by M. L. Briers
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
HIS MATE
BROTHERS
MEET THE FAMILY
BY
M. L. BRIERS
Copyright © 2017, M L Briers
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced whatsoever without written permission of the author, except for brief exerts in reviews. Any unauthorised reproduction or distribution of the material herein is illegal and may result in criminal proceedings. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to the internet or distributed via electronic or print without prior consent.
Note from the Author;
All names, places, and incidents contained herein are purely fictional and have no basis in actual events or linked to actual Humans, Witches, Vampires, Werewolves, Lycans, Werebears or persons living, dead or undead.
Copyright © 2017, Cover Design by; Rebecca Pau at The Final Wrap.
Table of Content
HIS MATE
BROTHERS
MEET THE FAMILY
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER ONE
~
“I do not believe it!” Jodie exclaimed as she reached into her suitcase and fisted the amulet. She could feel the magic that it stored tingling against her skin.
“Now what?” Casey huffed.
Going anywhere with her sister was an exploration into the nightmare realms of; nothing was ever good enough, and everything somehow managed to become a mini-drama.
“He did it again!” Jodie said as she turned back towards her sisters with a look of disbelief on her face.
“Who did, and do I get to zap him?” Steph, her older sister, asked.
“Dad did…”
“Oh, I’m not zapping him.” Steph puffed out her cheeks before she gave a small chuckle.
“Did what?” Casey asked, more than willing for the mini-drama to be over and normal life to resume.
“He put a tracker in my suitcase,” she opened her fingers and showed her sisters the amulet that sat against her palm.
“Ooo, shiny.” Casey’s interest was piqued.
“Again?” Steph groaned as she delved into her suitcase and searched for an amulet of her very own that was sure to be inside.
After all, why would he only track one daughter when overkill worked so much better for him?
“Well, what you expect?” Casey shrugged her shoulders. “He’s overprotective, and I guess you can’t fault a parent for that.”
“We are daddy’s little girls,” Steph sighed as her fingers connected with the amulet, and she pulled it out in triumph.
“He promised that we could come on this weekend, take control of the situation ourselves, and he wouldn’t get involved but would behave himself,” Jodie said.
“Behave himself?” Steph snorted her contempt for the thought of their father doing anything that he didn’t want to do, and she somehow doubted that he wanted them to start flying solo.
“He promised?” Casey raised her eyebrows and gave her sister skeptical look.
“Kind of,” Jodie grimaced.
“Did he actually agree to leave us to our wicked ways?” Casey pushed her point and watched as her sister rolled her eyes to the ceiling before she grimaced again.
“He said he would.” It was the catch in Jodie’s voice that gave her away.
“Define said,” Steph got in on the interrogation.
“He grunted. I asked, and he grunted. But it sounded like a yes,” Jodie tossed up her hands and let them fall back to her sides. “We’re in our twenties — when does it end?” Jodie grumbled.
“Never.” Casey chuckled.
“When we have big strong men to protect us?” Jodie said, deepening her voice and stomping around the room, trying on the best impression of a man that she could come up with, but she didn’t have the frame to pull it off.
“Just because he gave us boys names — doesn’t mean the rest will follow,” Casey chuckled harder at the sight of her sister, all five foot three of her, trying to bulk up and pretend that she had muscles.
“I don’t know — she looks pretty manly to me,” Steph offered her sister a mischievous grin.
“Hey!” Jodie scowled and zapped her sister for good measure. “I can’t believe he was so devious to track us — again.”
“A wizard’s got to do what a wizard’s got to do,” Steph shrugged.
“Well, maybe it’s time we showed him what three witches can do.” Jodie had that look in her eyes again, and both sisters groaned inwardly because they knew exactly what that look meant – trouble.
It was the same look that she’d had when she’d almost burned down the barn. The very one that she’d had when she’d managed to blow up the toilet by trying to dispose of a concoction for a spell that had gone wrong. And the exact same one that she’d had when Steph had woken up to find that she had green hair, purple eyebrows, and a bright red bulbous tip to her nose — and all because her sister wanted a clown to play with.
No, that look was definitely bad news.
“Oh – no, no, no, no, no,” Steph rushed out. She gave a fast shake of her head to back up her words before she scowled at her sister. “I trust ye not.”
“You don’t want to go messing with daddy’s magic,” Casey warned her.
“Just a little blocking spell,” Jodie held her hands up at her sides on a shrug of the shoulders and a smirk on her lips.
“Sure, what could possibly go wrong?” Steph huffed.
