~

 

“Oh no, you’re not coming in.” Jett turned in place and barred the doorway with his large body.

George stopped in place and rolled his eyes up to gaze at the winter sky as he took a moment to consider it.

“That’s not very friendly…” He started, but Jett’s hearty laughter cut him off.

“Who told you that shifters were friendly?” Jett asked.

“Well, considering I bought the alpha’s mate to him…”

“Is the reason that you’re still alive,” Jett lied.

Contrary to what people might have thought, shifters didn’t go around killing for the fun of it, but he decided that the fairy didn’t need to know that.

“Harsh,” George eyed the man with disdain.

“If you’d prefer we wipe the slate clean?” Jett took one long step toward George, and the man scoffed at the idea.

“If you’d prefer I took the alpha’s mate away?” George offered back.

‘Did nobody ever tell you that it isn’t a good idea to try to blackmail someone twice the size of you?’ Jessica warned him.’ Now, cut out this — mine is bigger than your crud — and concentrate on the job at hand. Men!’ She added a thoughtful huff.

“Leave, while you still can,” Jett growled his intention to rip the man’s arm off and beat it over his head until he got the general idea.

“I can have the entire fairy nation here with a click of my fingers,” George lied.

‘I’d like to see that.’

“We didn’t order a takeaway — but, okay.” Jett folded his large arms across his impossibly large chest and glared at George.

‘Oh, give it up already. He got you there. Just back off before he eats you like an entree,’ Jessica grumbled.

She hated the whole male on male-dominant — whip it out and shake it all about, thing.

Still — boys would be boys — and so she used her magic to zap the pair of them.

“Hey!” Jett growled as he dropped his arms to his sides and fisted his hands.

“That wasn’t me,” George grumbled back, and he was about to turn accusing eyes on Jessica when Jett swung his large fist and connected with George’s jaw.

‘And who said a fairy couldn’t fly without their wings?’ Jessica chuckled as George flew backward through the air. But she did have the good grace to grimace when he hit the hard ground with an even harder thud.

“Thanks a lot,” George grumbled as he reached up and stroked over his aching jaw.

Jessica chuckled again — she wasn’t about to apologize or, heaven forbid, back down.

‘You’re welcome, George,’ Jessica’s tone was sweet, too sweet. It reminded George of the sickly icing on top of the cheap cake. Oh, how he would love to splat that cake right in her face.

 

~

~

~

 

“You’re going to regret this.” Angelique tried as hard as she could to make that sound like a promise.

“The way I see it is; you’re my mate, and I have to take the rough with the smooth.” Luke chuckled to himself at the sound of her spitting out muttered curse words like they were sweeties being delivered to the eager hands of pups.

“Rough with the smooth, my aunt Sally,” Angelique grumbled as she used her magic once more to zap his backside.

She’d been zapping him like that since he tossed her over one shoulder — it didn’t seem to do much except make him jump instep. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, every time he jumped; she was bounced on his shoulder. But still…

“One more zap and I might just drop you on your head,” Luke warned her.

He had no intention of dropping his mate. That would go against his very DNA. Not to mention the fact that his beast would be hell to live with until he made it right.

Witch or not — zap-happy or not — she was still his, and he was sworn to protect her with his life. However tempting dropping her on her head might sound, it just went against the grain.

“Put me down,” Angelique bit out.

She’d had enough of the fun and games that the man thought he was playing. Showing his damn dominance, indeed!

“I fully intend to do just that very thing,” Luke said, and he was as good as his word.

Angelique didn’t much appreciate the fact that he slid her body down against the length of his. Well, it wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate it — who wouldn’t? It was the fact that every inch of her body tingled in a way that was entirely inappropriate for the dastardly plan that she had to kill him.

She had to admit, even if only to herself, that she’d rather enjoyed the sensation of tingles that spread across her skin from knowing her mate. It had felt rather good.

What she didn’t appreciate was the blood draining back down from her head and making her lightheaded. She had little choice but to cling onto him, and that stuck in her craw.

“Well now, look at you,” Luke grinned from ear to ear. “Holding onto me like you can’t get enough of your mate.”

“Do you have any redeemable qualities, because right now I’m getting overwhelmed by a sense of nausea?” Angelique offered back.

That made the alpha’s smile fade. There was even a little twitch of his upper lip that warned her.

“I’m loyal,” Luke growled.

“Good for you,” Angelique tossed back.

She finally managed to find her equilibrium and let go of his shoulders. She took a small step back, and his eyes narrowed at her in suspicion. He was ready for her devious ways.

“I’m an alpha,” Luke informed her.

“And that you choose to put in the list of pros?” Angelique tossed her hands onto her hips and assumed the position with a death glare. She challenged him.

“I’m the leader of my pack,” Luke protested.

“Like in the song?” Angelique offered him a sweet smile, but her eyes were still tossing daggers at him.

“Are you trying to be as annoying as possible?” Luke’s dark eyebrows came downward in a scowl.

“Yes, is it working?” She didn’t need to deny it. That was the way of things. She needed to keep the alpha on full tilt until she had come up with a devious plan to be free of him.

“It sure is,” Luke offered back.

“Does being an alpha and the leader of your people, or being my mate, mean that I can have a drink?” Angelique asked.

She noted the way that he snapped to attention. His wide shoulders pulled back, and his neck seemed to elongate as he stared at her.

“You can have anything you want…”

“I’m thinking a long walk off a short pier, for you?” She snapped a bright and breezy smile upon her face.

The alpha growled.

“I can swim,” he didn’t sound impressed.

“Can you fly? There must be a mountain around here somewhere,” Angelique tossed back. “We can shoot you right off.”

Luke stared at her in disbelief for a few moments. He couldn’t quite make up his mind about her, and he knew that she was playing games with him, but he just didn’t know where those games would lead her.

“Do you actually want a drink?” Luke asked.

“I’m a girl that can never say no to alcohol.” she snapped that smile wider.

“I could use a bottle of Scotch myself,” Luke growled. He went to turn away and then hesitated as he shot her a look of suspicion. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“Oh, lucky me,” Angelique rolled her eyes in protest. “What if I need to pee?”

Luke opened his mouth to speak and then thought better of it.

“Speaking of which…” Angelique gave a shrug and a sympathetic, if not apologetic look to her mate.

Luke pressed his lips together and let the growl that rumbled up to his throat die away. The woman was testing his patience, and he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her — not that he would ever throw her.

He had a feeling that it was going to be a very long night.