Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Nathan Underhill.

The dreaded day had arrived that made my skin crawl and my gut twist into knots. The fourteenth of February, what a nutcracker. A day where people groveled in front of each other with flowers and chocolates to show their loved ones how much they loved each other. What about the other three-hundred-and-sixty-four days?

“Isn’t it your jealousy that’s rearing its ugly little head?” Fenrus asked me.

I scoffed, continuing to write the last paragraph of my assignment on bacterial diseases in domestic animals. ”Why should I be jealous?”

“How many times throughout our lives have people asked us to be their valentines?”

I stopped writing and sifted through my brain. ”Four—five times perhaps? What are you getting at?”

“Out of all those times, how many did we act upon?”

“None.” I tapped the pen on the table a few times.

“And the reason?” Fenrus continued pushing his point.

What did he want from me? I rubbed my forehead, trying to rub out a headache. ”I don’t know. You tell me.”

“The reason you hate Valentine’s day is that we couldn’t date when we were on the run. We had to watch from the sidelines while others could enjoy their day of love.”

Maybe he had a point. We never experienced those things, and I grew resentful because of it. It sucked being lonely. Shaking the crappy feeling out of my head, I leaned back into my desk hair and glanced out of the window.

The day started out gloomy as a thundershower pummeled the pack house. Torrents of raindrops battered the windows. There went their romantic picnics. I chuckled as I rose from my chair. I almost spent the entire morning putting the final touches to my animal anatomy classes. Stretching, I made my way to my door, wanting to grab a beverage and a few snacks downstairs. As I opened the door, I faced a scene that made me grumble. A life-size frickin teddy bear sat in front of my door with a purple ribbon tied around its neck. An enormous bouquet of red roses sat between its legs, accompanied by a Valentine’s card. You’ve got to be kidding me! Suddenly, a teenage boy with red hair and a face filled with freckles appeared wearing a pink pair of shorts with a matching t-shirt. The word ‘cupid’ was printed on the t-shirt in crimson glitter.

A messenger. I was so tempted to kill that dick.

“Come on, Nate. You’re loving this. For once we can join in on Valentine’s day. So stop acting like a dick and enjoy it.” Fenrus told me.

“Well, you’re giving in too quickly and this is too sappy, even for him.”

“H-Hi I have a message for you,” the teenager nervously fished out a crumbled piece of paper. He coughed and then tried to read out the message.

“Don’t even dare,” I warned him. “Give.” I stretched out my hand toward him. With a trembling hand, he handed over the piece of paper. “You can leave. Enjoy your afternoon before the soon-to-be Alpha tows you into one of his other schemes.”

A grin spread across the teenager’s face. “Thanks.” He bolted down the hallway with a pair of white angel wings flapping behind him.

How embarrassing... forcing the kid to play cupid. I shook my head and read the note.

“I think it’s adorable that Adam’s attempting to court us," the love-sick puppy chirped in.

“From what era are you... the eighteen hundreds? Who in this day and age uses the term courting?”

Fenrus scoffed at me. "A gentleman...”

I could only laugh at Fenrus’ answer. Staring at the behemoth of a teddy bear, I debated what I was going to do with the toy. Burn it?

A growl echoed in my mind. "Dare to do so and I’ll torture you for a month until you beg for my mercy,” Fenrus snarled at me.

“Fine! I won’t destroy it. Goddess! You’re touchy. I wasn’t really planning to do it. My name’s not heartless.” I walked into the hallway and gathered up the ridiculous presents. I then walked back into my bedroom and threw the brown teddy bear in the middle of the bed. Afterwards, I took the vase with roses and placed it on the desk. Unable to resist, I took a whiff of the roses. They were beautiful and had a sweet floral scent to them.

“Admit it. You like the gifts.”

“I’ll give you a, maybe.” Walking back to the brown teddy bear, I climbed onto the bed and laid down against the bear’s belly. It was incredibly soft. What made the gift even more special was that it smelled like Adam. The dirty bastard rubbed his scent all over the thing. He didn’t play fair. I dug my head into the toy and inhaled his heavenly scent. I moaned into the teddy bear. Unfortunately, my nether region stirred awake.

“What are you doing?” said a voice.

I yelped and bolted away from the teddy bear, falling off the bed and onto my ass. Busted! I glared up at the intruder while rubbing my sore tailbone. Maisie stared at me with a huge grin on her face.

“What are you doing here, sis?” I asked, trying to divert the attention away from me. I remained on my ass until my erection came down.

She held out an envelope. “Just came here to drop this off.”

