by M. L. Briers
“We’ve got a witch problem. They’re here, aren’t they?” The beta growled back.
“But one of those witches is your mate,” Luke growled longer and harder, and as the front door flew open on its hinges again, both men snapped their heads around to see grandma standing there with wide eyes, and her medusa face on…
“Say that again!” She demanded and Luke scowled at her.
“She’s soon to be your grandma, you say it,” Luke bit the words out of the side of his mouth to Dane and the beta snorted back. He didn’t much like that idea.
“The hell she is,” Dane tossed back.
“The hell I am!” Celine practically growled at the same time.
“Now hold on a minute,” Abi called out as she started across the room towards the front door. Luke’s eyes snapped towards her as his wolf raised its head and his length twitched once more. The woman was definitely a snake charmer.
“That would make me your mother, and that’s not going to happen!” She choked out a laugh at the thought of it.
“Well, sweetheart, you’re certainly not my mother,” Luke growled as his eyes ran from her head to her toes and back up again.
He liked what he saw. He had a big, hungry grin on his lips that stopped the moment that he felt the hard sting of a magical zap shoot through his body like wildfire.
“That’s my daughter you’re talking too,” Celine offered with righteous indignation as she turned her nose up in the air and offered the enforcer the evil eye.
Got it,” Luke bit out, shaking off the sting of the magic, and rolling his head on his neck as he ground his jaw down on a few unsavoury words that would probably have gotten him another blast from the old woman’s magic.
Dane snorted a chuckle at Luke’s expense. The enforcer didn’t seem to be as smooth as he thought he was, at least; granny didn’t think so.
“I don’t know what you’re laughing at,” Luke growled at his friend. “Meet the in-laws.”
Dane swallowed down hard at the thought. He’d known Luke his whole life, and he knew when the man was pulling his leg and when he wasn’t… mostly … and from the look in the enforcer’s eyes, he didn’t much think that he was kidding now.
“My…?” Dane scowled and shook his head. Luke just nodded.
“Sniff the air, man,” Luke growled and Dane shook his head harder – determined that he wasn’t going to have a witch as a mate – no sniffing equalled no claiming, and that was okay with him.
Luke sighed again. The damn man was stubborn.
Luke wasn’t about to let this opportunity pass him by. He jabbed his elbow deep into Dane’s gut, and the beta’s breath left his body in a rush, as he doubled over in pain.
A moment later and the beta’s head and body shot back up as he tried to suck in all of the air around them into his burning lungs…
“Job done…” Luke grinned towards the matriarch, and Celine bit down on a few choice words of our own as she narrowed her eyes on the man.
“Real subtle, what do you do for an encore?” Abi sneered as she stopped beside mother, placed her hands on her hips, and raised just the one eyebrow in his direction.
“That easy,” Luke said. His gravelly voice sounded even deeper, even sexier when he whispered. Then he leaned in towards her and scented the air….
“Mine.” He growled.
CHAPTER FIVE
~
“That’s not funny!” Abi bit out, looking a little bit taken aback and a little bit horrified to boot.
Funny is … look at me I’m six foot three, built like a brick outhouse, and I can shoot peas out of my nose…
Well, okay, maybe that’s not funny either, she told herself as she stared back at the behemoth.
Mine … that’s definitely not something to joke about.
That’s claiming talk … and claiming leads to biting … oooo, and biting leads to bonding…
And there’s that whole forever thing…
Nope, that’s not damn funny at all!
“That’s good, because I’m not auditioning for a job as a comedian.” Luke’s eyebrows danced over his eyes as he stared back into hers with a look that was so intense that she couldn’t pull her gaze away.
He noted the flare of panic in her eyes. Saw the colour drain from her cheeks, and noticed the way that her mouth was moving but nothing was coming out.
“Y-you … You … You … You…” Abi raised her hand and pointed at that broad chest of his, but she couldn’t quite seem to make a whole sentence work for her.
“Mum’s stuck on repeat. Gran, give her a nudge,” Rory chuckled, but she wasn’t chuckling when she caught sight of Dane staring right at her with his mouth hanging open and a hungry look in his eyes… “Ooooo…”
“Wow, is this like claim one get one free?” Sarah giggled as her eyes looked from Rory to Dane – from Dane to her mother – and from her mother to Luke.
“Hush, Sarah!” Celine bit out. “We must leave at once.” She announced.
“Minus mum and Rory I take it,” Jessica sniggered.
“Oh, Deary – dear – dear!” Celine said, taking a step back from the door and shaking her head in dismay.
“Now see what you did!” Abi hissed at Luke, and the man frowned.
“Not me, fate,” Luke offered back. “We’ve got a vampire that will see to her…”
“See to me!” Celine exclaimed, looking somewhat horrified at the thought.
“I wasn’t thinking euthanasia or anything…” Luke offered towards Abi with the sound of sniggers from the rest of the room.
“You’re sure now? Because some people might consider tossing an old woman into the ring with a vampire to be a sure fire route to an early death.” Abi offered back, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“Abigail!” Celine bit out.
“I’m just saying,” Abi gave her mother an innocent shrug off her shoulders, but the sound of Luke’s deep laughter took her attention right back to him.
