Winning His Mate ( Lycan Romance )

by Briers, M L

  “Stand down, Shannon.”

  There was a rush within her that she could not have foreseen. Her grief over the past, for both her friend and for Billy’s death, tore through her like a tidal wave, and while she was trying to strengthen her shields, the magic grew stronger within her.

  Shannon’s eyes darkened to ebony as the energy became a fiery ball of plasma deep within her. It was unending, tightly ravelled, until he took a step towards her. Surges of energy started to unravel, like a plasma ball they shot out from its very core. She could feel the power building to a level that she had never felt before. When she had ended Billy, there had been a surge, but this felt different somehow and she was powerless to control it.

  “Lucas, leave.” Suddenly her body felt as if it were on fire, singed from within as she tried to pull back, bury the energy. Try to get it to dissipate, but it was no use, she had lost control. Her shields were wavering around her as the magic crackled and lashed out inside her.

  “Shannon.” Lucas could feel the fear come from her, scent it in the air. He knew it wasn’t him that she feared, but herself. He closed the distance between them, but she turned away. Her palms slapped down onto the brushed steel of the work bench and her fingers curled beneath her until her nails dug into her own flesh.

  “Don’t touch me!” She screamed out. Part fear for what she might do, what her magic might do to him, and part denial to herself that she couldn’t get this under control.

  Lucas got as close to her as he could without touching her. Leaning over her, he breathed against her ear. He let his wolf come to the surface and growled a warning at her.

  “Stand down.” His words were not his own. The wolf was in residence and was demanding that their mate submit to their will. “Shannon, hear me. Stand down.” The deep feral growl of his words reached out to her psyche, dominating her will, soothing her mind and body and forcing her magic to comply.

  Shannon’s mind was caught in the whirlpool of her emotional instability. Her magic was almost desperate to keep its foothold within her, to stoke the fire of her emotions, while the Alpha’s dominance poured water over the flames of her emotions, calming her mind and soothing her.

  Lucas could feel that she was winning the battle, when he made a grave mistake. He reached for her shoulder to offer her comfort. His fingers had barely connected with her body when the surge of energy still buried deep within her exploded through her body as her shields collapsed. It struck like lightning, shooting through her body and into his.

  Lucas felt the jolt go through him. Pain seared through every nerve ending. He was torn from where he stood and thrown across the room before he knew what was happening. The force of the strike propelled him into the storage shelves that lined the wall. The sound of splintering of wood echoed through the room, followed by the loud clatter of items hitting the floor around his body as he hit the floor. He lay there dazed, trying to shake his vision clear, but he could only make out the shape of his mate, as she fell to the floor a heartbeat before he lost consciousness.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Lucas’s head was beating out a tune that matched the solid pounding of his heart within his chest and throbbed through his ears. Slowly coming around to the realisation of what had happened. He forced his eyes open and found himself looking up at the destruction his body had caused by hitting the storage shelves, and the bright clean white of the ceiling.

  Shannon’s magic… His brain rumbled within him as his mind flashed to the last thing he had witnessed before he passed out. Shannon…

  Lucas spun his head to the side to look for her and felt the wave of dizziness wash through him as a tide of nausea peaked in his gullet. His eyes were still fuzzy, but he could make her out, sprawled lifelessly on the floor by the workbench.

  “Shannon!” The dryness in his throat made his voice croaky as he tried to push himself up on his elbows and found that he couldn’t. His whole body felt as though it had been drained of his Lycan strength, and he collapsed back down.

  Lucas’s protective nature wouldn’t allow him to quit. He needed to get to his mate. His senses were battered and the thumping within his ears meant he couldn’t even listen for the strength of her heartbeat within her. His wolf was all but despondent within him and he had never felt such an emotion from his beast, it made him feel off balance, less than what he was. But he had no time to analyse that as he rolled over onto his side. Ignoring the pain that tore through his weakened muscles, he started to drag himself towards his mate across the smooth tile on the floor.

