Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Adam Wick.

Can’t believe Nate left me hard like that. Come on, there had to be a crime against playing someone like that. As I laid against the foot of my bed with my ass planted on the floor of my room, I tried to will away the painful stiffy Nathan left me with. That was a dirty trick.

I stumbled to my feet and made my way into the bathroom. Yet again, I had to take care of my boner. I swear, ever since I first met Nathan, I have had a serious case of chronic masturbation. I just hoped that I didn’t end up with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

After cleaning up, I dressed up in a pair of red swimmer shorts, a white wife-beater, and a pair of white vans. Luckily, the surprise party for the twins was a lake party held in the backyard of the pack house overlooking the lake. So I saw no reason to dress up if we were going to splash around in the lake for the most part of the party. I made my way down toward the livingroom where Nathan sat with Kaila and her parents. My chest swelled with pride at Nathan’s accomplishment; without him, Kaila would have continued to suffer. If Riley had a problem with Nathan interfering, he had to go through me. Riley had to stop punishing other people for his own shortcomings and he had to learn how to accept other people’s help.

I joined Nathan on the couch while my dad spoke to Kaila about her condition.

“I’m getting there,” she replied with a gentle smile that covered her nervousness. “I get tired quickly, but the doctors assured me it’ll pass.”

“Well, I hope so. Don’t push yourself too much,” my dad told her. “If anytime throughout the party you don’t feel well, you’re more than welcome to rest in one of the quest rooms, but I suspect your mate will be eager to use his.”

A scowl flashed across Mrs. Anderson’s face at his words. “That’s not going to happen. Stay as far away from that boy’s room as possible before it leads to things you’re not ready for.”

“Mom!” Kaila hissed. “Your imagination is running wild.” Her cheeks reddened.

All of us burst out laughing. After a few more minutes, me and Nathan excused ourselves and made our way to the backyard. There, a few of the pack members were busy putting the finishing touches to the decorations. Rows of colorful cabanas lined both sides of the yard’s perimeter leading to the lake. Underneath them lay mountains of pillows, enabling partygoers to sit on them. Most of the center space of the yard we left open for party activities and dancing.

“Alpha?” one of the pack members asked, drawing our attention. We walked over to the red-haired young girl who stood next to an opened box filled with party decorations. “Where are we going to hang these?” She pulled out a bunch of silk streamers colored in red and purple. Riley and Maisie’s favorite colors.

I glanced over at Nathan. “What do you think? There are no poles we can tie them to.”

Nathan furrowed his brows until his eyes darted to a bunch of hula-hoops that lay on one of the activities tables. With a flick of his finger, a single white hula-hoop flew through the air and the streamers shot out of the box. The ring came to a halt, twelve feet in the air. The streamers tied themselves around the hoop and spread outward, lengthening magically until they found a surface to fasten to. Like a spider’s web, the streamers hung suspended overhead.

“That’s freaking cool.” I leaned in and kissed Nathan on the cheek. “Nice job.”

Nathan’s cheeks flared up at my compliment. Suddenly, he found the box very interesting. How cute, he was embarrassed.

The girl clapped her hands and said, “Wow! I agree. Thanks Luna for the help.” She picked up the box and scurried off.

Nathan stuttered and shouted after her. “I-I’m not the Luna!” He stole a quick glance at me and then scurried toward the docks.

“He’s freaking out!” Bane hollered inside my head. ”Hurry after him before he disappears in a plume of mist again.”

I ran after him. ”I know. Why did Sully have to do that? Hell, we haven’t even been on our fourth date yet and the pack’s already calling him Luna.”

My feet hit the wooden planks with a thud as I walked up to Nathan as he sat on the edge of the deck, soaking up the sunlight. Water sloshed up against the dock. I sat down next to Nathan. He glared off into the distance at nothing in particular.

“I’m sorry. She shouldn’t have called you that,” I said. I kept my feet out of the water by sitting cross-legged; however, Nathan’s feet hovered on the surface of the rippling water.

Nathan ruffled his hair and said, “Did you tell your pack to call me that?”

What?! I would never do that to him. I wasn’t a typical dumb alpha with more semen than brain cells. If I pushed Nathan too fast into a relationship, he would have run faster than a lightning bolt hitting the ground.

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t. There’s a long way to go before we’re on that path. For now, you’re just my boyfriend, my soaking-wet boyfriend.”

He slumped his shoulders until the second part of my words hit his brain. But the realization came too late. With a single push from me, Nathan fell into the lake with a splash and a yell.

“You ass!” He shouted, clinging to the docks. “What the hell was that for?”

Really? Did he have short-term memory loss?

“That, my dear Nathan, is for this morning. Just as I had to take a cold shower, so did you.”

