by M. L. Briers
“Thanks,” Luke growled. “We’ll keep that under advisement.” He scowled back at the man, but the sound of his mate’s gentle, somewhat embarrassed laughter made that frown disappear faster than it had come.
“So, Jessica is the only hold out!” Sarah announced out of the blue, and her sister’s head snapped around on her neck as she glared at her.
“Do you want me to hurt you?” Jessica narrowed her eyes on her sister and considered doing just that.
“She always was a stick in the mud,” Rory added, siding with her younger sister.
“Not sure what she’s holding out for…” Sarah tossed back to Rory, and Rory grinned, mischief playing between the two of them.
“I know what you’re doing…” Jessica grumbled. She wasn’t about to rise to the bait.
“It’s not like she’s going to get a better offer,” Rory shrugged.
“Not with those crows feet…” Sarah said, and Jessica snapped her head back on her neck as she lifted her hand and touched the corner of her eye…
“I don’t have c…” she hissed.
“And her boobs look to be slowly sliding downwards too…” Rory said on a loud whisper. Jessica gasped and her head snapped down as her eyes flicked from her left breast to her right one and back again…
“They are not even…” she protested.
“And she’s putting on a few pounds around her love handles lately,” Sarah whispered back, and Jessica drew in a breath and grumbled it back out again.
“Total muffin top!” Rory nodded back…
“Wow, and we thought the elders were bad,” Paul offered to Dane.
“Spills right over the waistband of her jeans,” Sarah said, puffing out her cheeks to the sound of Rory’s chuckle.
“I suppose you two think you’re funny,” Jessica sneered, and both sister’s turned towards her, folded their arms, and tipped their heads to the left in unison.
“The power of three,” Rory offered, and Sarah took up the mantle.
“But then there were two because one sister was stubborn…” Sarah said.
“Pig headed…” Rory chimed in.
“Selfish…” Sarah added…
“Fine!” Jessica bit out…
“Fine?” Scott growled, snapping to attention at that one word.
“Not you fine, them fine,” she snapped back, and the alpha grumbled as he rolled his eyes back towards the coffee. “I get it, got it, loud and clear, so shut your yapping!” She hissed at her siblings.
“So,” Rory lifted her hand and inspected her fingernails, “You’re gonna stay…?”
All eyes were on Jessica and she withered under such scrutiny…
“I’m thinking about it…” she hissed back.
“I think she needs a little convincing…” Sarah said with a chuckle and mischief within her eyes.
“I think she needs a little persuasion…” Rory nodded slowly, conspirators to the last.
“I think you should both wind your necks in before…” she yelped then, as Scott picked her up and threw her over his shoulder…
One moment she was about to give her sister’s a little zap of her magic to warn them off, and the next she was hanging down the alpha’s back like a limp rag…
“What the…?” she bit out, raising her head as best she could and catching sight of Rory first. She narrowed her eyes on her sister…
“With the blessings of the family, of course,” Scott announced, and Jessica gasped…
“The family!” She shrieked.
“Go for it!” Sarah chuckled.
“You got my vote!” Rory giggled.
“Nothing wrong with a little gentle persuasion in my book,” Abi offered back to the sound of Jessica grumbling out curses of disbelief.
“Traitors!” She yelled as Scott started for the door and she swung down his back. “Call yourself witches…? Throwing me to the wolves!” She shrieked as she disappeared out of the door and around the corner, but they could still hear her grumbling and growling curse words…
“Should we go rescue her?” Abi wondered…
“Trust me, ten minutes alone with her mate and she’s not going to want to be rescued,” Rory chuckled.
“But she hasn’t had her morning coffee…” Sarah noted, and then the sound of a loud thump on the ceiling made them all stare upwards…
“I think he just got that message,” Rory chuckled back.
“Witches…” the vampire sighed with a small shake of his head, and he jumped in place as Celine stalked through the back door and glared up at him.
“Do you live here?” she demanded.