  It felt as if he was trying to wade through quicksand and his own muscles were that quicksand. He placed one hand in front of him, brought one knee upwards and slowly climbed across the floor towards her. Every inch was torturous, not just to his body, but to his mind, his emotions. Not knowing if she was still alive, not being able to reach out to her with his abilities. Not to hear her heart beating within her tore at his very soul.

  Finally his hand touched her body, but it wasn’t enough, a barely there touch that caused his soul even more pain, as he brought his knee up one more time and pushed with everything he could muster until he was at her side.

  Lucas reached out his hand and found that it was shaking like the last autumn leaf that held on to the branch through the gusts trying to dislodge it. He wrapped his fingers around her top and pulled with all the strength he could still muster to turn her onto her back.

  Shannon’s body rolled towards him. Her head followed the momentum of her body’s movement and lulled to the side, finally coming to rest with her eyes open. She was staring unseeing at her mate, and Lucas’s breath caught in his throat on a half sob as he saw her eyes. Ebony black.

  Julius slammed the door of his old truck closed and rushed on aging legs towards Grace who stood outside Shannon’s shop. A look of distress was lodged firmly upon her face as she shuffled uneasily from one foot to the other.

  “What happened?” Julius demanded. He’d received her call not twenty minutes earlier and she sounded as if the hounds of hell were on her tail, and he’d tried to pacify her to get to the bones of the matter, but she was just too worked up to make much sense. He was hoping she’d calmed down some since then, but judging by the look of her, maybe that was a little too much to hope for.

  “Shannon and Lucas were in a standoff when Lucas made it clear I should leave.” Grace announced. Surprising clear minded Julius thought, considering the woman had more anxiety running through her right then than anyone he’d ever met in his life.

  “It must have been bad for you to call me…” Julius tried the door and found it locked.

  “It was.” Grace informed him, before adding. “He told me to lock up.” She sounded guilty, but for what he didn’t know. She’d done what Lucas had told her, that was smart, not something she needed to berate herself for.

  “No problem.” Julius grabbed the handle, put the side of his boot to the bottom of the door and pushed hard. Grace was distracting a passerby with a greeting as Julius made his unlawful entry into the shop, rushing to catch up with him when she realised he had disappeared into the shop and was making his way towards the back.

  The sound of silence greeted the pair and Julius scented the air, just in case they were interrupting the mates in a compromising position. Grace saw the way Julius’s eyes widened and then he was gone. The scent of blood, both Fae and Lycan making his heart pound within him as he practically tore the curtain down to get into the back.

  Grace followed him in. Her eyes immediately took in the destruction of the shelving on the far wall as Julius followed the scent of blood. Rushing around the side of the workbench, he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the mates on the floor. Lucas was propped halfway up the brushed steel frame with his back against the workbench, bloodied and battered and was holding his mate against his chest, her face pressed to the warmth of Lucas’s body as he cradled her in his arms.

  “Oh my…” Grace gasped out as she came around the bench and upo
n the site a moment after Julius. Following his gaze down as her hands flew to cover her mouth.

  “What the hell happened?” Julius was on his knees on the floor beside them in a heartbeat. He went to reach for Shannon, but he should have known better. Lucas’s wolf pushed to the forefront, his fangs descended and he snapped his jaws at the other Alpha. Using what little strength he was slowly recovering to tighten his hold on his mate.

  “Julius…” Grace warned and the older man pushed backwards away from them.

  “Easy, Lucas. I want to help Shannon.” He saw Lucas’s head lull back against the metal framework of the bench and could sense how weak the younger Alpha actually was. He reasoned that he could snatch Shannon and be gone before Lucas would get in any kind of a blow, and he didn’t believe that Lucas would be in any state to follow them either. But now was not the time.

  “Grace.” Lucas’s voice was croaky and he swallowed hard as if he were a man dying of thirst. His eyes closed repeatedly of their own free will, and he was struggling to keep hold of his mate.

