by M. L. Briers
“The witch likes to play with pointy things, and I can’t kill my friend’s mate.” Connor offered as he closed the door to the cabin and stood beside it, arms folded, head tilted to one side as he stared at Sophia, taking her in.
“All witches like to play with pointy things, at your damn age I thought you would have known that.” Chelsea shot back.
“What part of; I can’t kill my friend’s mate didn’t you understand?” Connor put in lightly and Chelsea huffed. She’d much rather be out there on the hunt than inside on babysitting duties.
“Fine. I’ll protect your vampiric ass.” Connor shot her a look that said; don’t bust my balls, but the only made her grin with amusement.
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Before Tyler could even ask, Justice had shifted into his beast. The wind was howling like a stray wolf, and the snow was coming down thick and fast again. Justice had no way of tracking the man’s footsteps in the snow, they were being eaten up by fresh fall, but his wolf would do better to catch the other alpha’s scent than he would as a man, and his beast’s ability in the snow was second nature.
Tyler had shifted right after him. The bear wasn’t normally as fast on his feet as the wolves, certainly not as agile, but the weather had slowed the alpha down, and Tyler was able to match the wolf’s speed, and on the whole to keep up with him.
Justice’s white wolf blended into the winter landscape, while Tyler’s bear stuck out like a sore thumb. The alpha had considered trying to lose Tyler, but the bear was keeping up with him just fine. He wondered if Tyler wouldn’t make the perfect decoy should he need one.
Right now, his wolf and he were in perfect harmony. Both man and beast wanted to taste the other alpha’s blood – rip him apart – and dance on his damn grave.
He made a silent vow to Sophia that it would happen, and it would happen before the storm was over or the sun came up, whichever was first.
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“So, you wanna tell me a little about yourself to pass the time?” Connor asked Sophia as Chelsea eyed the new witch trying to get a feel for her.
“Not really, no.” Sophia liked it just fine the less that people knew about her. This vampire was no exception, if anything, she was a little more guarded around him.
“Shy?” Connor offered her a smile and she gave him a frosty look back.
“Hardly,” she snorted as her eyes flicked back to the door as if she was willing it to open once more.
“Leave her alone, Connor.” Chelsea bit out.
Normally, she would have said it was every witch for herself where the vampire was concerned, the man was harmless to the pack, and yet, she could almost sense the tension coming off of Sophia. Connor was something of an acquired taste, and she didn’t think the newbie had that taste just yet.
“I’m not touching her,” Connor shrugged.
“Because that would be more than your life is worth.” Chelsea snorted.
“Justice has been waiting a long time for his mate,” Connor grinned at Sophia when her eyes flicked back to his.
“I’m not…” Sophia had meant to deny it, as yet, nothing was cast in stone, but a lie was a lie and she really couldn’t stomach it.
“What? His mate?” Connor chuckled. “Trust me, an alpha doesn’t make that mistake.”
“Can we just drop it?” Sophia scowled at him.
“No,” Connor’s tone was light and she offered him the kind of glare that he knew for certain if she’d backed it up with magic then he was almost certain to be in flames.
“Connor, leave her alone,” Chelsea backed her warning up with a zap that made Connor bit down on his jaw as the pain zinged through him.
“You used magic on him?” Sophia turned her attention towards Chelsea and the witch smiled.
“Oh, zapping the vampire is a common past time among witches around here, give it a shot, it’s very… therapeutic.”
“Let’s not and say we did.” Connor’s eyes flicked a warning glare at Chelsea before going right back to Sophia. “So, you have an alpha?”
“Had, and not by choice. I left.” Sophia knew there would be questions, but the only person that she was answerable to was Justice.
“Not by choice?” Now Chelsea was curious.
“Reaver collects witches for his pack.” She shrugged. “Look, I should be out there…” Putting myself between Reaver and Justice, she thought, but she didn’t say the words aloud.
“Justice can take care of himself,” Connor assured her. “You’d only be one more thing for him to worry about.”
Sophia took a step back at his words and Connor noticed. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but the frown on her forehead couldn’t have been a good sign.
One more thing for him to worry about?
I suppose that’s right – if I’m… no…not if… being his mate meant that I actually mattered to someone.
Wasn’t that a turn up for the books? Mattering to someone – being someone’s something… it doesn’t feel right. It feels off – none of this feels right.
A friendly vampire and a pack that seem to give a damn… what next? Everyone dances around the May Pole and lives happily ever after?
Cynical much? With good cause, I suppose.
Justice out there fighting my battles for me… now that doesn’t feel right.
It should be me facing Reaver.
It should be me taking his wrath.
I’ve brought this on this pack. I should have stayed where I was… it was my cross to bear… or is it?
Fate led me here. Justice is my mate… that doesn’t make it right, doesn’t make it feel right.
I need to get out of here – and I might not be able to use magic on Reaver, but I can use it on the vampire.
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CHAPTER NINE
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“What’s going through that mind of yours I wonder?” Connor asked and snatched Sophia from her thoughts.
