Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Adam Wick.

Tyson and I were lounging in the cinema room while I drowned my misery with booze. How did a single misunderstanding punch me in the balls so hard? I made a joke for Goddess sakes! Okay. Maybe I lost my cool when he shot me down and castrated me in front of my friends, but what was I supposed to do? Alphas, in general, didn’t take it lightly when others disrespected them.

“He didn’t disrespect us, dumbass,” Bane chided. “He merely stated that he didn’t want to kiss you because he didn’t know you well enough.”

“Come on, I was joking with him,” I groaned, rubbing my eyes. “Maybe I was kinda hoping for a peck on the cheek for my cheekiness.” I pressed the cold bottle of beer against my flustered cheek, hoping to cool off.

“You were licking your lips off while staring at Nathan’s, ready to devour him whole. No wonder he got freaked out.”

“I fucked up, didn’t I?” I threw my head back onto the backrest of the couch.

“Yes, yes, you did.”

“Hey man, are you all right?” asked Tyson.

I took another swig of beer. “Yeah! Bane’s gnawing my ass to pieces for messing things up with Nathan.”

I hoped I didn’t screw things up too badly with Nathan for him to forgive me. I really liked him, and his sassy attitude was a big turn-on.

“Get your head out of the gutter. It’s because of your dirty little thoughts that we’re in this mess,” Bane said with a huff.

“You’ve got your hands full with that one, I’ll tell you. Do you think your father will approve of the guy you’re hoping to date and to top it off a warlock as well?” Tyson grabbed a handful of crisps from a bowl next to him on the empty seat and scoffed them down. He then gulped down the last of his beer.

Ah, my dad. The pain in my ass the moment I told him I was gay. The news hit him for a home run. Fury was the least of his emotions. He ignored me for months, but my sister whittled down his resolve until he started acknowledging my existence again.

Our relationship has never been the same since, but we at least reached a common point of view where we respected each other’s choices. Even though my father would never approve of the mate I would one day choose, he’d at least keep his mouth shut and try to accept my choice. This was for the sake of my happiness.

“Well, no. But it’s not his choice. He’ll just have to suck it up like I did since he started seeing the Supreme.”

Tyson bent forward and pulled another can of beer out of a cooler next to his armrest. “You’re not happy that your father is moving on?”

“It’s not that. My mother died over a decade ago, and I’m happy that he’s moving on. But no one foresaw my father would drag his kill under the Supreme’s bed.”

Playfully, Tyson poked me in the shoulder. “So, I imagine Joshua’s probably going to be your stepbrother, one of these—”

Before he could finish his taunt, the room’s doors burst open. One of my pack members flew into the room, landing on his ass with a hiss and curse. It was Bobby. Oh, fuck. What had he done now? He always got into a fight when he was drunk, or pushed his luck with the ladies, so it was safe to say that he fucked up again.

As we got up from our seats, Maisie and my sister charged into the room. Bobby tried to struggle to his feet before my sister dug her heels into his chest and pushed him onto his back. Her pale blue eyes glared at the gladiator at her feet. Her dominating aura flared up, burning up the room. Even I flinched. Shit, she was pissed.

I quickly rushed forward and snapped my sister out of her murderous scowl. “Sis, what’s got your hello kitty onesie all in a twist?” Her eyes, glowing gold, shot up and clawed at me from underneath her pink hoodie. “Whoa, just joking—”

“It’s not a joke!” Ashley hissed. “His actions tonight could spark a shitstorm of problems for our pack.”

I glanced down at Bobby. “What the hell did you do?”

“Nothing!” he countered, waving his hands around.

Ashley gave him a swift kick in the nuts. Bobby yelled out in agony as he curled up into a fetal position, rocking back and forth.

“Don’t you dare lie to us!” Maisie stormed up to him and kicked him in the back. “You lousy piece of shit!” She lunged in for another kick, but Tyson scooped her up.

“Maisie, don’t.” He then lowered her to her feet again and a few feet away from her prey. “He’s one of our pack members.”

Maisie and Ashley scoffed in unison, but Ashley continued explaining why they were kicking the shit out of Bobby. “This big oaf without a brain tried to rape the Supreme’s son.”

