The Hybrid’s Second Chance
Chapter 65

Cornelia's POV

Leaving Julia and Sandra, I teleported myself to Joshua, who I sensed was currently in his office alone. It had been a while since I had seen him. Materializing in front of his desk, he looked up at me. After so many years, he had gotten used to me appearing out of nowhere, so he wasn't startled, but he did seem surprised to see me. "Cornelia! What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in a while. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, well that depends on how you look at things," I said, looking into his amber eyes, which were the exact same color as Julia's. "Where's Vanessa?"

"She's with the girls. I think they're doing some future Luna training right now."

"Do you have a couple of minutes to talk?"

"Yeah, I can spare a few. Would you like to sit down?" he asked, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. I took a seat before looking him in the eyes again. Even after all these years, and through the rejection, my heart still wanted him. I had never mated again, and frankly, I didn't even know if I had another mate out there somewhere. "What's going on?"

"Firstly, before I start, I want you to promise you'll hear me out and won't go flying into an Alpha rage."

"Oh boy," he replied, sitting back in his chair. "I don't think I'm going to like where this is going."

"I'll start with the good news. Julianna has been mated to the Lycan King of the Crystal Sky pack, Alpha Alexander Hudson."

"Wow! That's amazing. I'm so happy for her! How did that happen? Wasn't she in the October Moon pack?"

"Yes. Now here's where things get complicated. She originally mated to the Alpha of October Moon Logan. Now I know I told you she was happy and thriving in her pack, and while that wasn't completely dishonest, it wasn't exactly honest." "Oh? And what does that mean?"

"She might have been unwelcome in that pack for being a hybrid."

"What do you mean 'unwelcome?' They took her in."

"They did, but they weren't the kindest to her. Sandra and her mate were amazing to her at least."

"Could you just get to the point please?"

"They were terrible to her, the Alpha, Gregory and his son Logan. They abused her and once she found out Logan was her mate, Gregory ordered the Beta Marvin to kill her." I said all of this very fast because the color of his face was slowly changing to beat red the longer, I talked.

"THEY DID WHAT!" he bellowed, making the pictures on the wall shake. His eyes were glowing, and I knew that meant his wolf Cody was now in control. "Calm down," I told him.

"CALM DOWN? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?! ALL THESE YEARS YOU TOLD ME MY DAUGHTER WAS SAFE AND LOVED. HAPPY AND THRIVING, AND NOW YOU TELL ME SHE WAS ABUSED AND ALMOST KILLED!! I'LL KILL THOSE OCTOBER MOON BAS*ARDS MYSELF!" I simply sat back and let him Alpha rage, fully aware I had brought this on myself. Once he finally stopped yelling, I said,

"Are you finished?" He was breathing heavily, but his eyes had gone back to their piercing amber, so I knew he was back in control.

"Why? Why did you lie to me about Julianna for fifteen years?"

"Because of this right here, your anger. I knew if you knew the truth, you would have waged war on October Moon. Then where would we be? Once again, Julia would have been without a pack, and she would never have found her second-chance mate. Everything that happened to her happened for a reason." Joshua sat back in his chair, surveying me with what I could only assume was still a lot of anger. I didn't feel bad for what I did. This is exactly how he would have reacted. He wasn't the most level-headed Alpha out there."I deserved to know what was happening to my daughter."

"I know, but I'm here telling you now."

"Why exactly are you telling me all this now?"

"Because things have sort of blown up. Once Julia left October Moon and found Alexander, Logan came looking for her. I had to intervene to save them and their bond. The elders of my coven found out and called a hearing to figure out my punishment. Julia found out where my coven was, and she and Alex came to help me. That's when the entire story came out, and now they know about her." He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "It's okay, they promised not to come after her. The speech she gave was very convincing. However, they did banish me from the coven. I've been living at Crystal Sky since."

"I have so many questions," he said, his face flashing through about five different emotions at once.

"I'm sure you do, and I want to answer all of them, but I thought Julia could help me." His head snapped up, and he looked confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought I could bring her here to meet you, if you're okay with that." He just stared at me with his mouth slightly open. "Now that the elders know about her, there's no point keeping her away anymore."

