by M. L. Briers
“Minds made up, there wasn’t anything to consider Faith. You know that, right?”
“But…”Faith started and Sasha cut her off.
“Sorry.”She pushed her boots on, one foot at a time as Faith floundered in a sea of uncertainty.
“But…”
“Not happening.”Sasha shot back. She liked Faith, she liked her a lot. She always found it kind of strange that a Fae would choose to hang around with wolves, but they had agreed to disagree a long time ago, and Faith’s time with the pack didn’t really come up much in conversation.
“Maybe…”
“Sorry. I can’t. And thanks for the rescue and the TLC, but now I have to go.”Sasha started towards the bedroom door, slower than she would have liked. If she could have run the distance to get out of there she would have, but not right now. She was reduced to something of hustle.
“Go where?”Faith spat out on a scoff of disbelief. “You totalled your car and the snow’s still coming down…”Faith followed her down the hallway towards the stairs, and as Sasha was going down, she saw Abel appear at the bottom. He had to have overheard that she was leaving.
“You need to go back to bed…”Just as she reached the last step he walked in front of her to block the way and she lifted her knee, bringing it up to his groin and dropping him like a swatted fly.
“What was that for?”Faith spluttered on a chuckle and Sasha shrugged.
“Let’s call it a parting gift so he knows where I stand on the issue of mating with him.”
“That’s gotta hurt his… feelings.”Faith winced along with him, as Sasha carefully walked over his crumpled body and Faith followed.
“I’ll give you a call…”Sasha offered, as if it were just another day, another chance meeting, and she hadn’t just dropped her mate on his pride.
“Sasha…”Faith couldn’t believe that this was happening. “You can’t go.”
“You keep saying that…”Sasha chuckled as she shrugged into her jacket. “And yet that’s exactly what I’m doing. Take care, Faith.”
“Someone grab my mate.”Abel was desperately trying to pull himself to his feet, but he was just doing a fish out of water impression on the floor. Adam looked at Joshua, and Joshua stared back at him.
“Don’t look at me…”The big man shook his head adamantly and Adam sighed. “She’s his damn mate, and she’s meaner than Faith. Let him get her.”
“Kind of holding my nuts right now, dude.”Abel spat out.
“Ah, crap.”Joshua saw Adam take off for the front door and followed him.
“If she zaps me you owe me big time.”Joshua tossed over his shoulder and Abel tried to chuckle, but there was nothing funny about his balls right then.
“Sasha…”Adam called as the little Fae woman stomped off through the snow, and he growled long and hard as he followed her into the storm.
He reached out his hand to touch her on the shoulder, but she sensed him there, turning on her heels, she held out her hand to ward him off.
“Don’t make me hurt you again.” She didn’t want to hurt him, he was Faith’s brother, but she would do whatever it took to get back to sanity and away from her alleged mate.
Joshua grabbed her from behind, and it was a definite bear hug that the big guy was giving her. Her arms were swept down and locked against her sides, and even when she used her petite frame against his big arms to try to struggle out of his grip, hoping she might just slip through the cracks of his hold, it didn’t work, and she was locked against him.
Sasha tried the old back heel down the front of his shin routine, but for a big guy he was pretty agile, too fast on his feet for her to connect with him. So she tried to head butt him in the face with the back of her head, not thinking that the only place her head reached was his damn chest.
“That’s gonna hurt you more than me, sweetheart.”Joshua growled down at her, giving Adam a look of pity as he held her still. “So I have her, what the hell do you want me to do with her now?”He growled down, as she continued to squirm. Adam shrugged.
“Get her back in the cabin I guess.”Adam turned to see everyone out on the porch watching them, everyone but Abel, he was just following up the rear and when his eyed Joshua’s death grip on his mate Adam could see the dark rage that descended over him. “Second thoughts, you might want to let her go.”Adam bit out, just as Abel launched himself from the porch, moving on fast feet towards Joshua and his mate, and just then Joshua looked up and swallowed hard at the sight of Abel making for him.
