Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Adam Wick.

Never in my life was I scared as I was when Nathan slumped forward in his chair and planted his face in his lunch. At first it was hilarious, thinking that he had fallen asleep. But when Nathan didn’t snap out of his sleep, I darted from my chair and made my way over to him. I pulled him back into his chair and wiped the mashed potatoes from his face.

“Nathan!” I said, trying to wake him, but he still didn’t budge.

I quickly slapped him on the cheek, hoping it might wake him up. But yet again, nada.

“Maisie, get the doctor!”

Maisie dashed out of the dining room. I wrapped my arms around Nathan and picked him up, bridal style. Making my way toward the living room, I lowered Nathan’s limp body on a couch while placing a pillow under his head.

“What the fuss is going on? Why the hell is he not waking up?” I asked Bane, pacing around while pulling my hair.

Bane growled at my frustrated tone. ”How should I know? I tried reaching out to Fenrus, but there’s a mental block preventing me from reaching him.”

I cursed and kicked the sofa next to me, knocking Tyson off his perch. He landed on his ass.

“What did I do?” Tyson gasped in disbelief. “Get your shit in line, Adam. I’m sure Nathan is alright.”

“Let’s hope so.”

I walked up to Nathan and sat down on the edge of the couch next to him. I stroked a few stray strands of black hair out of his slumbering face. After what seemed like an hour, the pack doctor finally made his appearance and shooed me away. I stood next to Maisie, fidgeting with my wristwatch as the doctor began examining Nathan.

As the doctor examined Nathan, he lifted Nate’s eyelid, only to recoil. “What in the name of the Goddess...”

“Doc, what’s the matter?” I rushed forward and kneeled beside Nathan, taking his hand into mine.

The doctor stuttered. “His eyes... they glowed green. I’ve never seen such a thing.”

Before I could ask what it meant, my father, the Supreme, Nathaniel, and Nate’s mother walked into the living room, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. My father had his arms firmly around the Supreme’s shoulders.

At first, their relationship freaked me out. Not that I was mad at my father for finally moving on after my mother’s death, but—come on, the lady was one freaky creature. They were total opposites of each other. My father was strict and methodical and ran the pack with a tight grip. His idea of fun was training until he puked his guts out. The Supreme, on the other hand, was a free spirit and laid back. I once nearly ran into a tree when I spotted the Supreme walking butt-naked through the forest singing out loud to a Beetle’s song. After that incident, I had to rinse my eyes out with bleach.

“Adam, what’s going on here?” my father asked, knocking me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head and said, “It’s Nathan. He’s not waking up. Halfway through lunch I noticed Nathan falling asleep.”

“Then he planted his face first into his lunch,” Tyson said, snickering along.

I stabbed Tyson with a death glare for budding in. “As Tyson told you, we thought at first he fell asleep, but then he didn’t wake up. For the last half hour we’ve been trying to wake him but he’s not respond—”

“Arg! Not this again,” Nathan’s mother chirped in. She walked up to her son and opened one of his eyes. “Don’t worry, Adam. My son is playing around again. I wonder where he’s run off to?”

What was she talking about? How could she not be afraid that her son wasn’t waking up? I wanted to clip her for the lack of sympathy for her son’s wellbeing, but Maisie cut the line.

“What do you mean, Victoria? Has this happened before?”

A smile appeared on Victoria’s face as she stroked her son’s hair. “Oh, yes, it has. My son has a rather unique ability that no other werewolves have. Every werewolf can communicate telepathically to another werewolf if they’re in the same pack or group.”

Most of us nodded. It was a common ability that we couldn’t live without. It was my second favorite ability as a werewolf. To shift, being the first.

“And Nathan’s different how?” my father asked, sitting down next to Maisie and Tyson on the couch opposite of where Nathan and I were.

“Nathan’s mind link is far more sophisticated and powerful than your average werewolf. He can mind-link with anything that walks around with a brain, from animals, humans, shifters, werewolves, or vampires. It doesn’t matter.”

