by Briers, M L
Max took Doug completely off his feet in a full body tackle that had the pair of the rolling together over the dirt, fists flying in the tangle of arms and legs as both men tried to pummel each other. Lisa shook her head on a sigh as she looked up to see Darby looking down at the idiot males fighting.
Maybe she was working on the wrong person? She thought happily.
“So I’m guessing you were on your way somewhere, because you don’t live around here.” Lisa stabbed the carving fork into the sizzling slab of beef that sat hissing and spitting within the meat tin, fresh out of the oven and ready to stand for a while before carving.
Darby heard the metal prongs hit the tin beneath the meat and raised a brow towards the woman, was that supposed to be some kind of warning for her to open up, spit it out, and dish the dirt? She would be sorely mistaken, the less anyone here knew about her the better for her chance at a clean getaway, at least that’s what she figured.
“Been somewhere and was going home.” Darby informed her, offering no more information than she needed to give.
“And where is home?” Lisa asked, dropping the roast meat down on a plate and turning her eyes to Darby.
“Look, Lisa. If we start the twenty questions thing, then I’m going to have to do a spell to take away your memory…” Darby offered on a half whisper, as she leaned her elbows on the counter top and angled her upper body towards the nosey woman.
“You can do that?” Lisa asked, a deep frown appearing on her forehead. Darby could see it worried her.
“Yep. But with those kinds of spells, things can sometimes go wrong…” Darby grimaced dramatically and rolled her eyes for extra effect, and she could see that Lisa was buying every word.
“Like what?” Lisa whispered back.
“Well, you might not remember who your mate is…” Darby offered and Lisa’s eyes went wide with shock.
“No?”
“Yes…” Darby thought she might as well lay it on as thick as she could for her. “Or your own name…” Darby leaned in closer and Lisa followed suit, “there was actually a woman once who didn’t know how to speak, never spoke again to this day.” Darby informed her and she watched as Lisa’s hand went to her throat. Obviously the thought of never talking again was more disturbing to Lisa at that moment than anything else.
“That’s awful…” She hissed back and Darby nodded her agreement.
“And we wouldn’t want that happening to you…” Darby rationalised and Lisa hissed in a long breath as she shook her head.
“Oh no.” Lisa said with a solid shake of her head. Lifting her finger to her lips she smiled back at Darby. “Mum’s the word.” She told her, and it made Darby want to chuckle, she liked it when people were that easy to manipulate, it took all of the work out of being evasive.
“What’s this?” Mike, the second Beta, strolled towards the car jigsaw, his eyes taking in the scattered parts, and his two pack brothers working. “Are we taking on repairs now?”
Doug looked up just as Mike caught a scent on the air, he faltered in his step, turned his nose up at the familiarity of the odour and then narrowed his eyes on the car.
“Max got a little carried away on someone’s car…” Doug offered, the amusement rippling into a smile.
“Fae.” Mike spat out in disgust. His wolf was already on alert within him. His eyes took in a wide area around the cabin and the clearing looking for signs of the witch.
“Yes, she is.” Doug shot a look towards Max to see if he was going to clarify the situation for his Beta, but Max seemed more caught up in what he was doing than actually paying any attention to the conversation, and Doug knew from his own time of feeling the mating call that Max would be preoccupied with all things Darby for a while.
“Why the hell do we have a Fae on our land?”
“Well Max and I went to run her out of town, and she was doing a pretty good job in leaving, when our Alpha here decided to chase her down and mangle her car.” Doug shot Max another look, he seemed to be rallying to show at least a spark of interest in the conversation now.
“Did he attack the witch?” Doug noted the pleasure that the thought seemed to create within his friend and wondered at it. Mike had never been a supporter of the Fae, even before the troubles that they’d had with them, and he had played an active part in running them all out of town, but he’d never shown that amount of pleasure for his duty before.
The sound of the warning growl that came from Max told Doug that his Alpha had been following the conversation. Mike’s eyes snapped to his Alpha, a look of surprise gave way to a look of confusion on Mike’s face as he watched Max pull his body up to his full height. He stood nearly a head taller than the younger wolf.
“Watch what you say.” The protective nature of man and beast for their mate was evident in the deep growl of Max’s voice and the darkening of his eyes as he glared at his Beta.
Mike dropped his arms to his sides and for a long moment Doug saw the challenging posture of the younger Lycan towards his Alpha. He knew the Beta had a natural alpha tendency within him, which was one of the reasons he had argued against Mike becoming a Beta within the pack. But Max had his loyalty, at least for now, but they both suspected that one day Mike would either challenge Max for leadership of the pack or he would leave to start his own pack. Doug wondered if that day would come sooner rather than later.
“The Fae is Max’s mate.” Doug delivered the news and watched for the reaction of the Beta. The wide flare of his nostrils, the flicker of anger that widened his eyes, and the tension in his body that saw his hands fist slightly at his sides, while his muscles tensed, told Doug all he needed to know. He’d need to watch this young Alpha in the making around Darby, just in case.
“You’re going to claim a Fae mate?” There was an upturn to his top lip as he sneered the words. The disgust was evident in his whole persona, and Doug didn’t like it one bit.
