Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Nathan Underhill.

It’s been a crazy week. I had to juggle my studies, spend as much time with Adam, and find a way for my obnoxious brother to have a normal life for once. It must have been torture for him not being able to help Kaila. Goddess knows I would have turned mad if something happened to Adam. He was slowly snuggling into my heart, and for once, I wasn’t fighting it.

We were making our way out of the campus. The weather gradually turned hotter. Soon we were going to beg for winter again. All around campus, spring bloomed forth, turning the gray and lifeless landscape into a bountiful bouquet of greenery to feast one’s eyes on. Soon we arrived at Adam’s Jeep. True to a gentleman, he opened the door for me and I climbed in. Nothing wrong with acting a wee bit ladylike, and I really needed to throw him a bone to chew on.

“So, where are we going?” Adam asked as he climbed into the Jeep and started it.

I pulled the bracelet out of the bag and said, “We need to pay Kaila a visit. Next week when Riley returns from his trip, I need to make sure this”—I held the bracelet up—“works. Afterward, we can include Kaila in the preparations for the twins’ birthday. Do you think Tyson can keep Maisie away from the pack house for a week?”

Adam chuckled. “He’s already on it. I gave him the week off so that they could go on a romantic getaway.”

Arg! That was the cover story Tyson used as an opportunity for him to whisk my poor sister away from our prying eyes. So that he could do all the dirty things he wanted to do to her. I shuddered. Maisie was in for a hell of a week.

“Hey? What’s wrong?” asked Adam as he joined the traffic heading toward the center of town.

“Nothing. Just praying that my sister will walk again when Tyson’s done with her.”

Adam burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s so true.”

After weaving through traffic for another ten minutes, we arrived at the edge of town. We parked in front of a two-storied townhouse with beige painted walls and a red-tiled roof. I unbuckled my seatbelt and exited the vehicle. I took in a couple of deep breaths and walked up to a wrought-iron gate. There was an intercom mounted on the wall. With a hesitative finger, I pressed the button. A chirpy tune rang out, hammering against my heart.

Adam came up to me and rubbed my back. A silent bit of encouragement I desperately clung to. Was I doing the right thing by meddling in my brother’s affairs? He was definitely going to lose his shit. But I had no choice. Riley deserved a bit of happiness, and if I could give it to him, I would.

“Hello?” said a female’s voice over the intercom.

I leaned up to the speaker and said, “Good afternoon. I was wondering if I could speak to Kaila.”

“May I ask who’s speaking?”

Well, here goes nothing. There was no turning back from that point forward. “It’s Nathan Underhill, Riley’s older brother.”

I patted my sweaty palms on my jeans before pulling on the leather strap of my backpack. We waited for a minute before the iron gate swung open. We walked toward the front porch of the house. The red door swung open, revealing a middle-aged woman with touches of gray hair woven into her brown, flowing hair. She wore a pair of red glasses that made her green eyes pop out at you.

“Good afternoon. I’m Samantha Anderson.” She held out her hand for me to shake, which I did. So did Adam. “Welcome to our home.” She stepped aside and allowed us into her home.

The living room was modern and clean with a lot of windows, allowing light to flood into the house. A bright L-shaped couch sat in the corner with a coffee table in front of it. A massive family portrait of the Anderson family hung over the fireplace.

Mrs. Anderson led us to the open-plan kitchen where her husband was busy cooking. The same age as his wife, Mr. Anderson had brown short hair and brown eyes with a slight beer belly bulging in the front. He was a human. Not just by his smell; but also, I have never come across an overweight werewolf before. I mean, how can you be a werewolf and overweight when most werewolves chased their own tails around when they were bored? Trust me, it was fun.

After we shook Mr. Anderson’s hand, he addressed us. “So tell me, boys. Why is the future Alpha and the brother of my daughter’s mate here? I know for a fact that my daughter never met you before.”