CHAPTER THREE
Joshua released her a moment before Abel swung for him, connecting with his jaw of granite and swaying the big man backwards, as Hope screeched out her annoyance.
“Abel, don’t you dare. He was doing what you damn well told him too.”She ground out as she started towards them.
Abel saw his mate move away from Joshua and he launched himself at him. Knocking him backwards with the force of his weight and rolling on the ground, as both men started to land punches.
“Seriously Faith? This is what you do now?”Sasha threw up her hands in disgust and started to turn on her heels and trudge down the path.
“Oh really, Sasha? And what lofty and noble past time do you do?”Faith folded her arms across her chest and watched her friend go. She might have been Abel’s mate, but right now Faith wasn’t so impressed with her sneering at her pack.
Adam kicked his brother in the backside a moment before Joshua launched him into the nearest snow bank with a hearty chuckle.
“Get off me little wolf.”Joshua growled, teasing his friend for being under the mating spell that made them all do stupid things. Like attacking a fully grown bear shifter when you had no intention of using your fangs and claws.
“You might notice that your mate is getting away again, stupid.”Adam growled down at Abel, as he took a long moment to come up for air and shake the snow from his body.
Abel sat up straighter and snapped his head around in the direction Adam was pointing. “You could have stopped her.” Abel growled as he sprang up onto his feet.
“Yeah, Josh tried that, look where it got him.”Adam chuckled as Abel started on a run after his mate.
“Sasha…”Abel called on a deep growl and he saw her wave a hand dismissively in the air. She didn’t bother to turn around until she heard him behind her.
Sasha turned on fast heels and held her hands up in frustration. “Did you not get the message, wolf?”
“Look, you’re my mate…”Sasha groaned and rolled her eyes.
“Shake…”Sasha said, spying the large bough above his head with a good amount of snow clinging to it. In an instant it thumped down onto Abel’s head and shoulders, making him buckle to his knees under the sudden onslaught of so much snow.
“Leaving now…”She held out her index finger and narrowed her eyes. “Stay. Good dog.”She saw the shock register on his face, and she wanted to laugh as she turned on her heels and started to walk away. She did hear the groan that came from his lips.
“We need to talk about this…”Abel dragged himself up to his feet and shook off the damn snow.
“It’s not going to happen, enough said. Goodbye.”Sasha carried on walking, as Abel sighed and shook his head, snow still falling off him as he started after her again.
“The mountain is snowed in. You don’t have a car…”Abel tried to reason with her.
“I have feet.”Sasha was damn well going to walk away from here today. She wasn’t stupid, she knew the mating pull would be harder to walk away from the longer she stayed near him, and she wasn’t prepared to allow that damn pull to get to her.
“You’ll freeze to death, it’s too many miles, and another blizzard is heading in.”Abel was walking behind her, keeping time with her without closing the gap and making her more antsy than she already was, but he wasn’t about to let her get away from him.
“I’ll take my chances…”
“I won’t let that happen. I can’t, you’re my…�
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Sasha turned fast and held that damn finger out to him again. It stood between them like a lance, and it made him more than nervous to wonder what she was going to do to him this time.
“Don’t say it wolf boy…”She warned.
Abel pulled in a nice crisp breath into his lungs and his chest expanded before he let it out on a sigh. Raising his hands up towards his shoulders he gave a small shrug. “Mate.”He offered, a large smirk expanding over his face as she narrowed her eyes and bit down on a curse or three, maybe four, nope she went for five, all rolling through her mind as she stared anywhere but at him.
The way his eyes lit up with mischief was enough of a pull on her senses, let alone that damned sexy smirk of his, and standing there, so very potently male, so definitely wolf, in those low hung jeans and thin tee that would have anyone else shivering in this weather, well he just looked irresistible, and that wasn’t good.
