by M. L. Briers
GUARDING HIS MATE
By
M L BRIERS
Copyright © 2013 by M.L Briers
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Table of Content
GUARDING HIS MATE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER ONE
“Well I wouldn’t kick him out of bed on a cold night.”
Hannah followed her sister’s eyes across the room to the newcomer that was closing the distance to the bar in long easy strides. “Or a warm one for that matter.” She added with an appreciative giggle, as Hannah took him in from head to toe, and she had to admit, out of the guys that her sister was gushing and drooling over in the bar so far, he was the one that caught her attention and made her heart dance within her chest.
Those long legs, obviously well muscled under the low riding denim’s that he wore so well, were cutting a quick line towards the bar, but they were nothing compared to the muscled abdomen that showed under the pull and give of his black t-shirt, or the obvious thick muscled arms that were covered by the leather jacket he wore, open down the front.
A couple of days worth of dark stubble wrapped around his full lips made him look broodier than he probably was, because when those brown eyes snapped to hers, not only were they full of amusement, but they were full of promise.
Hannah felt as though she was being scrutinised in that one long look, and the urge to snap her eyes and head away from his direction was strong, but she held firm and casually dismissed him with her eyes, giving him her best bored look.
“Let’s be honest, sis, there haven’t been many men that you’ve kicked out of bed in your time…” She hadn’t meant to sound so accusing, but the look from that man had unnerved something deep inside her and she suddenly felt antsy, and maybe even a little vulnerable.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot I was talking to Saint Hannah.” Fiona pouted those wide full lips as she reached for her drink.
“I’d like to see the church that would accept a witch as a Saint.” Hannah bit out caustically as she reached for her own drink, trying to keep her eyes from moving back across the room towards the newcomer.
“Look, I don’t know how many times I can apologise for bringing trouble to our door…” Fiona rolled her eyes and swilled her drink in the glass, the gentle knocking of ice cubes rattled on Hannah’s newly enflamed nerves and she sighed internally. Hannah wasn’t sure what had started them off exactly, but it had coincided with the look from that man, and now her palms were itching and there was a warning tingle up her spine that she couldn’t ignore.
“It’s done, Fi. We’re here now. Let’s just get on with things as best we can, start anew.” Hannah gave her sister a look of understanding. Yes, she’d been stupid, yes, she’d been reckless, yes, she’d brought a damn Vampire to their door who wanted the sister’s for more than just their blood, but she’d also manned up and had kept the other’s in line when the decision was made to get the hell out of Dodge and move to the back of beyond, and for that she was grateful.
“A new town, a new adventure.” Fiona’s eyes surveyed the room and Hannah couldn’t help the smile that turned the corners of her lips upwards and put a glint in her eyes.
“Isn’t it more apt to say, so many men, so little time…”Hannah saw Fiona roll her shoulders and give her the look that told her she’d grown another head. “After all, you already worked you way through the men in the last town. It was probably time to move on.”
“Have I ever told you that you’re a bitch?” Fiona gave her that sweet innocent smile she’d managed so well since childhood.
“Since mum and dad died? Probably a billion times.” Hannah offered easily and watched her sister pout again. The small wince of regret rolled over her face as she eyed her glass. It had been a long road from those days to these, and Fiona had gone through some wild rebellious times, but hopefully those days were gone.
“Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t be more like you, or Kay, or even Mary…” Fiona rolled her eyes at that thought. Her bookish little sister, the baby of the family who wouldn’t say boo to a goose. “Well ok, not Mary…” Fiona admitted and Hannah took a long moment to sigh, trying to relax her shoulders, but in truth they probably hadn’t been relaxed since their parents had died seven years ago.
“Nobody wants you to be anyone but you…” Hannah loved the way all of her sisters were so completely different, but it still left a list of challenges from each of them for her to deal with. Each unique in how she came at their problems and what those problems were going to be. “But we need to find our feet here, could you not date anyone too dramatic?”
Fiona lifted her eyes to Hannah and she saw that gleam that resided there when her sister thought wicked thoughts, and her forehead did a mental thud against the table in front of her. When was her sister going to learn?
“You mean like a vampire?” Fiona had leaned towards her across the table and whispered on a smile of relish.
“Yeah, that would be a good place to start with your, I will not date, list.”Hannah shot a look around them to make sure they weren’t in danger of being overheard and she locked eyes with Mr-Tall-Dark-And-Very-Sexy again. Her heart did the customary thumping against her ribcage as the fire of her blood reached her cheeks, and again she dismissed him with her eyes and her attitude.
Starring back at her sister across the way she raised one eyebrow and glared at her. “And be careful what you say, walls have ears.”She admonished.
Fiona practically threw herself back in her seat and laughed out loud. With a sweeping motion of her hand she dismissed the people around her.
“You think this place is going to throw up some supernatural problem for us? Seriously? They’ve only just discovered electricity, Hannah, come on…”
Hannah’s eyes couldn’t help but turn back to the man who stood at the bar, beer untouched in front of him as he appeared to casually take in the room around him. But Hannah had that feeling in her spine that told her there was nothing casual about him or his easy manner.
