The Witch's Protector [The Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Doris O'Connor

  “And what would that be?” he asked, even though he feared he knew the answer.

  “Why you, of course, you silly pup. To have a Protector as my willing slave, now that would have been… how do you say? The icing on the cake.”

  She smiled and goose bumps broke out over his skin.

  “The Boss would never have agreed to that.” Olaf’s outraged reply made Henry break into a grim smile and he nodded at his beta.

  “Oh really? He wouldn’t have, would he?” She narrowed her eyes at him, and Olaf tensed and took a step toward her. “I am Angelique Dubois-Mayfer. No man has resisted me yet, and your Alpha wouldn’t have either.”

  Olaf took another step at her beckoning and Rhonda tried to stop him, but he shook her off. Angelique smiled and waved her hand, and Olaf seemed to come back to himself. He looked utterly horrified when he realized what happened and hurried back to help Rhonda back to her feet.

  “Yes, you wouldn’t have resisted me either, Henry, had you not met this little witch here.” She smiled down at Joanne and Henry stopped breathing when she ran her lethal claw along his little red’s ashen throat.

  “Let. Her. Go.” He ground the words out through gritted teeth, and she laughed.

  “Oh no, this little mate of yours is my insurance for getting out of here.”

  Henry advanced until he was in touching distance, his wolf snarling and foaming at the mouth to rip this vamp to shreds or die trying.

  “You’ll never get out of here alive, so just let her go, and let her die in peace.” His voice broke on the last few words, and Olaf swore.

  Angelique looked him up and down, and pursed her lips.

  “Sure, if that’s what you want to happen, but wouldn’t you rather she lived?” She smiled at his sharp intake of breath and nodded.

  “Oh, yes. My blood can heal your little witch, should I choose to give it to her…. I might not though, because, really, now, you haven’t been very nice, have you? Coming in here, wrecking the place, and killing my offspring. I should hold a grudge, but, then again, what else can one expect from shifters. Such a crude, unevolved species, really, and you call us the monsters.”

  She laughed and made a big show of inspecting her fingernails.

  “Oh, look, you made me break a nail, too.”

  Henry was going to lose the plot, he really was. That thing could heal his mate, and she was prattling on about a broken, fucking fingernail.

  He growled low in his throat and she smiled again.

  “Okay, okay, no need to get all territorial on me. I shall move on, not enough meat around here anyway for my liking. You’re all far too hairy. Do you have any idea how much effort it is to pick hair out of your fangs after every meal?”

  “You said you could heal her. So. Do. It. Already.” Henry’s voice came out distorted, as his wolf took over, and Angelique sighed.

  “Oh, pleaaase. That display might impress your little witch, but I’ve seen it all before. Just as dim as Salasino here. He brings me a Guardian Witch for a present. The one fucking thing I can’t touch without incurring the wrath of all those gone before her. Limited shifter intelligence, see.”

  She smirked at the growls from his men, and shrugged her shoulders.

  “I’ll heal her for you, on one condition.”

  “Name it,” Henry said.

  “You let me go, and you don’t come looking for me—ever.”

  “Deal.”

  * * * *

  Everything hurt, and the foul taste in her mouth made Joanne gag, as thick, hot liquid squirted to the back of her throat. It smelled like blood, and the thought made her stomach rebel. The deep growls of wolves brought with it the realization that she was still alive, and her survival instincts kicked in with a vengeance. It was swallow the foul substance in her mouth or suffocate, so she swallowed. It caused the most curious sensations to course through her body, as fire traveled through her veins, and the pain of her body healing itself took her breath away completely.

  Blackness claimed her again, but not before the heat of Henry’s body surrounded her, and his deep growly voice penetrated her fading consciousness.

  “Be off with you, vamp. You have my word we won’t follow you.”

  Her befuddled brain couldn’t quite grasp the implications of those words, but she shivered when she heard an ice-cool female voice.

  “We will meet again, mutt. I’ll look forward to that.”

  When Joanne next became aware of her surroundings, she was lying on a bed, and her lips kicked up into a smile, when she realized what the heavy weight pinning her in place was.

  Her Henry was draped all over her like a wolf-sized blanket, and his hot breath skittered across the sensitive nerve endings under her ear. She whimpered and his arms tightened around her, before his beloved face appeared in view.

