Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Adam Wick.

The moment I opened my eyes, I couldn’t stop smiling. Here, in my arms, laid the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met, and he was all mine. Last night was a major success, one for the books. The date couldn’t have turned out better, except for the horror movie that scared the shit out of me. I always disliked clowns, now I just loathe them. It took all of my bravado not to squeal out loud when we had to walk back to the pack house through a dark forest. But I did, and the reward was worth the wait.

I tightened my hold on Nathan’s waist and snuggled deeper into his back. His intoxicating scent flowed down my spine, awakening my demon downstairs. Did I get lucky last night? Not as I hoped, but Nathan wasn’t ready for touchdown, if you know what I meant. He was still cautious. But I didn’t care; I would wait for him as long as he needed. We did, however, get a little frisky last night.

“Did you ever think he would do what he did last night?” Bane asked, yawning as he stirred from his sleep.

I yawned in response. ”No, even I nearly blew my load when he did it.”

“Damn, that was so...” Bane growled at the memory of what the minx did to us.

I began running my fingers over his bare chest. He had a narrow island of hair in the middle of his chest. I loved playing with them. Nathan stirred under my gentle touch, shoving his sweet ass up to my erection. I groaned into his back. He was making it very difficult not to pin him down and plow his sexy ass into oblivion.

“Good morning,” Nathan said with a husky tone in his voice.

I smiled and peppered him with kisses along his neck. “Good morning, sexy.”

He turned around and smiled at me. Fuck, he was a gorgeous creature even with his bed hair and his groggy eyes. Some people just wake up looking beautiful. Nathan leaned forward and buried his face in the nape of my neck.

Goddess, I loved him. Yeah, I did. I’d never admit it to him, though.

“Why not?” Bane huffed.

“Because he’ll run for the hills and never look back.” I told him, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. ”We’ll have to wait a while longer before we drop a bomb that massive on his lap.”

“Fine. Have it your way. I’m going back to sleep.” Bane disappeared back into the bowels of my mind.

“Have you heard from your father?” I asked Nathan.

Nathan groaned and said, “Yes, I did. They’re having a great week so far. Riley, it seems, is having a wonderful time with my father. He’s even opened up to my mother and bonded with Lilly to where they’re doing nearly everything together.”

After Nathan found out that Riley felt abandoned, he asked his father to take Riley on a fishing trip where they could spend quality time together. His mother and sister tagged along. It would seem that Victoria and Nathaniel had picked up where they left off twenty-two years ago. Nathan was happy that his mother had finally moved on from his stepfather’s death. He wanted her to be happy.

“Well, that’s great to hear,” I said. “But we have to get up before we’re late for college.”

It was my final year of management studies. I couldn’t be happier. No more college for me and I could finally devote all of my attention to the pack and the businesses my father wanted to throw into my lap. It was an enormous responsibility, but I was ready for it.

Nathan scowled at me when I threw the blanket off. “You ass.” He rose from his grave and stretched out. I watched as his back muscles flexed, licking my lips in appreciation. Nathan’s eyes caught the tent in my boxers, and then he looked at me. “Don’t get any ideas. You already got your reward last night.”

It was my turn to groan. “Can’t you do it one more time?” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.

Nathan scooted off the bed in his red briefs that hugged his tight ass and ran into the bathroom. “No can do, hot lips. Use your hand if you’re desperate.” He then closed the door.

And so I did.

***

Thirty minutes later, Nathan and I emerged from his bedroom hand-in-hand. Nathan still had a blush lingering on his cheeks when he walked in on me, rubbing one off. Well, he did tell me to take care of my raging problem.

A blur of red accompanied by a squeal ran to us and tackled Nathan, who stumbled back a bit. Joshua.

“Hi! How’s my bestie doing?” Joshua said, hanging from Nathan’s shoulders. A low growl erupted from my lips, causing them to move apart. “Oh, hush, big boy. I’m not interested in stealing your boyfriend from you. I love my flawless skin and want to keep it that way.”

“Good to hear.” I dragged Nathan into my embrace and kissed him.

Nathan pulled away and socked me in the arm. “Stop being possessive, dumbass.” He winked at me and gave me a peck on my lips before sauntering off with Joshua in tow.

“Wait for me,” I shouted, running after them. “Aren’t we going to have breakfast?” My stomach growled in agreement.

“We’re driving to Raven’s for pancakes,” Joshua replied, sticking out his tongue.

“Oh.”

We finally reached my blue Jeep Wrangler and climbed in, making sure Nathan sat next to me as we drove off toward the local hotspot, Raven’s Diner, which sold the most delicious food on the planet. Seriously, it was the best. Driving through the town, we made our way to a bricked building next to the town’s fire station. Over the front door of the diner hung a signboard with the letters written in gold with a purple backdrop: Raven’s.

I parked the Jeep and got out. Joshua followed suit while singing at the top of his lungs, listening to a Sia song. Poor Sia, her song was never performed so brutally before. I could never again listen to the track without recalling Joshua’s horrible singing.

“Joshua, please have mercy on us and shut your mouth,” Nathan hissed, clamping his hand over Joshua’s mouth. “I love you, but your singing is testing the limits of our friendship.”

Ouch!

“It’s true though.” Bane butted into the conversation. ”We can use him to torture the rogues into submission.”

I couldn’t hold my laughter in. Joshua’s eyes narrowed on me while he removed Nathan’s hand from his mouth. “What’s so funny, furball?”

Bane growled at his insult. ”Bitch-slap twinkle for me, will you?”

