by M. L. Briers
Why would he know about magic? He was a shifter and with no time, need, or inclination to practice voodoo.
Maxi sighed. “One witch can’t undo another witch’s spell unless the said witch in question leaves a loophole and a backdoor into it. The only other way for a spell to be broken is if the witch dies…”
“Doable,” Jon tossed back and noted that the witches both tensed in anticipation of an attack. It appeared that they knew as much about shifters as he did about magic.
Jon felt his beast rise up within him, but the wolf didn’t want to attack the witches — it was a warning to him against action. Like he needed to be warned — he would rather cut out his own heart then attack a female that wasn’t trying to hurt one of his own.
Jon didn’t think that creating a pack of mate hunting wolves was a good reason to attack the witches — just yet.
“I wouldn’t try to bite off more than I could chew if I were you — you may choke on it,” Bree warned him off.
“Like your foot,” Maxi added and got a confused look back for her trouble.
“My foot?” The beta asked.
“I’m guessing you have a habit of getting it stuck in your mouth,” she shot back. She wasn’t best pleased that the man didn’t appreciate or recognize the oldest joke in history.
“Now that you mention it,” the vampire offered with a smirk and a chuckle at the man’s expense.
“Can we get back to the spell?” The alpha grumbled a growl. With his pack in disarray and prowling outside his cabin, he didn’t need bickering and sniping — he needed a fix.
“Yes, Bree,” Maxi said as she folded her arms and offered her friend a glare of annoyance. “Let’s get back to that spell.”
“Well…” Bree searched for something to say.
“I knew it!” Maxi snapped. She unfolded her arms and pointed an accusing finger at her friend. “You used one of Martha’s spells without bothering to read the quick fix.”
“That’s not entirely true…” Bree shot back.
“Go ahead — fix it!” Maxi tossed back at her as if it was a dare.
“When I say not entirely true — there wasn’t a quick fix,” Bree admitted, although she hated to do it.
Yep, she’d rushed to recreate the spell and try it out, she liked to practice new things, but the trouble was, she didn’t think she’d be around long enough to need a quick fix. Didn’t she feel silly?
“I take it that’s not good?” The alpha growled.
“Ya think?” Maxi snapped at him, even though she knew that it wasn’t his fault.
“Obviously, more than your friend does,” Mason tossed back. He was in no mood for a witchy hissing fit — he needed answers, and he needed them now. “So, what happens now?”
Both witches suddenly became fidgety, that was never a good sign in a female, and the fact that neither one could look in his direction also filled him with dread.
“I’m guessing by their reactions – you don’t want to know,” the vampire chuckled.
“Oh, I want to know,” Mason growled.
“There’s nothing for it…” Bree announced, and Maxi rushed to counter that claim.
“Oh no — no, you don’t.”
“If they really want the spell broken…”
“Broken? Speaking of broken — you know what will happen if you do that,” Maxi said on a huff as she folded her arms again and berated her friend with a death glare.
“Does somebody want to tell me what’s going on?” The alpha growled.
“I still don’t think you’re going to like it,” the vampire chuckled again. That sound was getting on the alpha’s nerves.
“No,” Maxi snapped.
“Yes, I…” Bree squealed when she felt the sting of her friend’s magic against her skin. “I don’t believe you did that!”
“I don’t believe you used one of Martha’s spells … again!” Maxi snapped back.
“You zapped me!”
“You deserved it!” Maxi snapped back.
“Witches,” the alpha growled with a small shake of his head in disbelief.
Mason was used to dealing with the females in his pack, and boy could they be a handful, but witches – these witches – they were a breed unto themselves and one that he didn’t think he’d ever understand – or want to try to.
The vampire’s chuckle reached him before his words did and the alpha tensed his body in annoyance and anticipation of wanting to kill the man once more. “I have a feeling it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better — if it ever gets better at all.”
The alpha probably couldn’t disagree with him there. Witches were trouble — and these two witches were no exception.
“I’m guessing the beta’s little joke about killing the witch that created the spell is looking more palatable now,” Jai said.
“Back off, leech,” Maxi hissed in defense of her friend.
“I think vampires have an aversion to fire,” Bree sneered at the man. “Shall we put that to the test?”
CHAPTER FIVE
~
“I’m game,” Jon chuckled.
Jai sneered at the beta in mock disbelief. “How quickly you change sides.”
“Makes your head spin, doesn’t it?” Jon chuckled.
“Okay, that’s enough,” the alpha growled. None of this was getting them anywhere. “Can we just get back to the problem at hand and what we need to do to fix it?”
“No!” Maxi snapped, and she pointed an accusing finger at her friend and warned her off with a glare.
“Fine,” Bree shrugged her shoulders up to her ears and let them drop again. “It’s their funeral…”
“Funeral?” All three men said as one.
“Just an expression,” Bree offered lightly as she turned a glare back on her friend.
“It’s not a good idea,” Maxi warned her.
“If you say so,” Bree shrugged again.
“I do!” Maxi huffed as she folded her arms and gave an emphatic nod of her head.
“Do what?” The alpha needed answers.