“My Goddess, Connor,” Chelsea shook her head. “You are just so nosy. You’re like an old fishwife, standing there sucking up all the juicy information so you can pass it on.”
“I never tell,” Connor grinned. “Well, maybe just a little.”
“Maybe if you spent your time doing something productive…” Chelsea teased him.
“I’m being productive now, and let’s not forget some of the other troubles you witches have caused me-”
“So, now you have a problem with witches?” Chelsea shot back.
“I never have a problem with witches if they’re not zapping me or making me into a damn snowman.”
“But you looked so cute,” Chelsea grinned and Connor snorted.
“Vampires are anything but cute, we’re deadly, we’re formidable, we’re-”
“You’re protesting too much. You’re just a big softie.” Chelsea saw the look of horror upon Connor’s face and she had to snigger at it.
“In that case, zap me again and see what happens.”
The words had only just left his lips when she clicked her fingers and did just that. Connor groaned.
“Okay,” she offered as he raised his eyes to the ceiling and counted to ten internally. “Still waiting.” She teased.
“Well, not now. I have a job to do, a witch to protect.” He protested and she snorted another chuckle.
“Softie.” Chelsea muttered.
Sophia had half a mind on the two newcomers and their battle of wits and half a mind outside on what was happening with Justice and Reaver. She wanted to do the Justice thing and pace… although, it hadn’t seemed to do much for him, but what she really wanted was to be out there in the thick of it.
Her eyes went to the front door once more and she considered what it would take to put the vampire down – then she knew that she would have to deal with Chelsea, and the witch seemed to like to use her magic whenever possible – two birds, one stone, how the hell was she going to do that?
“Patience,
little witch,” Connor had turned his attention back towards Sophia and the way that she looked like a cat on a hot tin roof.
“I’m fine.” Sophia snapped back. Another rush of guilt went through her, this time for what she’d been thinking about taking him down.
“Nails down a chalkboard fine.” Connor shot back, and he wasn’t wrong. She could protest all she wanted, but the woman was anything but fine. “You know that sometimes life can be like reaching for that one hundredth gold ring, and just like Sonic the Hedgehog, with all of his mighty power, he just can’t get it-”
“You have a pet hedgehog names Sonic?” Sophia asked, even though she really didn’t want to know.
“It’s a game,” Connor looked from one witch to the other, and Chelsea shrugged.
“Life’s a game?” Chelsea asked and Connor frowned.
“Sonic is a game,” He offered back. Then he waved an absent hand in their direction. “I suppose your youth was spent levitating frogs and setting fires because you could.”
“As opposed to your youth, doing what? Making fire with flint?” Chelsea shot back.
“I’m not that old.” He looked a little disgruntled.
“Horse and cart and no electricity old.” She shot back.
“Well,” He procrastinated on that one. “Maybe.”
“What was Cleopatra like?” Chelsea crossed her arms and smirked at him.
“Tasty.” Connor’s droll tones told her to drop it.
“Chariot racing and gladiators not fun enough for you?” Chelsea was like a dog with a bone, but Connor wasn’t playing.
“Move on,” Connor informed her and she grinned back at him.
“You will tell me how old you are, one day.” Chelsea wiggles her eyebrows at him.
“Don’t count your chicken’s, there’s always a wolf to rip their head off.” Connor shot back.
Sophia wished that she could enjoy the easy teasing that these two obvious had going on. This world was so different from what her own had been, and she had to wonder if this pack was as laid back as they seemed to be. But her thoughts were on Justice and that gnawing feeling within the pit of her stomach for whatever was happening outside.
Until she knew for sure, she couldn’t rest easy.
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Justice wasn’t finding it easy to track the alpha in the weather that nature was throwing up at him. The snow was coming down thicker and faster at times and that made it almost impossible for even his wolf to see. But still the beast kept going. His mate was in danger and that was all of the incentive that he needed to track the man down and end this.
Tyler’s bear was still managing to keep up. He’d lost him there in the thick of the blizzard a few times, but give the man and beast their due, he kept coming back again.
When Justice noted that they were skimming the froze waters of the waterfall for the second time, he had to wonder if the other alpha was just lost in the storm or if he was deliberately trying to throw them off his scent.
The cabin where he’d left Sophia in Connor’s capable care wasn’t that far away, and he had a moment’s clarity of thought from the hunt – where he just knew what that damn man was doing…
He was doubling back to the cabin. He was going back after Sophia…
Justice had a decision to make. Stay on the scent or head right back to the cabin… if he was wrong then he could lose the alpha’s trail, but if he was right then Sophia was in danger once more…
It was a no brainer. Even if he was wrong and the alpha was lost… he’d have another chance to taste him on his fangs at another time. If he was right, he could end this tonight.
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Connor hadn’t moved a muscle from his spot beside the door. His body was on alert for anything that might be thrown his way – but when the sound of glass shattering and wood splintering hit his ears, as the window at the other end of the cabin gave way under the force of the black beast making its entrance – even he was momentarily taken aback.
