by M. L. Briers
Josh watched with interest as equal amounts of guilt and amusement played over her face. His beast grunted its contempt for him – in truth the animal would have forgiven her trying to push him off a damn cliff.
“Say you’ll come to pack land with me. I want to show you our home.”
“Our as in yours, right?” Marley eyed him with suspicion.
“We’ll see how things go,” he gave an innocent shrug.
Marley went to open her mouth when a loud squeal practically shook the glasses on the side. Her eyes went wide and she was off and running right on the alpha’s heels.
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“You stay back…!” Geri hissed out the demand as she backed up against the wall and scowled at her mate as if he was the Devil himself.
Two shifters, Marley, and J.C were all crammed into the small hallway at the top of the corridor. Marley offered a sigh of relief when she saw that Geri was still in one piece.
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Chance held up his hands at his chest; a look of amused innocence on his face as he gave his mate a little breathing room.
“You were going to bite,” Geri declared, raising an accusing finger and narrowing her eyes on the man.
“I was scenting you,” Chance offered back. A glint of pure amusement in his eyes as Josh took a long step towards them.
“Brother?” The alpha’s tone said it all. He didn’t like the sound of what the witch was telling him and he wanted answers.
No wolf from his pack claimed a mate without her consent. Beta or not. Brother or not.
“I swear, Josh, she’s got the wrong end of the stick – she’s a little…” he lifted his hand and motioned to how much alcohol he thought she’d had.
“Who’s she, the cats mother? You can take that stick and shove it where the sun don’t shine,” Geri curled her top lip, “and I’m not drunk – I’m … chilled.”
“If this is chilled I’d hate to see you when you’re freaking out,” Chance offered back.
“Oh, you will,” Sage offered from inside the bathroom.
“Your mate really has a thing with closed doors,” Chance offered to Luke and the beta grunted. “Or is it bathroom windows?”
Luke’s body snapped to attention and he scowled at the door – he was listening for signs that she might be trying to escape again. She’d said she wouldn’t … but then she was a witch.
“Why’d it all go quiet?” Sage asked and Luke visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’re mate was listening at the door to make sure you hadn’t left out of another window,” Chance called out and was rewarded with a gasp from inside.
“Do not listen to me peeing!”
“I wasn’t!” Luke growled back with a dark scowl for his brother and the need to flush his head down the toilet the way that he used to when they were kids. “I wouldn’t.”
“He was and he would,” Chance assured her.
“Go away! All of you – go away and let me pee in peace – damn convention outside the toilet door.” Sage grumbled.
“Still waiting for this one to be put back on his leash,” Geri said as she eyed her mate.
Chance grumbled a growl of annoyance and Geri snapped her head back on her neck and raised that finger once more.
“Did you hear that? He’s growling at me!” She proclaimed, sliding her backside along the wall as she edged towards the main group and away from her mate.
“I think that’s just his default mode,” Marley said.
“But you never can tell,” J.C leaned in and whispered against her ear. Chance growled harder at the sight of the vampire so close to his mate. “See, he’s a wild one.” J.C slowly backed away from her. “Easy there big fella – no need to get all fangs and claws … again.”
“Vampire,” Josh turned towards the man and saw the pure, unadulterated amusement within his eyes. “Keep it up and you and me are going to have that talk.”
“Oh, that talk,” J.C nodded. “The one where you get all fur, fangs, and claws.” He leaned back in towards Geri. “I think its genetic. Runs in the family.” He whispered.
“Look…” Chance growled out, taking two long steps towards the group as his mate rushed in a breath and her eyes went wide.
“See,” J.C teased and she practically climbed over the vampire to get to the other side of the group.
Chance pulled up short at the sight of her scrambling to get away from him. When her eyes finally locked with his, he saw the uncertainty there – a little fear, and it hit him in the gut like a sledgehammer.
“That’s just not funny man,” he bit out towards the vampire and J.C sighed.
“It was … not so much now you’ve put a dampener on it,” the vampire bit back.
“Look, can we all calm down?” Marley said – trying to keep the peace or what there was left of it.
“Can you all go away?” Sage called out.
“You need to come out of there so we can leave,” Luke offered back.
“Geez, can I pee first?” She snapped out. “Wait. Leave …? Leave and go where?”
“Home,” Luke informed her.
“I’m not taking you home,” Sage snorted a chuckled.
“Not your home, our home.”
“There’s that word our again,” Marley raised her eyebrows when her mate turned his eyes on her.
“It’s easier if you’re on pack land,” Josh tried to assure her but she snorted another chuckle.
“Easier for who? You!” She tossed back.
“Yes,” he offered simply. “And with the bonding howl …”
“Bonding howl?” Geri’s eyes widened a little more.
“Which part are you objecting too …? The bonding or the howl?” J.C teased again and Chance growled a warning at him. “Oh, there he goes again … just like clockwork.”
“B-o-t-h…?” Geri offered slowly, trying really hard to figure that one out and hedging her bets.
