by M. L. Briers
Angelique grimaced. The outside world didn’t look very hospitable. But inside there was an alpha who was her mate.
Choices — choices.
Now, she had choices, and she had no idea what to do with them. Angelique mentally slapped herself around the back of the head. Of course, she did.
Escape.
~
~
~
The freezing temperature was doing a very good job at sobering her up. She’d made her escape from the bathroom with just a minimum of effort and one or two bruises that she was sure she’d have on her backside the next morning.
She aimlessly and blindly followed her nose. Not that she was actually following her nose, she was just walking and hoping that she was going in the right direction so as to actually meet civilization at some point, preferably before she died.
That thought sobered her up even more. It was dark, but then night-time usually was, but the veil of snow that was coming down made life a little more challenging for her.
Angelique had started off on a jog. That was more about trying to keep warm when she didn’t have a jacket than it was about actually trying to get anywhere faster than her feet would carry her.
Then she’d walked. That was more to do with the fact that every muscle within her body, and her lungs to boot, were protesting, more rioting, at her attempts to jog.
Now, she was plodding. It felt like she was; not only dragging her body but also dragging that damn Christmas tree along behind her as well.
She was tired, cold, and more than miserable. She even kind of wished that she was back at the cabin with Luke.
How crazy was that?
Angelique guessed that it wasn’t crazy at all. The man must have imprinted on her psyche, as fate allowed mates to do, damn fate and its good intentions.
For the last little while, all that she could think about was Luke. At first, it was his hot, sexy body, and the muscles upon muscles that packed into that large frame. But as time had worn on, all she could think about was his smile, those expressive puppy dog eyes, and the way that his eyes lit up when he smiled.
Angelique had the distinct impression of doom, and it was sitting on her shoulders and weighing her down. She was lost in the snow in the middle of nowhere.
How stupid was she?
Yes, she’d been wrong to leave by the bathroom window — that was the Christmas fairy’s fault as well. She did have to take some of the blame for her own actions; she could have said no.
She could have zapped the fairy again — that thought seemed to warm her — and she made a mental note that if she somehow survived, then she was going to zap the fairy until she ran out of magic.
Angelique thought about Luke. Of course, she’d been selfish. If she died tonight, then Luke would almost certainly become rogue.
Alphas were more prone to do that than the average…wolf.
That thought unsettled more than anything else. Luke didn’t deserve that. She didn’t know him well, but she knew him well enough to know that shouldn’t be his fate.
Angelique stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath in. Then she allowed her tired, weary body to drop down onto her knees, and she turned her face up to the falling snow and asked for help — not for herself, but for Luke.
“Please don’t let Luke go rogue — this is my fault, not his — whatever my fate may be then let it come to pass — but with my last remaining breath I ask you to spare him.” Angelique started to recite her appeal to fate over and over again.
She wasn’t going to stop until she had no more breath within her to speak.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
~
George had to wonder what the alpha was playing at. The man was a wolf shifter. Surely, he could use his nose to sniff out his mate.
George didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.
He’d put his plan into action, and it was a good plan. Send the alpha on a witch hunt — where was the problem with that one?
Obviously, something had gone wrong — something unforeseen — that wasn’t his fault, was it?
‘What’s going on?’ Jessica asked as she flitted around his head so many times that he had the urge to reach up and swat her. Now wasn’t the time for the woman to be annoying him.
“Not now — not when things have gone wrong — come back later,” George rushed out the words as he started to pace back and forth, trying to think about any and all the things that could have messed up his plan.
‘What did you do, George?’
“Why do you assume that I did something?” He flicked a look at Jessica, and the fairy had her arms crossed as she hovered in the air right in front of him.
‘Don’t let me asked the question again because I will just fly home and get the fairy godmother to…’
“Okay,” George held his hands up in surrender. He had to come clean. “I helped the witch escape…”
‘I’m sorry — I thought you said you had a brain fart?’
“Now is not the time…”
‘Where is she, George?’
“If I knew that then I could lead the alpha to her — unfortunately, he seems to be chasing his tail at the moment,” George grumbled.
‘What does that mean?’
“It means he can’t seem to track her and I have no idea why. The man is a wolf,” George tossed up his hands in frustration.
‘Feel for magic, maybe she used it to veil her escape,’ Jessica said, and George grunted in annoyance.
“Of course, there’s going to be magic — we’re here,” George grumbled.
‘Witch magic, George — not fairy magic,’ Jessica would have rolled her eyes if there had been time. She didn’t know how long the witch had been gone — and therefore she didn’t know how much time there was left, but wasting it wasn’t going to help anyone.
“I didn’t think…”
‘No, you didn’t. But we’ll talk about that later. Right now, we need to find the witch.’