“Holy shit, that’s amazing!” Tyson said. His eyes landed on Nathan with envy. Then he nearly choked on his spit as he began laughing. “Oh shit! It was him!” He jumped to his feet and continued laughing. Tears started pooling in his eyes.

“Tyson, what are you talking about?”

“Squirrels!”

I scoffed, wondering if my best friend was slowly losing his mind. “Squirrels?”

“Yes! Don’t you remember the first day Nathan attended college?”

Of course, how couldn’t I? I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. He walked past us, with Joshua by his side.

“What about it?” I asked him. Nothing special popped up that made sense to me.

“Come on, bro. It was the day when Arno got attacked by a bunch of squirrels when he talked shit to Joshua, remember?”

Oh, yeah! I always wondered how Arno could have pissed off a bunch of squirrels.

“So you’re saying that Nathan somehow mind-linked the squirrels and asked them to attack Arno?” It seemed a tad far-fetched that a bunch of squirrels would have followed Nathan’s orders.

“Yeah!” Tyson nodded his head.

“He didn’t ask them,” Victoria said. She picked up Nathan’s head, removed the pillow, and sat down in its place. She then lowered his head onto her lap.

A jolt of jealousy ripped through my body. Fudge! Why didn’t I think of that?

“Then what did he do?”

“He compelled them to do so,” she answered Tyson’s question.

Compelled?

“Can you elaborate, Vicky?” Nathaniel asked. He strolled over and sat down next to her on the armrest of the couch.

“When an Alpha uses his alpha voice to command, most werewolves cannot resist. That applies for Betas as well when they use their beta voice.

“Now, the difference between compulsion and the voice of command is simple. Compulsion works on desire, while an alpha voice works on dominance. Compulsion is stronger than the alpha voice because compulsion doesn’t force a victim to bend to the will of the Alpha. Instead, it ensnares and lulls the victim into complacency and makes the victim a willing participant. A participant that’s willing to please its master without fail.”

An icy shiver ran down my spine as I glanced over at Nathan’s sleeping figure. Well, that was another reason it was a smart idea to stay on his good side. I didn’t want to end up being his willing slave.

“Oh, you don’t?” Bane said knowingly. “I, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind being his sex slave... as long as I hold the leash.”

“Calm down, horn dog!”

Fighting against the dirty images Bane threw my way, I shoved him to the back of my mind. “So Nathan can compel people and animals to do his bidding?”

“And more,” Victoria replied. Fuck! He could do more? “Nathan can even ‘possess’“—she quoted with her fingers—“animals and take control of their bodies, even extend his visual range and see through their eyes.”

The room fell silent as all eyes fell on Nathan. Damn, he was a freak of nature. I didn’t mean it as an insult, but a compliment. What I wouldn’t have given to do the things that he could do. The more I found out about him, the harder I fell for him. How could I not? Most people would have flaunted their powers and displayed them for the world to see. But he didn’t. If Nathan really wanted to, he could have challenged my father for the title of Alpha and most likely would have beaten him. But jet Nathan didn’t care. Power didn’t mean anything to him. He had it, but didn’t crave it, and he didn’t use it to overthrow the Council and rule the world. No, Nathan just wanted a normal life for him and his family. A place where he could be safe. A place he found, next to my side.

“I think it’s time to bring my son back and ask him why he gave all of you a heart attack.” Victoria placed her index finger in the middle of his forehead. A pulse of light flashed for a second, where her finger met his skin. “There we go...”

Nathan suddenly bolted up into a sitting position and began rubbing his eyes. He paused and glanced around the room until his eyes met his mother’s.

“Ah, shit.”

His mother’s eyes narrowed on Nathan. “Language!” She slapped him on the head. Those present laughed as his mother scolded him. Hell, even my mother would have scolded me if I dared to talk that dirty in front of her.

