by M. L. Briers
“No respect,” the elder growled and grumbled before he turned on his heels and started away from them, muttering dark curses as he went.
“Well, an exploding car full of witches — and Nestor in one of his moods,” Jake said with a shrug. “It’s probably all downhill from here.”
He could only hope. He was still in almost total denial about the witch being his mate.
“Well, you are older than me, brother,” Daniel grinned. “It’s definitely all downhill for you from here on in.”
~
~
~
“What in hell fire are you playing at?” Aggie demanded as she strolled up towards Mia and twisted her head on her neck to take in the sight of the alpha playing caveman.
The younger witch lifted her head and eyed the woman for a long moment. Hanging down the alpha’s back wasn’t exactly the prime location to have any sort of a reasonable conversation.
“Just hanging around.” The sarcasm dripped from Mia’s voice and made Aggie lift just one eyebrow in return.
“It’s no time to be playing at being a mate…” Aggie got no further when Mia gasped in disbelief.
“Bite your tongue!” Mia hissed back at the woman.
“What, do I look stupid enough to do that?” Aggie grumbled back as she dug her heels in and refused to do what any good witch would have done when faced with a slip up that tempted fate.
“Bite it, or I’ll make you bite it,” Mia hissed out.
A mate – not in this bloody lifetime!
And a mate to an Alpha Wolf, as well, I might as well just chain myself barefoot and pregnant to the kitchen stove now.
“Make me bite it, and I’ll make sure you’re a damn mate!” Aggie tossed back.
“If that’s the way you want to play it…” Mia had already summoned her magic, and all that she needed to do was to aim it in the right direction, and that’s exactly what she did.
“Ouch! You little…witch!” Aggie shot back with a glare. “I do not believe you did that.”
“Oh, she did that,” Koren grinned from ear to ear.
That only annoyed Aggie more. She raised one hand and flicked it toward Mia, just as the alpha was turning around to see what was going on — and he took what felt like a hard slap to his face.
“Hey, what gives?” Lewis growled.
“That wasn’t meant for you. That was meant for your mate,” Aggie tossed up a hand towards Mia, and the sound of the witch giving a small squeal of annoyance made her feel a lot better.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
“Stop bloody saying that!” Mia ground out between clenched teeth.
She would have loved to have retaliated with her magic against Aggie’s stupidity and thoughtlessness at tempting fate, but she was facing the wrong way for one thing. She tried wiggling and jiggling against the alpha’s hold on her, but she couldn’t break free.
“Would you be still?” Lewis growled. He’d taken a slap in the face for her, and he thought the least that she could do was to behave.
“Would you put me down so I can zap that woman senseless? Or, at least, have the good graces to bloody well turn me back around toward her.” Mia grumbled as she kicked out her legs like she was trying to swim in midair and turn her body back around towards Aggie.
“But I can see your face just fine from right here,” Aggie zapped her backside and Mia’s upper body shot upwards against his shoulder as she squealed in pain. “Yep, there it is.”
“Oh, she didn’t go there,” Jules bit out as she dropped her face into the palms of the hands before groaning.
“I believe she did,” Koren was stirring the pot with glee. “Go on girls, zap the old bat!” He urged.
All four witches turned their attention towards the vampire. All four witches zapped him.
“Speaking of bats,” Aggie crowed with satisfaction.
“Mess with one witch – mess with us all,” Mia said.
Then she took to beating her closed fists against the alpha’s back and kicking her legs against his hold until the man finally gave up, and with a grumbled growl of annoyance, he placed her none too gently down on her feet.
“If you zap me so help me I will…” The alpha got no further as the hard sting of Mia’s magic slapped him a good one.
It felt like an iron fist hitting the hard muscles of his abdomen, and he screwed up his face against the pain. He could hear the sound of his brothers chuckling over the rush of blood and his pounding heart that beat a hearty tune in his ears.
