Furbidden Mate

by Jessica Snow

  Ashley tried to yell back, but her voice was only a human’s, unable to cover the five hundred yards, and her sign language said she couldn’t see anything. She pointed towards the woods, and Liam understood. She’d seen something heading that direction, maybe that was the direction she went.

  Liam started off at a run, Kat right on his heels. “Don’t worry,” he said as he ran back towards where he had left her. “She can take care of herself. Just get her pissed off enough, remember?”

  Kat growled, half in acceptance but also Liam thought, as a warning to him. If McKenzie was hurt, Liam wondered if his mate might turn those razor-sharp claws on him.

  He ran faster.

  Chapter 52

  McKenzie watched as the battle raged in front of her, feeling useless and scared. She could see Liam already trying to defend her, his jaws snapping left and right as he took on three members of Crystal’s pack on his own, while she struggled uselessly to create a fire spell.

  Come on, you can do this! You’ve done it before!

  Yeah, but not this big! How can I control it?

  Her inner voice didn’t have an answer, which made McKenzie struggle even more with it. She knew that the more she fought it, the harder it was going to be to get her magic working, but she couldn’t help it. In her mind, every time she saw the flame coming from her hands to singe her enemies, the fire went out of control, burning Liam, burning Carly and Zack… burning Kat. McKenzie moaned helplessly as she struggled against the fear inside her, all her training forgotten as she let herself be blocked by her fear of failure.

  Then Kat stood up, and McKenzie stopped, staring in awe at her sister. Sure, she’d seen her before, the night that she’d saved Liam from getting barbecued, but she’d been caught up in her anger and fear, the magic whipping from her and she had been in such sensory overload that she barely remembered it. This time, though, she could watch her sister emerge in all her glory, towering and powerful, her massive paws spreading death among Crystal’s pack with almost every swipe. McKenzie’s arms fell to her side as she watched for a moment, finally snapping back to the reality of the situation when Liam bounded away to form a killing trio with Carly and Zack, leaving her alone on the edge of the fight.

  McKenzie tried to refocus, letting the image of Kat and her world-shaking strength reassure her. If Kat can do it, so could she. McKenzie felt the mental locks just starting to let go when she heard a growl behind her, and she turned, seeing Erick shift back into human form, his maniacal grin splitting his face. “Well, well, well, look who I found. Crystal promised you to me, and I guess she delivers on her promises.”

  “Erick… don’t!” McKenzie yelled, backing away. She hoped Ashley would take the shot, taking Erick out, but her rifle stopped, and McKenzie didn’t know why. Instead, Erick stepped forward, grabbing her by the collar of her jacket and slapping her across the face, yanking her off her feet. He started dragging her towards the woods, laughing under his breath. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. When you can spring a surprise on someone, you’re all badass and shit. I was there, the night you barbecued Crystal. But I know you, you dumb bitch. I know what type of slut you are, that you just want to cocktease and spring traps on dudes. Well, I got a surprise for you.”

  McKenzie could feel her hair start to tear out by the roots as Erick let go of her jacket collar to grab her head with his other hand, swinging her around with his massive werewolf strength. She screamed the pain was massive. “Let go! Erick, let me go!”

  “Fight it, it doesn't matter none,” Erick said as they entered the tree line. “You humiliated me, bitch. After that party, it didn’t matter what I did, there were always those people who gave me looks, who bought the line of shit you were feeding. You and that fucker Zack.”

  “You tried to rape me!” McKenzie yelled, her fear going away under the twin assault of pain and anger. “You were going to do that, and more if you had the chance!”

  “And? You tried to make me think my dick was disappearing! It took me twelve hours to get that shit out of my head, it took me videoing the fucking thing just to see it on a monitor! So, I owe you for that one too! You’re weak, just a fucking bitch who’s my prey,” Erick growled, trying to jump on her. McKenzie rolled across the forest floor, kicking and screaming at him, but Erick, despite being in human form, was still using a lot of his werewolf strength and speed, and he pinned her to the ground easily, it was a twisted game to him. McKenzie could feel a rock digging into her back, and she stared up at Erick in fright as he pinned her hands to the ground. “Now, I’m getting what I should have gotten months ago. Fuck Crystal and her stupid shit, I’m done with this town after I get this one last bit of fun. And with your hands pinned, it’s not like you can stop me anyway, witch.”

