by M. L. Briers
Evan was trying to follow his tracks in the snow — but the snow that was coming down just got too thick, and it covered up the impressions on the ground.
Evan had to try to rely on his nose more. With the winds high, blowing across the land, that was almost an impossibility as well.
George had shifted into his fairy form and had taken off with Jessica, dodging the missile-like snowflakes and scouring the land around them.
Deborah had pulled on her magic and had cast her net as far as she could away from her, away from Evan, in the hope of picking up Marcus’s supernatural presence. The one thing that the four of them had in common was that they weren’t about to give up.
“We are losing time,” Evan growled. “I can’t track him like this.”
‘Over here! Over here! George has picked up his trail — follow us,’ Jessica called as she buzzed by his ear, and the man resisted the urge to swat her away.
“I can’t…” Evan started as he shook his head.
“I can,” Deborah assured him as she started off after Jessica’s aura and the magical trail that the fairy was leaving behind her.
Fairy dust.
Normally, Deborah wouldn’t have anything to do with fairy dust, but this was exceptional circumstances. They needed to find Marcus, and they needed to find him soon.
Evan’s internal combustion engine kept his body nice and warm, but Marcus’ body was still growing, still changing, and he was half human. The weather would get to him eventually.
“You sure you can track them?” Evan didn’t want to go off on a wild goose chase. He still didn’t trust the faeries, but he did trust his mate.
“Jessica is leaving a trail of fairy dust. As long as she does that then we’re good to go,” Deborah tossed back over her shoulder as she chased after the fairy, and Evan chased after her.
“Find him, Deborah — please,” Evan growled out.
Deborah shot a quick glance back over her shoulder at Evan, and the look on his face was heartbreaking. The man was worried sick, and helpless to do much of anything but follow their lead.
That must have been hard for a man like Evan, having to rely on somebody else. Deborah wasn’t about to let him down.
Evan and Marcus needed her, and she’d never had that before. For the moment, worrying about the mating pull was the least of her problems. Right then and there all that mattered was not letting them down.
CHAPTER TWELVE
~
‘George! George — I have them — they’re following me,’ Jessica said as she closed the distance between them and inadvertently nudged George with her wing.
George immediately took evasive action, but in doing so, his other wing caught a leaf, and a big dollop of snow dragged his wing downward, and his body followed.
George tried desperately to flap his wing and shake off the snow, but it wasn’t happening for him. He spiraled downward, picked up speed, and entered a snow bank head first with his legs sticking up in the air.
‘Whoops!’ Jessica grimaced, and she circled back towards the man. ‘Come on, George, time is wasting!’
When George’s legs started kicking against the air, and his feet flapped like he was trying to swim in flippers, Jessica knew that something was wrong, and it was – George was stuck.
Jessica groaned inwardly, flew down, wrapped a hand around each of George’s ankles and furiously flapped her wings in flight, and she finally managed to wrench his head and shoulders from the snow.
Jessica groaned as she ended up on her pride. Both faeries offered a stream of curse words that turned the air blue.
George turned accusing eyes on Jessica, and the woman snapped her mouth shut and grimaced.
‘What’s the first rule of flight club?’ George demanded with a dark scowl that sent her defenses up.
‘Don’t talk about flight club?’
‘Don’t even start with me…’
‘Fine, Mr. bad mood. The first rule is to make sure you get in the damn air.’
‘Second rule then?’
‘Make sure you have somewhere soft to land – and you did!’ She snapped back.
‘Third damn rule!’
‘Don’t get too close,’ she muttered.
‘Right, don’t get too close.’ He offered her a damning look.
‘Did I mess up your hair?’ She sneered back.
‘You and me…’ he bit out as he pulled himself to his feet and shook the snow from his head and shoulders like a dog, ‘will be having damn words when this is over.’
‘Can’t wait – now, if you’re done playing, can we find the bear-boy?’
George caught a movement and flicked his gaze to the side. The next moment Jessica squealed as George flew at her head-on, tackling her with a full body lock, and sent the pair of them spinning around and around across the snow.
‘Are you kidding me?’ she hissed as they finally came to a stop, and she unleashed one hell of a magical zap at him.
George’s whole body seized up; every muscle was forced to lock-up so tightly that George actually waited for them to rip apart.
‘I – just – saved – your – ungrateful – backside,’ George bit out each and every word.
‘From what? A fast-moving snowflake?’ Jessica hissed back.
‘That.’ George’s eyes flicked sideways, and Jessica’s head turned to take in the sight.
‘Whoops!’
‘One – way – to put it.’ George felt her magic release him from its tight grip. ‘You’re welcome.’
~
~
~
One moment Deborah was rushing after Jessica, and the next, Evan had wrapped one big strong arm around her waist, and her feet lifted off the ground as she was spun behind the shifter’s body. She didn’t know which way was up.
“What the…?”