“Oh, I’m sorry — you were saying?” Mia offered like she was sugar and spice and not the wicked witch of the West.
“I — hate — witches,” Lewis bit out on one strained breath after another as he fought to drag air into his lungs.
“It could have been worse — she usually goes for the balls,” Debbie offered on a wicked chuckle that brought Jake’s attention back towards her. She heard the low rumble of a growl and gave the man a double take and a hard frown to boot. “Don’t growl at me in that tone of voice.”
“How can there be a tone of voice?” Jake asked looking confused. It was if he’d been confused since the moment that he’d met her, and he didn’t much care for it.
“You know what you did.” Debbie narrowed her eyes at him and allowed her gaze to run up and down his body.
Jake felt as if he was rushing headlong into insanity. Just having her eyes on his body caused tingles to chase across his skin as if she’d reached out and touched him with her fingertips.
That time when he growled; it sounded as if he was hungry for food.
“Dude, if you want to eat the witch…” Daniel started, but he pulled his head back on his neck when Jake snapped his head around towards him and glared at him in disgust.
“I do not want to eat the witch!” Jake growled long and hard as his beast took exception to his brother’s words.
“Whoa, okay Mr. Snappy-Mac-Mood-Boy — what’s got into you?” Daniel turned up his nose at his brother’s reaction like he’d caught the scent of his brother’s feet the air.
“Nothing — nothing’s got into me. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jake growled back.
“I think the wooluf doth protest too much,” the vampire offered on a chuckle that sounded as if he knew something that the rest of them didn’t.
Jake snapped his head back around to eye the man with suspicion.
“Stay out of my head, vampire,” Jake bit out. His top lip twitched with anger.
“Well, it’s not like you’re hiding any brains in there,” Aggie snorted a chuckle.
“And that tells me that there’s something to be found inside your teeny tiny mind,” Koren offered back with a smug smile that just screamed at Jake to be wiped clean off his face with his fist.
“Brother?” Daniel’s teasing tone annoyed Jake all the more. “Is there something you want to share?” Now his tone was a mixture of teasing and babying him.
Jake’s fist shot out and connected with Daniel’s jaw before the beta had even realized that it was coming for him. He’d stood no chance in ducking away from it or even bracing himself for the impact, and as his backside hit the floor and his pride protested, he was sure that he saw little baby wooluf’s dancing around his head.
“Wipeout!” Debbie chuckled right up until the point when Jake snapped his attention towards her, and his feet started to bring the man mountain her way. “What did I do?” She asked with wide eyed innocence.
“You know what you did!” Jake growled.
“I do?” She rushed out trying to think fast on her feet. “No, I don’t!”
“Hey, back off,” Mia demanded and got a low rumble of a warning growl back from the beta.
“Don’t growl at her!” Lewis growled at his brother. His protective gene was kicking in again as his Wolf raised its head to the surface.
“Why?” Jake growled back
“Because — I said so,” the alpha tossed back at him, but in truth, he had no idea.
“This is between my mate and me!” Jake bit out on another warning growl.
“Your bloody well what?” Debbie practically squealed the words out as she took a small step back away from him.
Debbie had wanted to take a really big step back, but it wasn’t just her feet that felt as if they were encased in lead, it was her whole damn body, and it didn’t want to go anywhere.
CHAPTER SIX
~
“Don’t deny it!” Jake ground out.
He knew what she was to him. His beast knew what she was to them. She had to know it as well.
“Crazy Wolf — crazy Wolf!” Debbie rushed out as she tried to take another step back but found only a wall behind her, blocking her path to freedom, to sanity, and she squeaked at the lost hope.
“Crazy for you!” Jules chuckled.
“Hmm, I feel a Madonna moment coming on,” Daniel offered.
On the one hand Jules felt guilty about laughing at her friend’s misfortune, but on the other hand, if you couldn’t laugh at your friends, who could you laugh at?
