by M. L. Briers
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
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“Could you put some damn clothes on?” Nessie eyed the alpha in all of his crowning glory. Naked as the damn day was long, and he was long…
It wasn’t that he was hard to look at – he wasn’t.
It wasn’t the fact that she was a prude – she most certainly wasn’t.
It was the fact that she was having a hard time keeping her eyes from his hard body and he kept catching her in mid stare. How she hated to be busted.
Those damn rippling muscles of his were like candy to a baby – if anything she wanted more not less, but right then she would settle for none at all if it meant her wandering eye problem would cease and desist.
It wasn’t as if it was just her eyes. Her fingers itched and twitched to touch, to stroke over those muscles and see just how they felt all packed into his skin like that. She wanted to wrap her fingers around his huge biceps and squeeze…
She normally dated geeks, and geeks normally never had those kinds of muscles. So she couldn’t blame herself for wanting to know exactly how they felt, could she?
No, he was more Rachel’s type. Her friend liked to hang out near gyms and see what she could pick up, if pick up was the right word…
“Does the naked form offend you in some way?” Shaun growled.
She didn’t look offended to him. If anything, he’d noted that she looked more than interested after the initial shock at finding herself a mate had worn off. If anything, he’d noted the way that her eyes kept flicking up and down his body…
“Did I say that?” She scowled back at him.
She was unwilling to tell him the real reason that she wished he was all wrapped up in one of those all in one ski suits, or maybe a Santa Clause costume…
No, she mentally shook her head – that would be too weird. Santa was an old potbellied guy – not a sexy, young shifter with more muscles than she’d be able to count in one sitting… Although, it might be fun to try…
“You’re not saying much of anything.” Shaun offered back. “But your eyes are very expressive.”
He called her on it and she knew it. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks and knew that they were flashing like beacons in the dark.
Damn it!
“Ned, do you have any back up clothes in your truck?” Shaun pulled Ned’s attention away from the bedroom door. He’d been standing there staring at it, as if the damn thing had deliberately attacked him, since his mate had thrown it closed.
“You want me to get them?” Ned growled out on a frown.
He didn’t much feel like going out in the snow, but then he didn’t much feel like standing there staring at a damn door all night either. But his mate had locked herself in there and she wasn’t coming out…
He couldn’t rule out going in at that stage. He’d toyed with the idea of breaking the barrier between them down…
Hell, he’d imagined smashing the door to matchsticks.
“Appreciate it, brother.” Shaun said, eyeing his mate and her newfound rosy cheeks. She deliberately looked anywhere but at him.
“I’ll be back, and when I get back, I’ll expect you to open this damn door.” Ned growled at the wood, not evening thinking of how his mate would react on the other side.
He heard a muffled thud just as he was about to turn away, and he held in place to the sound of a bitten off curse. Then there was the sound of jingle bells – the tune, not the actual bells – that came from inside, and he twisted his head to the right on his neck as she curse again, and again…
More dull thuds followed, and Ned tried to make out exactly what it was that she was doing in there, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure it out.
Was she trying to torture him with seasonal melodies…?
“Of for the love of God make it stop!” Mary bit out…
There was another, louder thud as something hit the back of the door and that sudden thud made him snap his head back on his neck as if the door was about to attack him again…
“Careful brother, I don’t think that door likes you.” Caleb teased, and Shaun couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of Ned as he slowly turned his head to give his brother a dark glare.
“Careful brother. I have matching fists with your name on them.” Ned growled back.
“Ah, you got his name tattooed on your fists? That’s true love – I said there was interbreeding, I just didn’t realise how bad it had gotten.” Rachel offered her mate a smug smile and watched his top lip twitch in annoyance once more.
Caleb dragged in a hard, deep breath, and his chest expanded accordingly. He saw his mate’s eyes flick down to his chest and then quickly back up to his face again – and there was real interest there in her eyes, until that mask slipped back into place and she was her normal, shrew like self once more.
“You’ve got to love witch humour, it’s second only to elf humour in its stature.” Caleb bit out.
“What’s wrong with elf humour?” Ernod muttered to himself as he stood in the doorway, cloaked by magic, and watched the wooing unfolding inside.
“It’s short on the humour part.” Lucky whispered against his ear as she appeared behind him as if out of nowhere.
“Can you not do that?” Ernod grumbled…
“Where’s the fun in that?” Lucky asked, sweeping inside the cabin and right into the middle of the action. But not one of the mates could see her standing there…
“You know the difference between a witch and an elf?” Shaun asked, flicking his eyes at Caleb for just a second.
“About two feet.” Caleb tossed back and both brothers grinned at each other before turning to look at their stone faced mates.
When the Christmas music coming from the bedroom changed to Deck the Halls – there was a loud groan from behind that door… Nessie couldn’t help but chuckle. She knew exactly what it was that Mary was wrestling with – a soft toy that sang and danced around the table top in the shape of a reindeer… it was one of her favourites.
There was a loud shriek, and then the door was yanked open. Mary’s eyes locked with Ned’s, and she dragged them away…
“Make it stop!” Mary ground out as she lobbed the soft toy through the air, aiming for Nessie’s head.
