by M. L. Briers
“Warp speed?” Piper tossed back.
“Maybe,” Lulu sneered with a shrug of her shoulders.
“I want to escape not end up in a tree,” Piper hissed back. “We’re not doing warp speed again.”
“Driving like a senior citizen is not compatible with escaping,” Lulu pressed her point.
“Could one of you just drive before I do?” Karen hissed out at them.
“We’ve both experienced your driving, and I’d rather Piper drive than you,” Lulu grumbled.
“Settled then, I’m driving,” Piper said with a small victory smile.
“Can we just go?” Karen demanded.
“Fine,” Lulu climbed up into the truck. “But you’d better put your foot down on the accelerator, Miss Daisy,” she grumbled as Piper climbed in beside her.
“Start your engines,” Piper said, pulling on her magic, and the truck roared to life.
Lulu was watching the alpha through the window, at the first sound of the truck roaring to life, his head snapped around in their direction, and she saw the way he pulled his body up to his full height and angled his chin down toward his chest, and then he was stalking toward them.
“Now would really be a good time for you to find the accelerator,” Lulu bit out.
Piper’s gaze followed her friends, and she saw exactly what she was worried about. The alpha looked miffed and he was heading right for them. Lulu was right, speed was good.
“Hold on, we’re out of here,” Piper said.
In her haste to escape the alpha, Piper rushed through the gears, putting the truck into drive instead of reverse, and then she stomped down on the accelerator.
All three of them screamed in harmony as the truck shot forward and headed straight for the alpha.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
~
Darlene almost tripped over her own feet as she spotted Carson coming around to cut her off and made a sudden change of direction. There was Nick, coming from the other way in a pincer movement, and going forward became less of an option for her, but she didn’t want to go backward either.
Darlene ground to a halt, dropped the skirt she’d been holding up around her ankles, and called on her magic as she lifted both hands – one aimed at each beta.
“Now hold on…” Nick growled, glaring at the woman in recognition of what she was about to do, but it was already too late, both betas were torn from the ground and blasted backward through the air on a tsunami like wave of magic.
Darlene wasn’t sticking around for the final outcome. She didn’t much care where they landed, all she cared about was her escape, and she wrenched up the skirt and turned to run in an entirely different direction.
“Did you dress in the dark?” Slade asked, bringing the witch to a grinding halt as he appeared in front of her. “Wedding dress and jackboots that’s not exactly witch attire?” He raised his eyebrows toward his hairline as he took her in from head to toe.
“Oh, you so need to get out of my way,” Darlene grumbled as she shook her head in annoyance.
“Bad day?” Slade asked with a mocking tone of voice that made her chew her inner cheek for a long moment and consider her next move.
“The kind of day that makes you want to kill someone, and as you’re dead already, technically, it’s not murder.” Darlene gave him a wickedly evil smile that made him drop one eyebrow.
“What is it with women and wanting me dead today?”
“Ah, poor baby,” she sneered. “While I’d love to explain you to you, I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“Let me guess, a church?” He motioned to her dress.
“Bite your tongue, Satan’s spawn.” She winced and offered him a look of disgust.
“My bad,” he held his hands up to his chest in mock surrender.
“Yes, you are. Now, I’m leaving…”
“Don’t let her go,” Nick growled from behind her, and as she tossed a look back over her shoulder, Darlene wasn’t thrilled to see the big beta stalking towards her as if he had a really big score to settle.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Slade offered with a flair for the dramatics in his enthusiasm for her plight. “I think she has a rather pressing appointment to get to,” he called to the beta.
“She’s got another one with me,” Nick growled.
“Testosterone-fuelled men will be testosterone-fuelled men, but unfortunately…” She didn’t bother going any further with that statement. Instead, she lifted her hands toward Slade and the vampire groaned.
“Oh, play nice…” he bit down on that last word as his whole body was wracked with a crippling pain that dropped him to the ground like a fly that had been swatted.
~
~
“No!” Karen screamed out, echoing the sentiment of everyone in the truck as they hurtled towards the alpha, but a heartbeat later Den launched his body from the ground.
There was a roar that was closely followed by a stream of obscenities when Den made full body contact with the thorn bushes and became a human pin cushion. At the same time; Piper squealed as she yanked on the steering wheel, turning away from the path towards the alpha, and as she swerved, another big shifter ran out into her path.
“For the love of…” she bit out, yanking the wheel in the opposite direction.
The truck's wheels started to spin against the muddy ground, and she tried to yank the steering wheel back in the opposite direction once more, but that only made things worse.
“Piper!” Lulu yelled as her eyes widened and her mouth opened to emit the kind of a squeal that only a dog and wolves could hear. They were spinning out of control and there wasn’t a damn thing that any one of them could do about it.
When the truck left the grass, Piper could have sworn that the world stopped turning for the longest moment, that was until it crashed down into the water, and then there was the sound of silence as nobody moved a muscle, grateful that the spinning had stopped.
Lulu was the first to notice something wasn’t right and she snapped a look around her, but Karen was so damn happy that they’d stopped moving that she was too busy clapping her hands with glee with pay any attention to where they had landed.
