by M. L. Briers
“Please tell me it’s not another witch,” George closed his eyes as he made a wish of his own.
“Too bad, one witch coming up,” Jessica chuckled.
“Couldn’t I have someone a little nicer than a witch — a troll perhaps?” George folded his arms across his broad muscled chest and sighed.
“Sorry, mates come in all shapes and sizes, but hardly ever trolls. I am seeing a new trend in witches over the last few years…”
“Oh good, special torture just for me.”
“Well, it’s properly more to do with the fact that witches don’t always do as they’re told, as you well know.” Jessica shrugged.
“Don’t I just.” George followed up his words with a long groan.
If he did have to be the Christmas fairy — again! Then why, oh why, oh why did it have to be another witch?
“And it’s a Wolf shifter,” Jessica shrugged again. “I thought I’d throw that little titbit in before you started your meltdown and ended up in a ball on the floor, you know, talking to yourself for the next however long.”
“You’ve never seen me do that,” George grumbled back.
“Says you,” Jessica offered back with a small snigger.
She didn’t know what George got up to in his spare time when he wasn’t in the bar with his friends drinking. But then she didn’t want to know either.
Their relationship was strictly business, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. George — was a pig. Admittedly, after his last escapade as the Christmas fairy, he had grown a little — but he was still a pig.
“I hate Wolves.” George groaned again.
“You hate everybody, George.”
“That’s not true. I have a few friends,” George offered back.
“I know you hate Wolves. Look on the bright side; they’re better than witches.” Jessica offered with a smug look.
“Did I tell you that I don’t like you very much?” George grumbled.
“I’m not here to be liked by you, George. I’m here to help you be the best Christmas fairy that you can be.”
“I guess.” George sighed once more.
“Oh, and George,” Jessica waited for the man to raise his gaze to hers. “Boobs.”
George flinched once more, and Jessica walked away chuckling.
He knew that she was there to make him the best Christmas fairy that he could be, and hopefully, to stop him messing up this time. That didn’t mean that he didn’t want to kill her.
~
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~
‘ Now, remember, George, you can’t kidnap this witch.’ Jessica informed him. She was floating around in fairy form once more, and once more he wanted to reach out and splat her.
“I know I can’t kidnap this witch,” George offered back in a voice that was dripping with acidity. “What do you take me for?”
‘Do you really want me to answer that question?’
“Not this side of hell freezing over, and not if you want to live to see another day, I don’t” he grumbled, but then he spotted his prey. “Target acquired.”
‘Look at you with the spy talk.’ Jessica chuckled, and even that sound grated on his nerves. ‘Go, get her tiger!’ Jessica added as he started off across the snow-covered street.
Jessica had to admit that she felt better this time about working with George. The man did seem to have learned the lessons of the past.
This time things could just go much, much smoother.
~
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~
‘What part of don’t kidnap this witch didn’t you get, George?’ Jessica floated in mid-air with an annoyed flutter of her wings and folded her arms across her chest as she sighed a breath out.
“A funny thing happened on the way to… mating,” George looked contrite, but that wasn’t enough for Jessica.
He’d still kidnapped the witch, and the woman was fighting against her magical gag — which silenced her words even when her mouth was moving — and she was very animated. Jessica would have been to, and she didn’t need to hear the words, it wasn’t hard to lip-read what the witch was saying, and not much of it was repeatable around children.
‘I don’t believe you did it again,’ Jessica grumbled. They were back to square one. If George had learned his lesson, then he had a funny way of showing it. ‘You’re making all the same mistakes.’
“That’s not exactly true,” George offered back as he slammed the door of the witch’s car, and stalked around to the driver’s side.
‘ Oh, please enlighten me,’ Jessica grumbled as she flew over the top of the car and buzzed inside when he opened the door, settling on the dashboard, with her legs hanging over the edge, and a look of disdain on her face for when George settled in the driver’s seat.
“I know not to let a drunken witch escape in the snow.” George was winging it.
He’d started out with the intention to do things differently this time, but when push came to shove, and the witch had shoved him — he’d resorted to the lesser evil of kidnapping her. It wasn’t entirely his fault; if the witch had just played ball, then they wouldn’t be in the situation that he now found himself in.
Life would be so much easier if they didn’t keep giving him witches to deal with. But it was what it was, and now he had a kidnapped witch in the back of her own car once more.
“Buzz off and let me drive.” George swatted his hand toward Jessica, and yet she didn’t move an inch.
‘As with so many things in life, your driving is; making it up as you go along. But go ahead, bunny-hop to your next catastrophe — don’t mind me, I’ll just be here picking up the pieces.’
“You are just such a — buzzkill — does pessimism run in your veins?” George gave a small shake of his head in disbelief as he shoved the key in the ignition, turned it, and the car roared to life.
‘No, George, you’ve already shown what can happen when you don’t think things through, and here we go again. George’s magical mystery tour of catastrophe.’
