by M. L. Briers
“I think she got the memo,” Nathan chuckled.
“Grrr…” she started low. “Gran!” she bellowed at the top of her voice, and both shifters winced from the pain to their ears. “This is not bloody well happening to me and so help me Goddess – I will not – not … damn well not…!” she pressed her lips together and gurgled a sound in the back of her throat.
“That went – loudly,” Nathan grumbled.
“I didn’t get zapped. I’ll take what I can get,” Samuel tossed back, and her eyes fired with intensity.
“Oooh,” she started on one step toward him. “Yoooou, was worried about getting zapped…” she hissed, and Samuel had to wonder if there wasn’t just a little she-demon within her heritage somewhere. “Well, let me tell you shifter mutt…”
“Shifter mutt,” Nathan considered it on a chuckle. “Has a nice ring to it.”
“Shut up,” Samuel growled, and he heard that gurgle within her throat once more. “Him, not you – you just go ahead and let off steam, sweetheart…”
“Steam. Hmm… heat. White hot heat that burns like a thousand suns…” she nodded her head, and Samuel frowned.
“Is this making sense to you?” He shot out the side of his mouth toward his brother.
“She’s female, nothing much makes sense,” Nathan grinned, and a heartbeat later there was a hiss from the witch, and his brother got zapped.
“I didn’t … say it,” Samuel growled.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
~
Randy held his hands up to his chest, palms out toward her, to try and bring some semblance of calmness to the situation. He kept eye contact with the witch. She was spooked, and a spooked witch was never a good thing.
“Now, let’s just take a breath and realize…” Randy started, but his mate finished that thought for him.
“That your backside is toast,” Pamela bit out.
Yes, having a mate, and a shifter one at that might have sounded like a good idea when she’d read it on the internet. But faced with the sudden realization of the big, sexy, male shifter that was standing right in front of her, and proclaiming her to be his, well, that was a different kettle of fish altogether.
For one thing, a mate was for life, not just a summer fling, and, in truth, she hadn’t really thought through all of the ramifications of – well, him.
“I kind of like my backside without the charred over a barbeque look.”
Randy smiled, but it was wolfish, and that smile reminded her of just what a predator the man was. That scared something loose within her mind to look for a way out.
Excitement and daydreaming of an everlasting love that would make her feel very feminine again was one thing. But, in reality, she was faced with a sexy man that would want to mate with her.
Her.
A naked her.
His bits and her bits interlocking together, and there lay the worry that clawed within her mind.
It had been a good long while since she’d had sex. It might have been like riding a damn bike, but she didn’t do that at her age either.
If she were on a love cruise, then she would have abandoned ship – with or without a lifeboat and a lifejacket. It was going to be much easier on land, but not by much, given that her mate had a nose that could scent her a mile away – literally.
The sound of Summer bellowing out her name snapped her attention toward the upstairs of the Inn, and she gasped in surprise.
“Back off, or you’ll regret it,” she hissed at Randy, and the shifter frowned hard.
“Her granddaughter!” Dorothy clarified, as everyone at the table pushed up and started to make a move towards the back door.
“If Samuel has gone and done something stupid, so help me,” Sarah grumbled.
“No, really, don’t mind me,” Chloe sighed. “I’ll just sit here and wait like a puppy.”
“Cheer up love,” Monty grinned. “You were invited to tea.” He reminded her, and she leant back in her chair as the others scurried into the house, a big old smile on her lips.
“Why yes, yes I was, wasn’t I?”
~
~
~
“Let’s talk about this,” Samuel bit out against the flash of pain that travelled up and down his whole body from the witch’s wrath.
“Talking is what gets you into trouble,” Nathan chuckled.
“It wasn’t me,” Samuel bit out and felt the magic ease back from him.
“There is no way in hell that I would ever consider…” she was cut off in her wrath by her grandmother’s voice.
“What’s happening?” Pamela demanded.
She was taking the stairs as quickly as she could. Faster than her mate expected her to, and a lot quicker than Dorothy or Angela, as the others followed in her wake.
“This …” Summer bit down on every word that came to mind, because her grandmother didn’t like her potty mouth, as she put it. “Mutt!” She compromised.
“Not a mutt,” Samuel gave a slow shake of his head and bit down on the annoyance within him, for himself, and for his beast.
The wolf had its pride.
“Mutt,” she repeated, craning her head forwards on her neck and eyeing him with something of a death glare.
“What’s he done now?” Pamela panted out as she rounded the corner into the hallway.
Nathan took one step aside so that the elder could blaze a path right towards the mates, and she did, stomping all the way down the wooden floorboards.
“Let’s just put aside that he spied on me naked – again…” she bit out, and Samuel held up a hand to silence her.
“Not naked…” he offered.
“Almost naked,” she hissed. “He also claims to be my…” she bit down on the word that came next with a heavy breath that she breathed down her nose like a dragon. “Mate.” She sneered.
“Oh no, not another one.” Pamela tossed up her hand as Summer’s eyes snapped towards her and flared for just a moment.
