Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale

Nathan Underhill.

Summer was finally here, and we were enjoying our spare time splashing around in the lake. I sat on a red blanket between Adam’s legs while we watched the younger pups chase each other around the shore. Small beams of sunlight tickled our skin through the canopy overhead, while a slight breeze offered a reprieve from the sweltering heat. I leaned back into Adam’s chest as he gently stroked my arms, sending pleasurable tingles rippling up my arm.

Over the months, our relationship had grown in leaps and bounds. I loved spending as much time with him as I could. I even moved into his room, but we still didn’t go all the way, if you know what I mean. Adam surprised me each day we spent together. He never forced me to do anything I wasn’t ready for and for that, I loved him. You heard correctly. I loved him, but never told him. It still scared me to take that irrevocable step. An axe hung over my head. I still had this feeling that my grandfather would pop out of the woodwork one of these days.

“What’s wrong, sexy?” Adam asked me while nibbling on my ear.

I squirmed away and said, “Nothing serious.” He stared at me, not believing me one bit.

“Try again.”

I sighed and wrapped his arms around my waist. “There’s this nagging feeling that’s making me anxious.”

“Your grandfather?”

I nodded. “Could be... He’ll eventually sniff me out and try to kill me.”

Adam wrapped me tighter in his embrace, kissing my neck. “Well, he’ll have to get through me first.”

This made my stomach churn. He meant what he said, and it didn’t calm me. His proclamation made it worse. I didn’t want anyone to die on my behalf, especially not Adam. Over the months, the pack had grown on me and seeing them in danger because of me still kept me awake at night.

I groaned and pulled away from his embrace. I stood up and walked off toward the forest’s tree line where my brother and his mate ran around chasing each other amongst the trees. Since the party, we have grown to understand one another. Riley stopped acting like a prick and we could hold a conversation without biting each other’s heads off. It would still take some time before we would call each other brothers in public, but we were getting there.

Kaila was doing very well. I was happy that the enchantment helped her as well as it did. She hasn’t had a seizure yet. Much to her mother’s disappointment, Kaila had the enchantment tattooed on the back of her neck. The bracelet I gave her, she kept as an accessory. I wouldn’t have; the trinket wasn’t the most elegant thing to wear around one’s wrist.

I walked into the shade of the forest, trying to calm down. The tightness in my chest persisted. Even the forest had grown silent over the past weeks. I got the sense that the forest was waiting for something to happen. What exactly, I did not know. A snap of a twig punched me in the heart. I spun around, coming face-to-face with the white stag I’d seen before. It huffed and stamped its hooves while turning its gaze on me.

“Nathan, wait up!” yelled Adam as he stumbled into the clearing. “There you are!” His mouth slammed shut when he saw the stag.

“Don’t move!” I said through the mind-link.

Adam grew roots on the spot.

For the first time since I’ve known him, Adam stuttered out, “I-Is that—”

“Shush!”

Adam turned to me. “Sorry!” He shrugged his apology.

Luckily, Adam’s presence didn’t intimidate the stag. Why would it be? The tremendous power irradiating off the beast would drag the most powerful supernaturals to their knees, begging for mercy. Even an oddity such as myself wouldn’t want to fuck with it. The Spirit of the Forest was indeed a magnificent sight to behold. A grand set of horns crowned out of the stag’s head. The herbivore towered over us with its muscular frame that could easily stomp a grisly bear into the dirt with one kick.

I didn’t move a muscle, too afraid to set it off; but yet, I didn’t get the feeling that the spirit had any ill intentions toward me. The stag strutted up to me, but like a fool I took a few steps backward, making the spirit mad. It stomped its feet onto the ground and screeched. The sound of the spirit’s voice thundered through the forest, shaking the ground we stood upon.

“Fuck! What power.” I stumble backward, earning another screech.

“Adam! Don’t do it!” I yelled out to Adam as he charged at the spirit.

Before I could move, the buck reared and kicked Adam in the chest, sending him flying through a bush and against a tree. My feet acted before my brain, trying to get to Adam’s side, but the stag cut me off. A choir of shouts rang out as Riley and the rest of the pack who went swimming came rushing into the clearing.

“Don’t come close!” I shouted at them as they ground to a halt.