Luke had raised his hand to cover his mouth as he tried to quell the laughter, but she saw a wicked look in his eyes to boot.
“The vampire is a friendly,” he assured her, biting down on the urge to laugh once more.
Now that he had it under control he’d kind of like to keep it that way.
“That’s your story and you’re sticking to it,” Abi said as she leaned towards him and wiggled her eyebrows at him.
There was a long, deep rumble like thunder that went through his chest, and those eyes got a lot darker again, and Abi lifted her hand and pointed a finger at his chest.
“If you’re hungry I saw a whole lot of sheep in a field about a mile down the road,” she offered him her best smug grin.
“A wolf joke – funny.” He offered back, but there was little humour in his dark eyes. “But what I’m hungry for would be illegal with sheep, and I’m not that kind of a man.”
Jessica was back to beating on the suitcase with her hand, tears streaming down her cheeks at the new turn of events … while Sarah was chuckling behind hers.
Celine didn’t look too impressed with any of them, but it was Rory that was completely devoid of all sense of reality as she stood staring at Dane in disbelief…
I can throw my mother to the wolves at the door and make a break for it out the back … She’s a mate … No harm, no foul…
How damn far would I actually get…?
Maybe if I threw my grandmother at them too …? Nah … She’d probably just bite their heads off…
I don’t want him dead … Or do I?
No … Death is a little harsh … But then so is being mate…
Not that he’s not sexy … In a big, muscled, he-man type of way. He is … It’s more the whole … brain meets brawn thing … and the end of my life as I know it thing…
Mums good … She needs a man in her life … She could do with being happy for a change, and having a lot of sex…
Wait … Image … Must scrub brain … Yeah, I can’t un-th
ink that.
But me? Nooo… I have too much to do with my life like … and…
Umm, well … something. I Wanna do something…
Not that the sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, thing isn’t good, because it would be good, really, really…
Stop!
Think!
Yeah, this thinking thing isn’t good when you’re staring forever in the eye, and forever has really nice eyes…
Dammit!
“Rory!” Sarah nudged her sister in the ribs to bring her out of the daze that she seemed to be in.
Rory snapped her head around, and she was half grateful to have broken free of the man’s eyes, and half miffed that she’d been jabbed in the ribs.
“What?” Rory hissed back.
“He’s kind of cute…” Sarah spluttered a chuckle at her sister’s expense and Rory fumed inwardly, and sighed long and hard outwardly.
“May all your troubles be wolf shaped,” Rory offered back with a sweet smile that didn’t fool her sister for one moment, because she’d heard the curse, and Sarah snapped her head back on her neck and gasped in pure disbelief that her sister could be so careless with her words … and her a witch and all.
“Take that back!” Sarah hissed.
“Will not!” Rory shot back.
“Will too or I’ll zap you!” Sarah hissed back.
Her eyes were narrowed and the littlest witch of all of them had venom in her tone, and even an outsider could see that she truly meant it.
“I put a little magic behind that as well.” Rory beamed a smirk at her sister. “Hark, is that the pitter-patter of big old wolf feet I hear coming for you?” Rory chuckled in pure delight, as she cupped her ear, and the very next moment Sarah had zapped her.
Rory let out a yelp and zapped Sarah right back. Which only made Sarah return fire, and so it went on, the shrieking and zapping, until Celine’s voice bellowed out into the room, and you could have heard a pin drop in the sudden silence that followed the old woman’s cut glass tones rattling the windows.
“That’s enough!” Celine backed up that dictate with a short, sharp zap for each of them.
If her grandchildren wanted to act like spoilt brats then she would treat them like for like. There were more important things to deal with than squabbles.
“Hate you,” Sarah bit out from the side of her mouth at Rory as she folded her arms and huffed at her sister.
“Right back at you!” Rory hissed back.
“Meet the kids!” Abi said on a smirk as she wiggled her eyebrows at her mate once more, and for one long moment Luke’s eyes took in the two siblings as they stood like bookends next to each other, both with their arms folded, and stubborn looks on their faces, and then he gave another deep chuckle…
“Everyone comes with a little baggage,” he offered with a wide grin.
Hell, if he could keep she-wolves in line, what were a couple of witches?
“She’s got trunks of it,” Celine bit out, and Abi blinked just once as she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.
“One big old one that I can’t exactly take to the dump,” Abi whispered, knowing that Luke’s ears would pick it up, and sure enough, his shoulders started to rise and fall as he silently laughed.
“I heard that,” Celine bit out sternly.
“Guessing the vampire doesn’t need to fix her hearing,” Luke offered.
“Maybe he could do something for her personality,” Dane put in, and Celine snapped her head around and glared at him.
The beta swallowed down hard and kissed his backside goodbye.
CHAPTER SIX
~
“Young man, if you step one foot into this house then you had better come out swinging.” Celine declared as Dane lifted his booted foot and went to take the first step.
He hesitated on a scowl of disbelief.
“I’m not fighting you!” He growled at the older woman, and she rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Oh dear, this just won’t do,” she said.
