Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Adam Wick.

The night had become a fiasco. If I had known, I would have stayed in bed. How could a single incident have caused so much collateral damage? In an instant, Nathan hated my guts. Bobby tried to rape Joshua, but Nathan stopped him. Then they ended up fighting, which led to Nathan’s secret coming to light. And to top off the night with a bang, my father tried to kill Nathan because of his status as a Grayback. Goddamn, I needed my bed.

After the Supreme’s grand entrance, we went into Nathan’s house, much to his apprehension. He kept glaring at us as if we were about to attack. He sat on the farthest couch from us, eyeing us suspiciously while rubbing the swollen and red bruise on his right shoulder. The only thing I wanted to do was wrap Nathan in my arms and comfort him, but the way Nathan was acting he would rather kick my ass. What happened to him that made him distrust people so much? Especially those from werewolf packs?

“Don’t know... I tried talking to Nathan’s wolf, but he cut me off.” Bane told me with a whimper. ”Hopefully, his mother will reveal why he kept his identity a secret. I hate seeing him like this.”

Nathan caught my gaze. His eyes carried the world’s weight in them. A deep sorrow hid behind them, covered up by a shield of anger he wrapped around him, keeping anyone from getting too close.

“Let’s just take it step-by-step. We’ll see how this meeting turns out before we put a plan in place to win over Nathan’s heart,” I said.

“He won’t make it easy for us, won’t he?”

I grinned. ”No, he won’t, but it won’t stop me. I will not give up on him, no matter how stubborn he gets. He needs us, and I’ll be here for him.”

“Hey! We’re in this together, so stop trying to hog him all for yourself.”

“Fine! Don’t be a baby about it.”

The Supreme’s voice quickly drowned out Bane’s lame comeback. The calmness in her angered voice sent shivers down my shoulder blades.

This was terrible. If the Supreme raised her voice and shouted at you, you didn’t have to worry. However, if her anger turned calm as the stagnant pond, you had to run as if your life depended on it, which it usually did.

After Joshua told his mother about the incident back at the party, everyone in the room’s gaze shifted to the interior of the living room. This was to avoid her death stare. Her calm facade was crumbling by the second. A nervous twitch in her left eye started appearing. It took everything in me not to rush for the front door.

“Where is he?” The Supreme’s voice slithered around the room.

My father gulped and said, “Who?”

“Don’t act coy with me.” Her eyes flared up. “I’m talking about the scum who touched my son! I want him brought before me.”

My father shifted around in his seat, visibly trying to act indifferent to her request, but it was obvious he didn’t want to comply with her wish. My father wasn’t trying to protect Bobby. No, he’d punish him on his own for what happened tonight. But we would never see Bobby in the land of the living again if the Supreme got her nails into him.

“I can’t,” said my father. “As much as I want to see him punished, I don’t think he deserves to die. I’ll drag him to the Elders of our pack and see to it he receives the punishment that he deserves.”

The Supreme rose from her chair. “That’s not good enough! He deserves to spend the rest of his pathetic life wandering the wastelands of the void dimension.”

The air in my lungs froze while my father’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. The void dimension. Damn, that was harsh! I knew the scumbag tried to rape Joshua. But the void dimension was a punishment that I didn’t even wish on my most hated enemy. Exiling Bobby from the pack and branding him as a rogue would be enough of a punishment.

The void dimension was a realm devoid of light. After only a few days, most convicts were driven insane. Imagine wandering alone in the dark forever. And let’s not forget about the dangers that lurked there. There were other prisoners and creatures, out of our worst nightmares, which preyed on those trapped there. One nasty creature, in particular, was light-bringers, wraiths made of shimmering light. They stalked the wastelands and lured desperate men and women into their embrace, only to devour their prey in mere seconds. Damn, the Supreme was merciless. Killing Bobby would have been kinder.

“I can’t allow that, Serena,” my father said. “We’ll punish him accordingly with no mercy. You have my word.” He stood up from the couch and tried to comfort the Supreme, but she slapped my father’s outstretched arms away and glared at him.

She pointed her finger at his face. “Don’t manipulate me with your honeyed words, you old bastard. He needs to pay—”

“And he will...” My father snatched her up and wrapped her in his embrace. He then kissed her on the forehead before rocking her back and forth. “I will make an example of Bobby.”

His words seemed to pacify the Supreme. She melted into my father’s embrace. They stood there for nearly a minute before Nathan interrupted them.

“Can you all just fuck out of our house?!” Nathan shot up to his feet, biting down on his jaw as he tried not to move his injured shoulder. “I don’t have the time or patience to watch you two cooing at each other all night. So if there’s nothing else, fuck off!”

His mother, however, didn’t appreciate his outburst. “That’s not how I raised you, Nathan! You don’t address your elders in such a manner.”

