by M. L. Briers
Big stubborn bear shifter oaf!
“I’m taking this seriously and I want you to do the same. I don’t want you going outside without me, and I want you to stay close while we’re here.” Elijah bit out.
“Stay close?” Andy dropped her chin and eyed him from beneath her eyelashes. “Seriously?”
“Very … seriously…” he offered back. “There’s a slow stew in that cooker on the counter top – why don’t you make up a couple of bowls while I take care of something outside.”
“So – I’m catering staff now?” She offered back to him, trying to make his life as awkward as possible until he decided to fess up and tell her what she wanted to know.
“Now is not the time.”
Elijah got it. He knew how females were. The stroppy attitude that she’d give him until she got what she wanted…
Well, that was just going to have to wait. He had a cabin to make safe from wolves – just in case…
“Do it yourself…” she offered back with a shrug off her shoulders.
She didn’t much like his attitude – that big mucho BS didn’t wash with her. If the wolves were after her, as he thought, then she had a right to know everything…
“Fine. I’ll be back after I take care of the shutters.” He growled in annoyance.
Elijah wrenched open the front door and stalked outside, closing it none too gently behind him in the same way she’d just done with his truck door, but his anger wasn’t for her – it was for the damn wolves.
This was supposed to be the time when he wooed his mate – revelled in finding her and making her his – and here he was battening down the damn shutters like it was the end of the world and the zombie apocalypse all rolled into one.
He heard the sound of the car in the distance. It wasn’t throaty enough to be a truck, and that meant that the damn vampire had been good to his word to Nathan and was there to watch over Andy.
That annoyed him too.
It was his job to look after his mate – not the damn vampire’s, but he guessed that he should be somewhat grateful for the extra pair of eyes on the cabin.
He circled around the cabin and started to close the shutters. They were large thick timbers with a brace of Rowan across them.
Mountain Ash wood would stop the wolves in a heartbeat and best of all – they knew it.
The berries of the witches’ tree were poisonous to all shifters, but the wood – the wood would burn the wolves on contact and that was a burn that their bodies wouldn’t heal – if it got deep enough into their bodies, they’d never recover.
Jethro fixed the brace and moved onto the next window, between the shutters and the front door, no werewolf would be able to break inside. He went to unhook the next shutter… and he caught the scent in the air … a moment before the first wolf attacked.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
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Jethro turned off the shower and shook the excess water from his body. He’d been pissed at his brother’s attitude for so long it was just second nature now.
Just the sight of him sent his blood boiling, and having him show up at his home, accusing him of trying to harm his mate – well, it was going to take a damn miracle for him to get over that one.
He stepped out of the cubicle and reached out for the towel. His hand felt skin on skin and he whipped his head around to catch sight and the scent of his mate as she stood by the wall – her eyes taking in the length of his naked body…
His beast growled long and hard inside of him, and he had to admit – he wanted to growl as well; just from the way that she was looking at him…
“You see something you like?” Jethro’s voice was so full of bass that the glass of the shower cubicle rattled in its frame.
“I certainly see something I don’t like…” she said, and brought her eyes up to his as they narrowed on her.
She lifted the towel, fisting it in her hand, and took a step towards him. She reached out her fingertips and traced over the angry red welts that cross-crossed his chest, marring his skin, and making her wince just a little, but enough that he noted it.
Alana felt the rumble of a gentle, but hungry growl that vibrated beneath her touch.
“They don’t hurt anymore – the skin just tugs a little…” he assured her.
“Tugs…” she tipped her head to one side as he snagged her wrist, locking his fingers around it, and yanked her towards him.
Her palms flattened against the damp skin of his chest, and her head was craned back on her neck as she stared back into his eyes…
“Tug – just like that…” he growled down. One side of his mouth lifted in a satisfied, if not teasing grin.
“Tugging is good…” she smiled and he went to dip his head – desperate to taste her lips – but she pushed her upper body back a little and he held in place… “Telling me everything is better…”
Jethro growled just a little louder. She had him there – right where she wanted him.
His hard cock was pressed between them, and he was dying to taste her …
Blackmail of the very best – or worst – kind.
“One kiss and I’ll tell you everything,” he offered back.
If his mate could play the blackmail game then he considered that what was good for the goose…
“One …?” She arched her eyebrows.
“Kiss…” he teased back.
“Are you trustworthy?” Alana asked – her eyes were sparkling with amusement now and he liked that.
“Very…”
“I don’t know – payment before receipt of the goods is…” she shrugged just a little.
“It’s just one kiss … what could it hurt?” he said. That deep, hungry growl was rolling beneath his words.
“Deal.” She said.
Jethro grinned hard. His eyes were black with emotion, but also with the victory that he’d won.
He dipped his head lower and brushed his cheek against hers, taking her scent – then he turned his head and held just shy of their lips meeting.
