Defying His Fate Read online

  Defying His Fate

  Copyright Caitlin Ricci 2018

  This is a work of fiction. Anything that resembles anything real is a coincidence.

  Chapter One

  Vallen

  I was more amused than anything at the idea of Seattle's alpha werewolf wanting to come talk to me. It wasn’t unheard of, especially in recent years, for a mutt to try to build a bridge with a vampire, but it was hardly the norm. Moreover, peace between their kinds were necessary only in large cities where they were likely to clash and Seattle was a far cry from somewhere like New York where vampires and those flea ridden monsters openly tried to make friends with each other. It wasn’t even just for show either in front of the humans who had been trying to convince them to get along for years, or at the very least keep them out of our feuds. It was a mockery of generations of tradition being swept aside and the wolf coming to my office at two in the morning couldn’t even give me a good reason as to why he needed such an urgent appointment.

  My assistant knocked on the door. Ainsley was a decent boy, just out of college, and every Friday, like clockwork, he brought me a gift in the form of some person willing to take money for five minutes of having a vampire on their neck.

  “Come in,” I called out. The distraction was welcome. I was getting no where with my mountain of emails anyway. When I’d taken over the investment company from the human before me, I’d been promised that there would be far fewer required interactions with people. What the human had failed to mention, however, was that he didn’t see emails as being a form of interaction. They were simply busy work to him while I wanted to give each of them my attention for a few minutes and then was miserable by the tenth email. There were simply far too many petty problems in the world that I had no interest in addressing.

  Ainsley was prim and proper in his light blue button down shirt and deep gray tie. His suit jacket was visible hanging on the back of his chair, just outside of the door. “Security has just informed me that Novak has arrived. He should be up shortly. Is there anything that I can get for you in the meantime?”

  Calling the wolf by his first name was hardly necessary. The vampires called them all sorts of unkind things when they didn’t have to be in the same room as them. “No, thank you. That will be all.” Ainsley gave me a slight tilt of his chin then removed himself from the office, leaving me alone once again.

  Only it wasn't Novak that Ainsley let into my office. It was a boy dressed in torn, dirty clothes that were many sizes too big for him and that hung off his pitifully small frame.

  "Who are you?" I demanded as I got to my feet.

  Ainsley remained with us, even as the wolf took a seat across from my desk as if anyone had invited him to sit down. I wasn't pleased about the wolf's impertinence, or him lying about who he was. "He says that he's Novak's son," Ainsley supplied, completely unhelpfully because that was an impossible lie.

  "Novak doesn't have a son." I turned and found the wolf looking up at me, his long lashes fanning over his tanned cheeks. His scent gave him completely away as a wolf, even if his sharpened teeth and violet colored eyes didn't. He reeked too, just as a wet dog would. The rain must have started early. I didn't think the storm was supposed to come in until sunrise when I would be going to sleep.

  "I'm Tad, and I am Novak's son," the man insisted.

  I sat down across from him and crossed my arms in front of me on the desk. "No, you're not," I argued with him. Now that I was on the same level with him, I could see him for who he truly was. He was even younger than Ainsley was and though he did look a little like Novak, I knew the werewolf alpha had no sons, pretty little ones like Tad or otherwise.

  Tad leaned toward me, putting his elbows on my desk. "I am. Though, my name that I was given when I was born was Caroline. I'm not lying to you, Vallen. And I need your help."

  I stared at him good and long, well after Ainsley had cleared his throat to hide his shock. "I have nothing to offer the wolves. If your father has a specific request he can come visit me himself instead of sending his son."

  I didn't miss the way Tad's cheeks darkened in his anger. "My father isn't a part of this."

  Which likely meant that no one in his pack knew that he was out. I turned my attention to Ainsley. "Call Novak and tell him to collect his wolf." This meeting was done. Tad should have never used his father's name to get a meeting with me in the first place.

  "Please Vallen, I'm desperate. Hear my proposal. Please."

