by M L Briers
Tom watched wide eyed with amusement as the enforcer stalked back to where he’d parked his vehicle. Yanking open the driver’s door as far as he could get it; he realised that the back end of Samantha’s car was blocking his way. He wished he could reach out and toss it aside, but with a quick look about him at the humans that milled around, he knew that wasn’t possible, and with another harsh curse he stomped around to the passenger side and climbed in.
Tom sniggered to himself at the sight of the big Lycan shimmying across the seat and behind the wheel. With a roar of the engine the truck pulled as far forward as it could to the car in front of its bumper and then back on an angle to try to navigate his way out of the small gap between the back of her car and the car parked behind him. Back and forth, back and forth, edging further out between the two cars as he went with a curse and a growl each time he had to change gear.
Tom had a mind to suggest that he wait long enough for Samantha’s car to be hoisted out of the way, but from the look on the enforcer’s face and the snarls and growls that emanated from him; he decided he liked his head just fine on his shoulders. He just sat back and enjoyed the floorshow. It wasn’t everyday of the week you saw one of the pack’s enforcers lose it in such an amusing way.
Finally free of the tight gap; Dexter reversed far enough so that he could take a wide path around the wreck and the tow truck. His eyes snapped to the grinning Lycan behind the wheel that was obviously enjoying his suffering and he growled long and hard. Tom bit off his mirth and wiped the smile from his lips.
“Don’t say a damn word.” Dexter growled out before he floored the accelerator and the truck roared to life down the road.
“So, you’re just passing through?” Wendy eyed the witch beside her in the car as she drove sedately back towards her house. Samantha eyed her back, not yet comfortable in the company of a witch she didn’t know, but deciding that it was the lesser of two evils where the big Lycan was concerned.
“Wanting to get rid of me so soon?” Samantha tested the water. If this witch’s had a coven then they might just object to her presence. Wendy gave her a small, serene smile.
“If this place feels right to you, nobody is going to run you off.” Wendy assured her and Samantha frowned.
“I’d say that Lycan had different ideas.”
“Dexter? He’s a pussy cat when you get to know him.” Wendy grinned to herself. She had the feeling that the little witch beside her would get to know one member of the pack really well, maybe even Dexter, but she chose to keep that to herself.
“Sabre tooth tiger kind of a pussy cat?” Samantha muttered to herself as she turned to look out of the window. I wouldn’t mind biting his… Ok, where did that come from? I don’t even like Lycans…
“Hold that thought…” Wendy informed her and she frowned hard. She felt a rush of embarrassment and guilt at the thought that she’d been thinking and then frowned some more at the sight of the truck that had pulled alongside them on the opposite side of the road…
She could see the big Lycan behind the wheel and he could sure see her as his dark eyes narrowed on her through the double barrier of the windows. The man waved a hand to signal for them to pull over and Wendy started to slow down when Samantha balked at the idea. The man’s a bloody menace, admittedly a damn sexy menace…
“Don’t stop! Who knows what he wants now.” She protested and Wendy shrugged just one shoulder.
“Are you sure? He looks pretty harmless to me.” Wendy teased and watched the new witch raise her eyebrows in surprise.
“Then you and I have very different views about crazed Lycans and having one’s head ripped from one’s shoulders.” Samantha shot her a look of disbelief and Wendy shrugged again.
“Ok. Hold on to your hat.” Wendy didn’t give the woman a chance to question her statement; she’d already stomped down on the accelerator and was waving a goodbye to the enforcer in her side mirror as she took off down the road. Samantha gave a small squeal at the speed with which they were now travelling.
“I never said a high speed chase was in order.” Samantha bit out with a quick look over her shoulder to see the imposing truck coming up fast behind them.
“But isn’t it exhilarating?” Wendy bit out with glee as she slowed only marginally for the sharp corner that lead up the winding drive of her home. Samantha bit out another squeal of fear when the wheels on her side of the car lifted from the ground and dropped down again against the drive. A quick look towards the older witch showed her just how much the woman was enjoying herself.
When they pulled up outside the large house with a hard jerk in their seats; Samantha turned her head and stared at the woman as if she’d just grown another head. Wendy gave a small satisfied sigh before she turned towards her in the seat and smiled serenely. Her eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Wasn’t that fun?” Wendy asked and watched as the young witch frowned hard.
“N-o…” She offered back slowly. The sound of screeching brakes seemed to come from all around them, but it was nothing compared to the sound of screeching witches as they cheered and clapped from the small porch of the house. Samantha’s eyes shot towards them.
“Way to go, Wendy.” Eloise shouted across the small divide.
“Smooth move, but you lose points for no handbrake turn.” Annabeth jeered.
“Here comes trouble…” Deborah warned with a grin as the enforcer climbed out of his truck and started to stalk towards Wendy’s small blue car.
“You have a coven?” Samantha shot the older woman a nervous look.
“Not exactly.” Wendy offered back quietly but she pointed a finger to the side mirror and Samantha swallowed hard at the sight of one pissed off Lycan coming towards her. She reached out with her magic and snapped on the door locks.
“What the hell does he want now?” Samantha bit out as she turned her head and watched one large hand reach for the door handle.
