Defiance (Book 6 of The Claimed Series) SAMPLE

2. Hasty Words

 Lucas Daniels had neglected his future long enough. It was time to get busy and start to live it. Even if that came with some pretty heavy decisions he had to make about his future.

He didn't mind the fact that they had decided to discontinue The Claiming ceremonies just a year before he'd turned 21. In fact, it had given him a reason avoid finding a mate for three full years.

A mate he both desired and didn't—no, couldn't want.

After combing out the last few strands of his hair, he added a bit of aftershave to his face, wondering why he was even caring to. Something about being the Alpha's son, probably. He had to give a good appearance, even if he was in a foul mood.

The foulest of moods.

Though the bonfire was primarily for single wolves, he was bringing his Beta along in case of trouble, and Christian was sitting over on his bed now, waiting for him to finish his ablutions. They would meet Kallen at the car in less than twenty minutes, and Luke was taking his sweet time and frittering most of it away by hedging—stalling.

"Get it over with, Luke," Chris was saying. "I'm sure she'll understand—if she's even there."

He could hear the feral snarl of his wolf, a low rumble that made his head ache, his heart hurt. "I know I've been procrastinating, but this... It sucks, Chris."

His friend nodded his head, looking both sage and patient. "I get it, but best to get it over with then so we can all move forward, eh?"

The words were right, what he needed to hear, but every feeling, ever doubt, made it feel like the end of the world. His world. Things would be tricky from here on out, and Luke wasn't looking forward to it, no matter how inevitable it was. In fact, since the first bonfire and balls had occurred, he'd made sure not to go, postponing his fate.

Now, time was running out. Only when you put off what was to come did it race forward at you at the very last second. The eleventh hour.

He had a horrible feeling about tonight. A sense of foreboding, and it made him sluggish and wary.

Luke grumbled his response. "I get it. Let's get this shitshow over with already, huh?"

Christian stood up and stretched. "Yup. You driving, or do you want me to?"

Luke grabbed his keys from the nightstand and stuffed them in his pocket, along with his wallet and cell phone. "I'll do it." He paused and looked at Chris, his best friend. "s**t goes down, I may need you to take the wheel on the way back. You good with that?"

His friend nodded understandingly. "I hear ya. Tame your wolf, if you can. s**t will work out in the end. I have faith."

Luke nodded, only wishing that he had the same conviction about tonight.

***

The three of them sat on the felled logs around the fire before looking back over at the line at the buffet table. It was finally starting to wind down, the smell of food lingering comfortably in the air before dissipating with the ocean breeze. Now other scents came more into play, plumeria, a whiff of lavender, sandalwood—all aromas of the wolves surrounding him as well, Christian's minty aroma, Kallen's more earthy soil and pine scent.

And the hint of vanilla that was becoming stronger the longer the night wore on. It rattled him, and he shook it off as he listened to the quiet conversation around him. Soft words spoken between friends. Laughter. He'd seen a couple of shifters finding their mates, but he'd looked away, both jealous and curious, mixed with a touch of sadness.

He was riled. Both inwardly and outwardly, he felt completely off, and he had no idea why. Instead, he tried to focus on the conversation within his group. He had a few more hours, and some of that would be spent wondering just what the f**k he was doing with his life.

"f**k you, that's not right," Kallen was saying. "The rivalry of Army versus Navy will always be the most contentious."

"Alabama and Auburn," was Chris' firm reply.

Football. Of course the two of them were discussing sports. Chris already had a mate and had only come for moral support and if Luke wolfed out—which so far thankfully hadn't happened.

"Shut the f**k up both of you. Jesus, you two. Can't you fight over something a little less trifling? Kallen, take a walk. Maybe you'll find a mate around here. Or someone willing to blow you on the far side of the beach. Shit."

"Touchy Alpha," Kallen simpered. "Scared you might meet yours this fine evening? Frightened she might finally tame the badass in you? Make you less of a man?"

"Enough," Chris interceded. "Kallen, get out of here before he wolfs out and rips your head from your pretty little neck. I can dress you down later and school you on true rivalries."

"Boy bands?" Kallen made a face. "Like who was hotter? NSYNC or Backstreet Boys? No thanks. I'd rather s**t on my palms and clap my hands together."

He walked off after that statement, leaving Christian and Luke alone on the far side of one long, felled log. Chris tilted his head to look up at his friend.

"You alright?"

Luke had to curb the need to lift his lip in a snarl. "Fine." A muscle in his jaw throbbed with a twitch. "I feel..." He didn't have a word ready to explain what he felt. "Fine." The word fell limply from his lips even the second time. It felt weak. Impotent.

"You feeling anything? Anything at all?"

Lucas snorted derisively as he looked around. Looked around and didn't see. "Only a keen sense of foreboding and doom. Does finding a mate always suck this bad, or is it just me?"

