by M. L. Briers
“I’m not a little piggy — I’m not about to ask who’s outside the door about to huff and puff and blow the house down,” Bree said, throwing her arms wide, but as the door was tossed open once more, and the alpha took a step inside, the back of her hand slapped him in the mouth.
Mason stood there looking unamused as Bree grimaced once more.
The alpha turned a dark glare upon the witch. “Me and you — this is going to end badly.”
“That’s no way to speak to a guest,” Bree said, tipping her chin up and walking away from him.
“You’re not a guest,” Mason growled as he stepped into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind him. There was a thud as a member of his pack hit the door, and he held his breath for a long moment and let it out on a sigh.
“You see my problem?” Bree said, and turned a look back at the alpha and motioned to the door. “If your people were smarter…”
“Well, if you hadn’t of spelled the pack…” He grumbled a growl and left the words up in the air.
“Yes, yes — this is all my fault,” Bree said. She waved an absent hand in the air and point-blank refused to take any more responsibility for what had happened.
All she needed to do was to hold out until the spell dissipated and the wolves returned to their human selves. Then all would be right with the world — except for the fact that Maxi had a mate, whoops.
“I’m…” Mason lifted his hand and pointed a finger at the witch, but he never got to continue as one of his pack broke through his thoughts on the mental link.
‘Alpha — we may have a problem…’
‘May — have?’
‘Nobody has seen Nathaniel for a while…’
‘Start a search from the house, cover the area, but don’t go wider with your beasts.’ The Alpha issued the orders, and he hoped that none of his pack would disobey them.
Then he turned his attention toward Bree. “One of the pack is missing…”
“Well, I didn’t kidnap him,” Bree shot back.
“But you did spell…”
“Don’t use that accusing tone with me. If you’ve lost one of your pack, that’s just careless and not my fault,” Bree rushed out, feeling a little more guilty than she thought was necessary.
“If he’s…” Mason was wagging his finger at her, but Martha cut in.
“A witch’s work is never done — let’s go round him up,” Martha sighed. She’d much rather be sitting in front of the fire with her feet up. “If there’s a rogue…”
“A rogue?” The alpha growled at the thought. He turned accusing eyes on Bree.
“Oh, not rogue in that sense,” Martha waved a dismissive hand in the alpha’s direction. “Hopefully.”
“Hopefully?” Mason growled back.
“He’s probably just lonesome and looking for a mate,” Martha gave a small shrug of the shoulders. “Hopefully.”
“Town…” Maxi said.
“Town?” The alpha growled.
“Where would a wolf look for his mate?” Maxi shrugged.
“Where the females are,” Bree announced. Then she strolled to the front door. “Let’s go!” She pulled up short when the alpha didn’t step out of the way. “You first!” she demanded, not really wanting to go out there with the pack.
Mason grumbled a growl, but if one of his pack had gone into town things could get — very bad.
“We’ll go to town, Martha and Jai can drive around the area off pack land, and Jon should stay here just in case anyone else gets unruly.” While he didn’t want to go anywhere with Bree, he needed a witch in case things got human style ugly.
~
Bree eyed the darkness of the street. There was something eerie about a town when the lights went out, and the people were tucked up in bed.
She drew on her magic and kept it close at hand. She almost jumped in place but managed to stop herself, when the alpha leaned in over her shoulder and whispered. “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?”
She could hear the amusement in his voice and didn’t appreciate it. Oh, how she’d love to zap him, but they had to bigger problems than his lack of decorum and bad sense of humor.
“Shouldn’t you be out looking for your lost lamb? Oh no, wait, you eat lambs.” She turned that amusement right back on him as she tossed him a dark look over her shoulder. The alpha grunted. “Alphas — no sense of humor.”
Bree started away from him, but his footsteps echoed in the night right behind her. She flicked another look back over her shoulder at him — this time questioning him.
“He is one of my pack — you are a witch,” Mason offered by way of an explanation.
“I think I can handle one wayward wolf,” Bree said as she lifted her chin and snorted her contempt for the alpha.
“Now what kind of an alpha would I be if I let you go off alone?” The amusement was still playing in his voice.
“One that wasn’t neutered?”
“Fine,” Mason grumbled. “On your head be it.”
Bree grumbled and mumbled as she stomped away. Yes, this was all her fault, and she’d learned her lesson — sort of, but still — did people have to keep rubbing it in?
She rounded the corner and headed down toward the edge of town. There — in the near distance — it was either a really big dog, a small pony or the wolf!
Bree tossed a look back over her shoulder to see if the alpha was still following her. Wouldn’t you know it? Not a sign of the man now that she needed him.
Bree decided to get closer — it wasn’t as if she didn’t have her magic at hand and ready to zap the wolf if he became violent, sniffy — or just downright annoying.
“A — wolf!” The drunken slur of an elderly man that was swaying from side to side didn’t just catch her attention; it rang every alarm bell in her mind.
Bugger!
“It’s a Malamute!” Bree snapped back as she started toward the man, and the wolf started toward the pair of them.
