by M. L. Briers
“You people are sick.” She turned her nose up, and walked away, mug in hand, as she made her exit from the kitchen. Connor shot a look at Chase, the pair of them in silent reverie for a long moment, before they both burst out laughing.
“Where are you going?”
Cassidy rolled her eyes, with her gloved hand on the door handle; she had been so close to escaping this testosterone fuelled environment, which was messing with her equilibrium, and getting some much needed reflection time.
She needed to feel the wind on her face and the snow beneath her feet, and she didn’t much care what the mucho wolfman thought of that idea.
“Out.” She offered, not even bothering to turn around to look at him. She was sure he would be scowling, if he wasn’t laughing at her misfortune, then he did a really good impression of a troll.
“You can’t get off the mountain, Cassidy, you would probably die trying.”
“You don’t say.” She shot back; fisting the handle and yanking it down with a little more vigour than necessary. The wind howled through the open gap, as a blast of ice cold air greeted her, and she snuggled down within the warmth of her jacket, bracing herself against the arctic conditions that warned her she was an idiot, but called to her nether the less.
“Stay close. I’m not in the mood to rescue you.” The door slammed behind her, and Chase stood there chewing on his jaw, as he narrowed his eyes in annoyance at the space where she had been.
Connor walked through the hallway and eyed his brother. Coming to stand close by, but not to close that he wouldn’t see a fist coming before it hit him in the face. He stood there for a moment looking at the door.
“It’s akin to watching paint dry. I don’t see the attraction in staring at a door…” Connor was more than aware of the brief conversation that had taken place between the mates. He also wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to rile his brother.
“That woman is…” Chase fisted his hands at his sides and Connor smirked.
“Your mate.” He said without a hint of emotion in his words, and Chase turned a very slow ninety degrees towards him.
“We need to get her off the mountain.” Chase saw the look of amusement in his brothers’ eyes, as Connor held up his palms and took a step back, with a slow shake of his head in denial.
“Oh no…”
“And you’re going to help me.” Chase’s humour improved considerably with the thought of getting her out of there, away from him, far away.
“No- no, no, no, no and hell no.” Connor was adamant. It wasn’t going to happen, his brother’s misery was not life threatening, and even though she had zapped him, he kind of liked the fiery little Fae. He wasn’t about to drag her through a whiteout.
“It would take us a day to get her down; we could shift, and would be back for supper.” Chase nodded his head with enthusiasm, the smile plastered onto his face, as his eyes brightened at the thought.
“You nearly killed her bringing her up here, and you’re going to drag her down the mountain? I know you don’t want to be mated brother, but wouldn’t it be kinder just to shoot her?” Connor’s sarcasm wasn’t lost on Chase. He was used to his brother’s annoyingly barbed comments. But the thought of Cassidy being hurt sent a wave of protection through Chase, and he found himself growling low and deep in his chest.
“Be careful what you say Connor.” Chase warned, hating the fact that his wolf was already so damn territorial and protective over her.
“See, my point exactly. You’re wolf will not let you risk her life, in fact…” Connor took a step closer, enthusiastically making his point. “You’re damn wolf wants nothing more than for you to roll her over and take her…” That was as far as he got before Chase’s fist was connecting with his concrete jaw, sending him flying backwards down the hallway.
The sound of the first thud, as Chase planted his fist on Connor’s jaw, was satisfying, the sound of the second thud, as Connor’s backside hit the hard floor, was just the icing on the cake, as Chase stood glaring down at his brother.
Connor shook his head, shaking off the effects of the punch that his brother had landed. Cursing himself for taking that step closer to Chase in the first place, he was volatile enough to begin with, he should have known better.
“Point made brother. We’re not taking your mate down the mountain.” Connor made no move to get to his feet. With the way that Chase was glaring at him, he knew he would only end up back down on the floor again.
“I’m- going- to- kill- Nathaniel.” Chase ground out between clenched teeth, his hands still fisted at his sides, and Connor grinned up at him.
“Little late, you should have done it before he tricked you into collecting your mate. Don’t you think?”
Cassidy was mindful of Chase’s words. She would stay close to the damn wolf’s lair. Because she wasn’t stupid enough to get lost out here in the middle of nowhere. But she needed this. She needed to be by herself, out here with nature to recharge her batteries. To be one with Mother Nature, and draw on the energy that existed naturally all around her. It was a powerful source for her magic to pull on, and she was still feeling the after effects of having been a human Popsicle.
The wolf’s energy was abundant and powerful, she had never felt anything like it, but she would be damned before she drew on it. Having never sampled that kind of power, she wasn’t sure how it would tarnish her magic. She highly doubted it would hurt her. But just how powerful could it make her? It wasn’t something she wanted to put to the test.
She had already managed to zap both brothers in one day. If she had been fully charged, she might have caused them some serious injuries. Using their own energy against them would only be necessary, should things go even more south than they were already.
She cursed herself for ever having the stupidity to agree to help the wolfman in the first place. Who was he to mess with Fate’s design? And who was she to think she could arrogantly do as she pleased without repercussions? And now she was here. Stuck with two Neanderthal throw backs, until Mother Nature figured she had learned her lesson.