“Take that back!” Casey zapped her sister into action.
“Bite your tongue!” Jodie warned her as she nodded her head, added a little magical push to it, and sure enough, Steph bit her tongue.
“Ouch!” Steph’s brown eyes were on fire with anger. She lifted her hand and zapped her sister right back.
“You know better than to tempt fate!” Casey berated her.
“Call yourself a witch?” Jodie snorted her contempt for what her sister had said.
“Oh come on, we’re in the middle of nowhere. We have sheep for neighbors — what
could possibly happen?” Steph shrugged.
“I’m sure she was adopted,” Casey groaned.
“Sent here by Satan to be one of his minions and wreak havoc on us poor, helpless little witches,” Jodie said.
“Helpless?” Casey turned her nose up at that idea.
“Okay, well, not helpless,” Jodie grinned back at her sister. “So, are we going to teach our father a lesson, or not?”
“Not!” Casey gave a fast shake of her head so that her sister could be in little doubt as to where she stood.
“Come on, where is your sense of adventure?” Jodie tossed back.
“I’m in a cottage in the middle of nowhere surrounded by sheep — that’s as adventurous as I’m going to get this weekend. Thank you very much.” Casey folded her arms and nodded her head in approval of her own words.
“The sales start in a couple of weeks — that’s my kind of adventure,” Steph added for good measure.
“In case you didn’t notice, we’re witches, adventure is what we do — or at least, it should be,” Jodie offered with an over exaggerated sigh. “Get with the game plan, girls — we’re coming in for landing.”
“Why am I waiting for the captain to say; please place your trays and seats in an upright position and kiss your butt goodbye?” Casey groaned as she shot a warning look in Steph’s direction.
~
~
~
“You did what?” Kit couldn’t believe his ears, of all the things that he needed, now was not the time.
“It just slipped out,” his mother offered back with a small shrug of her shoulders and a sheepish look on her face. He knew better than to trust that look on a she-wolf, especially, when that she-wolf was his mother.
“Well, take it back,” Kit grumbled on a scowl that brought his dark eyebrows down over his eyes.
“I can’t take it back. Don’t be silly,” his mother chastised him.
“That’s our alpha — silly,” Finley said with a grin that stretched from ear to ear as he reached for another serving of meat from the platter that sat in the middle of the table between them.
“Feeling hungry?” Kit growled at his brother. “Fancy a knuckle sandwich?”
“Now, don’t go getting all riled up with your brother,” his mother berated him. “It’s not Finley’s fault that you haven’t found your mate yet.”
“I’m not looking for a mate,” Kit growled, not at her, because his mother’s wrath was endless and filled with guilt, and she played the guilt card so well.
“Yes, and it’s just one of many disappointments that I have to deal with in my life,” his mother gave a dramatic sigh – there was that guilt card. “How old must I get before I have the pleasure of pups running around?”
Kit pushed up from his chair at the breakfast table and grumbled a low growl. She was at it again, guilt in abundance, but he wasn’t about to listen to her moaning and berating him about her lack of grandchildren, not when he had work to do. Running a pack was full-time work, and there wasn’t much time for anything else.
“Disappointing our mother,” Turner, the youngest of his siblings, offered with a small shake of his head. The light of amusement was in the beta’s eyes, and Kit felt as if his very last nerve being stomped all over.
“Turner was only saying yesterday; how he couldn’t wait for his mate to turn up,” Kit announced and he found great satisfaction in watching his brother’s face turn a lighter shade of pale as he started to squirm in his seat.
“I must have amnesia; I don’t remember saying that,” Turner bit out fast words as his mother practically purred with glee.
“See,” Suzie pointed a finger at Turner, but she was looking at the alpha or more of a guilt trip glare. “Why can’t you be more like your brother?”
That put the smile right back on Turner’s face again, and Kit felt the urge to head-butt the nearest wall. Turner puffed out his chest and raised his chin in victory over his sibling.
CHAPTER TWO
~
“Gee, I don’t know, mother,” Kit growled. “Maybe, because I have a pack to look after.”
The sound of footsteps outside the back door made Kit groan inwardly. He know that stomp anywhere – it was as if the woman was angry with everything underfoot, and when the handle turned and the door pushed open, he felt the need to groan.
There she stood, the elder that had started his mother talking about mates once more. The woman was a menace, but she was also an elder and even an alpha needed to bite his tongue at times.
“Any food left, or did they wolf it all down?” Zoe asked as she tossed the back door closed behind her with a loud thud and started for her usual chair at the table.
