by M. L. Briers
“That’s too bad- I’ve just purchased it.” His tone seemed sympathetic enough- so then why did it gnaw at her so.
“You can-“ She blurted out and he frowned.
“I have-“
“But it’s mine-“ She was starting to get some of her backbone in place now as she tipped her head and regarded him with defiance.
“Actually- it’s mine.” He gave her a half smile and she wanted to stomp on his foot for being so damned annoyingly right.
“Let me buy it from you-“ She offered quickly grasping at straws and hoping the man wanted to make a quick profit.
Ryan shook his head and gave her a small sympathetic smile, he felt like a heel, but how else was he going to meet her- accidentally run into her in the street and have a two second apology conversation, at least this way he was guaranteed some time together like this.
“I’ve just bought it Miss-?”
She batted his niceties aside, she was too eager to get on with making a deal, he liked her fortitude, for a moment back then he actually thought she was going to curl up on the pavement outside and mourn the loss of her ugly wardrobe.
“But I’d like to buy it from you- surely you are not opposed to making a profit?” He took a long moment to consider her words making a show of thinking it over and then he shook his head.
“I have no interest in selling just yet Miss-?” he tried again holding a hand out to her this time in the hopes that she would interact with him on a different level.
“Piper- Nicole-“ She slipped her hand against his warn skin and a million warning bells rung within her as she gasped, snatching her hand back from his before he even had a chance to close his fingers around it. She took a step backwards away from him, her foot catching on the pile of classic magazines old man Porter had stacked there and almost tipped backwards- if Ryan hadn’t of reached out for her, one hand on each elbow as he stabilised her.
“Get your paws off me mutt.” She hissed out on a low whisper bringing Ryan out of his malady with the sense of impending danger at being exposed.
Ryan drew back his hands in shock, his eyes narrowing on her face as she gave him a knowing look and he growled low and hard in his chest.
“Witch.” He rolled the word over his tongue with disdain and saw her raise her chin defiantly as the wolf within him whined sorrowfully with the knowledge that she was the enemy.
“Sell me the drobe and we’ll be done here dog.” There was something within her that felt at odds with being done with this man, but for the life of her she didn’t know why, but she knew that was the way it had to be- witches and Lycan’s didn’t mix well by anyone’s standard and she wasn’t about to test the reasons why.
Ryan looked down on her with dark eyes, he could still feel the soft press of her skin against his in the palm of his hand, the slight feel of static that roamed through his body and the damned hardness that had swollen into an ache at his groin and wanted to dismiss all of these things as being enchanted by a witch and knowing that if he didn’t have sight of her again they would pass, but deep within him his wolf had been stirred to knowing her- to recognising her and damn it to hell- but how could fate have been so damned cruel as to send him a mate and gifting her the power of magic.
“You insult me and yet you want me to do you a favour- how very witchy of you.” He glared down at her, having well over a foot of height with which to intimidate her with, but when she placed her hands on her hips and tiled her head just so to regard him with fire in her eyes his wolf rose to the challenge.
“To steal something of someone else’s how very muttly of you- but this is not a chicken- this belongs to someone who can take you by the tail and cause you some great misery.” She wasn’t about to back down- if he wanted a fight she would give it to him, she wasn’t afraid of him or his wolf.
“When the hunted becomes the hunter little Pixies had better watch their tongue.” He warned- the dark glare of his eyes as potent as if he had shifted right there before her and she narrowed her gaze on him as her back went ramrod straight at the underlying accusation.
“I do not hunt wolves- I’m a solitary, I have no allegiance to any coven- but if you want to start a war with me wolfman- I will defend myself.” She hissed back between clenched teeth as both were made aware of Mr Porter shuffling around in the background.
Ryan felt the urge to move a step closer to her and had to still that need within him- keep his wolf at bay- things had changed, his mate was a witch and he would have to use all of his abilities to keep her at arm’s length- even though that was the last thing he wanted, but he could no more cure her of being a witch than she could take his wolf away- although with the right magic he knew she could use the moon to keep him from turning or keep him as a wolf permanently, did he really want to take the chance she would spell him in that way?
“Run away little witch- you’re punching above your weight here with me.”It was meant as a tease, but from the look she was giving him he wasn’t sure exactly how she had taken his mockery of her.
“Oh bite me dog’s breath.” She snapped out with disdain as she sidestepped him and headed for the exit, the sway of her hips on a backwards view made him cock his head to the side and stare a little harder than he perhaps should have done.
“Nice looking lady that one.” Mr Porter snapped him from his reverie and he turned to look down at the old man who held out a receipt for the ugly piece of firewood he had just purchased in the hopes of getting to know the mystery woman better- now he had his wish, he wasn’t entirely sure just what to do next.
Perhaps he should leave the thing sitting here in the shop indefinitely until he figured that out or perhaps he should just chop the damn thing up and make some smores.
Darcy pulled open her front door and squinted morning eyes at her friend who wasn’t standing on ceremony as she pushed past her into the open plan living room and plonked herself down on the sofa.
