by M. L. Briers
Chelsea saw the way that Mari tried not to smile. The corners of her lips bowed upwards and her eyes lit up with amusement, and yet she fought it.
“Tell me something,” Chelsea asked and Mari’s smile faded.
“Go on.”
“Why do you hate witches?” Chelsea asked and watched as the woman’s attitude became a lot colder. A memory. It was the way that Mari’s eyes stared off away from her, as if she could see it plain and clear within her mind.
“One of you killed my father,” Mari growled at the thought.
“Not one of us,” Chelsea reminded her.
“A witch – same thing. My mother died not long after of a broken heart. It sometimes happens with mated females.” Mari bit down on the memory.
“I’m sorry for your loss and the Fae having anything to do with it.”
Chelsea was. Without the whole story she couldn’t rush to judgement on the reasons that had forced the witch into taking a life, and she wouldn’t judge. She’d hunted enough werewolves to invoke that kind of anger from someone. But never Lycans – she’d never taken a Lycan life.
“What’s done is done, and I can’t go back, unless you have a spell…?” Mari left that one hanging in the air. Chelsea chuckled.
“Sorry, no.”
“Then…” Mari cocked another shoulder at her.
“I hear you decided to join Cole’s clan,” Chelsea had been surprised. She’d assumed that Mari would have dug her heels in on that one.
With something of a smirk, Mari turned on her heels to leave, but she couldn’t resist one last barb over her shoulder.
“No witches.” She offered and heard Chelsea’s chuckle.
“I’d bite your tongue, you don’t want to tempt fate.”
The End.
BROTHERS
Pack Special
JUSTICE
By
M. L. BRIERS
Copyright © 2016, 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.
~
CHAPTER ONE
~
Justice took in the scene around him. Everything was covered in white, everything felt so calm, so peaceful, like a blanket of tranquillity that had been laid upon the mountain, upon pack land, and he revelled in it just as much as his wolf did.
Winter was hard on the mountain. Every year the snow lay deep and crisp and even – just like the Christmas song that his mother would sing to her pups as they laid around the family cabin in front of a log fire and enjoyed the solitude that winter brought to their land.
There wasn’t much to worry about as far as humans were concerned at this time of year. The roads were usually impassable, and those that came to climb, did so a little higher up.
The white wolves could run wild and free, steady and safe in the knowledge that preying eyes wouldn’t find them there as they blended into their surroundings, and embraced a landscape that they were made for.
Justice loved the snow. Every year he wished for it. Every year he waited patiently for it, and when it arrived; he was always the first to lead the charge, spending as long as possible outside, and then warming in front of a roaring log fire within his cabin, dozing and awakening in glorious warmth.
This year… not so much.
The snow had come down almost to the day that the elders had predicted it, and this year… he dreaded every single moment of it. Loathed the thought of being cooped up, cut off from civilisation, from his possible mate…
The high velocity snowball that slammed into his face and knocked him backwards with surprise was throw by an unseen hand, but with a roar of pure annoyance – he had a damn feeling that he knew exactly who the culprit was.
“You do that one more time and I will rip off your arms and beat you around the head with them, rendering you unconscious, and when you finally awaken in a red bloodied tomb of a snowman’s frozen body, your arms will be waving at you from the nearest tree.” Justice growled and his head snapped around on his neck as the witch, Tyler’s mate, Chelsea stepped out from behind a tree and smirked at him.
Justice almost swallowed his tongue at the sight of her. Chelsea’s eyebrows lifted high onto her forehead and she regarded him with mock surprise, but not as much surprise as he had for her.
“Did someone get out of the wrong side of the dog basket this morning?”
“I… thought you were someone else.” Justice growled, feeling like a damned fool and unsure what to do about it. He’d thought it was the damned vampire.
“I get that a lot,” Chelsea grinned and wiggled her eyebrows back at him.
Justice pulled his head back on his neck and cleared his throat. With a roll of his eyes that ended in them being closed for the briefest of moments as he cursed inwardly. He rolled his shoulders and felt his neck snap into place as he turned towards her.
“Is there something I can do for you, or are you just pelting everyone that happens into your path?” Justice asked.
“I’m just bored and-”
“Looking for mischief.” Justice groaned inwardly. “Why don’t you and the other witches dance around a pile of burning logs or… something?”
“We like to do that naked and it’s a little chilly for that,” she said. Her eyes narrowed on him for a moment, and he thought he’d put his foot in it twice already and she’d only just appeared.
He needed to snap out of his self-imposed bad mood. He was like a bear with a sore head and a stick up his backside. He needed an out, something to occupy his time… something that didn’t involve pining for his mate.
“Shouldn’t you be snuggled up with your mate?” Justice asked, and this time she lifted just one eyebrow.
