Cuddling with hybrids was one of my favourite pastimes, especially when it was with Hobi and even more so when the weather was cool like this. The emperor tamarin hybrid was always so active during the day, but he always made me feel extra special when he quietened down and just enjoyed the peacefulness of laying in each other's arms. There were only ever feelings of comfort and platonic love whenever I would cuddle with him since he had already found his destined mate, who was like another brother to me.

Like many animals in the wild, hybrids each had a mate – or in some cases, several mates. There were two types of hybrid mate bonds, destined and chosen.

Hybrids who had predetermined mates assigned by fate or destiny were basically soulmates and found the pull to each other impossible to ignore, especially after marking. Their scents were harmonious and mingled to create a delicious aroma... or so I was told. They mated for life, never finding another mate if theirs passed away first.

Chosen mates were drawn together by scent, and often had scent combinations that didn't really go together – think green apples and roses. They still felt drawn to each other, but it was more because they knew via the scents rather than outside forces like destiny.

As a human, I could not smell either hybrid or human scents, but if I was destined to be a mate for a hybrid, then I would be able to smell, and taste, their scent. That's right, according to the hybrids I knew and what research had said, however a person smelled, it was also how they tasted.

I often wondered whether I would be one of those humans with a hybrid mate, but after my 30th birthday last year, I began to wonder if I was meant to be with a human.

Or am I not meant to be with anyone at all?

From my hybrid friends, I had been told that my scent was delicious, like a luxurious creamy dessert infused with the finest vanilla beans. Apparently, it was sweet, inviting and very comforting; something I was appreciative of when I had distressed, sick and anxious hybrids around me. Not all scents were nice like mine though; nasty and hateful people had a bitter or rotten aroma or undertone to them.

Sometimes I wished I could smell scents, but then at other times I was grateful I couldn't as I think it would get overwhelming.

I could hear Hobi, or Seokie as I called his animal form, sniffing the air, his little whiskers in his adorably large white moustache wiggling back and forth. He was currently in his animal form, and it was so cute how he was preening my hair. Unlike emperor tamarins in the wild, Hobi wasn't pulling bugs from me to eat; running his tiny hands through hair was his way of showing that he trusted and loved the people closest to him.

At 17, Hoseok had been surrendered to Sanctuary after his elderly owner, Miss Clara, had passed away from a short battle with cancer. Being the one who had helped the two find a loving family together shortly after my shelter had opened, I was deeply saddened to hear about her passing. Since he was still technically a minor, Hobi stayed at the shelter and we were able to enrol him into school, where he completed his education and went on to become a teacher himself. As soon as he graduated university, I hired him as one of the teachers at Sanctuary, and by the way the young hybrids loved him, I knew I'd made the right choice.

"Seokie, as much as I love your cute little monkey self, I need help in choosing what to order for dinner tonight. It's a special occasion, so we need to choose well." I smiled, watching his adorable monkey butt scamper across the room and into his bedroom, where about a minute later a fully clothed Hoseok appeared, looking nice and warm in his sweater and sweatpants. I giggled at the monkey socks he had adorning his feet; Hoseok loved weird and wonderful fashion.

On the way back to the couch, he grabbed the bundle of our favourite takeout menus before coming to sit beside me. "I love Seokie cuddles, but I think Hobi ones are my favourites," I sighed, leaning into him to scratch his little ears hidden beneath his hair.

"Why's that?" he laughed, pushing his head into my hand as his tail wrapped around my back to fuse us together.

"Because Seokie can't talk to me. He's adorable and I love him to bits, but I cherish our time spent together talking, hanging out, cuddling, or having our usual coffee breaks." I kissed him on the cheek, internally swooning at how he blushed at the action. "You're one of my favourite people in the world, Hoseok Jung."

"I love you too, Cara. I hope you never change for anyone. You are beautiful just the way you are."

As someone who has been chubby my whole life, I've had my fair share of people judging me about my weight. I wished I could say I was one of those glamourous online models who intentionally have a juicy ass because of discipline and hard work, but mine came from preferring food over exercise. I have big everything – boobs, butt, thighs... but most importantly, heart.