  Her eyes filled with tears at the concern she read in his blue gaze, and the way his eyes vacillated from the soft yellow glow of his wolf to the crystal-blue of the man showed his agitation.

  Henry ran his hands all over her body, and his voice shook with emotion, when he talked to her.

  “Finally, you’re awake. I was so worried, she’d tricked us or something…fuck!”

  Joanne moaned into the heated kiss he gave her, and she returned the fevered strokes of his tongue with a desperation that matched his. It just felt so damn good to be back in his arms, to breathe in his scent, his sheer vitality that chased away the last remaining fuzzy edges of her earlier despair.

  By the time he let her come up for air, they were breathing heavily, and Henry’s erection was a hard ridge against her thigh.

  Joanne wanted nothing more than to shift slightly to enable him to claim her, but one last niggling worry remained.

  She pushed against his chest and Henry lifted off her with an annoyed growl as she sat up and took in her surroundings.

  Joanne closed her eyes and let her powers wash over her. Just like she suspected, when she woke up, she was fully healed. She’d never felt better in fact, and her stomach churned with the realization as to why.

  Henry groaned when she flew out of bed and reached the toilet just in time to throw up. She was aware of him behind her, holding her hair out of her way, and murmuring soothing nonsense while he rubbed her back.

  When the desperate heaving finally stopped, she collapsed back into the warmth of his embrace, and Henry handed her washcloth to wipe her mouth.

  “Why?” she whispered.

  His long drawn-out sigh blew across her face, bringing his delicious scent with it, and she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. It calmed her stomach further. Henry grasped her chin to tilt her head up.

  “Look at me, little red.”

  The growled words held that edge of command she was utterly unable to resist, and her eyes fluttered open. She lost herself in the heated intensity of his gaze, and he smiled at her.

  “I couldn’t lose you, sweetheart. Not when there was a chance of saving you.”

  Joanne couldn’t doubt the utter sincerity behind his words, and she had to clear her throat several times to get the words out.

  “But, she’ll come back, I heard her. She’s not going to let this go, and she’ll come for you, won’t she? I can’t bear that. You should have just let me die.”

  Henry’s furious growl in answer shook the floorboards, and every feminine cell in Joanne’s body melted at his show of dominance.

  “Let me worry over that, little red. We’ll be ready for her, when she does come back, and I have every intention of growing old with you. You’re mine, and always will be. That price was worth paying.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  All Hallow’s Eve, present time

  Joanne waited for the gasp from her audience that she always got at this point of telling her tale and sure enough they didn’t disappoint. In fact Tina looked as though she was going to pass out, and Ronan pulled her on his lap and nuzzled into her neck. Rebecca, smiled at her with tears in her eyes, and Leon swore und
er his breath. The lion shifter had heard this tale before and he still looked as though he wanted to commit murder.

  Eva had gone very still and she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. A move, most unusual for the hard-as-nails eagle shifter, and Sasha scowled into the room, like he always did.

  Joanne smiled at them all, and continued.

  “As you can see, it all worked out in the end. Of course the whole thing came at a cost.”

  “What cost?” Tina asked. The little human looked so utterly worried. Joanne knew the minute it dawned on her, because she burst into tears, and Ronan swore.

  “There now, babe, don’t upset yourself. They had over fifty happy years together before she got him, and that bitch is never going to come back now.”

  If his words were meant to reassure her, they seemed to have the opposite effect, as Tina hit him and cried harder.

  Joanne sighed, and shook her head at the clueless bear shifter. Pregnancy hormones and stubborn bears were definitely not the most peaceful of combinations. Those two would have somewhat of a rocky road up ahead.

  Ronan had, in fact, killed Angelique, ridding the village once and for all of that menace.

  “Of course, if Henry had done his job back then and not put his feelings above being a Protector, that bitch would have been dead then, and countless lives would have been saved.” Sasha’s deep voice rung round the room and Rebecca turned on the panther shifter.

  “And I wouldn’t be alive, and all the good that’s been achieved since then would have come to nothing. How dare you say that? You of all people, who refuses to protect at all. Call yourself a Protector.”

  Sasha glared at her, and crossed his arms over his massive chest.

  “I never chose to be one. And I do my bit if I have to. I’m just not as keen as getting my ass kicked like some of you. Besides you’ve got this all pat down, so why do you need me?”

  Rebecca looked all set to spell him, and Joanne cleared her throat.