“Another one?” she bit out, tipping her head to one side and regarding her grandmother with curious, and somewhat accusing eyes.
“That would be me,” Randy said, and he raised a hand and offered the younger witch a big beaming smile.
“Dear Goddess, what next?” Summer bit out. “No!” She shook her head. “No, I do not even want to know.” She said, adamant that the world might just come to an end – although, she might have considered that a blessing in disguise in her predicament.
“I’m thinking that you shouldn’t have asked that question,” Pamela sighed.
“And me,” Sarah winced.
“Ditto,” Angela said.
“Damn stupid thing for a witch to say; if you ask me,” Dorothy snorted.
“Which I didn’t,” Summer bit out.
“Well, excuse me, Missy!” Dorothy said with a roll of her head.
“I reeeaaaly want to go home now!” Summer bit out, her tone was reminiscent of the way that she would whine when she’d been a small child.
“I hear that,” Pamela muttered.
Not only had she found a mate for herself, but she’d dropped her granddaughter in the poop as well. All in all, the day couldn’t get much worse, could it?
“Damn it to hell!” Nathan ground out, turning on fast heels and dashing around the gathered crowd like he was competing in an obstacle course.
“Do not go anywhere,” Samuel growled, as he turned and followed his brother.
“Nobody leaves the premises,” Nathan called back over his shoulder. “We’ve got a rogue on the loose.”
“You had to ask,” Dorothy groaned at the witch.
CHAPTER TWELVE
~
“Quick, toss your stuff in a bag, and we’re out of here!” Summer snapped out.
For a long moment, Pamela felt the rush of hope go through her. There was a way out that was sitting right down on the drive, and she only needed to take it.
So, why was it that her shoes felt as if they had been fille
d with lead and her mind flicked to the smirking face of her mate – a mate who was now off fighting a rogue – in possible danger for his very life?
“That’s a step you’d better be sure that you wanna take, Missy,” Dorothy berated and warned her at the same time.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Summer scowled back at the elder.
“Because, if we leave – then our mates will be the rogues that will be hunted,” her grandmother said quietly.
Pamela didn’t much care for that idea. She didn’t know her mate from Adam, and yet, and it was a big, wide, gaping, yet, she wasn’t certain that she could send him to that kind of fate.
Fate… Pamela thought.
Fate put me on that internet site and showed me the ad to get me here.
Fate brought me to my mate, and it’s been a long time coming since I had someone … a man – in my life.
Fate would turn on Randy in a heartbeat and make him into a mindless rogue beast intent on killing, and from the looks of the man – he’d do that job well.
Fate.
The damn stupid thing that it is.
I supposed I asked for this, but Summer…?
She’ll have to uproot her whole life to move here with him – the growly, broody, brain challenged beta. Oh, what did I do?
Be careful what you wish for – yeah!
“Gran…!” Summer barked out and then felt a rush of guilt when the woman snapped out of her malaise like she’d zapped her.
“Yes?” Pamela scowled back at her granddaughter’s impatience.
She’d been lost in thought there for a moment, but now she back and seeing things clearly.
Her granddaughter had found her mate, and that was what she needed to focus on. Making things right for Summer was the ultimate goal.
“Pack – pack – chop – chop,” Summer clapped her hands together like it was a foregone conclusion that they were running away.
Running away – what am I five?
Running … running from your mate was a damn bad idea, especially, if he caught up to you.
No running!
“You can’t just leave like this without telling him and…”
“Giving him the opportunity to see me naked some more?” Summer offered back. “Slobbering down his chin?” She tossed her arms up and folded them across her chest. “Where’s the downside?”
“Rogue. Death. Innocents getting hurt. The man being hunted by his own pack as he hunts for you. Gee, I don’t know, Summer,” Pamela offered back, and her granddaughter took to fidgeting on her feet.
“Well,” she offered and then took a long moment to consider her grandmother’s words. “When you put it like that.” She grumbled.
“You have to at least talk to the man,” Pamela berated her.
“I have – he’s a few puppies short of a pack,” Summer shot back.
“Samuel has some very good qualities,” Sarah said.
He wasn’t her favorite brother in law, but maybe having a mate would loosen him up a little – or not.
“He’s fiercely loyal,” Angela said.
“And as sexy as hell,” Dorothy argued, and everyone turned to look at her. “Well, he is – just don’t tell Hank I said it.”
“Does your mind have sex as a default button?” Angela grumbled.
“Yes,” Dorothy grinned, and her eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Sex!” Summer blurted out. “With him? I’d rather lick the inside of my shoe after dancing all night in a sauna.”
“That’s…” Pamela considered the image. It wasn’t one that enticed her to keep it.
“You have some funny ideas about sex…” Dorothy sighed. “I can assure you that…”
“Goddess, please don’t,” Angela grumbled on a roll of her eyes.
“Is there a way to make her stop?” Summer grumbled.
“Food and sex,” Angela shrugged. “It’s what she lives for, and we can’t very well pull out the rug from under her feet at her age, now can we?”
“Just wrap her in it to muffle her words,” Summer shot back.