  McKenzie felt something shift inside of her, the knot of fear inside her letting go, and she smiled up at Erick, her own grin as bloodthirsty as that of any werewolf. “If you think I need my hands to do my thing, you’re fatally mistaken.”

  McKenzie’s eyes glowed, and instead of coming from her hands the fire shot from her eyes, a blast of plasma energy that caught Erick in the middle of his chest, impaling him on twin bands of white light for an instant before the beams cut through his body, setting him on fire as McKenzie felt herself float up off the forest floor, her body turning in a circle and setting the forest around her ablaze. She looked back toward the site of the battle, and every time her eyes found one of the bodies it burst into flame, until they were all there, pyres of flame that arced into the sky, sooty reminders to the world of what it meant to fuck with a witch.

  “McKenzie!” a voice behind her said, and while part of her mind knew it was Liam, another part of her didn’t care. Let her enemies burn, let them all burn. She understood now that it was one of the things that her mother had made a mistake with. Reba was a witch who worked through the peaceful side of her mind, but McKenzie was more than just a witch, integrated into her DNA was still a shred of bear, and bears weren’t always peaceful. For her, there was nothing wrong with feeling emotions. Her power flowed through her emotions, through her passion. Especially fire. Fire burned inside her, and all she was doing was sharing that with those who were going to hurt her family.

  Another set of ripples and cracks came behind her, and another voice came to her. “Kenzie… come on, it’s over. We got them all,” Zack said softly, and McKenzie felt the fire start to ebb. She lowered, her feet touching the forest floor and weight returning to her body, she hadn’t even realized that she’d been using wind magic as well to float. Zack put his hands on her shoulders, and she turned, looking into his eyes which weren’t fierce, weren’t deadly or animalistic… they were the eyes of the boy she was quickly falling for. “That’s better.”

  McKenzie blinked, shaking her head after a moment. “I… I was so scared. But, I think I understand more how to access my powers. Is everyone okay?”

  Another series of snaps and crackles interrupted Zack’s answer, and McKenzie saw Kat stand up from the ground. She came over and embraced McKenzie, neither of them ashamed at all over Kat’s nudity. “You were amazing,” Kat said, giving McKenzie a squeeze. “Don’t worry at all about us. Other than a few scratches, we’re going to be fine.”

  Liam approached her, his eyes downcast on the ground. “McKenzie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you to join the battle.”

  McKenzie shook her head and gave Liam a hug as well. “You needed to in order to protect everyone else. And I’m safe. So, everyone in Crystal’s pack is dead?”

  “Those that didn’t run off,” Ashley said, approaching from the highway. “Sorry about the lack of firepower guys. I didn’t realize how many there were going to be, that all I had were twenty rounds. Once those were gone, all I could do was watch. Kat, you were amazing. I especially liked it when you popped Kevin right in the mouth.”

  Kat smacked herself in the forehead. “I’d nearly forgotten that retard. You guys don’t even want to know what he told me. All of it
, all the information that the vampires got on us came from him. And he did it all simply because he was a pissed that I didn’t go back to him. Where is that idiot anyway?”

  “I’ll go check,” Carly said, dropping down and transforming again before running off. The others headed back towards the site of the battle, Ashley opening her backpack to toss boxer briefs to Zack and Liam, and a T-shirt for Kat.

  “You know guys, if we’re going to keep this up, I’m going to insist that you start wearing trunks or something underneath your clothes. If the Incredible Hulk can find infinite pairs of stretchy purple pants, then you guys can find something that will cover up your naughty bits for after the action. That is unless you want to give McKenzie the Full Monty every time.”

