by M. L. Briers
“Meredith crossed Claude, my cousin,” he started and Meredith snorted her contempt for the man’s name, but she didn’t deny the accusation.
“He was intent on killing her. I was hunting her to try to get her out of town,” his eyes flicked towards Meredith when the old woman snorted in disbelief.
“Go on,” Tandy urged.
“I thought I had her a couple of times, but she was stealthy. Then she disappeared and I assumed that Claude had killed her. I haven’t seen either of them since.” Barker shrugged his shoulders.
“Did you kill his cousin?” Colin smirked at the thought.
“No, she didn’t,” Barker put in before Meredith could answer.
“Wishful thinking,” Meredith sneered.
“How do you know if you hadn’t seen him since?” Benjamin asked.
“Because the last time I saw Claude we fought. I staked him and he disappeared, still very much alive.” Barker looked to Meredith as her eyes narrowed on him. “So unless she got to him after that…?”
“I haven’t seen that demon since I left the city,” Meredith hissed in disgust at the thought of the man in question.
“Why would you stake your own cousin?” Tandy asked.
“Because he was out of control.” Barker answered on a small sneer of disbelief. “Why would anybody stake their not-dead-dead kin?” He didn’t like accounting for his actions. That was a personal thing that he preferred to keep to himself.
“You staked him for Meredith?” Tandy asked and the old woman scoffed at the thought.
“That’s neither here nor there,” Barker didn’t expect her to believe him, and he’d never expected to come face to face with her again.
It had been one of his biggest regrets in his life- thinking himself unable to protect her. Now here she was, older, crankier, but very much alive. Maybe he should just have let Claude do his worst…
“I don’t believe you,” Meredith hissed.
“I don’t care,” Barker offered back. Annoyed that after all of the years that he’d spent beating himself up about her death- she still hated him. He should have continued to look for her…
“I care,” Tandy offered.
If she couldn’t broker some kind of a peace between the two then Barker wouldn’t be welcome on pack land, and there was always the likelihood that things could deteriorate to hell in a hand basket when alpha males were around. She had a soft spot for the vampire, and the thought of never seeing him again tugged at her conscience.
“Then you are in the minority.” Barker said.
“Just stay away from me,” Meredith hissed at him and Barker rolled his eyes.
“Trust me when I say that I have no intention of being anywhere near you.” He responded.
“I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you,” Meredith shot back on a mutter, before turning on her heels and starting back into the house.
“Apparently, playing throw the vampire is on every witch’s to do list today.” Barker bit out, and then he was gone in a heartbeat.
“Well, that was…” Benjamin frowned.
“Enlightening,” Tandy offered. Benjamin shook his head on a sigh.
“Looks like you did that cat thing again where you always seem to manage to land on your feet,” Harley said as she sided up to Tandy.
“Looks like you found yourself a mate,” Tandy shot back, eyeing her friend, and wondering just how Harley’s particular brand of, shoot first and ask questions later, was going to fit into the pack community.
Harley’s eyes flicked towards Colin and she couldn’t help but sigh. When he noticed and grinned back at her, she rolled her eyes up to Tandy…
“This isn’t going to end well,” she said, and Tandy smiled, nodding her head.
“That’s what I said,” was all she could offer.
~
~
~
Travis eyed the group from the spot in the canopy of the trees that he’d picked out up wind of the packs sensitive noses. Banished by his pack, by his father the alpha, for the attack on the Lycans one month earlier- he’d been plotting what came next for almost a month.
With the full moon only one day away; the thought of revenge tasted sweet on his tongue, and he would have it. He was almost itching to get started.
He watched and waited for the group to move inside the house, not giving away his location with the slightest little movement, before he slowly picked his way back through the treetops. He had one thing in mind, and one thing only- to kill as many female mates as he could lay his claws on before the full moon disappeared into the light of day.
A sweeter justice might have been to leave one alive with his bite deep inside her flesh. If she survived, she would become a Werewolf, and he knew how well that would go down within the pack. If she didn’t then he wouldn’t have lost anything, but they would.
Now he had another mate to sink his fangs into- things were looking up. Three dead or turned witch mates meant three rogue Lycans- the pack would tear themselves apart dealing with that one.
~
~
~
“How the hell did we end up doing this?” Ross growled out as he stretched his back out and eyed Michael with caution as the man wielded the chainsaw like some maniac from a horror movie.
“Your brother found his mate,” Michael’s easy tone came back at him over the annoying buzz of the engine.
Ross shook his head in annoyance and strolled towards the bottled water that they’d brought with them. Cutting up the remains of the tree from the wreckage of Tandy’s car was thirsty work, but it didn’t seem to be phasing Michael. The man was pretty laid back about everything but fighting- even then, he seemed to have a way about him, like nothing could ever faze him.
Ross picked up two bottles and shook one at Michael. The man turned off the chainsaw and placed it on the bonnet of the car- then with a nod of his head- he intercepted the bottle in mid-air that Ross tossed to him, fisting the bottle in the worn leather work glove…
Once the chainsaw was silent; the sound of an unhealthy engine caught the attention of both of them, and they turned to eye the roadway behind the vehicle.
