by M. L. Briers
“What are you two whispering about over there?”Kiera twisted in her chair to get a better look at them. They looked innocent enough, although the twinkle of mischief within Caren’s eyes said she was definitely up to something. She knew that look too well.
“Your boyfriend.”Caren shot back with a certain amount of glee that made Kiera’s nerves grate within her.
“That stray’s nothing to do with me.”Kiera sniffed her disdain for the thought of it.
Teri’s eyes shot towards Caren. “Stray?” She questioned, raising her brows and Caren held her hands up in front of her in denial.
“Hey, I said nothing. She named him at the front door.”
“He came calling?”Teri couldn’t quite believe that the alpha was that stupid or that desperate that he would risk putting his mate off him, especially when she was human and didn’t get the mating thing.
“Yep.” Caren nodded.
“Then he was at the back door. The guy has some serious issues.”Kiera shook her head in disbelief as she turned back towards her coffee.
“We have to tell her…”Caren hissed and Teri nudged her in the ribs.
“Sure, we’ll start with, oh, by the way.” Teri hissed back.
“You’re going to leave it up to him to tell her?”Caren hooked her thumb at the curtained window and the wolf that waited outside, pacing probably, eager to get to his mate. Teri thought about it. Then she thought some more. “I can just imagine it now. Strips naked and goes, look what I can do…”Caren added dryly and Teri rolled her eyes.
“As opposed to us chanting, its da wool-uff, its da wool-uff…” Teri shot back, sarcasm literally dripping off her every word.
“Well, this wolf doesn’t want her for his dinner…”Caren hissed and Teri snorted.
“No. He wants to mate her and make her his alpha queen for the rest of her life, and as quickly as possible. Are you gonna explain that to her in ten words or less?”
“He’s a wolf; you’re his mate, good luck with that.”Caren hissed again, getting annoyed with her friend. She could see the logic in sitting Kiera down and explaining everything, why was it so hard for Teri to see the big picture. Better that they tell her, gently, than the damn wolf blusters and traumatizes her.
“Shame you left out the; ‘he’s going to bite you a couple of times to mark you and bond with you. You’re then his mate for life and you’re going to live on pack land with his wolfie family, spit out a few pups that will also be wolves…” Caren held up her index finger to stop Teri just as she was getting into full fettle. It was the condescending tone that really tugged at Caren’s irk strings.
“That’s way more than ten words.”Caren sneered back as she strolled off and left Teri groaning in annoyance behind her. This really wasn’t the way she had envisaged Kiera visit going. She wasn’t especially pleased that fate had used her as a go between for the mates either. If this didn’t work out and ended badly, it wouldn’t be fate that Kiera blamed…
Cyrus sat up on the largest bough of the tree that overlooked the cottage. His mate was safely inside and the Alpha was patrolling the area like a man possessed, which of course he was, only he was possessed with the mating fever that claimed all Lycans. Cyrus was more than grateful to be a vampire. He could wait his mate out. Lycans didn’t have the luxury of time on their side. Callum couldn’t spend endless months getting to know his mate, getting her to slowly accept him as hers. The more he waited, the more his hunger for her would grow and that didn’t always end well.
Still, a few days here or there wouldn’t kill the wolf or the man, or even the mate. Cyrus had a wager that he intended to win, it was just how he went about it that plagued him at the moment. Should he really interfere with the mating process? Wouldn’t that be ungentle manly of him? Hadn’t he suffered his own longings for his mate?
Cyrus watched his friend pacing. Head down in contemplation, with his fists tightened at his sides. It was in the wolf’s nature to take what was his and be done with it. It was in the man’s nature not too. This wasn’t back in the day when a Lycan would just carry off his mate, no matter what her species, and mate her in some damn cave somewhere, if she was lucky. Every species that inhabited this planet had needed to adapt to survive. Become more civilized. Lycans were no different. The urge for Callum to carry his mate off to his man cave would be strong, but he would fight it.
