by M. L. Briers
HIS MATE
BROTHERS
HIDE AND SEEK
BY
M. L. BRIERS
Copyright © 2017, 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 © 2017, Cover Design by; Rebecca Pau at The Final Wrap.
Table of Contents
HIS MATE
BROTHERS
HIDE AND SEEK
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 NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
CHAPTER ONE
~
Marley sat at the kitchen counter with her back to the garden door and a whole pile of bills spread out on the counter top in front of her. Business was going great – better than the last quarter – and she was finally making a profit on the investment she’d made from her savings that she’d put into the shop to get it up and running.
She sighed at the thought of all of the money that would be going back out of the business account. Oh how she wished it could just stay there a little while longer so that she could look at the bank balance and feel that rush of satisfaction, of excitement, and a sense of achievement.
Paying the bills almost felt as if she was starting again. Bummer.
The sound of a car coming up the driveway snatched her attention, and without looking, she stretched out her index finger and used the magic within her to turn on the coffee pot. It saved on leg work, and Sundays were supposed to be a day of rest.
The postman didn’t come on a Sunday. The church people would all be doing their thing under the nearest steeple, and the sound of high heels clicking against the concrete told her that it was Sage who was paying her a visit.
Marley didn’t both to turn at the sound of the back door opening – nor as it closed. She tossed out a customary grunt of hello as she fiddled with the paper work , but the sound of the pantry door opening and then closing again did cause her to shoot a look over her left shoulder, you could usually judge Sage’s mood by the goodies that she devoured.
Nothing. Nobody.
Either Marley had gained a nosey and noisy ghost … or there was trouble in the air. The sound of rustling wrappers told her that it was the later.
With an internal groan; she swivelled around on the stool and dropped off the edge. Padding towards the pantry on sock clad feet as her ankle length skirt swished and swayed around her legs, she had to wonder what her friend had got involved in this time.
Marley yanked open the door to the pantry and her eyes dropped downwards to the sight of her friend sitting on the floor with a big bar of chocolate in her hands, like a mouse finding a tasty crumb of cheese, and an upturned morose look on her face.
“You look like someone dragged you forwards, backwards, and sideways through a hedge,” Marley announced, and it was true.
Sage’s short cropped black hair was sticking out in all directions – to say that she could have gained the same effect if she’d licked her finger and stuck it in an electrical socket wouldn’t have been an exaggeration. Her usually perfect eye makeup was smeared around her eyes like a panda had a fight with a racoon, and she looked as if she’d slept in her clothes.
“I need some alone time, could you close the door?” Sage muttered back before she attacked the chocolate bar in her hands, not nibbling at it like a mouse, but ravenous like a beast.
“Sounds like you had fun last night.” Marley bit out with glee and as much faux enthusiasm as she could manage for the drama that tended to follow her friend around.
“I’d rather not talk about it.” Sage gave a small shake of her head. Then she lifted her finger and motioned for her friend to close the door.
“Not a chance,” Marley bit out. “I live vicariously through your exploits. Spill.”
“Not … right now.” Sage looked sheepish, and when she didn’t raise her eyes and look back at Marley then the women knew that something was definitely up.
“You were super excited about going out last night.” Marley enthused. “So spill.” She grumbled.
Marley turned her head and scowled at the sound of another car coming up her driveway. She appeared to be popular today, and as she suspected, and confirmed with a quick glance out of the window … Geri would be joining them for coffee…
“Door…” Sage heard her too.
She motioned with a flick of her finger again, and when Marley didn’t oblige – she reached out with her magic and yanked the door closed in Marley’s face.
Marley rolled her eyes in her head and turned towards the back door just as Geri was breezing on through …
“Where is that little …?” Geri bit out – with more venom and animation than Marley had seen from her in a while – since the last time that Sage had caused untold trouble … which was why Marley never went out on a girls night out with her anymore.
“Pantry.” Marley shrugged, before she turned and padded back over towards the counter so that she could get a front row seat to the fireworks that were bound to ensue, and yet be far enough away from any zapping and mayhem that might take place.
“Come on out of there you little man gazumping witch!” Geri wrapped her hand around the handle, but shrieked and snatched her hand back when she got a zap from it … “Did you see what she did?” Geri demanded, flicking a look towards Marley.
“I’m going to go with the old mantra of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, for now, but you two go right ahead and knock the stuffing out of each other. Just be sure not to mess up my kitchen.” Marley hoisted her backside up onto the stool and leant her elbows behind her on the counter top.