  I hated when people begged me for anything, but Tad must have been truly desperate to come to me so late. "Ainsley, hold off on calling him. Let's listen to Tad's offer."

  The boy looked instantly relieved, but he had no reason to be. I'd said that I would listen, not that I would agree to help him in whatever likely foolish thing he wanted to do.

  "I've reached the age of my maturity," Tad announced as if Ainsley and I were supposed to know what that meant. I lifted my eyebrows at him. "My first time in the claiming is tonight."

  He sounded dramatic, as if that was some horrible thing, but I knew none of what he was talking about. "Neither of us are werewolves and we aren't invited to your claiming, or anything else, in the pack. So, if you want my help, please explain to me what you're talking about and why I should be interested in helping you."

  Tad licked his lips. They were too dark, and too soft looking, for my comfort. I hadn't been attracted to anyone as young as him in over a year, but perhaps my tastes were swinging that way again. I'd have to ask Ainsley for a college student again soon. They were so fresh, so full of life and ambition. When I was feeling less than perfect they were possibly the best pick me up cure for a weary vampire.

  "I turn twenty-one at sunrise," Tad began. He spoke slowly, as if we needed every minor detail spelled out for us. I certainly didn't, and Ainsley looked like he was barely restraining his boredom. Perhaps the only reason I was even entertaining Tad in my office at this point at all was that I enjoyed watching a pretty boy beg. Sometimes we vampires pretended to be above such things, but this late in the morning, and when it had been a month since my last feeding, I didn't push myself to be better. It was enough just to be in the same room as him without digging my teeth into his neck.

  "Congratulations," Ainsley muttered, getting a quick smile from me.

  "Ainsley, why don't you go back to work. This shouldn't take long. You can leave the door open."

  He appeared glad for my dismissal as he gave me a slight nod and left me with the werewolf. As instructed, he kept the door open between us.

  Now that we were as alone as we were going to be in my office, I gave Tad my full attention. "Now, what is it that you ultimately want from me?" I asked. Cutting through whatever the claiming was may have been the fastest way to get through this with him and get him out of my office so that I could get back to work. I had plenty to do that didn't involve listening to a whiny werewolf all night.

  Tad brought his violet eyes up to meet mine. "What I'd really like is my freedom. But right now I'd settle for just a few minutes of you listening to me so that I can tell you why I need it."

  "I can do that." It was interesting enough that he was there in my office without the backing of his pack in the first place. That alone made me want to hear what he was going to say to me, as long as he could get it out in a reasonable fashion. So far he hadn't seemed capable of doing that, but perhaps without Ainsley there watching him as well Tad could get a few sentences out and I'd actually know what he was doing there in my office to begin with.

  Tad seemed to build himself back up under my scrutiny. I wondered how much better he would look with clothes that actually fit him, instead of the yards of extra cloth he was hiding under. With the thick hood over his head, I didn't ev
en know what color his hair was.

  Not that it mattered. I was only there to listen to Tad's request, not to wonder what he would look like cleaned up.

  Tad uncurled his fingers over my desk. His nails were dirty, like most wolves' were. And like how no vampire's would ever be. "At twenty-one, at the age of our maturity, we're fully accepted into the pack. At sunrise I'll be old enough to join the pack. At sunset I'll be at my first claiming where all of the male werewolves will fight and prove themselves strong enough to mate with the females of the pack."

  I curled my lips. No wonder this wasn't something I'd heard about before. "Pack sanctioned rape," I said, calling it what it was.

  Tad gave me a shaky nod. "The claiming ensures that the strongest males are able to mate with the most fertile females, thus producing the best genetic possibilities for the future of the pack."

  I could guess where he was going with this. I'd spoken to Novak only six months ago. He hadn't mentioned his son, but had talked plenty about his daughter. Tad being trans made no difference to me, we vampires were quite open minded about gender. "Does your father accept who you are?"

