~

 

Neal’s balls were still on fire, but somehow he finally managed to suck in the breath that he needed to fill his lungs with air. She’d got him good – twice.

Trust a witch to do the meanest thing possible and attack a man where it hurts, and boy, did it hurt.

He groaned and managed to rock over onto his side. He curled his whole being into a ball, and held onto his balls, shielding them – just in case the woman went in for a third strike.

Mine…

His beast growled out into the spinning torrents of his mind, and he’d almost swallowed his tongue from the pain when she’d kicked him – twice. But with that claim on her from his beast, well, he was in danger of choking on that tongue for a second time.

What the damn fire in hell of all things stupid are you blubbering about, wolf?

There is no way in this universe that the ball-breaker of a witch is bloody well mine!

His beast growled within him at his words.

The last thing his wolf wanted to hear was an out and out rejection of their mate.

Mine… The beast growled again; this time more forcefully.

You can just go and shove your damn head up your big furry backside is she ours… muppet!

Mine… His beast was adamant.

Well, I don’t want her!

Mine…

Oh, shut up and do one!

Mine… mine… mine… mine…

Ok, bloody hells bells and the fire of all evil!

Yours – you can have her – just let me get a full bloody lobotomy and job done!

He rolled onto his back and eyed the area. It was empty of everything but the trees.

She’d certainly taken off on fast feet to be out of sight that quickly, and his beast growled and clawed within him to be set free.

Hold that blood thought you an ungrateful bag of fur! Neal ground out.

Hell, he couldn’t even move with the pain in his balls, he had no idea how the hell his wolf expected him to go chasing across the countryside after their mate.

Mine… Mine… Mine…

Would you just shut up or so help me I will drag my sorry ass, and balls, up that hill and throw myself off – again!

M-i-n-e…

Wait your bloody turn – or the next time you shift, you’ll find that I’ve had your balls cut off at the damn vet!

His wolf had a Scooby Doo moment. The sound that it made would have been comical had it not been for the screaming agony between Neal’s legs.

He was in no mood to deal with a wicked witch – or a deranged wolf.

He just wanted an ice pack until his blood took care of his little pain problem.

 

~

~

~

 

Lucas surfaced first. It might have only been an instant before his mate, and yet he felt the panic within her body as she fought against him, and that made him and his beast anxious too.

The moment that Isla’s head broke through the surface of the water; so she sprayed a mouthful of water right in his face.

The man had something of a death grip around her body, and she’d been struggling to break free of it from the moment that they’d hit the water, but now she tried again in earnest.

“Muppet! Moron! Idiot! Psycho!” She bit out every word that came to mind.

“Geez, don’t filter on my account,” Lucas offered back, with the kind of smirk that usually sent the woman wild for him.

Now that she was safely in his arms – he could relax a little – more than a little, in fact, he was kind of enjoying having her pressed up against him like that.

His mate looked less than pleased. Her top lip was twitching in anger, and the death glare that she was offering him with all the promise of backing it up with her magic made him think twice, and he snapped off that smirk.

“Y-o-u…” She hissed out like a snake, and for a long moment; he had to wonder if she was Medusa reincarnated.

“Seeing as this water is kind of cold, can we save the recriminations until we’re back on land?” Lucas had already started to move them through the water and towards the river bank.

“I should skin you alive…” Isla hissed out between chattering teeth – the sound echoed within her ears, and her need to kill the Wolfman was burning inside of her.

“While that sounds… delightful, for you – I’d much prefer that we…”

He never got any further than that, because she hit him with the kind of zap that his future grand-pups were sure to feel. Instinctively, as his whole body started to lock up, he wanted to make sure that he didn’t let go of her, but he knew the danger in that theory.

His grip around her body was strong, and he didn’t want to break her – so he knew that, however reluctantly, he had to let her go. He forced himself to do just that; a moment before she used her magic to blast him across the water … away from her, and off into the darkness.

“W…a…i…t...” his deep tone got quieter the further that he went.

Isla felt the pull of the water on her body as he was torn away, and she kicked out against it so that she didn’t being dragged along with him.

“Wait my… grandmother,” she bit out.

She turned to look at the riverbank, it seemed like a million miles away, but she started for it anyway. Her body was cold, and her clothes were waterlogged and heavy, and each stroke felt like she was paddling against a raging sea with a weight around each arm.

She felt the panic rise within her. Telling herself that it wasn’t that far, that the only person that could get her there was her, because nobody was going to rush to her rescue.

She felt the calm return, and then she drew on her magic and used it to push herself along. All she needed to do was to keep her head above the water and not freak out.