“I think that would be you.” Wendy offered quietly and Samantha swallowed down hard.
“M-me?” She drew back away from the window as he tested the door and growled when he found it locked. His face appeared a moment later and she gave a small whimper. “W-why me?”
“Many a mate has asked that question.” Wendy offered gently and Samantha’s head snapped around as her eyes widened, before it snapped back towards the Lycan.
“Oh-hell-no!” She hissed before swallowing down a good chunk of what felt like her tongue.
“Open the door or I’ll rip it off…” Dexter growled out and Samantha squeaked out in denial.
“Make him go away.” She offered on a half whisper of disbelief and denial and Wendy chuckled.
“I could, but he’s only going to get more pissed off and keep coming back until he gets what he wants…” She informed her.
“And what he wants is…” She swallowed down again at the thought of being his mate.
“The door…Now.” Dexter growled again. His beast wasn’t impressed that they’d had to chase his mate up the damn road. He especially wasn’t impressed by Wendy’s dangerous driving with his mate in the toy car. He needed to scent her; he needed to hold her in his arms for protection against all of the things that could harm her… and he needed to do it now.
“I’d take the locks off if I were you.” Wendy grinned and Samantha balked at the idea.
“Are you crazy…?” She started as her head snapped back away from her mate and towards the witch, but the loud sound of creaking and ripping of metal against metal made her head snap back to find that he was as good as his word and the door was being ripped off its hinges. “Holy crap! Is he insane?” Samantha demanded.
She had the urge to climb out of her seat and into Wendy’s lap just to get away from him, but the sheer fact that he was tearing off the door held her spellbound in her seat. The sound of the heavy groan that came from Wendy’s lips at the sight of her car being peeled open like he was a large can opener rumbled inside Samantha’s brain and made her
feel guilty that she hadn’t listened to the older witch’s words. Then the sound of the other witches cheering from the house made her heart skip too many beats to count…
“I warned you…” Dexter growled out as he snatched the door free of its tether and tossed it away behind him. Two large hands reached for her at the same time and his head and shoulders filled the empty doorway. She panicked and tried to get into Wendy’s seat even with the witch still in it, but she was held by the seatbelt that was still across her chest.
“Be gone…” She thrust her palms towards him and sent her magic out without even thinking. Self preservation took over and the Lycan was blasted backwards from the doorway and tossed onto his backside some thirty feet away into a clearing where he landed with a hearty thud that made her wince with guilt.
“Nice move.” Annabeth cheered out.
“That’s not going to go down well…” Eloise bit of a hearty chuckle and Deborah rolled her eyes and sighed.
“This is not going to end well.” She warned as she tossed up a hand.
“Sure it is, they’re mates.” Annabeth chuckled again.
“Powerful, contained…” Wendy was nodding her head in approval as she critiqued the new witch’s magic. Samantha’s head snapped around once more to take in the witch at her side with a look of pure disbelief.
“A little help here…” She bit out before the sound of a hearty roar from the man made her snap her head back to glare at him. His torso snapped upright and his black eyes locked onto hers and she gave a small whimper.
“I couldn’t possibly get involved between mates.” Wendy offered as quietly and gently as a woman declining one more cream cake indulgence at afternoon tea.
“Gee, thanks a…” Samantha bit out as he dragged his body up to its full height. His hands were fisted at his sides and his chin was down on his chest as he started to stalk towards her looking every inch the predator that wanted to eat his prey. “I really don’t need this…” Samantha bit out as her hand reached down to where her seatbelt was tethered to the car.
“A mate?” Wendy asked politely as if none of this was actually happening, and Samantha decided there and then that the woman was as nutty as a fruitcake.
“A mate, a barmy coven of witches…” She pressed the seatbelt loose and it rushed back across her chest to its mooring over her shoulder. She was in two minds about what to do, a part of her wanted to escape the confines of the car, but the more rational part stared at the big Lycan coming directly at her and decided against it.
CHAPTER THREE
“But he is your mate.” Wendy cautioned her. “Is it really a good idea to fight him when all he wants to do is take your scent?” Wendy offered and saw the cogs turning in Samantha’s mind.
“I…he… ah hell!” She ground out as his head and shoulders disappeared from view the closer he got and all that she could see were those tapered hips and his fisted hands. Then his head and shoulders snapped down and filled the open doorway again and she swallowed hard. “Truce?” She offered quickly and watched him narrow his eyes on her. Those hands unclenched as he reached into the car and hooked her under the arms with a long growl of annoyance. A moment later she was being yanked out of the car and set on her feet in front of him…
“Mine.” He growled out with so much beast in his voice that she couldn’t help but wince at the sound. This really could go one of two ways; he’d either calm the hell down as he took her scent or his beast would become more frenzied after her attack on him. She tipped her head back on her neck and stared up at him with expectations of the worst case scenario…
What she didn’t know was that the witches had her back. One wrong move on Dexter’s part and they were all more than ready to put his backside down and keep him there until he calmed down. With one long growl of desire he dipped his head and she felt his hair brush her cheek as he leant in to take her scent… A small squeak left her lips…
Dexter took his mate’s scent and revelled in it. Sugar and spice and everything Fae with a large dollop of the natural woman all mixed into one. His beast settled within him as he growled gently and brushed his cheek against hers. His hands eased against her body and he slowly pulled back to look down on her.
