The Alpha Bear's Magician

by Jasmine Wylder

  Mandy lay in the center of the cabin, her legs tucked up beneath her, the satin sleeveless dress she wore thin protection against the cold. Daniel had given her his coat for a pillow, which prompted the others to also provide some article to help her rest more easily. Zack and Martin hovered over her, though the light wizard looked less than pleased about the situation.

  "You expecting us to be attacked?" the lion asked with a snort.

  Daniel grunted as he peered out into the darkness beyond, not bothering to answer such a dumb question. Of course he expected to be followed here, but so far there hadn't been any sign of the clan. Had the vampire decided they weren't worth following? Or was her hold still weak enough that they couldn't stray too far from her without it breaking?

  Whatever it was, he kept being distracted by Mandy's soft breathing, and the knowledge that those two men she obviously knew were so close to her while they waited for her to wake up. There couldn’t be anything going on with Martin, not judging by the way he flirted with Adam. He didn't know what her relationship with the lion was, though. She didn't seem to be excited about his presence, but she had danced with him.

  Daniel shook his head. What was he jealous for? Yes, she was beautiful, all curves and no hard edges, but what did that mean? It wasn't like he could expect her to be any different from the women in the clan who laughed at him if he asked them to spend time with him. He just wasn't attractive to girls, and he had already accepted that. So why did he want to throw Mandy over his shoulder and run to the ends of the universe to carve her a bed from solid oak and then keep her there for the rest of their lives?

  Adam sidled up to him and looked out the window, too. His brother kept his hands in his pockets, but there was that small smile on his face that told Daniel that he wasn't watching for danger. Daniel ground his teeth together, waiting for it.

  "You keep glancing over at the little witch," Adam said softly. "I wanted to see if you could see her underwear from here. And look at that, you can. Red lace. Sexy."

  Daniel's fist flew before he could stop it. He punched Adam solidly in the jaw, a sharp crack sounding through the room as bone met bone. Martin jumped to his feet at the noise. Even though Adam started laughing, the light wizard shot a beam of electricity between them.

  "There is a vampire after us, you can't start fighting!"

  His shout woke Mandy. She jerked upright with a cry. Daniel stepped forward to comfort her, but Zack was there first, pulling her into his arms. His bear growled, but a pleased smile spread over his face when Mandy shoved the lion away. She got to her feet and pulled Martin's jacket around her pleasant frame, shuddering.

  "What are you screaming about?" she snapped.

  "Sorry," Martin muttered to her. "It's just these two idiots started fighting. I don't even know what about."

  "That wasn't fighting." Adam winked. "That was a friendly conversation between brothers. Nothing to get upset about."

  Mandy ignored him. "Has there been anything? Is she hunting us?"

  "Nothing that I've seen. That doesn't mean anything," Daniel said. "Now that you're awake, we need to get moving again. The sooner we get to the other clans and warn them about the vampire—"

  "In this weather?" Zack glared at him. "Look at how she's dressed, she can't go waltzing through the woods. Why don't you go while we stay here so she can stay warm and—"

  Mandy interrupted him. "And wait for the vampire to find us and drink our blood?"

  She shuddered, and Daniel wanted to wrap her in his arms and soothe her fears. Her creamy skin beckoned to him, and despite the situation, he once more was lost in her beauty. It wasn't the stark, terrible beauty of the vampire that held him captive. Mandy was so much softer, warmer… alive. There was something about her that just radiated life, probably because her magic was based in life.

  He had never had the misfortune of being so enraptured by a woman before. Damned if his bear didn't want her. But he wasn't going to let her distract him from what he needed to do–protect the clans the best way he could.

  "We all go together," he said, looking her in the eyes. "And I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

  It wasn't a distraction. So he was going to protect her. He planned on protecting all of them, it just so happened that Mandy was the most vulnerable.

  Her shoulders relaxed at his words but her lower lip still wobbled, and she clamped down on it. What he wouldn't give for the two for them to be alone, so he could kiss away her fears…

  No distractions, he reminded himself.

  "I'll make sure that you're safe," Zack said. He pressed against her from behind and wrapped his arms around her.

  Mandy tensed and Daniel wanted to jump in and pull her away, but what authority did he have over a witch and a lion? It wasn't like he had any business poking around in her personal life. And the way Zack looked at her, they could very well be mates. Dating at the very least. Her reaction was probably just because they had a fight or something that she wasn't ready to let go.

  It didn't mean he had to like the way the lion held her.

  "Don't worry, sweetheart," Zack crooned, further cementing the belief that they were a couple, "nothing is going to happen to you. There are four big, strong men to look after you. I'm not letting that vampire get her claws into you. I'll rip apart anybody who tries to hurt you. Any of those vampire-cronies come in here? Then the earth will run red with their blood—"

  "Stop." Mandy pulled away from him, and Daniel's muscles relaxed. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? Threatening to kill innocent people who have no control over their actions?"

  "We need to get moving," Daniel said.

  "No," Zack immediately replied, glaring at the alpha. "We need to figure out what's going on. Vampires don't come from nothing. The way she was talking it sounded like she'd been here before. So where was she and what brought her back?"

