Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Adam Wick.

I stood there drowning in my father’s words. My heart clenched at the thought of my old man killing Nathan, but I knew why he was reacting this way. Ten years ago, a Grayback stole into our territory and kidnapped my mother while she was out grocery shopping. The Grayback then challenged my father to a duel for the Alpha title and used my mother as an insurance policy. When the Grayback lost the fight, my father demanded he return my mother to us. The defeated mongrel gave us an address to a far-off destination deep into no-man’s land. My father then imprisoned the challenger until he could retrieve my mother. But as they neared the destination given, it came apparent that the Grayback had already killed her. In a blood rage, my father burst into the dungeons, ready to slaughter the man, but he had already escaped. The Grayback had used magic to escape his imprisonment. How? We never found out. However, the killer left a letter for my father as the last insult.

‘I wouldn’t have left her alive, anyway.’

Those words fueled not only my father’s hatred but mine as well. For a long time after my mother’s death, I wanted to hunt the sick bastard down and kill him with my bare hands. Why not? I hated every Grayback and thought they were the scum of the earth. But a fateful meeting with another Grayback changed my opinion about them. Not all of them were evil. Alpha and beta wolves who weren’t part of a pack turned into Graybacks because they needed to survive alone. So judging all of them on the actions of my mother’s killer would have led me to kill an innocent person for a crime they didn’t commit. However, my father didn’t get the memo, and he hated them with a burning passion.

Before I could pull myself out of my stupor, my sister slapped me across the face.

With watering eyes and a burning patch of skin, I glared at her as if she had gone crazy. ”Why did she just slap me?”

“Because you’re standing around, zoning out and ignoring your sister,” Bane snickered.

The room fell quiet as the grave. People stared, wide-eyed and with gaping mouths. In the eyes of the pack, she disrespected me, her future alpha, but I didn’t see it that way. She would always stomp my ass if I acted like an idiot. This was one of these moments, and I was grateful for her. She kept me levelheaded when she saw me cave under pressure.

“Was that necessary?” I asked, rubbing the burn out of my right cheek.

She pulled down her pink hoodie and glared at me. “Of course it was! What are you waiting for? Get your head in the game and go save your future mate before dad kills him. You know dad doesn’t think straight when Graybacks are involved. He will exact vengeance on Nathan’s body for what happened to mom. So go, you dumbass!” She shoved me toward the front door.

“But dad said—”

She slapped me again on the back of my head and hissed, “It doesn’t matter what dad said. I’ll stay here and see that everything is hunky-dory while you and your betas prevent a war from breaking out.”

Goddess, I loved my sister. I rushed up to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. I then sped out of the mansion with my friends hot on my heels. In mid-sprint, I began tearing apart the costume I wore. I focused on my wolf form, forcing my bones and muscles to shift and break. After a few painful seconds, my black paws hit the asphalt with tremendous speed.

It was much faster running through the forest than wasting our time speeding down the streets in a car. As we rushed through the thick underbrush of the forest, I zoned into the pack link and followed my father’s aura.

“Do you think my father and his enforcers have already caught up with Nathan?” The words I sent through the mind link toward Maisie burned my throat. Bile slowly bubbled to the surface.

“No. But they’re getting nearer to Nathan’s house. Let’s just pick up the pace,” she replied while picking up speed.

Maisie flashed past me while Tyson and Riley groaned behind my tail. In the pack, Maisie was the fastest. She wasn’t as large as the three of us, but her sleek and nimble form gave her an advantage in a battle. It made up for her lack of strength. She could chew your legs off before you could hit her with them.

I picked up my pace, trying my hardest to prevent my father from killing the only guy that made my heart flutter to the heavens every time he glanced at me. It had been four years. Four years since Arno had cheated on me with that asshole Dillon. I never understood his reasoning. Once we were happy. Arno was as sweet and innocent as a bunny, but when he returned from a summer vacation in our senior year, he did a one-eighty. I never saw it coming. He treated me like shit, began calling me names, and told me I was boring as fuck. ′A cocktease’ in his own words.

One night on my birthday, when Tyson hosted a surprise party at my house, I found him and Dillon screwing in my bed. My bed, of all places! Before I could get my claws into him, Arno hauled his slutty, bleached ass through the window, but Dillon wasn’t as fortunate. Bane nearly ripped him apart. He spent a month in the pack’s hospital. After Arno’s betrayal, I never dated again, even though many of the guys and girls from college practically threw their bodies at my feet. I didn’t want to expose my heart to another heartbreak.

