by M L Briers
He yanked open the door to his truck and slid in behind the wheel. Keys in hand; he frowned at the ignition as if he couldn’t quite remember what came next. He definitely needed some ‘him’ time. He decided to drive over to the next county that night and find a female to take his mind off everything. He frowned harder.
Why don’t I like that idea? It sounds good in theory, and yet I can’t imagine any of the females at the club being as delectable as that witch… Witch, damn I am not even going to go there… He berated himself.
‘Want to play with me, Alpha?’ Her words echoed through his mind and made his cock twitch.
Yes…What? Nooo… He shook his head and fisted the top of the steering wheel with one hand; the other was outstretched with the keys aimed at the ignition.
‘Want to play with me, Alpha?’ He could see the wicked look in her eyes. He growled long and hard. Do I ever… Jethro’s eyes widened and he bounced his forehead off the top of the steering wheel… O-u-c-h! Stupid, but hopefully a cure for that Witch- which ails me…
‘ Alpha, come and play with me, Alpha…’ He growled again at the thought of her spread out naked on his bed and enticing him to her with that luscious body. Now I’m imagining things… I must be going insane… She must have spelled me! He growled long and hard as he snapped open the lock and kicked the door open. I’ll just see about that!
“And that’s how I came to be here.” Deborah finished explaining her dreams and the way that she had been led to the town; while Wendy nodded and gave her encouraging smiles. Then the sound of heavy feet on the back patio drew them both to turn their heads and wait for whoever was approaching to appear.
The alpha stomped up to the back door of the kitchen with a face like thunder and an attitude to match. He didn’t wait for an invitation as his eyes locked onto Deborah and he stalked across the kitchen towards her. A moment later and he was standing on the other side of the kitchen counter glaring at her, and then the palms of his hands slapped down onto the counter top and he leaned in towards her.
“You… Witch…” He growled out. Deborah twisted her head slightly and gave him a sideways glance as she raised just one eyebrow back at him.
“Didn’t we just do this?” She rolled her eyes in her head and back down to him. “Do wolves have the attention span of a goldfish or are you just an exception?” She teased out as Wendy tried to contain the chuckle that came from her lips.
“Don’t test my patience…” Jethro growled with even more depth to his tone. She gave him a look of pure wide eyed innocence.
“An Alpha with patience, that’ll be the day.” She couldn’t help herself. Fate had given her this path for a reason and she doubted very much that it was so the alpha could have his midday snack at her expense.
“I’m warning you…” Jethro growled out and she practically put the palm of her hand against his nose to silence him.
“Ok. I get it. You are the personification of the big, bad wolf, and you’re going to gobble me up. Would you like me to don a red cape or are we just going au natural?” The alpha had attitude and yet she was sure she could do it better; bigger, meaner, and bitchier if she had to put him in his place. “I can take a little growling, a little posturing, but this…” She waved her hand in front of his face and he snapped his head back on his neck. “Is taking it a little too far, don’t you think?”
“You spelled me…” Jethro growled out in disdain. He saw her mouth drop open on a gasp and the fire of indignation that ignited in her eyes, and it was her turn to snap her head back away from him.
“Spelled you? I take offence at that accusation. I did not…”
“Yes, you did…” He growled long and hard as he leaned in closer.
“Did n-o-t.” She slapped her palms down on the counter and leaned in towards him. He growled… and then she growled back and everything stopped for one long moment in his life.
He eyeballed her across the small divide. She seemed earnest and he couldn’t pick up any deceit from her, but then he remembered that he couldn’t get past her shields. He narrowed his eyes on her as his beast practically did back flips inside of him over the growling and posturing of the witch.
“Drop your shields.” He demanded and saw that one troublesome eyebrow lift again as she stared back at him.
“N-o." She glared.
“Drop your shields or I’ll…”
“Eat me?” She shot back and watched as his eyes practically swivelled inside of his head.
Jethro immediately conjured up images that he was sure she hadn’t meant to plant the seed of within his mind, and none of them would be fit for family viewing. ‘Alpha, come and play with me. Come on, Alpha, lick and bite…’ Jethro slapped his hands down on the counter top again and rolled his body away. A moment later he was on her side of that counter with his large hands reaching for her shoulders and he spun her around on the stool, almost toppling her in the process.
“N-o-w.” He growled out long and hard and with such commanding force that she felt the need to comply. Her shields dissipated at the same moment that he took in a long soothing breath to try not to strangle her…
CHAPTER TWO
Every inch of Jethro’s body tensed hard. The scent of her Fae essence was overridden by the sweet scent of her true self. His wolf whimpered and then yipped…
‘Mine.’ Jethro almost threw himself back away from her but he couldn’t get his hands to release her shoulders. He half yanked her forwards and then had to stabilise her on the stool as his mind spun and his beast drove him half insane with its damn yipping…
“N-o.” He shook his head through the veil of one reoccurring thought ‘this is not happening.’ He saw her eyes narrow on him as a long shiver ran through her. Then she did the unexpected, she started to splutter giggles, first one slipped out, then another, and then she couldn’t seem to stop. “This is not funny.” He growled out and by the time he was done she was practically in hysterics.