“What is that?” I inspected the envelope with suspicion.

“An invitation, dummy.”

As I took the envelope, Maisie turned around and walked out of the room, saying nothing further. The envelope had Jason’s writing on it. Dear Nathan. In cursive writing.

I opened the letter and read aloud. “Hi, sexy," I groaned. Was this my nickname? Adam probably expected me to come up with one for him as well. Why did I agree to date him?

“Because you love him.” Fenrus told me, causing my brain to stutter.

“I don’t love him! We barely know each other.”

“It’s been over four months. We’re not strangers. Hell, I love Bane just as much as I do Mom and Lilly, but in a lover’s way. So stop being stupid and let the man love us.”

“Stop bugging me with your crazy thoughts. I like him more than a friend. He’s my boyfriend, but saying I love him just yet is a bit too much.” I held my ground against Fenrus’ silly assumptions.

“It’s not silly if it’s true. You’re just too proud and scared to admit it.”

I shook my head and continued reading. ”I hope you liked my presents. Happy Valentine’s Day. I know you hate it, but I couldn’t resist spoiling you.” How did he know I didn’t like Valentine’s day? “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything further other than to invite you out to dinner. It’s nothing fancy, but you’ll love it.” I doubted that. “See you tonight at six in the pack’s livingroom. Can’t wait. P.S. Wear something casual. XOXO”

I face palmed. Oh, just kill me.

***

At five thirty, I walked out of my room, dressed for the kill. I wore a pair of skinny ripped jeans, a purple, buttoned down party dress shirt with white vans. Not that I wanted to, but the bitch-in-heat inside of my head wanted to impress Adam and Bane.

“Just drop the act. It’s getting lame pretty quick,” Fenrus growled out his displeasure. "What do you think Adam is feeling right now? He’s looking forward to tonight, and you’re about to fuck it up over your insecurities. He wants to be with us, so let him in.” That was harsh. “But it’s the truth. You’re fucking up our chance at being happy. Tonight’s our first date. Let’s enjoy it. If Adam wants to be cheesy, let him. It makes him special that way.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m scared shitless that I’ll fuck up tonight and that he’ll wake up tomorrow morning thinking that we’re not worth it anymore.”

It terrified me the most. Even the thought of Adam disappearing from my life sent my heart reeling in terror. Before I knew it, I walked into the living room with tear-drenched cheeks. Fuck. Why was I crying? Wet tears tickled my neck, which I quickly wiped away.

“Nathan?” My sister ran to me and embraced me in a hug. “What’s wrong?”

I pulled away and said, “Nothing... I’m just being silly over nothing.”

She punched me in the shoulder, causing me to flinch. “Stop acting like a tough guy. It’s not a sin to cry. Geez, you men are idiots. So tell me why you were crying or I’ll give you something worth crying over.” She balled her fists.

“Whoa! Don’t get violent here. I’m just afraid I’ll fuck up with Adam and he’ll leave me.”

Maisie burst out laughing, as if I had said something hilarious. I didn’t. My fears were genuine. Her amusement plunged a dagger into my chest, which she slowly twisted.

“Don’t laugh at me,” I said, storming off to the nearest couch, which wasn’t much because every couple in the pack house camped out in the living room. Most of them snuggled up together.

“Sorry, Nate!” She came running toward me. “I didn’t laugh at you. But it was funny what you said, nonetheless. There’s no way in hell that Adam will ever leave you. If he stayed to this far with all the crap you already put him through, there’s no chance that he’ll do it in the future.”

A smile crept across my face at her words while I watched the fire dance around in the fireplace.

“Hi, sexy,” said a husky voice that made my body shiver with joy.

Adam stood at the front doors of the pack house, dressed in a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a simple wife-beater shirt. His muscles bulged out of his t-shirt. His six-pack was clearly visible underneath his shirt, drool worthy. I nearly choked on my spit as I perved over his sexiness.

I surprised everyone present, even myself, by bolting from the couch and jumping into Adam’s strong embrace. Luckily, I didn’t squeal like a teenage fan girl at a BTS concert. Adam buckled slightly but quickly recovered, his hands squeezing my butt as he carried me over to the couch and plopped down on it. I ended up straddling him.

“What did I do to earn this?” Adam smiled up at me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, gaining a few awes and a couple of wolf-whistles. “You have to ask?” Referring to the sappy gifts he left me. “Thanks for the gifts, even though they were over the top.”

Adam pouted and said, “You didn’t like them?”

“I never said that.” I placed a kiss on his chiseled jaw. Adam let out a deep growl. “I’m not a flower type of guy. Although, I’m keeping the bear. He’s a great snuggle buddy.”

