by M. L. Briers
~
Kirsty wasn’t entirely sure which way was up. She’d got lost in his kisses, but she thought she’d given as good as she got. One moment they were fevered, and she didn’t care if the roof fell in around her, and the next they were slow, passionate, and eternal.
But with all good things comes the realisation of that moment of insanity, and when they finally pulled apart, she was surprised to find that they weren’t in the hallway anymore but in her room, and she was wrapped around him like a vine.
Kirsty would like to be able to say that she didn’t know how any of that happened, but her body was buzzing with excitement and the need for more, and she had a hazy recollection of certain events. “I’d like my feet to find the floor now,” she whispered, knowing full well he could hear her words even over the low, deep rumble of a hungry growl that teased her body, mind and soul from curiosity and into the realms of needing more.
Joe was reluctant to put her down. She’d practically climbed up his legs and wrapped herself around him, and that was all good with him, but they had both been in danger of getting carried away, and he couldn’t take her to bed and make her his without having a conversation about the rest of their lives together.
His wolf had been clawing to be set free and mark her as theirs, but considering what was going on with his pack, he didn’t know if that would put a bigger target on her back. Above everything else, he’d kill to keep her safe.
“That awkward moment,” he muttered, and let her slide down his body until her feet touched the floor. He still didn’t make a move away from her – that would take his brain telling his legs what to do and right now, his mind was occupied with other things.
“I kissed you, you kissed me, not awkward,” she lied. She didn’t remember half of what had happened; all she knew was that her hands had wandered, her brain had switched off, and she’d done what felt right.
And boy, had that felt right!
“If we keep telling ourselves that do you think we’ll believe it?” he asked, offering her a slightly strained, but a sexy-as-hell grin.
When he palmed the wall beside her head and touched his forehead to hers, she felt an overwhelming rush to jump his bones. That was all fate – at least, she was going to tell herself that too. “Anything is possible if you believe,” she said, trying her best to batter down the urge to be wrapped around him again with the big sledgehammer of no-no.
“I need a shower,” she said. She knew that the only way to calm the urge to be kissing him again was to be away from him. In truth, even that might not work for her.
“Are you trying to kill me with kindness?” Joe growled at the thought of her naked – it was just too tempting.
“That would solve a few problems, wouldn’t it?” she replied and got a curious look back from him. “Relax,” she said and patted his chest. “I don’t kill poor, dumb animals and I have no intention of starting with you.”
Joe chuckled, and it was as deep and sexy as his growl. Fate was cruel and sneaky, and yet, she thought it had chosen well for her.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
~
Courtney sat on the wall dividing the garden of the house with the land beyond. With her heels wedged against the old brickwork she watched the sun as it disappeared beyond the tree line of the old woods, and the pink and purple sunset that looked as if someone had painted the perfect sky.
“Can I sit?” Erin asked, but she didn’t wait for a reply in case the answer was no. Instead, she dropped down to her backside beside the she-wolf and turned her attention to the sky ahead. “Pretty.”
“Can I help you?” Courtney asked, confused as to why the witch would want to spend time in her company.
“Good question and the answer is yes,” Erin said. She’d wondered how to break the ice with the young she-wolf, and now she didn’t need to.
Courtney sighed. She had a feeling that she’d walked hook, line, and sinker into that one, and she needed to remember that witches were devious.
The fact that Kirsty was her brother’s mate meant she’d be spending time around witches from now on, and she made a mental note to watch what she said in future.
Erin had waited for a reply, but when one wasn’t forthcoming, she decided to plough on. “Don’t you want to know how?”
“No, not really,” Courtney said, looking anywhere but at the witch.
“You have absolutely no curiosity?”
“Nope,” Courtney said. Of course, she did, but she wasn’t going to admit that to the witch.
“Not even the slightest bit curious about how a she-wolf could help out a witch?” Erin was baiting her, and she kind of hoped it worked, but if it didn’t, then she’d lay it on the line anyway.