Nathan scoffed and said, “Mom, I’m tired and my shoulder is killing me. If they’re just here to waste our time, then they can leave. I’m sure they have better things to do than make us watch as they suck face in our living room, of all places. I swear I just threw up in my mouth a bit.”

A snort from me drew everyone’s attention. I shrugged and said, “What? He’s right. Even though I am glad to see dad has moved on and you enjoy the Supreme’s company, there are more serious issues to address. Starting with why Nathan hid his true nature from us.”

***

Nathan Underhill.

If it wasn’t for the stabbing pain coursing through my shoulder, I would have strangled the ass. I wasn’t in the mood for storytelling. My life’s story was none of their business. If they knew the truth about why we came to this town, they would most likely send us packing. As much as werewolf packs prided themselves on their united front in the face of adversity, they usually tried to remove a potential threat to the pack as soon as possible (which was me and my family) before the threat risked the safety of the pack.

I turned to Adam and said, “The less you know, the safer your precious necks will be. Don’t get involved. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Enough, Nate.” My mom grabbed my hand and pulled me back onto the couch next to her. “I told you why we came here and it was to seek help, but it was only half the truth. There’s a specific reason we came here.”

“You already told me—”

My mom placed her finger on my lips. “Hush, there’s another reason... something that I need to get off my chest. It’s about your father.”

I scratched the back of my neck. What about him? “My father? Jacob—”

“No, Nathan. Your biological one.”

My mouth dried up at that moment. Why now? Out of all the times throughout my childhood when I asked my mom about him, she clamped down and didn’t want to talk about him. The topic seemed to be a sore spot to touch upon. She told me once that she met him while she was young, about eighteen years old. They had a whirlwind romance, and then they separated, having no further contact. She didn’t want to delve into the details of why they separated, but if I had to guess, it was because of my grandfather. He would have killed my father and still wanted to, for soiling my grandfather’s bloodline.

My mom rose from the couch and then started pacing around the room. Her gaze flipped between the beta and me while she fiddled with her bracelet. As the seconds ticked by, her heart sped up.

“Mom, you’re about to have a heart attack if you keep stalling,” I said. I never saw my mom like this. She never buckled under pressure, not even when a pack of wolves surrounded us, trying to tear us to pieces.

“Come on, Victoria,” the Supreme chirped in. “The time has come.”

“Nathan. One reason we came here was to seek help not only from the coven but also from the local werewolf pack.”

I huffed. “Mom already told me, and I told you it was a crazy idea. The last pack we trusted tried to kill us. So why would they,” I pointed to the group of wolves sitting across from me, “be any different from the ones before?”

“Wait, what happened?” asked Adam, turning to my mom and the Supreme.

“The Highlands pack betrayed them,” said the Supreme with a tight lip.

“Nathan and his mother barely escaped with their lives while Lilly’s father didn’t, unfortunately.” My gaze automatically found the picture of my stepfather. “He died defending them.”

Adam’s face turned pale at her words. “Why would they do it?”

“They were cowards.” I spew my venom. “The moment my grandfather threatened to exterminate their pack, they got to their knees and started kissing his ass. So much for pack pride.”

“Nathan, it won’t happen again,” my mom said.

“Yeah, right... I highly doubt that. The Alpha already wants me dead for being a Grayback. One whisper from that lunatic and the alpha here will roll over and expose his belly like a crying bitch.”

A deafening roar reverberated throughout the house as the old-timer shot toward me. Adam and Nathaniel both shot out of their chairs and restrained the Alpha before he could wrap his fingers around my neck.

“I bow to no one. Grayback.” His stale breath fanned my face. Jeez, use a breath mint, will you?

“I won’t hold my breath,” I said, as the Alpha stomped back to his seat.

My mom sighed. “Nathan, stop picking a fight. No matter how you feel about the pack, they won’t betray us.” I wanted to laugh in my mom’s face at that statement, but it would have been rude of me. I didn’t have the strength for another lecture. “They would never betray those whose part of their pack.”

“Mom,” I said. “Not to point out the obvious, but I’m not part of their pack. They have no loyalty to us.”

My mom nodded her head. “True, not by choice, but by blood.”

“What!?” Adam and I shouted. We locked eyes for a second before he averted his eyes.

“He’s so annoying.” I mentally groaned out.

“But handsome, though.” Fenrus threw his dime into the conversation.

I mentally huffed at his persistence. ”Lay off, will ya? Go take a dip in the lake to cool down your hormones.”

I cut the mental connection and turned to my mom. “What does mom mean by blood?”

“Come on, Vicky.” The Supreme rubbed my mom’s back while the Alpha eyed them with jealousy glinting in his eyes. Possessive much?

My mom hesitated for a second before she said, “Son. Nathaniel is your father.”