“What?” Maxi snatched her attention away from Bree and turned it onto the alpha.
“What’s not a good idea?” Mason demanded.
“Her plan of action,” Maxi said, and she motioned toward her friend with an absent wave. “Oh, do pay attention!”
“I do apologize,” Mason bit out in a dry tone and all the sarcasm that he couldn’t rally.
“That told you!” The vampire chuckled.
“Your presence is wearing thin,” Mason growled at the vampire.
“Funny, you weren’t saying that when I was saving your furry bacon,” Jai tossed back.
“You know, you can leave any time,” Mason grumbled.
“And they say witches have attitude,” Bree sniggered.
Mason turned a dark look in her direction. “Woman, you do not want to test my patience,” he growled.
“Watch it, alpha, threats might work on your pack — but we’re not your pack,” Maxi bit out.
“Who said it was a threat?” Mason growled back, but his wolf growled a warning at him in return.
While he may not have been slobbering and drooling at the prospect of sniffing the witches like the wolves outside the house — he had to wonder if their magic hadn’t affected his wolf in some way — it was acting rather strangely.
“Threatening poor helpless little women, shame on you, alpha,” Jai was enjoying himself. In fact; it was probably the most fun that he’d had in ages. Just the look on the alpha’s face when he turned to glare at him was priceless and worth the effort.
“Will somebody just tell me what’s not a damn good idea?” Mason demanded.
“Lighting a fire with petrol,” Jai offered with a big dollop of sarcasm.
“Out!” Mason growled and pointed at the front door just in case the vampire had any doubts.
“Huffy fit,” Bree muttered as she pressed her lips together until they turned white just to
hide the smile.
“Oh, huffy fit, is it?” Mason turned the full force of his glare upon the witch. “Why don’t you tell me your damn plan of action before I turn you upside down by the ankles and shake the answers I want out of you?”
“Really big huffy fit,” Maxi snorted a chuckle, but when she caught sight out of the corner of her eye of the beta leaning in toward her – she took a quick step to the side and eyed him with contempt. “What?”
“Nothing!” Jon snapped to attention. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him just then.
“You were … leaning.” Her tone was accusing, and he didn’t much care to be called out.
“I wasn’t…”
“Yes, you were,” she hissed back. “Were you going to – sniff – me?” Her top lip curled in disgust.
“Me?” Jon couldn’t really deny it, could he? After all, he’d been caught red-handed. “No!”
“Yes, you were…” She snapped back.
“No — I wasn’t!” He held his hands up to his chest in surrender, but it was the sheepish look on his face that gave him away.
“Were!”
“Wasn’t!”
“Was too…”
“Was not!”
“Pinocchio!” she snapped back, and the beta’s hand went up to his nose without his brain even being in gear. “See! Only a liar would check to see if his nose was growing.”
“You’re crazy!” Jon growled.
“Want me to read his mind?” The vampire offered.
Maxi snorted a chuckle of disbelief. “You don’t need to read his mind — he was leaning.”
“Is there a law against leaning?” Jon growled back.
“So, you admit you were leaning,” Maxi snapped.
“I admit to nothing,” Jon growled back.
“Don’t you dare sniff me,” Maxi hissed out in annoyance.
“Oh, trust me, witch — I have absolutely no intention of sniffing you,” he sneered back.
“Because that’s simply not the strangest conversation I’ve ever witnessed,” Bree chuckled and brought Maxi’s hard glare back to her again. Bree’s grin was innocent, but her eyes weren’t.
“Do not start with me,” Maxi hissed.
“Could somebody please just tell me the antidote for the spell?” The alpha growled and brought everyone’s attention back to him.
“A witch,” Bree said as she folded her arms and shrugged.
“Bree,” Maxi warned once more.
“There’s nothing to be done — we need to go to the source,” Bree told her what she already knew – what made the most sense – and yet, it was so wrong that it made Maxi itch.
“The source?” Mason asked. “The witch — Martha?”
“If anyone can come up with a quick fix for that spell then it would be the person that created in the first place,” Bree informed him.
“Fine — let’s get Martha,” Mason shrugged, but the sound of the groan that came from Maxi filled him with a sense of dread.
He had to wonder just how bad this Martha was and if the antidote to his pack’s troubles might just be worse than the cure.
CHAPTER SIX
~
“But, Martha, I need you,” Bree said with a little whine to her tone, into the handset of the phone and flicked a look in the alpha’s direction. The man was standing there with his arms crossed and a sour look on his face, and she just wanted it to stop.
Martha, as always, was proving to be somewhat annoying and reluctant to help. The elder didn’t like to leave her home too often — a trip to the shops once a week for supplies annoyed her so much that she fretted for a whole week before going again.
“Tell her that we’ll pay her for her time,” Mason grumbled.
“I’m not paying,” Bree shrugged.
“If it comes to that — I’ll chip in just for the fun of it,” the vampire added.
“I told you to leave,” Mason growled.
“But I know you didn’t mean it,” Jai tossed back with the kind of smirk on his face that made the alpha want to grab the back of his head and run his face into the nearest wall. He resisted the urge — only just.
