by M. L. Briers
The truck was being battered and pounded by the force of those same winds. Blake tried to push the door back open to get to Nero, but even his strength was no match for the power that kept it firmly closed. All they could do was watch as Nero was tossed and turned in the air. He looked like he was going through the damn rinse cycle.
“He’s gonna be really pissed.”Blake growled out. Torn between wanting to rip the damn Fae’s head off that was doing this, and he was sure it wasn’t Nadia, and mesmerised by watching his friend spinning like a circus act, just without the wires or the safety net.
“I’m guessing he’s regretting that big breakfast right about now.”Alf chuckled. Then he caught himself and coughed to clear his throat.
Blake grimaced, watching helplessly as Nero was tossed first one way and then the other. Both Lycans heads twisted on their necks from side to side as they followed the impromptu display. Both sets of eyebrows were raised higher on their foreheads the longer it went on.
“Oh, that’s not good.”Alf bit out as Nero was spun the other way. It was like watching surreal tennis with him as the ball. Only this ball had arms and legs that were flaying like flags in a storm.
“State the bloody obvious.”Blake bit out.
Alf shrugged his shoulders, a small glint of amusement in his eyes. “Alpha ping-pong.”Alf snorted. He nodded his head as if congratulating himself for being so smart. Blake’s fist shot out and cracked into his jaw as the Omega’s head snapped sideways from the force. Rubbing his jaw in annoyance, Alf gave a low growl, not enough to challenge his beta, just enough to inform him he was unhappy.
“Alpha Frisbee.” Blake bit out. He couldn’t help it or the snigger that escaped his lips before he caught it and reined it back in again.
Nero’s eyes found the woman as she walked into the open. Her arms were up at her hips and her hands were out towards the heavens as if she were praying, asking her God for salvation. She’d damn well need it too when he finished with her.
Nero spun again and he lost sight of her. The next time she came into view she was crouching towards the ground. Her hands touched the earth and he saw her full lips move.
Nero felt the sudden loss of air buffering him, and it took him a long moment to realise that he was falling. Hitting the floor with enough force to make him want to rip someone’s damn head off, he growled out his anger and his pain. He was going to do some real damage here today.
CHAPTER TWO
Nero tried to drag himself to his feet, but his head spun and wave after wave of dizziness swept through him. He growled out at his loss of control. Finally figuring out which damn way was up, he pulled himself to his hands and knees just as a pair of black high heeled suede boots came into view in front of him, and he growled long and hard.
Trying to lift his head when it felt like jelly on his neck was a hell of a task to complete, but he managed to do it out of sheer willpower fuelled by anger. Growling with the force of the rage within him, his eyes climbed up her amply endowed body as she stood there. With her hands on her hips and an amusement within her eyes that he just couldn’t seem to share, he took her in on a long growl of warning.
“Use your words, puppy.”The amusement in her voice matched the gleam in her caramel brown eyes, eyes that held his attention as he managed to focus on her face, and that amusement only irritated him more. His beast snarled within him and he growled long and hard. If he thought he could get to his feet, without either ending up back in the dirt or losing his breakfast on her boots, he would have.
“Bad puppy.”She teased. Neve took a long moment to size him up. So this was the Alpha. She couldn’t really make a judgement call on him right then. It wouldn’t be fair after Natasha had tossed him around like a salad.
“Why did you stop it?”Natasha’s voice came from somewhere behind her and she sighed to herself, fools rush in, was the only thing that applied to her sisters most of the time.
“He’s not the danger to our sister, stupid. He’s the one who will help to save her.”Neve berated her sister with her eyes a moment before the two Lycans popped the doors on the truck and came towards her.
“Save me?”Nadia spat out. She didn’t like the sound of that. “From what?”
“Yourself as usual.”Neve answered cryptically as she lifted a hand in warning to the Beta coming towards her. “If I could stop the winds, imagine what else I’m capable of.”She warned them off. But it didn’t work with the Beta, she saw the intent to do them harm in his eyes. His top lip twitched in the beginning of a snarl, and it took a long hard growl from his Alpha to still him in place.