The hard warning growl of her mate sent a shiver down her spine. That warning obviously wasn’t meant for her, it couldn’t have been meant for Marcus, and she very much doubted that Evan thought the faeries were dangerous.
Deborah tried to take a step to the side to see around Evan’s bulky frame, but she was being held in place by his strong grip, and the sound of an equally chilling growl that almost matched her mate’s told her all she needed to know.
Bear.
“Marcus.” Evan’s voice was as hard as steel. “Easy. Your first shift will always be the hardest. It’s easy sailing from here on in.” Evan assured him.
Evan hated himself at that moment. The first shift was always the hardest, and he should have been there for him.
Marcus had come to an age where it was bound to happen sooner rather than later, but the boy’s emotions were obviously all over the place, and that wasn’t good. Those emotions had obviously triggered the shift — and it was hard enough to control your beast at first, without the added anger.
Worst of all — Deborah was in the firing line. He should never have let her come with him.
He berated himself.
He hated himself.
He might just have to choose between Marcus and his mate after all.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
~
The one thing that Evan didn’t want to do was to challenge Marcus’ bear. The cub was still young — the bear was new — and the beast would relish the thought of being tested.
That couldn’t happen. Not with his mate there.
There was too much that could go wrong. Evan had to find a way to make Marcus shift back into his human form before things went too far.
Marcus’s beast didn’t look like it wanted to let go of the boy.
Both Evan and his bear might have been sympathetic to Marcus’s plight, but still, they sensed that their mate was in danger.
“Easy, Marcus,” Evan tried not to growl and force the bear into a corner, but it was damn hard.
Evan reached behind him and pushed Deborah away. If he was going to have to go one-on-one with Marcus, then he did her anywhere near it.
Perhaps Marcus thought that now that Evan had found his mate there was no place in his life for the boy. That would never be true.
“Marcus, look at me. You and me — nothing’s changed. Let me help you pull back the bear, rein in your beast,” Evan kept his voice low and non-threatening.
It didn’t appear to have worked. A moment later and Marcus’ beast reared up and roared.
“Deborah, get out of here now,” Evan growled. He could see the way that this was going to go, and he didn’t want her anywhere near it.
“Magic…” She started, but he cut her off when the bear roared again.
“No! Leave — now,” Evan growled back.
Marcus’ bear was already starting toward the mates. The beast grumbled a low, deep, hungry growl in Deborah’s direction, and Evan could feel his bear clawing to get out.
“I’ve got this,” George announced, appearing out of nowhere and startling the bear into action.
The beast charged. Not at Evan, not even at Deborah, but at George.
~
~
~
‘Oh poop!’ Jessica bit out at the sight of the bear heading straight for George.
The fairy pulled on her magic, but before she could deliver it, the beast had collided with George — its huge bulk caught George off guard and sent him flying.
‘That’s gotta hurt,’ Jessica said as she grimaced.
The bear had already changed direction. It was heading straight for Deborah.
Evan’s beast would not be caged a moment longer. With a roar of intention, the bear burst free, and a moment later it was headed straight for Marcus’ bear.
“Boys will be boys,” Deborah muttered to herself as she pulled on her magic and called on the winds to tear them in two different directions.
Jessica was startled to action. She unleashed her magic on Marcus’ beast, forcing the shift, and bringing the boy forward.
‘Ask a man to do a job, and you have catastrophe — ask a woman and viola.’
“Tell me about it,” Deborah said as she placed her hands on her hips and regarded Evan’s bear with an expectant look.
The beast grumbled a growl. Evan tried to push forward, but his beast refused to allow it.
The bear slowly padded toward their mate.
“Oh, you don’t even want to start with me,” Deborah bit out as she lifted her hand and wagged her finger at the beast.
Evan’s bear made a strange whiny sound. Then it craned its head on its neck and brushed his cheek against the hand on her hip.
“I didn’t mean to,” Marcus rushed out.
Evan’s bear turned to look at the boy. The beast turned toward him.
“We know. No harm no foul,” Deborah said, but the tone of her voice sounded more like a warning for Evan’s bear.
The beast grumbled a growl. It seemed that Evan’s beast was less forgiving and more intent on teaching the boy a lesson.
“Back off — fat butt,” Deborah bit out, and moved faster than she had ever moved in her life.
The bear twisted its head on its neck and stared at her. She had put herself between Marcus and him.
‘Okay, well this isn’t the way I thought the evening was going to go,’ Jessica said. She didn’t like the turn of events one little bit.
Mates were supposed to be on the same page.
Mates were supposed to stick up one and other.
Mates were not supposed to be at loggerheads like they were now.
Evan’s bear grumbled a growl. It took just one step — and Marcus threw himself in front of Deborah.
“It’s not her, she’s your mate — it’s me you want,” Marcus bit out as he lifted his chin in defiance.
“Kid — no offense, get the hell behind me,” Deborah grumbled as she tried to get in front of Marcus, and the two of them started to play a somewhat surreal game of push and shove with each other.
