~

 

“There’s a line, Percival, and you are crossing it,” Neal bit out.

His beast wasn’t best pleased that the vampire was anywhere near his mate. He hated to think that the lure of her Fae blood was the reason, but his wolf didn’t much care – he wanted the vampire gone, and the danger the man represented with it.

“Your name’s Percival?” Penny sniggered.

The vampire’s eyes snapped towards the witch. He slowly narrowed them into nothing more than small slits as he eyed her for a long moment.

“Your point?” He finally asked.

“Stupid name,” Neal growled out.

“Oh, you speak for the witch now?” Percival asked.

“What?” Neal growled.

“No, he doesn’t,” Penny said, shaking her head slowly on her neck and giving the man an old fashioned look.

“I didn’t say I did,” Neal said, more than a little defensively as he turned to look at her.

“You didn’t have to say it; you just presumed to speak for your mate,” Percival offered, stirring the pot. “Like her opinion doesn’t count. Tell me, is it because she’s a woman?”

“What? No!” Neal snapped back.

The beta stomped down hard on the urge to lift his hand and swing for the damn vampire.

“Then is it because she’s a witch?” Percival tossed back.

“No!” Neal growled.

“Then for absolutely no reason at all, you decided that she doesn’t need to have a voice. An o-p-i-n-i-o-n.”

“I’m going to….”

Neal took one long step towards the man and balled his hands into large fists at his sides. Anger flashed in his eyes as thoughts of what he’d like to do to the vampire flashed into his mind.

“Resorting to violence… of course you are!” Penny offered.

Her words stopped the shifter in his tracks. His eyes moved around in their sockets as he considered her words, but the rest of him stood perfectly still like a statue.

“Hmm,” Percival took a long moment to consider the beta. “Now what are you going to do, He-Man?”

The vampire’s lips spread wide in a devilish smile and Neal’s wolf clawed within him to be set free. The beast was in no doubt what he’d do to the man if he had a set of fangs of his own, but Neal slammed that cage door shut.

Not only were they in the middle of a field full of humans, and worse, a man of God, but, his mate had already rushed to judgment on him being violent.

She might have been right because at that very moment in time he would love to beat the vampire senseless, but, he didn’t need to prove her point for her.

“Wait until I get you alone later,” Neal mouthed the words to the vampire, making sure that his back was firmly to his mate.

“Does your mate know that you have a thing for me?” Percival offered back on a whisper of his own, and Neal snapped his body to attention on a scowl and his head back on his neck in surprise and something that bordered on disgust.

“I…” he started to deny it.

“Oh, look, she’s getting away!” Percival announced the lie, lifting his hand and pointing over the beta’s shoulder.

“What…?” Neal wrenched his whole body around to face his mate; the woman hadn’t moved a step from where he’d left her.

The shifter scowled harder, growled to himself, and turned back towards the vampire; he was more than ready to knock the man’s fangs right out of his mouth, but the man was gone.

“Oh no, did your friend run off and leave you?” Penny teased, babying him, and she watched as his chin slowly lowered down towards his chest, and when he brought his head back around; his eyes narrowed on hers.

“Do not…” he lifted his hand and pointed one thick stocky index finger at her.

Penny decided that it was time to assert her authority as a woman, and – a witch.

She lifted her hand, pointed her index finger at him, and then she let him have it – Zap!

Neal bit down on the annoying jolt that hit his body. It was a short, sharp shock, but it still made his muscles clench and his length rock hard.

Not that his length wasn’t already hard for her. He could scent her all around him in the air, and that seemed to be enough to start his cock twitching within his jeans.

“Don’t point at a witch.” She crossed her arms and gave him a smug look right back.

“Don’t point, young man, it's rude!” Ida said, slapping him hard on the backside as she walked by, and making him jump in place at the unexpected liberty that the old woman had taken.

“That’s right, Ida, you tell him.” Penny grinned from ear to ear. “Wolves, no manners.” She whispered for her mate’s benefit.

“Witches…” he bit down on his words and didn’t dare finish that sentence as she snapped her head back on her neck and waited.

Neal grumbled a growl.

Wooing his mate was going to be… painful.

 

~

~

~

 

Isla had followed her nose to the stalls that were being manned by the ladies of the church. She might not have been a shifter with an unnaturally good sense of smell, but if there was chocolate in the air in any form, be it a bar, cake, or even a drink, she could sniff it out.

“So many cakes, so little me to fit them in.” Isla knew that one old saying was going to prove so very true. Her eyes were going to be way too big for her belly.

I haven’t had breakfast, and breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

No saying that I can’t have chocolate cake for breakfast, oh, and brunch, because I missed that too, and then there’s lunch.

“Death by chocolate,” she muttered, mentally licking her lips.

“What a way to go,” Percival said as he leaned in and whispered aside her ear.

Isla’s shields had already kicked into gear, warning her of the supernatural that was around her, but she didn’t expect a vampire, especially as her mate had been stalking her all around the fair.

“Walk away while you still can,” Isla warned him, drawing her magic close within her, and readying herself to take action should she need it. Not that she should, considering the company that they were keeping.

He was never going to be bold enough to attack with all of the humans that were around them.

“Is that a threat?” Percival looked amused. “And from one so… constrained to be able to back it up with actions.”

Isla more than understood his meaning. There were way too many humans around them for him or her to get their groove on.

It wasn’t as if she could pick him up and throw him into the nearest tree while she made her escape – someone would definitely notice that one. Plus, everybody had a damn camera phone nowadays.

“They’re not always going to be around to help you out, sucky boy,” Isla warned him.

“Why are you here?” There was a deep growl that rumbled within an equally deep voice, and it made Isla turn towards the sound.

The witch looked up into jet black anger filled eyes, but it wasn’t who she’d been expecting – shifter, yes – her mate, no.

“And here comes the close-to-rogue element of the witch cheerleading squad,” Percival muttered under his breath, loud enough for the shifter to hear, but just a mumble to Isla’s ears.

Those jet black eyes dropped down to Isla and held her gaze. Anger and suspicion filled them as the man narrowed his eyes on hers.

Isla felt a hard shiver run through her body just from the look that resided in his eyes.

Funny, who’d ever have thought that I’d feel safer in the company of a vampire?

“Witch…” The shifter growled again. His voice held as much disgust for her as it had for the vampire.

“Wolf,” Isla sneered back.

She knew shifters and their mentality, to show weakness in the face of aggression was wrong. She was determined to stand her ground.

“Vampire,” Percival announced, loud enough for the witch to overhear that time. “We have a set.”

“Get off pack land.” The shifter growl at Isla, “your kind is not welcome here.”