by M. L. Briers
“Dark.”Flynn added and Summer tossed him up a look.
“Gruff.”Summer was back to being diplomatic again as she berated her mate with her eyes and her tone.
“Gruff is good…”Flynn offered and Abe growled low in his chest.
“I don’t do hearts and flowers.”He admitted, searching for a way to get through to his mate that he would never hurt her.
“Try, gentle and nice. That sweet side I saw in you yesterday.”Summer offered as she looked away from Abe, but she could still feel his eyes on her.
He huffed. Took a moment to think and then lifted his index finger as if to say something, and then he dropped it again.
“Thank you.”He offered as he stalked out of the kitchen, and Summer wasn’t sure what he was thanking her for, but the attitude was a start.
“Do you think he can be… less Abe?”Summer asked looking up at the amusement within Flynn’s eyes.
“I think he will give it a shot.”Flynn offered back.
Ten minutes later all hell broke loose. The sound of a heavy thud followed by lots of smaller thuds rained down from upstairs. Flynn and Summer both took off at the same time, but Flynn was up the staircase and standing there looking down at Abe on the ground just as Summer reached his side.
“And stay out!” Tina growled before the sound of the door slamming echoed through the house.
Abe was lying on the floor in the hallway below an Abe sized hole in the wall and surrounded by whatever Tina had found to launch in his direction. His eyes were dark and he was mumbling to himself, but he made no effort to move from where she had thrown him.
“Are you hurt brother?”Flynn didn’t try too hard to conceal the amusement in his voice, as he crossed his arms over his chest and gazed down at the Lycan on the floor.
“I’m getting my second wind.”He growled, not looking up at the mirth in his brother face. He could hear it in his voice and felt the need to plant his fist in his face, and that was temptation enough.
“I told you she could hurt you.”Summer directed her words at Flynn, but Abe raised his eyes to her anyway.
“It appears your mate has a slight temper.”Flynn stated the obvious and was enjoying doing it.
“Don’t be a butthead, help him up.”Summer groaned and Abe growled at the outstretched hand his brother offered him.
“It seems he likes it down there, sweetheart.”Flynn offered turning on his heels and walking away.
“Did you try to be nice?”Summer asked and Abe growled long and hard in annoyance.
“I had only just walked into the damn room.”He growled and Summer frowned.
“Did you knock first?”Summer saw Abe’s eyes narrow and then a guilty look took over his face and she sighed. “Next time knock.”
She walked to the bedroom door and tapped gently. “Tina, its Summer, can I come in?”Abe huffed behind her, but he didn’t move.
“As long as you leave the dog in the hall.”Tina ground out and Summer shrugged at Abe.
“Let me try to smooth her ruffled feathers.”Summer offered as she opened the door and disappeared inside. Abe dropped his head back against the wall and gave a low, deep growl of annoyance, and then he sighed and closed his eyes.
“That wasn’t very nice…”
Summer saw Tina sitting in the middle of the big bed. She’d made a kind of nest for herself with the pillows and comforter around her, and she looked up like a baby bird that was waiting for its mother to bring her lunch.
“He’s not very nice.”Tina pouted and cuddled a pillow to her chest.
“He was actually coming up here to try to be nice.”
“Well he should have knocked before barging in and growling like a…”
“Wolf?”Summer offered, as she closed the distance between them and perched on the edge of the bed.
“He’s not my mate, Summer.”
“He is your mate, Tina, and you’re going to have to deal with your…issues.”Summer offered and heard the sigh that Tina offered back.
“He’s a…”
“Wolf.”Summer offered again when Tina struggled to come up with the word, or was just too polite.
“An idiot, an infuriating idiot…”Maybe not polite, Summer thought.
“Well that describes men in general, want to be a little more specific?”
“Ok. I accept that he’s good looking under all that glaring and growling and pouting, but there is more to life than good looking. He has the personality of a…”Tina stopped and bit down on her lower lip. Summer opened her mouth and Tina eyeballed her. “Don’t say wolf.”She snapped out and Summer balked.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. I might end up with my head embedded in the wall behind me.”Summer offered with her usual amount of sarcasm and Tina rolled her eyes.
“Ok, so I shouldn’t have zapped him, but he scared the hell out of me. Throwing the damn door open and growling his presence, like…”
“ A Wolf.” Summer shrugged. “You’ve got to give me that one.”Summer teased and Tina couldn’t help the smile that stretched her lips.
“What am I going to do about…?”She thumbed her nose towards the door and Summer grinned again.
“The wolf at the door.”She offered with more than a glint of amusement in her tone.
“Yeah. Him. Mr-Happy.”
“Perhaps the two off you could just talk without the growling and the tossing him through the air, and the throwing of household objects at his head. You did aim for his head right?”Summer teased another smile from her.
“Amongst other things.”There was a devilish smile on her face as the sound of knuckles wrapping on the door drew their attention.
“Come in.”Summer offered and shot her friend an apologetic look as Abe’s head came around the door.
“Is it safe to come in or does she need more target practice?”He offered. There wasn’t a growl to be heard anywhere in his voice.