It told her that the mating pull was further along than she hoped for. Maybe because he had been the one to carry her all the way back to the cabin while she slept. Sleeping meant her shields were down, and that meant the mating pull would have been gaining ground on her faster than if her shields were up. Damn…
“That’s the trouble with you damn wolves, you just can’t be domesticated to do as you’re told.”She spat out. Turning back on her heels and starting off again. She didn’t know where she was headed, but away from him was a good start.
The crunch of his big feet behind her let her know he was following again.
“Well hey, we can’t all be meddlesome little Fae now can we?”
“Shame, right?”She snapped back and heard him chuckle.
“Depends on the Fae…”Abel offered and saw her shoulders tense.
“Meaning?”She snapped out. Who was he comparing her too? Faith and Hope? Well, they were his sisters… Did he think she failed in comparison to them?
“Just saying…”He stopped when she did and watched in amusement as she spun back towards him, her eyes flashing with annoyance.
“So you don’t actually have a point, you’re just flapping your gums for the sake of hearing your own voice?”Her words dripped sarcasm, and something else… Could it be a little jealously that he heard there?
“Well, there’s Faith, Fay and Hope, and then there’s…you.”Abel made a deliberate point of folding his arms over his chest, and he watched her eyes dip to the muscles and wanted to grin at her awareness of him, but he held himself in check. Jealousy and a certain interest in his physique, both were very encouraging signs in his mind.
Sasha looked at the way his muscles expanded around his arms as he folded them over that big chest, and swallowed down the rush of excitement within her. Damn, but he was physically… Wolf. She needed to remember he was a wolf. He might look like a human, but under all of those gorgeous muscles and perfectly sexy body he was a wolf.
She dragged her eyes back up to his. “Still waiting for the damn point.”Sasha snapped out, wanting to bury her head into the nearest snow pile to rid her cheeks of that heat that was forming there, just from his knowing look at her as she’d inspected his body. Not to mention if her head was buried she wouldn’t be looking at him, and she might just dull her brain enough to give her a chance at killing off the damn mating pull.
“Everyone is different…”It wasn’t where he’d initially been going with his thoughts, but it couldn’t hurt his case…
“Oh, so you’re telling me what a nice wolf you are?”Sasha snorted her contempt.
“Actually, I am a nice guy…”Abel gave her his best smile and she gave him a dirty look.
“Sure you are…”She went to turn away and he could have cursed out.
“If you give me a chance to prove it to…”
“If I give you a chance, then it’s more than likely that I’m stuck with you for life. I’m not stupid wolf boy, I know how the mating pull works.”Sasha spat out, accusing him with her eyes and her words, and he shrugged.
“Seems to me, it’s already taken hold of you, Sasha. The further away from me you get the more you’re going to want to come running back.”
“Let’s test that theory. You stay there and I’ll be off.”She did turn this time and she started walking away.
She knew she shouldn’t have spoken to him, it was a mistake, now she knew his voice, deep and soulful with the little growl that he put behind every word, not quite that of an Alpha, but he was definitely all Beta.
She’d looked into his eyes, smiling eyes, too blue for their own good, and she knew she could get lost in those eyes, maybe she even wanted too, maybe he had been right and she was too late to walk away. There was only one way to test that theory, because she didn’t want to be mated to a damn wolf.
Faith’s words all of those years ago came back to haunt her. ‘Lycans are different to werewolves. Gentler. They coexist with their wolves, they aren’t dominated by them…’ She’d never stuck around a pack long enough to find out.
A wolf-man was a wolf-man, it was just that damned simple in her book, but what if Faith was right. From what she’d already experienced, Abel didn’t seem anything like the wolves she’d known from personal experience…
Sasha’s feet faltered in step, but she bit down and kept going. What if Faith was wrong? But then Faith had lived among these wolves, why would she lie? Damn it, right now her mind was so addled to everything she couldn’t even think straight.