“Nero?”Blake looked confused, but not as confused as Neve. It was obvious to her that the man wanted to do some damage, and she couldn’t understand why his alpha was calling him to stand down.
“Wait.”Nero growled out, his beast was still close to the surface within him for anything other than a constant growl as he spoke. Shaking his head slightly to see if his bells were still ringing, a slight wave of dizziness washed through him, but he’d risk it. Pulling himself up to his feet, he stretched his body to its full height and stared, almost eye to eye, with the Fae before him.
Her eyes were striking, almost caramel when the light hit them right, and he felt something tighten inside of his gut. He could spend a few hours losing himself in her eyes, not to mention her ample body, even if she was a Fae. His gut wasn’t the only thing to tighten…
“Neve…”Natasha warned her sister off. Now that the Alpha was fully functioning again there was no saying what he was going to do, and even if her sister had the strongest magic among them, there was still more than a chance he could end her with one well placed swipe of his claws.
“He’s not going to hurt me, Nat.”Neve didn’t take her eyes from his face. Sure in her summing up of his attitude. The alpha might still be a tad bit angry, and who could blame him after Natasha’s attempt at scrambling his brains, but she wasn’t getting any serious vibes from him. Not the kind that worried her at any rate.
Shock, which was only natural after what he’d been through, confusion, again a pretty natural state for someone tossed around like one of those Lottery balls inside the globe, and his anger had now turned into annoyance as he came to terms with the fact that he wasn’t the most powerful one here. That must have dented his ego, she thought, as she watched his eyes take her in. Not as most men would, in a head to toe appraisal, but his eyes searched her face as if he was looking for a clue.
“Famous last words.”Natasha pushed out the side of her mouth as if she didn’t want anyone else hearing. But the sheer fact they were Lycans told her otherwise.
“Neve…”The alpha tested her name on his lips and he kind of liked it. What he didn’t like was the fact that she was a witch, and a powerful one from what he’d seen. He had his pack to think of.
“See, you can be nice and so can we.”Neve offered. She was getting a buzz from the proximity of this man that she just didn’t seem to get from other Lycans. It didn’t take more than a moment for Neve to connect the dots and she took one long step back from him…
That she hadn’t seen. If there was one thing that annoyed a seer more than anything else it was the damn blank wall that they came up against, more often than not, when they looked to their own lives. But to be honest, if she’d seen this coming she still would have had to come to protect her sister.
“Tell me, what I’m supposed to protect Nadia from…?”Everything else could wait. Right now he had his own problems with his pack, and now the little troublesome Witch was apparently his problem too. All other things would have to be put on a slow burn until he dealt with the most pressing problems.
“That would be the same thing that plagues your pack…”Neve offered and Nero narrowed his eyes on her and nodded just once.
“Werewolves…”Nero confirmed and saw the slight twist of Neve’s head upon her neck as her eyes narrowed just slightly. She obviously knew something that he didn’t. “And…?”
“The one that’s controlling them…”She informed him and it was his turn to question her with his eyes.
“Nobody can control a Werewolf.”Alf spat out on a snort and Blake elbowed the Omega in the ribs. The man clamped his lips together on a sharp intake of breath. Observe and don’t speak unless it’s necessary, he knew the rule, and it annoyed him so.
“Not even a Werewolf…”Nero added, following on from what Alf had said.
“For one with many years under his belt, you’ve not really been around the block much, have you?”Natasha chuckled to herself as she shook her head in amusement. Neve’s eyes snapped to her sister, berating her, and yet she wasn’t happy with her own response…
“So enlighten me, Witch.”Nero growled out. He was feeling more than justified in his annoyance towards her. After all, it had been her magic that had tossed him around like a damn pinwheel in the wind.
“Warlock.”Nadia spat out as her eyes went wide and she gulped down as if trying to swallow back to the word. Oh-oh… Neve’s eyes shot towards her little sister and this time she didn’t berate, she glared. Nadia found herself swallowing hard again.
