~

 

‘Drake — you what?’ The alpha growled through the pack's link, and Drake groaned. ‘Wait! Aren’t you with the…’

‘Don’t say it…’ Drake groaned.

‘Yes, he is!’ Jackie announced with a chuckle.

‘A witch! Are you insane?’ The alpha growled again.

‘Not yet, but, trust me, I’m bound to be heading that way soon,’ Drake grumbled.

‘Don’t move — I’m coming…’

‘I can’t be helped, brother,’ Drake grumbled back.

‘Who said anything about help? I’m coming to laugh my ass off at you,’ the alpha offered back.

“Don’t you love it when people have conversations that you’re not privy to?” Nancy offered as she walked over and stood beside Ashley, giving the beta a cold hard stare.

“It’s quite rude,” Ashley offered back.

“Hello?” Eliza gave them an expectant look.

“You want us to kill him?” Nancy asked, and Drake snapped a look in her direction.

“Huh?” Drake thought he might have heard her wrong. But when his sister's uncontrollable sniggers reached his ears, well then, he thought he’d heard just right.

“Not right now,” Eliza grumbled, and Drake shot her a look. “But hold that thought because I might just change my mind real soon.”

“I like these witches!” Amy chuckled at her sister.

“Welcome to the pack!” Jackie grinned.

“Not us…” Nancy shook her head in denial. She offered a subtle nod in Eliza’s direction, and her friend caught it and huffed.

“Well, you never know — because we do have two other brothers.” Amy giggled.

Eliza shot a smug look up at Nancy — Nancy turned to look at Ashley — Ashley grimaced and offered a helpless shrug of her shoulders, but then gave a small shake of her head.

“This is not a good day to be a witch,” Ashley sighed. One snowstorm had landed them all in deep trouble.

“I need a drink,” Eliza grumbled.

“Me too,” Nancy said with a scowl at the thought of more shifter men around and fate’s deviousness.

“Me three,” Ashley agreed.

Jackie and Amy shared a look before they turned their attention back to the witches.

“Count us in.” They offered in unison.

“I need someone to shoot me,” Drake growled, knowing that his brothers weren’t going to give him an easy ride about finding his mate, definitely not when she was a witch.

“Thanks a lot,” Eliza bit out and brought his attention right back down to her.

She offered him her version of the evil eye, and he balked as he realized just how that must have sounded. He rushed to apologize, but Nancy got there first.

“Quick, someone arm Bambi. Now that would be poetic justice.” She snorted in contempt for him.

“Now hold on one damn minute,” he growled out as he reached down and yanked his mate to her feet, “I didn’t…”

“She’s a catch, unlike you,” Nancy berated him with her acidic tone and offered him a death glare to boot. She wondered if she should put a little magic behind it.

“That’s…” he started to explain once more, but it was Ashley’s turn to cut him off.

“Eliza is the nicest, most caring, giving person that I’ve ever met, and you certainly don’t deserve her.”

“I was…” Drake tried again. He even planted his feet and leaned in a little in the hopes of being heard out, but it wasn’t to be.

“That’s just wrong,” Jackie said, shaking her head in dismay at her brother.

“But…” he growled.

“She’s your mate!” Amy growled.

“Let’s go, girls!” Nancy pointed toward the cabin, and all five females set off at once.

Drake lifted his hands in frustration as he watched them go. He opened his mouth to protest his innocence, or at least try once more, and his damn beast growled at him.

Mine…

Drake guessed that even his wolf would walk away from him at that point if it could. He had the desire to headbutt the nearest tree trunk.

Idiot… he growled. Talk about a way to make a first impression. He’d done everything wrong.

How the hell was he going to woo his mate now?

 

~

~

~

 

“Where are they?”

Kiel slammed the door of his truck and stalked towards Drake. The alpha’s face was a picture of glee, and Drake’s worst fears were confirmed. His brother was definitely planning on enjoying his misery as much as damn well possible.

“They’re in the cabin with our sisters,” Drake grumbled.

“How’d that happen? And why the hell did you let Amy and Jackie in the cabin with them?”

The alpha growled at the thought of the kind of influence witches would have on their female siblings. The two females had already got to the stage where they weren’t cute girlie-girls anymore, and they were fast becoming she-demons that could wind the male members of the pack around their little fingers.

They didn’t need any more pointers.

“Gee, Kiel. I guess I had a few other things on my damn mind,” Drake growled back.

“Hey! Witch mate!” Jeff announced from the open window of his truck as he sped up the track towards the cabin with a big smug grin on his face and laughter in his eyes.

“Ah, crap,” Drake’s head hung low, and his shoulders went down.

Now that he had both brothers to contend with life had just got a heck of a lot harder.

“That’s not his name, but close,” Kiel chuckled.

“You know, Jeff, there are two more witches in there, maybe one of them is your mate. Be a waste of a good witch if not, don’t you think?”Drake called back.

Jeff’s truck came to a skidding stop, and the beta’s face was a picture of confusion that had crashed head-first into horror. Then he tossed the gearbox into reverse.

“Enjoy your mate. I’m outta here,” Jeff announced.

“Hold it,” Kiel growled, and Jeff groaned. He already wanted to be long gone, anywhere but there. “You can take our sisters home.”

“They’re grown women, surely…” he started to plead his case, but the alpha wasn’t listening.

“Chicken,” Drake chuckled.

“Smart,” Jeff tossed back. “It’s called being smart.” He grinned back.

Then Jeff lifted his hand and made a point of showing the beta that he was rolling up his window as he jabbed at the button. He wasn’t about to risk picking up a stray scent.

“How smart can he be, he’s here isn’t he?” Drake muttered and was greeted by the sound of the alpha’s annoyed growl.

“I’m here,” Kiel reminded him.

“No comment on the grounds that I like my head on my shoulders. But, hey, if you want to put two and two together,” he grinned.

“Amy! Jackie! Out here now,” the alpha called, tossing his brother a glare, but ignoring his words.

The door to the cabin opened, and Kiel tried to get a look inside. He was curious to see his brother’s mate and the newest member of his pack, but his sisters blocked his line of sight.

“They are so cool,” Amy gushed.

“Can we keep them?” Jackie asked with an excited chuckle that matched her sister’s reaction.

“You can have one to share,” Kiel said as if they were five. “But, only if your brother can manage to woo his mate.”

“Better had,” Amy snapped out as she turned a dark stare on Drake, and the man’s eyebrows pinched together in a deep scowl.

“He knows what he did,” Jackie growled.

“And what did you do, brother?” Kiel looked amused.

The alpha guessed that his brother’s attempts at wooing hadn’t got off to a good start. No surprise there.

“Misunderstanding,” Drake grumbled, but he didn’t look at any of them as he said it. Instead, he kicked out at the snow underfoot.

“Jeff’s truck, now,” Kiel ordered his sisters, and he hooked a thumb over his shoulder.

The woman looked a little disappointed, but they dutifully made haste across the snow-covered ground.

“So…?” Kiel started, but Drake cut him off.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” the beta grumbled.

“You have a mate now, Drake. You’d better get in touch with your touchy-feely side.” He splattered laughter, right up to the point when Jeff’s truck door opened and a rush of curses spewed from the beta’s lips as he stalked back towards his brothers.

The beta looked fit to kill.

“Go away,” Drake growled.

“Damn well love to,” Jeff growled back. “But, guess what? The air in my damn truck is filled with toxic witch fumes…”

“Oh, don’t tell me…” the alpha chuckled.

“This is your damn fault,” Jeff growled, stabbing a finger in the air at Drake.

Then he swung a punch at Drake’s jaw, and all hell broke loose.