Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale (MxM)

Chapter 2: The Beginning of My New Life. [Edited]

Nathan Underhill.

Later that evening, after I got home, my mom made us lasagna for dinner. She then allowed my little sister to eat before tucking her in for the night. Even though Lilly slept most of the afternoon, she was still cranky and tired; the move from New York City to Shadowdale had taken its toll on her.

I shuffled my food around my plate while staring out of the window. It was already dark outside.

"Honey, are you OK?" My mom asked, patting me on my hand. "It's not like you to play with your food."

I sighed. There was something wrong. I had to admit it. When we fled from New York City, I thought my mom would have picked a no-name town to settle down in, allowing us enough peace to enjoy a bit of our lives before my grandfather and his dogs of hell sniffed us out again. But to my surprise, she chose Shadowdale... a werewolf-infested town with a coven of witches to boot. She had never done that before. She always tried to stay away from the supernatural when choosing a brand-new town to settle in. My brain has been chewed to mush by her decision. My mom knew it was dangerous, but she did it anyway.

I pushed my plate away and asked her the question she'd been avoiding for a while now. "Why are we here?"

My mom stared into my eyes before she wiped her mouth off with a napkin. "You have to be more specific—"

"Mom!" I cried out, hating it when she got cryptic with me. We always shared every little detail about our lives with one another. She was the only one in my life I could depend on, but the secret she's been keeping from me has me worried. What was she hiding? And why did she think she needed to hide it from me? It stung.

Don't raise your voice with me, young man." She picked up her plate and walked over to the sink.

"I'm sorry," I pouted. "It's just that you brought us to a town full of werewolves and Mom hasn't explained why."

She turned around and leaned against the sink, folding her arms. "I have my reasons, son. We can't continue like this, packing up and running all the time. There comes a time in one's life when you have to take the beast by the horns."

"And what happens if Grandpa tracks us down?" I did not like the idea of endangering my family like that—it was crazy. Taking a stand to protect one's life and liberty was admirable, but if it came at the cost of another's life, hell no! My grandfather wanted me dead, not my mom and baby sister.

"We'll face him." Her eyes softened as she walked over to me. She cupped her hands on my cheeks. "We can't live like this anymore. I'm tired." She kissed me on my forehead.

"But—"

"But nothing." She pulled out the chair next to me and took my hand, squeezing it tightly. "I have trained you since you were six years old, and you've learned everything that I can offer. Even your stepfather," she gestured to the picture on the table in the hallway, "taught you everything about how to be the best werewolf you can be."

It was true. The first time we fled, I had a difficult time taming Fenrus. My shifts had become erratic and violent. I was a threat, not only to myself but to my mom as well. She used her contacts in the magical underground and tracked down a Greyback that began teaching me how to control and use my bestial side. Unbeknownst to me, my mom and my mentor fell in love and that is how Jacob Green became my stepfather.

I squeezed her hand back. "I'm just scared that I'll lose you. It's me he wants."

"It won't happen. I have a plan that will turn the tide. The time has come for the hunter to become the prey," my mom said with a conviction in her voice that gave me a sliver of hope to cling onto. A small grin escaped her flawless face, making me wonder what twisted scheme she had concocted.