His Mate - Brothers - Hide and Seek

by M. L. Briers

  “Can I kill him?” She turned back and offered him her version of pleading puppy dog eyes.

  “No.” He didn’t find anything even remotely amusing about having her anywhere near the man or his wolf.

  “Spoil sport.” She grumbled and kicked out at a tuft of grass.

  “Look everyone is out looking for him…”

  “Why aren’t you?”

  “Seriously?” Josh frowned as she stared at him offering him a blank expression. “Because we haven’t bonded yet…” He saw that register on her face with a slight frown. “Even the vampire is out…”

  “Damn vampires get all the fun.” She grumbled, and he shot her a curious look. “I know … I know … Blood thirsty witch!” She tossed up her hands and turned back towards the inside of the house.

  “You’re done with sucking up air?” Josh asked.

  “For now.” She shrugged.

  “Were you going to take off again?” He growled and she shot a wicked grin over her shoulder.

  “You’ll never know and I’m not telling.” She chuckled.

  He’d know. Once he’d bonded with her then she’d be like putty in his hands … and he’d be like putty in hers … he wasn’t entirely sure that he liked that idea…

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  ~

  “Stupid, stupid wolf!” J.C bit out as he caught the scent of the hunted wolf on the winter winds and started tracking the beast.

  He knew two things; he wanted that wolf dead for the threat that it posed to his friends, and it wasn’t his kill to make. Sure, he’d been attacked, but Luke’s mate had been nearly killed, and even if he rationalised it that she had been his friend a lot longer than she’d been the beta’s mate … it still wouldn’t be right.

  The only way that he could get around that was if he either never wanted to come onto pack land again – which didn’t work for him one little bit – or if he had no other choice, and he was a vampire, there was always another choice.

  On days like these he hated that he was trying his best to be a better man. To be good. But if he turned his sense of right and wrong off, stomped all over his moral compass, well, then he’d lose Marley’s friendship anyway, and she’d kept him sane for enough years that he didn’t want it to end like that.

  No, if he was going to become the bad guy again in her eyes, then he’d need a damn good reason.

  J.C stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of paws coming his way. Wolves were so not damn stealthy and he had to wonder how they ever managed to corner their prey.

  He knew it wasn’t Dram. That wolf was sitting in his hide not far off to his right. The wolf that was approaching had to be one of the pack … but which one and was he on Dram’s scent or was he going to end up on the end of the wolf’s fangs and claws…?

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “Are you ready to tell me now?” Josh asked as he lifted his head from making a fresh pot of coffee and eyed her over the kitchen counter as Marley checked her shops app on her mobile phone to see if anyone had called her out in not opening up…

  “Nope,” Marley said back slightly absently.

  Josh gave her a minute to peruse whatever it was that she was viewing.

  “Are you ready to tell me now?” He asked again…

  “That’s the twenty eighth time you’ve asked me that…”

  “You’re counting…?”

  “After the first three times I got what you were doing, and yes, I counted, I’m female we can multitask.” She offered back blandly.

  “Are you ready to tell me now?” Josh said again, grinning to himself.

  “Sage is my friend. I’ve known Sage for a number of years, and if things like that annoyed me then I would have killed her by now. Twenty nine by the way. Wanna go for an even thirty?”

  “No.” He frowned… “Are you ready to tell me now?”

  “Tell him what?” Geri asked as she padded into the kitchen in a shirt that was so obviously her mate’s because it drowned her in size, coming right down passed her knees, and a pair of thick socks on her feet. Her hair was more than tousled…

  “Hey, it’s swamp thing!” Marley grinned at her as she snorted her contempt for that remark.

  “Do we have coffee?” Geri considered it a great effort to pull herself up onto the stool next to Marley… “I’ve discovered muscles that I didn’t know I had…” She groaned.

  “Good night then…?” Marley teased back with the dirtiest sounding chuckle that Josh had ever heard.

  Geri eyed the alpha and tipped her head down and to the side to hide her beaming grin from the man…

  “Oh – my …” She barely whispered… “I take it you didn’t…?” She flicked a look at the alpha.

  “Nope…” Marley said, feeling a rush of guilt for the man when there shouldn’t have been one.

  “What are you waiting for a platinum invitation to the party?” Geri chuckled.

  “Do not make me hurt you,” Marley warned, and Geri could see by the look in her eyes that she meant it too.

  “Okay, grouch…” She held up her hands in surrender. “You know great sex will put a smile on your face and you wouldn’t be so grouchy.” Geri muttered and Marley’s head snapped back towards her. She glared at the witch. “Just saying, don’t shoot the messenger.”

  “How about I zap her?” Marley hissed back.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Geri offered back, motioning that she was zipping her lips and throwing the imaginary key over her left shoulder.

  “Are you ready to tell me now?” Josh persisted and Marley shot a look at him from beneath her lashes.

  “Tell him what?” Geri was way more irate about it than Marley could ever have been, but then Sage had a way of winding the witch up too.

  “She ran from me this morning…” Josh started and Geri gasped on a look of horror as she slowly turned a look of disbelief on her friend.

