by M. L. Briers
Zane’s bear saw red. At the sound of Agatha’s voice, he felt the rush of betrayal from one of his own.
She was no better than the witch that had killed his mate – if anything, she was worse.
The bear lashed out with one strong paw. It connected with the side of her face and his razor sharp claws followed through into the skin as he battered her away…
Connor was too late to stop the witch from getting the brunt of the bear’s anger.
He was too late to catch her before she hit the ground, but he was right by her side a moment later, as Dexter and Jacob took advantage of the bear’s momentary distraction that the witch had caused him to attack.
They lunged at the beast together. Their combined weight and strength brought the bear down to the ground as they attacked with everything that they had…
Zane didn’t go down without a fight – but once the wolves had him on the ground – he’d already lost the battle.
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Agatha’s eyes took in the sight of the Zane lying dead not more ten feet away from her and she mourned that loss.
“Let me see your wounds…” Connor reached out and gently palmed her face, trying to bring her eyes around to his and away from the sight of her friend lying defeated, but she batted his hand away.
“I’ll heal…” Agatha bit out at the same time as she battled to hide the tears that stung her eyes and threatened to run freely down her cheeks. She couldn’t let that happen.
They didn’t need to see her tears. She didn’t need to show them her pain…
“He was already dead the moment that he let his bear take control…” Connor said, trying to ease the burden of guilt that came from her in waves, along with a myriad of other emotions that battered against him.
“I know.” Agatha muttered.
She didn’t want to debate the rights and wrongs of how Zane had died or even how he’d lived his final days. She just wanted to remember the man that he once was.
“Let me heal you with my blood,” Connor said.
“These scars are mine to bare.” Agatha said.
“You did nothing wrong,” Lily called from the opening to the cabin, and that did bring the witch’s eyes away from her friend…
“He died knowing that I betrayed him.”
“You live knowing that you did what you had to do,” Connor said.
“Kill my friend…” Agatha bit out.
“That wasn’t your friend,” Lily said.
“And if he hadn’t of died here – then it would only have been a matter of time before a pack or a clan would have taken him down. You probably saved countless innocent lives in the process…” Connor reasoned.
“That’s not…” Agatha gave a small shake of her head as she pushed up to her feet. “He was my alpha – my friend…” she lifted her hand and dropped it to her side once more. “Am I free to leave?”
“And go where?” Dexter asked, shaking off the wolf and returning to his human form.
“I…” she frowned hard.
That thought had ever crossed her mind. There were some in the clan who didn’t like having her around, because she was a Fae.
With Zane gone … she was back to being alone.
“She’s homeless…” Connor sighed on a wince of knowing what came next. His mate would never turn away a homeless witch – he guessed that he had a house guest, for a while at least.
“We have room…” Vicky piped up from just inside the doorway.
She had been standing just behind Lily, and she’d heard every word. He could have kicked himself…
Connor snatched a look at her, and got a very poignant one back in return…
The man was toast and at the mercy of the whim of his mate. He knew, anyone who knew him, knew them, knew it, and the very worst thing of all was that his mate knew it.
“Lots of them – you could take your pick,” he said. “Hell, sleep in one a night.” He shrugged.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
~
“I can’t…” Agatha started to protest on the shake of her head.
“Now, see. I know that word has been added to the dictionary – which is somewhat annoying to say the least, and a plague on their houses for doing it, but I’m old school…” Connor said with a shrug off his broad shoulders.
“Positively ancient…” Vicky said with a lot of relish in her tone…
“Yes, and as such. There is no such word as can’t.” Connor shot his mate a glare…
“Stop pouting and sulking about the stupid dictionary – if it was up to you then we’d probably all still be saying words like thy and ye and fiddly sticks,” Vicky berated him.
“Not quite, but close, and for the record, although I can’t swear to it, I’ve never said fiddly sticks.” Connor grinned.
“I should leave…” Agatha started to turn away, but Connor’s fingers circled around her wrist before she’d even got half way.
“You need to heal…” He bit out.
“I will heal…” Agatha tried to pull her arm free but the vampire had no intention of letting her go.
“No, see. I have a problem that you need to help me with,” Connor said and watched the witch scowl hard.
“I don’t …”
“My mate is not going to take kindly to me letting you go, especially all bloodied and bruised…” Connor offered down to her.
“That’s not…”
“So, here’s the plan. You take my blood. You come back to the castle…”
“Castle?”
“Castle, with us, and once you’ve thought about where you want to be then you can leave…” she opened her mouth to protest once more. “Or I can do what vampires do and compel you to do all of the above … and maybe make you cluck like a chicken or bark like a dog…”
“Connor…” Vicky warned.
“Or maybe not…” he offered with a grin.
“What about her?” Agatha nodded towards Lily and the witch frowned in return.
“What about me?”
“You don’t want me around here…” Agatha shook her head.