“I think we’ve already attracted a little too much attention for one night. Let’s get out of here. We’ve still got some unpacking to do.”Hannah bit off the warning that she wanted to issue to her sister. Now wasn’t the time and this wasn’t the place, because walls had ears, and so did wolves. Big, sexy wolf men had very, very big ears.
Seth stood at the bar and casually surveyed the room at least that was what it was supposed to look like to the outside world. He’d spotted the two witches when he walked through the door and scented them just a moment after that. The sweet flowery scent of the Fae sent his wolf’s interest piquing within him, and he had to struggle to keep from making a detour on his way to the bar and walking over to introduce himself to the town’s newest arrivals.
Lee put a bottle of beer down in front of him and met the knowing look of his alpha.
‘Told you they were Fae…’Lee casually strolled away down the bar. Having a mental link between pack members was a godsend at times like this, and Seth went for the casual approach, leaning his elbow on the bar and scanning the room before him.
‘What do we know about them?’ Seth’s wolf was twitchy and
he didn’t much care for it. They’d had Fae in town before. Witches weren’t something new to the little town that the pack protected, but most witches asked permission before settling here out of respect for the pack, these one’s had shown no such respect.
‘They rented the Carter place just outside of town, and word is they’re reopening the baker’s shop…’ Lee refilled one of the regulars drink at the far end of the bar and turned back towards the register with the cash.
‘I’ll send out a couple of patrols to drop by their place, see what the little Fae are up too.’
‘Pretty little things, but not my type…’
‘Good, stay away from them until we know why they’re here.’ Seth just couldn’t seem to stop his eyes going back to the Fae across the room, and it was more than curiosity about them. More than just annoyance that they had set up home in his town without seeking him or the pack out first. There was just something about that one Fae that put his wolf on edge, him on edge, and if he could figure out what it was he might rest a little easier.
Hannah stubbed her toe on the box in the hallway and cursed like a demon. That was the second time she’d had the pleasure of trying to break her digit on that thing today.
“So much for Saint Hannah.” Fiona teased, as she rested her shoulder against the door frame of her room and watched her sister do the highland jig without music or coordination, as Hannah hopped around on one foot and rubbed the other.
“Could people please make it a priority to unpack their boxes and end the damn obstacle course towards the bathroom?” Hannah bit out between clenched teeth.
“I think you’ll find that box…” Fiona pointed at the offending item with glee, “is one of yours, sis.” She turned, rolling her body against the frame and disappeared into her bedroom as Hannah stared down at the box and her name on the side, written in marker pen in big black letters, and she cursed again as she rolled her eyes.
“You have no one to blame but yourself.” Kay teased her as she dragged herself up the last stair and watched her sister dancing with no beat and no rhythm.
“Really? Wow, that’s so helpful right now, Kay, Thanks.” Hannah bit out, trying to give her a sweet smile, but the grimace of pain on her face made it look more like a sneer of contempt.
“Hey, it’s your favourite saying, I’m just happy that it could be of some use to you in troubled times.”Kay spanned her hands in front of her and shrugged her shoulders innocently.
“Don’t you have a dinner to incinerate?”Hannah enquired with dramatic enthusiasm and she saw the pained look of knowing and fear crossed her sister’s face.
“Whoops.” Kay turned on her heels and tore back down the stairs, leaving Hannah to bite off another curse as she closed her eyes and thanked the Fates that she had one normal sister.
“Hey, Mary, picked up a stray?” Kay snorted as she tore down the stairs and away from the front door where her younger sister was shyly offering the boy carrying her bags to come inside.
Hannah lent over the rail and frowned down at the scene below her. Little Mary with the tall lanky boy in tow just didn’t seem right somehow, she was the baby, but then at eighteen, Hannah supposed that Mary would catch onto this boy girl thing eventually, if she took her nose out of her books for long enough.
“Where shall I put your bags?” The deep tones of her young man sparked a knowing inside Hannah, and she frowned as she narrowed her eyes on him and scooted around the top of the banister to start down the stairs, and about half way down she felt the tingling within her spine.
Damn, two for two. She told herself as she put her best foot forward, the one without the throbbing toe, and made her way down to meet her sister and the young stud she had brought home.
“Who’s this?” Hannah asked as the pair of them whirled around to look at her, Mary looking decidedly sheepish as the young Lycan gave her a wolfish grin.
“This is Declan, Declan this is my eldest sister, Hannah.” Mary’s cheeks were flashing brighter than a supernova and Hannah decided to let the fact that she had invited a wolf into their house go for the minute.
“Declan.” Hannah folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes on him. He seemed a little flushed also, and she lifted a brow and gave him a knowing look to see if one of them would spit out what had been going on.
“He helped me carry my bags home…”Mary put in quickly, always easily driven to guilt.