Chris chuckled softly. "It's your situation, brother. No one should have to do what you have to. It's not right, but...shit happened. You need to deal with it. Everything will work itself out. Have some confidence."

"I'm confident that this could turn into a real clusterfuck, my friend." He stretched his back out on the log after scooting his ass to the ground. "The only thing I'm really confident about is that something's gotta give. Tonight, or in the damn near future. I don't know what it is, but it's—it's instinctual. Like an avalanche about to cover a tree sapling. Suffocating it. Squeezing the life out of it...out of me."

He gave a long, exhaustive sigh and turned his neck, cracking it in the process. A knot unraveled, and he flexed his shoulders.

"I understand, but s**t, Luke. You're all gloom and doom these days. For the past few weeks, it's been pretty apparent to everyone at Crestline. You've been moodier than usual. You give off a supreme air of discontent everywhere you go. No one wants to be around you. See how easy Kallen f****d off? He talks a lot of s**t—mostly just to get under our skin, honestly—but even he knew when to tap out with you. You think he usually stops teasing you so mercilessly before this? Fuck."

Lucas shrugged uneasily before turning to Chris and pinning him with a long stare. "I have a feeling she's here. Here and I can't smell her. I don't know if it's my wolf that's making me feel this way or just my own mind. f**k, it could be both, I don't know."

"No scent?" Chris' eyes lift curiously.

"Scents here and there. The food masks most of it." He gestured to his empty plate and waved his hand in the air dismissively. "I hate it, but I feel empty. Helpless. Hopeless. This f*****g sucks, bro."

Chris clapped a meaty hand on Luke's shoulder. "It will suck for a while, but won't it be worth it in the end?"

Lucas sighed. "I wish I had your conviction; I really do."

They sat for a little while longer in silence, letting their stomachs settle and listening as people laughed and chatted around them. A couple of females fifty feet off to their left were talking amiably, sitting in the same position as Chris and Luke on the sand. The two of them both watched Kellan walk by with a single female, and Luke only knew it would be hours before he was seen again. A few years of s****l exploits had really helped with his Gamma's stamina.

A cool breeze made the warmth of the bonfire flicker closer, but it didn't help with the shiver that ran down Lucas' spine. It felt soul-deep, crackling through his bones and moving out to his extremities. Like a numb tingle, it left something that never went away in its wake. Like a memory you couldn't shove down deep enough. Foreboding and dark, and you almost regretted it before it something gave.

Déjà vu before it even f*****g occurred, he could swear it.

"Put it in the forefront. Never give up, Luke. You and I both know, but Kallen doesn't, which is why he's been a little absent as of late. You've been an intolerable motherfucker lately, but I can understand why. Your father and mother too. We're all behind you, no matter which way this all goes. For good or bad, we see you."

Luke almost got emotional, but he fought back every urge to emote. Experience hadn't been a kind companion, and that bastard was wreaking its vengeance on him in the here and now something fierce.

When the young Alpha said nothing else, Chris went on.

"Be gentle about it," he chided softly. "There's no need to add salt to an open wound, especially when these things are temporary."

"Temporary and painful," Luke pointed out and stood. He stretched in place, feeling the bones in his spine lengthen, almost like he was readying to shift. "This will have to take place, and there's no need to prolong it any longer." He sounded determined, but mostly resigned.

"You can't be guaranteed she's here. Or what she's like. Be soft. Tender. You don't need to—"

"No, Chris. I don't give a shit." Luke almost grunted the words. "I'll reject her, and I'm only here because I have to find her for that to happen. I don't want to stretch this out this any longer than I have."

Turning, he looked toward his left, catching the eyes of another standing wolf, one of the ones that was located fifty feet to his left with a friend. A female.

His first instinct was to look in her eyes.

Brown, almost caramel in color, nearly the same shade as her hair, which wound down in waves to midback, curling over her shoulder to the top of her breasts. It almost looked tangled, but so lush and silky he knew his fingers would get lost in them if his hands were to sank in.

Full hips and a rounded bosom—not thin, though certainly not on the heavy side either. Curvy would have been the perfect word.

And the fragrance that wafted over—vanilla. A little sugary, the slight breeze drawing it deeper into his nostrils until they visible flared.

She was short—much shorter than his six-foot six stature, hair lighter than his almost-black.

Lucas' eyes were a light blue that seemed grey in the light of day, a touch deeper at night, especially under the flickering flames of the bonfire.

He exhaled and forgot to breathe—forgot to think. Everything was in the moment, and the look on the woman's face crushed him.

With lips parted and a suspicious gleam in her eyes.

Fuck.

She'd hear what he'd said, and he regretted the words instantly, wished he could snatch them back—especially when she closed her mouth with a snap, hardened her eyes and him and walked away.

"Shit."

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