“Looks like a wolf.” The drunken man swayed from side to side as he eyed Nathaniel’s beast and then he craned his head forward, narrowing his eyes to get a better look at the beast.
Bree knew exactly what would happen if someone cried wolf, and it wasn’t good. She’d done this — she’d brought scrutiny onto Mason’s pack. She had to make it right.
“I believe they’re part wolf,” Bree said, as the wolf drew closer and closer still.
The beast looked as if it was torn between Bree and the old man.
Bree knew that shifter law said when you were caught with your proverbial furry pants down as your beast, and there was no other choice — annihilate the threat. Bree couldn’t let that happen.
“Here boy!” Bree’s voice was insistent, and the wolf turned his head in her direction and cocked it to one side.
Heaven help her, but the worst case scenario was that she was about to get sniffed – she hoped – and not eaten. The old man was toast if shifter law prevailed.
“Yep, looks like a wolf,” the old man said, rather unhelpfully Bree thought.
Bree held onto the need to squeal, just a little, as the wolf drew closer. The thought of being sniffed — the thought of being a mate — kind of terrified her.
“Just a really big dog,” Bree said as she reached out and patted Nathaniel’s beast on the head, and when the wolf sniffed her, she patted harder.
Bree bit down on a nervous squeal – the thought of being a mate was about as appealing as the beast’s wet nose snuffling against her skin — but needs must — and she had to do it.
“Meh,” the drunk bit out as he swayed back on his heels and then overcompensated and stumbled towards her.
Bree held her breath as the old man reached down to pat the wolf’s behind, and Nathaniel barred his fangs and rumbled a growl in the back of its throat. “Not very friendly…”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
~
“Bad puppy,” Bree bit out, wagging her finger in Nathaniel’s face, and resist
ed the urge to zap him. “We’re having him neutered soon,” she informed the drunk, and she was certain that Nathaniel’s wolf made a sound in the back of his throat that reminded her of Scooby Doo.
“That’ll do it,” the old man said, stumbling sideways away from Nathaniel before he pointed in the direction that he wanted to go. “Homeward bound.”
“Good idea!” Bree bit out as she offered Nathaniel a steely gaze and her top lip twitched before she sneered at him. “Yep, bloody well neutered.”
~
The alpha raced around the corner, and there was Nathaniel. The wolf was eyeing Bree as if she was a tasty snack. The alpha groaned inwardly and started for them.
“Where the hell have you been?” The alpha growled. Bree turned to offer a scathing look back over her shoulder, and the alpha groaned again.
“Better late than never, alpha,” Bree berated him.
“Well, if we’d stuck together like I planned…” Mason tossed back, but she lifted her chin in defiance.
“Excuses — ex-cuses.” She waved an absent hand in the air like she was royalty. “I took care of it.”
‘She’s a mean one — she threatened to neuter me,’ Nathaniel growled through the link.
“I’m going to damn well neuter you if you ever take off in your beast again,” the alpha growled, and Nathaniel’s wolf took a couple of steps back, sat, and averted his gaze from the alpha’s.
“You couldn’t have sat like a good puppy when the drunk was here?” Bree berated him.
“Drunk?” Mason’s heart hit his ribs at the thought of somebody seeing Nathaniel’s wolf. He scanned the area for signs of a human and there in the distance, the old man swayed and stumbled down the road.
“I took care of that too,” Bree said. “You now own a Malamute.”
‘Apparently, I’m a dog,’ Nathaniel growled.
“Yes, yes you are. And luckily for you, not a dead one,” Mason growled down at the beast.
“And the good news is — I’m not his mate,” Bree announced. She went to take a step away, hesitated in place, turned toward Nathaniel, and zapped him. “Don’t ever sniff me again.”
Mason groaned as Nathaniel growled. “You brought that one upon yourself,” he told the beast.
~
Maxi felt guilty, and when Maxi felt guilty, or if she was worried — she cleaned. Surprisingly, the kitchen was already as clean as it could be, but that didn’t stop her wiping down sides, polishing anything stainless steel, and sweeping the floor.
She knew why the alpha had left her behind — the man sitting in the straight back chair at the kitchen table watching her work with a lot of amusement for the fact that everything had already been cleaned — was at that very reason.
Maxi didn’t care. Needs must — and she needed to clean.
“Feet!” Maxi bit out for the second time as she swept the broom toward him, none too gently, and didn’t mind if she clocked him one on the way past. It would serve him right for smirking at her.
Jon lifted his feet in the air and waited for her to sweep past him again. “How many times are you going to do the same bit of floor?” he asked and got the stink eye in return. “Enquiring minds want to know.”
“Enquiring mind should shut their yaps,” Maxi tossed back.
“You missed a speck,” Jon chuckled, but when she swept the broom back and caught his ankle, he stopped chuckling on a grunt of pain.
“Whoops.” Maxi tried to hide the smile that threatened her lips as she flicked a look at him from under her eyelashes, but her lips still twitched with amusement. She pressed them together harder until they turned white.
“Ha-ha.”
