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-phobe, 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 wheneve
r 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
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