Whoever it was would be disappointed if they thought they were getting through the wreckage and wood strew road that day.
“Sounds like that engine’s seen better days,” Ross chuckled before gulping down half of the water and wetting his whistle in the time old manly fashion of gulping as much as possible in one damn go.
Michael eyed the car as it came around the bend. An old VW beetle, Herbie style. He knew that they went for good money now, but probably not in the condition that this one was in.
“Whole car’s seen better days,” Michael took a step back and placed his backside against the wreckage, easing his tired muscles, and waiting for Ross to deal with the occupant. Bad news was Ross’s thing, and he’d rather not disappoint anyone today.
The spring sun reflecting on the windscreen shielded the driver from view, and both men were more than aware that anyone could be inside. They’d already had a visit from a damn vampire, and there was some unease around the pack for tomorrow night’s full moon. Michael might have looked the personification of calm, but underneath he was ready to pounce should it be necessary.
When the car slowed, Ross started towards it. The screeching sound of the driver’s window being rolled down by hand made both men grimace.
“Wow, looks like that tree didn’t like that car much,” Ginny poked her elbow out of the window and rested her chin on her arm as she peered at the carnage.
“Not much, no.” Ross offered, gaining ground on the woman.
Her wide brown eyes shone with the kind of happy that had to be deep rooted within a person’s psyche, a bubbly personality brimming with life if ever he saw one.
“Guess I’m not getting up that road,” she gave a small, nervous giggle, the kind that told him she was the hyperactive type, chatty, like she had so much to say and not enough
time to get it all out before her brain exploded.
“Sorry,” Ross was a man of the fewest words possible unless it was necessary.
“Any way around? I need to get to the cabin up there?” She chuckled again as she stretched out a hand and pointed up the road.
Her eyes caught sight of Michael and she gave a small wave. Michael lifted a gloved hand and waved back. “Hmm, friendly,” she noted almost absently to herself.
“Sorry,” Ross hated to break the news to the woman, and she looked pensive for a long moment, before she gave a small shrug.
“Oh well, feet it is.” She cut the engine and rolled the window back up again. Ross turned to look at Michael…
‘Tomorrow night’s full moon doesn’t bode well for this one…’ Ross said.
‘If she’s staying, maybe Benjamin will include her cabin on the packs rounds,’ Michael offered back. He’d hate to see her killed by werewolves, he’d hate it even more if she was bitten by one. She had the kind of smile that rubbed off on a person, and he liked that.
“You sure this is where you need to be?” Ross asked as she popped open the door to the creaking of metal hinges that grated against his nerves like fingernails down a chalkboard.
“I think so,” Ginny chuckled again as she eyed him, “but then I’ve never been known for my sense of direction. I could even be on the wrong mountain…” she looked a little perplexed at her own words. “There is only one around here, right?”
Michael had eyed her as she’d climbed out of the car. She looked like a throwback to the sixties, hippy chick- with a loose dress that flowed around the generous curves that he was kind of enjoying imagining beneath him… All of that pent up energy that she had needed to go somewhere, and he had a mind to wear her out good and proper until she curled up on his chest like a satisfied cat.
Ross didn’t need to get any closer to be able to scent her Fae essence. He almost groaned aloud… another witch. He knew his plan of a quiet day with his mate before tomorrow’s full moon would be ruined by something.
“Not the only mountain, but the inhabited one,” he offered back, a little more tense now that he knew what she was and the type of person that he was dealing with.
“Something I said?” Ginny eyed him for a long moment. She was good at picking up on people’s moods, and his had just changed. Her eyes flicked towards Michael and she noted that his body had tensed too…
“Something you are,” Ross offered back.
Ginny took a moment to consider his words. She’d felt a tapping on her shields, and now she understood why.
They weren’t vampires; if they had of been then she’d have picked up on it straight away, she was used to that particular kind of supernatural- no, these men were shifters- and now she knew why they both looked as if they’d stepped out of the pages of one of those men’s healthy living magazines.
“Ooooo,” she nodded her head slowly, understanding. Her eyes seemed to widen for a moment in recognition, and both men noticed, “and you guys have a problem with that?”
“Not as much a problem as you’re going to have if you stay on this mountain,” Ross started to explain about the werewolves, but when her eyes snapped towards him and she frowned hard. He almost expected a sting in the tail.
“Is that a threat?” Ginny asked. She didn’t like to use her magic for evil, and zapping people wasn’t exactly her favourite thing to do, but she would protect herself if it came to it.
“What?” Ross growled back. “No.”
The sound of Michael’s deep, rumbling growl as it rolled through his chest took Ross’s attention for a moment. It wasn’t like his pack brother to growl for no damn reason at strangers.
Ginny lifted a hand and pointed a finger in his direction.
“Sounds like a threat,” she noted.
CHAPTER SIX
~
‘Michael, what the hell? We need to get her off the mountain- not challenge her to zap us,’ Ross warned, but Michael only seemed to have eyes for the witch.
