by M. L. Briers
HIS MATE
HOWL’S YOU DOIN’ ?
BY
M L BRIERS
Copyright © 2018, M L Briers
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced whatsoever without written permission of the author, except for brief exerts in reviews. Any unauthorised reproduction or distribution of the material herein is illegal and may result in criminal proceedings. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to the internet or distributed via electronic or print without prior consent.
Note from the Author;
All names, places, and incidents contained herein are purely fictional and have no basis in actual events or linked to actual Humans, Witches, Vampires, Werewolves, Lycans, Werebears or persons living, dead or undead.
Copyright © 2018, Cover Design by; [email protected].
Table of Contents
HIS MATE
HOWL’S LOTTA LOVIN’
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER ONE
~
Maxine May tipped her head to the side, placed her hands on her curvy hips, and regarded her friend with a look that said; beware. “Oh, no!”
“Oh, yes,” Bree Carter turned that look right back on her, and if looks could kill, then Maxine might have been clinging by her fingernails to life.
As it was, neither witch used their magic against each other since their very first meeting because they were friends – best friends – and that meant something to the both of them.
Growing up a little different in a small town wasn’t easy for anyone, but for a young witch whose powers were blossoming just as much as her figure, it could be even worse. Making a teenage mistake for normal people didn’t often involve burning down the barn dance with a stray sneeze and a thunderbolt of lightning, and in the words of the late-great Freddie Mercury – it was very, very frightening indeed – but that’s what happened to Maxine.
For Bree; it had been revolt and rebellion. Green tinges to her spiked hair, dressing like a Goth met a homeless person just for the extra sneers from her classmates, and what rebellion could be complete without getting thrown out of school? Bree had added it to her list of accomplishments by the time she was fourteen.
They’d sort of found each other with magical breadcrumbs scattered in the air from their crimes and misdemeanors against the natural culmination of puberty driven angst and wild times that had left a magical signature that the other could trace, and trace it they did. That encounter had happened behind a church and left both witches with a few minor scars, and the church in need of a new roof, but had sealed their fate in becoming firm friends, and conspirators, in everything – life.
Now older, they shared a cottage on the outskirts of a quiet little town where they were able to get up to their nefarious deeds and misadventures without interference or risk of being caught doing whatever they decided to experiment with on any given day. Both witches believed that magic was like a muscle – the more you practiced, the better you became, and these ladies liked to practice a lot.
“We can’t,” Maxi declared with a small shrug and raised eyebrows knowing what came next.
“Oh, but we can.” Bree was wearing the kind of wicked smile that she reserved for the very best, or worst, of ideas.
Maxi eyed her for a long moment as the cogs turned in her mind. There was a time when she’d agree to try any spell, any potion, and anything that her friend tossed her way – sometimes by way of a challenge – but that time wasn’t now, because in her book there were some things that you just didn’t mess with – and this was one of those things.
“Well, we can, but we shouldn’t…”
“You make a good point, and you’re probably right,” Bree sighed. She always did that when she was trying to get the sympathy card or figure out a way to get what she wanted. Maxi was wise to her friend’s ploys, the subtle and not-so-subtle ones. “And I understand completely if you’re just too chicken…”
Bree had left that challenge hanging in the air like bait, and she watched as her friend squared up to it. Tick-tock-tick-tock, the cogs were turning in Maxi’s mind.
Maxi hated a dare, but what she hated more was walking away from one. How wrong could things go? And it wasn’t as if they would be doing the deed on their own doorstep, inviting trouble to knock, or anything; she reasoned as she stared back at her friend.
Tick-tock-tick-tock.
Maxi tossed up a hand and let it drop to her side with a slap as she gave in. “Fine…”
“Really?” Bree snorted a chuckle and wrinkled her nose. “Geez, Max, I thought you’d hold out a little longer than that…”
“I can change my mind…”
“I know. I’ve seen you trying to choose an outfit in the morning,” Bree tossed back with a smirk and a wiggle of her eyebrows. Then she gave a small, satisfied squeal and did her happy dance. “Yea! We’re going to try new things, push the limits of our magic, and…”
“Get eaten by wolves,” Maxi sighed. Then she turned on her heels and headed for the kitchen.
“That’s the optimistic outwardly looking enthusiasm that I love to hear,” Bree called after her, fisting the air for her own benefit, but all she got in return was a middle finger to show her how Maxi really felt about being manipulated into doing what she wasn’t sure was the best idea in the world.
~
“No!” Maxi snapped as she snatched the potion that her friend was about to scatter to the whistling winds right out of her hands and hugged it to her chest like it was chocolate.
Bree scowled back at her in the darkness, and it was hard to see on such a moonless night, but Maxi thought her friend might have been chewing on a very vicious imaginary wasp.
“Give it back,” Bree hissed, reaching out for it, but coming up empty as Maxi pulled away and turned to protect the small bottle in her hands from being snatched back.
