by M. L. Briers
Kiera’s eyes snapped to the backdoor and she shivered long and hard as the sound of knuckles rapping on the window made her heart lurch within her.
“Not now!” Both witches snapped at the same time.
“The wolf’s knocking?”Kiera couldn’t quite wrap her head around it.
“He’s shifted back into his human form…”Teri offered gently and Kiera just gave a small raise of her eyebrows acknowledging the surreal.
“When you say mate…?” Kiera dragged her eyes away from the blackness outside the window and stared at Teri.
“Mate, wife, partner, the person they will spend the rest of their lives with…”
“Oh the hell, no bloody way on this sodding planet!” Kiera’s chair shot back across the room as she jumped to her feet and the back of her knees caught the edge of the seat. Her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief, and she tossed her arms up in the air and let them fall back at her sides helplessly.
“Well, that’s descriptive…”Caren offered as she walked over with a couple of mugs of coffee in her hand and placed them on the table, going back for a third, as Kiera stood there restlessly tossing it over in her mind.
“So the wolf is who exactly?”Kiera had a fair idea, it was rolling around in the back of her mind, but she was looking for confirmation.
“Callum…”Caren offered as she came back to sit down at the table. Kiera’s eyes snapped down at her and she drew back in horror…
“The weird, strange guy that followed us home?”
“One and the same…”Caren couldn’t help the chuckle that left her lips. Although she did feel a certain amount of sympathy with her friend, she wasn’t even a Fae, she knew nothing of this world and now here she was- a mate. That must really suck…
“No, no, no!” Kiera wagged her index finger at her friend. The man was…weird, strange, but he had the sexiest eyes she had ever seen…wait! That’s not what I meant… He was a wolf, built like a brick outhouse and he followed me home…Mr Bombastic, Mr Arrogant, Mr… Wow, a wolfman…
“I guarantee he’ll grow on you.”Teri assured her and Caren snorted another chuckle.
“Like fungus.”Caren offered with a certain amount of glee before lifting the cup to her lips and blowing against the heat.
“I don’t like fungus…”Kiera denied hotly and then shook her head. “I mean, I don’t like him. I don’t want him to grow on me…”Kiera reached up and scratched her head in confusion. This was all too much.
“Too bad. You can’t chose who you fall in love with, fate does that for you and fate…”
“Is a bitch…”Kiera spat out, attempting to drop back down onto her seat and missing by a mile. Hitting the floor with something of a dull thud, she groaned her lack of appreciation for the pain in her backside. It didn’t help that both of her friends were openly chuckling now.
“Be careful what you say, payback is an even bigger bitch.”Caren assured her and Kiera glared up at her from the floor. Pulling herself up with the aid of the seat of the chair, she made sure her backside was firmly over the seat as she carefully sat down with a small groan.
“I’m not shagging a damn wolf.”Kiera ground out between gritted teeth.
“Eww…” Caren turned her nose up at the idea.
“Yuck, really?”Teri offered.
“You know what I mean!”Kiera gawked at her friends. “I’m so bloody glad that the two of you find this amusing…” It was the accusation in her tone that had the girls chuckling again. “Friends, right?”She placed her palms of the table and pushed up from her seat, but Teri’s hand circled her wrist and yanked her back down.
“Don’t go away mad…”Teri offered and Kiera snubbed her nose at her. If there was a funny side to this, she couldn’t see it.
“It might make you feel better to know that Teri has a vampire mate…”Caren offered. Teri’s head snapped around on her neck as she gasped in shock that Caren had actually come out and said what she couldn’t admit, not even too herself yet.
“What? Eww…No.”Kiera shook her head in disbelief and shock. “He drinks your blood, like, eww, really?” Kiera added and Teri pulled her head back on her neck and pouted.
“Not yet he doesn’t. Can we change the subject to your mate…?”Teri raised her brows and pinned Kiera with her eyes.
“No. I want to hear about the vampire.”Kiera declared, now the shoe was on the other foot this was getting interesting.