There have been only a few people who have never judged me for my appearance, with Hoseok being the most vocal one to compliment me; Jin has too, but because he's family, my brain doesn't always believe his words since he has to love me.

There are a lot of judgemental people out there, so I chose to surround myself with people who loved me for me – Hobi, Jin, Bang Chan, Lisa and a few others. I might not have too many friends, but those I did have, I loved fiercely and would do anything for them.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ⋆͛♡⋆͛ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

"Mmmm, this tastes so good!" Jungkook exclaimed, shovelling more of the pesto pasta into his mouth. My heart always felt full watching Jin's hybrid mate enjoying his food. As a Boxer hybrid, Jungkook loved his food – much like my brother.

"How was work, Kook?" Hobi asked, placing a marinated chicken skewer onto his plate then another on his mate's plate. "I heard you have another patient released from your roster?"

Jungkook was one of the physiotherapists employed at Sanctuary. He predominantly worked with adult hybrids who had been injured through mistreatment or abuse. Some of the stories that came with his patients were heart breaking. 

Initially I had been a little worried about hiring the Boxer hybrid when I saw his resume. Because Boxer breeds were so full of energy like their animal counterpart, there was a concern that the hybrid might push those under his care too hard; however, upon meeting him, I found Jungkook had the sweetest disposition that made everyone feel safe whenever they were around him. He also had a way of pushing his patients in a way that was gentle yet yielded the best results.

"Yeah, the swan hybrid who had her arm injured in an attack is all healed now," JK replied, a proud smile on his face. "I'd been working with her for months to get her strength and range of motion back."

"My handsome mate, everyone," Jin cooed, proudly running his hands through the Boxer's brown hair and scratching his floppy ears. "Mending bodies and breaking hearts wherever he goes."

My brother was so proud of his chosen mate. The two had met in the Sanctuary cafeteria whilst waiting in line and it had been love at first sight for Jin, and first sniff for Jungkook, who found the mint scent of the older human man irresistible. Once hearing that my brother's scent was peppermint, I laughed every time he ate anything chocolate, since to our hybrid friends, he smelled like his dreaded choc-mint flavour.

After we finished demolishing the delicious spread Hobi and I had ordered, the five of us made our way to the couches in front of the roaring fireplace. The nights were getting colder since the start of winter was only a few weeks away and it was letting us know it would be here soon. Samta's winters, while not bitterly cold like it was up in the north of the country, was still filled with light snowfall. I was looking forward to our annual family snowball fights and then warming up around a fire with hot chocolates and plenty of marshmallows.

I looked across at the two men whose house we were in, waiting for the human to announce his news. Namjoon, Hoseok's destined mate and fiancé, smiled so widely in excitement, his dimples puncturing his cheeks like deep craters. "So, I got told today that my name will be on the election docket," he exclaimed, blushing as his mate smothered him with excited kisses.

Namjoon Kim was an inspiring man, who I was proud to call my close friend. I'd grown close with him through my brother; the two met at their all-boy's school when they were seated beside each other and had eventually become childhood friends. I saw Namjoon as my second brother, the three of us always together. So, I was incredibly happy when Joon popped the question to Hobi 18 months ago, and I'm equally as excited to see them finally say 'I Do' in a few weeks.

Initially, Hoseok wanted to get married straight away, but Namjoon was a politician leading the fight for hybrid rights and he wanted to wait until the hard work of filing several bills had concluded. His most important bill to date – the one to allow hybrids the right to vote – had been passed at the start of the year, and now, Namjoon was about to enter the political big leagues as one of the federal parliamentary members for our country, New Kanoa.

I was so proud of the hard work he'd put in, and I had a feeling that when the news breaks tomorrow about his election campaign, hybrids across the country will be excited, relieved and happy that a great man is helping to create change for them.

Hybrids in New Kanoa have many of the same rights as humans – they're allowed to marry their hybrid or human mates, could work and have a successful career, and have families of their own; however, there's still a long way to go seeing as they're still not allowed to own their own house, needed to be adopted, and often faced persecution, brutality and discrimination wherever they went.

It was on Namjoon's agenda to do away with the last archaic laws that kept hybrids on a lower level to humans. Through his recently passed bills and law reforms, the use of collars had been done away with, hybrids could open their own bank accounts, and businesses could no longer refuse entry to hybrids unless they wanted to face public scrutiny and severe fines.