“That’s a baaaadddd idea, Bree. It’s akin to dropping a sonic bomb on them…” she berated her.
“I know – fun, right?”
Maxi scowled through the darkness trying to see if her friend had lost her mind just from the look on her face, but she was pretty much cloaked in darkness. “No! It’s not a good idea,” she screeched back, sure that Bree was losing it on some level.
“I like it!”
“Who knows how they’ll react…”
“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Bree offered back, sounding logical and yet, Maxi couldn’t see the logic in sending a pack of wolves loopy – not when she was within fangs distance of them. “Practice makes perfect…”
“Hypering up a pack of wolves makes us food,” Maxi offered back in the singsong voice that she knew Bree hated.
“We have a car!” Bree snapped back. “We can out … drive them.”
“Hmm, and yet, I see problems on the horizon and the real possibility of things going tits up,” Maxi hissed back.
“Oh, ye of little faith…”
“I have faith,” Maxi shrugged. “I have faith that this is going to go badly wrong and the last thing I see while I’m screaming I told you so – is fangs –
big, razor-sharp – attached to a werewolf – fangs.”
“Okay, well, the first problem with that little scenario – as fun as it sounds, and putting aside the fact that you’ll have finally gotten some exercise, would be…”
“Witch!” Maxi bit out.
“Thank you,” Bree offered back with a sickly sweet tone that danced over Maxi’s last nerve. They both knew each other’s sore spots and weren’t afraid to play on them. “They aren’t werewolves.”
“They have fur?”
“Yes…”
“Act like big dogs?”
Bree sighed. “Yes…”
“Look like a wolf?”
“You know they do…” Bree lifted a hand to silence her friend and to continue, but as usual, it didn’t work.
“Well, sweetie, if it looks like a wolf, howl’s like a wolf, sniffs its butt like a wolf, it’s a…”
“Lycan!”
“Not the point.” Maxi started walking, and Bree whimpered as she moved off after her.
“Is so the point!” Bree offered back like a spoilt child.
There was the problem. Maxi could hear it in the tone of her friend’s voice. If they didn’t test that magic, if Bree didn’t enact her dastardly plan, then she was going to sulk like a five-year-old for days.
“Aren’t we getting a little old to test certain boundaries?” Maxi tossed back over her shoulder.
“I’m planning on staying forever young…”
“Good luck with that.”
“And to stay forever young…”
“You need to die – about now – before the laughter lines at the corners of your eyes get any deeper.”
“Maxine May!” Bree bit out on a hissed whisper that was bordering on being squeaky.
“Bree Carter!” Maxi tossed back.
“I want my potion back…”
“Not a good idea,” Maxi tossed out, but the hard clench of Bree’s hand as it circled her arm said that Bree wasn’t giving up just yet.
“Give!” Bree demanded as she yanked Maxi backward and tried to turn her on her heels – the only problem was that Maxi was standing on the uneven ground to start with, and throwing her off balance like that only got her a squeal from her friend and … the potion ended up all down the front of Bree.
That was when the wind suddenly picked up, and Bree stood stock still as she looked down at the icky mess that covered her jacket.
“Oh look, you got it,” Maxi sniggered, but Bree wasn’t laughing when the sound of howls went up from all around them. Maxi snapped off her laughter and swallowed hard. “Oh, poop!”
Bree tore at her jacket, “Get it off me!” she shrieked.
“Never happy, you got your potion back, and…”
“And they could be heading this way as we speak — stop speaking and get this thing off me,” Bree hissed as she fought with her jacket like it had come to life and was attacking her.
“Wait — this way?” Maxi bit back. “I thought you said it was a spell to repel wolves.”
“Well, I think it was — but Martha never…”
“Martha?” Maxi snapped back. “You used a spell that was created by that crazy old witch? I thought we agreed never to do that again after the last time,” Maxi hissed out in one long breath.
“Well…”
“Say well one more time, and I’ll find one and push you down it. Now, what exactly was that spell for?” Maxi demanded.
Her hands went on her shapely hips, her head was tipped to one side, and as the moon played peek-a-boo with the clouds — Bree got the distinct feeling that her friend wasn’t happy.
It might have had something to do with the death glare that Maxi was giving her. But, if she wasn’t happy now, then she certainly wasn’t going to be happy when the wolves were at the door – so to speak.
“Exactly?” Bree grimaced as she tossed her jacket away. Then she kicked a tuft of grass as she played for time. “Could you define — exactly…?”
“Why exactly would you use one of Martha’s spells? Why exactly am I standing here talking to you when the wolves are howling like it’s a bloody full moon?”
“Good point — let’s go,” Bree said, and her hand closed around Maxi’s arm once more as she dragged her friend along with her across the uneven ground and back toward their car.
“Tell me; I’m not going to be eaten by wolves,” Maxi bit out in annoyance.
“You should be just fine as long as you get a move on…”
“Should be?”