She thought that perhaps ingesting that much wine might not have been such a great plan … especially when people were asking her so many questions.
“Something of a dilemma then,” J.C grinned.
“You really need to back off,” Chance growled.
“You really need a sense of humour,” he tossed back. “Do they not teach that in wolf school?”
“I’ve just about …” The beta took another step towards him and heard a rumble of a groan from his mate.
He stopped in his tracks and flicked his eyes down on her. Now she was scowling up at him.
“Leave the vampire alone,” Geri grumbled. “I don’t know how many times I have to say it before it sticks.”
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” J.C offered with a grin at the man.
“That’s it, I’m…”
Chance made a move to get around his mate and get to the vampire, but the sight of him coming at her sent Geri into a little bit of a panic and without much of a thought about it; she tossed her magic out at him; hitting him with a bigger magical punch than she’d intended.
Chance went flying backwards through the air. His back hit the bathroom door and the lock gave way under the impact. The door flew open and slammed into the wall, and made Sage spin around from where she’d stood washing her hands …
The look on the witches face said there was about to be a whole world of trouble and it was all directed at Chance…
CHAPTER TEN
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Sage gasped in a breath at the sight of Chance lying in the doorway. Out of sheer surprise she zapped him a good one, and the beta’s body convulsed with pain… Her eyes snapped from the man to his mate and Geri was staring back like a goldfish in a bowl, her mouth was moving but no sound was coming out…
“He should have waited his turn,” Sage said, shrugging her shoulders, tossing the hand towel down on the side of the sink, and climbing over the shifter to get out…
Her stiletto heel crushed down on Chance’s hand, a
nd the beta shot upright, grabbing her around the waist with his free arm, and lifting her off of his hand as he groaned…
“Hey!” She snapped and zapped him again.
They all watched what was happening, caught somewhere between disbelief and amusement as Chance’s body convulsed again. He fell backwards against the floor, taking Sage down with him…
“Ooooo…”Geri grimaced at the sight of Sage lying sprawled out on top of her mate…
“That’s…” Marley dropped her face into her hands and shook her head as she chuckled uncontrollably at what had happened.
While Sage bit out curse after curse as she tried to rally her body and scramble off of the man, but it was Luke that didn’t see the funny side of it as he growled like a wolf with its prey in sight.
“Get off my mate!” He growled out, covering the length of the corridor in fast strides…
“Technically she’s all over him, dude,” J.C chuckled.
Luke reached down with one arm and snagged his mate around the waist, hoisting her in the air as he swung the other arm towards his brother; just as Chance was pulling himself up to a sitting position.
That fist ended up connecting with the beta’s jaw and the force of the punch had little trouble knocking him back down again with a loud thud as the back of his head bounced off the floor…
In one fluid motion Luke spun around with his mate and placed her feet down on the floor … She tried to focus, but was a little woozy from the drink and the rush of the world around her …
“You people have more arms than an octopus!” Sage bit out, slapping at his hands on her hips, and trying to take a step back, but tripping over her own feet…
“I’ve got you,” Luke said, as he pulled her against his hard body and she palmed his chest and pushed back away.
“No you don’t…” She snorted out in disbelief…
“I think I do…” Luke grinned down at her…
“No … you … don’t!” Sage bit out, trying to push him away and finding that she was stuck like glue to him…
Sage didn’t bother to think through the consequences of her actions … She zapped her mate, taking them both off their feet, and Luke landed on top of Chance with a heavy thud, making the shifter yelp, as Sage was plastered against her mate’s body…
“It’s a love pyramid!” J.C’s voice boomed out in the corridor and sent Geri into a fit of the giggles at the sight of Sage, grumbling and cursing, and trying her best to wriggle out of her mate’s arms…
“Can you move?” Chance grumbled…
“Not exactly right now, no,” Luke bit back.
“Let go of me!” Sage bit out, scrambling to get away.
She brought her knees up and one connected with Chance’s balls, making his head and shoulders lift from the floor, and he head-butted Luke in the back of the head. Luke yelped and shot forward, taking Sage with him, and causing the pair of them to end up in a heap on the floor as Chance cupped his balls and twisted and turned on the floor in the doorway, moaning like a woman in labour…
“Oh, geez, this is just too much entertainment…” J.C spat out as he tossed his body back and forwards with belly laughs that roared out of him, before he managed to drag in a breath that he didn’t need…
“There are no words…” Geri shook her head in dismay as she turned and walked away, little silent sniggers escaping her lips…
“Welcome to the pack,” Josh leaned in and whispered against Marley’s ear as she shook her head and laughed at Sage’s antics…
“This is how you people woo?” Marley tossed back at him over her shoulder, before she turned and followed Geri. Josh went to follow her, but his eyes took in the vampire…
“You people are a scream!” J.C offered with a wide grin, and Josh opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words, so he growled long and hard instead…
“I need a drink!” Sage said as she brushed her hands down to smooth out her clothes and stomped down the hallway on her heels. Her eyes were narrowed in anger, and she offered something of a death glare for the alpha.