“She’s a …” Geri bit down on a small shriek of annoyance and tossed her golden locks over one shoulder.
“Witch.” Marley offered with a helpful smile and watched as Geri’s top lip twitched in annoyance.
“And then some,” she hissed back.
Marley had known before Geri had even told her that this new animosity between them had to be down to nothing more than a man – a guy – it always was. Sage had a habit of deciding to like … and steal … anyone that Geri liked. It had been that w
ay since school and Marley would have thought that Geri would be used to it by now, but there they were, back on the treadmill once more…
“Go – away,” Sage hissed from inside the little cold room and Geri’s nose twitched in annoyance. It matched her top lip that was still going ten to the dozen … Marley knew that pretty soon that little nerve under her right eye would start tweaking away too…
“I have a bone to pick with you – you – you…” Geri grumbled and mumbled a few choice words.
“She sounds like a stuck record – slap her on the back – real hard,” Sage called out through the door, and sure enough, that little vein under Geri’s eye started to twitch.
“Did she tell you what she did?” Geri demanded as she turned towards Marley. Marley shook her head. “She stole him right out from under me.”
“Who?” Marley asked, figuring that she might as well join in the conversation, because until they’d solved this, nobody was going to get any peace.
“Him!” Geri tossed up a hand in frustration. “Mr Sexy – tall, dark, and handsome guy with the most intense eyes…”
“You didn’t get his name?” Marley asked, raising her eyebrows at her friend, and Geri scowled back.
“There wasn’t time,” she said in disbelief, raising her hand and pointing an accusing finger at the door. “She swooped – flapping her eyelashes like fans at the man before she took off … not to be see again for the rest of the damn night … with him.” She shouted at the door.
“So … are you miffed because she stole the man whose name you didn’t get because you’d only known him for a nanosecond … or because she disappeared on you?” Marley asked and watched Geri pull her head back on her neck and think on it.
“Both!”
“I did you a favour,” Sage bit out.
“You did you a favour,” Geri hissed at the door as if it was Sage standing right there in front of her.
“He was a shifter … wolf.”
“I know he was a shifter, but he was big and muscly, and he had those soulful eyes that you could just lose yourself in when you were lying there…”
“Whoa – too much fantasizing, thank you.” Marley chuckled as she held her hands up to her chest and shook her head in disbelief.
Her friends. Her best friends – still on that teenage whirlwind rush of partying hard and shaking loose. Something that Marley had more than put behind her when she’d decided to reopen her grandmother’s shop.
She was now a fully paid up member of adulthood and responsibility – it sucked a little, but those were the trade-offs.
“He did – they were nice eyes…” Sage muttered from inside the cupboard and that set Geri off again…
“You …” Geri’s everything was twitching in annoyance and Marley didn’t want her to blow a gasket, or a magic orb right through the door. She’d rather not pay to get it fixed and add to her bills.
“Coffee?” Marley offered and Geri’s head snapped around on her neck as she scowled in disbelief at her friend’s cavalier attitude.
“Did you hear what I said? That little gazumper did the dirty – again,” Geri bit out.
“In more ways than one,” Sage muttered, but she didn’t sound gleeful about it – in fact, she sounded somewhat sullen.
“You slept with him?” Geri tossed up a hand and shook her head. “Ho-bi wan Kenobi. Big emphasis on the ho.”
“Can we not talk about this?” Sage hissed and Marley frowned.
She had to wonder where the crowing was – the gleeful banter that usually accompanied Sage’s victory over her friend.
“Sage, come out of the pantry,” Marley said.
“I’m … busy,” Sage muttered back.
“You can bring the chocolate stash with you,” Marley offered.
Geri folded her arms under her ample breasts and tossed out a hip as she shifted on her heels and huffed in annoyance, tapping her foot against the tile and waiting...
“Don’t want to,” Sage muttered back.
Geri shot a look at Marley, a deep frown cut into her forehead.
“What’s her problem?” Geri bit out, annoyance still running too deep within her to miss the clues that were right in front of her.
Marley dropped down from the stool and padded right back over to the pantry door – using her own magic to toss it back on its hinges, just in case the witch had a shock in store for her again – and she stared down at Sage as the witch scowled up at her.
“Did he hurt you?” Marley demanded and Sage’s frown turned into a scowl.
“No,” she looked anywhere but at Marley as the witch lifted her hand and narrowed her eyes on her…
“Then …?” she questioned – just as the sound of another car started up her driveway.