“We didn’t die,” Karen said with a nervous chuckle and a big dollop of relief.
“Nope, but we’re about to get very bloody wet,” Lulu bit out.
“Huh?” Karen snapped to attention and looked to where Lulu pointed out if the window. The reflection of the flames from the shed danced on the water around them. “Oh – my – sainted Aunt’s bloomers!”
“Tell me how us not going warp speed and ending up in a tree isn’t looking good to you right about now,” Lulu demanded as she turned and glared at Piper who had her lips pressed together, and her nose was twitching in annoyance.
“This was not my fault!” Piper bit out, biting down on a curse or two for the stupid alpha and his antics.
“Not – your fault?” Lulu pinned her with a glare of disbelief.
“First the alpha, then the other guy, then the spinning thing…” Piper hissed back.
“Who was supposed to be driving?” Lulu demanded.
“Well, Karen’s breathing, why don’t we just blame her,” Piper said, tossing up her hands.
“Huh?” Karen looked confused.
“Driving – breathing – hmm?” Lulu weighed up the options with her hands.
“Oh, because you could have done better…” Piper snorted.
“Are we sinking?” Karen asked, pulling up her feet as the water level started to rise.
“I really don’t think I could have done any worse,” Lulu snorted a chuckle of disbelief.
“Well, next time you drive then,” Piper said with a shrug.
“Well, next time maybe you’ll listen,” Lulu shot back.
“Guys, I think we’re sinking!”
“Well, maybe there won’t be a next time,” Piper hissed.
“Not the way you drive,” Lulu shot back.
“Guys!” Karen snapped, �
��We’re sinking!”
~
~
Nick watched the vampire go down like he was a marionette and someone had cut his strings and he had the urge to laugh at the sight of it, but there was something far more important that he needed to do. He had a score to settle with that crazy witch, and he was going to make sure that this time, one witch was going to get her just desserts.
She was running again, and the back of the stupid dress that she was wearing was catching and snagging on every bush and downed twig along the way, yanking at her and holding her back from getting up a good head of speed.
Darlene didn’t have a hope in hell’s chance of outrunning the beta, but she figured that if she could get far enough ahead, then she’d turn and give him a damn good blast of her magic. Fate had other ideas, or maybe it was the stupid boots, or idiotic dress. Whatever it was, she ended up face down on the ground with her heart thumping wildly in her ears and a million curses on her lips.
“Gotcha!” Nick growled, just as she rolled over onto her back and offered him a very convincing version of the evil eye.
“Oh, look at you, Mr. Big Bad Wolf,” she sneered as she looked up at the beta as he was closing in on her.
“Nice outfit, I didn’t realize it was Halloween,” he growled back.
“But you came as Shrek,” she sneered.
“Loving the boots…” he straddled her legs and started to reach down for her.
“I wouldn’t…” Carson said, from behind him, and Nick growled in annoyance.
“You’re not me,” he tossed back over his shoulder, “Let’s get those boots walking.”
“But, they’re all the better to kick you with,” Darlene said, bringing up her foot and getting him right in the balls. “Mr. Wolf.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
~
Nick’s face registered the pain, his hands cupped his balls, and he snatched in the last of a breath. His eyes were wide and accusing, and he was staring straight at Darlene as he collapsed down onto his knees.
He straddled her legs, and she realised what was about to happen she tried to pull them up and escape from beneath his downward path.
Darlene didn’t act fast enough, she was too busy enjoying the moment of victory over the beta, and by the time that she had realized what was about to happen, it was already too late to do anything about it.
The dead weight of Nick’s body came down on top of her like a ton of bricks, trapping her body beneath his, and she wheezed out a long breath like a deflating balloon. Nick wheezed too, but on his breath was just one word…
“Mine…”
~
~
“We’re going to drown,” Karen squealed. “We’re going to drown!”
“Maybe Piper wants to crack out the oars so we can row ourselves away,” Lulu snorted.
“Seriously?” Piper bit back.
On dry land Den and the omega, Seth, stood on the bank of the small lake and eyed the truck as the witches bickered inside.
“So, which one is your mate, alpha?” Seth asked, grinning from ear-to-ear with amusement as the alpha shuffled his weight on his feet and sighed.
“Shut up,” he growled back, cursing Nick for opening his big mouth and announcing to the pack that he had found his mate. He might have found her, but he hadn’t yet staked his damn claim.
“You wanna rescue them now?” Seth chuckled again.
“From what – themselves? It’s barely four feet deep,” Martha, one of the pack elder’s snorted as she stood beside the alpha and eyed the going's on inside the truck.
“Well, we know that,” Seth said, “And yet they’re arguing like…”
“She-demons from hell sent to make my life a misery from this moment until blessed death comes to claim me,” Den said, almost absently and all on one breath. But as he snapped out of his misery; he noted the way the others were staring at him. “What?” he growled.
“It’s nice to see you’re entering into this mating thing with an open mind,” Martha said, spluttering chuckles.