My Adam’s apple nearly scattered beneath the roar that broke through my windpipe. I rushed over, grabbed the ass by the throat, and slammed him against the wall. “What the fuck were you thinking? Rape? That’s unacceptable! Do you know what the coven will do to our fucking pack if the Supreme finds out?”

Panic flashed across Bobby’s face. “I didn’t, I swear... I may have gotten a bit carried away, but—”

Before he could utter another lame excuse, I punched him in the stomach. There was no excuse for rape. We werewolves were put through rigorous training at an early age to keep our beasts and ourselves in check, even when intoxicated. He slid down to the floor and coughed feebly.

“Riley!" I called him through the pack link. Seconds later, Riley came storming in wearing a disheveled Indiana Jones outfit. Pink lipstick smudged most of his face. I had to suppress my laugh, but the others weren’t so lucky.

“What?” Riley barked.

“Nice going, player.” Tyson pointed to his mouth.

Riley’s hand quickly snapped at his face and rubbed some lipstick off his face. His eyes lit up in horror at his pink fingertips. His face quickly turned red. “W-What do you want, Adam? Why did you call?” Riley asked, trying to shift the attention away from his smeared face.

I turned to Bobby and said, “Take this piece of trash to the dungeons until my dad can deal with the problem.”

Bobby struggled to his feet but ended up on his ass again. “What!? No, not the dungeons! I’ve done nothing wrong! You can’t trust that twink or filthy rogue. They’re lying!”

My lungs spasmed at the mention of a rogue. Here, of all places, that was crazy! No rogue would dare to trespass on our lands, not if they were being suicidal. “Rogue?” I asked.

Ashley and Maisie’s faces whitened at my words while Bobby began chuckling. “Oh, I forgot. It was the Alpha-to-be himself who invited the filthy creature into our midst.”

“What’s he talking about?” asked Riley. He walked up to Bobby and dragged him onto his feet. Suddenly, two guards strode into the room. Riley turned on the spot and shoved Bobby into their arms. “Take him down to the dungeons. I’ll be there in a sec.”

Bobby tried to break free, but the guards managed to hold him down. They pulled out a set of silver handcuffs and cuffed Bobby. In a flash, he sunk to the floor, weakened by the wristbands. They dragged the idiot out of the room with their victim whimpering along. Sucks to be him, but he had to pay the price for what he did.

“I asked what did Bobby blabber on about? And why is the upstairs in a state of chaos?” Riley asked again.

Tyson immediately bolted for the door and cursed, “Oh, no! My parents are going to kill me!” His voice echoed off.

“Aren’t you going to console your boyfriend?” I asked Maisie.

She huffed and then sat down on one of the armchair’s railings. “I’m not that clingy. Besides, we have a bigger problem on our hands other than the attempted rape of the Supreme’s son.” Maisie pulled out a familiar piece of jewelry from her pocket.

Before I could utter a word, Riley butted in. “Isn’t that the pendant that asshole always wore?”

Asshole? A big part of me wanted to slap the lipstick off his face. ”Yeah, let’s do it. Nobody disrespects Nathan in front of us and gets away with it.”

I let out a growl. “Call Nathan an asshole again and I’ll rip you another one where your small dick should be.” I paced forward, causing Riley to stagger backward.

“Whoa! Okay. Don’t lose your fur. Jeez, that guy has your baby maker firmly in his grip, doesn’t he?”

“Fuck off and keep your mouth off him if you know what’s good for you.” I walked up to Maisie and took the pendant from her. “Where did you get this?”

Maisie cast her eyes toward Ashley while she nervously shuffled around.

Bane paced around in my head. ”They’re hiding something.”

“It’s obvious. You don’t have to point it out.” I fiddled with the pendant. The golden chain’s clasp was broken, meaning someone ripped it off Nathan’s neck. My shoulder muscles tensed. “What happened?”

“Bobby and Nathan got into a fight.”

That fucker! If he hurt Nate, by the moon goddess, I would rip Bobby to pieces! “Continue,” I said in a menacing voice.

