by M. L. Briers
A quick whine came out of the wolf’s mouth and then he growled in annoyance. A moment later Joel had shifted back into human form, naked, he shivered once against the ice cold air around him and the snow under his feet. He’d have much rather stayed in his wolf form, but that posed a problem having a conversation with the Vampire.
“Is insanity catching? How can she be cursed?” Joel’s eyes flicked to the sound of the water being turned off.
“She fell through the earth, was almost squished under a tree and now she falls through the lake? Tell me, how can this be normal?” Tobin knew magic. He’d been around enough witches in his time to pick things up, just because he couldn’t perform a spell, didn’t mean he didn’t see one at work. He didn’t much care for coincidences such as this. It was too many things in too short a time.
“She’s human, what’s normal?” Joel threw out the slight and Tobin chewed that one over. He was human too once, a very, very long time ago, and either she was the unluckiest human alive, or there were dark forces at work here.
“I’m going to honour the Alpha’s request and bring Olivia back here.” Tobin looked worried, as worried as Joel had ever seen him. The Vampire was usually the most carefree and good-humoured among them, but right now he looked as though the weight of the world were upon his shoulders and that worried Joel more than the thought of a curse.
“You actually believe there’s a curse?”
“I actually believe that something has been triggered by that human coming to the Isle, yes. I’d kind of like to know what before something happens to her that none of us can stop.” Tobin was gone in a heartbeat leaving Joel to ponder on that thought.
The sight of his brother carrying his mate back into the bedroom caught his eye and he frowned long and hard at the unconscious woman in his arms. Wrapped in a towel, one around her body and another around her hair, Isaac tossed the covers back and placed her in the centre of his bed. Taking only the towel from her body he covered her over with the duvet before turning his attention to pulling blankets from the box at the end of his bed and building the warmth, layer by layer.
His eyes flicked up only once to the window and he locked gazes with Joel. The worried expression in his eyes matched that of his brother and nodded only once. “Tobin’s gone to get his witch.” Joel spoke quietly in case the human was even remotely capable of hearing him. His Alpha nodded his understanding.
Strolling around the bed, he eased back the covers and slipped in beside her. Wrapping his warm body around hers, he nuzzled against her neck and held her. He could feel her body still trembling in his arms and said a silent prayer to the Spirits that they would watch over and bring her back to him. He’d done all that he could do for her, the rest was up to Fate.
Joel sat at the kitchen counter and poked the remains of the stew that his sister had cooked around his plate with a fork. He hadn’t much felt like eating but the long run that he’d been on and shifting back and forth between his wolf and human form had demanded he replenished his energy. So he ate.
Verna sat just down from him. Her elbow was on the counter top and she’d propped her chin up with her hand as she too poked and prodded her food. Neither one of them was in the mood for conversation. Normally they would be goading each other with good-spirited conversation, but both of them were worried for their brother and his mate.
The sound of the car pulling up onto the drive made Joel flick his eyes towards the sound. In this weather and with the timing of the arrival he assumed that Tobin was back, and when the back door to the kitchen opened and Tobin strolled inside accompanied by a tall woman dressed from head to toe in black, he also assumed he’d brought his witch with him.
Olivia tossed back the hood of her long coat and her eyes swept over the two Lycans at the counter. Neither one of them spoke as they eyed her back. She could feel the tension in the air, but knew that it wasn’t due to her presence. Some Lycans tolerated the Fae, some ran them out of town and some embraced their help, she wasn’t sure which category these fell into yet, but it didn’t matter, she was here to do a job and Tobin had said the Alpha wanted her help.
“Olivia, Verna and Joel.” Tobin placed his hand at the small of her back and led her further into the room. His eyes fell towards Joel when the man straightened slightly on his stool and sniffed the air as if he was looking for something he couldn’t place. The Beta turned his eyes on the witch and slowly narrowed them. A familiar scent, but one he had never taken in before drifted towards him and Joel growled gently in recognition.