  Zack blushed, and quickly pulled his briefs on, making McKenzie chuckle. She knew she wanted him, to make him her first. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want to be disappointed, and while Zack wasn’t quite as muscular or as… well, as hung as Liam, she already knew that when the right time came, she wasn’t going to be disappointed. Still, it was nice to see him be a little bit shy, although that wasn’t quite the right word. Maybe she just liked him because he was confident without being cocky. “Don’t worry about me. We’ve got more important things to worry about, like finding my Dad. And Kevin knows where the vampires are.”

  They left the woods to come back towards the highway, finding Carly running in circles, sniffing the air. She transformed, grabbing the T-shirt that Ashley tossed to her and pulling it on. “Guys, I don’t know where this Kevin went. The air is so thick with the smells of fire and barbecued werewolf that I can’t get a trace on him at all. Are we sure we didn’t barbecue him already?”

  “No, I remember seeing him at the end of the fight. He was still laid out, I thought I had just smacked him a bit harder than I was expecting,” said Kat. “He must have been playing possum. That’s so him, too. A total coward.”

  Liam growled and looked around. “Okay, regardless, we need to get out of here. There’s enough smoke and stuff on fire that the cops and fire department will be responding soon. I’d like to not have to explain what the hell we’re doing here.”

  Back at the cabin, the mood was both happy and somber. On one hand, everyone felt better that the threat of the insane Crystal was gone. On the other hand, the vampires were still out there, and they still had McKenzie’s father.

  McKenzie sat on a stump outside the front of the cabin next to Zack, who had also been quiet. “I know she was insane, and she deserved to be put down, but…”

  “She was still your family,” McKenzie said. “Who else do you have?”

  Zack shrugged. “I’ve got some cousins down south, but that’s not going to really be a good idea. My uncles and my father had a big falling out when I was a kid, pack politics basically. Really, the only way they’d accept me is if I gave up any potential future claims to be alpha of my family. And I would have to sign over all our business interests to them as well. There’s no way that my father would’ve wanted me to do that. So really, I guess I’m alone.”

  McKenzie ran her hand over his back, before leaning in and putting her head on his left shoulder. “You’re not alone, Zack. And I’m not talking about a wolf pack or anything like that. You’ve got me.”

  Zack turned to her, a smile on his face that was soft and sensitive. “I think that might be better than a couple of cousins down south.”

  They leaned in towards each other, and Zack’s lips were soft and tender when he kissed her. There was promise in that kiss, the promise of a bonding in the future and the promise that extended far beyond the limits of their positions as wolf and witch. McKenzie tasted him, cupping his face as Zack pulled her into his lap, his strong arms reassuring her and making her feel safer than she had been in her entire life. “Come on,” McKenzie said as they parted. “Everyone else’s inside, and you don’t want my sister thinking we’re out here up to no good.”

  Zack chuckled, his arms tightening around her waist as he snuck in one more kiss on her neck, inhaling her scent deeply, searing it into his memory. “I don’t think anything we could do could be classified as no good, but I understand. When do you turn eighteen again?”

  “Two months. Think you can wait that long?” McKenzie teased, running her hand down his chest, feeling the strong muscles underneath and feeling a growing heat within her. “Trust me, right now it’s very hard for me as well.”

  Zack swallowed nervously if she thought it was hard for her, she had to understand that the hardness in his pants was only the beginning of the difficulties he was going through. He’d always been the type to not reveal himself until he was fully committed, and it had burned him in relationships before when he’d been fully involved while the girl thought they were just in the casual stage because of how nonchalant he seemed. He didn’t want to screw it up this time, McKenzie meant too much to him. Finally, he found the words

  They went into the cabin, where everyone else was gathered around, discussing the problems at hand, the celebration finished and the seriousness beginning. “Why don’t we just go down to one of those vampire nightclubs and start kicking some ass?” Carly asked. “If it Kat has more control over her transformation now, we could take out a whole club without even blinking.”