“Turned to the bottle already!” J.C shook his head in mock dismay.
“Oh, go find something pointy to throw your chest at!” Sage grumbled up at the vampire, and Josh cracked a grin…
“What she said,” the alpha offered.
“Harsh, and uncalled for,” J.C called out after them as they both stomped off away from the two injured betas…
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“Marley.” Josh followed her into the living room. When she got to the sofa, she turned and just dropped down onto the comfortable padding of the cushions.
“Welcome to the pack … really?” She offered up to him, with the kind of look on her face that said it all.
She wasn’t exactly wholeheartedly impressed at what she’d seen so far. The witches were bad enough but adding shifters to the mix was just an accident waiting to happen. Cosmic dynamite of the very worst kind.
“Well…” Josh gave a small shrug off his shoulders. “Think of it like trial and error…” he offered.
“It’s going to be a trial and it would be an error to continue?” She offered back, with a small quirk of her lips in a smug smile.
“Okay,” Josh mentally kicked himself in the backside.
The woman was quick witted and she thought fast on her feet, and he could choose his words carefully or he could just be himself … he chose the latter.
If he was going to woo her then it would be pointless to try to present himself as something that he wasn’t, because the moment that he let that mask drop then they would be right back to square one, only she might feel cheated by his masquerade…
“My friends are going to eat up your brothers and spit them out on the ground, you know that right?” Marley warned him, and she watched a slow to boil smile take his lips…
“But you’re not…?”
“Oh no, me too, I’m just talking about them right now,” she said, cutting him off at the legs before he even got going.
Marley folded her arms across her chest and he noted the defensive mode that she’d just switched to. He guessed that he was going to have to learn her ways to avoid running into anything bad with her head on.
“Well, your friend Sage is all but bonded to Luke…” He started and she let out a cackle of laughter.
“Oh, boy, do you not know Sage…” she shook her head.
“Want to give me the heads up?”
“I don’t believe in giving away spoilers, alpha, it ruins it for everybody.” Marley grinned like she had a really good secret that was just itching to come out…
“Not even a clue?” He gave her his best smile, the one that always got him exactly where he wanted to be with a female, be that female human or she-wolf.
Of course, she snorted her contempt for it…
“Not even a crumb off my plate,” Marley offered back with the sweetest smile that he had ever seen in his life.
Her eyes played with mischief … and then she offered him something of a sympathetic look, and the man didn’t know what was coming, but he didn’t like the way that she was looking at him, not one little bit.
“And what about you?” Josh asked. He felt a need to change the subject before it niggled at him too much.
“Me?” She had an innocent tone about her voice. “Oh, I’m an enigma, wrapped up in a paradox, and gift wrapped with sugar and spice…” she snorted, and his heart sank a little bit lower in his chest along with his stomach…
“That doesn’t sound enjoyable,” he frowned.
“Nobody said wooing was easy.” She gave a playful shrug off her shoulders and he grumbled a growl to himself.
He had a bad feeling about all of this.
Three witches to woo. Three witches for his pack.
Life was definitely going to get a whole lot of something for him … he just needed to figure out what that something was.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
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“Don’t follow me…” Sage grumbled as Luke kept hard on her heels as she stalked across the grass on the way towards her car…
“You zapped me. You kicked my brother in the balls…” Luke said in disbelief…
“I thought they were your balls!” She snapped out the lie back over her shoulder.
She hadn’t actually meant to kick anybody in the balls … that was just a happy happenchance as she saw it…
“Where do you think you’re going?” Luke grumbled a growl of annoyance as she stopped next to her car and motioned to it with both hands…
“Home!” Sage snapped out.
“You’re drunk!” Luke growled, annoyed that she would even contemplate driving after she’d been drinking…
“Well I get the feeling there are going to be a lot more of these days if you’re sticking around,” she snapped up at him.
Then she wrenched open the car door and patted herself down for her keys … but as she didn’t have any pockets the action was just a tiny bit futile…
“Even if I was going to let you leave, I certainly wouldn’t allow you to drive drunk!” Luke growled back.
“Allow me…? Oh, brother!” she snorted.
She lifted her foot and kicked the door closed, stumbling backwards on her heels, and he reached out to catch her before she fell.
“See, you can’t even stand upright,” Luke grumbled as she slapped out at his hands.
“Don’t touch me!” She hissed, and shook off his hands as she started back towards the house…
“You didn’t say that last night.”
Sage pulled up as if she’d just run headlong into a brick wall. Her back snapped straight, her hands fisted at her sides, and as she made the slow turn back towards him; her eyes narrowed in anger.
Luke stood there looking mighty pleased with himself. He was even nodding his head a little as he folded those big, muscled arms across his chest and returned her stare, although not the evil eye that went with it…
“Well, you’re not exactly a gentleman, are you?” She hissed at him in annoyance.