Cyrus settled back against the thick trunk and linked his hands together behind his head as he watched the Alpha debating with himself all the ways to woo his mate. What Cyrus needed to do was to figure out the Alpha’s next move and get there first.
The best thing about today was that his own mate had recognized who he was, finally. It had taken a lot of willpower on his part not to just throw it out there for her to deal with. It had taken even more willpower not to have her, taste her, and make love to her. He was a patient man and he knew the little Fae had to see him not just as a vampire, but as a man. Now she saw him as all three, vampire, man and mate. Progress.
Cyrus settled in for another long night outside his mate’s cottage. The Lycan should be grateful that he wouldn’t have to wait as long as Cyrus had to have his mate. He couldn’t imagine that Callum had it in him to be out here, night after night for months without going insane for her. But on the down side, the alpha’s mate was human; he’d have to work harder for her to accept him. Even without Cyrus’s interference, the alpha would have a time of it.
Callum must have caught his scent on the wind because his head snapped around on his neck and his eyes zeroed in on the large bough. Busted. The alpha stalked over to the tree and snarled up at him. A vampire outside his mate’s home wasn’t going to go down well with the inner wolf, no matter who that vampire was.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Why are you here?” Callum growled up into the darkness, but his eyes picked out his friend with ease.
“Front row seats to the car crash…”Cyrus offered on a melodic chuckle that riled the alpha.
“You find this amusing?”Callum wanted to hit himself upside the head. Of course the damn vampire found it amusing, and in his place, Callum might have been up that damn tree watching the vampire pacing.
“Of course, and one has to get one’s amusement where one can…”Cyrus informed him and watched the big alpha roll his eyes and his shoulders. Highly strung wasn’t just two words, it was a state of being for the alpha until he was standing beside his mate again, only then would he be able to relax.
“Does one? Go home, Cyrus.” Callum growled out a warning that even a thick headed vampire could understand. He didn’t want him here, it put his beast on edge and he was anxious enough knowing that they had found their mate and her not being Lycan meant he couldn’t just claim her as his and wait for the mating pull to bring her to his bed.
“That’s not going to happen. Consider me your shadow for the next two days. If that doesn’t appeal to you, consider me extra protection for your mate. A vampire bodyguard, what could be better?”
“Sinking my jaws into your throat and ripping it out.” There was an underlying pleasure in Callum’s words and Cyrus picked up on it. With a small throaty chuckle from his lips, Cyrus rested back against the bough and feigned closing his eyes to the world around him for the Alpha’s benefit.
“That’s one way of announcing what you are to your mate.”Cyrus watched the alpha’s reaction through hooded eyes. The man dropped his head and thought that through.
“She’ll accept my beast.”Callum seemed to be reasoning with himself now. The vampire in the tree ignored it for all of a moment. He just couldn’t resist putting that little spark of doubt in that thick old wolf’s head.
“You keep telling yourself that, Alpha.”Cyrus saw him snap his head back up towards him on a low, deep growl of annoyance. “But, we both know how skittish humans can be. They want to believe, they do believe, then we pop up in front of them and they run for the hills.”Cyrus was planting the seeds of doubt within his gaming partner
s mind. For Cyrus knew that confidence in oneself, in others, could be a game changer.
“You’re not helping, vampire.”Callum turned on his heels and stalked back towards the cottage.
“I’m not supposed to, Wolf.”Cyrus chuckled out.
“Would it help with the talking behind my back thing if I went to bed?” Kiera sat back against the hard backed kitchen chair and eyed Caren as she slipped back onto the seat next to her. The woman’s backside hovered in the air for a long moment, unsure of how to answer that. She flicked her eyes up to Teri as she joined them, easing herself down into a chair on the opposite side of the table.
“It might.” Teri didn’t meet her eyes, but the smirk on her lips was enough to assure Kiera that she was in her bitchy mode.
“Look, I know you guys think my not dating is…”
“Weird.”Caren cut in.
