Defiance (Book 6 of The Claimed Series) SAMPLE

5. Landslide

Kellan jabbed a split-second before Lucas feinted.

“Again!” the Alpha barked.

Kellan circled, faked, let out a roar and caught Luke with an uppercut that just grazed his jaw.

“Another!”

Kellan bent over and blew out a breath. “For f**k’s sake, Luke. I’m not Superman. We’ve been at it for hours. I need to take a break, take a piss, and then get some food in me before I faint.”

Lucas dropped his arms to his sides. They had been going at it for some time, but it was all he could do try and keep moving forward. The sudden rumble in his stomach stopped him from barking at his friend, and his gloved hand slipped up to rest on his toned abdomen.

“You’re right,” he muttered. “We should get some fuel and then shift in the woods. I could go for a run.”

Kellan only groaned. “Run? Even after punching it out in the ring for—” He looked at the clock on the wall. “—five hours? Christ, Luke, are you a glutton for punishment or what?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe I’m trying not to think about anything at all and just be as physical as I can be to shove all that s**t I don’t wanna think about down.” He paused, thinking. “It’s tough. Tougher than I thought it would be. I just want to—to go to her and say f**k it. f**k this s**t and be done. I’m tired of it, and it’s been less than a f*****g day.”

He ripped off his gloves and tossed them into a corner where they thudded dully against the wall. He had the urge to go over and kick the around a bit, but it was all too ‘childhood temper tantrum’, even for an Alpha’s spoiled son.

Dropping to the floor outside the ring, Luke grabbed a towel from a nearby metal folding chair and wiped his face off before starting on his shoulders and chest. The perspiration continued to drip down his face, and he took a long swig of water, upending the bottle until it was empty and he was crumpling it in one hand to toss away into the recycling.

“You knew it would be hard,” Kellan told him. “I know that I’m not aware of the whole sordid f*****g story, but just know, I’m here for you if you want to talk about it. I may be a royal f**k-up most of the time, but I’d never spill your secrets, even if my mouth moves faster than my brain does.”

Lucas nodded back at him but didn’t speak. If his father was correct in his assumptions, things would move fast after this. Much too fast, and he was ready.

He knew.

“It’s all good for now,” he remarked as he wound a fresh towel around his neck. “The truth will come out eventually, and when it does…fuck, I don’t know what will happen then, man.”

So much could happen. It was inevitable that this could be a clusterfuck of epic proportions, and he wiped away more sweat as it dribbled from his forehead to his chin.

“You can’t say, can you?” Kellan asked shrewdly. “Whatever this is, you can’t say anything until it all comes out, right?”

That was partially true, but he’d told Christian when they were young because he’d walked in on a conversation he wasn’t supposed to hear. “My father, mother and I are the only ones, but Chris—he found out by purely by accident. It was a whole thing at the time. Being Beta, I could argue that he has a right to know, but if the wrong person were to hear…” He shook the thought away. “It’s best I keep it as close to my vest as possible. I can barely stand this now. I can’t imagine how…”

Kellan nodded when his words faded away. “I get it. You’re concerned. I would be too, and I’m not even mated or anywhere near to it. Nice looking out for my d**k last night, by the way. I was in the middle of the most fantastic blowjob and your ass had to go feral after the saucy little thing cussed you out. Cockblocker extraordinaire, you motherfucker.”

“You’re welcome. When you meet your mate, I hope she gives you hell for plundering all the p***y you have since learning how to use your d**k for more than a morning wood piss. She’d going to make you wait to mark her, and I can’t say I won’t enjoy that day when it comes. Even you wouldn’t be stupid enough to f**k around on your mate. Can’t fuckin’ wait.”

It was a common enough topic of conversation for the two of them, and one that Lucas latched onto with fervor. Anything to take his mind off what he was truly desiring—anything at all. Kellan’s mateless status and his whoredom was a pleasant and necessary distraction from his own sticky situation.

“f**k off, Luke, before I start enjoying your pain too much. Don’t make me wish this s**t drags on for months, man.”

Luke blanched at that. It had been less than 24 hours, and he was already restless and angry. Angry at a situation he couldn’t help, and chomping at the bit to do something about it.

Frustrating was only the tip of it.

On the walk home with Kellan, who lived a couple of houses down from his house, he debated whether to take a shower before or after shifting, and decided he’d only get filthier with the way he was feeling.

Instead of walking into his home, he decided to drop his towel on the front porch and strip down. Before he could, though, another voice called out to him.

“Lucas! Hey!”

He turned to see Nora, his Delta’s mate, running over. She was followed by a morose-looking Delta, Jamie. The man looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here, behind his overeager female. It made Luke wonder.

“What’s up?”

Nora ran up to him, Jamie a little lackluster behind her. “Not much, but I did want to tell you I have a sister mated to someone at Alpine Pack who is pretty in-the-know with everything that goes on around there. Word’s already out. Don’t know how, but I don’t think it was the family. They’d keep this s**t hush-hush. Not out of shame, but most probably out of concern. Your mate doesn’t need anyone looking on her with pity. Sassy little thing she can be, can’t she?” Nora looked approving.

Lucas’ whole body clenched in anticipation. “Tell me everything you know.”

Shifting could wait.