Who cared if these might be nicer wolves? They were wolves. But he was her mate, would he ever give up looking for her? Even if she somehow made it off this damn mountain, which she very much doubted that she would, especially without a car…
Abel trailed behind her. He would follow her until she either gave up or was too exhausted to go any further. He certainly wasn’t about to let her go off wandering on her own, not with a snow storm coming. But he didn’t want to get zapped again, or worse, so allowing her to walk it off seemed his best bet.
“Stop following me.”Sasha bit out as annoyance flared within her.
“Don’t really have a choice.”Abel offered and heard her snort her contempt.
“It’s not like I have you on a leash…”
“Well, actually, yeah you sort of do.”He stopped when she did and again he waited for her to turn around.
“Look, Abel…” She put just a little venom behind his name. “We might be mates, but I’m really not interested in being mated to you.”
“I think you’re getting a little more interested as the minutes tick by…”Abel tipped his head and regarded her with that annoyingly knowing smirk, and she rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.
“No, really, I’m not.”Sasha lied, and he could see it written all over her face.
“Yes, really, you are, and it’s only going to get worse, sweetheart…”
“Don’t…”She pointed that index finger at him again and he wondered if it was loaded with magic and raring to go. “Call me sweetheart.”She informed him and he shrugged.
He dropped his eyes to her snowy footprints in front of him and considered that for a long moment, when he raised his eyes back to hers he saw the way she drew a long stabilising breath in.
“Ok.”He offered her, and she nodded and dropped her hand back to her hip. “How’s honey sound?”He tossed out on a devastatingly handsome grin, and she groaned and rolled her eyes and her feet away from him. Starting off again as he followed behind. “No?” Abel looked for clarity in his teasing tone. “Love?”
She ignored him, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t hear her mumbling under her breath. “Darling?”He shot off and she groaned again. “Babycakes?”He tossed out there and she rounded on him again, her eyes flashing with annoyance.
“Do you really want to start with me here?”Sasha demanded and he shrugged his broad shoulders.
“Much rather we were back in the warmth of the cabin, but beggars can’t be choosers…”He offered back on an air of sarcasm.
“Y
eah. I get that. Fate has been so kind to award me you as a damn mate. But you know what, I can be choosy…”
“Ouch, baby, don’t pull your punches now, tell it like it is, even if it is a little harsh as you don’t know me.”
“Thank the Goddess, and I don’t want to know you, in any way, shape, or form.”Sasha pointed back the way they had come. “Go away, Abel, because you aren’t going to find what you’re looking for with me.”She turned away from him.
“How do you know?”Abel tossed his words after her and he saw her hesitate in her step, she turned back to him.
“What?”
“How do you know, either, what I’m looking for, or if you have it in you to give it to me?”Abel grew serious and his eyes urged her to think about it.
“You’re a wolf.”It was the obvious answer; he knew she could probably do better than that if she put some effort into it. She had a bug up her backside about Lycans, there had to be a reason.
“Doesn’t mean that I couldn’t make you happy, Sasha.”Abel shrugged and waited for his words to sink in. He didn’t know if they did, she had already turned away and started off again.
“Doesn’t mean you could.”She muttered.
Faith, Hope and Fay had all gathered in the kitchen under the pretext of making dinner, leaving Adam and Joshua in the living room, laughing and joking about Abel’s troubles.
“This is our fault…”Hope hissed as quietly as she could and Faith warned her with her eyes.
“It’s not like we knew it was going to be Sasha…”Faith answered shoving a bowl of flour at her friend.
“What’s the big deal? We all know the mating thing doesn’t work well for everyone, look at me and Adam, but things worked out in the end.”Fay was using logic, from what she knew, when it wasn’t Lycan on Lycan mating things hardly ever went smoothly, it was just a few hiccups in the road.
“Yeah, but this is Sasha, she’s not fond of all things wolf related…”
“But that was werewolves right?”Hope looked for clarity and Faith shrugged.