“One wrong move, wolf and I’m going to fry your arse.” She bit out with a whole lot of trepidation and determination that this wasn’t going to end badly for her.
“You ran from me.” He growled as his eyes swept over her face and took in the apprehension that played across her features.
“Technically not.” Samantha assured him. Now all she needed to do was to assure herself that this Lycan had his beast under control.
“Don’t ever run from me again.” He warned and she took that onboard. It might not have been the smartest move that she’d ever made. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know Lycans or about the whole mating thing, she did, but when push came to shove and it was her that was the mate, well it wasn’t so easy to be rational.
“I didn’t know we were…” She couldn’t quite bring herself to say the word. “But then you did chase me like I’m bloody supper and you’re the big bad wolf.” She berated him and watched a look of guilt sweep over his face. The trouble was, with everyone but her, he was the big bad enforcer wolf. He needed to remember that she was a human, and a Fae, although he wasn’t likely to forget his first encounter with her Fae side; his backside still stung from the impact with the hard ground.
“Not with you, little mate. Never with you.” His fingers reached up and he brushed just the tips down over her cheek. Her heart stammered in her chest as a wave of heat rushed through her body.
“I only bring danger to you and your pack.” She warned him. His beast roared back to life within him. By his very nature he was a fighter and protector to his pack, and now to her, that trait went to the heart of him and he felt the need to swoop her up in his arms, keep her close, and never let her go.
“Then we need to talk.” He wasn’t prepared to turn his back on the possible danger that she warned of just to concentrate on mating with her, wooing her as his own, although he wished to hell that he could. She was his pack too now and he would defend every member of it with his life.
It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do in his life; sit there and try to keep his hands off his mate as she told them her story and the danger that was on her heels, but he did it anyway. The urge to hold her, to protect her was stronger than he’d ever known it being in his life before. He’d resisted calling the alpha and informing him of the new witch in their midst until after he knew what he was dealing with. He reasoned that in one sense a threat of danger for the pack might just take Jethro’s mind off the fact that there were now five witches in town.
“So not only did the pack blame you for the death of the beta’s mate they didn’t hunt down the rogue beta and end him?” Dexter couldn’t quite get his mind around the mentality of the other packs alpha. A rogue must not be allowed to survive as it threatened, not only lives, but the safety of all Lycans should it be discovered by humans.
“It was my spell that gave the she-wolf her fertility to become pregnant with a pup.” Samantha offered and waited to see what he made of that. If he agreed with the packs logic that she was to blame then she knew that there could be no hope for her to ever mate with this man.
“It was the she-wolf’s choice to call on your magic, and not all pregnancies go to plan.” He growled at the irrationality of the other packs accusation that his mate was somehow to blame.
“What the hell kind of alpha is that?” Annabeth frowned at the injustice of it all.
“Isn’t it like some to blame a witch when things go wrong?” Deborah added with a snort of contempt.
“Luckily the alpha and pack here are not so backwards thinking.” Wendy offered to ease her fears. She could see by the way that Samantha was sitting, practically on the edge of her seat waiting for Dexter’s answer that she was more than worried that he would take the Lycan side in all of this
.
Samantha looked from Wendy to her mate and saw his attitude softening towards her at the older witch’s words. He reached out and put his hand over hers and she felt the heat that his touch brought through her body and a hum over her skin that burrowed deep inside her and excited her womb. His eyes softened.
“Nobody in our pack would hold you to account for your actions in a matter like this.” He assured her.
“Like to see them try.” Annabeth bit out and Eloise snorted a chuckle. She’d grown fond of Annabeth and her outspoken ways since they’d met and they’d become fast friends. Deborah too had settled in quite nicely to her life in the pack and the growing closeness between the witches, and now they had another witch to add to their numbers, she was pleased even if the alpha might not be overly thrilled about it.
“That’s not helpful, Annabeth.” Dexter berated her and she rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
“Well excuse me for having an opinion.” She shot back much to his annoyance.
“Annabeth, Dexter’s right.” Wendy watched the young woman fidget in her seat. Then she tossed up a hand and gave a small shrug.
“I was just saying…” She offered with a small wince of guilt.
“Well don’t.” Dexter’s furrowed brow and hard stare was aimed directly at her. She gave him a small sneer and kept her lips firmly closed. Dexter was satisfied but as he turned back to look at his mate Annabeth raised a fist in the air and grinned heartedly.
“Girl power…” She announced and the other witches chuckled, including his mate. Dexter groaned. “Witch power…” She added with glee and the enforcer rolled his eyes in his head as his mate sniggered behind her hand.
“Don’t worry, Dexter, her bark is worse than her bite.” Eloise felt sympathy for the man, and yet she couldn’t help but tease him. He rolled his head on his neck and looked at her for a long moment. “Does it sometimes make you feel like a eunuch…?” His eyes went wide and his head twisted on his neck.
