by M. L. Briers
Dexter shifted back into his human form. Naked as nature intended; he stalked towards George’s wolf…
“Do you need Connor’s blood?” Dexter growled with the full force of his wolf still in his voice.
George’s beast only growled back at both men.
“I’ll take that as a no thank you very much Mr Vampire,” Connor grinned, but he wasn’t amused by the fact that there were attackers on his mountain. “We need to warn Landon and Justice that there’s a vampire on the loose, and I need to make sure my mate stays indoors.”
He reached into his back pocket for his mobile phone…
“Good luck getting a signal up here …” Dexter warned him. “Go to my cabin and use the house phone.”
Connor nodded before he turned his eyes down to George’s wolf.
“Last call for the blood bank,” he offered to another long growl. “Can’t say that I didn’t offer.” He tossed back over his shoulder; a moment before he disappeared.
“Nice work raising the alarm,” Dexter offered down to George’s beast. Then his eyes flicked towards Brody’s wolf. The beast was still hyped up, stalking the area in protection mode. “Help me get him back to his cabin.”
Brody didn’t want to shift back. His beast was more than happy to run the perimeter to see if he could find and signs of the vampire that had got away. But his alpha had requested his help, and he was loyal to Dexter while he was a part of his pack.
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~
By the time that Brody had helped get George back to his cabin, shifted back into his beast, and run the land back to his own place … his mate was standing at the window staring out into the night.
Brody ran the perimeter around the cabin looking for signs of the vampire’s scent a few times before he stalked back to the front door to find her standing there in the open doorway. He would much rather have stayed in his wolf’s form, but the woman was practically asking for trouble…
He pushed his wolf back and shifted back into his human form and noted the way that her eyes were taking in his naked body… toe to head and back down again … with a moment or two to linger on his hard length as he stalked towards her…
That gesture, the way that her eyes were travelling over his body almost felt as if she was reaching out with her fingertips and brushing them against his skin … he liked that feeling a lot.
“Get inside …” Brody growled at her, not faltering in his step as he stalked towards her and practically steamrollered her back inside so as not to start any protest from her lips.
He back heeled the door closed behind him and growled long and hard at her stupidity.
“They might not have been invited in and yet he could still pluck you right from the damn doorstep,” Brody growled as he stalked across the room to a pile of fresh clothes and yanked a pair of sweatpants from the middle of the pile…
“They’re here for me …” Eden offered and halted him in his tracks with one leg in and one out of his pants…
“Who are they?” He growled, pulling on his pants and letting the waistband rest low on his lean hips…
“Brothers…” she started and saw him flinch…
“What is it?” she asked.
“We killed one, and if they’re brothers then the other will be back.”
He didn’t like that idea, especially considering that they were there for his mate.
“I should leave …” Eden started and got a hard grunt in response. “I can lead him away from…”
“You’re not going anywhere. When he comes back then he’ll die like the first one did.” Brody wasn’t about to entertain the idea of anything else.
Unfortunately his mate looked less than convinced.
“This isn’t your fight or anyone else’s … it’s mine…”
“Ours, mine, yours, and our pack,” he offered back.
“Not my pack,” she shook her head.
Eden hated the idea of anyone else fighting her battles for her. She’d crossed paths with those vampires.
It had been her that had gone against them and refused to work with them.
It had been her that they were chasing across country, and her that led them to pack land … her fight.
“You are my mate,” Brody bit out. “Like it or not that’s the truth of it. And a mate is protected by her pack.”
“That’s not…” she shook her head, but he turned his back on her to walk towards the bathroom, and she noted the ugly thick red welts that ran down his back, marring the skin, and making her flinch at the sight of them… “You’re hurt…”
Eden started towards him, but then he turned back towards her, and she pulled up short.
“It’s already healing,” Brody assured her.
“I…” she started, protesting that she could help, but he was already cutting off her words.
“No,” Brody shook his head. He neither needed nor wanted her help. “And don’t leave the cabin.” He growled out the warning and she scowled back at him.
“Fine,” she finally bit out when he didn’t move from the spot but just stood there and glared back at her, waiting for that reply, that assurance. Then when he had it; he grunted and turned back towards the bathroom and strolled off.
CHAPTER TWELVE
~
Eden didn’t think it would end there, and it didn’t. When Brody ventured back out of the bathroom he seemed a little calmer, a little more in control of himself as he stalked towards the fire and knelt down on the rug to stoke the flames. She eyed his naked back, the scars all but thin red lines against his skin, and the muscles that danced beneath.
“Why we’re they hunting you?” Brody asked, and she nodded, half expecting the question.
He had a right to know … she didn’t deny that. The man had fought two vampires for her, and they’d killed one of them … they definitely all had a right to know why.