“It was just a little thing…”Nadia’s voice had become lower, more childlike as she looked up at her sister and waited for the wrath that was sure to follow. “You know you can stand there and berate me, or we can try to find a solution to this little problem.”Nadia offered with a small shrug off her shoulders.
“Or I can do both, it’s called multitasking and I’m fluent in it.” Neve offered back and saw Nadia’s back snap to attention.
“You’re fluent in bitch as well, but it doesn’t mean you have to be one.”Nadia spat out, before turning on her heels and starting back towards her little cottage.
A second later she hit an invisible brick wall hard enough to throw her backwards onto her backside on the ground. She rolled her eyes and dropped her hands into her lap. She really hated having sister’s at times. Natasha lifted her hand and checked her nails.
“What did you do?”Blake snapped out on a frown that took his dark brows down over his green eyes as if guarding them, and he glared at Neve, not liking that she could so easily throw her magic around like that. Neve cocked just one eyebrow at him as she tipped her head to one side and regarded him with a bored expression.
“That wasn’t her…”Nero growled, feeling the slight rush of electricity across his skin as Neve turned her eyes towards him.
“That was me.”Natasha raised her hand and grinned in amusement back at the beta. Nadia sighed, dragging herself to her feet and brushing the dirt from her backside.
Really, really hated having sisters.
“Tell me about the Warlock…”Nero had enough of the Witch’s games and now he was looking for answers. There was a serious threat to his pack from Werewolves, that much he knew after last night’s little snafu on pack land where three of his men had been injured. Although none of the injuries were serious, his men were highly trained, if a Warlock was involved that was a game changer.
“Buy me lunch and I’ll tell you what I know, because I think we need to talk.”Neve offered and her sister’s hisses were priceless to her ears. She wasn’t about to get anything out of Nadia right now, but she could defuse the situation here.
Nero turned to make sure that his motorbike hadn’t received a hit from Natasha’s little twister of a storm, and he was glad to see the second beast in his life was still where he’d left it.
Natasha snorted in amusement as she watched the alpha’s relief. “Please, as if I’d attack a bike like that…”
“You attacked an Alpha.”Alf spat out, causing both the Alpha and Natasha to stare at him in disbelief.
“Alpha’s are a dime a dozen, that bike is a classic.”Natasha berated him with her eyes before she turned on her heels and started towards Nadia’s cottage. Her younger sister in tow, now that she wasn’t going to be stopped by one of Natasha’s parlour tricks.
Neve rolled her eyes and gave a quick shake of her head. Both of her sister’s could be a damned handful, but she would give her life to protect them. Speaking of which, she turned her attention back towards the Alpha.
“Let’s go…”He offered her, turning towards his men and nodding at the truck. “Go back to the pack and take care of things. I’ll be back soon.” Half of it was tossed over his shoulder as he followed the shapely witch towards his bike, and he couldn’t help but notice the swing of her ample backside in her figure hugging trousers as she walked on five inch heels. Tempting, very tempting… He berated himself almost immediately.
It wasn’t just the bone jarring rumble of the bike that had made him rock hard on the journey back into town. It was the fact that he knew which part of the Fae on the seat behind him was pressed to his backside as her legs ran down the outside of his. So much so that by the time they pulled up outside the pub for lunch, he ached for the relief he knew he wouldn’t get.
Neve stood up and placed the palms of her hands against his back for stability as she swung her leg over the seat and felt his muscles tense beneath her touch. She swore she could feel the heat of the man straight through his jacket as she took a long step backwards from him. Waiting for him to join her, she tried not to look up into his eyes when he turned her way, eyes that seemed almost purple in the cloudy light of day.
“If you were a vampire we’d probably be at a restaurant now…”She offered dryly, although the pub was one step up from the café that she’d been expecting. The man was Lycan, and that meant he was a stone’s throw away from caveman in her book. Food was food, and as long as there was a mound of it he’d be more than happy.