Hannah noted the Lycan sniffing the air. It would do no good for them all to put up their shields now. The house would already reek of their Fae scent.
“Did he now?” Hannah’s eyes stayed with Declan as he frowned under the floppy dark fringe.
“Well I guess I should be going…”Declan offered, possibly hoping for someone to stop him, but nobody did.
“Shouldn’t you though.” Hannah remarked curtly and he frowned again. Hannah needed to let him know that not every sister in the house was as easy to manipulate as Mary, just in case he got any ideas about manipulating her.
“I was just helping…” And there was that Lycan defensive streak, the little rush to anger that made Hannah wary whenever she was around them.
“I’m sure. Well you know where the door is, if you’ve forgotten, just walk backwards.” Hannah offered and Mary caught a breath.
“Hannah!” She turned an even darker shade of crimson and dropped her eyes to the floor in front of her.
“I’ll see you around, Mary.” He might have been young, but he made it sound like a foregone conclusion to Hannah, maybe even a warning of things to come, and Hannah didn’t like it, not where her Mary was concerned.
“Bye, Declan, sorry.”Mary watched him take one short step backwards after another, and just as he got to the threshold of the door Hannah reached out and slammed it shut in his face.
“What did you do that for?” Mary demanded, turning on her heels to glare at her sister. That had to be a first, Mary saying boo!
“Wow, look at you…” Kay commented as she leant against the kitchen door frame and took in the sight of her younger sister berating their hen mother. “Did you get possessed by a Banshee or something?”
“Hannah just…” Mary raised an arm towards the front door and her voice a few decibels as Hannah came along side her sister.
“Tossed a wolf out of the house.” Hannah gave Mary a pointed look as Kay frowned at her little sister.
“Wolf? Girl don’t you know not to bring home strays?” Kay shook her head in disbelief.
“He was…”Mary started to protest, but Fiona bounded down the stairs with gusto.
“Is the burnt offering ready to be consumed?” She stopped in her tracks and eyed everyone around her. The tension between her elder sister and the youngest could have been cut with an Athame, and her other sister didn’t appear too pleased either. “I missed something right?”
“Hannah threw a boy out of the house…” Mary said with indignity and Fiona’s brows drew downwards.
“A boy? Someone want to fill me in?”
“It seems our little sister likes to bring home strays…” Kay informed her in a lofty manner and Fiona couldn’t help the smile that beamed over her lips.
“Way to go, Mary.” Fiona praised her sister and watched as the colour on her cheeks grew darker. “Finally. Mary joins the sisterhood…” Fiona raised her brows at her little sister suggestively and watched her gasp in a breath.
“When Kay said stray, she meant wolf.” Hannah informed Fiona and the smile slowly faded from her face.
“Tell me we didn’t move next door to a pack…” Fiona groaned and Hannah rolled her eyes.
“I don’t know if I can do that, there was at least one, possibly two at the bar earlier.” Hannah admitted and Fiona groaned out in annoyance.
“So are we gonna move on, because I kind of like it here?” Kay asked, crossing her arms over her chest and giving Hannah a look of annoyance.
“Do we have too?” Mary almost pleaded and Fiona rolled her eyes.
“Oh god, not packing again.” Fiona groaned, and then they were all talking over the top of each other. Hannah took a long breath, placed her fingers in her mouth and whistled the loudest she could. All activity ceased in an instant.
“Let’s go crunch down on whatever Kay has cooked and we can discuss this rationally.” Hannah offered, but no one moved, mainly because Kay was still standing in the kitchen doorway.
“Crunch down? If nobody likes my cooking why doesn’t someone else take my turn?”
“Because, little sister…” Fiona declared with a wide grin. “If you don’t practice, you’ll ever get it right. A bit like your magic.”
Kay snapped her head back on her neck and glared back at her. “You’re not getting any desert.” She declared and Fiona shrugged.
“Well then at least my arse won’t get as fat as yours.”Fiona retorted and Kay gasped, flicking her finger towards her sister to send a little snap of a shock through the air that had Fiona jumping and rubbing at her arm.
“Ouch, you little witch…”
“Enough!” Hannah took a long step forward between the two of them and motioned for Kay to lead the way, as all four of them trudged into the kitchen as though they were facing the last supper and not a family meal.
Hannah scrubbed the surfaces and scrubbed again. She liked things clean and in order, and if she couldn’t get that in a house with three sisters, well she could damn well get it inside this shop.
Sure, she could have enlisted her sister’s into cleaning duties, but she kind of liked the peace and quiet that being alone, at ten at night, inside the walls of her new shop afforded her. Then there was the fact that if she wanted it done right, she needed to do it herself.
No squabbling sister’s to distract her here, just lots of elbow grease and some sixties Motown on the CD player was all she needed to get the job done, peace and quiet and… Wolf?
Hannah’s spine tingled in warning of trouble on her doorstep and she lifted her eyes to the glass panelled frontage of the shop and saw those dark chocolate eyes staring back at her through the glass.