  “I didn’t, but okay.” Marley offered back.

  “You can’t do that…” Geri said shaking her head in disbelief.

  “Which is why I didn’t…” Now Marley sounded a little more irate.

  “And she might have been trying to do it again when I caught up to her earlier, but she won’t tell me…” Josh gave Marley a look of pure expectation.

  “Marley!” Geri exclaimed. “You know how bad that…”

  “Yes, yes, yes, which is why I wasn’t…” Marley offered back with just as much disbelief in her voice.

  “Ha!” Josh chuckled. “So, you weren’t!”

  “Or maybe I was and I’m lying…” Marley offered back.

  “About what?” Sage asked as she breezed into the kitchen looking just as much of a hedge witch as Geri did.

  “Marley ran from Josh…” Geri exclaimed.

  “I did not!” Marley hissed.

  “Oh, bad idea…” Sage shook her head. “Did I teach you nothing?”

  “I didn’t do anything!” Marley shrieked and Josh heard the bells ringing in his ears.

  “So, you weren’t running!” He shot back.

  “Or maybe I was…” Marley offered.

  “But you just said you wasn’t…” Sage motioned to the coffee pot. “Can I get one of those.” Josh nodded.

  “I wasn’t…” Marley protested and Josh chuckled. “Or I was…”

  “Split personality or a decision making disorder…?” Sage looked at Geri.

  “Flipping fruit loopy if you ask me…” Geri shrugged.

  “Which I didn’t…” Marley grumbled.

  “You didn’t a lot,” Sage offered back. “So what did you do?”

  “Not a damn thing!” Marley protested.

  “You did the first time…” Josh put in.

  “That doesn’t count … and I still didn’t because I was going to work…”

  “Today?” Geri snatched her head back on her neck and gave the witch a look of pure scepticism.

  “After bonding?” Sage asked, giving her
the exact same look.

  “I didn’t bond…!” Marley exclaimed.

  “You didn’t do that either?” Sage huffed out a breath. “You’re doing a lot of nothing.”

  “Why not?” Geri demanded.

  “Oh God…!” Marley had truly had enough. She dropped her forehead down on the counter top in front of her with a small thud and groaned long and hard…

  “So that’s how you get her to react…” Josh chuckled. “Good to know.”

  Marley snatched her head up and offered her mate a death glare.

  “What are you waiting for Christmas?” Sage wasn’t done with her yet…

  “I’m going to my room!” Marley announced as she practically climbed over the back of the stool to get away from the witch on either side of her and the mate who was grinning in sheer delight.

  “Our room!” Josh announced with glee.

  “Why can’t I just go to work and deal with a witch in a spell crisis…?” Marley grumbled as she headed for the door.

  “It sounds like you’re in crisis!” Sage called after her and Marley flipped her the bird as she stalked out of the door.

  Josh stood there nodding on a deep chuckle.

  “Hey! Chuckles Mac-slow-boy,” Sage bit out and he frowned at her. “What are you waiting for …?” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder towards the door. “Go woo and don’t come back until you’ve succeeded!”

  ~

  ~

  ~

  The thud of those big wolf paws was getting closer to J.C, the only problem was that the wolf was downwind of him and he couldn’t pick up the scent.

  Friend or foe…? He didn’t have a damn clue, but he wasn’t waiting around to find that out either just in case it was a trap.

  J.C pushed up from his knees. The ice crystals on the branch of the tree on which he’d landed made life harder, but the man had excellent balance, he could walk on a tightrope if he needed to, luckily he didn’t.

  He made his way towards the scent that he did recognise. He knew that his need for retribution for Sage would never rival that of her mate because fate didn’t design him that way, but it was strong, and he was more than eager to take a slice or ten out of the wolf the same way that Dram had done to the witch.

  He spotted the wolf below, crouched down low in the overgrowth, waiting like he knew his prey was just going to stroll into his clutches. And there it was – the second wolf coming into view that made Dram’s beast tense with anticipation.

  “Dram!” J.C called down, bringing the beast’s head up as his body turned and the movement of the undergrowth signalled the wolf’s hiding spot to the pack wolf below…

  Then all hell broke loose.

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  ~

  Marley stood at the bedroom window and cast and eye over the land. He was right, it was beautiful.

  She sighed inwardly at just how right the man had been about a few things that she hadn’t wanted to hear. Going to work with Dram on the loose was the epitome of insanity if the man had a vengeful side and wanted retribution against the witches.

  While she couldn’t say what Dram’s real motivations were for what he’d done to Sage, she could say that the risk was greater for her than it would have been on any other given day. But it still irked her that she couldn’t open the shop because she was finally starting to turn a good profit, and that success felt good.

  He was right about her leaving without telling him. To run from a mate was a stupid thing to do – and she wasn’t a stupid person, just coloured and clouded by other events that overshadowed everything else.

  Then there was the whole mate thing…

  Sage and Geri had just jumped right in … sure, they had their reservations, but still…

  What’s the problem?

  He’s my mate.

  My split apart that was cast to the winds and separated from me.