“How the hell did you know? I only found out tonight.” Teri hissed across at Caren, causing her to smirk back.
“Then you are deaf, dumb, and just plain bloody stupid.”Caren assured her, sipping from her mug as casually as possible and making her friend wait for any more information she might be withholding. “Do you think he was hanging around the shop, every day, for his health?”Caren offered and Teri snapped her neck back again, it had stretched further and further towards her friend as she waited for a response.
“Yes.” Teri snapped back and the rolled her eyes. “No. I sort of thought he was lonely…” Teri admitted. Yep, she hadn’t seen the woods for the trees. How dumb was that?
“Lonely?” Kiera spat out with a twist of her upper lip skywards. “What do you people put in the water up here?”Kiera added with a small shake of her head.
“Pure testosterone, baby…”Caren gave her a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows and Kiera groaned.
“Still not mating the damn wol…Lycan guy.”Kiera dived at her coffee cup for want of something better to do to take her mind off things. Hell, she’d like to dive right inside the damn cup and stay there for a while if that was humanly possible… Human…hmm, not a lot of them around. She groaned within her mind.
“There’s some things you need to know about the mating process…”Teri offered and got a snort of contempt back from Kiera as she shook her head in denial.
“Hell no I don’t, because it’s not applicable. Think of me as one of those useless forms that the government are so fond of making people fill in. When you put your name at the top and then everything else is not applicable. That’s me. Miss-Not-Applicable.”
“So blank then, makes sense.”Caren offered on a grin.
“Actually, it kind of doesn’t work like that.”Teri offered and Kiera snorted again.
“Actually, it kind of bloody does.”She assured her friend.
“There’s this urge…”Teri started to explain, but Kiera held up her hand to stop her.
“Hold it right there, little Miss Vampire-bride…”Teri snapped her mouth shut and swallowed down at the very thought. She had to admit, when someone put it like that it was kind of a wake-up call to her brain, but after the initial shock, it wasn’t such a bad one.
“I don’t get urges, and if I did get an urge, it certainly wouldn’t be to have sex with a guy that grows fur and howls at the bloody moon. Are we clear on that?”Kiera gave her the look that said ‘don’t mess with me’, but Teri knew better.
“Yeah, still doesn’t work like that.”Teri offered as she reached for her own mug of coffee and took a small sip. Explaining this was a lot harder than she thought it would be…
“Well, it’s going to have to work like that because I don’t date, I certainly don’t mate, and if I did, it wouldn’t be with the furry stalker.” Kiera assured her.
Teri and Caren just stared at each other across the table for a long while. Both knew what the other was thinking, and just watching them niggled at Kiera’s nerves. They certainly knew something that she didn’t. Perhaps it might be a good idea to hear them out.
“Ok, fine. Spit it out.”Kiera slammed her coffee mug down on the table top and leaned in, digging her elbows down into the wood as she reluctantly waited for all the things she didn’t want to hear.
Teri motioned towards Caren to go first, and Caren past the buck right back to her friend, like it was a hot potato that neither of them wanted to handle. Not given the mood their friend was in.
“Some Lycans search their whole lives and nev
er find their mate. So when one does it’s like a gift to them. The need to mate is strong, and it gets stronger…”Teri’s eyes shot towards Caren and she nodded emphatically, backing her up.
“Right, so fate designed the urge to mate within both mates. Like a pulling together that neither can deny…” Caren added, helping Teri out and getting a snort of contempt from Kiera for her trouble.
“Can’t deny, of course it can be denied…”She looked from a stone faced Caren towards Teri who just shook her head. There wasn’t any laughter or sign of mischief from either of them. Kiera felt an icy chill wash through her and she had to swallow down hard. “Right?” She looked from one to the other again, this time both of them were shaking their heads. Kiera let out a small squeak as she closed her eyes and let the news sink in…
“The urge gets stronger in both mates until you just can’t keep your hands off each other…” Caren advised her. She knew it was the last thing that Kiera wanted to hear, but she needed to know, and she had asked.
“Or your legs shut…”Teri offered and heard Kiera groan out a protest.
