by M L Briers
One moment Jethro was facing down two large Werewolves and the next one was being tossed away from him as if he weighed nothing, and the other was in a head lock, supplied of course by the grinning vampire. Jethro breathed in a large gulp of air. The pain in his right side was a bitch, and the werewolf had come about behind him while he fought the other one, opening his skin like a can of beans.
“Miss me?” Caleb grinned just at the moment he twisted the Were’s head on his neck and the sound of bones snapping filled the void left by the snarls of the beasts.
Jethro growled at the vampire and took off on fast paws towards the other beast that was pulling its body up onto his paws. The animal took off and Jethro gave chase. He could hear the vampire behind him, then to his right, and finally in front of him as Caleb tossed him a smirk.
“Don’t hurt yourself, Jethro.” He beamed out with his new found good humour as he took off after the wolf.
Jethro growled to himself. If he caught the vampire up he couldn’t put his hand on his heart and say he wouldn’t take a bite out of his backside just for the satisfaction it would bring him. He sensed another wolf, but this one was Lycan and coming up fast.
I just hope the damn vampire doesn’t get all the fun tonight…
“We have to hurry. The Werewolves are attacking Jethro.” Deborah had announced into the stunned silence of the group.
“Oh the hell-no they don’t.” Annabeth bit out between clenched teeth as she nodded to Wendy to start again.
Now it was imperative that they break the link between the Werewolves and the pendant. If the wolves were attacking then the amulet was the only thing that made them as strong as the Lycans. Each witch had to fight off what that meant to their mate just to be able to concentrate on the spell.
Even Wendy wasn’t oblivious to what was happening outside. If Jethro was in trouble she knew that her mate would be right there with him. She wouldn’t lose Caleb now that she had him, truly had him as hers.
“Tilly, concentrate…” She could feel that the newest witch’s mind was elsewhere, probably on her own mate.
“What about Luke?” Tilly asked even though she knew what it meant for all the males of the pack.
“Break the spell and the Were’s go back to being fodder.” Annabeth reminded her. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart from the runaway track that it had taken off onto.
“I got it.” She almost whispered, but there was little need because Wendy and the others could feel her opening herself to them, allowing the flow of their magic to pass through her as she strengthened it.
Caleb should have known better. He’d been led into a trap of his own making. By parting with the pack behind him and rushing headlong into the chase, he’d come out of a clearing in the woods and found the other three Werewolves waiting for him.
“Trap!” He bellowed as he ran straight towards them, but at the last moment he pushed up, grabbed a thick overhanging branch and swung through the air to come down behind them.
He did the one thing he never thought he’d actually get to do in a fight to the death, and kicked the first werewolf right in the backside, launching him across the clearing and taking great satisfaction in watching it crash headlong into a tree trunk. Caleb couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the beast going tail over head through the air, but it seemed neither of the other two beasts were duly impressed. Both beasts rounded on him on fast paws as they snarled and showed their fangs.
“Yours are impressive, but mine are better…” Caleb flicked out his claws as his fangs elongated from his gums and locked into place.
His eyes flicked from one to the other, before snapping back to see the third beast pulling his large body off the floor and starting towards him. Caleb could hear the run of fast paws coming at him from all directions as the pack gained ground, but he sensed that the beast to his left was going to make his move before they got there…
Tilly felt their power flowing through her whole body. She held the pendant in the palm of her outstretched hand, and when she opened her eyes to take a peek at it, she could see that it was glowing with a rainbow aura that surrounded it. Each witch had her own coloured aura and all were projecting that aura within their magic. It enthralled her to watch it.
She almost closed her hand around the pendant when it started to lift from her palm. Willing herself to allow the action and not try to keep a hold of it; she concentrated on filling her body with her own magic and allowing the others to use it. She watched with silent amazement as the pendant rose past her face and above her head, all the while surrounded by a glowing array of colours.
“Step out, but concentrate…” Wendy offered quickly and she did just that. Taking a place still within the circle but further away from the pendent that was suspended in mid air in the middle of the circle.
The amount of magic in the room was electric. Every witch was giving it their all and yet she saw no sign that the spell was about to come undone. Perhaps even this coven couldn’t break the power of the spell…
Jethro took in the scene. Caleb was trying his damndest to rip the throat out of one werewolf as Dale and Dexter took on another two. He roared his intention to join the fight, and the werewolf broke off its attack on Caleb and ran on fast heels towards him.
“I’m insulted.” Caleb bit out as he reached for the wolf that Dale had his teeth sunk into and slashed a four finger opening down his side with his claws. “Now I feel better.” He muttered to himself as his eyes flicked towards an injured Jethro going up against what was sure to be the alpha of the other pack.
The pack had started too converged on the werewolves. Every able bodied wolf that had been out that night had descended on the clearing where their alpha was doing battle with the Were’s. Each stood anxiously waiting for their turn to fight, to die if necessary, but to face the challenge of having the mutts in the midst of their community.