She heard the grunt of annoyance from somewhere behind her and the ominous sound of splashing. She’d turned her magic on her escape plan, and away from the shifter – and she knew that she needed to get out of the water because she was sure that he was heading right for her.

And that could be bad.

The moment that her fingers touched the wet mud, she dug them into the earth and tried to pull herself upwards. Chunks of the river bank came away with her clawing hands, and she slipped back down into the water just as fast as she tried climbing out.

Come on… come on… come on…

Give me a break!

She felt the warmth of his hand on her backside and her eyes went wide at the feel of it.

“What are you damn well…?” She bit out, but the fact that he was pushing her up into the air and allowing her the chance to climb out, made her bite down on the embarrassment and shock of his touch.

She scampered up into the mud, crawling forwards on her hands and knees as she panted and tried to catch her breath.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

His teasing voice was like a red rag to a bull, and she turned to find the muscle man half in and half out of the water.

With a thrust of her palm towards him; she watched him sail away through the air on a yelp of surprise. That sound was music to her ears, and so was the sound of a big splash that felt oh-so satisfying.

“Don’t you sweetheart me, you mutt!”

 

~

~

~

 

Keri was already off and running. She’d hit the vampire with an orb and throw him a good thirty feet or so away – not far in vampire terms, but it would still take a few minutes to recover from her magic.

It was the other one that she knew she needed to worry about. He was missing, presumed lurky, and he could have been anywhere just waiting to jump out on her and attack.

She would like to have thought that she was ready for anything, but deep down inside she knew that she wasn’t. You could only train so hard, with kickboxing or with magic.

The actual proof was in the pudding when it came to testing out that theory, and she wished she didn’t have to, but it didn’t look like they were going to give her that chance to walk away.

The moment that she hit the tree line she knew that she was really treading on his turf, but if the trees were that close together, then she hoped to slow him down just a little. Of course, it would slow her down too, but she was smaller, hopefully, a lot more agile through the thick clusters of the trunks, and she was hoping that would offset the fact that she was a lot slower than he was anyway.

Keri scanned the area as best she could while the light of the moon sneaked a peek out of the clouds, and the new foliage on the trees gave a little shelter from the rain. It didn’t help much – everywhere that she looked she could see a big bulky shadow that could have been him.

She tried to stop her heart from racing as she picked her way through the maze of tree trunks, but that was like asking nicely for chocolate to have no calories and be a recommended food group – possibly one where it was your solemn duty to eat at least five bars a day.

The sound of a very feminine shriek made her ears prick up, and she stopped in place, palming the rough bark in front of her, and listening for a direction to follow.

“Let’s talk…” Griffin’s deep voice almost made her jump out of her skin – she turned towards the sound and followed through with her closed fist adding a little magical bolster to that punch as it landed on his solid jaw.

She’d cheated – she knew that, and she was paying for it when she felt the pain shoot through her hand and up her arm. She’d remembered to add a little magic to the force, but had forgotten to try and protect herself against any damage that punching a shifter brick wall would cause her.

Son of a mother…

“Yee-ouch!” She bit out, along with a few choice curse words followed, but then so did her boot, catching him on the kneecap and getting a grunt from him in return.

She was more than glad that one of her moves might have given him pause for thought.

“Maybe if it hurts, don’t do it,” Griffin growled out.

Both blows had been unexpected by the alpha. The little witch was a mean one, and she packed a powerful punch that he suspected was backed up by her magic.

Still, she was a fighter and that was what counted. He could respect that, but he still didn’t want to see her hurt – it tweaked his guilt button, and he wasn’t sure why.

The hard boot to the kneecap that she’d delivered had sent his upper body forward, and when she rallied with a left-hand punch to his nose – he saw stars – watery ones as they glazed over with man tears.

“Ouch!” Keri bit out the instant the pain shot through her hand, but the man’s hand reached for his face, and that was a welcome sight.

“Damn it, witch!” He growled.

Griffin might have been rethinking that whole guilt thing as his nose stung like a bitch.

Then she was off and running; while he was momentarily stunned like a deer caught in the headlights of a fast approaching truck. In truth, he hadn’t expected her to attack the first time – let alone the second and third. The woman was either insane or – no, there wasn’t a substitute for that thought; he thought she was probably insane.

Griffin grumbled a growl. He snapped his nose back into joint and took a hard, deep breath in to still his need to punch someone back – anyone – anyone but a helpless female.

Not that she was in anyway helpless.

That was when it hit him.

Her scent in the air. So very Fae, so very sweet, and so very – his.

Mine…