“If I were a vampire, you’d probably be lunch by now.”He retorted on a low growl of annoyance. Fae made him uneasy. While he wasn’t the kind of man who denied them access to his town, his community, as other’s might, he also didn’t need the headache of having them around him. Where Fae went trouble was sure to follow, or that was the way it seemed, and where Nadia was concerned that tended to be the case.
The little witch was a con artist if ever he’d met one. The amount of mischief that she applied herself too would be better spent in pursuit of something more honourable. But Fae just didn’t do that. They were mischievous, meddlesome, and irritating, which was why he preferred not to be around them.
Nero resisted the urge to put a protective hand against the small of Neve’s back and guide her into the establishment, favouring instead to turn on his heels and walk away from her. She was like her sister, a headache that he didn’t need, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter, it appeared he needed her, in more ways than one. That annoyed him even more.
Mindful of his surroundings as she followed in behind him, he kept a subtle ear to the ground and eyed any male within a five mile radius of them. In his mind’s eye he knew exactly where she was at all times, if there was any danger he would be quick to act. Not that he didn’t think the witch could take care of herself, he knew she could, he just didn’t know how fast she could draw on her magic to protect herself.
By the time they were seated in the very back corner of the bar and had ordered their food, they were eyeing each other across the table top with interest. It wasn’t as if she’d never come into contact with an Alpha before, she had. It was that she’d never come into contact with this Alpha before and she liked to know her opponents, and for all intents and purposes, he was her opponent. Even if they were going to work together, side by side, his pack would always come first and not her sister’s welfare.
“So who’s going to mention the elephant in the room first?”Neve met his steely gaze with one of her own. He didn’t appear to be the kind that blinked first, but he did shrug just one shoulder. Lycans, she mentally rolled her eyes and bit down on saying it out loud.
“We came here so that you can tell me what I need to know about the Warlock, the Were, and the danger your little sister is in.”He growled across at her and it set her very skin to tingle mode. She didn’t like i
t one bit, but she knew she was going to have to live with it. Men, she rolled those eyes in her imaginings again. Wanting to say it aloud and yet…
“I don’t have a clue who the Warlock is.” She admitted and saw him tense slightly. “But I should be able to follow his magic trail once I’m up close and personal with it and the Werewolves…”The sound of his deep laughter caused her to stop and take him in. The way his jaw clenched and released as he ground down on it told her that he wasn’t happy with that idea. The laughter was just a cloak from which he could hide behind. She saw his nostrils flare as he scented the air, and the tightening of his large fists against the table top until his skin was white, and she knew exactly what he was feeling…
“None of you witches are getting up close and personal with the Were’s…”He offered her, by way of explanation when he noted that she’d stopped talking and was staring at him. Feeling suddenly stupid for his outburst, he eyed her until she felt the need to speak.
“Oh do tell, mighty Alpha…”Neve couldn’t keep her sarcasm at bay if she’d wanted too. The poor little female tag he’d labelled her with didn’t suit her sensibilities one bit, and she wasn’t about to become a victim to it. She saw the annoyance spark within his eyes and watched them grow darker with the anger that seeped into his blood and that amused her.
“We have males that can do that sort of thing…”Nero growled out. She almost spat out the mouthful of beer that she’d stupidly taken to wet the dryness in her mouth at him across the table. As it was she choked on it quite nicely instead.
“You went there…?”She swallowed down a hiccup and turned her nose up at the caveman opposite her.
“Yes I did.”He acknowledged. The growl getting deeper within his voice as his eyes got slightly darker.
“Well, what say you take a step back from that obsolete attitude and realise that the Fae don’t march to your particular beat of who has the biggest penis…”She saw his eyes flash with something that wasn’t anger, but he dropped his lashes down over them as he regarded the middle of the table for a long while. “I’m sorry. Does the word penis offend you?” She finally bit out. Patience had never been a favourite attribute of hers and she wasn’t about to clutch it to her breast now.