Maisie flinched and backed away from me. “When Joshua disappeared, Nathan ran off to find him. Minutes later, I saw him and Joshua exiting a guestroom... Joshua was in a state of shock. That’s when Nathan told me that Bobby tried to rape him. Then Nathan told me they were leaving because the party sucked and that he needed to get Joshua out of there before something else happened.

“But before they could get to the end of the hallway, Bobby attacked Nathan.” She swallowed heavily, trying to continue while I gripped the back of one of the theater seats. The leather under my grip ripped apart as my claws sank into the sponge lining. “They ended up on the floor of the living room.”

“How?” was the only word that escaped my mouth. She was hiding the facts from me, but I wanted to know every detail.

She cleared her throat. “Bobby pushed him over the railing, they landed on the living room fl—”

I growled and then ripped the seat from the floor and tossed it across the room. He’s dead!

“Brother! Calm down!” Ashley said. “Tearing up the place won’t solve anything.”

“Fine! Continue,” I replied, pacing back and forth, trying to keep my body preoccupied. I didn’t want to hear the rest of the story, but I had to.

“I thought Nathan got seriously injured by the fall, but he stood up. However, Bobby quickly tackled him to the floor and started beating him up.” Maisie’s heartbeat picked up. Something bad was going to spill out of her mouth. “Before I could intervene, Nathan elbowed Bobby to the floor with one hit to the head, but in doing so, he lost his pendant.”

I twisted the black stone along my fingers. “Is he alright? Where is he? Are they still here?” I wanted to rush out of the room to see if Nathan was still around. I also wanted to apologize for my action earlier that night.

But as I tried to walk past Maisie, she grabbed my arm. “He’s not here, and my story’s not finished.”

I took the pendant and placed it in my pants pocket. “Go ahead, so that I can go and see if Nathan’s all right.”

“I wouldn’t... Adam. Nathan’s a Grayback.”

Those words reduced me to a stupor. “W-What?!”

“Fuck, I knew it!” Riley’s annoying voice boomed across the room. “I told you there was something weird about that guy. A Grayback, holy shit he’s dead. Your father’s going to tear him limb-from-limb.”

No, no, no, no! My father! Riley was right. If my father even suspected that a Grayback had found its way near our borders or even on it, he would hunt them down and slaughter them even if they weren’t a threat.

I walked up to Maisie and gripped onto her shoulders. “Are you sure he’s a Grayback?”

She nodded. “The moment that pendant escaped his neck, his aura nearly made me wet my pants. I don’t know how it’s possible that he’s a werewolf, and he has magic, but that would explain a lot of things about him.”

Riley laughed. “And that’s why Joshua’s so clingy and friends with him so suddenly.”

“What are you talking about?” Ashley asked.

“The attack in the forest several months ago, remember?” Riley sneered. “Your father rambled on about how weird it was that a single werewolf, no matter how strong, could have taken out five Hunters and a collared warlock without ending up dead.”

I slapped myself on the forehead. He was right again. Smartass. I pulled out the pendant and brought it to my nose. There it was, the same smell as on the abandoned t-shirt—musk, oranges, and traces of cinnamon. It was really him. But if it was, then I had to stop my father from killing him. I didn’t care if Nathan was a werewolf. He must have had a compelling reason for wanting to conceal his true nature. Hell, off the bat there was already one. Being a Grayback. I rushed out of the cinema room and up the stairs. When we entered the living room, there were about eight wolves knocked out cold lying on the floor. Damn, eight!

“He’s quite something, isn’t he?” Bane smirked at the sight of the unconscious people.

“They are our pack members!” I replied. “They are our family, and you’re proud of Nathan beating them up?”

“Sorry...” But I sensed no remorse in his apology. ”But you have to admit, he’s strong. And I doubt our fellow family members gave him much choice in the matter.”

“But still. This should never have happened. We have to get out of here. And try to save Nathan from our father’s wrath.”

Just as I was about to turn for the exit, a booming voice echoed through my skull. ”Son! We’re heading out! There’s a Grayback that I have to deal with. Stay at Tyson’s house and attend to the injured. I’ll make sure that the scum that attacked our pack will pay with its life.”

I turned to Maisie, watching the color drain out of her face, “What are we going to do?”