Adam flipped me over on the couch with a snarl. He stared down at me with darkened eyes. “I’m the only one you should snuggle with.”

“Nathan, be careful. You’re tempting the beast,” Fenrus said to me. "What am I saying? Go ahead, provoke him and maybe he’ll poke us back.”

“Arg! Get your head out of the gutter!” I mentally rolled my eyes.

Feeling spunky, I leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “If you play your cards right, we may end up cuddling together—”

Before I could finish the sentence, Adam pulled me from the chair and flung me over his shoulder, slapping my ass. I yelped, while the entire room filled with laughter.

“Put me down, numb nuts!” I yelled out as he carried me out of the pack house and into the moonlit front lawn.

He slapped me again. “No.”

“I told you not to rile him up.” Fenrus snickered inside of my head.

“Oh, please! You’re enjoying every second of this.”

Suddenly, Adam placed me back on the ground and pulled me into a passionate kiss. Moaning like a starving man in front of a buffet table, I deepened the kiss, allowing Adam to take the lead. What? I’m a bottom and proud of it. I didn’t need to fight Adam for dominance. He already had it.

After the heated kiss, I asked Adam, “Well, where are you taking me?”

Adam smiled and took my hand. He began walking toward the darkened forest. It made me frown. I hoped I wasn’t going to become yet another statistic of missing people who ventured into a forest and never returned.

“Are you leading me into the forest to kill me and dump my body in a ravine?”

Adam chuckled. “No. You’re too sexy to murder.”

What!? “That’s flattering, but it’s also very disturbing at the same time. My brain is fucking me with its red flag, yelling at me to run.”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.”

We walked down a winding dirt path. A faint glow of moonlight filtered through the treetops. The hoot of an owl and the periodic chirping of crickets broke the silence of the forest. It was amazing to walk hand-in-hand with Adam. I didn’t want it to end, but yet it did when we emerged from the forest.

A massive abandoned mansion stood in front of us. A tsunami of ivy vines had already swallowed up half of the house. Most of the windows were shattered, with broken shutters that swayed back and forth in the light breeze that swept through the forest. We made our way up to the front doors. One of the two doors laid on the tiled floor in the foyer, while the other one barely held on to its hinges.

The place was freaking creepy. I loved it. Nothing made my heart beat faster than haunted places, or in this case, abandoned. I didn’t pick up on any wandering souls haunting the place, which I was grateful for. There was nothing worse than pissing off a ghost. Most of them were annoying and did nothing worse than popping up in front of your face and scaring the shit solid as ice inside of your bowls. However, sometimes when your luck ran into a brick wall, you’d stumble across a poltergeist and let me tell you they were a bitch to get rid of. Nasty as Donald Trump on an ego trip, they could fuck up your life just as easily.

“How did you know I would like this?” I asked Adam as we stepped into the leaf-covered foyer. One of the twinset stairs had crumbled to pieces, while the other one was about to follow.

“Your mother,” Adam answered. He took me by my hand and led me deeper into the house.

We followed a trail of lit candles down a long corridor until we ended up in front of another set of weathered doors. Adam reached over and opened them with a creak. My mouth nearly dropped to the floor. Hundreds of lit candles littered the dining room. A small path led to the center of the room, where a blanket and a bunch of cushions lay. Adam must have cleaned up the decrepit dining room. He swept most of the debris and junk into the corner of the room. Wooden boards covered up most of the broken windows on both sides of the room.

As Adam wrapped his muscular arms around my waist and kissed me, he asked, “Do you like it?”

I couldn’t stop smiling. It was sappy as hell, but it had at least a twist. My eyes found the wicker basket filled with goodies. Who would have thought of having a romantic picnic in an abandoned and creepy pack house?

“Love it,” I replied. At least he didn’t kiss a cliché’s ass and took me to a waterfall to dine under the full moon. It would have been gag worthy. But this was doable.

A white sheet hung from the ceiling, and a compact projector sat on a wooden chair, waiting for its audience. Please, don’t let it be a romcom, please!

As if Adam read my mind, which he couldn’t, he said, “Don’t worry. We’re watching a horror movie, IT.”

I laughed. I twisted around in Adam’s embrace and flung my arms over his shoulders. “You want me scared, Alpha? So that I’ll jump into your lap, seeking your comfort?”

“Maybe?” A wicked grin appeared on his handsome face. ’We’ll see.”

“We will, won’t we?”

We walked hand-in-hand to the picnic blanket. Let’s see who’s the scaredy-cat.