“I didn’t say how long that one kiss would last.”
He whispered, before his lips came down on hers, catching her in mid gasp as she was about to say something. He took that opportunity on board to push inside and taste her.
~
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~
Elijah had the chance to flick out his claws a moment before the first strike of the wolf’s claws hit him hard. It cut deep down into his flesh, almost to his rib bones, before he turned and launched his own attack.
Two wolves. He got the scent of both of them.
One was circling around to the other side of him. He lifted his arm and took the first swipe; his claws connected deeply with the beast’s skin and opened up his flesh like a hot knife through butter.
The wolf yelped in pain. The second beast did the same to Elijah, slicing him deep and carving through his flesh.
Elijah’s bear rose within him and burst out of the man with a roar of rage that echoed through the darkening night around them.
Then all hell broke loose as Elijah lost control of his bear.
Man and beast were agreed on one thing – their mate was left unprotected inside of the cabin and this was his only chance to get this right.
He needed to kill both wolves and pray that there wasn’t already more inside those four walls with his mate.
His bear was ferocious in its attack, swiping with one giant paw full of razor sharp claws as it used its bulk to try to fend off the other wolf, and then he twisted his body around to attack the second.
Elijah snapped his jaws in the hope of sinking his fangs into one of the wolves, but it was the constant prolong attacks with his claws that was doing the real damage.
He heard the howl from one wolf as the second fell to the floor. The scent of blood hung heavy in the air, his, theirs, as he swiped for the second wolf and missed.
The beast was off and running into the night … and Elijah had a mind to follow him an
d put the beast down … but then he remembered the last time that he had done that – chased off after an attacker and left his brother behind …
Elijah turned to look at the wolf that lay on the ground. He witnessed the light in the beast’s eyes go out that very second, and he grunted hard at the sight of the dead wolf …
Then he turned on his paws and started back around the side of the house as fast as he could – he needed to know that his mate was safe…
That was when he spotted the vampire guarding the front door to the cabin and roared in anger at the sight of him.
Nash wasn’t about to stick around at the sight and sound of the angry bear. He’d heard the fight ensuing around the back and had run to the cabin to listen for the mate’s heartbeat inside – it had been fast, but not fast enough to tell him that she was anything but frightened.
He’d taken a moment to decide what to do next, and in that instant the sound of the battle had stopped…
Now he was moving fast once more – getting the hell out of Elijah’s way as the large bear came thudding towards him.
“Shift you idiot!” Nash yelled as he double timed it away from the door and hoped the bear wasn’t going to just steamroller inside …
That was exactly what Elijah did.
Without a thought in his head for his mate’s reaction to seeing a huge grizzly bear running into the cabin he burst inside – it didn’t surprise Nash in the slightest when she screamed like a banshee…
“Bears…” Nash ground out on the shake of his head.
~
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~
Jethro wasn’t just kissing her – he was devouring her like a starving man at the table of a banquet. He’d had a taste and he wanted more. His beast wanted more …
Hell, his beast wanted everything and more.
Most of all – it wanted to mark her skin – make her his – bond with her and have her forever and a day.
He wanted that too, he just wasn’t so damn gung-ho to get there. Even with the will hanging over his head and all that it entailed he wanted her to come to him.
He preferred to savour her now. Sure, there would a time when he lost his mind to the mating – the bonding, but for now; he was more than content to go at her pace – whatever that may be.
He knew one thing for sure; his brother hadn’t bonded yet. That bonding roar would be heard clean across the mountain, not that far as the crow flew, and his ears would be sure to pick it up.
He wasn’t about to risk his future happiness with his mate by rushing her towards something that she wasn’t ready for.
The Will be damned.
The land and birthright be damned.
She meant more to him than any of it.
He could feel the pull and tug on her subconscious. She liked the way he was kissing her.
Her body was responding to his touches, to her touching him back, and yet, there was that question within the darkness of her mind that was nagging at her the whole time …
He wasn’t going to make any of this harder on her. Even if he wanted nothing more than to bury his cock deep inside of her and ride them both to oblivion.
Alana was more than just a one night stand – she was his life from the moment that he’d scented her and that was worth waiting for.
Aching for.
Longing for.
And he did; all of the above and more, but he could wait until she was ready – he just hoped to hell it was sooner rather than later for the sake of his own sanity – in more ways than one.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
~
Elijah shifted the moment that Andy’s banshee like scream almost shattered his damn eardrums. His body was battered and bruised, torn apart in places, and his blood rolled down his naked human skin like someone had turned on the faucet.
“Elijah!”
