Defiant: Book 2 of the Forbidden Series

Chapter Twenty-Five: Tough Call

Van

"And then he bit me," Axl said flatly as Van finished sewing the tear in a couch cushion.

"Good as new," she announced, fluffing it and setting it to the side. Then she focused her full attention on the pouting werewolf holding an ice pack to his face. "That's terrible. You were only fifteen?"

Peas rustled in the bag as he readjusted it. "Yeah. My mom told me not to go out, and I didn't listen. After my first full moon, I decided it was too dangerous to stay home, so I tracked Tank down. He took me in. My Ma found me three weeks later, and after she chewed me out, she bought a place in Sucre so she could be closer to me. That was almost four years ago."

"It doesn't sound all bad, then."

"What do you mean?"

"Sounds like you got a family out of the deal."

Axl's face softened. He nodded. "Yeah, guess I did."

Van stood and stretched. "I think we got most of the place put back together, but I probably need to get going now."

Worry tightened his features. "You sure you don't want to wait around for Tank? At least talk to him? He's never gonna believe you kicked my ass and overrode the orders of an Alpha."

A tinge of guilt went through her. Leaving now would put Axl in a dangerous place, but she couldn't afford to sit around. Luca needed her help, and she couldn't risk Gabriella showing up with Tank. She'd been lucky with the juvenile werewolf, but she didn't think she could take on a vamp and an Alpha werewolf alone. No matter what she turned herself into.

"Look, Axl–"

"I know, I know."

He dropped the peas in his lap and sighed. Then he reached over and straightened the pillow, moving it until its edge aligned perfectly with the print on the couch. Only then did he relax a bit.

"Never thought I would meet a Protean in real life. Thought they were myths," he said, following Van down the dimly lit hallway. It smelled faintly of mildew and cleaner.

Hand on the doorknob, she grinned over her shoulder. "I think you took my line."

He blushed. "I hope things work out for you. If you can't get in touch with your friends, you can crash here tonight."

"Thanks, but I think I'll–Luca."

She lurched backward, bumping into Axl. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her toward the living room, not to stop her from leaving, but to get her further away from Luca as he approached. It was obvious he felt the anger and power radiating from the shifter, or maybe he just saw the glowing ring of gold around Luca's eyes and recognized a barely restrained animal.

"Going somewhere?" Luca asked, his tone casual while he looked around the ragged room. She searched his face for the boy she loved and came up empty. He settled on Axl. "Weren't you told to secure her?"

"I don't even know who you are," Axl snapped, pushing Van behind him. It was sweet in a way, except she'd been the winner of their earlier fight. If anyone protected anybody, it should be her protecting him.

"It doesn't matter who I am. They sent me to collect the girl, and I find you about to let her leave."

"The girl," Van hissed. "That's some bullshit, Luca."

"What did you do to him to break the compulsion?" Luca asked, his brown eyes giving away nothing as he waited for her to answer.

"Come over here and find out."

Her fingers twitched as claws sprouted. Maybe she would take the form of a panther, force him to fight, and free him the same way she had Axl. It was a futile hope, but she clung to it. Needing to see a way to end this now that he was back in front of her.

"Fun as that sounds, we need to get going."

"You think it's going to be that easy?"

His canines lengthened, and between one blink and the next, he moved across the room. Wrapping his hand around Axl's neck, he squeezed until the werewolf turned purple. Van shouted, tugging at his arm, but he didn't release him.

"You or him," he offered.

"Stop. I'll go with you. Just stop. Please."

Luca released the boy and watched him collapse onto the sofa without a hint of guilt. Whatever part of him she'd reached last time had disappeared entirely. Maybe buried so far she could never reach it again, but she had to try.

"Axl, are you okay?"

He nodded and wheezed. "I'm fine. You don't have to go with him."

"Thanks for your hospitality," she said, kissing him on the cheek on an impulse.

Luca snatched her backward. His grip was painful around her arm. "Time's up. Let's move."

"I said I would come." She twisted her arm and pulled. He didn't budge. "Where are we going?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"Doing Gabby's dirty work for her again?" Van asked as he shoved her into the passenger side of a sleek black sedan.

Before her butt touched the seat, Luca grabbed her around the throat and pushed his face into hers. "Gabriella. Don't disrespect her like that again."

She kept her mouth shut as he started the car and pulled onto the road. Massaging her neck, she sneaked glances at him. It was dark outside, but she didn't need much light to make out his features.

"Stop."

"Stop what?"

"Staring at me."

"Luca." Leather creaked as she leaned over the console. "You told me the last time you saw me that I looked familiar. Don't you remember me?"

He scoffed. "Gabriella said you liked to make up lies. That you were desperate for attention."

"What else does Gabby–briella say?"

Luca growled. "That's not for you to worry about."

He turned down a dark, winding gravel road, driving so fast rocks and dust formed a silver cloud behind them. Van pressed her nose against the glass, hoping she left smudges that couldn't be buffed out. Through the trees, she glimpsed a dimly lit mansion, and she knew once they reached the house, she wasn't coming out of it. 'Whatever you do, you must not allow Gabriella to use you. She needs you to be a vessel.'

Van still didn't know what that meant, but it could be nothing good. In less than a mile, she was facing failure, but she didn't know how to buy more time. Not while Luca had the upper hand.

Easing away from the window, she came to a decision. There was only one chance for her to get out of this car, and it had to happen before it stopped.

"If you're contemplating jumping out of the car, the child locks are on," Luca said, as if reading her mind.

"That's not quite what I was thinking," she whispered, calling on her power and stretching her arm across the car.

Before Luca could react, she grabbed the wheel and yanked. The front passenger tire struck something, and the car careened into a ditch, flipping upside down. The golden ring around Luca's eyes extinguished as his head struck the roof of the car, and that was the last Van remembered before she followed him into the dark.