“That won’t be necessary. He’s a diva by nature and you don’t ruffle their feather without suffering for it. Next thing you’ll see, he’ll nag us the entire time that we’re being mean to him and I don’t want to upset Nathan’s friend.”

Bane retreated into the back of my mind, grumbling along the lines of me being whipped.

I walked past Joshua and Nathan as they argued over Joshua’s terrible singing. I wanted a strong cup of coffee to make it through the rest of the breakfast without chomping Joshua’s head off. Nathan followed close behind as I made my way to the back of the restaurant. As usual, the diner bustled with customers.

The diner wasn’t fancy, but it was homely. Leather booths snaked along the walls of the restaurant while six free standing tables took up the rest of the floor space. Countless pictures decorated the walls. They were mostly of local residents and famous people who dined at the establishment. In the center of the roof hung a reclaimed barn-wood chandelier that had eighteen pendants with incandescent bulbs attached to them.

I sat down in the booth, dragging Nathan’s sweet ass next to me. I quickly pecked him on the cheek, earning a glare from him.

“Stop it, horn dog. There are small children here who don’t need an early lesson in PDA,” Nathan told me while picking up a menu and studying it.

I scoffed and said, “Since when is a simple kiss on the cheek, scandalous? Most of those small children have seen their parents do worse.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re here to eat and not to make out—”

“Oh, thank the goddess for that,” Joshua said, taking off his ear buds. “It’s not fair to those who have to go through the day with a dry mouth.”

“Fine, let’s eat.” I muttered, picking up the menu in front of me.

***

The rest of the day dragged on at a snail’s pace. Not having Nathan on my side sucked big time. I had to force myself and pay attention to my professor as he drawled on with the lesson. When the bell rang out, I bolted out of the class and made my way to where Nathan was.

“Sexy, where are you?” I mind-linked him.

At first I thought Nathan was ignoring me, but then his frustrated voice rolled into my head. ”In the library...”

“I’ll be there in a sec.”

I picked up my pace and weaved through the crowd of students that littered the corridors.

“What’s wrong with Nate? He sounded off,” Bane asked.

“Don’t know... We’ll find out soon.”

I ran up to the double doors of the library and entered. Walking through the library, I didn’t see Nathan amongst the shelves on the first floor, so I took the stairs up to the second. There, in the corner, sat Nathan in front of a giant window overlooking the front lawn of the campus. The afternoon sun bathed him in its warm glow.

Stacks of books surrounded Nathan. One of his hands held up his head while he penned down information in his notebook while frowning up a thunderstorm. I walked up to Nathan and wrapped my arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. He sighed and then laid his head on my shoulder just as I took a seat next to him. He threw the pen in his hand onto the table and then rubbed the frustration out of his face. I took his hand in mine. It wasn’t soft but a tad rough, showing that he wasn’t afraid of working hard.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him, pulling a handbook toward me. Genetic Abnormalities In Were folk, Vol. IV. Wow, I didn’t even know that we had that many abnormalities.

He rubbed his brows and said, “I’m trying to help Kaila with her shifting problem.”

“And?” It was sad when I found out that Riley had this burden lingering on his soul. His mate was ill, with a lifelong condition, and there was nothing they could do about it. “Are you able to find a way?”

“Yes, I have a way, but it’s not a cure. I don’t think there will ever be one.” He sat straight in his chair and rummaged through his backpack. He then pulled out an ornate bracelet made of black leather with weird golden symbols etched into them. “This leather bracelet will have to do. Mind you, it’s not the prettiest gift, but the enchantment I’ve engraved into the leather is more important.”

I took the leather wristlet from Nathan and ran my thumb along the sleek leather. “What does it do?”

“Well, when Kaila tries to shift, her mind basically overloads with too many electrical impulses and short-circuits, causing seizures.”

I gave it back to him. “Can’t she just take medicine?”

“No, werewolves are nearly resistant to most medications. Our metabolisms burn through them. So any medical treatments would be useless.”

“Potions?”

“The doctors have tried, but they are too expensive and scarce. Let’s just say that there are asshole witches and warlocks that need a serious kick in their high-and-might asses.”

It wasn’t a surprise to me that the witches didn’t want to help Kaila. Even though we had a solid relationship with the coven, there were others out there who believed that werewolves and vampires were the scum of the earth. Oh, please. Arrogance had no bounds with those people.

“And all of this is for Riley?”

I was so proud of Nathan taking on the role of the older brother and looking out for his siblings. Mind you, I had the urge to drag Riley by his tail and hit him on his snout with a newspaper. This was because Riley treated his brother like he stepped in dog shit. Bad frickin’ mutt.

“Yeah...” He cracked his knuckles. “I feel sorry for my brother having a mate that can’t have a normal life. If there’s anything that I can do about it, I’ll find a way.”

Goddess, he was frickin awesome!

Before Nathan could pucker his lips properly, I landed a kiss. For a second or two he protested, denying me access, but he soon caught wind and deepened the kiss. Taking a breather, we pulled apart, only to have the librarian whip us with her scowl.

“Get the hell out of here!” she whisper-yelled, flailing her chicken arms about. “This is a place of learning, not a brothel. “Get out.” She pointed to the nearest exit.

I wanted to rip her grandma panties a new hole to shit out of, but Nathan stopped me. “Don’t mind her. Let’s get going. My classes are over and I need to make a stop before heading home.”

He gathered up his belongings and took me by the hand. Like a puppy with a bone, I walked beside him, but growled at the old ass lady before we exited the library.