“Not here – here…” he started and she snorted.
“Well, there’s the door, you obviously know how to use it,” she snapped back, and he frowned long and hard, before he turned his eyes towards Luke and the enforcer just shrugged…
“Thanks for your support,” Tobias offered back to Luke, before he turned on his heels and stalked out of the door.
“Damned if I ever,” Richard chuckled. “Do you know how many years I’ve been trying to do that for?” he asked and his mate grinned up at him, mischief in her eyes.
“Well, now I’m here, you don’t need to,” Celine offered back, as sweet as pie, and Abi’s eyebrows shot up on her forehead as her mouth fell open… “Catching flies, dear!” Celine bit out, and Abi snapped her jaws together. “See, it’s magic.” She whispered up to Richard and the elder chuckled long and hard.
“Twilight Zone,” Abi shot out of the side of her mouth to Luke.
“Noticed,” he offered back.
Just then Scott tore into the room, straight over to the coffee pot, snatched it up and headed for the door again…
“Cup!” Rory shouted and that caused him to slam on the breaks, do an about turn, snatch up the cup that Luke held out to him, and take off again at lightning speed…
“Yeah, she’s already got him trained,” Sarah chuckled…
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
~
The three witch siblings sat in the comfortable, sturdy, wooden garden chairs that the pack had lovingly crafted, and watched their men working through the open doors of the barn across the way.
“I still can’t believe that you gave in, just like that, and mated Scott,” Rory teased Jessica.
“Have you seen my mate?” Jessica snorted a chuckle, “who could resist him? Besides, you two fell at the first hurdle, at least I held out…”
“Not even twenty four hours,” Tobias coughed into his hand as he made that comment.
“Shut up, vampire, or we’ll tell Gran that you’re sitting up there in the tree, near her granddaughters…” Sarah chuckled, and the vampire groaned at the thought of the matriarch.
“She’ll warm to me, right?” Tobias snorted his contempt for the woman. He couldn’t even get one foot in the door of the main house when she was there, and it was getting tiresome.
It had been three days since he’d had a good home cooked meal.
“Not likely,” Rory offered up to him, as she tipped her head back against the chair and grinned at the man sitting on the large bough above them, legs dangling downwards.
“I suppose I can wait her out. I mean she is old…” he said and got three long hisses back in return. “Oh, wait, heads up, troubles coming your way.”
Candice was taking a slow walk towards the group. Her chin was down near her chest and she was eyeing them from beneath her brows, a mixture of disdain and resignation on her face…
“Looks like someone might have been told to play nice with others,” Jessica bit out of the side of her mouth, even though she knew that the she-wolf’s ears could pick her words up without any problem.
“You’re right,” Candice offered, “I was told to apologise.” She didn’t look happy about it, but then, neither would they in her place.
“Go on then,” Rory shrugged a shoulder.
“Rory,” Jessica’s tone warned her sister off.
“Sh
e started it,” Rory scowled back.
“And she’s here to finish it, hopefully.” Jessica turned her attention back towards the she-wolf.
“We all have to live as a pack,” Candice muttered, as though those words had been drilled into her very soul.
“Yes we do,” Tobias offered from his lofty perch, “and I can’t even get into the main house when the Doberman is on watch.” He grumbled.
“Doberman?” Candice asked, looking confused.
“Little old grey haired witch, about so high,” he motioned a few inches between his finger and thumb, “Vicious creature, tongue like a razorblade…?” He saw a spark of amusement in Candice’s eyes, and yet until the three witches chuckled, she didn’t risk it.
“She told me to pull my shoulders back, stop slouching or I’ll never find a mate…” Candice frowned, “I’m not sure how that works, exactly…”
“Just ignore her,” Jessica offered. “She’s Richard’s problem now.”
“She’s a pretty big problem to me too,” Tobias grumbled.
“She’s an elder, you have to respect your elders because they have all the wisdom,” Candice gave a half sigh.