“Really?” Tobin spat out and brought Olivia’s attention towards him as she slipped out of her coat and let her eyes follow the Vampire’s back towards where the Beta sat. “Because that doesn’t suck.” Tobin sighed and moved away from the Witch. He had enjoyed her company over the last few days, but had known it wouldn’t last. Now he knew why.
Joel pushed up to his full height and moved towards the Fae. Her eyes took him in with a certain amount of suspicion at first, but as he drew closer a slow awakening started within her body and her mouth fell slightly open as she tipped her head back to regard the ceiling and gave a small moan of knowing. She echoed Tobin’s words within her mind as Joel leaned in and took her scent.
‘Mine.’ His beast staked its claim within him and caused Joel to wrench his head back on his neck as he stared down at her. Her jade green eyes met his and she raised just one well defined eyebrow towards him and tipped her head to one side as she took him in.
“Well, there goes the rest of my life.” Olivia bit out. Not bitter exactly, but he hadn’t been what she’d expected to find on this windswept isle when she’d met the Vampire and he’d promised to show her a good time. A Lycan mate, she’d favoured Vampires over Lycans most of her life, but Fate was Fate and she wasn’t one to turn her back on hers.
“Another mate?” Verna asked in disbelief. What were the odds of that? Both of her brothers had found their mates in such a short time, and to think there had been worried talk among the pack that they were starting to dwindle in numbers. There were only so many visitors a year to the isle that Isaac had assumed his mate would never be found. Only one person had believed that the pack would go forward and survive as one, an elder, Hattie. Verna looked towards Tobin and watched as the Vampire accepted that Olivia was no longer his.
“I need to speak with Hattie.” Verna said to no one in particular. Pushing up from her stool she made a move to go around the Vampire, but he blocked her path. “Tobin…?”She stared up at him and he raised his eyebrows back at her.
“It’s not good to travel out there.” He informed her and she couldn’t help but sigh.
“Why am I surrounded by overly protective men who can’t see that I can take care of myself?” Verna wasn’t impressed. Just because her Alpha was incapacitated didn’t mean that the Vampire could step into his shoes and order her about.
“If there’s a curse…” Tobin started and Olivia dragged her eyes away from her mate.
“Oh, there’s magic at play here. I can feel it in the air.” She assured him and Joel growled. He hadn’t believed it, or maybe he just hadn’t wanted to believe it. But his brother and the Vampire had been right and that wasn’t good.
“Who would curse a human, and why?” Joel believed his mate. If she said there was magic then there was magic, but it would need explaining to him why and how Kerry had been targeted.
“It might not be on her per se. The curse could have been triggered by the Alpha finding his mate. It could be a pack curse. It could just simply be that she crossed paths with the wrong witch, but that seems unlikely given where we are and the timing of it.” Olivia had turned her attention back to her mate. Her lips might be explaining the possibilities of what the human faced, but her eyes were still taking him in and half of her brain was somewhere completely different on things that would make a grown man blush.
“I definitely need to speak to Hattie.” Verna went to sidestep the Vampire but his hand shot out and
he gripped her upper arm bringing her to a sudden stop in front of him.
“What part of a pack curse didn’t you understand?” Tobin directed down at her. His eyes locked onto the stubborn set of her chin and she tried to pull her arm from his grasp, but he wasn’t letting go. He’d known Verna since she was a pup, she was like a little sister to him and he wasn’t about to see her go off gung-ho when danger was apparently stalking the pack.
“What part of back off do I need to explain to you?” She set her stance and gave him her best unimpressed look. Tobin took a long moment to stare back at her. Eye to eye he waited for her to back down, knowing that it wasn’t going to happen.
“Fine.” He announced with over exaggerated exasperation. “But I’m going with you.”He declared and saw her roll her eyes.
“Great, a blood sucking bodyguard. Just what every girl needs.” Verna bit out. Just once she’d like to do something by herself.