“Well, here,” George hit the button, and the window rolled down. “Why don’t you step off of my magical mystery tour of catastrophe before it gets underway?”
‘In case you didn’t notice, it already has.’
“Well then, strap in for the ride.” George chuckled like a madman, and Jessica groaned at the thought of having to pick up the pieces.
She guessed the one thing about being George’s supervisor was that there was never a dull moment.
CHAPTER THREE
~
George knew exactly where to find the witch’s mate. Every week, without fail, the shifter was in town — not the witch’s town, but one over – checking that the local vampire was behaving and that all his businesses were trouble-free.
It was that easy.
‘George, take the gag off the witch,’ Jessica berated him for his evil ways.
“Did you never hear the saying; silence is golden?” George tossed back.
‘Did you never hear the saying; the carrot not the stick?’
“Did you never hear the saying; too many cooks spoil the broth?”
‘Boobs, George, boobs.’ Jessica grinned from ear to ear when George flinched once more.
“Fine,” George grumbled, and with a flick of his fingers, the gag was removed, and a stream of obscenities flowed from the witch’s mouth and filled the air. “See what you did now?” He tossed a scathing look at Jessica, and the fairy shrugged her shoulders.
‘She’s only saying what everybody thinks, George.’
“I am going to rip your head off and shove it up your…”
George flicked his fingers again, and the witch was silent once more. He shot Jessica an evil glare.
‘Let’s be realistic — we’ve all had that urge, George.’
“I can’t wait for this day to be over,” George grumbled.
When they hit the mile marker for the town — and George did hit the mile marker with the car’s bumper, taking it cl
ean out of the ground and tossing it into the air — George sighed with relief. Soon, the witch would be her mate’s problem and not his. He relished that thought.
‘Gag, George, now.’
George made a sound like he was about to throw up. He offered Jessica a wide, teasing smile of smugness, and she zapped him.
“Fine,” he sighed.
The fairy really needed to lighten up and grow a sense of humor. He flicked his fingers towards the back once more, and the witch spat out another stream of obscenities that turned the air blue and his ears a deep red.
‘It’s true what they say — your ears do burn when someone is talking about you,’ Jessica offered him a smug smile back.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Tonya hissed out as she tried to push up from the back seat to a sitting position.
The magical bindings that prevented her from using her magic against the male fairy annoyed her so. By then, she would already have put the man in the dirt and stomped up and down on him — magically speaking, of course.
“I told you once already — does nobody listen anymore?” George sighed.
“A date!” Tonya hissed back. “Why the hell would I go on a date with you?”
“Not me!” George grumbled as he gave a small shake of his head in disappointment. “You females really don’t listen, do you?”
George felt the hard sting of magic, and he knew that the witch couldn’t use hers. He shot a look at Jessica who was conveniently busy inspecting her fingernails and grumbled to himself.
“Really?”
‘Female power!’ Jessica made a small fist and punched the air before she offered him another smug smile that he wanted to wipe off her face. It was a shame that right then and there wasn’t the time.
“Oh, I heard you — a date! A date? What the hell do I need to go on a date for?” Tonya bit out with every bit of venom that she could muster within her. It wasn’t hard — the fairy was as annoying as hell.
“Love — not money,” George chuckled at his own funny.
“I will hurt you,” Tonya promised.
‘Not if I get there first,’ Jessica chuckled, but when he shot another look at her, she was inspecting fingernails once more.
“Are you and your sidekick insane?” Tonya asked.
“My sidekick…?” George grinned from ear to ear as Jessica hissed in annoyance. “I like that.”
‘The only kick around here is going to be me kicking your backside,’ Jessica grumbled.
“Hey, you wanted the witch un-gagged, don’t blame me for your mistakes and bad judgment,” George chuckled.
‘Bite me!’
“Not even with someone else’s teeth,” George snorted a chuckle.
“Hello?” Tonya would have given him a short, sharp shock of her magic if she could have.
“I’m sorry, did someone say something?” George tossed back over his shoulder and heard another stream of obscenities that came from the witch. “Potty mouth.” George chuckled.
“Better than being a poop-head,” the witch offered back with a snort of contempt for him.
“Poop-head?” George chuckled.
‘Boobs, George, boobs.’
George sighed inwardly, but he flinched outwardly and heard Jessica chuckled once more. He was being ganged up on by females — nothing new there then — they were closer to shifters than they knew. Women had a pack mentality.
He really just wanted to get through this latest mission and be done with it. He could use a drink, and the thought of meeting his friend’s at the bar was like a guiding star offering him a way home.
He just needed to get rid of the females in his life, and everything would be fine. Females were the bane of his existence.
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~
“Okay, let’s go,” George said as he stood at the back door of the car and eyed the witch.
He was as close to her as he wanted to get. She might still be bound by his magic, but she looked like a mean one.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Tonya bit out.