“Strange.”Teri offered. Kiera rolled her eyes to the ceiling and took a long breath.
“So much understanding and support, it’s really quite overwhelming.” She dropped her eyes to Teri who was grinning back at her, unrepentant.
“We know you’re strangely weird, babe, but a man like Callum doesn’t come along every day…”Caren offered, trying to make light of her point.
“That’s an understatement…”Teri dropped her eyes to the coffee mug in front of her. Her fingers busied themselves with running rings around the rim of the cup.
“I know you guys seem to think the magic cards tell all, but this is just some horny guy…”
“Magic cards?”Teri snorted a chuckle. “Sweetie, you really have no idea sometimes, and that’s not your fault, we love you, but you need to open your eyes…”
“Oh, I think that’s a given, Teri, don’t you?”Caren shot back.
“What are you two talking about now?”Kiera always felt a little left out when they started talking witchy things. She knew little to nothing of the practices that they chose to follow, and most of it made no sense to her. Now they were being extra cryptic by design and it was starting to get on her nerves.
“Caren, grab me a candle will you?”Teri motioned towards the other room and Caren grinned wildly as she jumped to her feet.
“Time for some magic, kiddo. Hold on to your panties.”Caren sniggered, disappearing into the other room and then reappearing with a candle as Kiera gave Teri a bored look.
“Really?”
“Really.”Teri grinned back over the table top as Caren pressed the bottom of the candle into the spike on the base of the holder and stood back. Teri uttered a word that Kiera didn’t quite grasp and the candle flickered to life between them. Kiera’s eyes snapped down to the candle as the low flame flickered and bobbed into a bright light.
“It’s a trick, a clever one, but just a trick.”Kiera assured herself. Anything else was just too unbelievable to consider. Her eyes flicked back up towards Teri, hoping to find some amusement there, some sign that she was chuckling on the inside, but there was nothing but the dancing candlelight in her eyes.
“Oh ye of little faith.”Teri drew herself up to her feet and hooked her index finger towards her friend. “Come with me.” She beckoned her as she started to walk backwards out of the room. With a sigh and a small shrug off her shoulders Kiera did her bidding. Getting to her feet, she followed her into the cosy living room. Teri had stopped right in the middle of the room as if she was preparing to put on a floorshow.
“Go on then, make it rain…”Kiera teased back sarcastically and Teri grinned at her. This time there was amusement in her eyes, along with a big dollop of mischief. Holding out her hands, palms upwards, at waist height, Teri’s lips moved but Kiera couldn’t hear the words. In a heartbeat candles roared to life around the room and Kiera jumped backwards a step as her eyes flashed from one to the other in disbelief.
“How’d you…?”Kiera couldn’t quite comprehend what she was seeing. It was a trick, it had to be…
“Magic.” Caren leaned in as she whispered to her. It took a long moment for Kiera to recover her composure, but when she finally had it, she placed her hands on her hips, tilted her chin upwards defiantly and raised her brows in a challenge.
“Fine, now put them out.” Kiera didn’t see a flicker of hesitation within Teri as her friend muttered again. The candles dying, not one by one, but altogether, snuffed out by some unseen hand. Kiera’s jaw slacked as she eyed the room. The candles flashed back to life and her heart hammered within her chest. This is not real, this is not magic, it’s a trick. But how? The candles blew out again and she frowned hard.
“Told you. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”Caren crowed from beside her.
Kiera wanted to move, she really did, but her legs just didn’t seem to get the message and she ended up just sitting down on the floor, crossed legged and breathing in large gulps of air.
Wow, and, well, just wow. Her friends were witches… whoa! Who knew…? Apart from them, obviously…witches… wow, witches were real…magic was real…nooo…
“What else can you do?”Kiera needed more proof, or wanted to see more tricks, or just really hit her head hard against a wall until she woke up…
“We could change you into a cat.” Caren offered and Kiera swallowed hard against the lump in her throat.
