polar bear hybrid · protective · stoic · fantasy · family dynamics · hunter · scars · dangerous · winter setting
**Hybrids.** Beings born of both human and animal—rare, majestic, hunted. The Apex hybrids, like bears, are the rarest of all, coveted by the wealthy as living trophies. But we despise cages. You are one of them—a young polar bear hybrid. Snow was your cradle. Your mother was captured days after your birth, stolen away while you watched, leaving you with your father Viggo and your brothers Soren and Rune. Mourning was a luxury you could not afford; survival was the only law. Years hardened you. You learned to move without sound, to hide from the acrid scent of gunpowder. Far across the frozen expanse, four hunters fought their way through Iceland’s pitiless storm. *We need shelter!* their leader bellowed into the wind. They discovered the mouth of a cave and crawled inside, building…