  “Children, please. This is an old argument and has no place here right now. Henry did what he thought was best for the village on the whole. Cumbria needs a Guardian Witch, and that is me. Without me there would be no Rebecca to follow in my footsteps one day, and the balance of power would shift. Henry had a vision for us all, and this village as we know it now, only exists because of that vision. Just like he predicted more and more humans chose to settle here, including right here in our village. Not to mention the hordes of clueless tourists. Humans now outnumber the shifters six to one. If they ever were to find out about our existence…well, I don’t need to tell you what would happen. We would be extinct in no time, and only exist behind cages to be experimented upon for their own needs.” She paused and smiled at Tina. “No offence meant to those humans we know we can trust in our midst. Henry organized the Protectors, and was head of the council, until Angelique retuned to kill him two years ago. By that time we had a well-oiled team in place and we could ensure the safety of all. So, yes, innocent lives were lost, bar far less than would have been lost otherwise.”

  She pointedly stared at Sasha and the panther grumbled under his breath, and bowed his head in grudging acknowledgement. Joanne barely suppressed a smile. She knew what was in store for the Protector’s dark sheep, and she couldn’t wait to see how this panned out.

  “Now, if you all don’t mind, it’s getting late, and my old bones are creaking for their bed. Have a safe journey home, all of you.”

  As one the assembled villagers rose and the room emptied slowly. Eva hung back and Joanne smiled at her. Something was troubling the young woman, still.

  “Can I ask you a question, Mrs. H?” she said.

  “Of course, my dear.”

  “If Angelique was that powerful, why did she offer to make a deal in the first place? I mean, she could have just let you die, and then fought her way out of that cave, no?”

  Ronan, Tina, Leon, Rebecca, and even Sasha turned back round to look at Joanne at that question and she nodded.

  “Yes, you’re right, of course, she could have, but where would have been the fun in that? She might have gotten hurt, and she would have had no hold over Henry. This way, she knew he would let her go, and she could have her fun torturing us from afar. We never once forgot she was still out there. It caused many a row between Henry and Rebecca, when she became a teen and wanted to stay out.” Joanne glanced at her daughter, and she gave her a watery smile.

  “It was all part of the game for that thing. She was evil through and through.”

  Eva worried her bottom lip again and sighed.

  “I see. I was hoping she might have done it in a rare show of compassion, maybe?”

  The hopeful expression in the young woman’s gray eyes made Joanne’s stomach churn in foreboding.

  “Are you asking me if vampires are capable of feelings, my dear?”

  Eva colored and found the floor most interesting all of a sudden.

  “I guess,” she mumbled. “They can’t all be evil, right? There must be good ones, too?”

  Joanne sighed and patted her arm.

  “Well, I suppose anything is possible, my dear. But if there are good vampires, I sure haven’t met them yet. Now, run along my dears, and have a safe trip home.”

  Slowly, peace descended once more upon her cottage and Joanne sank down in her armchair. She smiled recalling how Henry had lovingly restored it after the attack by Salasino, Mongrels and Lupines alike had worked tirelessly to restore her little cottage to what it had been like before that disastrous morning, and she and her Henry had indeed had had many happy years here, before his passing.

  We did good, little red.

  Joanne smiled at the growled words in her head, and she nodded.

  We have, but I fear there is trouble ahead. I cannot join you yet, my love.

  I know, little red. I’ll be waiting for as long as it takes. I love you.

  THE END

  WWW.DORISOCONNOR.COM

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Glutton for punishment would be a good description for Doris…at least that’s what she hears on an almost daily basis when people find out that she has a brood of nine children, ranging from adult to toddler, and lives happily in a far-too-small house, cluttered with children, pets, dust bunnies, and one very understanding and supportive husband. Domestic goddess she is not.

  There is always something better to do, after all, like working on the latest manuscript and trying not to scare the locals even more than usual by talking out loud to the voices in her head. Her characters tend to be pretty insistent to get their stories told, and you will find Doris burning the midnight oil on a regular basis. Only time to get any peace and quiet, and besides, sleep is for wimps.

  She likes to spin sensual, sassy, and sexy tales involving alpha heroes to die for, and heroines who give as good as they get. From contemporary to paranormal, BDSM to F/F and Ménage, haunting love stories are guaranteed.

  For all titles by Doris O'Connor, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/doris-oconnor

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com