Marley tossed a look over her shoulder at the clock – too early for the church people to stop praising and to start trying to make her see the error of her wicked ways once more…
“Got to be a guy by the look of the truck he’s driving.” Geri announced as she craned her head on her neck to get a better look out of the window.
“Well, I’m not expecting any…” she was cut short by the sound of Sage gasping in a breath, and then the panty door slammed shut again.
Geri and Marley scowled at each other as the air around them filled with the scent of coffee and bacon, and Marley’s head snapped around on her neck when her radio clicked on over the other side of the room … magic was afoot and Sage was the culprit.
Trouble was coming … Marley just didn’t know how much.
CHAPTER TWO
~
“Okay, what did you do?” Marley hissed out towards the pantry door, but she never got a reply – Sage was as quiet as a mouse, she couldn’t even hear the chocolate wrapper rustling over the radio.
“It’s him!” Geri gasped in surprise as Marley threw herself towards Geri so that she could get a better look at Mr Sexy, the man that had started this whole episode, but all she got for her trouble was a slap in the face when Geri tossed her hands up. “Wonderful, the man tracks his women down … perfect. Guess he wants round two.”
“That’s not a good thing,” Sage hissed out on a whisper loud enough to be heard over the radio.
“Tell me what you did or I’m going to toss your bony backside out in the…” Marley grumbled as she rubbed at the sore spot on her cheek from the slap from Geri’s hand…
“It wasn’t my fault,” Sage hissed back.
“You and me need to have words when this …” Marley got another slap from Geri when the woman tossed up her hands in excitement.
“He’s sniffing her car … He’s coming this way!” She gushed.
“Well, der,” Sage bit out before Marley shushed her.
“Here comes trouble.” Marley tried to remember to breathe.
~
~
~
“I’m looking for Marley,” Luke eyed the woman in front of him.
He knew that she was a witch. It was obvious. Aside from the fact that he could feel the magic in the air, everything about her was a dead giveaway.
From the length of the skirt around her ankles, to the way that her hair tried to reach down her back for her backside … plus, he’d taken her scent the moment that she’d opened the back door.
“I don’t think so,” Marley offered back, cursing Sage for using her name … yet again, in one of her nefarious encounters.
Luke’s dark eyebrows danced over his chocolate brown eyes like a couple of caterpillars doing a mating dance. Marley got a good sense of why Geri was miffed at Sage for stealing him. The man was definitely sex on a stick, and he had a little something about him … but then shifters usually did.
“Excuse me?” Luke said, confused.
That deep tone of his was more than a dead giveaway that he was a shifter, he didn’t exactly need to be holding up a sign saying ‘wolf on board’. Add to that the wall of muscles that seemed to come as standard on these guys, and well, his whole sexy
self, and voila … shifter.
“Huh?” Marley wanted to smile. She knew what the joke was, and it was on him.
“I said … I’m – looking – for – Marley.” And he said it as if she was five.
“I – heard – you.” Marley offered back to the sound of a snigger from Geri.
Luke stretched his head on his neck and craned it to see into the room behind her. He looked a little disappointed to see Geri and not Sage…
“She knows her,” he pointed an outstretched finger over Marley’s shoulder at Geri as if he was accusing her of a crime, and in Sage’s case, there could well have been one.
“Yes, she knows Marley,” Marley said with a nod of her head and a small smile on her lips.
“Then…?” he asked, expectantly.
“I’m Marley,” she said and watched as he frowned, then scowled, and finally, he blinked twice.
“No you’re not,” he bit out.
“I’d show you my passport, but I don’t trust you.” Marley took a step back and rested her hand against the edge of the door, meaning to close it; when he put one large booted foot in the doorway to block that from happening.
Marley noted the foot before she snapped her eyes back up to his. Her left eyebrow arched upwards and she absently tapped her fingernails against the wood of the door as she decided how best to handle the man.
She could zap him – it would be the witchy thing to do like taking a shot across the bow, and there were no humans around to see her do it, but zapping always led to growling, and growling usually led to … other things that involved fangs and claws, and she’d been looking forward to her nice, peaceful Sunday off.
She could already feel the magic in the air from Sage’s attempt to hide her scent with the smell of food and her heartbeat with the radio, and the shifter could probably feel it too … she had to ask herself if she really needed to add to it.
Luke leaned in towards her, it was just enough to get his point across, but not enough to scare her and put her back up like a cat that had sensed a ghost. He didn’t need to go to war with this woman – just learn what she knew about his Marley.