  Grace moved around Julius’s large frame on the floor and knelt down in front of Lucas, she felt the fear within her, when he gave a low growl of warning to them both, but she pushed it aside.

  “Is she…?” Grace couldn’t get the word out as her eyes flicked towards Julius and he shook his head.

  “Her heart’s beating slow, but steady.” Julius saw the look of relief on Lucas’s face and realised that he’d had no idea how his mate actually was, what the hell could have done this?

  “Her eyes, Grace.” Lucas pushed out through the thirst in his throat and with the effort just to talk. He lowered his arm, almost in relief and let Shannon’s head roll away from his chest. Her head lulled around towards them and her eyes were still as black as ebony as she looked unseeing at Grace.

  The sheer shock made Grace shuffle backwards on the floor. The gasp of horror that left her lips grated like acid over Lucas’s nerves. He knew if this was Grace’s reaction to seeing Shannon’s eyes, then it had to be damn bad.

  “Christ, what the…?” Julius demanded as he turned his body towards Grace for answers, but kept his eyes firmly on Shannon as she lay motionless, her stare still fixed on Grace.

  “Dark magic.” Grace uttered the words as if just by saying them aloud she would bring the fires of hell down upon them.

  “Shannon doesn’t practice that kind of magic.” Julius bit out, disgusted by even the thought of it. He tore his eyes away from his daughter to glare at Grace accusingly, and she shook her head.

  “No. That’s not Shannon’s doing, she’s been spelled.” Grace almost whispered into the silence of the room. Two growls went up in unison. Julius’s was more forceful than Lucas’s.

  “What do we do?” Lucas’s words were almost a plea as he met Grace’s eyes, and the older Witch balked for want of knowledge, shaking her head back and forth for a long moment until Julius reached out and wrapped his fingers around her wrist.

  “Think, Grace. Calm and think.” Julius’s tone eased her. Grace didn’t use her shield that often, and she was too damn shocked with what had happened to even think about putting them up now. She let Julius’s words sooth her, taking long, deep calming breaths to try to sort through the minutiae in her mind.

  “We would need to know what the spell was for. Need to know who worked it. Need to know…” Grace couldn’t quite grasp everything in her own mind. She was still in shock from what had happened and it didn’t help that she couldn’t now tear her eyes away from Shannon’s black gaze. She was at a loss, she had only ever heard of this, she had never come across it in person and she needed to think, long and hard, about what they needed to do to help her.

  “Can we reverse the spell?” Julius’s pulse was raging within him, but his words were calm and soulful, trying to keep Grace on an even keel.

  Grace shook her head. “No. No, you can’t reverse a spell, only the witch that placed a spell can…” She started to tremble and closed her eyes, thinking harder.

  “How do we snap her out of it?” Julius asked determined to lead Grace to an answer, any answer that would help his daughter.

  “She’s in there Julius, we just need to reach her.” Grace rushed out her answer as she opened her eyes and focused on Julius. She felt stronger now, more assured in herself and her own knowledge of magic.

  “We need to get them home.” Julius was already pulling himself up on his feet. “I’m going to bring the truck around back, get the door open.” He informed Grace and it took her only a moment for his words to sink in before she was moving. Julius was already heading out of the shop.

  Lucas had finally allowed Julius to lift his mate into his arms and carry her from the shop. Shannon never made a sound as took her outside and placed her in the back seat of the truck. When he came back for Lucas, he found the Alpha trying to raise himself to his feet, as Grace fussed and berated his actions, but was powerless to stop him.

  Julius didn’t comment as he grabbed Lucas around the waist and hoisted him against his hip, half walking, half carrying the younger Lycan out to his mate.

  Grace hopped into the passenger seat and shot a look at them over her shoulder. Lucas already had Shannon back in his arms and was whispering to her in words that Grace couldn’t hear.

