by M. L. Briers
He just couldn’t catch a break.
~
“So, he ran you off the road?” Bree said, and she eyed the new witch as if the woman was about to sprout snakes in place of her hair and unleash an unholy plague upon the world.
Mason grumbled a growl of annoyance. “I did not…”
“Vampire,” Kelly tossed back.
“Annoying, isn’t he? But the bloodsucker is fun, and he dishes the dirt rather nicely.” Bree offered the alpha a smirk and saw the twitch start just under his right eye; she liked that twitch, it was a dead giveaway to his emotions.
“What dirt?” Mason growled.
“You’ll find out,” Bree said in a singsong tone that riled the man and his beast up. Then she absently waved a hand behind her at Kelly’s Jeep. “Well, that’s not going anywhere…”
Mason snapped to attention. “Oh, yes it is, and she’s going with it.” He lifted a hand and pointed at Kelly, just in case there was any confusion. Although, if he got rid of them both; it would be a bonus, and would make his day.
“And they say females are irrational,” Bree snorted a chuckle at the witch, but the woman was still fuming with anger and didn’t want to play along.
“Now, listen here…” Mason rallied towards her, and Bree dismissed him with another wave of her hand.
“Yes, yes – you’re big, you’re strong, and you’re the alpha, we get it. But, that car is dead…”
“Like the vampire,” Kelly bit out.
“Long since dead,” Bree chuckled. “No?” She looked for even a twitch of humor on the woman’s lips and was disappointed to find nothing. “Sense of humor meltdown. I understand, being around these men is enough to test any witch’s patience.”
Mason grumbled another growl. “Can we just get to the part where you offer the witch a lift, and you both go away?”
“Leave?” Bree made a show of considering it. “No, that won’t do. I have some of Maxi’s things in my car, and a woman really should have her things around her.”
“I’ll…”
“Now, I hope you’re not going to say that you’ll take those rather personal feminine things to your beta’s mate,” Bree cautioned him, “because that wouldn’t do, now would it?”
“Well…”
“Don’t strain a brain cell for an answer, alpha,” Bree teased him and offered him a wickedly evil grin.
Mason turned away and bit out a curse. It wasn’t just his day that had gone from bad to worse – it was his whole damn life.
“Good,” Bree announced. “Then she’s coming back to pack land with me.”
CHAPTER FIVE
~
“She’s what now?” Mason growled in disbelief.
“I’m what now?” Kelly’s voice had a shrill-like quality to it, and the alpha winced.
“Oooo, in stereo!” Bree chuckled.
“The hell she is!” the alpha ground out.
“The hell I am!” Kelly hissed.
“Are you two going to start finishing each other’s sentences soon?” Bree chuckled and watched them as they turned disgusted looks on each other. “You could get a room?”
Mason snapped his jaws shut and a glare back to Bree, and she snapped a bright, beaming smile on her lips that was teasing and as annoying as hell. “Bree, I will kill you!”
“Sure – you won’t, because then you’ll have to explain to Maxi why you have my blood and guts all over you.”
“You paint a tempting picture,” Mason growled.
“Here’s another – Maxi making your life hell for the rest of your miserable existence.”
“Where’s the downside?” Mason grumbled.
“Me, haunting you right into forever – right by your side until the end of time, bringing my own brand of personal joy and comfort to you for all eternity,” Bree smirked.
“There is that,” Mason bit out. “And they say there’s no hell.”
“Are you getting all religious on me, alpha?”
“No, the church is wrong – this is hell right here, and I’m looking at it.”
“Then close your eyes,” Bree shrugged. “Or suck it up, because she’s coming with me, and I’m going home with you.”
“Not with me…”
“Semantics,” Bree shrugged with glee, she knew that she’d won the point.
The alpha knew deep down that he should put his foot down, but what he also knew was that; he just couldn’t leave the little witch out on the side of the road with a broken down car, and he didn’t trust her to be on her way when she got a tow.