  Kat shook her head. “McKenzie might have some more control over her magic right now, but it nearly took Crystal severing my damn arm to get me past my own mental blocks. We walk into a vampire club, and we’re not walking out without casualties. And Daddy wouldn’t want people dying needlessly to try and get him.”

  “More importantly, Carly, regardless of how important the vampires might think Katerina’s father is if we go with the frontal assault we’ve never tipped to him, they’d have him killed by the that time. Your next attack must be a surgical one, at one location. Remember my niece, one-on-one vampires tend to be stronger than all of us except for Katerina,” Victoria said, adding her years of wisdom to the group. “McKenzie, does your mother feel the same way?”

  Of course, I do. Victoria’s right, while I like Carly’s enthusiasm, it’s a good way to get your father killed, Reba sent to McKenzie. She was currently curled up with the triplets after having given Kat and McKenzie a thorough onceover with her eyes and a rough licking on their cheeks. I have another idea. What about that vampire that seems to have a thing for your sister?

  McKenzie swallowed, and looked over at Liam, knowing that what she was about to say would not make him happy. “Mom said that Victoria is right, and she added that maybe we should talk to Theon. From what he told Kat, he’s not fond of the current vampire hierarchy. Maybe he can use his influence to get us the information we need.”

  Liam growled but nodded. “I don’t like it, and I don’t trust him. But I don’t see another way to get the information we need. Every fiber inside me is telling me not to agree with this idea, but Reba is right. About the only source of information we’ve got left right now is that bloodsucker.”

  Kat reached across and took her mate’s hand. “Thank you.”

  Liam shook off Kat’s hand and stood up. “I said I didn’t see another option, but that doesn’t mean that I am on board with this idea. I’m going out, catch some dinner. I’ll be back.”

  Liam disappeared out the front door, leaving behind a heavy silence, and the group broke apart. Carly, Elizabeth, and Ashley went out to Ashley’s car to go into a nearby shopping center for some supplies. The cabin might have four werewolves that were all naturally expert hunters, but even expert hunters needed soap and toilet paper. Victoria and Reba gathered up the triplets between them and herded them outside for a walk, one of Victoria’s new ideas. She wanted her grandchildren to be as comfortable in the natural environment as possible, regardless of if they changed into human form eventually or not. Besides, McKenzie thought that the two women, as different as they were, somehow got along even if they couldn’t directly talk to one another.

  “McKenzie, wait,” Kat said, and Zack rea
d the message, leaving them alone. “I need to talk with you.”

  “Of course,” McKenzie said, moving over to sit next to her sister. “You know, I haven’t had a chance to say it, but you were pretty damn amazing today. Seriously, I don’t think I would have been able to get past my fear, even with Eric’s attack, if I hadn’t seen you rise up and start doing what you did.”

  Kat smiled softly and patted her sister’s leg. “Well, I’m glad it worked out in the end. You’ve got a little bit more control on your own magic, and at least we don’t have to deal with Crystal anymore. By the way, I wasn’t trying to pry, but I saw you and Zack out in the front yard, and my hearing is pretty good. You really think he is your one?”

  McKenzie thought for a moment before nodding. “I don’t want to use any words that have a lot of meaning, but yeah. If things keep going this way, in two months he’s going to be my first. Not trying to gross you out or anything.”

  “That doesn’t gross me out at all,” Kat said. “Honestly, the only reason I say you two should wait the two months is not because of anything to do with your age, but just to add a little anticipation to the full event, add a little spice to the dish if you know what I mean. When this is all over, maybe you and I can sit down and I can share a few tips? I don’t know if Liam and Zack are going to be one hundred percent the same, but werewolves aren’t like normal men. They’re a lot better. But you gotta be ready for it.”

  McKenzie smiled, a little shiver going down her body. “Don’t make me more jealous of you than I already am.”

  Chapter 53

  It was late, and the moon was up before Liam got back. Kat was waiting for him outside the cabin when he approached, transforming as he crossed from the forest to the roughly arranged front yard. “Hey. Sorry, but hunting wasn’t too good tonight.”