Defying His Fate

by Caitlin Ricci

  "Don't you mean your son?" I goaded him. I wasn't dumb though. I knew not to press my luck. I followed Ainsley and Tad's scents upstairs to a small garishly lavender bedroom where I saw Tad hastily throwing clothes into a suitcase. Most looked to be far too baggy for him and shouldn't have been coming with him to his new life anyway.

  I turned to Ainsley to find out what the meaning of this delay was. "I told you to hurry."

  "He had to cry for a few minutes," Ainsley said, giving me a shrug.

  Tad was busy going through his things as if I wasn't in the room. I walked up to him, and carefully laid my hands over his, getting his attention, if I didn't have it already. But more than that I stopped his frantic movements as he tried to shove as much as possible into the overnight sized suitcase. It was already tearing at the seams.

  "Tad," I softly addressed him. "Take only what you absolutely want to have with you at my house. I plan to take you shopping for clothes anyway. You'll need proper clothes for addressing the council when you meet them, which you will within the week. And what you were wearing this morning will not suffice."

  "Will I have to wear a dress?"

  I was surprised at his question, and the fact that he still had one on. "No. You can wear whatever you want, but I'd prefer to see you in suits. At the very least you'll dress as Ainsley does. Slacks, button down shirts. A tie if the situation calls for it. We vampires have tailors for this sort of thing, and now you will too. But right now I need you to hurry up. Your father is not happy with today's developments and with so many werewolves here, I don't want to test out his patience. The threat of having Ronald at my back is all well and good, but there's no telling how long that'll actually last for."

  Tad gave me a quick nod, and then he abandoned his suitcase altogether. He took his backpack, shoved some charging cables into it, and then looked up at me. "I'm ready now."

  "Are you sure? We won't be coming back here."

  He gave me a soft smile. "I'm sure. This was Caroline's room, and her things. They aren't mine. I was only packing all those clothes that I'd been taking from the guys in the pack because I didn't think I'd have any others. Since you're going to get me some better clothes, I don't need to worry about those. I'm ready, Vallen."

  "Good." I took his hand. Perhaps it was instinct, or just a show for the werewolves that I was sure would be waiting for us downstairs, but now that I had his hand I had no desire to let it go. Ainsley looked between us, then fell silently in line as we headed out of Tad's bedroom.

  Chapter Four

  Tad

  I had hoped that my father would be there to say goodbye to me as I left. I hadn't expected it, but I had hoped for it. He wasn't. And maybe that was just as well. I didn't have to deal with him yelling at me anymore today then.

  There were plenty of members of the pack who were though. They squeezed in around us, quietly whispering 'traitor' behind my back. I tried not to let that bother me. I didn't want it to. But I was still shaking when we managed to get out the front door.

  Vallen could have dropped my hand right then as soon as we were through the threshold. I would have understood. It wasn't like we were actually together or anything after all. But instead he kept right on holding my hand, up until the point where we had to seperate to be able to get into his car.

  Ainsley slid into the driver's seat like he was comfortable being there. Like he played chauffeur all the time when Vallen and he drove together. Vallen got in the back, right in the middle. It didn't leave much room for me.

  I stood there, not sure where I was supposed to sit, until Ainsley reached across the seat and opened the passenger side door for me. "Get in. You're up here with me."

  That solved that at least. I took my spot and kept my backpack by my feet. If Vallen didn't want me back there with him, maybe he didn't want my things with him either. He had a shade down between us and I sat back and tried to breathe through my nerves as Ainsley smoothly pulled out of the parking spot he'd found in front of my father's house.

  I was really doing this. I was leaving home. And I was freaking out more than a little bit. I couldn't stop picking at my nails and my foot just wouldn't seem to stop tapping.

  Ainsley smiled at me. "Relax. He'll take care of you."

  That was just one of the many things I was worried about. But I was out of the pack now. Out for good. And for the first time in my life I was able to be myself. Despite the fact that I was wearing an awful white lace dress that made me look like a virginal bride.

  "Did we make it in time before the claiming began?" Vallen spoke up from behind me.

  I turned in the seat so that I could look at him through the shade screen. "You did. We hadn't even started the dinner portion of the night yet. Thank you for that, by the way. Seriously."

  He chuckled, making me blush. "You're very welcome. Then, since you haven't eaten yet, I'll make sure that you're fed while we're with the tailor tonight. Ainsley, please take us to your house, from there I'll drive Tad and me into the district."

  I perked up at that. "The district?" I repeated him.

  Ainsley shot me a grin. "The vampire district. Where every car you see has a big 'V' on the license plate."

  I didn't get it. Which he must have seen on my face.

  "Everytime you see a car with a license plate that starts with a 'V', you know there's a vampire in there. Even if you think you see a human driver, there's a vampire in the car. They're all council vehicles."

  That was good information to have. I leaned against the back of the seat and looked at him. He was maybe a few years older than me, but that wasn't saying much considering that he was a vampire. "How old are you anyway?"

  "I just got my bachelors degree. I was twenty-five when I was turned, but I've been that age for a couple decades now. To be fair though, those decades weren't really spent in a refined vampire society like we have here in the U.S. So to me it really is like I'm just twenty-five. Vallen has been a vampire for a few hundred years though, if you were wondering."