“Yes, Martha, it’s amazing how your hearing works when you need it to — payment,” Bree bit out.
“Her going rate plus a bonus if she can find a backdoor into your meddling, devious, mischievous evil and nefarious spell and cancel it out,” Mason bit out.
“I really don’t think now is the time to be apportioning blame…” Bree said with all the innocence of a schoolgirl. Unfortunately, that act was lost on the alpha.
“Just get the woman here now,” Mason growled.
“Before there’s any more – leaning,” Maxi bit out as she shot another look at the beta just to make sure that he wasn’t getting any closer than was necessary to her.
“You will?” Bree said into the handset and looked rather surprised. “As fast as you can.” She snapped off the connection and turned to hand the phone to the alpha.
“It’s amazing what a little money dangled in front of a witch can do,” Mason grumbled. He saw the look of disbelief that took over the witch’s face and groaned inwardly.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Bree demanded as she placed her hands on her hips, tipped her head to one side, and eyed him like he was something that she’d just stepped in.
“Mercenary,” Mason growled back.
“I think I speak for all witches when I say…” She zapped him.
“Here we go again,” Maxi grumbled as she face-palmed her hands. Life with Bree was certainly never dull.
“First you come onto our land with your nefarious, devious ways…” the alpha growled, and Maxi opened her fingers in order to peep out at what was going on – just in case things started to get rather ugly. “And then you make me rescue you from my pack, only to zap me…”
“I’ve been a busy girl,” Bree shot back and the alpha grumbled a growl. “And I didn’t ask you to rescue me – not that it was much of a rescue – because I would home drinking wine and reading a perfectly good book by now if you hadn’t of snatched me up and carried me off like some sort of caveman…”
“Caveman!” Mason growled. “You wouldn’t have made it off pack land.”
“Would have with bloody bells on!” She hissed back, and Maxi groaned.
“Is she always like this?” Jon asked, leaning in, and Maxi dropped her hands from her face and scowled at the beta.
“Back off, leaning boy,” she hissed, and Jon pulled back.
“I was just asking a question,” he grumbled.
“Forgive me if I trust ye not,” she snapped back.
The beta rolled his eyes in his head and turned his attention back towards Mason. The man looked as if his head might just explode on his neck, and that wasn’t good for anyone – especially if the alpha’s wolf decided that it wanted out.
“Well, what’s done is done – suck it up…” Mason growled, and Bree snorted her contempt for him.
“You mean like the spell?” she sneered.
“No, I don’t mean the spell,” Mason tossed back as he matched her sneer.
“What’s good for the goose,” Bree said, waving an absent hand in his direction.
“Is fair game for the wolf?” Jai offered.
“Didn’t the alpha tell you to leave?” Bree bit out, turning her annoyance on the vampire.
“But he didn’t mean it,” Jai grinned.
“Didn’t I?” Mason growled.
“And now you’re being controlled by the witch that spelled your pack?” Jai tossed up his hands.
“What?” Mason growled in disbelief.
“No – no, do her bidding for her – don’t mind me, the man that rescued you from raging waters when you were a child and saved your backside…”
“Oh, Goddess,” Maxi bit out, dropping her face back against her hands once more. “Make it stop.”
“What’s it worth?” Jon chuckled, teasing the witch.
> Maxi dropped her hands and glared at the beta. “Not a damn sniff, so back off,” Maxi hissed out.
“Hey, I’m not interested,” Jon lied, raising his hands in front of his chest and shrugging his broad shoulders.
“How long until Martha gets here?” Maxi hissed at her friend.
“Can’t come soon enough,” Mason said and followed it up with a grunt of annoyance.
“You are just the most disagreeable person that I have ever met in my entire life,” Bree snapped at the alpha.
“You don’t know yourself well at all then,” Mason shot back without missing a beat – and she zapped him again, but this time; she added a shrill squeal that made the alpha’s teeth stand on edge and his ears hurt.
“Well, isn’t this nice?” Jai said as he clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Everybody getting to know each other.”
“You are so cruising towards death,” Mason growled.
“Me?” Bree shrieked in disbelief, and the alpha shot a sideways glare at her as she drew in a hard breath and looked as if she was getting ready to go into a hissy fit of her own.
“What is it with you?” Mason bit out in disbelief.
“Me?” Bree snorted a chuckle of disbelief. “Ha!”
“You can’t answer, can you? Because you just don’t see what a damn nightmare you are.”
“Oh, I’m a nightmare,” Bree tossed back. “Well, take a long, hard look in the mirror, baby, because you’re no bloody saint yourself.”
“At least I don’t go around spelling innocent people…”
“No, you just eat them!” Bree shot back.
“I wanna go home now,” Maxi whined.
“I do not eat people!” Mason growled back as he turned his body towards the witch and stood there – toe to toe with her.
“Just chew on them a little?” Bree shot back. “Enough for your wolf to have a taste and then spit them out?” she gave him a sideways glare.
“Woman…” He warned. His wolf wasn’t happy. The beast didn’t take the accusation lightly, and it tried to rise up within him.
“Don’t you dare woman me – Wolf-man…” she tossed back with enough venom in her tone for twenty snakes.
