~
Jacob’s wolf wouldn’t be still. He was used to the beast clawing inside of him and being a general pain in the backside, but this felt different.
He could usually push the beast back into its cage – at least, he’d never gone so long with his damn fangs down before, but there they were – front and centre, so to speak, as he drove up the mountain like he had the hounds of hell on his tail…
He could only hope that with the way that he was driving he didn’t get pulled over by the police. Trying to explain the unconscious woman on his back seat would have been bad enough, but the whole fangs thing …
Give it up wolf … you can’t drive and she needs help…
Back the hell off…
His wolf grumbled and growled within his soul. The beast was definitely edgy, but what about; he couldn’t be sure.
He very much doubted that it was because she was a witch. The wolf hadn’t been like that with Isobel, Eva or Eden.
He had to hazard a guess that it was due to her injuries – they were definitely claw marks, and they looked like they came from a bear.
He’d need to check the local clan to find out who had attacked her, and he had a mind to rip their damn head off for it.
He very much doubted that the bears would own up to attacking a female, but he could take the scent from her body and make sure that justice was done.
His wolf growled hard at that thought.
You can shut the hell up …
You’d better get back in the damn cage before Dexter sees these damn fangs and goes off on one…
He shot a look back over his shoulder when the female groaned in pain…
Mine … His beast growled long and hard…
For one long moment Jacob almost drove the damn truck straight off the side of the road as every inch of his body locked up and his mind closed down to any rational though…
That’s …
His hands gripped the wheel like he was trying to throttle it, and he swallowed down the turmoil within him.
He knew the mountain was cursed with witch mates, and he’d considered moving on the moment that he got there, but it had felt good to have a pack again – even if it hadn’t been his pack – he cursed under his breath and tried to shake off that haze of disbelief.
Wolf … he growled a warning back at the beast.
Mine… His beast was adamant.
Jacob tentatively sniffed the air inside the closed space. His nose tingled with the scent – his muscles tensed, and his length hardened with the blood that rushed from his head downwards…
Damn it to hell …
He bit out at the certainty of what his wolf had already known … the beast pulled back – just enough that his fangs retracted within his gums.
A damn mate … me …
That’s not good news…
His wolf growled once more…
No damn wonder I wanna kill all the bears…
You couldn’t have let me know sooner…?
His wolf growled once more. Harder, longer this time, and then followed it up with the kind of snarl that made its feelings clear…
Don’t blame me … I don’t sniff humans.
I certainly, damn well, don’t sniff witches…
Without even noticing; he’d increased his speed. He was more than eager, knowing what he knew, to get her the help that she needed…
That was another problem that he’d have to deal with …
How the hell were the witches going to get near enough to help her when his beast was that unpredictable and his mate was injured…?
He slowed just enough so that when he made the turn onto pack land he didn’t manage to flip the truck. He reached into his back pocket and fished out his phone …
His eyes flicked down to the screen as it eliminated…
No damn signal … the crap joys of living on a mountain…
He tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and lifted his eyes back to the road; just in time to catch sight of the wolf that shot out into his path.
With another curse; he slammed his foot down on the brake … the wheels skidded along the muddy track for a second or two before they found a spot that the tread could grip, and he was grateful for it.
He cursed again at the sight of the wolf taking off without even looking back at what he’d caused to happen.
He’d made it a point to know each wolf in his pack real well, and that one was George. He’d make sure to rearrange the man’s face at his earliest opportunity…
Oh … crap…
His eyes locked onto the car that was parked outside of Dexter’s cabin and his beast roared within him…
To hell with not good … that’s so damn bad that I don’t even have a word for it…
His wolf pushed forward again. His fangs elongated, and he felt the prickle of his fur just beneath the skin.
~
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~
Connor rested his backside against the bonnet of his car and folded his arms across his chest as he waited for Vicky to finish saying her goodbyes. She was being deliberately annoying and taking longer than the average person should – and all because he was stalking her and insisting on going everywhere that she went.
Until she was a vampire – whenever that maybe – and probably even after she was a vampire – he was still going to be uptight about protecting her from everything, and only someone else’s God knew just how many things on the damn mountain she needed protecting from.
That went for double when she was visiting the witches of Dexter’s pack, and all because of that stupid wolf George and his stalky brother.
The beast hadn’t paid his lands a visit in the past month or so, but it was still roaming. He’d kept picking up on its scent every now and again, and George was still doing the rounds every night looking for the beast – until it was gone or dead; he wouldn’t be happy…
He’d heard the new guy’s truck eating up the track road behind him and hadn’t bothered to turn around. Dexter’s pack seemed to be slowly shaping into a bunch of misfit alpha types, and Jacob was no exception.
The man had alpha stamped all over his personality – he also had rogue, or as close to it as Connor wanted to see.
Yet another reason to stick to Vicky like glue.
‘Dexter – you need to get the vampire the hell away from there…’ Jacob growled into the pack’s link, and he saw the alpha’s head snatch a look in his direction…
‘Wanna tell me why?’
Dexter’s request shook Jacob to his core. He hadn’t ever expected to say the words – he certainly hadn’t expected to say them in that situation for the first time.
‘I found my …’ he swallowed hard at the thought of it.
The enormity was a little overwhelming…
‘Mate?’ Dexter’s tone sounded hesitate, as if the man didn’t really want to hear those words just as much as Jacob didn’t want to say them.
‘Yeah …’ He said, almost breathing a sigh of relief that he’d never really had to form the word with his own voice…
‘Witch?’
‘Yeah…’
There was a long pause – at least it felt like forever to Jacob as he waited for the alpha’s response.
‘Problem?’
‘She’s been injured. Deep bear claw gouges on her body…’
‘Then it seems to me, Jacob, you’re gonna need the vampire.’
“Oh, don’t tell me …” Connor groaned and snatched Dexter’s attention away. “I’m guessing that constipated look on your face means that our newest member of the community has a witch problem…”
Dexter eyed the vampire for a long moment… The man had an uncanny knack of knowing things … either that or he was reading minds again…
“Witch?” Vicky’s interest piqued…
“Behave yourself…” Connor offered back.
“I did nothing…” Vicky scowled at her mate.
“Yet…” Connor offered back, raising his hand and pinching his thumb and forefinger together… “The word is … yet.”
“Ok, well, yet … there … happy?” She planted her feet and placed her hands on her hips, and Connor groaned inwardly as he muttered to himself… “What’d he say?” She scowled at Dexter and the big man held his hands up to his chest.
“Not a damn chance that am I getting in between you two psycho’s…” The alpha grumbled. “Jacob’s mate is injured – I’ll put him down and you fix her…”
“Not even a please…” Connor gave a sour look to his mate. “Did you hear? Just the expectation that I’m a walking blood bank…”
“A cure all…” His mate teased as her eyes flashed with amusement.
“Medicine man…” He grumbled, folding his arms across his chest and turning towards the truck as it skidded to a halt.
“Please …” Dexter started for the truck… “Get your damn backside over here and help my pack.” Dexter growled.
“When you ask that nicely…” Connor grumbled.
The moment that Jacob stepped out of the truck – he was swept up in the air and let out one hell of a roar of anger. But flying through the air backwards across the field didn’t leave him much scope for anything else…
“Clocks ticking…” Vicky announced as she took to inspecting her nails.