Knowing his luck, she’d get towed right back to town and then something would happen to make her stay permanently, and he’d be left with another mischief maker on his hands.
That just wouldn’t do.
“Say yes, alpha because you know it’s happening,” Bree teased him. She even pushed out her bottom lip and offered him a sympathetic look that made him grumble a growl as he shuffled on his feet and muttered dark curses.
“Yes…”
“See!” Bree announced with glee. “Easy, peasy, lemony squeezy.” She shrugged her shoulders, and the alpha grumbled another growl. “Sourpuss.”
“All damn wolf, no cat in my DNA,” he grumbled as he turned on his heels and went to start back across the road to his pickup.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Bree called after him, and he stopped in place, started to count to ten in annoyance, but didn’t turn back.
“The fact that I don’t want to go?” Kelly offered in disbelief and heard the alpha groan.
“Good one,” Bree said and dismissed her protest. “The stuff in your trunk won’t lift itself into the back of my car. Now, where could I find an alpha male that doesn’t think it’s okay for a female to be lifting heavy…?”
“Fine,” Mason growled as his beast kicked his guilt gene into gear. He turned and started for the Jeep, mumbling and growling to himself.
“Yes, he is,” Bree whispered to Kelly as she watched the muscle man stalk away. “It’s a shame he’s a wolfman, don’t you think?”
Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she turned her attention on the witch. Kelly might have been wearing a scowl, but there was also the flicker of interest in her eyes.
One side of Bree’s lips turned upward as she thought about all the fun that she could have – if only she hadn’t of sworn off silly spells. But, then she wondered what constituted a silly spell and not a regular good spell – that was something that she was going to have to consider in some depth.
She liked a good rationalization as much as the next witch – now, how could she rationalize turning off the witchy wards that the new witch had tightly wrapped around her body and opening her up to a world of possibilities?
After all, the vampire had told her that the alpha’s worst nightmare was a pack full of witch mates.
Bree lifted her hand and tapped her index finger against her lips as she watched the rather enticing view of the alpha’s muscles working overtime as he scooped up as many things as he possibly could in one go from the back of the witch’s Jeep and started towards Bree’s car.
“A hand wouldn’t go amiss,” Mason grumbled as he nodded to the closed boot.
Bree started a slow clap. “Well done for the stereotypical display of manhood,” she called, and when Kelly sniggered but started towards him to help, she beamed a happy smile of excitement.
A helpful witch – an unsuspecting alpha – and a pack of possible mates – what could go wrong?
CHAPTER SIX
~
Jon did a double take at the alpha as Mason unfolded his large body from the pickup truck with a face like thunder and an attitude to match. He slammed the driver’s door behind him and stalked to the house with his fists balled at his sides. His chin was angled down, his eyes were dark and glaring back at the beta, and Jon was about to ask what was going on when Bree’s car came down the drive.
Enough said.
“Are you happy?” Mason g
rowled as he drew closer to the beta.
“Happy?”
Mason grunted and grumbled. “Being mated — are you happy?”
Jon was unsure of the line of questioning — of course, he was happy, he’d found his mate — but what did that have to do with anything? “Like a Wolf at the sight of the full moon,” he shrugged.
“You don’t feel like killing anything?” Mason was almost at the front door.
“Well, not at this very minute…”
“Good — you can deal with them!” Mason growled long and hard as he stomped into the house and slammed the door behind him. The windows rattled in their frames, and Jon’s amusement level rose higher as he turned his attention toward Bree’s car.
He had to wonder what that meddlesome witch had been up to now, but whatever it was; it had riled up the alpha again. And Mason had so been looking forward to getting rid of Bree.
Now she was back, and she’d brought a friend. He could see why the alpha was miffed.
With two little honks on the horn, Bree drew the car up in front of the house, stuck her head out of the window, and hooked a thumb over her shoulder at the contents in the back of the vehicle. “Well, don’t just stand there, a lot of what’s in the back is your mate’s belongings.” She informed him as Maxi swept out of the house and down the porch steps — clapping with glee.