“No, I think she’s got it out of her system for now.”Summer chuckled as she dragged herself up to her feet, muscles still protesting, and walked towards him. “Although she has got a mean right hook… Just saying.”Summer offered before she left the room.
“I’m sorry I scared you.”She heard Abe say and a moment later Tina sighed.
“Well, I’m kind of sorry I threw you at the wall…”She offered and she heard Abe’s gentle growl.
“Good enough.”He muttered and Summer walked away.
Summer gave a quick yelp as fingers closed over her wrist and she was yanked across the hallway and into a room she didn’t even know was there.
“Do you want to get Zapped?”Her hands were already plastered against his chest and her body ran the length of his, but she’d known from the moment his hand touched her who it was doing the yanking.
“I always say you should try new things just once for the experience.”He chuckled down at her, and she raised her brows at him and shook her head.
“Only too happy to oblige, alpha, just keep doing what you’re doing and I’m sure you’ll feel the burn any day now.”Summer’s eyes flicked up to his and she saw the dark desire that burned there.
“We have a little free time before the road opens back up…”He offered and she pushed back away from him and looked around the room. Desk, chair, filing cabinets…
“In your office? Really? Does that fulfil some kind of kinky fantasy of yours, alpha?”She teased him and watched his chest expand as he drew in a breath. His eyes narrowed and he growled down at her gently.
“Now you mention it…”He started, flicking the lock on the door and lifting her against his body so he could turn her towards the desk.
“Really, an over the desk fantasy? Couldn’t you be a little more creative?”She hissed up at him and watched him shake his head in amusement.
“It’s an office Summer, desk, chair, against the filing cabinet, what more could there be?”
Summer pushed away from him and walked towards the desk. Eyeing the phone, she traced the line bac
k to the port in the wall and bent down to disconnect it as he watched her. She held up the wire in her hand and dangled it in front of him.
“Well how creative do you want to get?”She shot back and his eyes widened as he growled low and hard at her. He shot towards her and snatched the wire out of her hands.
“Give me your wrists…”He growled down and she snatched it right back.
“No. Sit down in the chair, put your arms around the back and give me your wrists.”She gave him a wicked grin and he frowned for one long second… and then he grinned.
Abe dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans and eyed his mate. Sitting in the middle of the bed surrounded by covers and pillows, he got the feeling she was comforting herself. He’d either really scared her or she was dwelling on the attack and pegging him in the same category as the damn rogue. Neither of which scenarios made him feel good about himself.
“I’ve never had a mate before…”He started, not knowing quite how to brace the subject with her. He didn’t want to rush in there and scare her again, even though his whole body was telling him to walk the hell over to her, scoop her up into his arms and sooth and protect her. But he’d be protecting her from him, which didn’t really equate. He’d have to scare her to sooth her.
“Well der.”She shot back and then bit down on her jaw. Hugging the pillow closer she brought her eyes up to his and gave him a slightly apologetic look. The amusement in his eyes told her that he wasn’t going to start growling again, at least not right now.
“So, I don’t know how to act around you, except to try to get you to mate with me, which obviously you don’t want to do…”He pulled his hand from his pocket and waved it around. When she didn’t say anything he ran the same hand through his hair and went to growl out his frustration, but he managed to curb the urge.
“Look, Tina. It’s not like I haven’t dated…”He heard her huff and flicked a look at her, she didn’t look too pleased to hear that, and that gave him hope that she was at least feeling some of the mating call. Jealousy was a big part of mating, and if she was jealous then she was interested, no matter what she claimed.
“I’ve never had to woo a woman, not really…”
“Do you really think I want a history of your love life, Abe?”Tina pouted and turned away from him slightly, even though that feeling was now alien to her. Her body was determined to thwart her attempts to keep him at bay, and if she was going to deny him as her mate then she needed to get the hell out of town before she gave into the mating pull.
“I’m just trying to tell you that… What am I trying to tell you?”Abe started to pace back and forth, his long legs eating up the floor, and she wanted to smile, even though she didn’t want to give into the urge. He looked like he wouldn’t be able to decide between bath salts and pancakes right then, and that was kind of amusing to her.
“That you’re an idiot?”She offered, although the level of sarcasm in her voice had dipped, he noted that. He also noted the way her eyes were softer now. There was less suspicion in those deep green hues that stared back at him.
“Well hell, I probably am. But it doesn’t help that my body and mind are on fire with this mating need that neither of us asked for.”He saw her eyes narrow and he rushed to his defence. “That’s not to say I’m not grateful that I have found you, because I am…”
Tina wasn’t grateful; in fact she would have run a million miles in the other direction to escape her fate. But now that she was presented with it on a platter, she had absolutely no idea what she wanted. She could deny him and keep moving on, but never forward with her life.
This was the time and place where she was faced with that fork in the road. The intersection where she would be forced to chose which direction to take. They say one was the right way where the road would come up to meet you in your journey, and the other was the wrong way where the road would dip and twist and turn. If fate had presented her with a mate, then surely that would be the right road to take, or would it?
Summer had decided to jump on the path where her mate was walking along beside her, sharing her journey through life, but she wasn’t sure she could do the same.