  Julius turned his head towards Grace just as she brought her eyes back around from watching the mates in the back seat. His eyes were dark with the emotions running through him, but Julius was more than in control of his beast.

  “What do you need, Grace?”

  “A full circle of witches, space and a few items that my girl’s can bring with them.” Before Grace had even finished talking Julius had fished his mobile out of his back pocket and was offering it to her.

  “Start calling around. We’ll meet on pack land, the sooner the better.” Julius informed her and she shook her head.

  “Under the peak of tonight’s moon, it isn’t a full moon, but we don’t want to wait that long. The darkness is squatting within her like a virus, the sooner the fever breaks the better.” Grace informed him and he just nodded back at her as he put the truck in gear and headed back out of town.

  Julius walked out onto the porch and handed Grace a mug of black coffee and she accepted it gratefully.

  “I put a little something in there to keep out the cold.” Julius warned her before she tasted the brew and she smiled at him.

  “I think I could do without the coffee and just drink half a bottle of whatever you put in here my old friend.” Grace informed him.

  He noted that her hands still shook from the shock of what had happened. He knew the toddy would cure that. He motioned for Grace to sit in one of the oversized wooden sun chairs and she accepted.

  Mug in hand and seated beside him she stared out at the stillness of the woods, its peacefulness and the instant effects of Julius’s toddy seemed to calm her mind a little more, and her hands.

  “I can’t believe one of my circle would do this.” Grace was more talking her thoughts out loud than talking to Julius, and he let her talk. “A dark Fae among us and I didn’t even see it.” Now that she was berating herself Julius felt the need to offer his words.

  “It isn’t always easy to find the bad apple, sometimes the skin is perfect. It’s not until you cut into it that you find the insides are rancid.” He watched her run a hand over her face, starting at her forehead and working downwards, as if she were trying to brush away the tiredness from within her, ease her own worries away.

  “I take it you didn’t invite her tonight?” Julius asked as Grace silently tried to retrace all of Natalie’s steps to where they were now, maybe if she had listened and not brought Shannon here…?

  “What?” Grace shook her head to clear her mind. “No. I called one of the solitaries that we are on good terms with.”

  “Will this hurt, Shannon?” Julius felt his heart ache within him just by asking the question, and he saw the concern in Grace’s eyes as she turned towards hi
m.

  “It’s not going to be pleasant for her Julius, and with yours and Lucas’s nature to protect her and keep her from harm, it would be best if you didn’t attend.” Grace warned him, but Julius shook his head.

  “Lucas yes, but I can keep my beast at bay. I’m older and wiser, or so they tell me.” He allowed himself a small smile, as much to ease Grace’s worry as to try to convince himself he could do this. He wasn’t about to let Shannon out of his sight.

  “I understand.” Grace placed her hand over his and gave him a knowing smile and he accepted their unspoken understanding of the matter.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Grace he did, in so far as he would trust anyone with Shannon’s safety right now. There were only two people in this town that he would trust with her life, one was her mate and the other was him, and that’s the way he intended to keep it.

  He didn’t know a lot about Dark Fae and Dark Magic, but if someone like Shannon could be corrupted by it, anybody could.

  Grace had left with the arrival of a nervous young witch. She informed Julius that she needed to prepare the ground, set the circle and start a fire for her cauldron in which she would start the basic spell for trying to force the dark magic to withdraw within Shannon, so that she could at least function properly.

  Julius still had hope that Grace’s circle could force the dark magic completely out of Shannon, but she firmly put paid to that idea. The only thing that could break the spell would be the lifting of it by the witch that had cast against Shannon, or the death of that witch.

  Julius walked back up the stairs to the main bedroom and pushed open the door. Shannon lay motionless in the bed just as he had left her when he first carried her in the room, and Lucas was slumped in the chair in front of the window, his head to one side and his eyes closed in rest as the early evening moon filtered through the window and cast a light over the young Alpha as he tried to pull on the moon’s power to regain his strength.