by M. L. Briers
“If the man was here then I’d rip off his damn head and shove it right up his…” Jethro growled out as he stalked, butt naked, into the living room and snatched his mobile off the unit where it had been set to charge.
The sound died in his hand before he had a chance to swipe to answer it … that made him curse out almost every bad word that he’d ever learned as he dropped his head on his neck and gave a slow shake of his head.
“How like a man to not be able to dial back a missed call…” Alana was standing with her shoulder pressed against the doorframe to the bedroom and with her arms crossed just under her breasts – but it was her swollen lips from his kisses, and the tousled hair that made him growl with desire once more.
He held up the phone.
“The man is like a mother and will always call back…” the phone went off once more as if to prove his point. He swiped the screen and put it to his ear. “Oh – if it’s not a warning about the end of the damn world, vampire, then you and I…”
Jethro pressed his lips together and bit down on his need to kill someone. It wasn’t the intrusion that had him madder than hell – it was the fact that someone had tried to rip his brother apart…
They were family.
They might not have acted like it since that damned night – and he might have wanted to do that to his own brother every time that he saw him…
But – they were brothers.
Their blood ran the same in their veins.
Their mother had raised them together.
Their father had taught them to respect honour – tradition – all the ties that bound them.
Including, and especially … family…
“I’m on my way.” Jethro growled.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
~
Healed, showered, changed into clean clothes – Elijah stalked towards the front door of his cabin and went to head out to where the dead wolf was lying. His ears picked up the sound of the truck and his eyes scanned the track for confirmation of who it was that was driving on his land.
His bear growled and clawed within him at the sight of his brother’s truck. The man had some damn nerve…
He walked down the porch steps and stalked towards the vehicle. His arms were locked at his sides and his hands were fisted, but he was more than ready to flick out his claws at a moment’s notice.
His eyes took them in … Jethro and his mate … he had to question why the hell he would bring his mate along with him, but then, he wouldn’t leave Andy alone right then either.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing coming onto my land…?” Elijah growled as his brother stepped out of the truck.
“Seriously?” Jethro shot back.
“What do you want?” Elijah growled.
“To go hunting the threat and end it,” Jethro growled back.
His beast was more than ready … more than willing … and certainly damned able to do just that.
“That’s…”
“I don’t like you and you don’t like me, but this goes beyond that. It’s family.” Jethro reminded him, but only too well.
“Like the last time?” Elijah shot back.
Elijah grunted in annoyance. This was not his brother’s fight … at least … not yet. If the lone wolf attacked his home then maybe…
“I called him,” Nash called out from the porch as Andy walked out to stand next to the vampire, and then she whipped her head around as if she suddenly remembered what he was, and took a small step to the right away from him.
“Something I said?” Nash grinned with amusement at her and she scowled back.
She gave a small, awkward shake of her head, and Nash couldn’t resist – he craned his head down to his body and sniffed…
“Very funny…” She muttered as she dismissed him and started down the steps towards her mate.
“Go back inside, Andy.” Elijah called out and she snorted her contempt for that order.
“Not this side of hell no,” she grumbled.
Jethro bit down on his need to grin, but Elijah caught the smile in the man’s eyes anyway.
“Like you don’t want to bang your damn head against a tree…” Elijah growled out, and this time his brother did allow the smile to take his lips.
“Something like that,” he chuckled. It was deep and sounded like velvet against gravel to his mate’s ears as she popped the door and climbed out.
“Well, there’s no damn way I’m staying in the car if she’s allowed out here…” Alana grumbled and Jethro gave a slow nod to his brother…
“Fine…” Elijah growled. “You’d better come inside.” He said, turning on his heels and stalking back towards his mate. His arm wrapped around her waist and he turned her and pulled her along with him.
~
~
~
“The cabin looks the same…” Jethro noted of his childhood home and his brother grunted in reply.
“I don’t feel the need to have fancy things around me to make me feel better about myself.” Elijah growled back.
“It’s good to see you’re trying to be civil,” Nash bit out, much to Andy’s amusement.
Andy looked to Alana and the woman rolled her eyes back in her head and sighed.
“Men…” She offered and Andy nodded in agreement.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jethro asked on a frown.
“It means – either work together or don’t, but stop the bitching…” She looked back to Andy for backup.
“And they say we’re the girls,” Andy offered.
“There are reasons that you don’t understand…” Elijah offered to his mate and stopped the moment that she sighed.
“Because you refused to tell me,” she craned her head on her neck and glared back at him before she turned her attention back towards Alana. “Did he tell you?”
“Nope,” Alana shrugged.
“Some things are better left in the past,” Jethro growled and Elijah snorted his contempt for that answer. “You don’t agree?”
