he had accepted what was going to happen to him.

"Fine, I'll leave for now." I was about to teleport back but stopped. "Marvin, thank you for everything you did for Julia and helping her escape. She's alive and safe, I made sure of it." In the blink of an eye, I was back in my room, looking at Dianna pacing back and forth. "Cornelia, what did you do?"

"Nothing, I didn't do anything. They didn't want to come with me."

"They're smart. They know this is their fate."

"It doesn't mean I have to like it or that I've given up." She gave me a disapproving look.

"You're the High Priestess of this coven. You can't get involved in their business. Please, I want to help them too, after everything they've done, but we can't." I gave her a pleading look, but she looked determined about her decision. I hung my head, knowing she was right. I had to leave Sandra and Marvin to their fate. At least for now.