  Daniel folded his arms. "Those are all things that we can discuss while we're walking. Staying in one place is dangerous."

  "Unless our talking gives away our position to—"

  "We are leaving," Daniel added an alpha's growl to his voice. Lions were notorious at challenging authority, rarely able to stay in their own clans, but this one shrunk back from him. Good. "Mandy, if you're too tired to walk we can carry you."

  She shook her head, a glint coming to her eyes. "I can walk."

  They headed out into the forest again. Daniel led them, and it soon became apparent that talking was the least of their concerns when it came to noise. The two mages were clumsy, and the lion was even worse. They were making so much noise that anybody would be able to hear them coming.

  "Our father used to tell us a clan story about our ancestors defeating a vampire queen," Adam offered when the question of where Eleanor came from was brought up again. "According to the story, she was trapped in a stone box and buried deep beneath the earth with the rest of her army. It was said she was immortal and couldn't be killed."

  Daniel had never really believed that story, but it was sounding more credible now that said vampire queen had returned. "So she dug her way out of stone and through the earth. Strong."

  "Even an immortal vampire would have gone comatose from lack of food within a couple of years," Martin said. "If that's what really happened, it's possible that when Mandy blessed the field with life, it woke her up."

  Mandy gasped. Her face paled until her freckles looked like dirt covering her face, and she pressed both hands to her mouth.

  "I'm sure that's not it," Daniel blurted, stepping towards her. "All we know about this vampire is from stories. She might not even be the same one."

  The witch shook her head. "No, it makes sense. Eleanor said she had something special planned for me. What if it was my magic that brought her back? She could have recognized it or something. Out of everybody in that crowd volunteering, she singled me out to say there was something special in store for me. Why would she do that?"

  Volunteers. His clan, being
enthralled into volunteering to let her drink from them. Daniel's hands curled into fists and he couldn't stop himself from punching a nearby tree. The thin trunk snapped, and his companions all jumped. Mandy's eyes widened as she watched him. He grunted, avoiding her gaze. What sort of alpha would just leave his clan behind to the mercy of that woman? He dragged a hand through his black hair. If he stayed behind, he would have been enthralled as well. The best way he could serve his clan was by destroying the vampire.

  And for that, he needed help.

  "Her army," Adam whispered in the silence left by Daniel's outburst. He stared at Mandy with a horrified expression. "Her army was supposed to have been buried with her. If it was your magic that brought her back, then she's planning to use you to bring them back, too."

  Mandy shuddered. Daniel stepped towards her but stopped himself. On her other side, Zack scoffed. He put an arm around the witch's waist, and Daniel wanted to rip it off.

  "There are plenty of earth-mages in their coven alone. Why would Mandy be necessary? She's good but she's hardly unique."

  Daniel growled. "Well, that just shows how little you know about her."

  Zack glared at him, but Martin, fortunately, spoke before the lion could. "Mandy's brand of life magic is very rare. Only three percent of Earth mages can do what she can. But I, for one, would rather not find out exactly what Eleanor has in store for her, so can we please get going? Unless you have a better idea?"

  "We don't have cellphone service, so I don't think he does," Mandy said, elbowing Zack to make him release her.

  Daniel had to repress a smile. Despite the way Zack looked at her and how he was constantly trying to touch her or be next to her, it was clear that she wasn't interested. That didn't mean she wanted Daniel to come to her rescue, but it did mean that maybe he had a chance at this after all. Mandy wasn't like the girls in the clan, she hadn't seen him struggle to find his place as alpha. Maybe a fresh set of eyes was all he needed…

  "Let's go," he ordered, shaking his head. There was no time right now for silly romantic thoughts. He wasn't a teenage girl, after all.

  Chapter Five

  Mandy

  Being short was one of the banes of Mandy's life. Even though she carried her extra weight well, every ounce of fat showed up on her frame. She had to ask for help to get items off the top shelves at the grocery stores unless she cheated and used magic, and there were other areas where it was pretty awful as well. One of the worst things was when people asked her why she wasn't in school on weekdays. Short stature plus chubby cheeks made her look ten years younger than she was.

  It also meant that when she was walking with a bunch of men two feet taller than she was, she had to take two steps to every one of theirs, and her legs grew tired quickly.

  She wasn't about to ask for a piggy-back ride, though. When she and Zack were together she loved it when he carried her around, but in this situation, she didn't trust anybody enough to lift her. Except maybe Martin, but he didn't have the stamina that the full-blooded shifters had and would wear out extra fast carrying her. And if she asked Daniel to carry her, with her legs around his waist and her body pressed to his…

  Well. The last thing she needed was to have those thoughts running around in her head.

  Daniel held up a hand, stopping their progression. "Rest here for a while. Adam and I will scout ahead. We're entering wolf territory and I don't want to spook them."

  With a grateful sigh, Mandy sunk onto a fallen log. Martin sat beside her and glared at Zack. As touching as his concern was, she knew his attitude would only provoke the lion. Zack would accept that there wasn't anything between them when a pretty girl flashed him a smile. She wished she hadn't agreed to dance with him at the party, though. She had only done it because she didn't want to cause a scene, but now she wondered if he thought it meant she wanted him back.