“What? Really?” There was an edge of fear within her voice.
“No. But at least your mind is open to the possibility now.” Caren shot back. Dropping to the floor beside her friend and folding her legs up under her. Teri sat down opposite them and reached out to give Kiera’s hand a gentle, but comforting little squeeze.
“We did tell you, peanut.”Teri gave her a sympathetic look. She knew how hard it was for Kiera to grasp that there really was magic out there.
“Broomsticks…”Kiera’s eyes flashed excitedly and the girls couldn’t help but chuckle.
“No quite. But astral projection…”Caren started and Kiera’s head snapped around towards her.
“What’s that?”Her new found enthusiasm was a marked improvement from her continual disbelief and discrediting of the faith.
“It’s when you leave your body behind and go on a journey somewhere else.”Teri offered as Kiera’s eyes swung around to her along with her head, although that seemed to take a moment longer to follow suit. The woman was in danger of whiplash if she kept snapping back and forth like that…
“What’s the point if you don’t have a body?”Kiera’s brows furrowed as she shook her head.
“It depends.”Teri assured her. “So, I take it you believe in the craft now?”
“Why didn’t you show me years ago?”Kiera demanded excited by the prospects of what her friends could do. It was a little scary, but what the hell, they were her friends, they’d never hurt her…
“Because, we’re not really supposed to share that kind of thing with an outsider…”Teri informed her and Kiera swallowed down again, excitement raging within her.
“But, I’m still an outsider…”Kiera assured her. Unsure what had changed in the grand scheme of things.
“Not as much as you think…”Caren muttered as she turned her eyes towards Teri. Kiera had heard her, but she didn’t understand. Kiera couldn’t do magic, she wasn’t a witch, so what was new?
“We have something to tell you…”Teri offered.
“And you might not like it…”Caren took over as Kiera’s head swung back and forth between them.
“It’s kind of unbelievable…”Teri shrugged her shoulders.
“But its true…”Caren assured her, and for a long moment Kiera felt the heady excitement that washed through her.
“Just get to the point…”She squeezed out between thin lips. The suspense was almost killing her. What more could there be? They were witches. Magic was real…
“Werewolves and vampires are real too…”Caren blurted out, not sure now that she was faced with it, how exactly to put it. Kiera opened her mouth to say something and stopped…
/>
“Way to go, just blurt it out like that, ever heard of subtle?”Teri snapped at Caren.
“Wait. What?”Kiera demanded. She didn’t think she’d heard that right, and if she had heard that right, then she didn’t think that Caren was all there in her head. “Like turning me into a cat, right?”Kiera demanded as she looked from Caren, who was now eyeing the ceiling, to Teri, who was fiddling with a loose thread on the edge of the worn rug at her knees. “Guys?”
Kiera waited for a response, but none came. Both women were now busying themselves with nothing at all and all in an attempt not to look at her. It was the same way when one or both of them used to eat her ice cream and put the empty pot back in the freezer, nobody wanted to confirm or deny what had happened. Kiera felt a strange chill that crept up her spine, she didn’t like this, and if this was a joke it wasn’t a very funny one.
“Vampires are real?” Kiera muttered quietly. Just the thought of it sent a shiver down her spine. How could vampires be real? People would know, people would be dying with bite marks in their necks… unless there was a cover up conspiracy going on…no that was as believable as magi… “Oh my god, vampires are real!” Kiera went to get up, but Caren’s hand shot out and yanked her back down to the floor beside her.
“Chill.”Caren offered and Kiera looked at her as if she was insane.
“Chill?”Kiera spat out. “Vampires are real…Chill?”Kiera repeated as she tried to wrap her head around how they could be so damn calm about it.
“And werewolves, maybe concentrate on the werewolves it might take your mind off the vampires.” Caren offered with a hopeful grin. But the sound of Kiera sucking in a long breath and with it the most pitiful sound of a wheezed squeal, made her think otherwise.