CHAPTER SEVEN

 

 

~

 

 

Joel never expected what came next – there wasn’t an inch of his body that wasn’t wracked with pain from the witch’s magic. He tried to move, tried to fight it, but he was as helpless as a newborn pup.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, and hellfire no with a cherry on top!” Sandy bit out.

She knew she needed to get the heck out of town and fast. The trouble was her stupid brain, and her stupid feet didn’t seem to be in synch with each other. How could that be? They’d worked perfectly fine until super-Mutley had dropped his bombshell on her about mates.

Meddling witches and stupid spells! How could that witch be so thoughtless?

Did she look like she needed to be a mate to some shifter wolfman? She still hadn’t started her real life yet. She was still saving up to start it. How could she be a mate and have a life?

All those questions needed answering on a different day, at a different time, and when she was safely home in the city with no chance of being a mate.

Even if this one wasn’t her mate – which she hoped he wasn’t – then she still might have been drawn to the town to run into a mate. But who?

How bad would that be? A mate. Bad. Really, really bad.

“Have you sniffed me yet?” she demanded as she eyed him with something of a death glare.

In truth, even if he had, he probably wouldn’t have told her unless she was definitely not his mate.

If looks could kill – splat!

“I was getting to that part…” he admitted.

“Well, don’t!” she hissed out and tried to think of a spell that would stop the wolf from sniffing. “Let me think, what spell? What spell?”

She searched her mind, and he watched her do it with a certain amount of trepidation and a rush of anxiety, and then panic made his wolf kick his backside into gear.

Spell? No sir! He wasn’t going down like that again!

Joel’s chest expanded as he sniffed in long and hard as he searched the air for her scent and made sure that he got it before she got his balls on a silver platter.

Sandy’s eyes widened as she realised that it was too darn late.

“Oh no!” she bit out.

“Oh yes,” Joel growled back as his eyes darkened and his wolf pranced around within him.

Mine…

“No-no!” She shook her head in denial of anything that the man was going to say before he went and said it.

“Yes…” he started, and she zapped him again.

“Do not say what I think you’re going to say because if you say it then it’s real, and I don’t want to deal with reality right now,” she hissed out in one long breath, gulped in air, and continued. “If I’m not your mate, then that’s good, but if I am, then I think I’m going to lose it right here on this very street, and right now in front of …” She looked around. “No people, but there could be people, and people seeing a witch losing it is bad – very bad, and I will not be responsible for my actions if you open your mouth and say…”

“Mine…” Joel growled, and she crumpled.

“Oh, Goddess…noooooo!” She whined then whimpered like a kicked puppy, and she hated him for kicking her make-believe puppy.

“Had to be said,” Joel could have done handstands at finally finding his mate, but he didn’t think that was the best time to do them.

 “Did bloody well not,” she bit out as she offered him the sort of evil look from under her long lashes that, coming from Bree might have worried him, but this witch – his witch – seemed different.

“What’s done is done.”

“Oh, don’t go getting on your philosophical high horse with me, you twaddler.”

Joel took a moment to think about that. “I don’t know what that means…”

“Which part?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “All of it.”

“No use crying over spilt milk…”

“Exactly. I’m glad you’re on board.”

“I’m not…”

“You just agreed with me…”

“Never in a million years,” she tossed back, and she folded her arms and scowled at him.

Joel reached up and scratched his head. “I’m confused…”

“I’m not surprised.”

“I’m Joel…”

“Are you sure?”

“Huh?”

Sandy waved an absent hand around in the air as she spoke. “Well, you don’t seem to know much of anything…”

“I know you’re my mate.”

Bum! “Point taken, and you really don’t gotta rub it in!” she bit out in annoyance.

Joel offered her a cocky grin. “What are mates for?”

Sandy had a bright idea. “Forgiveness.” Mischief flashed in her eyes, and he certainly knew that look.

Uh-oh! He went to take a step but found that his feet felt like lead. His beast growled a warning at him.

“I just need a five-minute head start,” she shot back over her shoulder as she headed away from him back towards the bakery.

Joel realised one thing, and he didn’t need to be a genius to come to that conclusion.

His mate was a runner.

 

 

~

 

 

Martha yanked open the front door to find Bree standing there. She snorted with contempt for the younger witch and the trouble she’d caused, and Bree pulled her head back on her neck and frowned.

“You invited me…”

“Did you bring what I asked for?” Martha’s tone was gruff, and Bree couldn’t help it when her eyebrows rose up towards her hairline.

“One sprig of Juniper…”

Bree held it up like it was a prize, which in some parts it was, and Martha snatched it away from her. “You owed me that much.”

“What has gotten into you today?” Bree demanded.

Martha threw open the door, lifted her hand and pointed to her mate as he sat on the sofa and looked just as moody as the elder. “Any more stupid questions?”

“Umm, I’m thinking no, but I’m sure one will pop up sooner rather than never at all.” Bree leaned towards the elder and lowered her voice. Not that it made much difference with Mr Oh, Grandma, what big ears and all that. “So, have you done the deed – yet?”

Martha’s eyes narrowed on her, and her cheeks took on a nice red hue, but it was the death glare that was aimed right between Bree’s eyes like a dagger that the elder would love to have tossed her way that told Bree the answer was no.

“There are no words for my contempt for that question.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re both so … how can I put this?” Bree lifted her hand and tapped her index finger against her lips as she considered it.

“Watch that next step, Bree. It could be a really big drop,” Martha cautioned her.

“Uptight!” Bree said, finally hitting on the word that she was looking for. The little rumble of something in the back of the elder witch’s throat said it wasn’t a good choice.

There was a splutter of laughter that came from inside the cottage as Thorn tried his best not to react to the witch’s words, but couldn’t help himself. But, Bree wasn’t laughing when the sting of Martha’s magic hit her.

“Ouch!” Bree bit out as she rubbed at her backside to try to dull that pain and scowled at her friend. “Uncalled for.”

“See that?” Martha gave a backwards nod to Thorn. “It was definitely called for.”

“Fair point,” Bree said and grimaced.

Bree knew she’d made mistakes and she really did want to make amends – and she also needed to find that stupid rainbow wolf and remove her spell from his fur.

A witch’s work was never done!