“Oh, I see what’s got you in the doldrums,” Chelsea smiled.
“I’m not in the doldrums, whatever the hell that is,” Justice scowled.
“Shit mood – feeling down, glum, sorry for yourself…” Chelsea was ticking them off on the fingers that were encased in mittens as she went, and Justice groaned outwardly this time.
“I’m fine.” He sneered like a female whose birthday the love of her life, or Mr Right-Now, had managed to forget in his utter stupidity.
“Of course you are, and you’ll be better when you find a mate to-”
“Stop right there,” Justice held up his hand to silence her. Then he shuffled his boot clad feet within the snow, and his lips twitched as he considered his words. “Have you been talking to the damn vampire?”
“Connor, no. Why? Should I?” Her eyes glinted with mischief and he groaned again, this time in silent contemplation of all the damn things not to say to a woman – now she was going to run off and find the vampire for the juicy gossip that Justice had just pointed the way to – like a big – neon – sign post.
“No.” Justice shot back, a little rushed for his liking, but her eyes flared with amusement and she seemed to enjoy it.
If he could have managed it then he would have kicked his own backside, face planted the snow, from a great height, and not resurfaced again until winter was done. He could understand now why bears hibernated – right then, it sounded perfect for him.
“Then I’ll go do that right now.” Chelsea said enthusiastically and Justice groaned again.
“I said no,” He offered and she shrugged.
“Exactly.” She tossed back over her shoulder as she stalked away, creating fresh footfall into the crisp white snow and runnin
g his pretend solitude by virtue of her footprints being forever there or at the very least until the thaw set in.
“Damn it,” Justice bit out.
All he needed now was for the vampire to open his big mouth and tell the witch of his longing for a mate – it would be all over the pack by nightfall.
‘Maverick,’ Justice growled to his brother through the pack’s link that kept them connected as long as they were in range.
‘Geez, Justice, you sound like someone tried to play pin the tail on the wolf…’ his brother said, and Justice rolled his eyes once more.
He’d had enough. He needed a break, just a small one – maybe a damn decade or so.
‘I’m going down to the winter fishing cabin near the falls for… a while.’
‘It’s fully stocked, but I’m not sure the chainsaw is there to cut into the ice if you’re planning on fishing the-’
‘I’ll punch my damn way through if I want to fish.’
‘O-k-a-y… did something happen?’ Maverick sounded a little concerned.
‘No,’ Justice snapped back. He certainly didn’t want to get into details with his damn brother.
‘Is this about your mate?’
Justice kicked out at the snowbank in front of him and cursed in annoyance as the toe of his boot connected with a stone, and he yelped in pain as he danced around in that manly way – like he was doing a rain dance.
Body forward towards the ground, body back towards the sky, curse, curse, curse, rinse and repeat.
‘No, it’s not about my bloody mate and would everyone stop gossiping about that?’ He growled out.
‘People are gossiping about that?’ Maverick sounded sincere, if not a little confused.
‘So I hear,’ Justice growled as he stomped his foot down onto the frosty ground in the other manly way that he believed would end his pain, only for another jolt of lightening to shoot through his foot once more and he cursed and hopped to the nearest boulder to park his backside on.
With a grumble and a growl he sat down and dropped his head forward on his shoulders.
‘I haven’t heard anything. If I do I’ll put a stop to it-’
‘That would probably involve killing the vampire, and he’s mine.’ Justice’s dark mood just got a lot darker.
‘Geez, what set you off this morning? No toy in your cereal?’
Justice barely saw the grey black clouds that he scowled up at from underneath his dark eyebrows as they came down so low that it covered most of his eyes, but he stared anyway.
‘I’m sure you three can manage without me. It’s not like we have any visitors to the mountain to worry about, but if there’s a good massacre, nuclear war to worry about, or we’re invaded by little grey men intent of dissecting us all for scientific purposes, give me a shout. If not-’
‘Leave you alone.’
‘Exactly.’ Justice pushed up to his feet and stalked off in the direction of the waterfalls. If anyone were stupid enough to come looking for him for no good reason – he’d show them what an alpha wolf could do.
~
~
~
Sophia had made a plan. One good night’s sleep to garner the energy that she needed and then she would wrap herself up in those blankets that she had discovered and would walk back down the mountain to civilisation and get help, or at least stay somewhere warm and with electricity to wait out the storms.
It had been a stupid risk to take the road up the mountain when the locals were warning of heavy snow, but a risk worth taking in her book to put a little more distance under her wheels. Now her car was stuck, nose first in a snow bank, after she’d skidding off the road, and she was stuck in a cabin by the woods, thankfully with some provisions.