"You're one step closer to your dream of being president, my handsome stud muffin," Hobi gushed, incredibly proud of his mate and everything he stood for.

"Hobi," Namjoon whined cutely. "I thought we agreed that if I'm not allowed to call you my hunky monkey in public, you're not allowed to call me that."

I giggled at the adorable couple, who both wore matching flushed cheeks at the unintended admission of their private nicknames. "You won't be complaining later tonight when I show you exactly how proud I am of you," the monkey hybrid whispered, unfortunately not as quietly as he thought since I clearly heard him with my human ears.

"And on that note, I'm gonna love you and leave you," I declared, standing and collecting the glasses that had accumulated on the coffee table and placing them in the kitchen. "Thanks for cheering me up with cuddles, Hobi," I said, hugging my friend.

I chuckled at the other hybrid's high-pitched whine at missing out on cuddles. "We still good for going to the park tomorrow?" I asked the Boxer as I gave him ear scratches, "or would you prefer to cuddle at home with a movie?"

Laughter filled the room as Jungkook's tail wagged a million miles an hour at the thought of going to the park – AKA his happy place. He might look like a man with cute floppy ears and a long tail, but right now JK was acting like a happy puppy about to go on a walk.

"Thanks, Sis," Jin playfully glared as he pulled his mate away from me to try and calm the excitable Boxer hybrid. "Now he's gonna be so excited about the park that he won't be able to sleep. Just letting you know – I'm putting all my coffees onto your tab tomorrow... and there will be many, many of them."

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

After the mostly nice day I had in the park with Jungkook, I was excited to escape into my own happy place – my bed.

JK and I had been having fun playing with his favourite bright red ball, with me throwing it and the Boxer hybrid eagerly running to retrieve it. Just as we were both getting tired and hungry, a group of human teenage girls swooned over Jungkook's handsome looks and athletic body before turning to me and proceeding to hurl loudly whispered offensive fat-shaming comments my way.

Their attempts to make themselves look more attractive to my friend were unsuccessful. When Jungkook told them that not only was I prettier and more beautiful than any of them, the young girls lost it. Firing one last parting shot as we left the area, the hybrid proclaimed that unlike their rotten scents that were making him feel sick, mine was just like me – lovely, sweet and very comforting.

"Don't listen to them," he had said into my neck as he dragged me away, taking in my scent that was strongest there.

After we'd left the park, we headed to our favourite café for lunch. "They're jealous because they are probably hangry," he'd smiled, releasing me and pulling out my chair. "If I was straight, I'd never go for someone like them if I was offered a choice between a skinny woman or one with a little more padding... I need some cushioning. Why do you think I love Jin so much? He's got a cute plump ass." I had giggled so much that coffee came out of my nose.

As I laid in bed wrapped up in a few blankets, I began thinking about how I loved that I was successful enough to own my own home; however, I hated that I was so lonely. Sure, I could adopt a hybrid to keep me company, but I didn't want one simply to be like a glorified pet. I wouldn't mind if I was a mate to one though since we'd be equals in the relationship. I was already the boss of many people at work, I didn't want it at home too.

Plus, with the hours I worked, I didn't have a lot of time to myself. People often thought that I had loads of staff working underneath me. But in reality, it was only Bang Chan who helped me make all the decisions for Sanctuary. It meant I spent a lot of time working, and making sure all the paperwork was done. Not only did I have to keep records on every hybrid who came through our doors, but I had to sign off on the medications, equipment and staffing for the hospital, as well as oversee the orders of food, linens, toys, games and furniture required for the shelter side.

I'd been considering hiring someone to be my right-hand person, someone who could help take some of the pressure off me; it would need to be a perfect fit though if I was to consider having someone co-run my baby with me. If Namjoon wasn't going to change the political landscape for the better in New Kanoa, I'd have offered him the job in a heartbeat. My dream would be to have a Chief of Operations, as well as a director each for the hospital and the shelter.

As sleep began to cloud my thoughts, I wished that I could fall asleep in someone's arms, especially when it was cold like tonight. I hoped that there was someone out there who would love me, and I hoped they'd come into my life soon.