Shaun took two long steps – snatched the toy out of the air just before Nessie could catch it, and tore its head from its body in one swift movement.
Nessie gawped in open mouthed, wide eyed disbelief, but the toy kept singing.
With a grunt of annoyance – Shaun tossed the head over his shoulder, where Caleb caught it, and he proceeded to shred the toy in two until he had the music box in his large hand. He closed his fingers around it and squished the life right out of it…
The sound of Nessie’s small whimper drew his attention towards her, and he was surprised to see her looking so totally and utterly shocked…
“Make you feel like a real man to kill the stuffed reindeer, alpha?” Rachel bit out, much to Caleb’s amusement, but the alpha was more interested in his mate’s reaction to what he’d done…
Then Nessie slowly dragged her eyes up from his hands, over his body to his face, and he saw the accusation there that was mixed with the fire of anger in her eyes.
“You – killed – Dasher.” Her voice was almost a whisper.
“Friend of yours – was he?” Ned eyed the witch as Shaun stood there stock still. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he got the feeling that he’d done a very bad thing…
He hadn’t seen that kind of a look in a woman’s eyes since his mother had caught him ripping the heads off all of his sister’s dress up dolls...
That hadn’t ended well either.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
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“Murderer!” Rachel stirred the pot. Well, she was a witch and it was how they rolled, at least, that’s what she told herself when she saw the alpha’s face…
The man’s eyes practically rolled back in his head there for a moment, and he swallowed down hard,
before he looked down at the slaughtered stuff toy in his hands. He grunted, shifted his weigh on his feet, and frowned hard at the remains of the toy.
“Look on the bright side – you’ve still got Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen – and let’s not forget Rudolph!” Mary offered, feeling more than a little culpable in the murder of the reindeer. “I can’t believe I know their names.” She muttered.
“But…” Nessie’s nose twitched in annoyance. Her eyes snapped up to Shaun’s and he swallowed again at that sight of the sheer look of torture and death that he read there…
“Sorry.” Shaun thrust the tattered remains at her, and her hands came up automatically to snatch it into her grasp, as if she could still somehow protect it…
“Here!” Caleb said as he tossed the head of the toy in the air and Shaun looked up too late to catch it before it bounced off the top of his head and smacked her right in the face…
“Whoops.” Ned bit out.
“Good shot!” Rachel slow clapped him. “For a muppet.” She added, just as his mouth was starting to bow upwards in a sexy smile for her… His face dropped into a frown instead.
“Do you still want me to get those clothes?” Ned asked with a level of amusement that he was trying to hold back – sniggering and trying desperately hard to bite it off.
“I think…” Shaun started and he heard a low rumble of what sounded like a growl within his mate’s throat. “I’ll get them.” Shaun said, figuring that it was better if he gave her a moment or two alone to cool down…
He turned and headed straight for the door…
Nessie’s head snapped around on her neck and her eyes zeroed in on his naked backside. Hard, taut muscles that moved under the skin when he walked… it looked good enough… to zap.
So she did… a stinging slap of electricity that you could actually hear inside the quietness of the room, and it sounded like the fast whip of a wet towel when it connected…
Shaun gave a small yelp deep in his throat and jumped in step. He growled in annoyance, but he kept on walking towards the front door without missing another beat or turning his head to look back at her over his shoulder… if she was going to do it again, or worse… he didn’t want to see it coming.
“I could really use a drink.” Rachel bit out.
“And me.” Nessie muttered.
“Me three.” Mary said, eyeing her mate with distaste.
“I wouldn’t say no to one myself.” Caleb said, all bright and breezy, and his mate stopped in mid turn and eyed him for a long moment.
“There’s a pub in town, enjoy.” Her dry tone made him roll his eyes.
“So much for the season to be Jolly.” Caleb grumbled.
Rachel didn’t even bother to answer him. She stalked off with Mary towards the kitchen, as Nessie eyed him with contempt.
“What?” Caleb growled. “It wasn’t me.” He protested and she snorted before stalking after her friends.
“You kill one of Santa’s damn reindeer and suddenly you’re lumped in with Attila the Hun.” Shaun growled as he disappeared out into the snowstorm.
~
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“Wow. Your alpha doesn’t need any help from me to lose out on wooing his mate, he’d doing a fine job all on his own.” Lucky folded her arms and gave the elf a smug look.
Ernod festered with annoyance. It was true; the alpha was a calamity when it came to wooing...
He folded his arms and huffed back at the faerie. His eyes were fixed on that decapitated reindeer head that lay on the carpet – its eyes staring brightly back at him…
“He’s an alpha. He’s supposed to have all of his brains in his biceps.” Ernod grumbled.
“Well, that’s not going to win him this mate, now is it?” Lucky’s voice annoyed him so. It was so… bright and breezy, and too full of victory for his liking.
He needed a plan, and he might just have one… if, he could somehow use some magic without the faerie noticing.
“Want to hand over those shoes and hat right now?” Lucky grinned, and he looked as if he was chewing a wasp, a rather ferocious wasp at that.