Jon tried to berate her with just a look, but he couldn’t help but smile himself. Her eyes were on fire with amusement, and he’d seen her smile before — the sun came out every time she did it — and he wanted to see it again.
There it was, she couldn’t hold her smile back any longer, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Bewitched. It was fitting.
“I’m guessing you’re not as fast as you seem to think you are,” Maxi snorted a giggle.
“I’m guessing you’re faster than I thought you were,” Jon tossed back. Her smile widened, and he feasted on the spectacle.
“Never judge a book by its cover — just because I’m a witch that doesn’t mean I’m not speedy,” Maxi informed him.
“Let’s hope you don’t like everything done at double pace.” He growled at the X-rated thoughts that went through his mind.
Maxi stopped sweeping and stared at him from under her lashes. She knew exactly what he meant — and damn it to hell — but, her mind raced to X-rated thoughts and him naked.
“You know, you look very sexy when you blush,” Jon growled.
His mate opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so she closed it again. Her hands fisted tighter around the broomstick, and for one long moment she could imagine herself whacking him over the head — but she didn’t.
The thing was, those X-rated thoughts that she kept having about him — him naked — were starting to claw away at her psyche. The itch and scratch of the mating pull was definitely getting to her. Stupid fate.
The man was her mate — it wasn’t as if she was doing anything wrong — it wasn’t as if fate had set her up on a blind date and didn’t expect an outcome in its favor. It did.
Maxi had to wonder; who was she to deny fate? That was a copout, and she knew it. It was a rationalization for the thing that she wanted.
Maxi went to start sweeping again when that thought hit her hard. She wanted it — and by it that meant him.
What was the man offering her? A home — a family — himself. All the things that had been sitting in her subconscious mind lately because that’s where she’d shoved them.
Yes, she’d been thinking about family — but, it wasn’t as though she could go to the shop and pick one off the rack. She wasn’t even dating, and so all thoughts of a family had been put to the back of her mind.
Now they were glaring her in the face. Stupid fate. Or, maybe not so stupid after all.
Like it or not — and she was coming around to the idea — he was her family. He was her mate — a ready-made suitor straight off the rack. Although, there was nothing mass produced about him.
He was as sexy as hell. Sure, he had a dark side — a wolf side — but, who didn’t come with some baggage?
She was a witch. Try explaining that to your future husband.
At least they both knew what they were getting into right from the get-go. He didn’t need to hide his wolf from her — she didn’t need to hide her magic from him. That was the best of both worlds.
So what was she waiting for?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
~
Bree offered a sideways glance at the alpha as he drove them back to pack land. She’d flatly refused to allow Nathanial’s wolf to be in the back seat of the cab and so the beast was riding in the flatbed of the truck.
There was no guilt about that one. She wasn’t about to sit there and have the beast panting down the back of her neck. It was bad enough that it had sniffed her in the first place.
Talking of sniffing — she was sure that she saw the alpha leaning in towards her. She guessed that he wasn’t immune to her spell after all. The man had obviously just been able to fight against it longer than anyone else had.
Well, he better fight against it a lot longer.
“Don’t even think about sniffing me,” Bree hissed out.
Mason turned a look on the witch. Yes, he had the urge to scent her and see if she was his mate.
It wasn’t as if he wasn’t attracted to her — even though she was a witch. He already had one of those in his pack now, adding one more probably didn’t make a difference.
His beast was starting to claw within him. The urge to scent her was uppermost in his mind. He still prayed that it wasn’t true. There were witches, and then there were witches, and she was a wicked witch
if ever he’d seen one.
“Someone thinks their poop smells of roses,” Mason tossed back.
“Excuse me?” Bree twisted toward him in her seat and eyed him with a steely gaze. “My poop?”
“It’s a saying…”
“I’ve heard it,” her tone was like acid on gravel. “I’m still unsure how that applies to me.”
“Well, you do seem to think you’re the Bee's Knees,” Mason tossed back.
“I do not!” Bree hissed out in denial.
“Running around playing the witch card — creating a spell that would send wolves hungry for their mates…”
“And your point?”
“Tell me that somewhere in the back of your mind the thought of a mate doesn’t appeal to you…”
“Are you insane?” Bree turned her nose up at him as if she’d just stepped in something disgusting that one of his beasts had left behind.
“If I am then you make me that way,” Mason tossed back.
Bree snorted a chuckle of disbelief. “Oh, don’t blame me for your inadequacies.”
“I don’t have inadequacies…”
“Now who thinks his poop smells of roses?” Bree bit out, and she would have waved the flag of victory if she’d had one.
The look on the alpha’s face was priceless. The man looked as if he was chomping on a particularly sour lemon.
“I do not think my poop smells of roses!” Mason growled. How had this become about him?
“Me either.” Bree turned back in her seat and folded her arms with a huff.
“Fine…”
“Good,” Bree tossed back.
“Witch.”
Bree twisted back toward him. “And just so you know — I’d make a very bad mate.”
“Oh, you don’t need to tell me that.”
“I’d make you very miserable…”
“I second that emotion.”
“So keep your sniffer away from me.”