“Nada – nothing – it’s not an itch I need to scratch,” Courtney said, digging in her heels when all she wanted to do was to admit it and find out what the wicked witch of the west wanted from her.
“That’s cool. I mean, if it were me it would be bugging the heck out of me to find out what kind of a favour a witch wanted from me, but you do you,” she said with a shrug.
Courtney hated the fact that the more the witch spoke, the more the itch that she’d denied she had grew inside of her. Now it was a favour, but what could she do for a witch? “I’m a pretty laid back person,” she lied again.
“Impressive, a laid back she-wolf, I’ve never come across one of those before,” Erin said.
Erin had only ever come across one she-wolf in her life before, and the woman was anything but laid back. Looking at the way Courtney was fidgeting on her perch on the wall, she doubted the young wolf was laid back either.
“Look, if you don’t mind, I came out here for some alone time. Catherine is all but healed, and my brothers are – whatever. So, could you just…” She shooed her.
“Oh, sure,” Erin said, dropping to her feet on the ground and turning back to Courtney. “Do you have any female friends that might want to help me?” she asked.
If that wasn’t an enticement too far, Courtney didn’t know what was. First, she wanted her help and then she wanted her friends? The hell was she letting her friends in on something that she didn’t know about. “I doubt it…”
“That you have friends or that they would want to help?”
“That’s…” Courtney couldn’t help the growl that rumbled in her chest.
“Ooo, touchy subject? I get it, forget I asked,” Erin said, and turned away. She counted to three and…
“I have friends,” Courtney said, and Erin turned back towards her.
“And would they like to help?” Erin asked, trying not to smile at her victory.
“With what?” Courtney practically held her breath in anticipation of finally getting the answer.
“Just the spell of the century that no living witch has performed and no she-wolves have ever witnessed,” Erin said, laying it on thick.
Courtney thought the answer was worth waiting for. While she hated the stench coming out of the kitchen, it had been niggling at her as to what the witch had been doing in there for the best part of the day.
Magic was magic, and it was off-limits to she-wolves, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t curious, and she might have made an excuse to go into the kitchen had she thought her nose could handle that smell up close and personal.
Erin watched Courtney as she considered her options. Now the shoe was on the other foot as she waited for the young woman to answer. She felt the need to bounce on the balls of her feet as that clawing frustration rose within her. The seconds ticked by like some annoying creature poking at her for attention.
“How many friends do you need?” Courtney asked.
Erin could have done a cartwheel across the grass – yes! “We have three-four, including you, and six is good, but twelve would be better.”
“A coven?” Courtney looked surprised.
“Well, there’s a little witch in all of us, even you, but it’s the women power thing that really sells a spell a
nd gets it over the line,” Erin informed her.
“So, you don’t need a witch to perform magic?”
“Oh no, baby spells can be performed by anyone – if they do them right and have belief in what they are doing, but the big spells – yeah, kind of, and lucky for us – we have two witches, and ten supernaturals?” She asked with a little hopeful smile.
“Eight friends?”
“Is it a push?”
“You know it’s not a good idea to insult the person you’re asking to help you, right?”
“Yeah, but you can’t help the nature of the beast, am I right?” Erin said with a teasing grin.
“Thanks to my vampire brother messing everything up, I think I can get eight people to help us,” Courtney said, trying to remember who had come to the house to show Joe support today.
“Great!” Erin said and turned on her heels to head back to the house. She had a brew to stir. “Oh!” she said on an afterthought and turned back to Courtney. “Just a thought, but your brother didn’t ask to be turned into a vampire, and there’s a good chance that this was all part of the plot to get your family out of the pack – so, cut him some slack and be grateful that they hadn’t picked you to be the nightwalker.”
Erin turned and strolled off before Courtney could say another word. It was a working theory, and she had no proof that was what had happened, but she couldn’t disprove it either.