“Not on your life, Faerie. My boy’s got this. He’ll woo the witch or my name isn’t-”
“L-o-s-e-r?” She leant down and whispered, and his eyes flicked to the view down the front of her dress.
His manhood twitched and he forgot about chewing the wasp and licked his dry lips as if they’d been smeared with the sweetest of honey.
A second later and she’d bopped him on the head with her wand. Ernod grumbled and huffed again as he reached up to rub the sore spot.
“Keep your eyes to yourself.” Lucky warned him.
“Stop putting them in front of my damn eyes then. I’m male. We look. It’s what we do, we’ve done it since birth – only for different reasons.” He grumbled and she offered him a scowl.
“I know you’re an elf, but do try to be more gentlemanly.” She snorted and breezed towards the kitchen as her wings gently fluttered, carrying her along without the need for her feet to touch the carpet.
“Maybe I should be more alpha and rip off your damn wings.” He muttered and got a scathing look back over her shoulder for his troubles.
“Just you try and see whose heads ends up their own backside.” She hissed, and then that smile was back on her face again as she breezed out of the room.
“Faeries. Pfft!” He grumbled, eyeing the broken front door with a smirk and a twinkle in his eye.
~
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“Let me help you with that…” Ned reached for the stool that was tucked under the kitchen counter and pulled it out for Mary. She eyed him with a frown for a long moment – looking decidedly uncertain – and then climbed up onto the stool.
“Thank you.” She said tentatively.
“You’re welcome.” Ned gave her the kind of smile that usually, and at the very minimum, made a woman sigh.
Mary snatched her head back on her neck and her eyes shot down to his mouth. She was looking for fangs, but in that quick, jerky movement – her fleece pyjamas bottoms slipped against the leather of the seat and she shot off the other side…
Ned was there in a heartbeat to catch her. Only half a shriek of surprise left her lips and rattled his sensitive hearing before he’d wrapped one thick, strong, muscled arm around her waist and was reseating her once more.
“Thank you!” She rushed out, slightly breathless from her near miss, and slightly taken back with his speed and quick thinking…
“You’re entirely welcome.” He offered back as that smile grew wider… but this time she didn’t look to see if his fangs were down, she was more intent on those chocolate brown eyes with the little amber flecks that glowed like flashes of fire. “And if you’d like to fall into my arms again, feel free.”
There was a big dollop of amusement in those eyes. Kind eyes. Eyes that you could spend an age staring into over dinner and never get bored… she hadn’t noticed the first time, but now that she had, well, she couldn’t seem to drag her gaze away.
“Vomit.” Caleb bit out, and his mate elbowed him so hard in the ribs she was either a she-wolf in disguise, or she’d put some magic behind it.
“I tend to do that a lot.” Mary offered with a small chuckle that sounded dirty to Ned’s ears.
He told himself that he was imagining it. Imagining the way that she looked at him differently now as opposed to even five minutes ago before he’d caught her in mid-flight.
He hoped he wasn’t imagining it. Her blue eyes spoke to him in ways that he’d never realised eyes could achieve.
It wasn’t just that his mind was imagining her beneath him, looking up, keeping his gaze as he stroked into her body and claimed her as his. No, he could imagine what her eyes would look like when they’d been mates forever and they were old and grey with a million grandpups running about…
He caught himself in that moment and tried to shake it off. He
needed to woo her first, and woo her he would – if it killed him – which it might, because she was a witch.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
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“I’ve just checked the road and if we want to make it back to pack land tonight we need to go now.” Shaun informed them as he stalked into the kitchen clutching the clean clothes to his, still, naked chest.
“When I said clothes I expected you to be wearing them.” Nessie bit out, giving him a dark look as she stood on the opposite side of the counter top. Shaun eyed her back – she still looked miffed about her reindeer and she still sounded like acid on the bonnet of his truck…
“It’s s-n-o-w-i-n-g.” He informed her.
Dumping the clothes down onto the counter top and yanking out a fresh pair of faded jeans, Shaun noted the death glare and eyed her right back.
He flicked out the material and climbed into them. Then he did the same with a long sleeve shirt, and she had the strangest sensation, an urge to tell him to strip them off again – she had to wonder if that was wrong in a right kind of a way.
“Shoes?” She said in a snotty tone that made his chest expand as he sucked in a deep breath again.
“Sorry. It’s a truck not a shop.” He informed her and she raised her chin and gave him a prissy look down the end of her nose. “But if my naked feet offend you, perhaps you should just look away.”
“You guys really should go.” Rachel said as innocently as she could. It was the first time that she’d tried to sound normal since they’d got there, and she hoped being a first, they just might buy her lack of motivation.
“Nice try, Mate.” Caleb offered as he leaned in slightly and his hot breath skirted against the back of her neck and her shoulder.
Rachel felt that breath like an honest to goodness touch to her body, to her sex, and she tried not to do it, but she couldn’t stop the hard shiver that ran her spine.
Damn it… She hoped he didn’t notice…
“Cold?” His tone was teasing and she bit down on her need to smack herself upside the head and cursed her traitorous body for giving her away.