~

“Fine. What will it take to get you to walk over that threshold?” Ray demanded.

“My motorbike,” Ava said, lifting her chin in defiance.

The moment the man when off to get her motorbike she was going to hightail it out of there, then she could plan her next move.

‘Rufus, do me a favor, buddy – there’s a motorbike on its side in the woods, just after the Mill Road crossing towards the fishing cabin — could you pick it up, sling it on the back of your truck, and bring it to the house?’ Ray asked through the link that connected their pack.

‘Is that the witch’s bike?’

‘How did you…?’ Ray flicked a look toward his sister as she stood with the two vampires admiring the sports car. She shot him a sneaky look, grinned, and then lifted her hand and waved. ‘Never mind. Yep, the witch’s bike.’

‘No problem,’ Rufus chuckled back.

That chuckle wasn’t a normal one, but one that was full of the glee at the thought of the brothers finding their mates. He knew the whole pack must have been talking about it because a wooing was usually gold in the entertainment department.

Ray groaned inwardly; he was surprised that they hadn’t already had an audience for their troubles. Matings weren’t an everyday occurrence and when one happened … he spotted movement in the bushes and narrowed his eyes to get a better look.

Damn, now that he was looking for it, there were people hiding in plain sight all around them. And witches were supposed to be the devious ones … Pah!

Now he really needed to get his damn mate in the house!

“Your motorbike is on its way,” Ray said and noted the look of surprise that crossed her face, before she replaced it with a blank expression, and shuffled on her feet as if she was mulling something over.

Ava might just have kicked his puppy if he’d had one. That had been a plan. He was supposed to go and retrieve the motorbike, not get a minion to do the job for him. Sneaky shifter.

“Fine.” She bit out, but it wasn’t fine because now she had to find a new plan.

“So, shall we go inside and wait for it?”

“I said; when it was here,” Ava rushed out.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust that her motorbike was on its way because it was, but she figured that there were more options to make a new plan if she was still outside the house rather than inside.

“You don’t trust me?” Ray asked.

“I don’t know you,” Ava tossed back.

“I’m a nice guy,” Ray grumbled, and his eyebrows pinched together over his nose as he offered a small growl to go with it.

“Now, if you try that again without the grumbling and growling — not to mention the scowling — you might be more believable.”

“Would you like me to put the cherry on top of it too?”

“Sure, give it your best shot.” She shrugged.

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

“What?”

“Wooing you.”

“Okay, let’s get this straight,” she said as she motioned between them. “This is wooing me?” She didn’t look impressed.

It was Ray’s turn to shuffle his weight on his feet.

“No,” he said like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, “this isn’t wooing…”

“Oh good, because if this was wooing, then I’m here to tell you that you really suck at it.”

Ray heard the sniggers from different locations around the house. He didn’t have a clue how many of his pack were in the damn bushes hiding, snooping, but he wanted to knock heads together.

“This isn’t wooing.” His hot denial made her want to chuckle, and she wasn’t entirely sure how she managed not to do it, but somehow she kept it inside. No point in riling him up to the point where he was going to do something really stupid.

“You’re damn right it’s not.”

Ava looked quite pleased with herself, and he caught that look. So, that was her game, well, he could fight fire with fire.

“Why the hell would I need to woo you anyway? You’re my mate — leave it long enough, and the mating pull will do all the work for me.” Ray tossed out and watched as that piece of information sunk in.

It was just wrong in her book. The mating pull was already at work. Fates little helper was a devious and inescapable force, and the longer that she spent in his company, the harder it worked.

That only enforced the fact that she needed to get the heck out of there and fast. Mate to a shifter — that was bad enough, but mate to him — he didn’t even know how to cross a damn road.

Stupid is as stupid does, and that made him really stupid.

“Excuse me?” Ava had also come to another conclusion, and she wasn’t too happy about it. “So, what you’re saying is — I’m not worth it.”

Ray’s brain took off in all directions without him even putting it into gear, and he found himself flustered and scurrying to catch up. That wasn’t what he’d meant at all. He meant to turn the tables on her, now she looked miffed, and he might have been going for a little miffed, but not that much.

“That’s not what I said…” He rushed out, but she wasn’t having it.

“That’s exactly what you said.”

Boy, did his mate have a piercing stare?

“I simply meant…”

“Simply — there’s a word — simple, like you if you think that I’m just going to roll over and play dead…”

“Who said anything about dead?” he said, as his eyebrows pinched together over his nose and he scowled back at her.

“Or have my tummy tickled.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Ray didn’t have a clue. He didn’t exactly want to tickle her tummy, although, if that was what it took — he’d do it.

“You — Mr. Presumptuous — I don’t have to do anything but wait — well, dream on, buddy,” Ava sneered at her mate.

“That’s…” Ray bit down on a multitude of curse words that he really wanted to say. The sound of sniggers grated on his last nerve. “If I’m presumptuous then you’re irrational.”

“Oh, now I’m irrational, easy, and not worth it.” Ava tossed back. “Where did you go to charm school?”

“I’m guessing it was the same one that you went to,” Ray growled.

He could hear the snickering from across the drive. He shot a sideways glance, and sure enough, his sister and both vampires were enjoying the show. His pack was chuckling, and he wanted to headbutt something.

There wasn’t much he could do about any of that, especially when his irrational mate wouldn’t even go inside the house.

Ray knew that it didn’t make much difference. Inside the house, outside the house, they were going to have an audience one way or the other, and his mate was determined to put on a damn show.

Witches!

Females!

Mates!

Mine…

He damn well didn’t need reminding of that fact by his damn beast. That wolf was getting annoying.

He only hoped that his brothers weren’t faring any better on the inside of those four walls than he was on the outside. Ray shifted his stance, eyeballed her, and growled.

“Don’t you growl at me,” Ava hissed at him, a heartbeat later; she raised her hands, and before he could even speak — she zapped him.

“Damn it to hell! That stings like a witch!” Ray bit out between clenched teeth as her magic stung his body like a thousand bees on the rampage.

Mine…

“Like a what now?” Ava said with a small tip of her head to one side, and the look in her eyes said he might as well bend over and kiss his backside goodbye.

Mine…

“Hold on!” He rushed out, but not fast enough — she zapped him again.