~
~
~
George could have kissed Jessica — not really — but in the sense that she had stumbled upon a way to find Angelique — magic. If he’d ever had to actually kiss Jessica, then he would have had to bleach his lips for a very long time.
George hated snow. It didn’t much bother him in his human form, but he wasn’t in his human form any longer because he’d transformed into his fairy-self so that he could follow Angelique’s magic and lead the alpha right to her.
Snow could be fun when it was slow moving and gently drifted down to earth. That kind of snow he could ride like a fluffy white cloud — but it wasn’t that kind of snow that he was facing — it was a blizzard.
The snow was coming down thick and fast, pummelling his wings, and making him fight against the wind and the little white ballistic missiles that were trying to knock him from his path.
George wasn’t happy, but he knew he’d bought it on himself.
George hated to feel guilty, but that didn’t stop the guilt from rising within him. Mates. He was supposed to put them together and let nature take its course.
Instead, he’d sent a female out into a blizzard — half drunk — and without a clue as to where she was going.
He’d really messed up. He could imagine what the fairy godmother would think of him — but, he didn’t much care for that thought. He found himself caring more about Angelique and what she was going, and all because of his selfishness.
George knew that eventually, he would have to face the repercussions of his actions. Whether it be from the fairy godmother or Angelique’s mate, he knew that whatever happened to him then he deserved it, and he was ready and willing to take his lumps – once the witch was found.
‘I know where she is; follow me,’ George said as he pushed his voice out toward the alpha’s wolf as loudly as possible, flying by the beast’s ear, and making his aura as bright as possible so that he could light the wolf’s way.
George heard the
angry growl of the beast as it chased behind him, and for once he was grateful for that sound. Jessica closed the gap between them and came up on his right side — for once he was grateful to see her as well.
Two fairies together, working in unison, was always going to be much better than one. Their magic combined, they reached out to snatch up every last drop of the witch’s magical essence like breadcrumbs on a trail.
George was determined to reach Angelique before anything terrible happened. He needed to make things right.
~
~
~
Luke’s beast was almost frantic. The moment that he’d discovered that his mate was missing he’d set off on the hunt to find her.
It was all that he could do to keep his beast caged — until the time that he realized that he could no longer hold it at bay. He needed to find his mate, and if the wolf could do that better than he could then so be it.
They both had a stake in locating their mate. How could he hold his beast back?
Everything was spinning around in Luke’s mind. The beast was concentrating on one thing and one thing only, and that was reaching their mate.
That was a luxury that he didn’t have. He was thinking about all the things that could go wrong. His mind was spinning, his heart was racing, and his brain just would not shut off.
He’d felt the chemistry between him and Angelique. He’d allowed his mate into his heart, his mind, and his very soul. If he lost her now — then he would be lost forever.
He’d let his guard down. This was his fault. He had to find her.
His pack was out on the hunt, and he was grateful for their help, but the need to be the one to find her raged within him like an inferno.
His beast chased through the snow, desperately following the faeries in the hope that they could lead him to Angelique. He had to trust that they weren’t leading him on a wild goose chase.
He knew that George was the Christmas fairy — he had to trust that the man was not being devious and underhanded. He had to trust that the man understood what it meant for him to lose his mate.
Luke believed in the pack. He believed in trust — he believed in working together for the common good — he just hoped that the fairy was someone worthy of that trust.
Luke’s wolf picked up Angelique’s scent in the air. Hope rose within him once more.
His beast dug its claws into the ground and churned up the snow and earth behind him as he raced toward his one true love.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
~
Angelique felt the warmth brush her cheek. It stung her skin with a shock to her nerves that jolted her from babbling her words, over and over, and back to the moment.
She was cold. Bone cold, but as she forced her eyelids open, she came face to face with the large black wolf.
It was a shock to her system, but her foggy mind snatched an image of Luke’s smiling face from somewhere in the darkness and put it front and center.
“Luke,” she muttered. It was the best that she could do.
The big, bad alpha wolf whimpered a hello, and she tried to raise her hand to stroke against its fur, but she couldn’t seem to manage to do it. Within one blink of her eyes, the wolf had disappeared and Luke, a very naked Luke, was staring back at her.
That sight warmed her like no other.
“Let’s get you home,” Luke growled with the beast still up front and center within his voice. That sounded good to her ears.
“Cold…” she managed to push out against chattering teeth and was grateful when Luke’s arms wrapped around her and the heat from his body seeped into hers.
Luke scooped her up into his arms and cradled her against him. He had no time to waste – he needed to get her back to the cabin and start to thaw her out gently – and he set off on fast legs through the blizzard.
~
~
~
George watched through the window as the alpha took care of his mate. All thoughts of being home, his stupid drinking game, and his other life were pushed aside as she waited and watched to make sure that Angelique would be alright.
