by M. L. Briers
“I wouldn’t have stared if you didn’t offer them up to me on a platter.” Jake growled, feeling the sting leave his eye. He grabbed the back of a chair and dragged it across the tile… “Sit.”
“Not a dog, that would be more your territory, no?” Elizabeth’s hands were back on her hips in a show of defiance, and the sound of another growl from the alpha rumbled through the air as he pulled his shoulders back and pushed out his muscled chest.
“I like her!” Mitchell announced, full of glee. “Can we keep her, can we?” He grinned and Jake grumbled.
“No.” Elizabeth said with all of the acidity that she could possibly gather in her tone as her eyes locked with Jake’s and held in a battle of wills.
“Sit… please.” He offered and Elizabeth judged his mood. The man had held out an olive branch in her direction, the question was; did she take it and beat him with it?
CHAPTER EIGHT
~
“Fine.” Elizabeth came to the conclusion that she was going to get far more out of this man with sugar than she would with vinegar, and after she’d made her painful point with the magical jab to his eye; she believed that they both knew where they stood.
Now, she needed to hear what he had to say – in part, she needed to bide her time to figure a way out of this mate thing for herself, her sister, and Melody.
“Ladies.” Jake motioned to the other chairs. Belle followed her sister’s lead and took a couple of steps forward, but when Melody didn’t move, she reached out and grabbed a handful of her shirt, dragging her along with her as she went.
Jake waited until everyone but the vampire was seated at the table before he sat down at the head. Then he turned his attention back towards his mate.
“You say the spectre is looking for a witch…” he breathed again.
“Oh don’t make out like you didn’t know.” She hissed her rebuke. “Why else would you abduct two witches?”
“I never gave that order.” Jake eyed his brothers and both men looked suitably contrite. “I asked them to bring me a witch because witches deal with the dead…” Jake shrugged.
“He’s dead.” Elizabeth nodded towards Mitchell and the vampire grunted in response. “You don’t seem to have a problem with that.”
“I’m special.” Mitchell offered and Elizabeth snorted her contempt for him.
“You’re a blight on humanity.” She tossed back over her shoulder.
“Well this blight just saved your sister’s life.” He shrugged. “But if you ever need my help… I’ll remember that I’m just a blight.”
“Wow,” Belle turned to look at the man as he stood by the door and propped up the wall with one broad shoulder. “You’re a sulky little girl.” She frowned and both of the betas sniggered.
“You’re entirely welcome for my healing blood.” He sneered back.
“I never said I wasn’t grateful, after what psycho over there did.” She gave Richie something of a death glare and the man balked.
“Me?” He wagged a finger at her. “Your magic almost got us killed.” He growled and Ed growled back at him.
“Drop the finger or I’ll break it off.”
“Try it and you’ll be swallowing your damn fangs.” Richie growled back.
“Hello?” Elizabeth’s hand slammed down on the table and both men jumped as if she’d just brought a hammer down on their thumbs… thumbs went in mouths as curses and glares ensued. “Better suited to your personalities.” She hissed, and when both of them realised that they were sucking their thumbs they groaned…
“You say the spectre needs a witch…” Jake started again. Trying desperately to dismiss his brothers antics and get back to the facts of the matter. Trying to concentrate with his mate sitting that close to him was one thing, but having his brothers act like morons was something else entirely.
“How else is it going to commune with the living?” Elizabeth tossed up a shoulder in his direction.
“And that’s what it wants?” Jake asked and she shrugged both shoulders.
“I have no idea what it wants. I didn’t ask it.”
“Could you?” Jake shot back and saw her turn her nose up at that idea.
“Yes. Should I? Who knows? Do I want too? Not really.” She took a moment to sit back in her chair and regard him with a twinkle of mischief within her eyes. “You’re a big bad alpha wolf, why don’t you go ask him?” She beamed him an innocent smile.
“I thought you said he needed a witch.” Jake eyed her.
“I’m sure if he gets really desperate then he can body jump-”
“Body jump!” Richie bit out. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“You think?” Belle shot back and he frowned at her.
“Mean girl.” He growled.
“I’m warning you…” Ed growled back.
“Do I really have to zap the two of you again?” Elizabeth groaned and both men scowled at each other, but they stayed silent and that was a bonus in everyone’s book.
“I don’t like the sound of body jumping.” Jake admitted.
“And no witch willingly wants to commune with the dead. They do it for lots of reasons. Money, a calling, stupidity…” She waved an absent hand in the air towards her sister and Belle scowled.
“But you’ll help?” Jake asked, hope residing in his voice.
“I never said I would.” She shot back.
“You never said you wouldn’t either.” He smiled then, and she was somewhat taken back. It was the first time that she’d seen a smile on the man’s face – his eyes looked brighter, he got little dimples in his cheeks, and his whole character seemed more welcoming…
“Geez, did Jake just smile?” Richie shot towards Ed and the beta chuckled.
“Haven’t seen that in a while.” He grumbled back, but Jake had already snapped off that smile and was now scowling at his brothers once more.