His head snapped towards Wendy. The older witch had an amused look on her face as she looked from Deborah to Jethro and back again. Jethro growled out a warning to her and she held up her hands…
“Not funny at all.” Wendy assured him through her grin. He snapped his head back to look at his mate and found her with tears in her eyes.
“These are sad tears…” Deborah bit out before spluttering another round of chuckles in his direction. Jethro just couldn’t seem to get around the shock of the situation. His beta and enforcer, sure, but him-mated to a Fae…? He groaned internally at the thought of a fourth witch.
Would the invasion never end? But I have a mate. I’ve found my mate, surely that surpasses anything else? A witch, damn it…And a goofy one… but a mate…
He leant in and took her scent right from the source. It had to be said that it was the most potent and intoxicating thing that he’d ever encountered in his life before. His beast practically drooled…
“Mine.” He offered against her ear. The word said possessive and claimed. The tone said uncertain and shocked.
“Oh lighten up, Alpha. It’s not like I’m Satan personified. I’m a witch, get over it.” Deborah teased. The man was far too intense for her liking; she would need to break him of that habit. Life was one big adventure and he needed to let loose and live in the moment.
“You should be somewhat used to us by now.” Wendy offered her own form of gentle teasing. It wasn’t lost on him that both women seemed to be over-enjoying this moment, and yet he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that his mate was Fae. He took a small step back from her and met her playful eyes.
“I should apologise for the things I said before…” He started and then cleared his throat.
“Before?” She knew what he was talking about and yet there was nothing wrong in her book with making him work for it a little. It might even loosen him up.
“When I told you to leave…” He growled at the thought and then winced with his inability to see her as anything other than
a witch. His beast didn’t have the same problem; it was practically rolling over and playing dead at the thought that she was their mate.
“Ah…” She nodded her head in understanding.
“It must be obvious to you that I don’t wish that to come about.”
“Now that you know I’m your mate.” She looked for clarity and watched his brows dip down low and he considered it.
“Yes.”
“Hmm.” She toyed with the knowledge for a long moment. “It feels mercenary to me. That you are only inviting me to stay so that you don’t become a rogue wolf…”
“That’s not…” He growled out his denial and saw her raise both of her eyebrows high onto her forehead. Her eyes were daring him to come up with another reason for his sudden change of heart. “It’s not the rogue aspect of being my mate, it’s the mate aspect.”
“Still feels a lot mercenary to me, Alpha.” She wiggle her eyebrows and watched him take in a long, deep breath as he tried to get his mind onto something other than the fact that his mate was actually there before him and not some far off tempting daydream that may manifest itself in the future. His beast’s ability to readily accept her for who she was didn’t help.
“I can assure you…” he started but she pulled back her head on her neck and turned her nose up at his words.
“Don’t you ever lighten up?” She teased and watched his eyes practically swivel in his head.
“Not often…” He declared with a certain amount of annoyance.
“Then this…” She waved a finger back and forth between them. “Should prove interesting.” She informed him.
“I have no doubt of that.” He muttered back following it up with a long drawn out growl of trepidation. In his mind he knew that fate would not have sent him the wrong mate, and yet it felt as if he’d turned a familiar corner and been faced with a brick wall in his path that had mysteriously appeared from nowhere.
He was an alpha with a pack to protect and care for, a Lycan mate would have fitted right into his life, his ways, and yet she was Fae and a loose cannon. How was he supposed to ensure the smooth running of his pack when he would have to deal with her needs and wants? It might have seemed selfish and yet it was more his pack that he was thinking about and not himself.
By her sheer presence life would never be the same again, and he welcomed it at the same time as he was wary of what came next. It was no surprise to him that he felt the pull towards her, and yet her whole persona wasn’t something that would have attracted his eye had she not been his mate. He preferred his women with a more responsible outlook on life.
“Are you accepting of the fact that you are my mate?” Jethro demanded and she stared back at him with mischief in her eyes. He groaned inwardly.
“Gee, Alpha, you sure know how to woo a girl.” She couldn’t help but tease him. The man seemed to have a broomstick shoved up his backside and she couldn’t help but wonder which witch put it there. “You could have at least slayed a poor helpless little rabbit as a token…”
“You want meat…?” He could have head butted the nearest wall as he realised his error. The snigger from Wendy behind him and the obvious amusement that was now etched onto his mate’s face left him in doubt that he was an idiot.
“Not so much.” Deborah assured him. “It’s more the thought that counts, don’t you think?”
“I try not to…” He started and her amusement grew.
“I noticed.” He snapped upright and growled again.
“Impossible…witches…” He muttered as several dark curses rolled through his mind.
“You look like you need to hit something.” Deborah offered up to him and he raised just one dark eyebrow towards her and grunted something unintelligible. “As long as it’s not me…” She bit out and went to turn, but his hands were already locked around her upper arms and he held her in place. His eyes softened…
“I would never lay a hand on you.” He needed for her to know that. He was her mate, it was his job to protect her, and the thought of ever doing her harm twisted his stomach. She seemed to click back into her happy mood instantly.