I smiled at no-one in particular. Even though my heart ached for thinking about my mother, I accepted it with open arms. The good and the bad, it didn’t matter. Just thinking about her kept the memory of her alive in my heart.

“Care to tell me why you sent my son in a tailspin?” my father reprimanded him. “He thought that there was something seriously wrong with you.”

Nathan’s eyes fell on me and softened. “Sorry, Adam, for worrying you. I should have thought it through before... never mind.”

“They already know, son,” his mother said. “So tell us what you were up to?”

Nathan’s mouth dropped open while his eyes bulged out. “Mom! How could you? It wasn’t your secret to tell.”

“Then you should have had more tact to use your ability in the open.”

Nathan rubbed his hair out in frustration. “Fine...”

He got up and started walking off, but my father called out to him. “Where are you heading? We’re not done here. Sit.”

Nathan’s jaw clenched at my father’s order. His eyes lingered on the couch for a second before he sighed and walked back to the couch. He flopped down onto the couch and glared at my father. “There. Happy now, Alpha.”

A growl ripped from my father’s throat at Nathan’s blatant disrespect. It was going to be a long trek before Nathan would shed off his proclivity for pissing off those in higher positions. I just hoped that Nathan lived long enough before my father finally got fed up with his sassy attitude. For one, I didn’t care. I loved his rebellious nature and tenacity. It kept me on my toes.

“Mind your tongue before it gets you in trouble. A week in the dungeons might just be the cure—”

“Enough, my big bear.” The Supreme intervened by sitting on my father’s lap, then kissing the anger out of him. Yuck!

“Get a room!” I yelled, not wanting to see my old man making out in front of our innocent eyes.

The Supreme laughed and then turned to Nathan. “Nathan, be a good boy and obey the big bad Alpha. The quicker you finish with your story, the quicker we old people will disappear out of your hair.”

Nathan slumped back onto the couch. “It’s nothing sinister. I just did reconnaissance, that’s all.”

“Really?” My father’s brow furrowed, not believing him. “The dungeon still has a vacancy—”

“Fine! I spied on Riley to see why he’s been acting like such a prick.”

Maisie’s body stiffened, and then she began to speak. “And? What did you find? He’s been evasive all of a sudden and hasn’t been himself of late. It has me worried.” Sadness coated her eyes as she played with Tyson’s hand.

“I can’t go into detail. It turns out he is not as bad as I thought he was. He’s struggling with a few things at the moment. Dad?” Nathan turned to his father, who grinned at his son for calling him his dad. “Can we talk in private for a bit? Just the family?”

“Of course we can,” his father replied.

“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me how you spied on your brother?” my father demanded. He really didn’t know when to let things rest. Nathan did nothing to endanger the pack.

“Dad! Just lay off him for once,” I huffed. “He’s part of the pack now and isn’t out to destroy us.”

“That’s not it, son. I’m just curious about how he did it. His ability can be a valuable asset to the pack.” Did my father just compliment Nathan? Wow, wonders did exist.

“Yeah... I took a pussy for a walk,” Nathan replied in a daze, glancing at my father wearily. “Just don’t tell Riley about that. He’ll go on a rampage that I spied on him.”

A few snickers rang out. “A cat?” I asked.

“The black cat that hangs around the pack house?”

Oh! He meant Sir Pounce-a-lot. That was one vicious black kitty. Every time one of us tried to enter the pack house in our wolf form, the little ass would pounce on us and dig its claws into our fur. It would also hiss like a lunatic on crack. Then the bugger would bite, sinking its needle-like teeth into any part it could reach. One wolf had an unfortunate accident when Sir Pounce-a-lot bit down on his junk. Let’s just say that from that day onward, none of us dared to approach the pack house as a wolf.

“So you possessed the cat and used it to spy on your brother?” Tyson asked.

Nathan raised his hands in the air. “It was for a worthy cause and to end the third world war between us.” He squeezed my hand and said, “I’ll be back in a bit.” He then walked off with Maisie, his father and mother, in tow.