“There was a power struggle going on in the city where I’m from. Certain groups of Vampires were at war with each other. A very old vampire was taken down, and that gave rise to a power struggle, a new way of doing things and a war over territory.”
Brody listened as he tended the fire. He didn’t turn to face her. In truth, having his eyes on her was becoming a distraction that his mind and body could do without.
“There’s a very old Book of Shadows that dates back to the times of the first witches. The spells are powerful and depicted in a little more than symbols … it’s the stuff of myth and legend in the community…” she stopped talking then. From the sense of it that pause sounded to him like she thought she’d said too much.
Brody pushed up to his feet and turned towards her then. Sure enough, the woman looked caged …
“But it’s not a myth and …” he tested the waters, waiting to see what she would do. The way that she fidgeted in place told him what he needed to know… “You have the book.”
“I …” She bit down on her words.
Trust no one …
Those words still haunted her from the graves of her ancestors.
“I know where it is.” She offered back, and Brody gave a solemn nod of his head.
“And they want it, and you,” he asked and it was her turn to nod.
“They do.”
“And they’ll have to go through me to get it,” he growled.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she muttered as if to herself.
“You’re afraid for my welfare?” Brody asked, eyeing her as she shuffled on her feet once more.
“Nobody should fight my battles for…”
“We’ve been down this road. The answer is still the same as it was before. You’re my…”
“Yes, yes, I know. It’s glaringly obvious,” she bit out. “So can you just stop saying it now?” She muttered the last part.
“Probably not.” Brody growled back.
“Well, try … real hard!”
For the first time as she looked up at him the man cracked a smile. She wasn�
��t sure if she should be shocked or impressed, because the way that smile brightened his eyes and made him look as sexy as hell, she felt impressed.
“Are you hungry?” He asked, noting the way that her mood seemed to have changed a little, and not sure why…
“No,” she gave a small shake of her head.
“Thirsty?”
“No, will you stop trying to take care of me. I’ve lived this long without constantly being spoon fed…” she tossed back at him on a small frown.
“I’m your ma…”
“If that word is mate, I swear…” she bit out, letting her mood speak for itself.
There was another smile that took his lips then, slowly at first, and she was spellbound by it as she watched it grow…
“How about … man?” He offered back and watched as her breasts slowly rose upwards from the amount of oxygen that she was sucking in, and he had the sneaking suspicion that she was gearing up for a long one.
“Not mate, nor man, or even jolly green giant be…”
“Hey! That’s sounding like a witches chant.” He grumbled. “Lets not go there with the magic. I think I’ve been beaten and battered enough today.” He took a step towards her and saw her jump in place … he didn’t take another step, just lifted his hands to his chest in surrender to ease any worries that she might have been entertaining about his motives.
“I’m not the enemy,” he assured her. “I’m your mate.”
Eden groaned and turned on her heels. Stomping towards the sofa; she turned again and dropped her backside down on the cushions with a loud huff.
“Thanks for the update,” she grumbled.
“Sorry, I guess it’s all new to me too,” he offered back, and when she brought her eyes to his face, she noted that he was once again frowning…
Strangely enough, she missed that smile.
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~
Brody had watched her from across the room as she’d dragged her feet up under her on the sofa and rested her head against the crock of her elbow that she’d leant against the cushions as she watched the flickering flames of the fire. It hadn’t taken her long for Nature’s show to put her to sleep, and he’d watched her for a while as she fell deeper and deeper into slumber.
He still couldn’t believe that she was his and that he was hers. It still felt raw – alien to him – like someone was playing a practical joke on him, and that all of the promise that she represented just by her very presence would be snatched away like waking from a dream.
Mine…
His wolf knew better. The beast within him was soothed more and more by her presence, by her scent … and he wondered if that feeling would last or if it would be snatched away from him too.
It had been a while since he’d felt that level of calmness from his animal. The wolf was still on the prowl over the vampire that was hunting her, and still clawing within him in an attempt to force his hand to mate … and yet, the edge of madness didn’t feel that close anymore. The darkness that seemed to loom large within his very soul had receded…
Maybe I could be a mate … the man that she needs…
Maybe I can keep the wolf from the door of my very soul … for her.
Or maybe the beast is occupied with protecting what’s his, and that madness might return when the vampire is killed…
I can’t take that chance…
I could still hurt her… she’s fragile … human … not easily fixed…
Fate sent her to me to protect her from the vampire … nothing more … nothing less.
I’ll protect her with my life, and maybe it will cost my life … maybe that’s how fate is going to end me.
We both win.
She lives on and I’m no threat to her.
I can live with going out like that … not that I’d have to live with it, I’d be dead…
Oh, damn it! I know what I mean…
I’ll gladly die to keep her safe…
Brody growled in annoyance at himself, and she stirred just a little, as if she was responding to that growl. Responding even in slumber to his inner wolf…
He moved on quiet feet towards the sofa and eased his upper body down. Reaching his arms beneath her body; he gently lifted her into his arms and held her against his chest.