Most werewolves searched for a compatible mate, not getting involved in casual flings but looking out for those who resonated the closest with their own soul. The Moon Goddess didn’t choose our mates for us, but she would bless us with a mate bond when both parties involved fell in love wholeheartedly. The moment I saw Nathan back at the grocery store for the first time, I felt a pull toward him. I did not fall in love with him. However, he was the first person who caught my attention and flooded my heart, hoping one day I could spend the rest of my life with him.

***

Nathan Underhill.

We were nearing my house when my ears picked up the screeching of tires and slamming of car doors. A whine escaped my mouth. How were they there already? I picked up my pace, desperately trying to get to my family. Would they hurt my family? Little Lilly, just for being a Grayback? Fenrus’ growl echoed throughout the silent forest. The hell they were! I’d kill the whole pack if they dared to touch even a single strand of hair on her precious little head.

“It’s not going to happen,” Fenrus growled out. ”Mom would never allow that. She’s powerful enough to keep them safe from those pesky mutts.”

My heart soared for a moment at his reassuring words, but a lingering doubt crept through my mind. Pack animals would never allow us to live in peace if they were aware of our presence.

Out of the darkness, the back porch light hit my eyes. We’re here! I quickly jumped over the white picket fence with Joshua shrieking at the top of his lungs. His fingers dug into my fur, nearly ripping out a patch. We sped around the house and came to a halt in front of a scene that ruffled my fur.

A gray-haired hulk of a man strutted toward my mom while she carried my little sister on her right hip. My mom took a few steps backward, mirroring the Alpha’s approach. Lilly had her head dug into the nape of my mother’s neck, shivering as the asshole approached them. The Alpha scared my cute bunny out of her wits.

Before the Alpha could reach them, my mom shouted at a man standing behind him. “Nathaniel, please stop this! Don’t you recognize me?”

The man’s brown eyes widened with recognition. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place his face. His black hair was like mine, but he had bushier eyebrows than I had. The man named Nathaniel was taller than I was, by two inches, with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique to rival the alpha himself. He was the current beta of the pack, Maisie, and Riley’s father.

He suddenly rushed forward and grabbed the Alpha by the arm. “Don’t do this, Lawrence. We’re not on pack territory, so we have no right to harm them.”

“Don’t interfere, Nate!” Weird, we had the same nickname. “Know your place and do as you’re told. Stand back and let me handle this. I will not allow any Grayback to wander about freely and threaten my pack. I don’t care if they aren’t on my land-”

“You’re going to hurt an innocent child? Is that what you’re saying? Have you lost your goddamn mind?”

Several of the men surrounding the house flinched at the Beta’s words. I knew this was a fuckin’ mistake coming here. The Alpha was a lunatic!

The Alpha’s eyes softened for a moment and then shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t...” He turned to his men and spoke. “Escort the mother and pup to the pack house until I can clear up the situation.”

No! They aren’t going anywhere! What if the Alpha decided that my family was a threat to him? Would he hand over my mom and sister to my grandfather to get them away from his pack? Those few scenarios sliced my mind to shreds.

“Over our dead body,” Fenrus growled.

A growl ruptured forth, causing the Alpha’s henchmen to back off out of fear. The Alpha and Beta’s heads snapped in our direction as I slowly prowled out of the shadows with my fangs exposed. I opened a mind-link to Joshua. Normally, wolves couldn’t communicate with humans or other werewolves if they weren’t in the same pack, but as a hybrid, I could. I forced magic through the mind-link and created a temporary latch, which I could use to attach my mind to others.

“Joshua?” I tested the mind-link.

“Oh, hell! Nathan? Did you just talk to me with your mind?” asked Joshua. I wanted to slap him silly, but I couldn’t.

“No genius. It is just the figment of your imagination jerking you off. Of course, it’s me. I need you to get off my back before this situation turns messy. If anything happens, try to protect my mom and sister by any means necessary.”

Joshua slapped me on the back of my head. “Don’t be rude, you ass!” he hissed. “And don’t worry, I will.”

Joshua slid off my back and walked over to my mom and sister. His face hardened into a glare and he spoke to the Alpha. “Be careful, Mr. Wick. This family is under my mother’s protection. If you hurt them, you’ll pay dearly for it.”

The Alpha huffed and then turned his eyes on me. “It depends—”

Off to my side, four wolves emerged from the cover of the forest. One black, two brownish, and the last a gray wolf. I huffed out a snort. Just my luck. Adam and his entourage. How could this get any worse?