“Well that’s going to be awkward where mating comes into play…” She teased again and saw him take another long breath in.
“That’s not what I…”
“You know you say a lot of things that you really don’t mean, Alpha…”
“Jethro.”
“Really?” She frowned as she considered him. “I’d have said Thorn, or King, or something equally as entitled, but Jethro? Hmm.”
“And I don’t say things that I don’t mean, but witches have a habit of twisting a man’s words and…”
“Twisting?” She gave a quick look around him towards Wendy. “We twist?”
“Evidentially.” Wendy couldn’t keep the smile from her lips. It wasn’t the usual serene smile that she wore, but more a deep amusement at where the alpha found himself. Deborah returned her attention back towards her mate.
“Well, Jethro… say what’s on your mind and I promise not to twist it.”
“You are coming home with me.” He stated and saw the corners of her lips curl upwards.
“Took you long enough to state the obvious.” She declared.
Dexter eyed his alpha’s truck as it raced down the long road toward the main house. From where he stood on the grassy bank he could see that there was a woman beside him and he had to wonder. Jethro never brought his women home with him when he was on the lookout for a little fun and games and as far as he was aware there were no visitors due today.
His alpha had gone to see the witch to make it clear that any more surprises on her part would not be tolerated by the pack, and that certainly wasn’t Wendy beside him. His interest piqued when the car turned slightly and he got a good view of the woman at Jethro’s side. She certainly wasn’t Lycan and she didn’t look much like his alpha’s type either. He started down the hill to intercept them at the house.
Jethro’s eyes had taken in his enforcer’s presence and then the man’s subsequent curiosity and he growled with the knowledge that he was going to have to put up with his packs good intentions and leg pulling at having found a Fae for a mate. His bad mood increased when Dexter started down the hill towards the main house. He knew that he’d have questions to answer by bringing her back with him, and yet the only thing in his mind was getting her onto pack land to keep her safely at his side.
“You really do need to lighten up, Alpha.” The amusement in her tone did nothing to help with his mood. She may have been accepting of her status as his mate and yet he felt that for a few in his pack the thought of another witch might have been too much.
On the whole they had accepted Eloise and Annabeth, but adding one more witch to the mix might not go down so well. He only grunted a response back to her and the sound of her sigh left him feeling somewhat guilty. It wasn’t her fault that she was a witch, nor was it her fault that he had a problem with that.
“I’m the alpha.” He offered as if that was explanation enough for his dour mood and she sighed again.
“And that means you have to act like an old man?”
“Old…?” He snapped a look at her and found that her eyes were full of mischief as she stared back at him.
“Would it hurt your face to crack a smile?” She poked the bear.
“Yes.” He answered abruptly as his eyes took Dexter in. The enforcer was waiting for them outside the front door and his eyes were locked onto Deborah and narrowing by the second. He didn’t wait for her answer as he exited the truck and strolled around her side to open the door for her. His eyes snapped towards his enforcer and back again when the passenger door opened and she stepped out. “I was going to do that for…” He growled and saw the amusement in her eyes.
“I saved you the trouble.” She teased him. It seemed his mate could find amusement in the smallest things and that didn’t sit well within him. He grunted in annoyance, but Dexter moving took his full attention away
from her. The man was sniffing the air as his long legs eat up the short distance between them.
“Another witch. Are we planning to eat this one or starting a collection?” The underlying growl in his tone was aimed right at his mate as Dexter’s eyes locked onto her and didn’t let go until the warning growl of his Alpha reached his ears and stopped him in his tracks. Dexter’s eyes snapped towards Jethro and his head twisted to one side as he evaluated the situation. “No fucking way.” It started off as disbelief and ended in amusement as his friend grinned back at him.
“Unfortunately…” Jethro started and heard his mate’s squeak of annoyance.
“Unfortunately?” The look of sheer disbelief on her face made his beast growl within him at his slip of the tongue and he felt a rush of guilt go through him at his choice of words. There had been many ways to express that moment and yet he’d managed to piss her off. Her hands went to her curvy hips and she tipped her head to one side and regarded him with a scowl that could have stripped paint from a door.
“That’s…” He tried to back track but she was already pushing off on fast feet towards the house and the enforcer in her path.
“Don’t bother.” She ground out between clenched teeth and heard him grunt in annoyance. She was pissed off and she wasn’t about to walk around the man mountain that blocked her way, he would damn well move for her or someone was going to end up on their backside, probably her.
“Deborah…” Jethro growled out, expecting her to stop and turn, but she didn’t, she kept on stomping towards Dexter who sized up the situation and practically jumped out of her way before she collided with him. She snorted her contempt. But didn’t stop.
Dexter watched the little witch stomping off towards the main house with raised eyebrows and a smile as big as the Irish Sea. The woman was a little firecracker and he thought his Alpha could use the kind of distraction that she would provide him. The sound of Jethro’s deep growl of annoyance brought his attention back towards the man and he noted the scowl on his face along with the fact that the alpha couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from her luscious backside as she strolled away.