  He is me, the other part of me that makes me a whole.

  I know this so why is it so damn hard to take that plunge?

  How could anyone not want to find their soul mate?

  He’s certainly everything I admire in a man … take charge and get the job done instead of waiting for others to do it … sexy as hell too … so what’s the damn problem?

  Too soon?

  Maybe it’s too soon on the back of the shop just getting up and running. I’ve literally put everything in my life on hold for that shop … stupid shop … important shop, a family heirloom and I’ve finally made it work…

  I’ve made it work … I did it … I got there…

  That total realisation felt like a weight lifting from her shoulders. The tension that had been in her muscles eased a little, strange, considering she hadn’t know that it was there in the first place.

  Sinking everything that she had into the shop had been a gamble, but it had been one that she was willing to undertake – she just didn’t realise until that moment how much that risk had affected her… she felt lighter in herself, and it felt good.

  She still itched to get to work, but it felt like a good itch and not a need within her. Online sales were still clicking away, and she could always persuade the alpha to let J.C take her to work tomorrow to get those sales boxed and out to customers…

  So, what the hell was she worried about…?

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Luke went on the attack. With the heads up from the vampire that was somewhere up in the trees, Dram had shown his hiding place and Luke was all over that like butter on toast.

  Dram had little choice than to rush out and defend himself once he’d known that the vampire was there. He hadn’t wanted it to be like that. He’d planned to take the brothers out one by one, and then he’d be alpha.

  There’d be no damn witches in his pack. No vampire lurking around in the shadows. It wasn’t right, sullying the bloodlines with magic like that, having a dead man walking around among them.

  Dram attacked with everything that he had. He knew he was alpha material. He knew he could take the betas and get his shot at Josh … the man was weakened by the fact that his split apart was a witch. It showed his flaws.

  Luke was fuelled by the memory of what the beast had done to his mate. He stowed the anger and remembered one thing – that this beast could strike at the heart of them again if he was allowed to live.

  Luke’s claws did damage to the wolf’s shoulder, tearing through the flesh, cutting through the muscles and tendons, and making his front right paw practically useless.

  Now the beast had a problem, it would take that wound too long to heal for it to become useful once more and Dram didn’t have that kind of time under the near clinical attack of the beta.

  He had to take the chance and rear up on his hind legs to be able to do damage with his other set of claws … and that was when Luke struck, using the weight of his body to knock the beast down to the ground, and expose, not just his belly to Luke’s claws, but his whole throat to the beta’s jaws…

  It was over in seconds. One ferocious attack that left the wolf dead and the beta howling in victory…

  “Impressive, remind never to get on your bad side…” J.C said as he started back across the branches.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Marley jumped at the sound of the howl that went up outside. Her eyes scanned the land but she couldn’t see a damned thing.

  “That’s Luke…” Josh said and brought her body and her attention towards him.

  He’d been standing at the bedroom door just watching her for the last few minutes. She’d been lost in thought as emotions played out across her face and he hadn’t wanted to disturb her.

  “Is he in trouble?” Marley frowned.

  “No. That howl signals victory. He’s taken Dram down.” Josh explained as he took a couple of steps into the room, ready to deliver the good news and see just how good she looked with a smile plastered across her face. “It means you can go to the shop.”

>   “Now?” She bit down on that thought.

  What the hell was fate playing at?

  “You have a problem with that?” Josh didn’t get it. She’d been chaffing at the damn bit all morning to be free of him and get to work, now she looked a little disappointed. “I thought that’s what you wanted?”

  “I did … do … did…”

  “Which is it?”

  “I’m not sure…” Marley didn’t feel that desperate need that urge anymore…

  “Not sure…?” Josh grumbled a growl. “You climbed down a drainpipe not long ago…” He was dumbfounded.

  “I did, didn’t I?” She mused at that one.

  “Or maybe that was just to get away from me. Maybe you were running…?” Josh growled…

  “You have a ‘victim here’ complex!”

  “Any wonder when my mate shimmies down a drainpipe to get away from me…” Josh grumbled.

  “Oh poor baby…” Marley’s eyes were alive with mischief and amusement and he liked it and didn’t like it all in one go because it was at his expense.

  “So are you leaving?” Josh demanded.

  He’d take her himself and stay close, maybe pacing up and down outside the damn shop until she was ready to leave … with him…

  “First you witch-nap me and hold me hostage and now you can’t wait to get rid of me…” she teased and saw the look of pure disbelief on his face…

  “That’s not…”

  “Talk about decision making disorders, you certainly qualify…” She looked as if she meant it, but right then he couldn’t tell…

  “That’s just plain…”

  “I mean, first you want to mate with me … you kiss me like I’m a chocolate cake…”

  “Chocolate cake?”

  “Then you’re all but pushing me out of the door…”

  “I am not pushing you…”

  “So, which is it?”

  “Is what?” He asked in frustrated desperation.

  “You wanna mate…?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he almost swallowed his tongue as he growled in earnest at what he hoped was a bona fide offer and not just her way of making him suffer for not allowing her to leave…