“Oh, but I think you are,” George offered her an evil grin.
Then he used his magical powers to bring the witch out of the car and onto her feet. Feet that he controlled.
Tonya tried to move the parts that George didn’t want her to — she also tried to flick her magic from her fingers — and found that wasn’t working either. George slammed the car door and turned his attention to her.
“When I get out of…” She started her threat, and George had heard it all before.
“Just be a good witch.” George reached up and patted her on the head. She offered him something of a growl. It wasn’t as good as a she-wolf, but George thought it was rather fitting considering where he was taking her.
“Good witch my…”
“And we’re off,” George said, as he used his magic to make her walk out of the back alley and into the main town. Admittedly, she was shuffling a little on her feet, but he thought that was fitting to. She looked like a penguin in the snow.
Now all he needed to do was to locate the alpha. He might just get home in time for the last round of drinks at the bar.
CHAPTER FOUR
~
George couldn’t believe his luck. Not only was his target outside on the street — but he had a female with him, an older woman — the man was less likely to make a scene.
Not only that, but they were looking at Christmas trees. How convenient — for him.
“I don’t know what you’re playing at, but that’s an alpha,” Tonya warned the fairy.
“Really? You don’t say.” George’s eyes flashed with amusement.
Greg felt the magic in the air, and his beast rallied inside of him. His dark eyes searched for the danger, and it wasn’t hard to spot — it was coming right for him.
“A witch and a fairy – there’s something you don’t see every day,” Rachel, his mother, bit out a snort of amusement.
“Stay behind me,” Greg said with an underlying growl of warning toward the fairy.
“I think I can handle Twinkabell and Broom-Hilda,” Rachel snorted another chuckle of amusement.
“Go tree shopping, she said. There’s something magical about Christmas, she said.” Greg motioned toward the magical pair and raised his left eyebrow at his mother.
“Don’t you look at me with that tone of voice — I changed disgusting poop filled nappies for you when you were a pup.” His mother offered him the evil eye. She did it so well.
“How am I looking at you with a tone of voice?” The alpha demanded.
“You know what you’re doing.”
His mother folded her arms and assumed the position of trying to make him feel guilty. Of course, it worked, it always did.
“Can I get back to being an alpha now?” Greg grumbled. He didn’t give her a chance to answer as he turned toward the problem at hand. “You two had better be on your way out of town.” He growled just so there was no misunderstanding between them.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Tonya hissed at the fairy.
“Doesn’t it though?” George offered her a teasing smile before he turned his attention back toward the alpha. “But, alas…”
“Keep walking, fairy,” Greg growled.
“Don’t say fairy in public,” Rachel whispered. “People might get the wrong idea and think you’re picking on a gay person. Although, why they have a reason to be any gayer than anyone else is beyond me. You’d think after years of persecution…”
Greg grumbled a growl.
“He’s a fairy, what do you want me to call him?” The alpha bit out of the corner of his mouth, trying to keep his voice low and not be overheard.
“I don’t know. What are men allowed to use as a derogatory term for other men nowadays?” Rachel shrugged.
“Can we move this long a little — my life is ticking away as we speak,” George grumbled.
“More than you know,” Greg growled.
‘Yea for the posturing men!’ Jessica’s voice was upbeat, and then she groaned.
‘Oh good, another one,” Rachel grumbled as her sensitive hearing picked up the high pitched chatter of the female fairy.
“Females everywhere,” George grumbled.
“And you’re still standing here,” Greg offered another warning growl that underlined his words.
“I have a reason to be here…” George started, but the alpha cut him off.
“It better be a good one,” Greg sneered.
“Tell me, do you have the urge to sniff?” George asked.
“Don’t sniff!” Rachel and Tonya said together. Then they eyed each other with suspicion.
“I’m not going to sniff.” The alpha grumbled as he rolled his eyes and gave a small shake of his head in disbelief.
“Take your witch and go fluffy head,” Rachel growled at George.
“What is it with shifters and my hair?” George grumbled.
‘It is rather silly hair.’
“It is not silly hair. I happened to like my hair,” George grumbled back.
“Do we have to talk about the fairy’s hair?” Greg growled.
“Well, you haven’t done a very good job in running him out of town, now have you?” Rachel offered him a scathing look.
Greg grumbled to himself. If she wasn’t all about trying to make him feel guilty, then she was meddling in his alpha-ship. Mothers!
“Wow, it’s another Miriam,” George said.
“Who’s Miriam?” Tonya asked.
“The fairy godmother,” George sighed.
‘Speaking of which — tick-tock — tick-tock — George is running down the clock.’
“Yap-yap, you are just so negative,” George grumbled.
“Here’s a positive — leave town,” Greg growled.
“How is that a positive?” George had to ask.
“You stay alive,” Greg allowed another, deeper growl to rumble through his chest.
“I think you should take that as a challenge,” Tonya said. She was stirring the pot — anything to buy some time.