Erin words hit Courtney hard. Her brothers hadn’t told her about that part of the plot, and if it was true, then it made sense. Courtney growled at those in the pack who would do that to Nathaniel, and all for a power grab.
She picked up her phone and opened her contacts. She’d get eight friends loyal to the alpha to come and help with Nathaniel’s spell, but there was one more person she wanted to see tonight because she had a bone to pick with him.
~
Kirsty wedged the last tree branch into the ground and tested the strength of the structure to see if it would hold the cauldron and its contents. Just in time as Joe and Nathaniel carried the large cast-iron pot down the steps and across the grass to where she and Erin were waiting.
“It smells divine,” Erin said, mocking the vampire and alpha as they tried unsuccessfully to stay downwind of the smell.
“It stinks like Joe’s feet after a long workday in boots,” Nathaniel grumbled, and Erin shot a look at Kirsty who glared back at her.
“Good luck with that,” Erin said with a wide teasing grin, but the zap from her friend’s magic made her yelp and jump in place.
“Just pre-testing my magic,” Kirsty said and moved forward to supervise the hanging of the cauldron. “Looks good,” she said, taking a step back with Joe. “It should hold.”
“We have lift-off,” Erin said and used her magic to ignite the bonfire beneath the cauldron. The fire burst into life, flames spitting out in all directions, and Nathaniel threw himself back from the lapping flames.
“What part of vampire and flames don’t you get, witch?” Nathaniel spat out, checking his clothes to see if anything was on fire.
“I might have been a wee bit pre-emptive and enthusiastic,” Erin said.
“And I might have been a crispy critter,” Nathaniel replied.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
~
“We all have our little problems, don’t we?” Kirsty said, trying not to laugh at the vampire’s expense.
Nathaniel looked at his soon-to-be sister-in-law with mock disbelief. “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” he said, and she lost the last ounce of control she’d had on her laughter and spat out a chuckle; the others joined her.
“Come on, brother, take one for the team, they are on your side,” Joe said.
“I’m not sure about that, it could all be a ruse to get rid of me,” Nathaniel said.
Erin patted him on the back. “Ye of little faith,” she said, looking up at him with an angelic grin.
“Says the witch,” Nathaniel shot back. “You can see how I might be a bit worried.”
Kirsty couldn’t help but chuckle. “Gotta love a good conspiracy,” she said.
“They’re here,” Courtney called as she stalked around the side of the building followed by the females from the pack that she had enticed to come over. It had been pretty easy to get them to agree, apparently, in Joe’s absence, Conrad had been throwing his weight around, and people weren’t happy.
Kirsty looked at the group coming their way. Some of them looked nervous, but most just looked curious. They were a mixture of ages which was a good thing as far as magic was concerned because they represented all three stages of the Triple Goddess. “Gather around the fire, but don’t get too close, we wouldn’t want any accidents,” she said and offered Nathaniel a mocking smile, and he replied with a grunt and just one raised eyebrow.
Then she turned to Joe. “Time to get your wolf on,” she said, taking a step back from him so he could do his thing.
Well, she was glad she’d taken that step because now she had front row seats to the striptease of the century as he peeled off his clothes, shirt first, and she got all the eye candy she could handle.
When Joe unzipped his jeans, she felt her mouth go dry, and when he bent and thrust the jeans down to his ankles, her heart skipped a beat. When he straightened up, and she got a good look at everything, holy hell’s bells, but she felt the rush of heat like lava through her body, her stomach flip-flopped and her lower jaw sagged.
“That’s a picture-perfect moment for the memories book,” Erin said, and hooked her finger under Kirsty’s chin and snapped her jaws closed. “Eyes on the prize.”
“They are,” Kirsty said, all but drooling down her chin.”
“The other prize,” Erin reminded her with a hard nudge in the side to wake up her brain.
“It is,” Kirsty said, snapping to attention and trying to drag her gaze away from his prize assets.