Raising her hand; she snapped her fingers and the front door slammed shut in their faces once more, almost blindsiding Abi, who needed to quickly jump to the side to get out of the way of the battering ram that came straight for her.
“Mother!” Abi exclaimed, turning towards the matriarch and placing her hands on hips, unimpressed.
“Aren’t you a little old to be getting gentlemen callers dear?” Celine berated her.
“Not the true love kind,” Sarah offered back. “Mum deserves a little happiness, a hot mate, and a happily ever after, don’t you think?”
“And leave her home in the city for … this?” Celine snorted her contempt for that scenario.
The truth was, deep down, she didn’t want to have to think of the family splitting up. If Rory and Abi moved away then the others would surely follow, maybe not right away, but they’d make the move to be near their mother.
That meant no more Sunday dinners.
No more family spells.
No more time with her family unless she hauled herself out to the middle of nowhere, and how often could she make that journey?
Even putting aside the fact that there were wolves at the door – literally – she couldn’t stand the thought of the family going their own separate ways.
“Some people like this,” Sarah shot back on a frown of disapproval for her grandmother’s words.
“Do you like this?” Celine asked…
“I don’t like this…” Rory grumbled.
She was still standing in the same place, unable to move because, truth be told, she was still partly shell-shocked from the whole – tall, dark, and sexy mate thing.
“Well good for you. It’s nice to see that someone has their priorities straight.” Celine raised her chin and looked down her nose at Abi, and the woman sighed.
“Go ahead, mother, tell us all how we should really be feeling,” Abi groaned.
“I feel…” Rory frowned – thinking, or at least trying to think through the storm within her mind. “Numb.” She offered, somewhat dumbfounded with the situation that she’d found herself in…
“I’ll huff and I’ll puff…” Luke’s deep tone cut through the air like a knife, and both Abi and Jessica chuckled.
“At least he has sense of humour,” Sarah shrugged.
“He’s going to need one with this family,” Jessica shot back. “Hey, I’ve got a new, somewhat hot, step daddy.” She chuckled and Celine looked at her in horror.
“That isn’t going to happen, your mother is too sensible to do such a thing as to throw away everything that she has for a…” Celine paused and bit down on a myriad of curse words that came to mind…
“I can hear you,” Luke growled, still on the other side of that front door, when all he wanted was to kick it in.
“Oh grandma, what big ears he’s got,” Sarah grinned with glee as Celine fixed her with a steely glare that could make a flower wither and die like the hard frost of winter had gotten to it.
“Young lady, I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough,” Celine berated her.
“A big, bad wolf at the door that doesn’t want to eat anyone … What’s not to take seriously?” Jessica shrugged; she pushed up to her feet and fixed her gaze on Sarah. “I’m thinking you are regretting that whole it’s the wooluf thing right about now though.”
“You are thinking wrong,” Sarah offered back.
“I’m regretting the whole it’s the wooluf thing,” Rory looked miserable.
“Buck up, sis,” Jessica chuckled. “At least you know you’re not going to die a lonely old cat lady.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Celine offered with a snort of contempt.
“Nothing, Gran…” She offered the woman and innocent smile, “for you.”
“I … don’t have a cat!” Celine tossed up a hand in frustration, and shook her head as she appealed to Abi. “You see how silly this whole thing is, don’t you?”
Abi knew her mother
well and she knew that the woman would immediately have been thinking about herself – about having no family around her in her old age. She couldn’t fault her for that … nobody wanted to be old and alone…
But fate was fate, and Abi had to believe that they were put there for a reason and not just on an old woman’s whim of a holiday.
“Yes, fine. As you say,” Celine waved an absent hand when her daughter didn’t answer. “Go ahead, run off with your Wolfman.”
“Nobody is running off anywhere with anyone,” Abi sighed.
It wasn’t as if she was overly joyful about being a mate. In her late forties, finding the one true love of your life had come as a bit of a shock to her. Maybe if she had been fifteen years younger … but then her children would have been toddlers, and would she have considered moving them into a wolf pack?
Maybe that was why fate had waited so long … Lord only knew that she’d had a hard time of it when her husband had taken off on the family and she’d had to raise the girls alone.
Maybe fate had been cruel to be kind. At least the girls were women now and could stand on their own two feet in the big wide world. She wouldn’t have to make that choice for them.
But still … she was in her late forties.
This was her chance to be happy. To grow old with someone, but a shifter? She certainly hadn’t seen that coming in the stars, the Tarot, or anywhere else.
“I’m certainly not,” Rory bit back. “Running from someone, now that’s a different thing entirely, and highly plausible.”
“Well, you have smarts, child.” Celine offered back with a verbal smart to her daughter’s indecisiveness.
“I’m just saying that this needs to be sorted out,” Abi sighed again.
If there was one thing her mother could do abundantly well, it was turn a crisis into a drama, and a drama into a crisis, and this was certainly both of those things.
Abi’s head was still swimming with finding out that she might just be a mate, but to have her mother there trying to guilt her as well was a little more painful than it needed to be.
What was fate thinking in inviting a she-demon to a mating? Abi wondered. But who could really second guess fate?