“Right now, I don’t give a flying …”
“Monkey!” Alana offered and Jethro shot her a curious look. She shrugged back.
“Let’s just get the cabin secure from attack and we can work out the details later.” Jethro growled.
“Fine,” Elijah growled back. Both men started for the door together.
“Oh, this should be good,” Nash grumbled, watching as both sped up to be the first to it and through it, but it didn’t work out like that – they both made it there at the same time, nudging each other’s shoulders, and trying to find leverage…
“Can you two just…?” Andy tossed up her hands in frustration…
“It’s my house…” Elijah growled.
“Fine…” Jethro growled back as he motioned for his brother to go first.
“Geez…” Alana groaned at the sight of two grown ass men behaving like teenagers.
“Let’s make the coffee…” Andy offered Alana and she nodded.
“You wanna go first?” Alana tossed back and both shifters turned at the door to eye each other…
“See what you’ve done?” Jethro growled.
“Sure, it was all me,” Elijah growled back.
“Do either of you ladies object to me bashing their heads together?” Nash asked and Andy shrugged as she shook her head – Alana followed suit.
“I’d say go for it,” Alana offered and Jethro shot a look at her back over his shoulder.
“Real hard, because I think they’ve probably got really thick heads,” Andy added.
“It’s a matter of principle.” Elijah growled.
“Oh, well if it’s a matter of principle…” Andy scoffed back.
“Where would we be without them?” Alana said, as both women stood side by side and folded their arms in unison.
Neither mate looked impressed at their mates antics, but then neither shifter looked too impressed with their mates either.
“I’
d be sucking some human dry of their blood and leaving them looking like a desiccated prune on the ground.” Nash offered back and all four of them turned to look at him.
Andy looked somewhat horrified and disgusted, and Alana just shook her head in dismay.
“But that’s me…” Nash announced, doing what he’d meant to do and bringing the room to a stunned silence.
“There are no words…” Alana said.
“And yet in true female fashion you opened your mouth anyway.” Nash offered back and both shifters growled at him.
“Watch your mouth…” Jethro growled out the warning.
“Kind of hard to do without a mirror,” Nash offered back.
“Him – you trust…” Elijah offered to his brother and Jethro sighed.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
~
Mason’s hand hit the door with a hard thud. The lights were out inside, but that didn’t last long once he’d hammered on the wood.
His wounds were deep and slow to heal. He needed somewhere to hold up for the night. He needed somewhere that the bear shifter couldn’t find him, and wouldn’t think to look for him.
She owed him that much. She’d started the damn ball rolling that had got his brother killed.
The stupid woman and her stupid damn ideas…
He was alone now. No brother. No blood kin left and it was all of her doing.
He should kill her where she stood.
He should rip her damn head off.
Mason wanted vengeance for his brother.
That bear had killed him and he’d had to leave him behind.
He hated that thought. Leaving his brother went against the grain.
He’d been too injured to take his body, but he’d go back and give him a proper burial.
He’d go back and finish what he started. What they had started together…
He had no mate. No family, and no pack.
He was a lone wolf.
Revenge was all there was now.
He’d kill the bear then he’d kill the mate.
Once he was done; he’d go after the other brother and mate and do the damn same thing to them – revenge – wipe out the blood line.
It was all he had left.
“You shouldn’t have come here…” she said on a hissed whisper that made his blood boil with the fever of rage.
Mason growled long and hard at her words.
How dare she speak to him like that…
How dare she when he had done this for her…
When his brother had given his life for the cause – for the mountain…
“My brother is dead…” He growled back.
“You could lead them right here to my door…” she argued logic and he wanted to kill her … there wasn’t one word of sympathy or acknowledgement for what he’d lost.
“This was for you…” he growled back.
“This was for us…” she hissed back.
“I need to heal. Then I’ll go back and kill them…” Mason growled out.
“Them?” She looked confused, and well she should.
They had decided to go beyond her plan of killing Elijah. They had decided to kill the mate and send the bear crazy – give them a reason to kill him should things ever come to light…
“All of them,” he informed her and saw the look on her face – the slow shake of her head in dismay.
“What have you done?” She demanded.
“If they all die then the land is given to those living on it…” he growled back.
“That’s not what we agreed. You were supposed to kill Elijah – you already went for his mate once and I told you…”
His clawed hand snapped out and locked around her neck. Her eyes went wide in shock…
“You do not tell me!” He growled out, squeezing harder in his rage. In his blood lust for vengeance.
She had caused this.
The meddling witch and her stupid ideas.
He should kill her where she stood…
Aunt May tried to reach for her magic, but it was too late … she could feel the life being squeeze out of her now…
What did I do? She asked the ancestors…
What did I do?