“Don’t start with me,” Den growled, opening his hands and motioning towards the truck to prove his point. The witches were still snapping at each other inside like clucking hens.
“Makes life interesting,” Seth said.
“So would a meteorite hurtling towards this very spot,” Den growled out on a shake of his head, but he paused when Lulu leaned over Piper and glared at him out of the window.
“No, just stand there like a big old oaf and don’t worry yourself about rescuing the poor, helpless females about to drown,” she ground out with an accusing tone that sparked off the guilt gene within him, even though he knew damn well that they were in no danger.
“Dear God, make it stop,” Den growled.
“Want me to jump in and give the truck a push down the lake?” Seth chuckled, but the deep, warning growl from his alpha made him pull back and hold up his hands to his chest. “Just kidding.”
“Me too when I rip off your head and hand it back to you,” Den glared at him.
“I’m sensing a severe lack of a sense of humor on your part, alpha,” Seth said.
“Ya think?” he growled back.
~
~
“Yours!” Darlene shrieked. “The hell I am.”
“Oh – oh – oh,” Carson grinned. “This is just too damn good!”
“Shut up, chuckles,” Darlene snapped, huffing as she tried to wiggle out from under the beta’s weight.
“You feeling a little hard pressed there, witch?” Carson chuckled.
Darlene bit out a curse or two as she pulled and pulled at the arm that was trapped between her body and Nick’s trying to set it free. There was a rumble of a pathetic growl that emanated from the beta, and he tipped his head to try to look up at her, but with one last yank of her arm – her fist caught him on the jaw and Carson roared with laughter.
“Oh look, a hand,” Darlene bit out with annoyance, wiggling her fingers at the beta and watched as the laughter died a slow death on his lips. “Keep laughing, chuckles,” she bit out, zapping him hard and making his muscles lock up tighter than a duck’s backside.
That made her feel better.
~
~
“Well?” Piper demanded as she stared out of the truck’s window at the alpha.
The fact that their plight now had an audience was annoying, to say the least, but the alpha’s inaction to help them was inexcusable in her book.
Den looked at his mate for a long moment before he lifted his hands and offered her a slow clap. He watched her mouth form an O as her eyebrows drew down, and he didn’t need to be able to read lips to understand the list of silent curses that she bit out one after the other.
“The nerve of the man!” Karen huffed, but she quickly turned her attention back to the slowly rising water inside the truck. “Can’t you use your magic?”
“To zap his un-chivalrous backside, good idea,” Piper bit out and saw the alpha frown. Then he rolled his eyes in his head, and his chest expanded as he took in a deep breath and started into the water towards them.
“Heads up here comes trouble,” Lulu bit out.
“Well, it’s about time, leaving three helpless women to drown in the raging torrents of…” piper turned from her friends towards the door as Den reached out and yanked open.
Piper went to protest his stupidity, but her brain kicked in when she realized that he wasn’t standing in much more than waist deep water. She winced.
“Oh,” Lulu said, and that didn’t help Piper’s mood any, or the fact that she felt like an idiot.
“Whoa, close one,” Karen offered, and Piper went to speak, but thought better of it.
“Now don’t you feel stupid?” Lulu whispered, and Piper’s head snapped around on her neck as she bit down on a million and one curse words.
“Bite me,” she hissed and stopped glaring at Lulu as the sound of the alpha’s deep growl rolled in through the open door and f
illed the truck with a rumble. “Not you,” she snapped out in annoyance, but she didn’t turn to look at him as Lulu chuckled beside her.
“Not a good choice of words,” Lulu teased.
“Well, if the alpha was more of a gentleman and less of a butthead…” Piper didn’t get any further because Den was reaching in for her. “What are you…?”
“Well, as a gentleman I wouldn’t want you to get wet,” he growled, and before she could get out more than a quick squeal, he lifted her out of her seat and tossed her over his right shoulder.
“Put me the hell down,” Piper hissed out, more than aware that her backside was sticking up in the air like an idiot and definitely not appreciating the display.
“Now?” he demanded as he waded back towards the bank. Piper looked down into the water and scowled.
“Not right this second, no!” She admitted what he already knew.
“Sure? Because your wish is my command, Princess,” Den growled, and Piper bit down on her annoyance. She was caught between a rock and a hard place, and with the sound of chuckles coming from her friends and the alpha’s pack, she wasn’t best pleased.
“Pride before the fall,” Lulu bit out, knowing her friend too well, and a moment later the alpha let out a big, manly yelp, as Piper zapped him.
A moment after that Piper’s head disappeared under the water as Den fell backward.
“Oh Lord, here we go,” Lulu said, and she would have loved to be able to roll her eyes, but things were just about to get good.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
~
“I think I like this witch,” Slade announced with amusement as he took in the two downed betas and folded his arms across his chest while he eyed up Darlene’s predicament at being stuck under the heavy weight of Nick’s body. “Do I have time to run home and get popcorn?”
“What say you get this big oaf off me and I’ll make you the best damn popcorn you’ve ever had, cookout style, any flavor you choose?” Darlene said and heard Nick rumble a groan of a growl.