Maisie was the first to reach Adam’s side, while the rest of the group stared at the stag with their jaws on the ground. The Spirit of the Forest huffed out and reared again, slamming its front hooves into the ground. A tremor shook the forest floor, sending the group to their knees.

“Please! All of you... don’t piss it off.” I sent the message out to all of them.

The stag turned its attention to me and approached. Deciding that it was a foolish idea to flee, I stood my ground. With trembling feet, I waited for the spirit to do what it came here to do. Slowly, the stag pressed its forehead against mine. A torrent of heat rippled through my body.

Blood and gore filled my vision. The stench of burned flesh and ash choked my lungs, threatening to up-heave my lunch. I had to swallow down the bile that seared the back of my throat. A lone figure I immediately recognized emerged from the carnage left in his wake. My grandfather. A shredded hump of flesh moved at his feet, trying to flee. However, my grandfather snapped his victim’s neck with a twitch of his finger and a grin on his face.

After the disturbing vision, the spirit took control of my voice. “I am Artus, father of all wolves,” said the stag through my mouth. My voice was deeper than usual. The spirit dropped its head and stepped back, but the connection still held. “Beware the destroyer, he soon approaches at the heels of your kin.” The images of my aunts and nephew flashed across my mind. “Prepare for battle... He brings carnage in his wake and will stop at nothing to wipe out those who he deems as his enemy.

“Do not falter or your fates will be sealed.” The spirit turned his head to me, locking eyes with me. “You, my child, have to end the cycle of destruction your forbear has wrought. Only then will the shackles of your past wither to dust. His death will sow your salvation and those you love. When the time comes and you struggle under the weight of your enemy’s ire, call upon me and I’ll rush to your aid.”

The connection broke, and the stag retreated deeper into the forest. Soon, the spirit disappeared from sight as quickly as it came. I stood petrified at the spot where the stag left me, overwhelmed by the message it left.

My grandfather was coming.

“About time!” Fenrus growled out, making me flinch at his sudden outburst. ”We need to crush that old fool.”

“It’s easier said than done,” I replied, stumbling back to where Adam lay. I kneeled beside him, trying to help Adam to his feet.

Adam groaned as I pulled him up, then hissed as he straightened his back. “Fuck! That hurt.”

I placed my hand on the place where the Spirit of the Forest kicked him. “How much does it hurt?”

“Not too bad... Just warn me next time when I’m foolish enough to take on the spirit.”

His joke earned him a few chuckles. I breathed out a sigh of relief that the stag didn’t harm Adam seriously. However, he was going to have a nasty bruise on his chest for the next few days.

“We have to warn my father about the spirit’s warning,” Adam said as we walked back to the lake.

“Yeah, we should.”

***

After the incident in the forest, Adam ordered the rest of the teenagers to head back to the pack house. It was a silent walk back. Nobody who saw the Spirit of the Forest wanted to talk about what happened, and I was thankful for their silence. The vision had me reeling. The day had finally come, the day I dreaded for the most part of my life. All along the way, Adam held onto my hand, grasping on tightly as if I’d disappear if he let me go. I tried to assure him I wasn’t in danger, but his protective instinct reared its ugly little head.

Once we reached the front door of the pack house, Adam dragged us toward his father’s office. It was a typical office, with rows of bookshelves lining the walls and a single mahogany table. Adam dragged me over to one of the leather chairs facing the desk while he took the other one next to me. The others in the group took their seats on a sofa off to the side. After several minutes of waiting, the Alpha and my father walked into the office with my mom and the Supreme on their heels.

“You called,” said Adam’s father as he took in his seat behind his desk. The Supreme followed suit, sitting on his lap.

Joshua groaned and said, “Really, Mom? Stay mellow with the PDA, will you?”

“Jealous, are we?” she asked. She then kissed the Alpha on the lips, earning another groan from Joshua and a few snickers from the rest of the group.

“As much as I love to see Dad happy and all, we came here because we just ran into the Spirit of the Forest.”

The Alpha’s grin faltered, and the Supreme rose to her feet.

“Where?” she asked.

“By the lake... We were swimming and then Nathan went for a walk and a white stag showed itself to him,” Adam explained while squeezing my hand.

“Explain from the beginning,” said my mom, jumping into the conversation. “The Spirit of the Forest wouldn’t just appear to anyone without having a reason to do so. What did it want?”

I gulped and then said, “It gave us a warning.”

“About what?”

“Grandfather’s coming.”