“You don’t know me, so don’t speak for me…”
“I led Zane here to you…” Agatha said.
She wanted there to be no misunderstanding about her role in Zane’s hunt for the witch.
“I know,” Lily said with a shrug off her shoulders. “Then you did the right thing.”
“I might ...” Jacob growled his annoyance. He wasn’t sure that he liked the idea of the witch staying around.
“Not if you are to stand any chance at wooing your mate, you don’t…” Vicky warned him, and the man’s head snapped around on his neck as he scowled at the four witches at the door – each one scowling back at him.
“Witches stick together…” Isobel offered.
Jacob bit down on his annoyance, and rolled his broad shoulders as he prepared to eat crow.
“Fine…” he grumbled.
“There,” Connor said as he lifted his arm and his fangs elongated. “Settled, now drink up like a good little witch and don’t make me get all – look into my eyes – at you.”
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“Thanks for throwing me under the bus,” Lily muttered out of the corner of her mouth to Vicky as the women stood side by side watching the men trying to do a makeshift job of fixing the alpha’s front door.
“What’d I do?” Vicky asked, pulling her head back on her neck and scowling back at the woman.
“If you stand any chance of wooing your mate?” Lily shot back, and Vicky’s lips stretched outwards until there was a big beaming smile on the woman’s face.
“Oh that…”
“Yes, that,” Lily shot back.
“Well, we both know that it was a foregone conclusion…” Vicky said with a small shrug off her shoulders.
“Do we now?” Lily said, folding her arms, and shooting her a curious look…
“
Say it ain’t so…” Vicky offered back, and Lily opened her mouth to speak, but she didn’t get far. “And I will call BS to your face.”
Vicky mimicked the witch and folded her arms. She gave her the kind of knowing look that couldn’t be denied, and even if Lily really wanted to give it her best shot, as she stood there looking like she’d just sucked a lemon … she knew that there was little use in protesting.
“Fine…” Lily bit out, turning her eyes back to the men as they went about banging and hammering…
Jacob’s eyes locked onto hers and held her gaze. She felt the rush of excitement and adrenaline go through her …
“Dang it!” she grumbled to the sound of Vicky’s not-so-subtle chuckle that greeted her ears…
“Busted,” Vicky’s sing-song voice annoyed her. “Gotta watch those big wolf ears…” she leaned in and whispered…
“Thanks for the set up. Did I mention that I don’t like you much?” Lily bit out.
“She grows on you,” Chelsea said as she walked over to stand on the other side of her friend, with a quick look over at Vicky, and a smile on amusement on her lips at the woman’s predicament to boot.
“I very much doubt that,” Lily bit out, pouting.
The grin that stretched Jacob’s lips was mesmerising. No matter how hard Lily tried to wrench her gaze away – give him a scornful glare or a warning in the form of the evil eye – all of which she could normally perform without even having to think about it – she just couldn’t seem to manage to do much of anything … but stare.
That didn’t bode well for her stated denial that she had little intention of mating with the man.
She had a feeling that if she couldn’t even take her eyes off of him – then what hope was there that she was going to keep her damn panties in place?
The man was certainly eye candy, and that newfound smile of his seemed to have come from nowhere, and yet it was so drop dead gorgeous that she didn’t seem to be able to drag her eyes away.
Then there was the fact that she liked a man who was good with his hands, and he wielded a hammer like a pro. All of those muscles were working beneath his skin and she felt like a cat on a hot tin roof.
Now that she had no reason to keep running.
Now that she wasn’t in fear for her life or of anyone else getting hurt … what barriers, what walls of denial could she put up between her and her fated mate?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
~
“I need a shower…” Jacob announced; almost the moment that they set foot inside his cabin and he’d flicked on the lights.
“If you follow that up with the words; care to join me, then you and I are going to be…”
“I hadn’t actually…” Jacob growled at the thought of it.
Her naked body all wet and soapy and pressed up against his. His hands exploring. His lips on hers…
Now that she’d put that image within his mind it was kind of hard for him to think about anything else.
He rumbled a deep, gravelly growl within his broad chest and she turned her head to eye him, pulling her head back on her neck a little, and raising just the one eyebrow in disbelief…
“That wasn’t my fault!” Jacob bit out.
“Fine…” she said. “I’ll give you that one for free.”
“Would you…?” Jacob said, motioning towards the bedroom and the shower beyond…
He was in no doubt that he wanted her. His hard length was twitching inside of his jeans and it ached with need … but the moment that her lower jaw slowly fell downwards, and she looked at him with so much disbelief – he cleared his throat and mentally slapped himself upside the head…
“Like to go first?” He backpedalled at breakneck speed…
“Oh…” Lily said, and then she narrowed her eyes on him the moment that he grimaced… “Nice catch.” She offered.
“Yeah…” he grinned, and then shook his head. “That wasn’t…”
“Sure…?” She twisted her head on her neck and glared up at him.