“And voila, mated, for life.”Caren finished and Kiera’s eyes snapped back open.
“Ok, I have a big problem with those words, for life. Well actually, I have a big problem with this whole damn thing, but the ‘for life’ part…”Kiera turned from one to the other and back again, expectantly. It was times like this when she realised the old adage, no news was good news, was a more than applicable.
“Wolves mate for life.”Caren offered on a small shrug and Kiera balked at the notion.
“For the idiots among us, I’m not a bloody wolf!” She declared.
“But you are a wolf’s mate, so…”Teri left the words hanging in the air as Kiera deflated in front of her.
“What if I’m not, what if the guy’s wrong…?” Kiera was clutching at straws, but they were good straws, and it was all she had.
“He scented you…”Caren offered and Kiera frowned.
“He what?”She asked in disbelief.
“He knows his mate when he finds her…”Teri added and Kiera shook her head and wagged her index finger in the air.
“Wait. Go back, he scented me?”Kiera gave another look of disbelief to Caren who nodded just once.
“In the bar, probably got a good whiff before he sent the drink over, and then when he was standing behind you, he took a really big whiff…”
“Eww…”Kiera turned her nose up at the thought. “And eww.”She added for good measure. But the guy was part wolf, she supposed they did that. Kiera couldn’t help but lower her nose towards her armpit and smell herself, which brought chuckles from the others. “What? It’s just…wrong.”Kiera added sitting back in her chair and folding her arms across her chest.
There was another wrap of knuckles on the back door and Kiera nearly shot out of her seat. Her palms went flat against the table top and she half pushed herself up, hovering over the chair, unsure.
“Not now!” Both witches snapped out and this time Kiera heard a deep muttered string of words that she couldn’t identify, and yet they just felt like curse words to her. Her backside dropped back down onto the seat and she tried to settle herself again. She looked at her friends, wondering how they could be so calm about all of this, but them it wasn’t them the wolf was at the back door for, was it?
“Does he just expect to come in here and bonk me?”Kiera hissed as she leaned in over the table, causing both of the girls to giggle again.
“That’d make life easier for everyone, but no, he knows you’re human, he knows he has to woo you…”Teri offered on a small sigh and Kiera frowned at her.
“Woo me?”Kiera couldn’t help but snort a chuckle at that description. It sounded like something out of the eighteenth century.
“Yep, there’s gonna be wooing…”Caren offered lightly and Teri grinned.
“Better than throwing her over his shoulder and just carrying her off to have his wicked way with her…”Teri teased, causing Kiera to swallow hard.
“Carried off? Wooing? Are you people insane?” She swallowed again. “I need to leave for home…”She pushed up from her chair and Teri’s hand was back around her wrist holding her in place.
“It’s too late for that. He’ll just follow you back…”Teri offered quietly, but Caren seemed a little more gleeful when she sat back in her chair and added.
“Stalker guy, remember?”
Kiera took a long moment to think about it and then she collapsed down onto her chair again. “I can’t…This isn’t…”She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. Crazy, surreal, stupid, not bloody happening…
“Just meet the guy…”Teri offered.
“It can’t hurt to get to know him a little better, right?”Caren offered.
“It can’t hurt you…”Kiera shot back, wide eyed and still half in the dark about her mate. “He could bloody well eat me, or turn me into a wolf!” She spat out in disbelief.
“Lycans can’t turn humans into wolves. And he’s your mate, the one thing he can’t do is hurt you…”Teri offered and Kiera frowned again, thinking that one through.
“He can’t?”
“Nope. He’s naturally wired so that every instinct within him has to protect you, keep you safe.”Teri assured her and saw a flicker of something akin to amusement in Kiera’s eyes.
“Oh.”Was all she offered. “So he’s protective, but does that naturally follow that he would be clingy and possessive as well?”
“Why don’t you just meet him and find out?”Caren offered on a small shrug off her shoulders and Kiera frowned harder at her.
“I’m still not interested.”
“You will be.”Teri chuckled again and Kiera sighed.