“There he is, he’s back, its fine.” Richie offered to the sound of another warning growl from their alpha.
Elizabeth felt momentarily stunned when she realised that she missed that smile – worse than that – something inside of her longed to see it again. That didn’t bode well for her plan – that she hadn’t hatched yet – to get them away from their mates. It meant that the mating pull was already working on her, and if it was working on her, even through her shields, then it would be working on the others too.
“Look,” Jake turned his attention back towards her. “That ghost wants something…”
“Maybe a witch.” She offered, jumping in when he paused for a breath.
“Maybe not.”
“Are you going to take that chance with a mate?” She asked as innocently as she could manage, and watched the man falter.
“She’s right…” Richie offered.
“Seconded.” Ed scowled.
“I know she’s right.” Jake growled, thinking, or at least trying too if his brothers would shut up. “We need a witch.”
“Three not enough?” Mitchell put in from the door.
“You’d risk another witch?” Elizabeth asked and both of the betas nodded while Jake sighed.
“Damn it to hell. What a time to get a conscience.” He grumbled and heard his mate chuckle. It was the first sign that he’d had from her that she even knew how to laugh, and he liked that sound.
“Relax, alpha. I’m just pulling your lead.” She gave a small shrug off her shoulders. “I’ll do it.”
“I don’t like that idea.” He shook his head.
“It’s lucky that I’m not consulting you then.” She offered back to him, and he twisted his head on his neck and stared at her in surprise…
“Excuse me?” He growled.
“That ghost wanted my sister. I’m not about to stand by and let that happen.” She informed him with a small shrug. “So, we can debate this until the cows come home, not that the cows are going to want to come around here with you wolves, but I’m doing it.”
Jake opened his mouth to speak, but
he just frowned back at her instead. A grunt caught in his throat, and a rumble echoed within his chest, but he didn’t say another word.
“Settled then,” Mitchell clapped his hands together. “Now, who wants Scotch?”
Six hands shot up in the air. It was something that they could all agree on.
~
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~
“Belle, wait up.” Ed called out as she turned at the bottom of the stairs and headed down the long corridor towards the bathroom.
“I don’t want to talk to you right now.” Belle raised her chin up in the air and carried on walking, but Ed was hard on her heels.
“What did I do?”
“Seriously?” She asked with just a quick glance over her shoulder, but the moment that she laid eyes on the man her heart kicked her in the ribs at the sight of his adorable eyebrows that were pulled together and trying to meet up over his nose in a frown.
She cursed herself up and down dale when she almost walked head first into the door at the end of the hallway.
“Look, Belle, just give me a chance to-”
“I can’t believe that you kidnapped Melody, Melody of all people.” She shrugged her shoulders. “That witch is the sweetest person I have ever met in my life and you could have killed her.” She shrugged again, dismissing him, and turning back towards the door.
Ed reached out and wrapped a hand around her wrist, gently pulling her back around to look at him, which was the one thing that she didn’t want to do because it made her heart race all over again. She tried to act indifferent to him, which she absolutely knew that she wasn’t, and all because of that damned mating pull…
“I didn’t kidnap her I-”
“If you say witch-napped I won’t be responsible for zapping you right where it hurts the most.” She offered and he frowned harder.
CHAPTER NINE
~
“Who says witch-napped?” Ed felt a flash of guilt go through him for lying. It had been his term to start off with, but she didn’t look happy, and an unhappy mate wasn’t exactly conducive to wooing.
“Your moronic brother, that’s who.” Belle turned her nose up at the thought of the beta.
“I prefer to think of it as borrowing-”
“She’s not a cup of sugar or a garden tool, in fact the only tools around here are you and Richie.” She snapped back, trying to dislodge his hand from her wrist and not succeeding because, although his touch was gentle, it was still locked around her flesh like a handcuff.
“I was going to return her safe and sound, and I was going to protect her while she was here. She would have been my responsibility to look after, but now she has Richie to do that, and I have you-”
“You don’t have me.” Belle cut him off with an acidic tone that he didn’t like. He might have understood her attitude, but his wolf didn’t get it.
“You’re my mate.” Ed reminded her and she scowled.
“Still don’t have me.” She echoed back at him.
“You’re a witch, you know how this works… I will woo you.” Ed assured her.
“Will you?” She twisted her wrist in his hand again, but he still didn’t let her go. “Look, I know you guys like to pee on things to mark your territory but I’d prefer not to pee on my own foot.”
His eyes flicked to the bathroom door and then back to her.
“Maybe I should come in with you in case the spectre appears.” He couldn’t hide the smile that tried to stretch his lips upwards at the corners.
“And what are you going to do? Scream for my help?” She offered back to him and that smile disappeared. He considered it.
“Maybe not scream…” he shrugged one shoulder and that smile was back, growing wide until it stretched across his face and lit his eyes.
Belle tried not to stare, but the man was as sexy as hell, and he had a smile that could charm the panties off a faerie – not that faeries were that hard to charm the panties from… at least, not in her book.