“Ok, fine – sorry…” he grumbled another growl as his head sunk on his neck and he at least tried to look apologetic…
Lily couldn’t contain the small snigger that reached her lips.
“Look, I’m not very good at…” Jacob took in one, long, deep breath that raised his chest and made it look tantalisingly bigger – her fingers twitched with the need to reach out and touch it – touch him – feel all that strength beneath her fingertips…
“Sex?” Lily tossed back, and the man’s eyebrows shot up towards his hairline as his manhood took a blow…
“Nope … that wasn’t it…” he grumbled a growl.
“Sure…?” she teased again.
“Damn certain…” Jacob shot back. “I’d say I’d prove it to you, but…”
“You don’t want a kick to the balls…?” Lily offered with a sickly sweet smile.
“I’d prefer that didn’t happen,” he nodded in complete agreement with himself over that one.
“Weren’t you going for a shower?” Lily asked, and he frowned as he tossed that one over within his mind…
“I thought you were.”
“You expect me to get naked around you?” Lily asked, and then thought that one through, because it just didn’t sound right to her ears.
What did sound right was the deep, hungry growl that her mate let rumble through his chest…
“At some point – very naked – and very around me…” his deep tone got a whole lot deeper, gravellier, and very growly as he took just one step towards her…
“Oh you wait right there…” Lily held out a hand and her index finger to ward him off…
“Or what…?” Jacob growled back, but his eyes were backlit by amusement, and his lips were starting to stretch into a very wolfish grin…
“Or…” Lily was lost in the sight of him coming towards her.
All man.
All alpha.
All wolfishly sexy shifter with a smile that made the elastic in her panties slacken…
Jacob reached out one strong arm and wrapped it around her waist. He didn’t need to close the gap between them with steps, because he yanked her soft body up against his hard body, and for one long moment – she froze in place…
He half expected her to zap him, try to knee him where it hurt the most, or do something equally as bad, but he was taking his chances with her wrath already, and he figured that he was in for a penny…
Jacob brought his lips down on hers.
Soft, warm lips that seemed frozen in place along with the rest of her, but then she started to melt…
Mine…
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~
Lily’s mind raced as fast as her heartbeat.
When Jacob had reached out and yanked her towards his body … well, her heart had kicked her in the ribs, her stomach had flip-flopped like a fish out of water, and her womb had kick-started with such a jolt that it fired every single inch of her body to respond.
His lips came down on hers … so soft … so damn soft compared to the hardness of the rest of his body … muscle upon muscle … and his strength, so much strength that he could have snapped her like a twig if he’d a mind to do it, and she swooned at the gentleness of the man…
Then she zapped him.
It wasn’t a hard, muscle wrenching, gut twisting zap that would cause him a lot of pain – just enough so that it got his attention and he thought twice about kissing her, and he pulled back slightly from her lips to stare down into her eyes, questioning her sanity with just that one look…
“Wanna tell me what that was for?” He growled, and oh that growl sounded as good to her ears as it felt rumbling through his chest and vibrating against her aching nipples…
“Taking liberties…” she gave a small shrug, and it wasn’t lost on her that he hadn’t let go of her yet … she didn’t want him to let go, not now, not ever… “My turn.”
Then she reached up on tiptoes,
flung her arms up to rest on his shoulders, and kissed him right back.
Jacob got the point.
He’d thought about questioning the mixed messages that she appeared to be sending out, but there was no way in hell that he was going to stop kissing her to point that fact out.
No, he wanted his mate in his arms, in his bed, and forever in his life, and that new life started then and there.
Maybe he was being presumptuous, but the way that she was kissing him right back said something different.
But, he was male. He had testosterone for blood and brains, and the kind of libido to match those hormones.
Above all – he didn’t want to get it wrong.
That didn’t stop him from grabbing two handfuls of her curvy backside and lifting her up his body … he practically waved the white flag of anticipation as he waited to see what she was going to do.
When Lily wrapped her legs around his hips he growled so damn hard that every inch of him vibrated. He managed to walk her backwards to the nearest wall and use the solidity to prop up her back while he let his hands wander over her body, and wander they did, everywhere that they could.
Frustration clawed within him – or it could have been his damn wolf – he wasn’t certain of anything but the fact that he wanted her – wanted her naked, wanted to be naked with her, around her, inside of her… every inch of him touching every inch of her, at least once, especially his tongue…
His mind spun like it was on a spin cycle.
His heart raced.
His cock ached and twitched against her sex, and she … moaned in appreciation…
Damn, but he wanted to hear that sound again and again…
He needed to hear it.
Mine…
He felt that urge to mark her, claim her for his – it clawed beneath his skin – inside of his mind – his soul… he needed her…
Only she could make him feel…
Only she could make him whole.
Only she could tame the wild wolf within him, and that wolf was crying out to be tamed…
Mine…
With so much damn regret Jacob broke away from her lips…