CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

 

 

~

 

“I have my mate,” the alpha said proudly as he sucked in a breath, pushed out his big, muscled chest, and grinned like the Cheshire cat at the teasing that was going on all around him.

 “Don’t anybody tell him that she’s a witch,” the vampire chuckled.

“You can leave at any time,” Mason grumbled back.

“We’re outside…”

“And yet, still on pack land.” Mason offered him a dark glare.

“And what’s wrong with witches?” Bree asked as she folded her arms, tipped her head to one side, and eyeballed the vampire as if she was thinking up the best way to kill him.

“Witches?” Jai made a point of thinking about it. “I quite like witches — you on the other hand…” He never got to finish — Bree’s magic hit him hard and fast.

Every muscle in the vampire’s body clenched so tightly that he was sure they were all going to snap. Not only that, but she was using her magic to hold him upright.

That was a good thing because falling flat on his face would have been — embarrassing.

“Bree,” Maxi said, and offered the vampire a wicked grin that he didn’t like one little bit. “Do you remember that song — like a puppet on a string?” Her eyes filled with glee, and so did Bree’s.

The wicked witch lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers. “I think I can remember how it goes,” she offered back like that thought was a tasty treat.

The vampire groaned inwardly as his arms lifted at his sides, one leg bent at the knee and moved up and then down, then the other knee, and then his arms were moving, and all under the wicked intentions of her magic.

He was certainly a marionette now. The shifters were laughing long and hard at his misfortune, the witches were grinning from ear to ear, and Kelly clapped her hands together in glee.

“Now there’s a spell you need to teach me,” the newest witch offered with delight. Mason frowned at the thought.

“Well, as the vampire said that he isn’t going anywhere — we have lots of time to work on, and perfect it.”

The vampire groaned inwardly because he couldn’t seem to find his voice, as the witch toyed with him. He didn’t mind it so much — it wasn’t hurting anymore — that was, nothing except his pride was hurting.

What was going to hurt was when she decided that she’d had enough, and cut his magical strings. He could only hope that he landed on his back rather than face down on the ground.

But, he was getting to know Bree, and he highly doubted that she would be that gentle with him, especially after he’d started it.

He was right. Just as he got the feeling back in his body in a heated rush, so he collapsed on the ground — face first into the grass.

“Well, now what?” Bree asked as innocently as possible and looked around for the next suggestion.

The vampire slammed his palms down against the grass, pushed up, and offered her the stink eye. “Alpha, are you sure I can’t eat her?”

“She’s growing on me,” Mason chuckled.

“Like fungus,” the vampire tossed back. That was when he heard Bree suck in a hard breath through her teeth, and his gaze snapped in her direction.

Jai thought he might as well have kissed his backside goodbye. The hard glare that she offered him was more than enough of a clue as to what came next. Maybe not.

“Oh dear,” Bree said with a sickly sweet tone to her voice then let him know that she was gearing up for something much worse than what he’d just experienced. “You seem to have taken a tumble — let me help you with that.”

The vampire groaned inwardly — he really needed to learn to keep his big mouth shut where the witches were concerned — especially Bree.

A heartbeat later and he was flipped onto his back. Then his front. Then his back. Then his front. Then he was up on his feet, and down on his backside. On his feet, down on his backside.

“I think there’s supposed to be a trampoline involved somewhere,” Nathaniel chuckled as he lifted his hand and wiped the happy tears from his eyes.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Bree asked, and her eyes sparkled with amusement, and a wicked, wicked, grin spread her lips wide.

“Changed my mind — I don’t like witches!” The vampire bit out.

“You can’t change your mind, you’re not female,” Nathanial chuckled. He noted the way that Bree’s head whipped around and her eyes glared at him. He swallowed hard.

“Are we going to have a problem, now?” Bree demanded, and Nathanial held his hand up and waved that one away on a chuckle.

“I’m really, really, liking witches right about now,” Nathaniel said. “Let’s not spoil it.”

Mason chuckled hard. Life was good. Life was great. He’d won his mate, and he was determined to make her as happy as he could.

 

~

 

Somewhere in the distance — far, far away from pack land, the winds — with the help of Mother Nature — carried the spell onward. Where it would end up was anyone’s guess, but onward it went as the newest witch in the pack settled in with the family that she’d always wanted.

 

The end — Or, is it?