Joe looked decidedly pleased with himself at his mate’s reaction, and he drew in a breath and stuck out his muscled chest. He was sure he heard his mate growl, but that was absurd, witches didn’t growl.
“Could you just shift into your wolf already and stop teasing her with your dangly bits?” Erin scolded him.
“Yes, brother, it’s not like you have anything to be proud of,” Nathaniel said, and Erin snapped a look at him.
“Really?” she asked, raising her eyebrows in curiosity, Nathaniel just offered her a teasing smile. “Hmm…”
It was Kirsty’s turn to nudge her friend in the ribs. “Look,” she said, and Erin followed where she pointed.
Joe’s wolf stood proud. The grey wolf with the shocking white main of fur, and matching band on its tail took a slow step towards them.
“Oh,” Erin said. “So cute.”
Joe’s beast stopped and twisted its head to one side. The sound of Nathaniel’s mocking chuckle made the beast growl a warning at his brother, fangs and all.
“Okay, maybe not so cute,” Erin said. “Where should we cut?” she asked whipping out the Atheme that she’d already cleansed and blessed for the spell, and the wolf swallowed hard.
The questioning sound it made reminded them of one thing. “Scooby-Doo,” the witches said together, and the group around the fire chuckled in response.
Nathaniel stepped forward with a big, beaming grin on his face. “Bet you want to run off with your tail between your legs now, don’t ya?” he mocked his brother, and the wolf growled once more.
“Stop baiting him,” Kirsty scolded the vampire. “And remember he’s doing this for you.”
When Kirsty turned back, the wolf was right in front of her. It was more than tempting to want to run her hands through his lush fur, but she held back, not sure how the beast would react to what amounted to being petted. “Hi,” she said and was more than happy when the wolf took a step forward and nuzzled her hand.
“If I just cut off its tail, would it grow back?” Erin asked.
“Yes,” Nathaniel said.
&
nbsp; Joe’s beast took a few steps around Kirsty, putting his mate between him and Erin. “I don’t think wolves get your humour,” Kirsty scolded her.
“He’s not the only one,” Courtney said, stalking towards them. “Does the blooding have to be performed by a witch?” she asked Kirsty, eyeing Erin with a death glare.
“No,” Kirsty said.
Courtney held out her hand. “Give me the knife,” she growled.
“It’s an Atheme,” Erin said and slapped the blade into Courtney’s outstretched hand. “Spoilsport.”
“Here, you’ll need this too,” Kirsty said retrieving the ceremonial bowl and handing it to Courtney. “Not too much blood, just a few drops.”
“A few drops?” Courtney said eyeing Erin. “And you wanted to cut off his tail?”
“It was a joke,” Erin said and rolled her eyes. “Geez, no sense of humour,” she muttered.
Nathaniel was at her side in a heartbeat. “Well, I found it amusing,” he whispered, and she pulled back and looked him up and down.
“I’m shocked,” she bit out dryly. “Not shocked.”
The wolf didn’t make a sound when Courtney sliced into his paw and allowed the blood to drip into the bowl. “Seal it,” she told her brother, and the wolf licked at the wound. Then she straightened and walked back to Erin, offering her the bowl and Athame. “Cut off his tail,” she grumbled.
Kirsty couldn’t help but chuckle as she walked to Erin for the next part. She took the Atheme and closed her hand around it, drawing the blade across her palm. She fisted her hand and squeezed the blood into the bowl.
“You next,” Erin said to Nathaniel when Kirsty stepped back.
“You almost sound gleeful,” Nathaniel said with a devilish grin as he took the Atheme and mirrored Kirsty’s actions.
“Nothing like a little slicing and dicing at the midnight hour,” Erin said with a teasing grin. Then she took the bowl to the cauldron and placed it on the ground by the side of the flames before taking her place in the circle. “Time to get your wolf on,” she informed the vampire.