***

Avery swung her legs as Hadley pushed her higher on the swing set. Everything ached, but she was determined to get through today—and every other day after—with a stiff upper lip and a hop in her step.

Well, eventually.

“Higher, Had, higher!”

Hadley grunted and pushed her with more force, setting off a gleeful giggle to spill from Avery’s mouth. She was sent higher into the air, her mousy brown hair twisted into two pigtails that caught the wind and whipped over her lips until she was spitting out hair and laughing even harder.

“Okay, okay! Let me down. I’m going to hack up a furball!”

Hadley laughed and helped her slow down before the little girl was hopping off the swing and heading toward the jungle gym-like structure at one end of the communal playground.

Avery had been adopted from a town in the Midwest a few years ago, but often spent time with Hadley when she wasn’t going to school or playing with friends.

“How was the bonfire last night? Anyone find their mate?”

Hadley’s smile faltered, and she forced her lips to tick back up, cementing it in place after a little wobbly lip and the unwelcome sting of tears threatening the backs of her eyes.

“It was okay.”

That was it—all she could muster up. Anything further, and she’d have to tell everything, and she wasn’t quite ready for that yet. Not now, and probably not in a good long time.

Or so she thought.

“What is it?” The child looked up at her, innocent, soft blue eyes, skin as pale as alabaster.

For one so new to the pack, Avery was intuitive. At ten years old, she could read a crowd as efficiently as a stand-up comedian, intuit emotions from the thin veneer of strength on a wolf’s face, and tailor her actions and words expertly while still coming off as precocious and a little wily. It was a true talent.

Hadley shook her head. “It’s nothing, pumpkin. Just older folk woes is all.”

“Did you find your mate? Was he a jerk to you?”

Intuitive little thing.

“I… He said something I didn’t like, and we argued.” She fought back a sniffle. “We won’t be mating any time soon.”

“Why not? Isn’t that what you go to bonfires for? To find your mate?”

“He… I heard him say something. It…” She faded off and looked to the west, where the sun was just dipping behind the tops of the trees. “He only went to the bonfire to find his mate so he could reject her.” She shrugged. “Probably has someone in mind who he wants to choose over me instead, I suppose.”

“Well, that’s stupid. Why would he throw away a gift that only comes once in a lifetime? Is he stupid?”

Hadley caught her snort in the palm of her hand. “Maybe, love, maybe. I’m okay, though. I got to have my say, and he knows where I stand. Had a bit of a panic attack about it on the ride home. That was scary. Felt like I was dying.”

“You’re okay now, though, right? You’re not gonna freak out on me, are ya? I don’t know PCR or whatever it’s called.” She looked truly concerned, and Hadley bit back a touch of laughter.

She smiled down at her. “I’m fine. I think I was just overwhelmed. Too much going on at the same time. It happens. I’m good now, hon.”

She stoked a gentle hand over the child’s pigtails, tugging on the ends with a mischievous grin. “What do you say we see if the packhouse still has some cherry pie left? I saw them setting out some fresh this morning. Last of the cherries, so we better run!”

Avery squealed and got up, bursting away from the now-empty playground and racing toward the packhouse where a few of the younger folk were pouring out the front door, babbling ninety to nothing.

Hadley watched and winced as sticky little hands caught on her blue jeans as she opened the door wider for the crew of pups to file out of the house, eager to get to the playground and exercise the sugar out of their system. Hadley let Avery go in first, following behind her as a few older women sauntered out of the kitchen with the puff of warm air that signaled the oven had been used lovingly and well that day.

“Any pie left?” Hadley asked. “Ave and I worked up an appetite on the swing set, right peanut?”

“Not a peanut.” It was a term of endearment that Hadley couldn’t rid herself of, and Avery had long since grown tired of. “Pumpkin is okay, but peanut’s for babies.” She made a face that was too cute for words.

“Sorry, sorry,” Hadley muttered under her breath.

This kid would be ‘peanut’ for the rest of her life if she had her way.

“Hey, Hadley? How was the bonfire? Anyone from Alpine find a mate?”

Her eyes swung over to one of the older matrons, a lady named Lorna who had a particular nose for gossip. At first, she didn’t know if it was an honest question or if she was snooping for more intel about her rejection.

“It was alright. Everyone came home single, though.”

Eat that, old b***h.

Hadley wasn’t a fan of Lorna’s, and it was evident why. The woman had an open sewer for a mouth. Spewing gossip like filth and tearing up all the truth to make it more impressive—all for her own entertainment.

It was vaguely disgusting.

“Shame. Usually at least one of our folks comes back mated.” Hadley could already see the gears grinding in the woman’s mind, set to nearly explode with more unnecessary and annoying questions.

“Pie?” Hadley probed. Another of the women answered her.

“In the kitchen on the stove. Last couple of slices, hon. The kids really cleaned us out after smelling it from the classrooms.”

Since the classrooms were all in the basement of the packhouse, it wasn’t surprising that the delicious smells had wafted in and distracted the tykes. They had been let out a little earlier than usual.

“Hadley, can you forego the pie for a moment? I wanted to speak with you for a few minutes.”

Fuck…

Alpha Hudson.

This book is now published on Ama zon in full under this same now. It is live at this moment in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and KU, which is Kin dle Unlimited!