Personally he had nothing against the Fae, at least, not the Fae in general. The one’s that had been in town had caused their pack trouble, and that he wouldn’t stand for. But as a general rule of thumb he could get along with anyone who wasn’t a threat to his world or the people in it.
“No.” Max didn’t sound completely certain, at least not in Doug’s mind, and he thought that Mike might have picked up on that as well, given the way he was looking at his alpha.
“Then she’ll be on her way?” Mike’s wolf seemed a little too close to the surface for Doug’s liking. What the hell did the Beta think he was doing questioning his alpha in that manner?
“Perhaps we should wait and see what happens, but in the mean time, Mike. That’s the business of the mates and not ours. If the alpha claims his mate…” Doug was trying to put a stop to the younger Beta making a damn fool of himself, it didn’t appear to be working.
“Then we’ll have a damn Fae within the pack, it’s unacceptable…” Mike sneered. Max was standing in front of his Beta in an instant. His wolf had flashed to the surface within him and it showed, just by his stance why he was the alpha. Everything about him screamed for submission, as he leaned down over his Beta and challenged him to put up or shut up.
CHAPTER FOUR
“That Fae is my mate and you will show respect for her…” Doug tensed with the realisation that this was going to go one of two ways, either they were going to tear chunks out of each other, or Mike would do the smart thing and back down. “And whether I claim her or not, she is still part of this pack and you will show the necessary reverence for that.”
Doug felt his own wolf react to his alpha’s words and stance, which was what made him a good Beta, but he could see that the young wolf was having trouble keeping his own temperament in check.
“I meant no disrespect to your mate.” Mike finally pulled it together and bowed to his alpha’s will. Taking a step back and showing his submission to his alpha’s dominance by tipping his head to one side to bare his neck to the dominant wolf, as his eyes dropped to the grou
nd between them.
Doug couldn’t help but notice that Mike’s hands still twitched towards fists at his side, but Max seemed satisfied with his show of respect.
“You should stay away from here until the car is fixed and she is on her way.” Max informed his Beta. Mike’s curt nod and subsequent backing away from the situation he had brought upon himself left Doug with a bad feeling that he didn’t want to be having about another member of the pack.
When Mike had taken his leave, Max’s wolf pulled back and Doug watched his friend ease back into his human persona in a slow progression, almost as though his wolf hadn’t been entirely satisfied by Mike’s offerings either.
“I think we’re going to have to keep an eye on that young wolf while Darby is here.” Doug offered. The way Max’s shoulders tensed let him know that he hadn’t been the only one with a bad feeling about it.
“I think you’re right.” Even though it pained Max to say it, he had seen the same thing in his young Beta that Doug obviously had, and for the first time he knew that he couldn’t trust Mike to follow his orders. It was a sad day, but it was one that he knew would come, when his young Beta’s wolf would follow his alpha instincts over his true alpha’s words.
“You’ll have to keep her close, Max.” Doug stated what Max already knew, and damn it if it wasn’t the last thing he needed to hear. The closer he stayed to Darby the more the mating call would claim his body and hers.
“Maybe you and Lisa could…?” Max knew his damn wolf wouldn’t leave her side, not if she was in danger, but he could patrol around Doug’s cabin all night and not have to share space with her.
“Are you nuts, Lisa would kill me, you know she wants you to mate with Darby, right?”
“And what about you, Doug, where does your a allegiance lie in all of this?”Max thought he already knew. Doug didn’t have a problem with the Fae, not in the way Mike did. He’d pretty much seen Doug’s stance on the whole issue from the moment that Doug had protected Darby back at the car, before that even, when he had tried to dissuade him from challenging her in the first place.
Max wondered for a long moment on the irony of him listening to his Beta this morning. If he hadn’t gone to town to challenge her he would never have met his mate. She would have been long gone from here and none of this would be happening. That just made his head hurt.
“Look, Max. I know you’re not fond of the Fae after what happened with the pack, but before that, you didn’t have a problem with them. Darby is Fae, but she’s also your mate. Those two things have to be weighed accordingly.
I have to wonder, if the trouble with the local Fae hadn’t of happened, would you be doing back flips and pulling out all the stops to woo your mate now? If the answer is yes, then you owe it to Darby and yourself to reconsider denying your mate.” Doug gave him a poignant look that challenged his mind as much as his words had. In truth Max had been asking himself those exact same questions.
“You know I would have tried to woo her the moment I scented who she was…” Max shoved his hands deep inside the pockets of his jeans and rested his backside against the front wing of the car.
“Then what’s the problem?”Doug tossed the question out there as if he couldn’t see one.
“She’s Fae…” Max growled.
“She’s your mate. Fae, vampire, or Lycan, it shouldn’t make a difference man.” Doug shook his head.
“Then why does it?”
“Because, you’re letting it, you’re over thinking it. She’s your mate, end of story start of a new chapter in life.”Doug assured him and he saw the dark cloud lift slightly from over Max’s head. His eyes brightened in amusement as Max looked up under his brow at him, a slow smile creeping over his face.
“When did you get to be so wise?” Max teased and Doug shuffled on his feet.