  "Don't go telling him my secrets," Vallen grumbled.

  I laughed and smiled at the screen toward him. I saw most of his outline through the thick material, but it hid quite a bit of him from me. I found myself becoming more and more relaxed around them, despite what they were and how I'd grown up hearing what bloodthirsty monsters they were.

  Vallen rolled up the shade. His eyes were red as he squinted against the sun. "Good. The sun is almost set. Tad, do you have a bank account that I can transfer the money to?"

  I didn't, not one that wasn't easily accessible by my pack, as well as the highest ranking members of my pack. "No, but don't you want to wait until I give birth or something first before you pay me?"

  Vallen looked thoughtful for a moment as he pursed his lips. Then he turned his attention back to me and shook his head. "No, I don't think that's necessary. Werewolves are notoriously fertile."

  I hoped that I didn't end up disappointing him.

  "Ainsley, set up an account at the vampire bank for Tad please? And then transfer the money for him."

  "The full amount?" Ainsley asked without looking back at him.

  "Yes, then, if you could--"

  "You said you were giving me the night off."

  "I know, but this will only be a small errand. One last thing for tonight and then I promise, you will get the night off that I told you that you'd have. Make us an appointment with the council."

  With that Vallen sat back and I looked between them. "How long have you been working together?" I asked.

  Ainsley shrugged my question off. "A few years." He turned off the highway and I nodded and turned around in my seat. I didn't mind his secrecy. I understood it actually. I hadn't spoken to many vampires myself but I had heard about how elusive they were with the details of their lives. The biggest secret that I knew of though, and something that I'd been warned against ever asking a vampire about, at all, was how they died. For some reason they never wanted to talk about it and
I didn't want to start an argument, if that was what would happen. I'd only known Vallen for a few hours now but things were going pretty well in my opinion. He'd come to get me from the claiming at least and that was a major win in my book.

  Ainsley turned into a neighborhood where people were coming out of their homes as if they were all leaving for the same event and had to be there at the same time. But it was almost seven. "Are they all going to a movie or something?"

  "They're vampires. They're going to work. Haven't you ever been on this side of town?" Ainsley asked. He sounded like he couldn't believe my ignorance.

  I fell quiet beside him. If my father had seen me as the man that I was, then coming to spend time with vampires would have been permitted. As it was, I'd had to walk two miles to get the nearest cab last night and then I'd had to search for the address of Vallen's firm. I was just lucky he'd been okay with seeing me last night anyway, even after realizing that I wasn't my father.

  "Werewolves with vaginas aren't allowed out much," I mumbled.

  Surprisingly, Ainsley cracked a smile at that. "They're probably afraid we'll steal you away from all your werewolf friends."

  I laughed too, but just a little. It was uncomfortable for me to think about all the ways in which I wasn't a man in my father's eyes. And now I'd made a bargain with Vallen for something most men couldn't give him. I didn't regret coming to Vallen, since doing so had gotten me free of my father and his rule over the pack, but I wished that I could be more like him, or like Ainsley. They were men without question or explanations. I was a man, but I was a man with an asterisk. My existence needed to be explained. I was a man in an ugly lace dress who had long hair and who was currently wearing makeup that I had never wanted to put on in the first place.

  My bottom lip started trembling before I could stop my cascading thoughts. By the time Ainsley pulled up to a townhouse and then silently got out of the still running car, I was leaning against the window and trying not to cry.

  Vallen took his seat, and just as quietly, he backed us out of the spot and continued driving.

  Chapter Five

  Vallen

  I didn't know what to do for Tad as he sat there crying next to me. I'd never really dealt with an emotional werewolf before and vampires were typically far too adjusted to start randomly crying like he was.

  "Are you regretting your choice?" I didn't want that to be the case. I dreaded it actually. But if he wanted to call the whole thing off I would take him back home immediately if that was his wish.

  He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. The lace didn't do much to dry his face. "I don't want to go back."

  "But?" I hedged.

  "I wish I'd been born a man with a man's body. You want to take me to a tailor, and to get food, and I want that too, but I hate that I'll always have to be explained. I'll never just be."

  I reached over and slipped my hand into his while I kept driving. We weren't far from the tailor. "Tad, I won't pretend to know what you're going through here, but I will help you in whatever way I can. Anything you need, if I have the ability to give it to you, I will. I don't think you fully understand the gift you're giving me here and I'll do whatever I can to make the father of our child happy, and keep you that way too."

  He leaned against me and I was glad to see him smiling. "I'd heard that you really wanted a child, but I'm glad to see it." His cheeks were flushed and, after a moment of pressing against me, he pulled away again to be able to roll down the window some. I wasn't hot, but maybe werewolves were more susceptible to the heat than I was.

  "I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't know entering my fertile period was going to make me feel like I was on fire all the time," he grumbled.

  I had no idea what he was talking about, but maybe it wasn't something he really wanted to explain. It sounded like something vampires weren't supposed to know about either way though.

  We were almost to the tailor, only a block away, when my curiosity got the better of me. "What can I do to help?"