Jett still stood guard outside the alpha’s cabin. The beta was probably as worried as he was, but neither of them uttered a word about it.
Jessica had found a nook within the framework of the porch roof in which to hold up away from the winds and the weather. George could have returned to his fairy form and done the same, but he wanted to stand guard and wait to see what happened.
There, through the window, George could see the mates as they lay under heavy blankets in front of the open fire. Luke’s body was curled protectively around Angelique as she slept in his arms.
George could only hope that it was a good sign. He waited and hoped, hoped and waited, and he wasn’t moving from that spot until he knew for sure.
~
~
~
The crackle and pop of the dry wood in the fireplace as it burned soothed Luke’s nerves, but not as much as the even sound of his mate’s breathing and her steady heartbeat. Normally, he liked to watch the flames dance, but not tonight. Tonight he couldn’t take his gaze from his mate’s face.
Luke had consigned every inch that he could see to memory. He reveled in the feel of her in his arms, her warmed body pressed against the heat of his, and when she snorted a little snore – he liked that too.
The color had returned to her cheeks, and for that, he was eternally grateful.
Angelique muttered something unintelligible. Luke leaned in towards her as his ears strained to pick up her next word.
“Hot!” Angelique snapped out, as she started to fight against the blankets that were tucked around her body. She squirmed against his hold. “Hot! Hot! Hot!”
Angelique forced her eyelids open and came face to face with Luke. Her mind spun, her brain kicked back to life, and her gaze darted around the room before returning back to her mate.
Luke growled with annoyance that was mixed with relief, and he didn’t know whether to kiss her or wring her neck.
“You didn’t go, rogue,” Angelique tossed out the words without even thinking about them. “Did you?” She added.
The man didn’t seem to be baying for her blood and frothing at the mouth, but he didn’t look too happy either.
“No thanks to you,” Luke growled.
“I know!” Angelique hated herself for it. “Wait! What?” She might have hated herself for it, but she never expected it to be thrown back in her face like that.
“Sure, I’m grateful that the faeries led me to you in time, and I’m grateful that you’re alive…”
“You wouldn’t know it to listen to you,” Angelique grumbled.
“But, what I’m not grateful for is the fact that you ran away in the first place. What were you thinking? Did you not see the blizzard?” Luke demanded an answer from her.
Angelique stayed silent. She was pretty much aghast at her mate’s attitude.
“You could have died — what do you have to say for yourself?” Luke demanded.
“Say for myself?” Angelique’s brain was running on empty.
“What if I’d turned rogue?”
“I’m guessing we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I’m also guessing that you probably would have had a better attitude,” Angelique offered back.
“Better attitude?” Luke offered her a look of pure disbelief.
“Well, right now I’m thinking that being in a room with a rogue wolf would probably be more enjoyable than being here with you.”
“Enjoyable?” Luke gave a slow shake of his head in disbelief.
“I don’t think your wolf would be judging me — a drunken me at that,” Angelique offered back. Mea culpa — she’d done wrong, and she knew it, but still…
“No more wine — you can’t be trusted,” Luke growled.
“A fate worse than death,” Angelique tossed back. She tried to keep the smile from bowing her lips upwards, but it didn’t work.
<
br /> “And speaking of death…”
“That old chestnut again?”
“How are you not taking this seriously?” Luke demanded with a low, deep growl that rumbled through his chest, and through her body.
“Well, I think you’re taking this seriously enough for the both of us. There seems little point in us both going off the deep end about it…”
“The deep end…?”
“The end that’s not shallow.” She offered him in whispered tones as if she was sharing a secret with him.
Luke thought she might have just gone totally insane. It was the only explanation.
“Can brain freeze make you stupid?” Luke growled.
“Quite possibly. How much ice cream do you eat? It certainly gives you a new perspective on life, and death, but mainly life, because you’re not dead — meaning I’m not dead — and that’s something that I suppose I should be grateful for — and you — but mainly me. Although, if I were dead then I probably wouldn’t know it anyway.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
~
“Are you playing me?” Luke growled. It was the only conclusion that he could come to given the circumstances.
There was a light of amusement in her eyes. She was a witch — therefore devious — mischievous — and a right royal pain in the backside.
“What are the odds?” She grinned from ear to ear.
Luke snapped his head back on his neck at the sight of that grin and growled long and hard in disbelief. The woman was a nightmare.
“I don’t believe you’d do that, especially, after what you did in the first place,” Luke growled again.
“Maybe we should chalk it up to pre-mating nerves, a bit like honeymoon jitters?” Angelique offered back.
“I really think you’ve gone…” Luke snapped of his words as his brain kicked his backside into gear. A hungry growl formed within his broad chest and rumbled up to his throat.