The howling wind from outside was now in the cabin. Snow blustered inside the four walls from the opening in the wall, and Reaver’s beast had eyes for only one prize… Sophia.
Connor moved fast to protect the witch. One moment he was standing at the doorway and the next he was in front of Sophia, putting her at his back, and making certain that the black wolf would have to go through him first to get to her.
Chelsea was undaunted by the sudden upheaval of the moment. It was just this kind of thing that she had trained for her whole adult life.
Her magic was already held so tightly within her that she didn’t have to rely on those extra seconds that it would take to gather it to full force, and she raised her hands and thrust her magic at the beast, sending him back the way that he had come.
More of the wooden wall gave way under the bulk of the wolf, and Connor was more than aware of the sound of the structure, now damaged and open to the elements, as it creaked and protested against the onslaught of the winds.
“We need to get out before the roof comes down.” Connor called to Chelsea over the howl of Mother Nature and the furious growl of the black wolf.
Chelsea snapped her fingers towards the door and it was practically ripped from its moorings as it sprung open, revealing more of the same weather that wouldn’t help them in their endeavours. At least inside they were afforded some protection, outside they were at the mercy of the elements.
“Right behind you,” Chelsea snapped out, keeping her eyes on the large opening of the cabin wall as Connor bit down on his annoyance at having to choose which witch to guard.
In that moment Sophia envied Chelsea’s ability to use her magic against Reaver. She wanted to protect these people from the alpha’s wrath, but without her magic she was next to useless.
She felt the strong arm of the vampire as it wrapped around her and swept her to him, and then they were outside, being battered by the winds. She blinked constantly to try to see through the thick snowflakes that came at her fast and furiously like a veil over her eyes.
“Stay behind me,” Connor’s breath was against her ear for only a second, and then she found herself somewhat shielded from the onslaught on the weather by his broad frame.
“You see him?” Chelsea demanded as Connor backed Sophia against the cabin wall and took up a defensive position right in front of her.
“Not yet, but I can scent him. He’s close…” Connor saw the rush of black fur coming through the white veil… “Dead ahead…” He spat out and heard the roar or the beast as Chelsea’s magic swept him upwards from the ground, suspending him in the air, all four paws desperately trying to find purchase against nothing at all.
“Gotcha.” Chelsea held him there. The wolf dangling like she’s thrown an invisible noose around his neck. It kicked and twisted, trying to break free, and yet – he had no defences against her magic. “Time to end it.” Chelsea whispered the words with a relish that Connor felt.
“Don’t even think about it,” Connor warned.
“Reason?” Chelsea demanded, but the sound of the roar from Justice’s wolf gave her all of the reasons that she needed.
“It’s his kill and he won’t thank you for taking it from him.” Connor assured her.
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CHAPTER TEN
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Chelsea blinked against the snow. She could just make out Justice’s white wolf stalking towards his prey against the camouflage that the weather provided. Her eyes took in the lumbering sight of Tyler’s bear behind him, and she felt a rush of relief at seeing him. The she nodded her understanding.
“Heads up,” Chelsea called. “Special delivery for the alpha.”
Chelsea wasn’t gentle about depositing Reaver’s beast down onto the ground. The sound of the heavy thud, even against the cushioned, snow covered earth, and the grunt of pain that came from the beast, was music to her ears.
Connor might have persuaded her aga
inst the kill, but he’d said nothing about damaging the beast a little.
She didn’t yet know Sophia, and yet she wanted to see that beast ripped limb from limb and suffer the way that her kindred obviously had.
Justice’s beast didn’t rush to take the alpha down as Sophia had thought he might. He took a slow, calculated walk towards him. The snarl that pulled back his wolf’s lips and exposed razor sharp fangs sent a chill through her body that the weather never could have achieved – no matter her mate or not – this wolf still had the same killer instincts that Reaver had, but this wolf, this man in a wolf’s skin was on her side.
The black wolf was already back up on his paws. His ears were back and her fangs were exposed, showing Justice’s wolf that he was more than ready for the fight, and then, without warning, he started for Justice on fast paws with a roar that overshadowed the deafening winds.
Sophia’s hand clamped down around Connor’s upper arm, and the man’s head twisted to acknowledge her there behind him. He knew exactly what she was feeling in those minutes as the two wolves clashed, locked in battle, and bloodied each other…
He too wanted to intervene. He wanted to step forward, take the black beast in his hands and rip him apart… in the heat of battle you never thought about the one’s left impotent to do anything but wait and watch.
The roar of pain from Reaver’s beast signalled a hit from Justice’s one. The red stain of blood that spilled across the white ground told Connor that the beast had been opened by his friend’s claws.
Reaver’s wolf reared up and twisted his body to snap his jaws, and those fangs at Justice’s neck, but the alpha was already ducking and moving beneath him. He came out from under the attack and swiped up with his front left paw, opening up the alpha’s side in furrowed lines that went down to the ribcage.
Momentum brought the black beast downwards and he took a swipe at Justice along the way. His claws bit down into the skin and tore through the flesh, and the white wolf roared with the pain…