“My stuff!” Maxi headed toward the back of the car. With a sideways glance at Bree, and noted the woman at her side. She ground to a halt, took a couple of steps back, frowned, and bent at the waist a look in. “How quickly I’m replaced.”
Jon strolled up to his mate and bent to stare in at the new witch. “You brought home a stray.” He cocked an eyebrow at the new witch who was glaring back at him.
“Lunch for the vampire,” Bree teased with a small jab of her elbow into Kelly’s upper arm. The witch snorted in disgust.
“This is where the vampire lives?” Kelly asked.
“Not exactly — but he visits a lot,” Bree said with a smile of satisfaction that spread across her lips. Kelly grunted and looked past Bree to Maxi.
“Is that vampire here now?” she asked.
“I haven’t seen him — but then I’ve been occupied.” Maxi offered her mate a big, beaming smile.
“We can imagine — we don’t need the gory details,” Bree said, and leaned in toward Kelly a little as if sharing a secret. “New mates.”
Kelly grunted again. “Lucky him — poor her,” she offered back to Bree, but the beta snapped to attention, grunted, and stalked to the back of the car while he mumbled under his breath.
“So, are you just collecting stray witches, or is there a reason she’s here?” Maxi asked. She folded her arms, thrust out a hip, and offered the new witch and unimpressed look.
“Jai ran her off the road, and her car is…”
“Dead!” Kelly bit out in annoyance. “A bit like the vampire.”
“So, call her a tow, pat her on the head, and send her on her way,” Jon grumbled. “Or are you planning on starting a witchy coven?”
“Is there another kind of coven?” Bree tossed back as she climbed out of the car and started towards the beta. “Not that one!” she snapped as he reached for a box. “That’s Kelly’s.”
“Why would you have the witch’s things in the car?”
“Would you prefer I leave them on the side of the road where anyone could steal them?” Bree tossed back.
He took a long moment to think about that before he answered. “Well, no…”
“There you go then Scooby Doo,” Bree tossed back with a gleeful look in her eyes and a teasing smile that annoyed him.
“Can you not call me that?”
“Sorry,” Bree offered him a little shrug and a small grimace. “Do you prefer Mutley?”
Jon grumbled a groan as he reached in for a different box. “No.”
“Snoopy?” Bree leaned in and slapped his hand. “Not that one.”
“Well, why don’t you point out the boxes that are Maxi’s.”
Bree pulled her upper body away from him and offered him a look of surprise. “My goddess, you’ve only been mated a few days, and you’re already finding your feminine side.”
Jon screwed up his face and grumbled a growl within his broad chest. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Using logic — Mr. Spock would be impressed…”
“Star Trek?” Jon grunted. “Isn’t Mr. Spock male?”
“That’s why they call him Mr…”
“And therefore you just blew your whole argument out of the water…”
“How so?”
“He is male…”
“He’s also an alien,” Bree said with a scathing look up and down his body. “I suppose that applies to you.”
“Which boxes?” Jon growled.
“Exactly,” Bree shot back, and the beta turned toward her, twisted his head on his neck, and questioned her with a hard glare
“Huh?”
“Witch boxes…”
“That’s what I asked.”
“That’s what I said.”
Jon grunted a growl. “I’m not playing,” he grumbled.
“Grumble bunny,” Bree tossed back with a snort of amusement.
“Go and annoy someone else,” Jon grumbled.
“You’re no fun.” Bree lifted her hand and pointed out the boxes, and Jon reached for the first one. “Speaking of fun, where did the alpha go?” Bree chuckled.
“I like playing with Jon, not the alpha, so,” Maxi said with a wicked grin that made her mate offer a growl of a different kind.
“Ha! Look at that; Snoopy perked right up,” Bree chuckled.