  "No." The word was a brittle curse coming from him.

  I wasn't sure what Tad thought he would accomplish by coming here. While I did pity him, this was a pack situation and, as a vampire, I had no say in what a pack did, or didn't do. They were free to govern themselves, just as the vampires were. "What is it that you think that I can do for you?"

  "It's actually more of what I think we can do for each other," he quietly said.

  "I don't actually need anything from you." I was quite sure of that.

  But there he was with this bright eyes of his and now he was smiling at me. "Not even a child? It's not really a secret that you want to have children. I could help you with that. I could--"

  He could prostitute himself out to me instead of to his pack. "No thank you."

  His expression fell instantly. "But--"

  "No. My answer is final. I'd like you to get out of my office now." It wasn't a request. If he made me I'd drag him out by his hair. I had Ainsley's attention now too, not that I'd ever really lost it. He had turned around in his chair and was facing me now, waiting for my command.

  Tad must have taken my threat seriously because he started talking quickly. "Vampire women are infertile and humans always have miscarriages when they get pregnant by either of our kinds. The only species that could carry your child is a werewolf and I don't see anyone else with a uterus offering themselves up to you like this. I'm not just wanting to hand over a kid anyway. I want a family too. But I want it on my terms. I want to be a father and that's not something I'll ever get in the pack. Vallen, c'mon, please. Just listen to me."

  I was listening. And I'd heard everything that Tad had to say. I drummed my fingers over the desk. "Fine," I ground out. He was right, I did want to have children, and no, I didn't have any other prospects. Not that it was exactly guaranteed that I could even produce a child to begin with. Vampires weren't known for their fertility like the wolves were. "What are your terms?"

  "Marriage," Tad started, instantly making me revolt. "For no less than a year. And--"

  "That's not enough for you?" I snapped.

  He didn't look anything less than determined as he looked up at me. "And two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in cash. And--"

  "You're really pushing things."

  Tad took a deep breath. "I know I am. But I need your help, and you need mine. Maybe your situation isn't as desperate as mine is, but I know how long you've wanted to have children. Or at least I've got some idea. Werewolves aren't exactly kind when they talk about the rich vampire who wants kids so much he'd buy them if it was legal."

  His words might as well have been a stake in my heart. I'd had no idea that the werewolves were laughing at me so openly behind my back. "Why the money?"

  "You thought I'd do it for free?"

  I laughed so hard I snorted, which made him smile at me. "No, of course not. Though, I am giving you something substantial so perhaps you would have done it for that. But, no, why that particular sum? Why not a million? Or two million?"

  Tad cringed at my words. "I didn't want to ask for something you couldn't give, and that's how much the medical treatments that I want are. I've got a doctor, a human, who has agreed to perform the surgeries on me, so once our child is done breastfeeding and I've recovered enough to get them done then I'll schedule them. I just..." He sighed. "Please, Vallen? Think about it?"

  "Even if I had a month I still couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer for you," I told him honestly.

  He nodded and sat back. Then he was on his feet again, and shuffling toward my open door. "You've got until sunset if you want to accept my offer. After that, it'll be off the table."

  "Because you'll no longer be interested." I nodded in understanding.

  But he shook his head. "No. Because if you wait any longer I'll be a full member of the pack, including being claimed. By tomorrow morning I'll be pregnant with a werewolf child and my father will always refer to Tad as just some silly little game his daughter played in an act of childish rebellion, just as he does now."

  Tad left my office then, and he'd barely gotten on the elevator before Ainsley was sitting in the vacated chair.

  "Vallen."

  I didn't need to hear his reasons. "I know. I pity the boy too, but the wolves aren't our concern. We don't run the world, as much as people would like to believe that we did."

  "The wolves as a whole are nothing that we need to be concerned about, no. But that one wolf, that could be a different story." He was up as soon as he'd sat down. "I forwarded a couple emails to you, people who are saying that they haven't received updates yet and so they went to my email instead of yours."