“As with all magic; there’s never a guarantee,” Bree offered in a sickly sweet voice that jumped up and down on Maxi’s last nerve.
“Oh, when we get home…”
“Let’s hope we make it that far…”
“What?” Maxi screeched in surprise.
“I’m just saying — you could speed up a little.”
“In these heels?”
“Who wears heels when there’s the distinct possibility of being chased by wolves?” Bree tossed out.
“When was there a distinct possibility of being chased by bloody wolves?”
“Now.”
“I just saying — putting it on the record here and now that I’m going to kill you.”
“That’s if the wolves don’t get me first — or you,” Bree tossed back with a small chuckle, but as another howl went up and a chorus joined in — Bree really didn’t feel the urge to laugh anymore.
CHAPTER TWO
~
“Do you hear that?” Maxi bit out. She shot a nervous look around her as Bree kept dragging and yanking her onward, but in the darkness; she couldn’t see much of anything, but she could certainly hear it.
“Pants and paws,” Bree tossed back over her shoulder. She wasn’t about to stop long enough to catch her breath let alone debate what was sure to be a barrage of berating snarks and attitude from her friend – and it would all probably start with the words – I told you so.
“I told you…”
“Yep, you did. My bad – keep moving,” Bree shot back, and if she’d had time to roll her eyes then she would have done it, but she didn’t have time, and she could barely see where they were going as it was, so eye-rolling wasn’t on her to-do list just then.
“I think I can feel their beady little eyes on me,” Maxi hissed a whisper that wasn’t really a whisper at all.
“Eyes you don’t have to worry about – now when it’s fangs…”
“Oh, that’s bloody helpful, thanks!” Maxi snapped back, and she stumbled a little over the uneven ground. “I feel so much better with your moral support.”
“You’ll feel so much better if I keep you alive, right?” Bree tossed back and felt a hard yank on her arm that wrenched her backward and down as her friend face planted the grass. “Could you take a nap later…?” she hissed.
Bree reached down and grabbed two handfuls of her friend’s clothes and hauled her to her feet. “Thanks,” Maxi bit out in annoyance.
“Welcome, now let’s…” she turned and smacked headfirst into a cast iron chest that she was pretty sure hadn’t been there seconds earlier.
“Yikes,” Maxi bit out, and Bree noted that she sounded so much more shrew-like than before.
Six foot odd of pure muscle man stood blocking their path. His unruly mop of dark hair matched the dark scruff on his face, but it was the jet black of his eyes that held Bree spellbound.
“Should have known it’d be witches causing all the damn fuss,” Mason growled, and it wasn’t just any growl; it sounded hungry – like he wouldn’t mind taking a bite out of one, or the both of them.
“Mason, they’re coming,” Jon, his beta, growled as he stalked into the pale moonlight from out of the darkened woods and caused the witches to snap their attention towards him.
“Two on two,” Bree announced over her shoulder to Maxi, “I’ve got this.” She drew on her magic, but with one loud grunt, Mason bent at the waist and tossed her over one broad shoulder, and he was off and running
before she could do anything to stop him. “Nooooo – I don’t!” She yelled back at Maxi, her tone bouncing just as much as her body was.
Maxi felt the rush of adrenaline that got dumped into her system as it met with the shock of seeing her friend carried off by a caveman, and she lifted her hands, drew on her magic, and considered zapping the fleeing ogre. But if she zapped him, then there was a good chance that she’d zap Bree as well, and that would be bad.
When Jon took a step toward her, she snapped her attention in his direction, squealed, and let loose her magic. Jon grunted as the pain hit his body, but still, he managed to reach out, yank her towards him and toss the witch over his shoulder to hang down his back like she belonged there.
“Are you insane?” Maxi bit out for want of something better to ask. Her mind was in turmoil, and her go-to insults were all she could muster.
She was staring down at a pair of snug faded blue jeans that held a rather nice backside – but that wasn’t the point – the view might have been good, but the intention, the height, and the fact that he was a wolf in a man’s skin was all very, very wrong.
“Zap me again, and we’ll be sure to find out,” Jon growled as he set off after the alpha and the other squealing, mischievous witch.
With every step that he ran, with every bounce of her body against his shoulder and down his back, Maxi bit out one curse word after another. When she’d reached the limit of all the bad words that she knew, she cycled back around and started again.
“Damn, woman, you’ve some vocabulary for a female,” Jon growled, but she heard a small chuckle in there somewhere, and she made a mental note to give him a really good taste of her magic when she finally got down.
Truth be told, she had considered cutting her nose off to spite her face and zapping him a good one quite a few times – but, she thought that nose of hers would look much better if it wasn’t splattered all over her face when she dropped from a great height onto it.
“Put me the hell down then you’re…” Maxi snapped off her words. She had made the grave mistake of lifting her head to try to see her surroundings – there they were – wolves, big damn wolves, running after them. “Go faster! Go faster!” she squealed.