The werewolves were strong, as strong as any Lycan wolf could be, and yet they didn’t fight with their brains but with their brawn. Dale fought one on one with what he assumed to be a beta, while Jethro was locked in fierce battle with the other alpha. Dexter was bloodied from his fight with the third wolf and yet he was determined to fight until the bitter end; when he could so easily have stepped back and let someone else take his place, but pride prevailed…
Suddenly the mutt fighting with Dexter spun away from him and moved on fast paws towards his alpha. Caleb took a long step forward towards Jethro, already injured, and was now fighting on two fronts, he didn’t like those odds. With one quick slice of Jethro’s front paw; his razor sharp claws ripped through the mutt’s throat as it reared up, the scent of the beast’s blood pumping from his main vein filled the air as he dropped to the ground and lolled to one side, and Caleb relaxed in knowing that it was a fair fight once more.
Dale felt the mutt’s teeth as they struck against his shoulder and let out a roar from the pain that tore through him. One moment Dale seemed to have the mutt where he wanted him and the next he was caught, pinned up against the tree with nowhere to go. He bucked against the fangs deep in his flesh and felt the beast start to rear up…
CHAPTER EIGHT
Closer and closer they came to unlocking the spell from the pendant. It felt like forever as they worked together to unlock the secrets of that spell. It was more trial and error than actually having a plan and accomplishing it, picking at the other covens work piece by piece until they could find an opening, a vulnerability, and if they found one that would be their way in.
Nerves were frayed from the pressure that they were under. Tilly could almost taste it in the air, and if they had been able to converse she was sure arguments might have ensued. All they could do was rely on each other to keep going.
Tilly’s mind flicked to how tired she was. She felt drained as if she’d run a marathon and still had to do another. She gave a small shake of her head to snap herself out of it and concentrated all of the energy that she had left into f
inding the answers that they were seeking.
She knew that outside somewhere a battle was probably being fought, lives were in danger, and she couldn’t stop now. There was no way in hell that she would let the other coven win. No way in hell she would let the werewolves win and keep their powers, powers that they had stolen from magic and not been entitled too.
Life had a balance. There were food chains that should never be messed with in nature. Even in the supernatural world there was a food chain for a reason. Vampires ruled at the top of the pile, killing Lycan and Were’s to keep the numbers down so that they couldn’t upsurge the human race. Werewolves couldn’t be allowed to bite and turn humans in such numbers that vampires would lose their food supply, and then there were witches… they were the gatekeepers to it all.
Why a coven would want to mess with the natural order of things was a mystery to her. She’d heard talk that the coven didn’t care for Lycans, but surely even this wouldn’t be a good reason to throw off the natural balance, make werewolves able to compete on a more equal playing field with the other supernatural beings? All she knew for certain was that her mate was outside and for the life of her she couldn’t get past the fact that she wanted to see him again.
Tilly felt something give… It was a chink in the other covens magic that allowed the pure light of their magic to filter inside. She could almost feel the pendants weight in her hands and yet it was still suspended high above the circle.
“We have it…” Wendy informed them and that sent Tilly’s heart racing inside of her chest.
She felt the surge of their magic rush through her system as they channelled everything they had left within them. Her skin tingled as if her mate was near and yet it was caused by magic. The euphoria was heady, too heady, and she knew that this was why she didn’t like to play around with others magic…
With one final push she saw the pendant as it seemed to expand as if it was being filled with the energy and light that they were letting off. The individual aura’s around it seemed to merge into one massive glowing ball of light, and then the whole thing exploded before her eyes into a rainbow of colours that swept outwards like a supernova finishing its lifespan. The candles in the room flickered wildly as if someone had suddenly opened a window and a storm had rolled in. It was truly the most amazing thing she had ever seen in her life to date.
As the tension came to a head at the destruction of the pendant every one of them seemed to sigh in relief and cheer at their triumph. Annabeth walked over to Tilly and gave her a playful jab in the shoulder. She had a big grin on her face and Tilly wondered at it.
“Not too shabby, witch.” Annabeth offered and Tilly guessed that was her way of saying that she had done her part. Still, she felt uneasy about Luke being outside with the Werewolves, what if he had already been injured or worse? It gnawed at her…
Dale was ready for the blow from the mutt’s claws. He’d twisted his body around and was swiping upwards with his own claws into the underbelly of the beast, when right in front of his eyes the wolf changed back into his human form. Dale’s claws embedded deeply within the man’s stomach and he saw the light of recognition in the man’s dark eyes…
Even if he could have taken the blow back the damage had already been done, but he felt no pity for the man as the light of life went out in his eyes. He knew had the situation been reversed that the man would have offered him no quarter.
Jethro had swung his head around quickly on his neck and his jaws had snapped around the alpha mutt’s throat. He felt the change in the beast as his eyes witnessed it. He wasted no time in snapping his head around on his neck and ripping the man’s throat out.
Both he and Dale backed away from their kills and as was customary they tossed their heads back on their necks to howl in victory. The rest of the pack joined in with howls that echoed out into the night. Uncaring as to who heard them in this hour of the packs triumph.