“Grab it and growl,” Suzie offered back as she watched the elder sink down onto a chair with a huff for the hell of it. “We were just talking about mates.”
Kit groaned inwardly as he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and grimaced. One cantankerous, meddling female was enough at that time in the morning, and now there were two. He felt like it wasn’t going to be a good day.
“Sure, I’ll get to it right after lunch, one mate. Got it on the to-do list,” Kit grumbled. “I mean, how hard can it be?” He muttered as he started for the back door in the hope of escaping any more talk about mates. His hand got as far as turning the handle before the elder spoke.
“I’ve already started the ball rolling,” Zoe announced as if dropping that bomb was an everyday occurrence.
She ignored everyone around her as she started to pile the food on her plate, but they weren’t ignoring her, all eyes snapped in her direction.
Kit froze in place. There were warning bells that sounded within his mind as every muscle in his body clenched.
“Mother!” Kit growled out.
“I have no idea,” Suzie said, and those words didn’t fill Kit with the warm fuzzy glow of relief.
“I hate to ask,” Kit said, and he really did because sometimes being in the dark was not a scary place to be. “What did you do?”
“Well, none of us are getting any younger, including you, alpha. And we all agree that it’s time you had a mate…” Zoe eyed the other two brothers at the table, and both men nodded enthusiastically. Both were eager for the other shoe to be dropped.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Finley grinned.
“More than time,” Turner chuckled.
“Stop teasing your brother,” Suzie berated them
“Well, I’ll just go and pluck one from where they grow on the trees,” Kit grumbled as he turned back to the door to make his escape.
“Oh, no need. It’s all taken care of,” Zoe lifted her hand and waved it, somewhat absently in the air.
Kit turned slowly back toward the group at the table. His brothers looked nervous as they eyed the elder. His eyes darkened, both hands were fisted at his sides, and he glared at his mother and saw her grimace. That was never a good sign.
“What did you do?” Kit growled.
“Now, don’t you use that tone with me, young man. You may be the alpha, but you don’t know everything.” Zoe turned in her chair to scowl at him. Somehow, he felt like a pup again.
“You’re right — I don’t know everything — I don’t know what you did, so, I ask again – what did you do?” Kit demanded.
As he waited for the elder to respond there was a feeling of doom and gloom within him as the storm clouds rolled in his mind and questions hung in the air between them. He needed answers before his head exploded and his mother was left to clean up the mess.
“Witches!” Zoe said, and then, as if that was explanation enough, she turned back towards her plate once more.
Kit’s whole body clenched harder. He turned a look of pure disbelief on his mother. The woman shrugged back, then she grimaced, and finally she shrugged once more.
That was a very bad sign because it meant that the elder was flying solo – and a mischevious, meddling elder was never a good thing.
“W-witches,” Ki
t bit down on his need to run screaming from the room. Of course, it would have been a manly type of screaming, before he threw himself off the nearest cliff.
“Yes,” Zoe said, and then she said no more.
The frustration rolled through the alpha like a storm surge. He suddenly had the urge to kill something – to rip it apart with his bare hands.
It was lucky for his brothers that they looked as shocked as he felt because one little smug smile or smirk and they might just regret it.
“What about witches?” Suzie asked.
Not only did she not like the sound of that any more than her son did, but she could actually sense the tension that was building within the room. It came in most part from the alpha, but she’d noted that her other two sons ears had pricked up at the talk of witches as well.
“Well, I heard tell that witches have a spell that can draw your mate to you…” Zoe offered and fell silent at the sound of the deep groan that came from the alpha. It was closely followed by a long growl.
“I…” Kit didn’t know whether to go with his first plan of screaming and throwing himself off a cliff, or hunting down the witches before they had a chance to perform a spell, and killing them.
Right then he dismissed both.
“Sounds like a plan,” Finley said as he shot a look at the shocked face of the alpha.
The beta was practically crying with laughter inside — but he had a streak of self-preservation running right through him that stopped him from biting off his own nose to spite his face and allowing that amusement to show. He knew Kit and the man wasn’t happy.
“A – plan,” Turner was not as smart as his brother, and he spluttered out laughter at the alpha’s predicament.
“I thought so, and I’m glad you agree,” Zoe announced. “So, I thought in for a penny — and just like magic; the witches are going to perform the spell for all three of you.”
The sound of silence in the room was deafening. The smile had certainly dropped off Turner’s face.
Nobody moved, nobody spoke, and all three brothers swallowed a large portion of their tongues as one.