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'll take care of it. Get back to work."

  "Of course."

  He put a piece of paper in front of me. A quickly scrawled number and then Tad's name. I didn't know when he'd gotten the boy's information, and I was sure that I wasn't going to use it, but for some reason I couldn't stop staring at it either.

  Chapter Two

  Tad

  Even hours later when I came down to breakfast I still felt stupid about going to Vallen for help. Of course he'd refused to help me. He was a vampire. I was a werewolf. There was no reason that he should have ever even listened to me to begin with.

  I had to wear a white dress. I had to be barefoot. And my long hair, which I'd been forbidden to do more than trim, ever, was in a ponytail between my shoulderblades. My father had even insisted that I wear make up for this day. I looked like a made up doll that had been fussed over for way too long and since I'd only gotten two hours of sleep after sneaking into the house, I was a tired, pissed off doll on top of it.

  My father was waiting at the kitchen table. Presumably he was waiting for me, but he could have been sitting there looking pissed off about any one of the wolves under him. Most were afraid of him. The rest got enough out of being in his pack not to cause any kind of unsettling waves.

  I stepped off the bottom stair as quietly as I could in my bare feet and went to the fridge. I couldn't simply avoid him. Then he'd know that something was up. Even more up than usual anyway. Things had been unsettled between us long before I'd come out to him at eighteen, but that had been the big moment, that brilliant flash in time that I remember as if I had a picture right in front of me at all times. The yelling, the crying, the bruises. And there, along with everything else, was the guilt. He'd always been good at laying the guilt on me. I loved my pack and I didn't want to do anything to hurt them, but apparently being a man was going to kill the pack right in front of me.

  "Where were you all night?" he snapped at me.

  Apparently he had been waiting for me after all. I shouldn't have really been all that surprised I guess. I closed the fridge. I suddenly didn't want any orange juice anyway. "No where. I just went out."

  He narrowed h
is gaze at me. I flinched. And then I dropped my eyes. Father or not, I couldn't meet the gaze of my alpha for long. "No where? You went no where? Really? My daughter, on the eve of her day of maturity, went no where. Of course you did. Because only you would be so blatantly disrespectful of this pack and everything it means. Only you, the selfish, spoiled little brat that you are, would go out, in the middle of the night, without an escort. And do what? Hmm? What did you do while you were no where? Who were you with? If I start questioning my wolves, which of them will lie to me and say he wasn't with you out there in no where?"

  Every harsh word, every angry sound, they all hit me just as surely as his fists had when I was younger. He couldn't strike me today. Not when I would be on display for everyone in the pack to gawk at as their prize. But he could be angry with me. He could turn on me. And he could cut me down with his words, just as he always did.

  "I wasn't with anyone," I mumbled. Not that he would have ever believed me. But I had to try. Some little voice inside of me said that I just had to try, just one more time, to get him to believe that I wasn't trying to kill the pack every second of the day simply by existing as myself. "I just needed some time. I'm not..." I twisted my hands into the skirt of the awful dress I'd been forced to wear. "I don't want to do this."

  He laughed. It was a cruel, hateful sound that was just another cut against my already battered soul. "You don't want to do what? Exactly? Take your rightful place as part of this pack?"

  By my rightful place, he meant as a uterus to be passed around each month to different males until one succeeded in getting me pregnant. Then I would go into the house with the other pregnant members of the pack to wait, hidden from the world, until five months had passed and I'd given birth to the next generation of wolves that would do this all over again. And then, after I got to heal a little bit, then I'd be right back in the claiming again to be used again and again until I was too used up and no longer able to produce new little wolves and then, if I was lucky, I'd get to go to that house to care for the pregnant ones until I died. That was, if I didn't get cast out before then. An old, dried up, wolf unable to produce children wasn't much good to a pack. Just another extra mouth to feed. Another body to clothe. Not good for anything and not worth keeping around.