“Sure come in- I was only sleeping-“ Darcy mumbled to herself as she closed the front door and turned expecting to find her friend still on the sofa, but instead found her pacing back and forth over her new rug and she might just have got up and she might still be half asleep, but she was sure she could see steam coming from Nicole’s ears.
“I could just-“ Nicole spat out and then stopped pacing as her frustration rolled over her like a tsunami and she shrieked her annoyance into the silence of the quiet little cottage.
“Coffee or wine?” Darcy asked trudging through to the kitchen on socked feet as she pulled her gaping housecoat around her and caught sight of her bedhead in the reflective surface of the kettle, drawing back in alarm she brushed her hands down over the wayward hair on her head but with little use.
“Wine?- It’s like nine thirty in the morning-“
“You’re right too early for wine- beer?” She looked lost inside her own kitchen for a long moment until Nicole’s second shriek sent her for the kettle.
“What an absolute dog of a man- literally!” Nicole spat out throwing herself down into the soft cushions of the armchair as she shook her head in disgust.
“Ouch- bitchy- who did what to you?” Darcy was none too careful about making the coffee, she was still half asleep and anything would taste better than how her tongue tasted in her mouth right now.
“He brought my wardrobe right out from under me- the nerve of the dog-“ Nicole spat out tightening her hold on the edge of the armrests until her knuckles were white.
“Someone got there before you? Wow ?-“
“Dog with flees-“ Nicole muttered as she dug her nails into the upholstery. Darcy chuckled as she walked the mugs around the counter dividing the room between living area and kitchen.
“Nic you need to calm down before you set a fire or something with all that boiled up rage within you-“ Darcy put the mugs down onto the coffee table and dropped down onto the sofa- she still needed another couple of hours sleep, at least.
“Set a fire under his butt and
watch him spit roast over it like the vile-“
“Geez Nic- what’s with all the hate. Just get him to sell the damn thing to you- use a spell if you have too but-“
“Oh I’ll be spelling his butt- I’ll have him eating out of a dog bowl by evening meal-“
“What’s with the dog references?-“
“Because he is one-“ Nicole snapped back and Darcy couldn’t help but chuckle.
“He’s a dog because he brought the drobe thing?”
“No he is a dog-“
“A dog brought the wardrobe- what did he pay with chew toys or chow biscuits?” Darcy went to reach for her mug and her eyes caught with Nicole’s glare.
“He’s a Lycan- damn mutt-“ Nicole spat out in disgust and Darcy stopped in mid reach for her cup- half coming and half going and not at that moment capable of remembering what the heck she was doing as her jaw dropped open and her eyes grew wide.
“Six foot odd- dark brown eyes- handsome as sin with a smile that drips sex?” Darcy muttered almost to herself and Nicole frowned.
“Your point?” Nicole raised her eyes to her friends as the realisation hit her- the dream- the guy- the warning from yesterday. “Your mystery man?- The one who was chasing me through the woods?” She asked on a voice that had dropped to almost a whisper as her heart skipped a couple of beats within her chest and she watched Darcy nod slowly- very slowly as a heat washed through her body.
“That can’t be good-“ Darcy whispered back on a shake of her head and Nicole grimaced.
“Not good at all. Damn.”
“You need to protect yourself- maybe call on a coven for-“
“No. No coven.” Nicole was adamant- the coven way wasn’t for her and she certainly didn’t need to be beholding to any damn coven for their assistance.
“So you’re happy to become dog food? Good to know Nic.” Darcy spat out her shoulders sagging against her friend’s irrational dislike of something as natural as witches working together for the greater good.
“Trust me on this I can handle wolf boy- when I get home I’ll put up a couple of wards-“
“From the looks of that guy it would take more than a protection spell or two to keep him at bay- he was intense in the way he was looking at you.”
“Coven is a last resort.”
Ryan slammed the door of the truck, the sound of metal on metal creaking and impacting filled the quiet of the morning and brought Jake’s attention to his Alpha- it didn’t take a genius to see that Ryan was wound tighter than a damn top. Ever muscle in his body was rigid- every movement towards the porch was punctuated with tension.
“I take it this isn’t about you getting cut up by another old lady driving like a hedgehog?” Jake mused, his body on alert for whatever had Ryan riled- even though to an outsider who didn’t know him, he appeared to be the epitome of relaxed.
Ryan’s black glare caught Jake off guard, he knew his Alpha and there had only been a few times he had seen him this worked up and neither of those times had worked out well for the other guy.
“Not the time Jake.” Ryan spat out taking the steps three at a time as he powered towards his friend- Jake’s hand shot out, grabbing Ryan and bringing him to a stop next to him, Ryan’s eyes fixed on the grip that held him in place.
“Now we can talk it out of your system- we can fight it out of your system-“ Ryan raised his glare to his friend- his jaw tensing and releasing at an amusing rate. “Or I can let you walk in there all mean and broody like and your mother can get it out of you.” There was a sparkle of mischief in Jakes eyes at the mention of Maria- if she clamped eyes on Ryan like this she would swoop and Alpha or not- she would have it out of him in no time.
“I think I just made an enemy-“ Ryan wrenched his arm from Jakes grip and his Beta watched as he stalked over to the bench that ran under the porch window, dropping down barely on the edge of the wood- he rested his elbows on his knees and stared out at the woods that surrounded the property, his chest rising and falling with contained anger.