Andy’s shock at having the big grizzly running at her took a backseat to the fact that when he shifted he was injured once more. The new injuries looked far worse than before, and his muscles quivered as he stood on shaking legs staring back into her wide eyes…
“I’m … fine…” he said, but the fact that a heartbeat later he’d dropped to one knee on the floor before her, and his other knee followed down, hitting the boards with a loud thud, did little to reassure her of that fact.
“The hell you are!” She cried out as she dropped to her knees in front of him and reached out to cup his face with the palms of her hands. “What can I do?” she demanded…
“Nothing…” he shook his head.
“But I can…” Nash offered from the doorway, and Andy’s eyes snapped towards the vampire…
“You did this?” She looked at him with disgust…
“Sure, blame the vampire…” Nash shrugged his broad shoulders.
“Not him – wolves…” Elijah shook his heads and her hands moved with it…
“One wolf down … and one wolf that could be coming back … maybe, even … with reinforcements.” Nash offered; knowing he was unable to cross that threshold without Elijah’s invite.
His fingers itched with the need to help the man, and yet, he’d had years of dealing with Elijah to know that the man was proud, and stubborn. Not to mention a right pain in the ass…
The only hope that he had to make him see sense … blackmail.
Elijah gasped in pain. His body would heal him … it had already started, but how long it would take would be dependent on his injuries and how deep they went.
“You want me to ask you for help…” Elijah growled at the thought of it.
“I want you to think about your mate…” Nash offered back.
“Elijah?” Andy felt the man’s head lull and she helped him to keep it up…
Elijah’s eyes locked onto Andy. She was his mate and he had a duty to protect her.
Damn it, he didn’t have a choice.
Swallow his pride or risk everything if there was another attack that he couldn’t defend her from.
“Come in,” Elijah bit out and Andy gasped as the vampire relished walking over the threshold.
“Elijah…?” She breathed his name and his eyes locked with hers once more.
“He won’t hurt you…” Elijah swore…
“You?” Andy offered back and he saw the depth of her concern written all over her face…
“I should knock his damn head against a wall to wake up his brain into rational and joined up thinking…” Nash offered, and he saw the curl of her lips as she let her hands fall from Elijah’s face and dragged herself up to her feet.
Her hands fisted at her sides as her mind tossed and turned with everything that she knew about vampires. Everything that she thought she knew and was crossing off her list of how to defeat him…
“Stay away…” Andy hissed, and Nash could see it there in her eyes – she would fight for her mate.
“But I won’t, because he’s going to come around in no time now that he has a mate to protect and a family to care for.” Nash offered her a crooked smile, but there was no laughter within her eyes.
There was no hope of her understanding what it was that he was actually saying to her, because he wasn’t saying it to her, but to her mate, and hoping that the message got through loud and clear in that thick, stubborn, skull of his.
Andy’s eyes widened the moment that Nash pushed back the sleeve of his jacket, exposed his skin, and held his wrist down to the shifter. The offer to take a bite was duly noted, and sneered at by the man…
“You want me to protect her while you heel or do you want to heal and do it yourself?” Nash asked, knowing which the man and his beast would choose.
They were back to pride – and both the man and bear’s need to protect their mate would always come out ahead of his pride at taking vampire blood to achieve a rapid healing.
“Oh…” Andy took a long step back the moment that Elijah fisted the man’s arm and exposed his fangs.
She knew what was coming next and she didn’t w
ant to look, and yet, just like coming across an accident on the roadside – she found that she couldn’t look away.
Elijah bit down hard and fast, and Nash’s face twisted against the pain…
“That was a little mean spirited…” Nash bit out. “But I guess that I deserved it.”
“That’s just…” Andy licked her dry lips as she took another step back from them.
Elijah tossed the man’s arm back towards him and the vampire took a step back from the shifter.
“Gratitude is a wonderful thing,” Nash said, not expecting the man to thank him for blackmailing him into taking a bite.
“One wolf down, and one to go…” Elijah growled long and hard at the thought of it.
He’d see the other wolf brother boots up before too long.
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~
Jethro heard the distinctive ring of his mobile phone and ignored it. He had other things on his mind … like wooing … and the damn vampire was trying to distract him again.
His hands were roaming down her shapely hips and he was loving the feel of her body pressing closer and closer to his. His hard cock was definitely loving being sandwiched between them – although, he knew it had a mind of its own and wanted to be buried deep inside of his mate…
The mobile went off again and in the back of his mind the alarm bells were ringing out at exactly the same pitch and speed as that damn buzzing that was underlying the ringing – ringing and buzzing – ringing and buzzing – it was almost driving him insane like an itch that he couldn’t quite reach.
The silence was better – much better. The only problem was that Alana had heard it too, she’d been distracted by it.
The third time it went off; Jethro couldn’t help the deep growl of annoyance that rumbled through his chest – she was definitely distracted by that change in tone…
“You better get that…” she said in a smoky, breathless tone that sent his cock twitching again.