Nathan’s eyes flashed red as a warning. So I high-tailed it out of there before he cursed my ass into oblivion.

***

The time had come and most of the pack gathered in the backyard, waiting for the quests of honor to arrive. Me, Nathan, and my father stood at the front of the group of people while Kaila and her parents hid in the back. She wanted to stay hidden to surprise Riley and boy was he about to get one.

The moment Tyson and Nathaniel entered our territory, I felt their mind-link reconnect and directed them to bring the twins to the backyard. All of us present watched the backdoors, waiting for the moment they exited the pack house. The waiting was killing me slowly. I wasn’t the most patient person on the planet. Even Nathan had a nervous tick going on by tapping his right foot on the ground.

“We’re here,” Nathaniel said through the mind-link.

My father turned to the crowd. ”Get ready everyone.”

As soon as the back door pushed open, everyone shouted, “Surprise!” Catching Maisie by surprise. Yeah, as if. She was a brilliant actress and she could fake it with the best out there. I’ve known Maisie from wearing diapers, so her facial expressions gave her away. Yet she played along.

“Tyson, couldn’t you keep your mouth shut?” I called out to Tyson through the mind-link.

My best friend gave me a shrug in return. “I tried keeping her in the dark, but she became suspicious and twisted the truth out of me by nearly crushing my junk.”

I chuckled and shook my head as we approached Maisie and Riley, giving them a hug and a pat on the shoulder. However, Nathan and Riley found it a bit awkward. They exchanged handshakes. Luckily, Lilly, the adorable scamp in a pink dress and pigtails, ended the awkwardness with a high-pitch squeal when she barreled into her brother, giving him a big hug. He threw her into the air and gave her several kisses on the cheek.

“Eww! Cooties!” screamed Lilly, fighting off Nathan’s kisses.

Nathan faked being offended amidst his family’s laughter and said, “How can you say that? Didn’t you miss your big brother?”

Lilly’s eyes quickly found the food table. She then squirmed out of his grip and bolted for the food, shouting, “No, I didn’t.”

Nathan shook his head and then returned to hugging his mother and father. And so the greetings and well-wishes continued until Riley’s eyes landed on his mate. Astonished, he froze on the spot, not believing his eyes. His mouth emulated a fish before bolting down on her and hugging the stuffing out of her.

“Not so hard... You’ll break a bone,” Kaila gasped out.

Riley quickly released her and gave her a once over. ‘How could this be possible?’ He was so shocked that he couldn’t keep his mouth from hanging open. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? I mean, your seizures could flare up at any minute.”

Kaila walked up to Riley and cupped his jaw in her hands. “It won’t.”

“But how can you say that?”

This was heading nowhere fast. “Riley.” I said, drawing his attention. “Stop looking for excuses... Nathan helped mitigate the cause of her seizures. She’ll be fine.”

As expected, Riley’s scowl landed on his brother.

Just great. Here we go. I rolled my eyes and huffed at Riley’s shitty attitude. He should rather kiss his brother’s ass.

“What did you do?” His words slapped Nathan in the face. The ungrateful prick.

Before Nathan could speak, I cut him off by strutting up to Riley and releasing my dominant aura. Riley shrunk back and everything fell silent. The entire party came to a screeching halt.

“Let me be very clear here, Riley. Stop being a prick. Your brother, out of the kindness of his heart, helped your mate. He didn’t have to help her, but he wanted to. Not because he pitied Kaila, no. He wanted you two to have a normal life for once.” I pushed Riley in the chest, causing him to stumble. “So stop with your shit for once and accept your brother’s help or I swear to the moon goddess I’ll beat the crap out of you today.” I ended up growling, allowing Bane to step forward.

Nathan walked up to me and placed his hand on my chest. “Thanks for defending me, but it’s unnecessary. I can easily beat the crap out of him, anyway.” His coppery eyes bore into Riley. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want my help. It’s Kaila who has been suffering for most of her life. So Riley, are you willing to let your pride stand in the way of your mate’s wellbeing?”

Ha! He had Riley there. Kaila was the actual victim, and Riley would never allow his mate to suffer. No werewolf would allow that. It was in our DNA to protect our mates. Not every werewolf was lucky enough to be granted a mating bond.

The defiance in Riley’s face bled out, and he shook his head. “Sorry, Nate. I was being a prick.” Those who heard his apology, their jaws hit the ground. Mine as well. “Nothing is more important than Kaila’s health and I’m glad you could help her, but how did you find out she was my mate? I only told dad days earlier.”

Nathan rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “It’s a long story. Kaila can fill you in on the details later.”

Riley eyed Nathan for a second before nodding in agreement. “I will and thanks.” He reached out and shook Nathan’s hand again.

After that, Kaila dragged the birthday boy off toward their seats under the cabanas. While the party kicked off in earnest.