What she didn’t have was heat, electricity, or hot running water. The fireplace had looked inviting when she’d stumbled through the door, so cold that she’d felt it bone deep, and after a day and a half she still hadn’t completely thawed out. But that fireplace had taunted her without any dry wood that she had been able to find to burn.
Now her plan had gone awry. Even snuggled under so many blankets she still hadn’t been able to sleep properly. The ice cold interior and the dampness in the air, not to mention the sounds that went bump in the night from outside had constantly woken her and made her question her sanity…
She was almost certain that she’d heard a wolf howl, and she thought for one horrifying moment that he’d found her… and then, nothing. She’d waited, she’d wondered, and she’d expected, but her nightmare hadn’t materialised in the flesh, at least, not yet.
He’d be tracking her – she knew that he would. She was a possession, a means to an end. He valued her magic and she was his prize. His trinket. The jewel in his crown that told her that he’d never let her get away from him.
Only death could save her from Reaver’s wrath, and with each day that had gone by, she’d almost welcomed that end. That broken spirited pathetic creature that she didn’t recognise in the mirror anymore had found a spark of life within her once more, growing little by little each day, at a cost yes, but she’d finally found it within herself to make one last gasped attempt at freedom.
Whether he found her now didn’t matter.
Whether he killed her now was of no consequence.
She’d been free of him looking over her shoulder once more, and she’d savoured every last moment of it, and he couldn’t take those moments away from her.
The sound of wood against wood, the sound of metal creaking, brought Sophia back to the present – back to the reality of what her glazed eyes saw in the doorway.
There he was, silhouetted against the grey sky of the outside world that his large frame almost blotted out.
Those broad shoulders almost touched both sides of the framework. His head almost reached the top of the frame. The dip of his waist that allowed the light to come through on either side of him, and then the angle of his hips, those thick muscled legs… there could be no doubt in her mind who was standing there staring at her.
She didn’t need to see his face. She didn’t need to use her magic to reach out and touch the blackness of his aura. It was him.
Her heart pounded within her ears. That sound beating the drum of her doom.
She was cold and she was tired. The magical amulet that he wore around his neck, garnered from another witch’s magic afforded him protection against her magic… what more could she do?
He either kills me now or takes me back.
I won’t go back.
I won’t serve at the whim of a madman anymore.
Kill him or die trying.
He stepped into the semi darkness of the room. The shutters over the windows afforded only slices of light from the outside. Small shafts that played tricks on her eyes.
The closer he got. Each long step that he took to cover the distance between them felt like a briefest of moments and an eternity; where she held her breath and waited for him to come closer.
Sophia was certain that even over the pounding within her ears that she had heard him scenting the air, but her shields didn’t tingle with his supernatural presence. There was no warning of his approach, and she couldn’t help but wonder what magic he’d sought out to shield himself from her.
He stopped just short of the edge of the bed. His hulking frame towered like a dark shadow that had been sent from the depths of hell to sweep her away, and steal her very soul.
Then he made his fatal mistake… he leaned in over the bed towards her and she struck.
~
CHAPTER TWO
~
The flash of light against the steel blade made his heart try to leap out of his chest. His hand shot up and slapped against the material at her wrist. His fingers closed in a vice like grip around the fragile human flesh and bone beneath. The blade caught the underside of his forearm and sliced through the skin, the warmth of his blood exposed to the freezing cold air.
Out of the corner of his eye; he sa
w the blanket come up to meet his head, knew that her legs were off of the bed and her feet were coming for him. He tried to duck the hit, but she caught him with both feet in the side of his head and he pitched sideways – keeping his hold on her, and yanking her from the bed as he landed on the hard wood of the floor and her soft body came down over his.
His grip tightened around her wrist until he heard the cry from her lips. The clatter of the blade hitting the floor beside his head startled him to action.
He moved swiftly to subdue the madwoman as she tried to push up and back away from him, and yet his mind had to wonder where the hell she thought she could go with his hand still biting into the soft flesh of her wrist like that.
For the first time; he caught her Fae essence in the air. Whatever shields, whatever magic that she was using to hide herself from him was weakening as she fought like a wild thing to get away.
He wasn’t about to let her go.
He wasn’t about to give her the upper hand once more and the freedom to attack him again.
He felt her knee slide in a fast run up his inner thighs and snapped down on the muscles, trapping her knee as he yanked her back against him. The feel of her hand against his chest caused him to wonder when the magical attack would come, and yet she hadn’t used it.
Sophia reared up and lifted her hand, forming a clenched fist, she brought it to bear against the side of his face with every ounce of strength that she could muster.
Pain shot through her hand and up her arm, screaming pain that made her cry out at the same time as she heard the grunt come from his lips…
She relished that sound. That small concession of the pain that she had caused him.