He pushed off from the car and started a slow walk towards Ginny- his eyes locked onto her as he scented the air.
“I will protect myself,” Ginny offered the warning, even if she did sound a little unconvincing.
“Michael,” Ross growled out.
‘I don’t know, brother… there’s just something about her that makes my wolf…’ Michael didn’t know what it was, an itch to scratch? His beast was antsy within him, like she posed a threat to them all, and yet in no clear way that he’d ever known.
Ross groaned. He knew that look. He’d felt what Michael was feeling right now, and he knew that the man didn’t have a clue which way was up… but he would, and really damn soon.
“”What’s he doing?” Ginny asked with a little nervous giggle, as her eyes snapped from Michael to Ross, who just shrugged his broad shoulders, and back again to the shifter that looked like sex on legs coming towards her.
At any other time she might have been bubbling with enthusiasm for a man that looked like that paying her any kind of attention. Tousled dark hair, dark stubble on his chin that reached to low sideburns, and dark eyes that seemed more than intent on her- they seemed to be lapping her up, trying to see within her very soul.
Then there was his body, and oh what a body that was. Broad at the shoulders, nipped in at the waist, and jam packed with the kind of muscles that would more than excite her to test and tease… Yep, she was getting excited just at the thought of seeing him naked… but she was more than nervous with that hungry look that he was giving her… At any other time than when she was out there alone in the middle of nowhere with two unknown shifters…
“Tell him to back off,” Ginny hissed out, uncertain, unsure of what to do next. More than aware that she had no real place to retreat too, her car would offer her little protection, and she doubted she could get the thing to start first time again anyway, should she need to make her escape… and none of that could be classed as a good thing in anyone’s book.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Michael heard the rumble of a growl underlying his words and saw the way her eyed narrowed on him, and he growled inwardly at his wolf for scaring her. He tried to push his beast back, but the damn thing wasn’t playing ball…
“And yet here you come,” Ginny gave another nervous chuckle. She had a smile on her face, but it was laced with worry. She considered taking a few steps backwards, but where was she to go?
Ross took a few long steps back. If this was what he thought it was- then he didn’t want to overstep the line and get too close to the witch- that would just make Michael’s beast get antsy.
Ginny noticed Ross’s movements and it made her a little more nervous as she snapped her eyes towards him, and then right back to Michael again.
“Am I missing something?” Ginny asked, her lips frozen in that nervous smile.
“Yeah,” Ross chuckled to himself. “Just- don’t- move.”
Ross’s words only fuelled the fear within her. She tried to hold in place as her mind raced with thoughts of fangs and claws, and then snapped to thought of him naked again, but she found the pent up energy within her body made her want to fidget and dance in place at the same time.
“Nope,” Ginny announced, “can’t do it.”
She moved then, as if it was a burden lifted, a great relief. Then she lifted her hands and wagged one index finger in his direction in a warning…
“Right there is far enough, buddy,” she tried to make her voice sound authoritarian.
She knew she’d have more luck if the shifter had been a five year old pup, but he did surprise her when he pulled up short, eyeing her like she was wielding a baseball bat…
Ginny felt the first wave of relief wash through her and her shoulders lost some of the tension within her muscles. She started to lower her hands, but the moment that she did, he started to take another step, and they shot right back up again.
“Uh-uh,” she wagged that finger once more. “On
e more step and you’ll be a crispy critter,” she warned him.
Michael’s head twisted to one side, and he frowned at her words as he tried to figure her out. Would she really zap him or worse? She didn’t seem the kind.
His wolf urged him on, but his sense of self-preservation kept his feet from moving. Ross’s deep chuckle grated against his nerves and he snapped his head around to eye the man.
Ross tossed his hands up in the air. There was a look of amusement on the beta’s face that Michael didn’t appreciate…
‘Go for it, brother… what’s the worst that can happen?’ Ross challenged him on another chuckle, and Michael’s head snapped back around towards her as his eyes drank her in.
Then he took that first step…
“Oh, poop,” Ginny panicked.
The man was coming towards her again, looking as if he was going to eat her alive, and she took too long to decide on a course of action. Her magic bubbled and fizzed within her, but the shifter had already reached out and was sweeping her body up against his… when she decided to zap him…
Michael felt the hard bite of her magic throughout his body. He had the intention to let her go so that he wouldn’t hurt her, but every muscle locked up like he’d just licked an electrical outlet, and he crushed her to him- sucking in air, and finding her true scent as it seeped into his very soul.
His beast roared within him at the recognition of who she was. His heart hammered in his chest, and his brain switched between wanting to kill her for the pain that coursed through every nerve ending, and wanting to kill himself for even thinking about hurting her in the first place.
“A little help,” Ginny hissed out, fighting against the pressure of the bear hug that the shifter had her in.
Normally, being pressed up against a hunky male body would have been on her wildest dreams come true list, but being squished and not being able to draw a breath was a big no-no…
“Stop zapping him and he’ll stop squishing you,” Ross tried to be as helpful as possible, but to him- this was just the funniest sight in the world, and he couldn’t help the chuckles that rolled through him.