Like her, Summer had her own issues, could the mating process quell her friends need to keep on moving? The rolling stone that gathered no moss, could she really put all of that behind her and be happy? If she knew the answer to that then she might be able to answer some of her own nagging doubts. Like how to trust the wolf inside the man in front of her.
“Look, Tina. I know about what happened to you with the rogue…”Abe looked decidedly uncomfortable as he stopped pacing and shifted from one foot to the other.
He felt the anger within him for the rogue that had hurt his mate. He wanted to tear him limb from limb, but he didn’t have that calming option, because the damn wolf was already dead. So he needed to control his beast, to push away the anger, it was just so damn hard.
“I don’t want to talk about that.”Tina was scooting towards the edge of the bed. She threw her legs over the edge and reached down for her boots. “It’s been an hour right?”She shot out over her shoulder and Abe felt the frustration rise within him.
“I guess.”He muttered back, biting down on the emotions he wanted to convey to her, but didn’t have a clue how to do it in words.
“Then I can go now…”She shot to her feet and reached back onto the bed for her jacket, finding he had already closed the distance between them. His hand was already on her jacket, and she yanked her hand back away from his as he lifted her jacket and held it out to help her into it.
“I’m going to come with you. Make sure you get back to the bed and breakfast in one piece…”There was a definite protective growl to his voice right then that he couldn’t curb, and she stared at him for a long moment, thoughts and emotions spinning in her mind. “If that’s alright with you.”He added and she frowned, but then nodded. He was trying. Shouldn’t she offer him the same courtesy?
Abe had been outside in the cold for most of the day in one way or another. Whether he was circling the bed and breakfast where Tina was staying, or following her as she mulled around the town. He wasn’t about to leave her on her own unprotected when there was a damn rogue loping around ready to sink it’s fangs into a Fae.
It would have been easier for him if he had shifted into his wolf, it certainly would have been warmer, but he could risk being spotted, by her or someone else. He didn’t want her any madder at him than she already was, but both he and his wolf were agreed on one thing, if she was in even the slightest amount of danger they would stay there as long as it took.
He’d much rather be inside with her. Warm and curled around her body as he held her within his arms in one of those fancy bedrooms that the Porter bed and breakfast offered. Although he’d much prefer that she was with him on pack land, snuggled up together in the bedroom of his cabin, or the main cabin. Safe and secure with the pack to protect her, but he supposed if she was to be anywhere other than that right now, then Porter’s was as safe as place as any.
He knew Karl Porter. Had known him for a few years since the guy had come to town and taken over the bed and breakfast, and even though the guy had a Fae essence about him, the pack didn’t think he practiced, or even knew of his origins. The essence wasn’t strong enough on him for him to be practicing magic. But still, Fae, like Lycan had an intrinsic gene within them to identify with their own, which was probably why Tina had said that Porter seemed a little protective of her.
It felt good to know that Karl Porter was on the inside of those walls while he was out here. Nothing was going to get past him, he’d scent the damn rogue from a mile away, he was sure, but just in case, Porter’s inbuilt Fae detector should make him suspicious of anyone Lycan entering his establishment. At least that was the theory…
Summer noticed Flynn’s moment of distraction that made him hesitate as he lifted the mug to his lips, and she watched as he sort of tuned out for a moment.
“What is it?
”She asked when his eyes blinked and instead of taking a drink from his mug he returned it to the counter top.
“I had a couple of the pack go up and bring down the remains of the Fae so that she could be buried according to Fae traditions.”Flynn offered and Summer immediately sprang to action. Dropping down from the stool she gave him an expectant look.
“Let’s go…”She urged when he made no move to go anywhere.
Flynn rested his arms on the counter top and leaned in towards her across the surface.
“What I said yesterday stands Summer. It’s not pretty, are you sure…?”
“It’s not my first barbecue, Flynn. Besides I don’t need to autopsy the woman, just see if I can get a sense from her.” Summer dismissed his worries with a wave of her hand, and she was already off and moving towards the kitchen door when she felt him walking close behind her.
“What do you mean a sense?”Flynn followed her to the front door and helped her on with her jacket.
“It’s kind of hard to explain. It’s like I can feel things…”
“From dead people?”Flynn watched her yank her hat from her pocket and pull it on, Followed by her gloves as she shook her head.
“It doesn’t always have to be dead people, but in this case…”
“What kind of feelings?”
“Anything. I… You’ll see.”She offered him. It didn’t matter how many times she tried to define that part of her gifts, she really couldn’t put it into words. It was a sense that was hard to define to someone who didn’t have it. She could pick up vibrations of feelings, emotions, and sometimes when bad things happened she could even pick up a sense, a glimmer of what that was. She’d be lying if she didn’t say it hadn’t freaked a few people out, and she wondered how her mate was going to react to it if she managed to pick anything up.
Summer walked into the small room in the back of the large centre that the pack used for meetings and some ceremonial and celebratory gatherings. The light was above the table where the body of her Fae sister was laid, wrapped and covered from head to toe in the Lycan way for their dead.