“Be nice!” Pamela berated her.
“Or come stand next to me, and you can whisper those thoughts into my ear,” Angela offered back, and Dorothy aimed a well-placed elbow in her ribs.
“I think you’ve found your kindred spirit,” Dorothy hissed at her friend like a coiled snake.
“Yes, the fun we can have at your expense,” Angela shot back on a scowl that warned of zapping should her friend use those pointy little elbows at her expense again.
“Nobody is leaving,” Pamela announced, and Summer’s hopeful expression dropped like a brick from a bridge.
“Fine,” Summer said, turning on her heels, stomping back into her room, and using her magic to slam the door behind her.
“Ooh, that one has a temper on her,” Angela chuckled.
“Samuel’s going to have to bend over backwards to woo her,” Sarah chuckled.
“Hmm, bending over backwards reminds me…” Dorothy started, but all the other witches snapped out in unison.
“No!”
“Please do not put any images in my head that I can’t bleach out,” Sarah grumbled.
“It’s called sex-peri-menting,” Dorothy announced with gusto, and Angela and Sarah groaned.
“Geez, I’m sorry I missed this one being wooed. It must have taken all of two second’s for Hank to get his groove on,” Pamela sighed.
“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Angela said.
“Bloody astounded if she lasted an hour,” Pamela tossed back with a snort for the elder witch.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
~
“What happened?” Nathan bit out as he shifted back into his human form and stalked towards the injured member of his pack, Dwight, as the man sat on the ground nursing his wounds and waiting for his blood to work on healing his body.
“Best I can make out, it’s a rogue, worst case scenario, another pack wants our land,” the man growled.
“Rick?” Nathan turned towards the enforcer.
The man was as tall and broad chested as a bear shifter, with a temper to match, but he was the best that they had for sniffing out trouble.
“I came into the fight at the tail end…”
“So to speak,” Monty offered from the tree line above them. He’d seen the mad dash of the alpha and beta, and the elders leaving the Inn, and had decided that something wasn’t quite right in paradise – so, he’d followed them.
He was never shy in poking his nose in where it did or didn’t belong.
“What are you a damn monkey, get out of the tree,” Nathan growled up into the foliage. He was in no mood for the vampire’s antics.
“I like it up here. It gives me a unique view of the area,” Monty said, and Nathan rolled his head on his neck and tried, and failed, to release the tension that was stored within his body.
“Fine. Just shut up,” Nathan growled back. He started to lift a hand towards Rick.
“How quickly they turn on you,” Monty said.
Rick grunted in annoyance at the vampire’s intrusion, and Samuel growled in annoyance. The beta would much rather have been back at the Inn wooing his mate than listening to the vampire’s ramblings.
“Can I finish? Or do I have to climb the damn tree and rip off your head?” The enforcer growled.
“I’d prefer not to have to carry my head around under my arm like some pirate ghost, so go right ahead,” Monty offered back.
Nathan nodded at Rick, but the enforcer was still hyped up from the encounter, and his wolf was still front and centre, and Rick had a habit of going off half cocked.
“Rick,” Nathan dragged the man’s attention back towards him.
“Yeah,” the enforcer snapped, “right, yeah, the rogue.” He tossed up a hand towards Dwight.
“So, it was a rogue?” Nathan already had the beast’s scent, but it wasn’t fresh, and Monty would be better placed to see if the rogue was even remotely close to them
.
“Looked that way. And what kind of a sane wolf would be shifting and fighting on another packs territory in the daytime?” Rick reached up and scratched at the three-day growth that clung to his jaw line.
“How badly are you injured?” Nathan eyed Dwight.
“I got some deep gashes is all,” Dwight grumbled, but Rick’s deep grunt said there was more.
“And?” Nathan demanded.
“It’s nothing,” Dwight offered a death glare to his fellow enforcer, and Rick folded his large arms across his chest and offered the man back a set of raised eyebrows and a questioning look.
“Nothing?” Rick said.
“Fine. I got… bit on the…” Dwight grumbled, and muttered, and then grumbled some more as he looked anywhere but at the group gathered.
“You get bit on the butt there, Dwight?” Samuel chuckled. It was deep and rumbling, and it sounded like a thunder storm was coming their way.
“Something like that,” Dwight bit out.
“Not like that,” Rick shrugged, “that.”
The sound of Monty’s laughter filled the air, and all Dwight wanted to do was to shift into his wolf, dig a really big hole, and bury himself in it.
“Shut up, Monty,” Dwight growled.
“But, it's classic…” Monty chuckled harder.
“I’m not discussing this. My wounds are healing,” Dwight growled, but even the alpha was chuckling. “Funny ha-ha!”
“I suppose if it’s a choice between your neck or your backside – it’s the way to go,” Samuel chuckled.
“You guys can all go take a damn hike,” Dwight growled out.
He might have been able to see the funny side of it if it was someone else’s backside, but right then – he just wanted the earth to open up and swallow him.
“Let’s take a run around the property and see if we can pick up the scent. Hopefully, the rogue is just passing through,” Nathan said.