“She wasn’t spanked enough as a child.” Tobin spat out as he eyed the Beta for confirmation. The slow smile that spread over Joel’s face at the two of them, the big bad Vampire and the little Lycan battling it out for dominance in the kitchen would probably seem a little odd to most people. For them it had been that way since Verna was a toddler, and she always won. Tobin always caved to her demands.
“No saying it can’t be rectified now.” Joel teased his little sister and heard her hiss back at him. But her attention was directed up to the Vampire as she motioned towards his grip on her upper arm.
“Err, hello. Get your slimy claws off.” She gave him the look that only a teenager could pull off, the one that asked if he was stupid while showing how bored she was by the situation. Tobin growled like a Lycan and let her go.
“Human form only and don’t go getting any ideas about ditching me, because I’m so much faster than you little wolf.” He leaned in over her and she snorted her contempt up at him.
“Keep your speed and I’ll go with my brains.” Verna tipped her chin up in defiance; her brown eyes sparkled with victory before she turned on her heels and strolled around him towards the back door. Yanking her coat from the hook on the wall, she reached for the door knob and then sighed. “Come on then, if you have to come.”She rolled her eyes for extra-stroppy effect but only got as far as him as he towered over her. “Creepy.” She informed him, unimpressed.
“Stealthy, and don’t you forget it.” Tobin assured her. Reaching for the door knob he twisted it and yanked the door open as he turned to look at Joel. “You won’t miss her too much if I shove her over a cliff, will you?”
“Damn but that’s a tempting offer.” Joel saw his sister’s head slowly turn towards him. Her eyes narrowed and darkened and she hissed with the venom of a She-Devil.
“So is putting itching powder in your boxer shorts, be careful brother, remember who does all the cooking and cleaning in the house. I’d hate for you to come down with…something.” Verna watched her brother’s head move backwards on his neck as he regarded her with disbelief.
“She would too. I can sense it in her.” Tobin chuckled as he reached out, put his hand against the young wolf’s back and practically shoved her out into the night air.
“I like her.” Olivia announced enthusiastically and Joel frowned as he turned back to his mate and stared down at her with an air of suspicion.
“Because that statement doesn’t worry me in the least.” He knew Fae were full of mischief, his mother had been one, and it was probably where Verna got that side of her personality from. But a fully fledged Fae mate of his own, hmm, that was going to make life interesting to say the least.
Verna dropped down from the kick plate of the large four x four and scouted the area. Hattie’s small cottage was right in the middle of pack land, only fitting for the elder of the pack to be in the centre of their community. The dim orange glow that came from the small curtained windows was inviting as always. Add the snow and it was picture perfect, it screamed inviting as she knew the little place to always be.
Verna had spent a lot of time here as a child, and having Hattie as a substitute mother when her own had been taken away in an accident hadn’t been a bad thing. The pack always took care of their own. Raising a child inside the pack meant all hands on deck, everyone helped out in some way or another. Hattie had helped more than most.
Tobin came to walk beside the young wolf as she made her way up to Hattie’s front door, which swung open just before they reached it. The overpowering scent of cookies and jasmine carried towards them and to Verna that felt like home. Hattie’s smiling eyes swung from Verna up towards the Vampire and she frowned slightly.
“It must be important to bring you to my door on a night like this, and with a Vampire escort to boot.” Hattie beckoned them inside. It wasn’t the first time that she’s invited this particular Vampire into her house and she suspected that it wouldn’t be the last, especially as he considered himself something of a protector to Verna. He’d made a promise as such to Verna’s father before he died and Hattie knew that Tobin would always keep his word, even when the young wolf finally took a mate.
“Evening, Hattie. Is that cherry and oat cookies I smell in the air?” Tobin grinned with a devilish look, and if she didn’t know him better she might have thought to supplement the word cookies for blood. But he’d developed a taste for her cookies over the years and she wasn’t surprised when he’d feigned reasons to drop by to check on her in the past, just to get his fangs into a nice fresh batch, and there was always a fresh batch.