“Can I have my arm back? I kind of need it.” She gave a small tug – they both knew that if she wanted him to let go then all she needed to do was to use her magic to make that happen, but she hadn’t, and that was a good sign in his book.
“Promise you won’t try to escape?” He teased again.
“It’s cold, it’s dark, and I have about a good a sense of direction as you have of a moral compass…” she watched his eyebrows dance again… “so, tell me, where am I going to go?”
“I have a very good moral compass-”
“That’s why you kidnap witches.”
“Borrowed. I borrowed her and it was only one.”
“That’s right, your moronic brother kidnapped me.” She offered him a sweet smile, but her eyes were shining with mischief.
“Would you like me to go and beat him to a pulp?” Ed leaned one arm against the wall and gave her another one of those cheeky smiles that lit his eyes.
“You’d do that for little old me?” She gave him the look of a temptress right back and she knew it had worked when she heard the deep rumble of a hungry growl in his chest.
“In a heartbeat.” He whispered, leaning in towards her a little, and she leaned in towards him too – her lips just inches from his. He growled again…
“See, no moral compass.” She whispered back with a small grin of victory.
She pulled against his hand again, and this time he let her go. She turned to make her escape into the bathroom, briefly flicking her eyes back to his before she closed the door and put the wooden barrier between them.
Then she smiled, chuckling to herself as she bit down on her bottom lip with her teeth and tried to ease the racing of her heartbeat. She knew that he could hear it with those big old wolf ears of his…
“I’ll be right here waiting when you come back out.” He called through the door and she frowned. Walking right over to the sink and turning on the tap so that he couldn’t hear her pee…
~
~
~
“Melody…” Richie followed her out of the kitchen and towards the staircase. The woman had practically refused to even look at him since she’d discovered that he was her mate and that didn’t bode well for their mating.
“I have a headache.” She lied.
“No, you don’t. I’d feel your pain and the vampire’s blood would have taken care of any illness-” He stopped when she rounded on him, a deep frown on her forehead.
“I just want to be left alone.” She practically whispered the words as if they were a secret that she was loathed to share. “It’s not you…” she started and then frowned harder, her eyes darting around the area, anywhere but at him. Then she sighed… “Ok, it is you…”
“Look, I know that this is all strange to you-” He started, trying to ease her angst.
“Strange?” She looked at him as if he’d grown another head. “How so? Being kidnapped by wolves, strange? Finding out I have a mate, strange? Or the ghostly goings on around here, strange? Because there’s been a lot of strange-”
“All of it. But now that you mention the mate thing…” he started and she flung up a hand, palm in front of his face.
“Don’t mention the mate thing.” She shook her head and he reached up and snagged her hand in his, bringing it down a little, but not letting go.
“Kind of hard when it’s staring you right in the face, don’t you think?” He offered and she scowled at him.
“I try not to think.” She went to turn on her heels, but he spun her right back to face him.
“You’re my mate, Melody. We have to talk about it at some point.”
“Two thousand and forty four sounds like a good solid number to me, are you free that year?” She offered and he smiled.
“Our pups will be all grown up by then, so I think we should talk a lot sooner than that.” He teased, but the look of shock on her face made him frown again. “You don’t want pups?”
“Pups. Children would imply we were having se
x and I’m not having sex with you.” She shook her head and gave a small, embarrassed chuckle at the thought of it.
There he was – Mr Tall, Dark, and as sexy as sin, and there she was – short, unruly black hair, and curvy in all the wrong places. In her mind there was no way in hell that fate hadn’t screw this one up.
“I can assure you that-”
“Nope.” Her other hand came up in front of his face and she shook her head. “Don’t assure me. Don’t say another word.” She hissed out.
“You have a problem with sex?” Richie asked, reaching for her other hand and bringing it downwards until he had them both captured between them.
“With you I do.” She shot back. He frowned.
“You’re not attracted to me?” He looked confused now, and she bit off a little manic chuckle at that expression – she’d bet a pound to a penny that he’d never heard the word no before.
“Seriously?” She looked him up and down and rued the moment that she’d made that decision, because just looking at him made her heart skip inside her chest and her womb do a happy dance… “Have you seen you?”
Richie dropped his eyes and scowled at his body. He thought he was okay for a shifter. He might not have had as many muscles as his brother, Jake, but he was a beta, and still growing… filling out his body. Most women didn’t seem to have a problem with the way that he looked.
Perhaps she didn’t like muscles… he wondered if maybe if he ate a little less and ran his wolf less – then he could tone down his body. It wasn’t going to happen overnight… but she was his mate and attraction was a major part of wooing her.
“Maybe if we turned the lights off?” Richie gave a shrug off just one shoulder and she tilted her head to the side and looked at him as if he was plain stupid.
“There are no words.” She said, raising her hands, and his with them, and dropping them again.
“Look, if I’m not your type-”
“My type? You howl at the moon.” She whispered again.
“So that’s your problem with me? I’m a shifter?” Richie felt kind of relieved and kind of miffed at the same time. He could grow a beard to hide his face – tone up more – tone down more to change his body shape, but there was no way in hell that he could lose the wolf – it was a part of him.