I didn’t want to lose my home should the wrong brother win the land…
I should never have…
Harm none … first harm none … thrice … come back thrice …
I brought this on myself…
Mason felt the life drain from the old woman, but he wasn’t satisfied. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he had Elijah dead on the end of his claws – Jethro, and the mates …
Vengeance be mine… he told himself as he threw Aunt May’s body back into her cottage and stumbled inside after her…
CHAPTER NINETEEN
~
Nash stood with his back to the window. The thick boards on the outside covered any chance of the moonlight getting in, and the internal lights were blazing inside of the house.
“I can’t believe you have this amount of security for your cabin…” Jethro eyed his brother. “Are you expecting a zombie apocalypse?”
“I don’t think Mountain ash would bother zombies,” Elijah offered back. Not that he knew that for sure, nobody did, but he wasn’t exactly going to wish the end of the world as they knew it so that he could test a theory.
“At least we don’t have to worry about a mutt breaking through the windows,” Nash offered back.
“I never trusted them and this proves my point…” Elijah said.
“You seem to have trust issues with most people. I don’t see how you can have issues with me – when someone around here is sticky fingered.” Nash offered with a not-so-subtle look towards Alana.
“Hey!” She snapped back. “It’s not like I do that all the time…”
“And so you started your fledgling career with a vampire – smooth move,” Nash teased.
“She told me…” Alana protested, but she never got any further than that…
“She?” Nash asked. His interest piqued.
Alana sighed. She sat back against the cushions of the sofa and folded her arms across her chest.
“Who told you what?” Jethro asked.
“The witchy one in the shop…” Alana shrugged.
“Aunt May?” Jethro’s eyebrows shot up towards his hairline.
That didn’t make any sense. He’d known May since he was a kid, something that felt like a lifetime ago now, but he had some good memories of their childhood with May in them.
She was a witch, sure, but most people saw her as just a little eccentric, not a threat to anyone. Certainly not a threat to the community.
“What did she tell you, exactly?” Nash asked.
“She wanted something personal of yours to do a spell…” Alana shrugged. “I thought she was just a little dotty…”
“Devious old…” Nash bit out.
“What spell?” Elijah scowled. He had to wonder if the two things were related or just a coincidence.
“I have no idea,” Alana admitted.
“What did you do to May?” Jethro’s blatant accusation made Nash snap his head back on his neck.
“I didn’t do anything to the batty old witch. I didn’t even know she still practiced magic. Why am I getting the blame here?” The vampire looked a little downtrodden and on the back foot.
He had absolutely no idea why the witch would want to cast against him. He’d hardly spoken to her in the last month, and that was mostly to pass the time of day.
No, in his mind – everything had to be interrelated.
“Andy was coming out of May’s shop the first time that she was attacked…” He said.
“I…” Andy looked a little startled.
“What did you say to her?” Jethro demanded and she hesitated, considering the conversation that they’d had.
“Nothing …” she looked a little guilty then…
“Apart from the fact that your new found mate was a butthole…” Nash
offered with a smirk.
If looks could kill then the vampire knew that he would be dead … again. Andy swallowed hard and looked even more guilty as she grimaced.
“That probably wasn’t my exact wording,” Andy sneered to the sound of Elijah grumbling a low growl.
“I doubt she said; please kill me by werewolf,” Alana offered back.
“Exactly,” Andy tossed up a hand towards Alana who sat on the other end of the sofa. “Why am I on trial here?” She scowled back at Nash.
“Nobody is on trial…” Jethro growled.
“Sure feels like it…” Andy shot back.
“It’s pick on the females time…” Alana offered in solidarity.
“You know I do love your victim here mentality…” Nash offered back.
“Then leave her alone, she didn’t ask the witch to send the wolves after her, now did she?” Alana shot back.
“This is getting us nowhere…” Elijah growled.
“No, but a trip to May’s house might…” Jethro offered back.
“What about them?” Elijah nodded back towards the mates.
“That’s what the vampire is for…” Jethro shrugged.
He didn’t like the thought of leaving his mate in the vampire’s care – it was his job to protect her, and he very much doubted that the idea was in any way palatable to his brother either, but they couldn’t risk dragging their mates with them into the uncertainty of what they faced when they didn’t rightly know it themselves.
“I don’t think the vampire wants to kill me considering that the witch sent Alana after him…” Andy offered up to her mate.
“She has a good point,” Nash offered with something approaching a smirk on his lips.
“You’re asking me to trust the vampire when right now the only person I trust is Andy,” Elijah said.
“Brother – we’re blood kin.” Jethro offered back. “If renouncing my birthright to the land right now will offer you any proof that I mean your mate no harm…”
“It wouldn’t…” Elijah growled back.
“Elijah…” Andy berated him, but he waved it away.
“I don’t think he had anything to do with the attacks,” Elijah admitted.