“Glad to see we’re all on the same page now,” Evan growled. He’d shifted back into his human form while the two of them were playing silly beggars.
“That’s…” Deborah grumbled and pressed her lips together in annoyance.
“Genius,” George announced from somewhere on the other side of the bushes.
‘Oh, poop! George!’ Jessica hated to say it, but she had forgotten all about poor George.
“I’m fine,” George grumbled as he pushed up to his feet and peeked over the top of the bushes. “Unless this gets me brownie points and a day off.” He grumbled some more.
“How is this genius?” Marcus asked, confused by everything that had happened.
“Because, butthead here,” Deborah motioned toward a very naked Evan. Her eyes flicked up and down his hard, muscled body, and for a moment her brain farted, and she couldn’t even remember her own name — let alone what she was saying.
“Somebody likes what they see,” Evan’s voice was still deep, and full of his bear as he teased her.
Deborah’s brain snapped back into gear. Her eyes flicked back up to his face, and she fidgeted on the spot. Busted. Guilty as charged.
“Butthead decided that it was a good idea to threaten you so that my instincts were to kick in, and then threaten me so that yours would kick in as well.” She folded her arms and gave Evan an expectant look.
“Don’t credit me with being smart,” Evan offered back. But the corners of his lips were turning up in a grin, and laughter sparkled in his dark eyes.
“Perish the thought,” George announced. He started around the bush, and tripped over his own feet, disappearing again as he hit the ground. “Ouch.” He ground out.
‘You okay, George?’
“I’m good. I’ve got this.”
‘The walking part?’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
~
‘George, you’re limping,’ Jessica said as she fluttered around George’s head.
“I didn’t know you cared,” George offered back.
‘I don’t.’
“Could have fooled me,” George shot back.
‘A slowworm could fool you, George,’ Jessica offered in clipped tones that sounded just like the fairy godmothers. She certainly had learned a few things being at Miriam’s right hand for a few years.
“You know I really don’t like you,” George grumbled.
‘Says you.’
“Well, der, I am the one talking.”
‘How like you to like the sound of his own voice.’
“Says you!”
‘Well, doh!’
“Go away before I swapped you,” George grumbled.
‘A little while ago you were rushing to save me…’
“And I wasn’t even drunk,” George grumbled.
‘Go on, George. You can admit that you like me just a little.’
“Do me a favor — hold your breath.”
‘That’s not nice.’ She zapped him. Not hard, just a sting, but enough to get her message across. ‘You’re the Christmas fairy, George. Haven’t you learned to be nice yet?’
“To you — no,” George grumbled as he put on a spurt and walked off.
The only problem with that was that his pursuer had wings. On foot or in the air, Jessica was always going to be faster than him.
George really and truly had had enough this time. Three sets of mates — three headaches.
He’d just love it if the fairy godmother turned up now. Boy, would he have something to say to her?
The Christmas fairy indeed!
The job should come with health pay.
~
~
~
“Go on, get going inside.”
Evan tossed the door to his cabin open and motioned to Marcus to go in. Marcus motioned for Deborah to go in first. Evan grinned at that one.
“I thought you’d tell me to go
straight to Anita’s,” Marcus said.
“We’ve got something to show you first,” Evan nudged him inside the cabin. “And I’ll lend you some clothes.”
“Whoa,” Marcus stopped in his tracks and eyed the Christmas tree.
“It’s not finished yet, but,” Evan let his words trailed off as he shrugged a shoulder at the boy.
“Where did that come from?” Marcus asked.
“From the guy you put in a bush,” George offered from outside the door.
“Yeah,” Marcus grimaced as he turned and offered George an apologetic look. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m sure you’ll get the hang of your bear. And the next time our paths cross — don’t eat me,” George said, before turning and walking away.
“I still can’t believe that the Christmas fairy is a dude,” Marcus chuckled.
“You and me both,” Evan said on a slow shake of his head.
“Did he decorate the tree?” Marcus asked.
“Evan did,” Deborah said, and Marcus shot an amused look at Evan.
“You’re tree decorating now?” Marcus chuckled. Evan growled. Marcus stopped chuckling.
“Go and get some clothes from the bedroom,” Evan grumbled, and the boy didn’t argue with that.
He started toward the bedroom, and Evan turned his eyes to his mate. She was silently laughing at him as well.
“What do you do for a living, tree decorator?” Deborah asked.
“Carpenter,” Evan offered back, raising just one eyebrow at her. “Good with my hands.”
Deborah wasn’t entirely sure if Evan meant to send a rush of heat and excitement through her body, or if it was just a happy coincidence, but it was there.
The fact that her mate was still standing there stark naked, obviously, had nothing to do with it at all. Not one little bit.
“Done,” Marcus said as he appeared wearing oversized clothes that sort of made him a matching pair with Deborah.
“That was fast,” Evan said. Too fast.