I nodded and said, “It’s true that we’ve never met personally, but a few weeks ago I discovered my brother had a mate—”

“How? Riley would never tell you. He has not even told your father and sister.” Mr. Anderson’s eyes narrowed on me.

“Well, it’s a long story.”

***

After coming clean about spying on my brother, we sat in the livingroom. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson sat on two identical ottomans with starched faces, clutching their cups of coffee in their hands. It was difficult to gauge if they believed me or not.

“A cat?” Mrs. Anderson asked with a half-hidden grin, waiting to burst free.

I rubbed the back of my head. “Yeah... not the most eloquent way of going about things, but it was the only way I could find out what he was hiding.”

Mr. Anderson whistled and said, “Your brother’s going to kill you.”

“I know.” I chuckled nervously. “But it’s worth it.”

I turned to my bag and retrieved the bracelet I had enchanted. Maybe it was foolish of me to give them hope, but I had full confidence that, with the help of the trinket, Kaila could have a normal life. I wasn’t a fool. The piece of leather wasn’t a cure, but a coping mechanism. Both parents looked at the bracelet with interest.

“I get it why my brother didn’t tell anyone about Kaila. It’s none of our business and he’s only protecting her as a mate should,” I groaned out, saying. “But I also know he’s stubborn and he would never accept help from others. Even if he has to suffer for the rest of his life. He thinks he can carry the burden alone, but he doesn’t have to.”

Mrs. Anderson placed her cup on the table. “What are you getting at?”

“From what I’ve gathered already, is that you’ve exhausted every avenue to your disposal to help your daughter—”

“And where did you get that?” asked Mr. Anderson. A slight touch of anger laced his words.

“I talked to the Supreme, and she told me you came to her asking for her help.”

Kaila’s father shot up from his chair. “And she failed to help us!” We recoiled at his sharp words.

Adam growled at the old man’s outburst. I quickly reached over and touched his hand. “Calm down. It’s nothing to get upset about.”

“Sorry,” Adam replied with a pout.

“You can’t fault the Supreme. Her coven specializes in destructive magic, not alchemy nor enchanting... The stark truth of the matter is, those covens who have the means of helping your daughter are bigots and racists. They would never help a werewolf.”

The anger seeped out of Mr. Anderson’s tired eyes. He slumped back into his seat. His wife whispered sweet words into his ear and rubbed his back, earning a smile and a quick peck on the cheek from him.

“You’re angry and tired of not being able to ease your daughter’s suffering.” They both nodded at my statement. “That is why I’m here, to lift that burden from you.”

Both of them looked at me with hope in their eyes and quickly gravitated to the bracelet in my hand. “I can’t offer your daughter a cure for her illness. I’m not an alchemist, and I’m not even sure they can heal your daughter. Genetic abnormalities are more difficult to cure than a broken bone or torn flesh.” The hope in their eyes dimmed. “But I can manage her condition.”

“What are you telling us?” Mr. Anderson’s voice cracked.

I presented the trinket to them. “This bracelet will help your daughter manage her condition. It won’t cure her, but as long as she wears this,” I waved the piece of leather about, “she’ll be able to shift into her wolf and lead a healthy life without having another seizure.”

A flood gate opened and Mrs. Anderson was the first to embrace me in her embrace, followed by her husband. They sobbed and thanked me continuously for a full ten minutes, not letting go of me as they did. I took everything in me not to cry with them. I glanced over at Adam to see him wiping off a stray tear. What a big softie. After they calmed down, they returned to their seats with the bracelet in hand. They inspected it with a twinkle in their eyes.

“Can this really end my daughter’s suffering?”

I nodded. “My family’s specialty is enchanting and my mother’s the most skilled Enchanter out there. I doubt anyone can rival her, and she taught me everything she knows.” I smiled at them. “The enchantments are powerful. The bracelet is indestructible and it can help mitigate the excess electrical signals that overload her mind and cause the seizures. But she’ll have to wear it permanently.”