“When you started acting like an idiot…” Doug informed him, and then a smug smile crept onto his own face. “…Which was probably around the time you were chasing her car down the middle of the damn road, looking like a wolf after a rabbit.” Doug started pumping his arms and legs, running on the spot, and grinning wildly.
“That’s not funny.” Max growled as he watched his Beta dissolve into tearful enjoyment of his past predicament.
“Oh damn, but it was.” He chuckled, pulling a face and pumping his arms and legs again. “Run rabbit, run rabbit, run…” Doug chuckled, but Max was on him in an instant with a full body tackle that took them both off their feet in a tangle of arms and legs. Both men swinging wildly as they came up for air.
“You’re really annoying me today…” Max growled as he landed a tame punch in his Beta’s ribs.
“You punch like a damn girl…” Doug spat out on a chuckle as he returned the blow.
“So much for getting my car fixed!” Darby shouted out over the mayhem that she encountered. Placing her hands on her hips and tipping her head to the side, questioning their activities. She raised just one brow and watched as the two of them pushed each other away in an effort to get to their feet.
“Just a difference of opinion…” Doug chuckled, looking as sheepish as her mate did.
“About who gets to beat things up with the hammer next?” Darby scolded as she teased, and the pair of them shrugged.
“Something like that.” Max offered, flicking his eyes to Doug, as if sharing a secret between them.
“Lisa wanted me to tell you two that dinner’s ready, best to clean yourselves up, or don’t you two have the manners for that?” Darby was spinning on her heels before either one could offer a reply.
Max looked at Doug who looked as perturbed as he felt. “Why do I feel like I’m five and caught with my hand in the cookie jar?” Max frowned in his confusion.
“That’s a mate thing, you’ll get used to it.” Doug slapped him on the back, harder than was necessary, but Max wasn’t paying him that much attention, he was still pondering how Darby had managed to subdue his alpha wolf in the manner that she had.
Doug shoved a forkful of food into his mouth and savoured the flavour of his mate’s cooking along with the atmosphere around the table. It was priceless to watch the two new mates cautiously eyeing each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking, and when their eyes did manage to meet, both rapidly looked away. Doug wanted to chuckle, but he didn’t want to break the mood between them.
“You really are a wonderful cook, Lisa.” Darby announced, taking them by surprise when someone actually spoke out loud, and it took Lisa a moment to get her bearings, lost in her own enjoyment of the mates playing a mating dance.
“Oh, thank you, Darby. It’s nice to be appreciated.” She smiled, before flicking a glare at her own mate who swallowed hard, realising her meaning.
“Fabulous as always, love.” He offered, nearly choking on whatever was lodged in his throat.
“Suck up.” Max threw across the table at his beta, before her turned his attention towards Lisa. “Fantastic meal, Lisa.” He offered and she smiled under her alpha’s praise, before shooting another glare at her mate.
“What’s with the death stare?”Doug looked perplexed, “I said it was a fabulous meal.” He added, unsure what he had done wrong this time.
“With some prompting.” Lisa acknowledged.
“I said it before he did.” Doug spat out, motioning towards his grinning friend across the table. Darby couldn’t help but chuckle over his defensiveness.
“But I said it with more feeling.” Max stirred the pot and got a dark stare from his Beta. He gave him a wide grin in return.
“You know I love you cooking, sweetheart…” Doug offered again, trying to put some feeling behind his words this time, but his mate was practically ignoring him.
“I don’t know Lisa, does that feel like real conviction to you?” Max asked before grinning at his beta again, clocking up another point against him, and Doug growled his annoyance.
“Lisa knows how much I value her and everything she does.” Doug offered towards Ma
x, who raised his brows and nodded his amusement.
“Oh, do I?” Lisa put in and Doug’s head snapped around to look at her.
“Don’t you?” He asked, seemingly more perplexed by the minute, and Darby couldn’t help but smile, even if she did try to hide it behind her hand.
“Do you tell her often?” Darby teased, although she phrased it in the caring kind of way and Doug’s head snapped around to look at her. There was a kind of panic in his eyes as he considered her words, faltering in his answer.
“I…” Was all he managed to get out before his words seemed to fail him and he thought about it? He was barely treading water, but everyone else was enjoying his unease.
“Not really often, more on occasion.” Lisa offered, giving a half smile of knowing as she looked at Darby. The smile disappeared when Doug’s head snapped back to look at her.
“But sweetheart…?” He was floundering in a sea of uncertainty now, and Darby wondered when she was going to let him off the hook.
“Shameful really.” Max offered before forking his food into his mouth and chewing with zest as his eyes spoke of his amusement to his beta.
“Says the man denying his mate.” Doug snapped back and Max growled his annoyance, swallowing what was in his mouth as he lent his forearms on the table and pointed a fork at his friend.
“But, if she were my mate I would value her and tell her so, often.” Max growled back at him. Doug leaned in towards him.
“The proof is in the pudding, Max. But I fear you are worried about the calories.” Doug shot back, challenging his alpha as he remained on the defensive.
“Some of us don’t have the kind of sweet tooth that makes us fat and stodgy of mind…” Max retorted and watched his Beta think on that answer.