“Shut up, Jules. This is all Mia’s fault,” Debbie said in a rush of panic. But it was too late for any of them to do anything about it now — Jake was already up close and more personal than she wanted him to be even if there was a part of her that did jolt with excitement. “B-b-back off.”
“Not a damn chance in hell,” Jake growled out.
Mine…
His jet black eyes were locked and loaded on hers, and he had a hungry look about him that made her shiver right down to her toes.
“But I don’t want to be a mate,” she breathed out in a voice that was as whiny as a tired child.
“Well, slap my ass and call me Shirley,” Jules chuckled. “But I don’t think fate has left you much of a choice.”
Jake’s large hands reached out for her upper arms, and he heard her squeak again as he wrapped his fingers around her skin and felt the tingles chase over his body once more. It felt good — damn good.
Debbie opened her mouth to speak, but with one yank on her body from the beta, she was truly up close and personal with him. Her breasts squished against the hard muscles of his chest — and he dipped his head to her neck to take her scent once more — he just needed to be absolutely certain that he hadn’t had a brain fart and had made a grave mistake.
“F-fix this — now!” Debbie said eyeing Mia over his left shoulder.
“It’s not my fault!” Mia tossed up a hand and shrugged her shoulders. “Is Aggie’s fault.”
“Don’t you lay the blame for this at my door.” Aggie scowled at Mia. “I wished you a mate, not her a damn mate.”
“Take it back!” Mia demanded.
“Why?” Aggie folded her arms under a matronly bosom and offered the young which a sly grin. “That could be you.”
“I really will hurt you old woman!” Mia shot back.
When Lewis moved an inch at her side Mia’s head snapped around on her neck, and she glared at him.
“What?” Lewis grumbled.
“What are you doing?” She eyed him with suspicion.
“Getting ready to fart,” Lewis offered back with a whole big dollop of sarcasm in his tone.
“Geez, nobody breathe in,” Daniel groaned.
“That’s funny. It’ll be even funnier with my fist in your face,” Lewis growled.
“You know what would be even funnier?” Daniel asked. “If you found a witch mate.”
Lewis felt his beast rise to the surface once more. He truly could have pounded his brother in the face with his fist and not thought twice about it.
Now the man had set his Wolf off in search of a mate.
He didn’t want to take the risk of breathing in. Just in case he ended up in the same predicament as Jake.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want a mate, he did. But a witch mate? No way in hell. Those women were just too much trouble and as crazy as a bunch of cats in a sack.
Lewis eyed the woman standing right next to him, and Mia eyed him right back.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Mia demanded.
“How am I looking at you when I’m looking at you like that?” Lewis offered back.
“Like I’ve got cooties,” she said and watched as the alpha rolled a thought around his head and empty words over his silent tongue. “Or like I smell bad — oh!” Mia gasped. “You sniffed me!”
“I did not sniff you!” Lewis growled back. His face was a picture of denial and disbelief.
“Yes you did — you sniffed!”
“No, no, no, no — no! I did not sniff you. I do not want to sniff you. You can go and take your smell somewhere else…”
“Smell? I smell?” Mia looked at him as if the man had just grown another head.
“I didn’t mean smell, I meant scent,” the alpha growled. “And I don’t want any of it. I’m not sniffing.” He gave a slow sideways shake of his head, and he didn’t stop until the vampire spoke.
“That’s not exactly true,” Koren offered him a smug smile.
“Go. Get off pack land. Now…” The alpha growled raising a hand pointing in any direction at all just in case the vampire needed a road map.
“What’s not true?” Mia asked the vampire as she eyed the alpha with a whole lot of suspicion.
“How would he know?” Lewis rounded on her.
“He’s a vampire. Doh!” Mia tossed back.
“Exactly. He’s a vampire,” Lewis expanded his hands and motioned towards Koren like he was a new car in the showroom. “They lie.”
The alpha nodded his head, folded his arms across his wide chest, and looked as pleased as punch with himself.