“You’re sweet tooth will never be the death of you, Tobin, so go right ahead, I’ve put them on the table.” Hattie chuckled as he took her hand in his and brushed a kiss against the back of it. “A gentleman to the very end.” She gushed and heard Verna snort her contempt.
“If he’s a gentleman, I’m a princess.” Verna tossed her backside down into her favourite chair on the other side of the fireplace to where Hattie always sat and regarded her elder as she was managed to admonish her with just a look. Verna shifted in her seat under her steady gaze until she felt the need to look away. She got the message, no picking on the Vampire.
Tobin waited for Hattie to sit before he moved across the room to sit at the table beside the plate of cookies. His favourite spot. Hattie settled herself in her chair as she watched the young She-Wolf, getting a feeling that something was on her mind and waiting for her to spit it out.
“Hattie…” Verna started, finally ready to get to the point of this little visit. “You’ve always been sure that the pack wouldn’t die out when everyone else was sure that it would…” Hattie’s eyes glinted with excitement as she regarded her kin.
“Has it started then?” Hattie asked, slightly breathless at the thought of the spell finally coming to fruition. It had taken it’s time and she was damned if she was going to die before it started, but what else could bring Verna to her door at this time of night?
“Has what started?” Verna asked, losing her chain of thought at the elder’s unexpected question and the look of glee in her eyes.
“Why the mate’s finding their way here.” Hattie saw the look of surprise that Verna gave her and couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. “It was decided a long time ago, before you were born and your brothers were just little scamps that something needed to be done for the pack. So it was.” Hattie shrugged her shoulders as if that made perfect sense. Verna didn’t quite see it that way, but then she didn’t have Hattie’s insight into the situation.
“What was?”
“That Fate might just need a helping hand at bringing the mates together.”
“And that helping hand would be?” Verna wished the elder would just spit it out.
“Lucy.” Hattie offered and Verna frowned.
“Lucy?” The look of disdain on Verna’s face made Hattie want to chuckle. The pack had a long and not always good history with the old witch. Verna had taken a dislike to her since early childhood, but that was only because Lucy had become more
withdrawn and reclusive when her husband was taken by the Spirits into the next world. Before that Lucy had always embraced the pack from the moment that they had found her and brought her to live on the Isle.
“Lucy.” Hattie assured her, berating her again with just the rise of her eyebrows.
“So what did the Wit…” Tobin saw Hattie’s head snap around on her neck to berate him too and bit down on the word, easily correcting his mistake with a small apologetic smile. “Woman, do?”
“What Fae normally do, she cast a spell to draw the future mate’s to us. It seemed too important to leave to chance; the future of the pack was at stake.” Hattie looked contented. Sitting back in her chair and folding her hands in her lap, she looked very pleased with herself. “So tell me, who’s found their mate?” Now she was excited and Verna grinned at her with an air of mischief in her eyes.
“Mates.” She twisted her head and gave her a conspiratorial look. “Isaac and Joel, and both on the same day!” Verna announced with all of the excitement of someone having found their own mate. But to her, this was better, she’d acquired two new sisters on the same day and her brother’s would soon be filling the house with pups.
“The Alpha and the Beta, how fitting…”
“But there appears to be a problem…” Tobin didn’t want to dampen the celebratory mood in the room, but if the pack elders had used magic to draw the mates in, perhaps that magic had drawn something else as well.
Hattie saw the way Verna’s eyes dropped down to her lap and looked back to Tobin for answers. The Vampire didn’t look too happy either and Hattie felt the air cackle with the tension in the room.
“Spit it out then.” Hattie demanded.
“Joel’s mate is a Fae and she senses some magic at play. It maybe your Wit… Lucy’s magic that she’s sensing at bringing the mates to the Isle or it may be something darker.”