Well she had, she wasn’t going to mess with the Fates again. Chase would encounter his mate, whether he liked it or not. She was done messing in things she had no business with.
“Lesson learned Goddess, get me home.” She muttered into the vast wilderness before her, while her eyes searched for a sign that she had been heard. Her heart skipped a beat within her chest, as her eyes saw a movement within the whiteness of the woods- A sign?
Cassidy took a step forwards. Unsure what she had seen move, but wanting so desperately to see it again. If it was a sign, she wanted to be sure. Nothing. Stillness greeted her eyes, and she took a slow breath and blew it out on a cloud of vapour in front of her. Disappointment clouded her sense of hope, just as the vapour clouded her vision for a long moment.
She was about to turn away, when she saw something move again. The briefest of images, as if the landscape had shifted not thirty feet from where she was standing, and her eyes became intent on that one spot, just behind the large trunk, that pinpointed the way.
“Come on, come on.” She breathed out more vapour. Only to become annoyed when it obstructed her vision, and she reached up for collar of her jacket and wrenched it over her mouth. Her eyes found and held onto the slow movement. It was as if the far off snow bank moved towards her, very slowly, extremely slowly.
Little pools of black that hardly moved, dotted in the snow, as they hovered on the landscape. She narrowed her eyes, concentrating so hard against the harsh white of the snow, until her brain sorted the detail into something identifiable.
As it slowly gained ground on her, she realised exactly what it was that she was looking at. It was a white wolf. Pure white that blended into the backdrop of the snow, and her heart leapt within her chest. Was Chase a white wolf too? Maybe it was Chase? It was beautiful, and she found herself smiling behind the collar that came up over her nose.
She didn’t move,
hardly breathed, as she watched the beautiful beast slowly edging towards her across the snow. He truly was magnificent. Right up to the point when he drew back his lips and exposed two rows of sharp teeth, and snarled with the menace that washed through her preservation gene like a tidal wave.
Cassidy took a long step backwards, and the beast snarled harder, so of course she took another step. Chase said she would be safe with his pack; obviously not everyone got that memo.
She took another long step away. Her foot caught and slipped against the snow that was banked against the natural incline of the land. Her feet went in one direction, and her body went in the other, as she cried out. There was one certainty, she was going down.
Her elbow took the brunt of the impact when she fell, as her brain went on high alert, and her eyes searched for the threat that had eluded her for the moment, as she fell.
CHAPTER FIVE
Chase heard the cry of his mate and reacted immediately. Connor forgotten on the floor of the hallway, as he practically tore the front door from its hinges in his haste to get to her. The wind battered his body and face, as he rushed out into the snow and held fast for what felt to him, like the longest moment of his entire life.
His heart was beating a frantic pace within his chest, as he scented the air, picking up her trail in an instant, as his eyes searched the terrain around the house. He had already set off, following her scent, when he spotted her in the distance. She was on the ground in the snow, deathly still.
Chase’s instinct was to shift, knowing he would cover more ground in a shorter time, be at his mate’s side faster. He didn’t even bother to try to rid himself of his clothes, as his wolf pushed forwards. Taking away his human form, and shredding the clothes from his entire body, as paws hit the ground and he used his claws against the frozen earth to power towards her. His brain clouded by his fear for his mate.
He could never recall running so fast, with so much urgency in his entire life, the way he ran to her. The need to be at her side was more potent than any other thought within his mind.
Even when he saw her move, the slightest of movements against the landscape, his beast wasn’t satisfied. The intensity of his emotions, were a powerful incentive as he crossed the countryside.
Cursing that she had walked so far from home. He had told the female to stay close, this was not close.
Cassidy’s eyes widened as she watched the beast, still in its progression towards where she was laying, its teeth were still bared to her. The animal seemed to hesitate for a long moment, before it started to slink backwards away from her.
It was as if indecision was pulling at the animal’s psyche. It wanted to come at her, but there was something that had made it change its mind, and she was more than grateful in that moment in time, for whatever it was that had stilled the beasts approach.
In a heartbeat it was gone. It had blended back in with the whiteout, as she took a long hard breath, and dropped her head forwards against her forearm, offering up a silent thank you for the animal’s sudden change of heart.
The sound of the snow crunching around her startled her. Her head shoot up again, just as grey paws appeared in front of her. Her heart slammed inside her chest, as she shrieked out, throwing herself backwards away from the new threat and rolling in the snow, trying to get to her knees, to get away, to not be lunch.
“Cassidy.” The deep, demanding growl hit her ears and her heart all in one go. Waves of relief flooded through her, as she lifted her head up, her eyes running the length of Chase’s naked body, as he crouched in the snow beside her. He reached his hand out towards her, as she was caught somewhere between relief, and sheer bloody minded anger.
Her body wanted to throw itself into his arms. While her mind wanted to make a fist and plant it right in his face. His eyes travelled over her body, looking for any sign of an injury that she might have sustained, as his expression showed concern.