  Sure enough, as soon as Daniel and Adam were gone, Zack sat on her other side and took her hand. "Mandy, I have something to tell you."

  "Leave her alone," Martin snarled.

  "You're just jealous," Zack smirked.

  "Yeah, I'm jealous. Because I'm really into the arrogant type who never have a kind word to say to their significant others until after they've broken up."

  Zack slid his hand into hers, ignoring her partner. "Mandy, I made some huge mistakes with you. I wish I could take them back, but unfortunately, I can't. But I miss you. I'll do anything you want if you'll just give me a second chance."

  Martin snorted.

  "Give me some space," she snapped at him, elbowing him in the side.

  The wizard looked affronted but moved a few inches away. Mandy repressed the urge to roll her eyes and turned back towards Zack. Not for the first time, she was struck by how handsome he was. His surfer-blonde hair and tanned skin were what drew her to him in the first place. Now with a vampire who might be coming after her, she wanted to have a strong, capable man to look out for her, protect her.

  But that man wasn't Zack. There was a reason she had broken up with him. He never treated her like a proper person, instead just expecting her to fall in line behind him, do everything he said. More than once he had broken promises or reacted to her concerns with blithe jokes and acting as though she didn't have a right to her own feelings. She had had enough of that growing up, she wasn't going to let it carry on into her adult life.

  She wanted someone strong enough to be vulnerable with her, someone who wasn't possessive. Someone who she could be weak and strong with. Zack never let her be strong because it made him feel weak.

  "It's over between us, Zack," she reminded him, keeping her voice even "I gave you plenty of chances when we were together. You ignored every one—"

  "Plenty of chances? What do you mean by that?" His eyes narrowed. "You never gave any indication that you were unhappy until you were out the door."

  Mandy shook her head. She wasn't going to be pulled into a debate with him. "It's over."

  Zack snarled under his breath and grabbed her biceps, squeezing hard. "Listen to me, Amanda Hicks. You and I are meant to be together."

  She sent a jolt of magic through him and ripped her arms away as Martin jumped to his feet, raising his fists. "It's over."

  The lion's face twisted in fury, but before he could say anything more Adam appeared through the trees. The bear narrowed his eyes at Zack, and he moved a little away from Mandy. As grateful as she was to have him leave her alone, a spike of irritation shot through her. Why was it that Zack only saw fit to do as she asked when there was another full-blooded shifter there to make him do it?

  "Daniel's found a place we can stay for the night," the bear said.

  "What about the wolves we were supposed to warn?" Martin asked.

  Adam shook his head. "Too far to walk tonight. It takes a lot longer to get from place to place when you're traveling on foot."

  Mandy sighed. "I knew I should have learned how to fly."

  She dragged herself back to her tired feet and followed Adam. Zack hovered right behind her as they made their way through the forest. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. When they first met, she liked the intense attention he gave her. He was the first guy who hadn't run away after meeting her father, and she had thought that meant something.

  A knot tightened in her stomach as she thought of her father. Domineering, possessive of her and her mother, acting like she didn't have the sense to decide who she should or shouldn’t be close to. There had been a lot of nice men that she wanted to get to know better, but when her father ended up nearly stalking them to drive them away from her… Well, she understood now that the isolation he kept her in was part of the emotional abuse he put her through.

  Zack was just like that. He treated her like she should give him everything just because he paid attention to her, and she was so starved for love that she thought it was normal. Luckily her friendship with Martin had opened her eyes to what was really going on, or she might still be cowering under his shadow. T
he worst part was that she never felt comfortable saying his actions were abuse, even now. He never hit her, but he was just so controlling. He demanded all her passwords, needed to know where she was and what she was doing every second of every day… it had been a nightmare, never daring to ignore his texts for even five minutes for fear of upsetting him.

  She was so busy lost in the tragedy of her past that she tripped over a knotted briar bush. Before she could catch herself, Zack had already scooped her into his arms. He pressed her against his chest and laughed as though they hadn't been arguing just a half-hour ago.

  "Careful! You don't want to get all banged up, do you?"

  Mandy glared at him, kicking her feet. "Put me down."

  "You'll just fall again. I'll carry you the rest of the way."

  "I said put me down!"

  Zack grinned at her, eyes glinting.

  "She told you to put her down," a voice growled behind them. "I'd advise you to do as she asks."

  Mandy's' heart jumped into her throat. Martin and Adam were ahead of them and had missed the exchange, but somehow Daniel had managed to come on them from behind. He towered over Zack, who scowled at him. Daniel's gaze flickered to Mandy, and she had to repress a sigh of relief.

  "Nobody asked you, Bear," Zack said. "Mandy and I dated for two years—"

  "And I broke up with you," Mandy interrupted. "Put me down!"

  He set her down on her feet as Martin and Adam returned to them. He straightened his shirt and scowled. "I was just trying to help, you don't have to be rude about it."

  Daniel growled and stepped forward. Mandy put her hand out, stopping him. She glared at Zack for a moment before turning to the bear.

  "Adam said you had a place for us to stay the night."