  Tad blew out a breath, sounding frustrated as he turned his attention back to me. "It's like I'm in heat. I'll be okay once I'm pregnant, but right now it's just like I can't relax. It wasn't so bad earlier, but it's like the longer I'm in this state, the worse it's getting. I guess it's incentive to get pregnant quickly."

  "And you have to go through this monthly? For how long?" I pulled up in front of a small shop with suits in the big window displays. I'd been going there for years, most of us vampires had been. I'd always been eager to go in there and get treated to some of the best service in town, but for the moment I prefered to stay with him for a few moments longer.

  Tad scrunched up his face. "Until I get pregnant, then I'll get a bit of a break I guess, before this happens again. I just wish I could talk to my mom about this. But I think everyone in the pack in this position has that thought at some point in their lives once they hit this age."

  We couldn't stay in the car forever. I knew that. But I still wasn't ready to leave the privacy of my car with Tad beside me. Even dressed as he was, and in serious need of a hair cut to show off his violet eyes and pointed chin, he was still a beautiful man. One of the best looking I'd seen in my very long life. "You can always give her a call. Leaving your pack doesn't have to be absolute."

  Tad leaned over our joined hands and gently pressed his lips to my knuckles. I'd never imagined that such a simple gesture could feel so intimate. I was instantly glad that I hadn't gotten out of the car as soon as we'd arrived. He lay half over my hand, barely breathing on me and I was in no hurry to move him. In fact, I took my free hand and ran it through his long ponytail. I wanted to see him with a good haircut, but as I sat there touching his soft dark strands I saw the appeal of having him keep some of the length as well. Whatever he was happy with.

  "I wish I could talk to her. I would love to. Except I don't know who she is. None of us know who our mothers are. The pack doesn't work like that." He sat back up, and wiped at his eyes again. I hated to see that he had been crying again.

  I didn't understand how any pack could make something like that work. But then again, I didn't understand most of the pack or what was happening with it. I only knew that I was glad he was out of there and with me in a situation where we could both get what we needed.

  "Let's go in," I said, still not sure if I wanted to or not, but realizing now that we couldn't just sit in my car much longer. Especially since we were starting to draw attention from the other vampires around us who were making their way along the busy street filled with various little shops that catered just to my kind. Werewolves rarely came this far into the city and humans knew better than to come near us.

  I got out of my car and came around to Tad's side to open the door for him. He looked up at me curiously for a few long moments, long enough that I wondered if I had unknowingly broken some kind of strange werewolf custom where they didn't get the door for each other.

  "Please don't do that," he quietly as as he stood up and joined me on the sidewalk.

  "Why not?"

  For a few seconds he was silent as he simply played with the lace sleeves of his dress before speaking to me again. "I'm not a woman, no matter how I'm dressed. Please don't treat me like one."

  I hadn't intended to. I regularly opened doors for everyone I knew. It was part of our customs. But, werewolves were closer to humans in their customs and traditions and I could see how it looked from his point of view. "I didn't mean to, and it won't happen again." I took Tad's hand and led him into the shop. I didn't hold the door for him, but I didn't let it fall against him either. It was a fine, delicate line we were walking. One where I wanted to respect him and who he was in every way possible, but one which also meant that by doing that I was not being as polite as I normally would have been to someone in my company. The delicate nature of our interactions had me being overly cautious and anxious as I tried not to further offend him that evening.

  Patrick came out of the back rooms as soon a
s the door chimed with our entrance. He gave me a smile so big it stretched his lips white over his pointed teeth. "Vallen, good to see you, and who is this lovely young wo--"

  "Tad, my future husband," I said, interrupting him. Tad tightened his fingers in my hand. I looked over at him and frowned at his sudden paleness. "He needs suits, slacks, shirts. A few ties. The works really. We'll be going before the council next week and we both need to look good."

  Patrick chuckled. "Of course. Tad, I'm Patrick. I'm surprised I haven't seen you around before. I thought I knew all of Seattle's young men."

  I lifted Tad's hand and transferred it to Patrick's arm. "He's a werewolf," I quickly explained to Patrick. Then my attention was back on Tad. "Go with him. If you need privacy, tell him. If you need me I'll be right out here."

  "We'll be fine," Patrick assured me.

  I didn't doubt that. Patrick took Tad away into one of the private rooms which left me free to look through the drinks Patrick had on display by the entrance. They were all in dark decanters, three new bottles of blood, complete with little info cards about the donors.

  I chose the thirty year old who was trying to become a doctor. They were all paid well for their contribution to keeping us functioning, and as Tad went through his transformation, I sat down to enjoy a glass of good blood and wait until he was ready.

  Chapter Six

  Tad

  No one but the people in my pack had ever seen me naked, and here this vampire was, telling me to take off my clothes so that he could get my measurements. I stood there, frozen, with my arms crossed over my chest in a failed attempt to hide my obvious breasts. They were small, but the dress was tight enough to make hiding them impossible.

  "Can't you just look at me and tell me what size I am in a shirt or something?" I grumbled. "Maybe I'm a size small. If you bring me things to try on I can try them on."