She stirred a little, muttered something beneath her breath that he couldn’t hear, but the tone of it made him smile anyway, and then she settled back against him…
She felt good in his arms … like she was meant to always be there. He wished that was true. That he could have her forever and a day … but he didn’t think that was his destiny.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
~
Eden’s mind clicked on before her body was ready to let go of the sleep that had felt so good. For the last week she had travelled across the country, barely sleeping for fear that her pursuers would find her at her most vulnerable.
But now she felt warm, and safe, and as if nothing could hurt her as she lay on the comfortable bed and slowly allowed her mind to fully awaken.
When she moved her arm, her hand caught the warmth of his flesh, and her brain kicked her backside into gear with remembrance. Her eyes snapped open, and it took only moments for her to be able to focus on his face as he lay on the pillow beside her, sleeping…
Her heart kicked her ribs at the sight of him. When he slept he looked so different. The frowns and scowls weren’t there. He looked a little younger, as if the weight of the world wasn’t weighting on his shoulders.
He definitely looked a lot less dark …
Her fingers itched to reach out and touch him. It was the strangest sensation that she’d ever known.
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to run her fingertips through his hair to see just how silky smooth it was, or to run them over his smooth tanned skin, but the temptation to trace the lines and ridges of the muscles of his chest called to her too…
Eden lifted her hand and jumped in place the moment that his eyes snapped open and he was staring back at her… she didn’t move, didn’t breathe as his eyes devoured hers, then they took a slow journey over her face, down her neck, lower to her breasts ….
“Why are you in my bed?” She breathed out in a rush of irrationality and in the hope that she could deflect what she was thinking and feeling back onto him.
His eyes snapped back up to hers and she almost breathed a sigh of relief…
“It’s my bed, technically … ours…” he offered back with a sleep filled tone that sounded like honey and gravel all mixed into one.
She was sure that every hair upon her body stood to attention at the sound of his voice. Her ears had certainly pricked up to hear him better, and even her nipples hardened as if they were reacting and reaching for that sound – they needn’t have bothered as his tone seemed to roll and rumble over her skin of its own accord…
Eden cleared her throat and went to pull her upper body to a sitting position, but he slung one heavy arm across her waist and held her in place.
“Do you like our bed …?” he asked and gave her something of a lazy grin, and she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out, even though he could see the cogs were definitely turning within her mind… “Was it comfortable?”
“It was …” she cleared her throat as something resembling a large gumball got stuck in it… “I slept.”
“Me too, which is weird because it’s not something I normally do very well…”
“Me either…” she clamped her lips together and frowned back at him.
She didn’t know why it mattered that she’d shared that, but somewhere in the back of her mind she thought that it did.
“Maybe we sooth each other,” he offered back … and there it was…
She didn’t want to have anything in common with him, and she certainly didn’t want to admit to having a good night’ s sleep because he was there… If that was the reason … and she didn’t know if it was … but just in case… she didn’t want to h
ave it pointed out.
“You mean after we spent the day being growly, moody, and hypering each other into a mindless frenzy of annoyance?” She returned fire … because as she saw it, right then, she was at war.
It was a war with fate, with herself, and with him…
He wasn’t mate material and neither was she. That should have been the end of it, but waking up to him, side by side in bed … well … something felt right and that couldn’t be a good thing.
He pushed up to his elbow and looked down upon her.
My mate in my bed … that’s not something I could have imagined a week ago, a month ago … a year ago.
She’s here … I need to get my head around the fact that she’s actually here.
I need to get my head on straight.
No more lone wolf.
No more waiting to go damn rogue wolf…
Wolf, if you want her …
Mine…! The beast growled, determined to make his point…
Then you need to behave like a damn mate, you need to let me behave like a damn mate.
Love. Honour. Provide. Protect. No more crazy wolf…
If we’re going to have our mate, we need to woo her, and keep wooing her all the damn days of our lives…
Mine… His beast was adamant. He was determined.
If anyone needed protecting from herself, she did.
He’d make this work. He’d tame his witch and his beast. Be a better man.
All for her.
“Are you going to let me get up or hold me prisoner in this bed?” Eden had reservations about her words. She wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted him to let her go … at least, not just yet.
“Wanting to be where you are doesn’t make you a prisoner,” Brody offered back with something of a wolfish grin. It was only just there, but she was glad to see that he had returned to smiling.
“And who said I want to be here? I’ve got a pretty good memory and I don’t…”
Brody’s hand stroked down over her hip and her words died a death on her lips. The jolt of excitement that touch had produced, the shock to her already bubbling with excitement system was electric, filled with tingling that shot over her body, brought every hair to attention, and her nipples ached with just how tightly they had budded.