“Amen to that,” Aggie snorted her contempt for the vampire. “And you know I’m not religious, but I’ll praise the Lord for that one.”
“I resent that,” Koren said as he scowled at the alpha.
“And they can also read minds.” Mia folded her arms, offered the alpha a nod of victory, and then turned her attention back to the vampire. “What’s not true?”
“Well, he hasn’t sniffed…”
“See!” The alpha tossed up his large hands in a victory celebration of pure satisfaction, but Mia wasn’t done, and neither was the vampire.
“And yet, we haven’t got to the — what’s not true part — yet.” Mia huffed.
“He wants to sniff…” The words were barely out of the vampire’s mouth when Mia rounded on Lewis.
“I knew it! You sniffy-Mac-sniffer of the worst kind.” Mia hissed up at the man.
Lewis looked guilty as charged. He grumbled a growl deep within his chest, and if he’d been a child, then she would have expected him to kick out his foot at a tuft of grass.
“It’s not entirely my fault,” the alpha said.
“No, the vampire made you do it,” Mia snorted back with a look of contempt for the alpha.
“Well, don’t look at me, I certainly didn’t make him sniff like a dog,” Aggie said. “And while we’re at it — I only invited you witches here — I never told you to find mates. That’s just careless.”
“Careless?” Jules questioned Aggie’s sanity with just a look.
“Careless, stupid, the kind of thing a novice white witch would do,” Aggie said.
“Define white witch,” Koren offered back.
“Oh, tell me you’re not calling me out as a racist,” Aggie sneered back at him.
“How do you feel about vampires?” Koren asked.
“I hate them with the fire of a thousand suns.” Aggie eyed him with distaste.
“I prove my case, your honor,” Koren tossed back at her.
“Go find your grave and crawl back into it,” Aggie hissed at him with venom in every word.
“This from the witch that taught Medusa everything she knew,” Koren grumbled.
“Now you listen here, vampire. I might be old, but at least I’m not a walking corpse.” Aggie grumbled something under her breath, and even the vampire couldn’t he
ar her words.
“Can we get back to the sniffing thing?” Mia scowled as she flicked a quick glare back at the alpha.
“Let’s not and say we did,” Lewis grumbled.
His beast didn’t want to let it drop. The vampire was right, man and beast both had the urge to take her scent.
“A little help over here would go a long way,” Debbie said as she raised her hand and waved over Jake’s shoulder. The beta lifted his head and met her eye to eye.
There was a low rumble of a growl that caught in his throat, and his eyes narrowed slightly on hers.
Mine…
Jake’s wolf was clawing just beneath the surface of his skin. The beast demanded action, and when Jake was slow to act it tried to push forward, Jake slammed that cage shut.
Mine…
Mine…
“Mine,” Jake growled his claim.
“You…” Debbie bit off her words and pressed her lips together as a small squeal caught in the back of her throat.
“Yep, that about seals it,” Aggie chuckled.
“I…” Debbie turned pleading eyes onto Aggie, but the older witch just snorted a chuckle. She flicked her gaze towards Mia. “You…” Mia grimaced, and Debbie sighed inwardly. “Oh, damn it to hell.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
~
Mia had tossed up every ward that she could possibly think of and reinforced her shields around her body to keep the alpha’s attention at bay. The man looked as if he was fighting a war within himself and she didn’t want to be on the losing side of that battle.
A sniff was just a sniff — unless that sniff led to a mate. Mia only needed to look at Debbie to realize that it was a possibility that she didn’t want to risk.
A mate was bad enough, but an alpha? She could write a list of all the ways that would be bad.
“Please stop looking at me with your beady eyes,” Mia muttered out as she flicked Lewis a sideways glance and shuddered at the thought of being a mate.
“Well, first of all, I don’t have beady eyes, and secondly, it’s not my eyes you have to worry about.” Lewis didn’t like the fact that she was worried about anything to do with him.