"..... Of course, I want to see her," he said. Melting away was the angry Alpha I had just been with, and in his place was a father who wanted nothing more than to see his daughter again for the first time in fifteen years. The longing in his eyes made my heart ache for him. Even through the rejection and him taking another mate, he never left my soul. "Does she want to see me?" he asked with concern, like she might hate him for being absent for all these years.

"Yes, she does." We looked each other in the eyes, conveying so much emotion without having to say a word. "I can go get her and bring her back here."

"Right now?"

"Yes, she's with Sandra planning her Luna ceremony. I'll be right back." I stood up and teleported back to Julia in her office. I smiled at her, as she looked at me with worry.

"What did he say?" Julia asked.

"He's waiting for me to bring you to him." Julia looked up at Sandra.

"It's okay," Sandra told her. "I'm happy for you. Go meet your birth father. I'll go find something to occupy my time with while you're gone." Standing up, Julia gave her mom a hug before walking over to me. She took my hand, and I quickly teleported us back to Joshua's office. Julia swayed slightly beside me, still not used to teleporting. I tightened my grip on her hand, trying to keep her steady and grounded. Joshua was staring at her with disbelief all over his face. I wasn't sure if he had frozen in his chair or not. "Joshua, this is your daughter Julianna," I told him gently.

"Julia, meet your birth father."

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," he repeated shakily. I had never seen him lost for words before. Joshua stood up slowly and walked around his desk, so he was now standing in front of us. The love in his eyes as he gazed at her, made tears begin to well up in my eyes. "You're so beautiful. You look just like your mother." Julia smiled and looked at the floor.

"She has your eyes though," I said.

"I heard you've been through a lot," he said to her. She looked up from the floor and into his eyes.

"Yeah, it's been an interesting few years."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"I know, it's okay. I don't blame you for anything."

"I told him we would tell him everything that happened. He has a lot of questions for us."

"Alright, I'll try to answer what I can," she told him. Joshua sat back down at his desk, while Julia and I took seats in front. For the next couple of hours, we told Joshua everything that had happened, starting from the very beginning with Julia at October Moon. I could tell Joshua was trying to keep his anger under control for Julia's sake. Once we were finished, Joshua looked slightly overwhelmed.

"I don't know what to say... What you've had to go through, I'm so, so sorry. I should have taken you in here, kept you safe."

"I know why you didn't. Fear is a powerful thing, and it can make people make decisions that might not be the best, but seem like the only way at the time," Julia told him.

"She has your level of wisdom and maturity," Joshua told me.

"And stubbornness," I added. Julia laughed, which made Joshua smile.

"You know you have sisters," he told her.

"I do, Cornelia told me."

"Do you want to meet them? I understand if it's too much right now though." Julia looked at me, and I could sense her hesitation. I kept forgetting just how young she still was because, with her maturity, she seemed so much older. This was a lot to put on the plate of an eighteen-year-old. "Maybe we can save that for next time. This has been a lot for one day," I told him.

"That's okay, I get it. It'll give me a little time to warn them about the situation," he said. "I'd love for you to meet my mate Vanessa as well. I've told her about you, and I know she'd love to meet you. Maybe Cornelia can bring you back and I can give you a tour of our pack?" "I'd like that," Julia told him. Joshua leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk.

"I wanted to say thank you for coming here and meeting me. I'm sure it must have been a hard decision, but I'm so happy you did."

"I'm just happy you wanted to see me."

"Of course, I did. I know we had to give you up, but I never stopped loving you."

"Neither of us did," I added, taking her hand. Julia seemed to be at a loss for words, so I said, "We should probably get back to your mom. We can't let her plan everything by herself." She and I stood up, followed by Joshua. He came around his desk again to get closer to us.

"Can I hug you?" he asked Julia, who shook her head yes. I could see the happiness on his face as he took Julia in his arms for the first time in a long time. The last time he held her was when he told her goodbye. Finally, he released his grip on her. She took my hand, ready to depart.

"I'll see you soon," she told him with a smile.

"You're welcome anytime," he said, returning her smile. With a soft pop, we were gone and materializing back in Julia's office.