“Have you met our Gran? The woman doesn’t qualify for wisdom…” Sarah snorted.
“Maybe venomous chastising,” Rory added.
“And she’ll add to the mixture a big dollop of guilt sprinkled with snippets of self-loathing for the unlucky recipient,” Jessica said.
“Ignore them, they are her granddaughters and will obviously paint a rosier picture of the woman because they’re biased.” Tobias crowed.
“She can’t be that bad…” Candice offered back and all four of them, vampire included, slowly nodded. “Ok, well, so I’m sorry about the other day, and I guess I’ll try to stay out of your Gran’s way.”
The she-wolf went to turn on her heels to walk away.
“Why were you such a bitch?” Rory asked, and Jessica rolled her eyes on a groan.
“Tact of our grandmother…” she grumbled as Candice turned back.
“It’s a big pack, and they might not have been our mates, but you were here and taking the best of them,” she shrugged. “If their mates didn’t come along they would have settled…”
“Settled?” Sarah snorted her contempt for that answer.
“Why would you settle?” Jessica asked on a scowl.
“Not all of us meet our mates,” Candice sighed as she looked towards the barn.
“Well, that’s just wrong,” Sarah tossed out.
“Wrong…” Rory offered on a scowl, “and unnecessary…” She looked to Jessica.
“Unnecessary… especially when there’s magic that can bring your mates to you…” Jessica grinned back, looking from Rory to Sarah with a big smile that wouldn’t have gone amiss on the Cheshire Cat.
“Oh no!” Tobias groaned… “I feel trouble brewing, like cauldron trouble, like witch trouble…”
“Shut up or we’ll bring your mate too…” Sarah scowled.
“You can do that?” Candice asked.
“Get the vampire his mate? Sure, she might be another Gran…” Rory spluttered laughter as Tobias groaned.
“Please don’t include me in your witchy spells.” He said indignantly.
“But just think, vampire, if you get another gran then the two old bats can go at it tooth and nail,” She teased.
“While I’m not opposed to the idea of two women fighting over me… I’d prefer them to be a lot younger than my true age.” He offered downwards…
“We can do it if you want to try,” Jessica offered to the she-wolf, and she nodded back eagerly.
“Nobody tell the alpha until after it’s done,” Jessica whispered.
“Nobody tell Gran, like ever!” Rory hissed back.
“I’m telling!” Tobias announced with glee, and the next moment, all three witches had zapped the man in unison, and he fell backwards from the tree to the ground like a wounded bird.
Laughter spluttered at the sound of the heavy thud as he hit the hard earth, and the long winded sound of a groan only made that worse…
“I wish I could do that!” Janet, the little she-wolf with the wide brown eyes announced as she came skipping towards them…
“Pure … evil…” Tobias groaned.
“That’s what you have us for,” Rory offered to the girl and her eyes widened even more with glee…
“Really! Can you zap Max? No… Link!” she chuckled back.
“Females!” Tobias snorted.
“Girls!” Celine’s voice cracked out across the clearing like a whip…
“Oh nooooo!” Tobias shot upwards like he was rising from the dead. His head whipped from side to side until he spotted the woman stalking towards them… “Gotta go!” He bit out, and shot off on fast feet.
“I wish I could do that too!” Janet chuckled.
“We all wish we could do that when Grandma’s on the warpath,” Rory bit out.
“Go, save yourselves!” Jessica offered the two she-wolves. “We have to suffer her.”
“We’ll see you later,” Candice offered back, and her eyes confirmed the hope that they weren’t just teasing her about the mate spell.
“Lips sealed,” Sarah warned her and Candice nodded as she started off away from them with Janet in tow.
“Back straight dear!” Celine called after the she-wolf and all three witches groaned. “Well,” Celine announced, slightly breathless as she stopped in front of them and placed her hands on her hips… “I think it’s time we practiced some magic.”
“Gran?” Rory asked on a slight frown. “How do you feel about mates, fate, and a helping hand?”
The End.