“Shocker-“ Jake started but Ryan’s glare that he brought to bare on his friend silenced him instantly and Jake scrutinised him for a long moment before he conceded that obviously Ryan thought this might be a problem.
“Go on-“ Jake urged as Ryan practically threw himself back against the seat, his large frame taking up over half of the seating as he returned his gaze to the woods, the place that comforted him- although not right at that moment in time.
“It’s a witch-“ The word rolled around his tongue and didn’t feel any better when he spoke it aloud than it did in his head.
“Christ Ryan- how the hell did you manage to piss off a witch?” Jake closed the distance between them in a heartbeat- the muscles in his own body matching that of his Alpha as he glared down.
“With stupidity, purpose and intention.”Ryan admitted running both hands up through his hair and down the back of his head as he grasped his fingers together at the back of his neck and tried to reconcile his inner wolf’s anger at him with his own feelings.
“You want to enlighten me?” Jake asked folding his arms across his chest and staring down at his friend.
Ryan returned Jakes hard stare for a long moment- his emotions taking a rollercoaster ride within him as he finally came to terms with the truth of the situation.
“Oh it gets worse my friend-“ Ryan offered and Jake raised one brow enquiringly as he shook his head.
“How the hell could it get worse?” He bit out between clenched teeth.
“She’s my mate.” Ryan spat out with the intensity of disbelief that washed through him, his wolf paced within-
For a long moment they both just stared at each other and then Jake’s face transformed into the widest grin of amusement that Ryan had ever seen grace his friends features. The anger washed through him like a tidal wave as he growled low and deep within his chest.
The rumble of laughter emanated from the centre of Jakes chest a heartbeat before it split the air with the deepest belly laugh he could have mustered- Ryan was off his perch in an instant, propelling himself towards Jake, his shoulder impacted him in the stomach expelling the air from his lungs and ceasing the damned laughter in an instant as the flying tackle took them both off their feet, freefalling through the air and landing with a loud crack against the wooden decking as fists started to fly.
Nicole had gathered the things she needed for the protection spell, putting up wards against the Lycan wasn’t going to be the easiest of things she had done in recent years, but to leave herself and her property unprotected would be like just inviting the damn wolf to dinner with her as all three courses.
Careful to stay a good distance away from the woods she walked the circumference around her house sprinkling her offering liberally as the words to keep him at bay were repeated over and over on her lips- centring all of her attention towards casting the spell, she didn’t notice the eyes that watched her through the underbrush as she completed the full circle.
“If it harms none- if it harms none.” She finished, taking a long step back within the circle and looking to the sky for some kind of guidance that she was doing the right thing by not invoking a more powerful form of magic that would be certain to harm the wolf pack themselves- she didn’t think that Lycan today was a rogue- he didn’t seem the type and she didn’t want to cause unnecessary suffering to his pack or bring down their wrath onto her if the spirits she invoked deemed it necessary for her protection to unleash their power on his pack, she would protect herself as best she could with the light Fae magic that should be enough to ward him off.
While Fae and Lycan had been cut from the same mystical clothe it was a historical fact that at some point in their past they had come to stand on opposite sides of the great divide between living together in peace and going to war with each other with too many casualties on both sides. Not a war as such- more a conflict of what some would say was an entrenchment of beliefs on both sides that couldn’t easily be dismisse
d or put to rest.
Mistrust had been cast on both sides into generations of Fae that believed to live together with the Lycan’s was an impossibility. Nicole had experienced her own prejudices today that she hadn’t even realised she held when dealing with the Lycan- she had immediately put her guard up- wary of him from the instant she had discovered his secret and yet something within her had reached out to him, like trying to form a connection- but that was just the pull of one mystical force meeting another, she was certain of that.
Now she needed to protect herself from any recriminations her words and actions towards him might bring about- if the Lycan had perceived her as a threat she might not be as safe as she declared herself to be to Darcy- she had assured her friend that her wards would hold him at bay- she didn’t want Darcy to involve a coven in her dealings with the Lycan for that would only bring more conflict and death on both sides.
Darcy’s dream weighed heavy on her mind as she brought her eyes down to the darkness of the woods before her, a shiver running through her body at the thought of running from that man. It was more than evident just from looking at the well muscled frame that had been barely concealed beneath the clothes he wore, just how powerful he was, she didn’t need her knowledge of Lycan’s to tell her that if she were caught in the open with this man- she stood little too no chance of being able to outrun or out manoeuvre the man, let alone the wolf.
The ease with which he could hunt her down and kill her didn’t need to be calculated, it was a foregone conclusion, she would be dead in a heartbeat- those dark eyes that had accused her along with his words when he had recognised her as a witch floated through her mind like an anchor- his eyes, so seductive, so mesmerising- she felt the heat wash through her body and closed her eyes for a long moment as a stirring within her took her attention and held it.
What the hell? Nicole’s eyes snapped open as she frowned at the inconsistency of her feelings within her- she should be afraid of the Lycan- not getting all worked up over his eyes- the eyes of a killer given the right circumstances.