“It’s no wonder the alpha took off,” Jon grumbled another growl at the witch as he tossed her a dark glare, snatched up a couple of boxes from the back of the car, and started off for the house with his mate in tow.
“While the alpha’s away,” Bree muttered to herself. “The witch will most definitely play.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
~
“What are you doing?” Maxi asked as she stalked out onto the porch and found Bree muttering to herself as she twisted what looked like a strand of hair around her index finger.
Bree snapped a look in her friend’s direction, and she frowned as she dropped her hand to her side.“Me?” Bree tried for innocent and couldn’t pull it off.
“No, the man in the moon,” Maxi snapped back.
“Good eyesight,” Bree said, looking to the sky where the moon was just coming into view in the remnants of the day.
“I won’t be distracted,” Maxi said. She knew only too well how her friend played the game, and she wasn’t falling for it. She tossed her hands onto her hips and waited.
“So, I take it your mate is a real stud in bed?” Bree said and noted the faraway look of distraction in her friend’s eyes.
“Well…” Maxi started. Then she mentally slapped herself around the back of the head and gave herself a kick up the backside. She’d been distracted. “Not the point…”
“So, a disappointment?” Bree said with a look of sympathy and downcast eyes.
“No, he’s not!” Maxi snapped back and then realize that she’d been distracted again. “Bree!” Maxi bit out in annoyance.
“I got you twice,” Bree said, as she brought her gaze back up to Maxi with a big wide grin of victory.
“Spill!” Maxi demanded. She folded her arms, set her determination level not to be distracted again on super high willpower mode, and waited for her friend to give up the goodies.
Bree sighed. “Oh, fine,” she grumbled as she rolled her eyes skyward and prepared to fess up. She knew her race was run and Maxi was in stubborn mode. She held up her index finger and shrugged.
“That had better not be one of mine,” Maxi bit out in annoyance at the sight of the hair twisted around the tip.
“What do you take me for?” Bree tossed back.
“Let’s not go there — I value o
ur friendship too much,” Maxi said, enjoying the small victories that she could claim against her friend.
Bree snorted. “It’s not one of yours — it’s red’s.”
“Who’s red?” Maxi asked, and it Bree hooked a thumb over her shoulder back at the house. “Kelly?”
Bree shrugged again. She could see that Maxi was confused and trying desperately to work things out, just by the way that the witch fidgeted on her feet, and questioned everything with a hard glare. “Explain,” Maxi demanded.
“I just thought…”
“That would be a first.”
“Do you want to hear this?” Bree shot back. Maxi nodded. “Wouldn’t it be fun if the alpha had two witches in his pack?”
Maxi’s mouth opened as her jaw slowly dropped downward toward her chest. She eyed Bree from under her long lashes as she slowly drew a deep breath into her lungs, and Bree knew her friend was getting ready to go in to bat. “Bree…”
“Look on the bright side; you’d have a conspirator to play with when I’m not here.” Bree cut her off in the hope of easing her annoyance.
“No, that’s not a bright side…”
“Oh, jealous much? You want to be the only witch in the pack?” Bree tossed back.
“What?” Maxi’s voice went up the pitch or two.
Bree grimaced. “I didn’t realize you were so predatory — must be rubbing off from the beta.”
Maxi changed her stance and lifted her hand to point an accusing finger at her friend. “That’s not…”
“Well, if that’s the way you want it,” Bree said, starting to unwind the strand of hair from around her finger.
The only trouble was — Bree might have been unwinding the hair, but she wasn’t unwinding the spell. Not that Maxi noticed because she was too busy huffing and muttering under her breath.
Bree smiled to herself — and that was how you distracted Maxi.
~
Kelly felt the strangest feeling wash over her. It was as if something magical had tested her wards and the cloak of her shield that she’d woven tightly around her body and was guarding her true scent with a mixture of other flowery things from nature that hid it well – well, we enough, unless someone was determined to sniff like an idiot, and she thought she’d notice that.