“No, I won’t.”
“I’ll bet you that you will.”Teri grinned at her in a challenge that Kiera couldn’t help but rise too. She liked to win bets, and this was one she could win hands down.
“Fine. How much?”Kiera demanded and Teri grinned wickedly.
“That pair of diamond stud earrings you like so much.”She teased and saw Kiera’s eyes flash with disbelief.
“They’re my fav…”She snapped her mouth shut and narrowed her eyes. This is a sure thing, this I can do standing on my head… “Fine and I’ll have that sapphire spider broach that you got from the flea market, when I win.” Kiera grinned back in self assured knowledge that she was going to walk this one.
“Done.” Teri got to her feet and strolled towards the back door, yanking it open with a certain amount of glee and little ceremony, and she watched Kiera’s face dropped when she swallowed back her uncertainty. “Here boy.” Teri called, but she didn’t need to, the damn man was standing there, dressed again, and staring intently at his mate.
“Oh, crap.”Kiera squeaked out as she pushed herself down in the chair, mentally making herself smaller.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Kiera.”Callum liked the way her name rolled over his tongue, and he liked the way her eyes flared as she took him in even more. He could scent her fear, her uncertainty and he wanted to go to her and sooth her. But he knew it was too soon.
“Wolf…”The word was just a small mumble from her lips, but he heard it. For a long moment he just stared back at her so intently that she felt as if she was standing naked in the middle of London traffic… and then he smiled. A big wolfish grin that spread across his face and lit up his dark eyes as amusement played there.
“Or you could call me Callum.”He teased and she snapped her mouth shut and mentally shook herself back to the reality that stood in front of her. He didn’t seem so damn intense now. He was smiling for one thing. And oh how sexy he looked when he did that…Kiera wanted to physically reach up and slap herself. You can’t think like that, he’s a wolf, he’s a matey wolf, and there’s a bet to win…
“I need to go and powder my nose…”She declared, pushing up to her feet and starting for the kitchen door. Callum’s beast yipped within him and he went to take a long
step forward, but Teri barred the way.
“That means pee. She’s not running away.”Teri assured him and he frowned down at her as his mate left the room.
“She’d better not.”He growled out. Not impressed with the witches attitude, and yet, he’d heard them trying to sooth his mate, explain his need for her. They had both done him a favour, one he would undoubtedly have to repay them at some point.
“I’m grateful for your assistance.”He growled lightly as he acknowledged their help.
“We didn’t do it for you.”Caren shot back without even thinking. He’d not shown them any kindness since they arrived and that still irked her.
“I know, but you did it for my mate, so I’m still grateful.”He tipped his head towards Caren and she grunted back.
“I think what Caren is trying to say is, go slow, be gentle, and guard her with your life or else you’re going to have two very pissed off Fae on your tail.”Teri didn’t wait for an answer. She turned on her heels and walked away from him. The low deep growl that followed her made her sigh, as if that was going to frighten her, she’d already zapped his butt once tonight.
“Hiding in the toilet is cheating.”Teri called through the closed door and heard Kiera groan from inside.
“I’m not hiding, I’m taking a moment.”Kiera’s voice might have been muffled by the closed door, but she still sounded nervous.
“In what universe is there a ten minute moment?”Teri enquired, time was of the essence, and the longer the mates spent in the same room the stronger the mating pull would become for both of them. The alpha might actually learn some charm and Kiera wouldn’t be such a scaredy-cat when it came to being around him. That was a win-win situation, especially for her bet.
“Mine. So do one.”Kiera snapped back. She knew Teri was right. She couldn’t hold up in the bathroom forever, there was no food for one thing, and someone was bound to need it eventually. She walked towards the vanity mirror that stood over the sink and caught sight of her reflection, half wishing she hadn’t. Her hair looked like she’d been caught in a twister, her eye makeup had slipped and made her look like a racoon, and her lipstick was smeared with the unflattering effect of a duck pout. Holy cow if that wasn’t enough to make the sucker run a mile then I don’t know what is.