“Won’t it fall off when she shifts?”

I shook my head. “No. It’ll morph with her body and stay on. Now, the only thing that needs to happen is to get a doctor here so that we can see how well it works.”

A hint of fear flashed across their faces. “Why do we need a doctor?”

“We need a doctor here to help her through her shift and to monitor her condition. It wouldn’t hurt to have a medical expert on hand.”

They breathed out a sigh of relief and did as I told them.

***

After the discussion, the Andersons called their doctor before we headed upstairs to break the news to Kaila. It was nerve-wrecking, to say the least. Kaila’s parents were over the moon, happy that for once their daughter had a chance to live her life without a sword hanging over her head.

We followed Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, with the doctor in tow, up the stairs toward Kaila’s bedroom. At the end of the hallway, her father knocked twice on her bedroom door.

“Kaila, honey. Can we come in?” asked her father.

“Yes,” a soft voice said through the door.

Mr. Anderson twisted the knob and pushed open the door. A wall of pink met us with dozens of pictures of her, Riley, and her parents on it. Her world seemed so small. We all walked in and turned to the window. There she laid, on her hospital bed, covered in bandages. Weird. Shouldn’t she already have healed from her wounds? A bitter taste of bile slipped down my throat. I nearly gagged. What was that smell?

“It’s her wolf.” Fenrus whined in my head. ”It’s dying...”

My mind stumbled while my legs wobbled as I walked up to the bed. ”Are you sure?”

“Don’t know why, but the trauma of her seizures has caused a lot of damage to her body. That’s why she’s not healing fast enough. Her wolf is mentally and physically drained, to the point that it is barely hanging on.”

“She has to wear that bracelet as soon as possible. Can you see if you can connect to her wolf and lend her your healing?” I asked Fenrus. We never really tried to heal another wolf or person before, only small animals who were injured by stupid children.

“Nathan, are you alright?” Adam whispered, rubbing my arm.

I nodded and returned my focus to Kaila. She looked terrible. She had no body fat to speak of, her skin was as pale as snow, and her hair had lost its sheen long ago. If I was ignorant of her condition, I would have thought she was dying.

“She is... once her wolf dies, she’ll follow suit,” Fenrus grumbled.

Kaila’s mother walked up to her and said, “Honey, I’d like you to meet Adam and Nathan. They’re—”

“I know who they are, Mom.” Kaila said with a withered smile. “Riley told me about them.” Her dullish brown eyes found mine. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, though I doubt Riley knows you’re here.”

I chuckled and said, “He doesn’t.”

“Then why are you here?”

Her mother held out the trinket I made with an award-winning smile. “We have some wonderful news. Nathan here made you this bracelet for you. It will help you with your condition.”

Kaila’s eyes shot up to her mother’s, looking for a lie hidden behind them. “But that’s impossible. We’ve tried so many times and failed...” Tears slipped from her sullen eyes.

“This time it’s true.” Her mother took her by the hand and kissed her fingers one-for-one. “Nathan enchanted it so that you can live a normal life without having to suffer from another seizure again.”

“But how?” her voice broke off as tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Think of the bracelet as a pacemaker of sorts. It will regulate your nervous system, channel away the excess electrical pulses to the places they need to flow. This will prevent them from pooling in one place.” I pointed to her head.

“It will cure me?” Hope seeped through her eyes. She pulled herself up into her bed while her father rushed in to place an extra pillow behind her back.

“It’s not a cure, no.” I admitted. “As long as you wear the bracelet, you’ll never have to worry again about getting another seizure. If it bothers you, you can have the enchantments tattooed on your body to make them permanent.”

Her mother gave me a glare at the mention of their fragile daughter getting a tattoo. I immediately held up my hands in surrender. “It was just a suggestion and nothing more.”

Kaila hesitantly unbuckled the leather bracelet and placed it around her wrist while everyone, including me, held our breaths.