“Are you injured?” His words came out on an anxious rush, as his fingertips touched the frozen skin of her cheek, and she batted him away.
“Safe with you?” She spat out, trying to clamber to her knees in the fluidity of the snow bank. The pain shot through her elbow and up into her shoulder, and she cried out.
The whole arm gave way beneath her, and she found herself half falling, and half rolling, as she impacted the snow. She could feel his hand beneath her back as he tried to break her fall. She closed her eyes, and let the pain wash through her, along with a dark curse from her lips.
“You’re hurt. Let me help…” Concern for her wellbeing pushed away the deep seated annoyance within him that she had turned on him so venomously.
His wolf whined within him, seeing his mate injured, caused a wealth of emotions that Chase wasn’t used to having to deal with. They overwhelmed his normally rational mind. If he’d had the time to analyse what he was feeling, he would probably be able to come to terms with his emotions. But right now it was all too raw inside him.
“Don’t touch me. “ She spat out, as her eyes snapped open and she glared at him with what he considered would be his undoing, if she were to put any of her magic behind it.
“What happened? Did you fall?” He ignored her protestations completely, as he dropped down onto his knees in the snow. He didn’t care about the biting cold against his naked flesh, as he took hold of her upper arms, and eased her up to a sitting position.
She didn’t pull away, but he could see she wasn’t too happy about his touch on her either.
“Because that damn wolf was snarling at me.” She bit out, her teeth clenched against the pain that was running up her arm and into her shoulder. He could show all the mock concern he wanted, but right now, she just really wanted to punch him. Only her good arm needed to stay that way, and she knew she would probably break her hand on his jaw.
“What wolf?” He was crowding her now, up on his feet, with his whole body on show in front of her. God, she had the view that she had been imagining beneath those boxer shorts last night, had felt pressed against her earlier, and she balked at him.
“Could you point that somewhere else?” She growled out, the excited rush of seeing him so gloriously naked, in direct conflict with the anger that she had for him right then.
“It’s a penis, Cassidy. It isn’t going to bite you.” He half teased and half growled, as he lifted her from the ground and set her on her feet. All accomplished without her even having to move a muscle.
“I’m well aware of what it is. But do you have to flaunt it in my face?” She shot back, her eyes somehow managed to tear themselves upwards, over the hard muscled abdomen and chest, until she reached his dark eyes that were watching her, assessing her emotions.
“Well, I can’t exactly remove it now can I?” He growled back at her, frustration for the way she was behaving welling inside him, as the relief that she wasn’t badly hurt eased some of his tension.
“Maybe I can help with that.” She bit back, her lips pressed together in annoyance. She had an irrational need to hit out at something, as her adrenalin pumped within her body, and her heart still raced within her chest, as she stood toe to toe with him, glaring up into his dark eyes.
“Maybe you just want to press yourself against it? The way you did earlier.” He shot back smugly, rising to the challenge that she was offering him, and countering with one of his own. Her eyes grew wider, and her lips parted in disbelief.
“I should never have trusted your word mutt.”
She tried to square up to him. Pulling her body up to her full height, but the pain in her arm, caused her to favour her side, and she only managed to make one good fist, as she watched his nostrils flare with anger, and his eyes turn jet black, as they flashed her a warning of what was to come.
“You’re saying I have no honour?” He glared down at her, his full height towering over her menacingly. But she was just too damn mad to see that she was pushing him close to losing control of his wolf.
“You said you’re
pack wouldn’t harm me. You figure out the rest dumbass.” She shouted up at him, her one good arm coming up in front of her, as she palmed his chest and pushed him backwards with all of her might. With his feet planted in the snow, he didn’t go anywhere.
Chase’s fingers came up and wrapped around her wrist, with one tug she was against his chest, his eyes glaring down at her, as the muscles in his jaw worked overtime, and he was fighting his basic instinct to contain his wolf’s need to show dominance over their mate.
“Do not challenge me.” He growled, his face just a breath from hers, and she finally recognised that hard growl within his tone. Saw the colour of his eyes, and the way his top lip twitched slightly with the anger that flowed through every muscle, holding him taunt, ready to shift, ready to pounce, and she swallowed hard against the dryness in her mouth. Her throat constricted by the slice of fear that ran through her.
Cassidy dropped her eyes away from his and stared at the hard chest in front of her. Her heart was dancing to its own tune, with the blood and adrenalin coursed through her veins in equal measure, as she snatched the air into her lungs from around her as best she could.
He was all around her, his body pressed against hers, his grip holding her firmly against him, his masculine scent enveloping her senses, and his very presence, causing her body to come alive in response to him.
There was fear inside her for his sheer power and dominance over her, but that wasn’t the overriding emotion within her. Excitement was, and she balked at it.
“Let me go Chase.” She whispered on such a small voice, that it reached deep within him, his heart, his mind and his wolf recognised her anxiety. The fear that was within her, the sound of her heart thundering, seemed to echo within his very psyche, and he took a long moment to recover his humanity, and push his wolf back as far as he could within him.