“I don’t howl…” Caleb offered the offhand remark to Jethro when the man shifted back into his human form. Blood covered his body from the wounds he’d sustained as a wolf in battle and Caleb assessed them with his eyes as best he could.
“Is it blood bank time?” The vampire grinned at Jethro and the man growled out with his beast still at the surface.
“Don’t start with me, vampire.” Jethro was in no mood for it. He’d already contacted Luke via the link to make sure that the witches were all safe. Now he was presented with a gleeful vampire who was more than full of himself.
“I was just offering my assistance…” Caleb gave a shrug off his shoulders as if he couldn’t understand the man’s hostility when he knew full well that it was his alpha pride that would stop him from taking Caleb’s blood unless there was no other choice.
“Go offer it somewhere else.” Jethro tossed back at him, but the light of amusement was in the alpha’s eyes.
“Dale, need anything? A cool beer, steak, a walking blood bag?” Caleb didn’t even look to the man, he already knew the answer. Dale’s injuries would heal like the alpha’s would, and neither man was in need of his services.
“Bite me.” Dale growled back and Caleb’s head snapped around on his neck as he took the man in.
“Tempting, but I think you’ve lost enough blood for one night.” Caleb turned on his heels and started off in the direction of his home.
“I’ll come with you.” Jethro snapped out.
“And me.” Dale added.
“Me too.” Dexter started off after the vampire. Alex didn’t say anything; he just followed the rest of the mates.
“Just taking the dogs for a stroll…” Caleb muttered to himself with the biggest grin on his face, and four Lycans growled at his heels which only made him grin more.
Luke pounded on the inner door, behind which the coven and his mate had been held up. He was eager to share the news, but more eager to see his mate. It was true that he’d been itching to get into the fight, if only for his own pride in defeating the werewolves that had tormented his mate, but his need to protect Tilly and the others had overwhelmed him. He truly had never thought he could feel that much for someone after such a short time of knowing them.
“I think that’s for you.” Annabeth teased as he listened to them on the other side of the door.
“It might be one of your mates, you know.” Tilly answered back and he was glad to hear her voice.
When the door swung open and Annabeth was standing there with a big old grin on her face; he felt his heart sink for a moment. Then she expanded her hand and motioned towards Tilly. His mate seemed to shrink a little under the scrutiny.
“Told ya so.” Annabeth beamed a knowing smile at her and he saw his mate’s cheeks darken to a light pink hue.
“He’s wooing…” Deborah offered unhelpfully and her cheeks darkened some more.
“Go on, throw him a bone.” Eloise chuckled and Luke groaned in annoyance.
“Can we not do the dog jokes?” He almost begged. Then he knew he’d made his first mistake as mischief lit up every witch’s face, including Wendy’s. He swallowed down another groan.
“Do you need to go out instead, feel the urgent need to visit a tree?” Deborah offered and he sighed.
“No, he wants to play fetch, go get a stick, Annabeth.” Samantha added to the group’s amusement and his fast diminishing lack of patience.
“I have a ball around here somewhere…” Wendy offered and watched him wince. He’d never know the older witch to be that sarcastic; it must have been Caleb’s influence on her. Tilly took a long step forward and turned to face the group.
“He’s my mate and only I can pick on him…” A slow smile boiled on her face. “For now.” She added and heard him sigh.
“Woman…” He started and she spun back towards him. Her index finger was pointed right at him and he closed his mouth and waited for what came next as he swallowed hard.
“Woman is it?” Tilly demanded and watched him frown.
“Well you ar
e…” Luke offered back as he rose to the challenge just as four Lycans walked through the door behind him, with the vampire in tow. He groaned. That was all he needed…
“And you need to learn…” Tilly started and Alex winced…
“Oh this might go very badly…” He offered towards the other mates.
“Think she’ll put him through the window or the door?” Dexter teased and Luke acted fast. He reached for her wrist and yanked her towards him, up and over his shoulder, and when her eyes locked onto his naked backside a second later… she couldn’t help but grin at the sight of his toned buns.
“Like your mate putting you in a tree, Dexter?” Luke demanded as he turned with her and started for the back door. Dexter balked at his friends words, how he hated to be reminded of his first real encounter with his mate after picking up her scent.
“That’s not what happened.” He growled in denial and the witches giggled as the men chuckled.
“Sure it wasn’t.” Luke patted him hard on the back on the way past with his mate. Dexter gave a pleading look to his mate.
“Will you just tell them…?” He asked and she gave him a look of pure innocence.
“I can’t really remember that day. I’d been in a car accident, you know.” She bit down on a smirk and he groaned.
“I know, it was with my bloody truck.” He looked towards Wendy and she shrugged. All the other witches just grinned back at him. “Fine. Good. Right, well say what you will, but I know what happened.” He growled out.
“Must be the concussion he got from having his head embedded in the tree.” Dale offered and Jethro shook his head as he heard Dexter growl in annoyance once more.
“Bet the poor tree didn’t know what hit it.” Jethro tossed out over his shoulder as he strolled across the distance to his mate and wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her against him.