~

 

“Not necessary.” Monty offered back, giving a small shake of his head as he put his body between the vampire and his mate.

“Hmm, interesting…” Jaxon mused, eyeing Chloe a little longer than Monty would have liked.

It wasn’t so much the way that the man’s eyes was taking in his mate, more the ice cold tone that resided within his voice. He may have appeared benign in that moment in time, but Monty knew that he was anything but…

“My territory,” Monty informed him, bringing the man’s attention solely back towards him.

“The land or the woman?” Jaxon offered back.

He had a small, cruel smile on his lips, and Monty didn’t like it. Didn’t like the whole feel that he was getting from the vampire.

“Both.”

“Ah.” Jaxon nodded in understanding, just once, but that was all that it took.

Then he turned and started a slow, thoughtful pace of the area. He might have appeared to be lost in deep thought, but Monty knew better – the vampire was coiled and ready to fight.

“Ah?” Monty echoed.

“Then we have a small problem.” Jaxon informed him, and those words were meant for him alone.

This was about territory. At least, that was where Monty wanted to take the diversion away from the vampire’s assessment of his mate…

“Do we?”

“We do.” Jaxon turned his attention back towards him. “You have something that belongs to me.”

Jaxon lifted his hand and pointed through the window at Fallon. The witch pressed her lips together and bit down on the desire to tell him where to get off.

Her father might have owed him a debt, but that didn’t mean that she belonged in his service. Not then – not ever, and she’d fight him tooth and nail on that point.

One favour. One spell – that was all that she’d agreed to give him in return to wipe her father’s debt out.

Owned by a vampire. Not bloody likely!

Fallon took a long step towards the window and noted that the beta matched it. That protective movement was both irrational, as the vampire hadn’t been invited in, and redundant, as she could more than take care of herself…

But, she understood it…

“There’s a difference between working for you, and belonging to you,” Fallon bit out.

“Yes, there is, and we both know which one applies to you,” Jaxon met and held her gaze.

His eyes took her in. Every twitch, every breath that raised and lowered her breasts, every emotion on her face, and every thought that all of that conveyed to him.

The woman was getting brazen. He couldn’t allow that.

Her father had known his place and had acted accordingly. She needed to know that too.

He’d need to show her just who was in charge and what would happen to her should she deviate from the script.

Just … not then.

He was more than happy to take on both of the vampires, and any shifters that he’d scented on the land. Hell, he didn’t even mind taking on a witch or two, if he needed to do it…

But, he was outnumbered with them all in the one place at the same time, and he hadn’t been invited in. He really didn’t need to waste his time laying siege to the house until his wayward witch gave up, admitted that she’d lost, and came out with her proverbial tail between her legs.

No, the one thing that he could do was to bide his time. After all, he had plenty of it.

“You’re coming back with me,” Jaxon informed her like it was an absolute. A given. A foregone conclusion, and in his mind – it was.

That ruffled her feathers.

“I never said that I wasn’t,” Fallon offered back.

She knew that rocking the boat wasn’t the way to go. There were too many variables right then for things to go down smoothly, and with her growly, protective mate on hand; she knew that things could go very badly wrong in a heartbeat.

No, she had to bide her time and play it smart…

“Good to hear,” Jaxon announced.

He was trying to read her emotions, and yet, right then she was completely blank to him.

He didn’t like that – she was definitely her father’s daughter.

“But you need to leave now,” Fallon said.

It wasn’t a demand, but she hadn’t made it sound like a request either. She knew better than to try to force the man’s hand.

Jaxon gave the impression that he was considering what she’d said. He wasn’t – he was going nowhere without her.

“I’ll – be around,” he offered back.

A heartbeat later and the man was gone.

“Nice friend of yours,” Chloe shot out over her shoulder to the young witch with a little venom in her tone. That vampire had unnerved her a little more than she cared to admit.

“Bite me,” Fallon grumbled.

“That’s just so damn tempting,” Chloe whined to Monty and her mate grinned back at her. That grin wasn’t as wide as it should have been, nor was it registering in his eyes as it normally would… “You’re worried?” Chloe whispered, stepping towards him so that she wasn’t overheard.

“I’m … cautious.” Monty offered back. “No more games of chase me or hide and seek.” He warned her.

“For now,” Chloe agreed she could sense the concern within him, and he nodded back, glad that she understood that it wasn’t the time to play games with that vampire on the loose.

Caution be damned. Monty was worried and he didn’t want to entertain the idea of his mate getting hurt.

Keep an eye on the witches…

Keep an eye on my mate…

Kill the vampire if necessary…

Who said life had to be damn boring…

Monty didn’t like it. The man had to rival him for centuries lived and that meant that he was as strong and able to match him in skills.

He remembered him from when they’d met, and if he remembered correctly then he was a nasty piece of work. Not that Monty considered himself to be an angle … but he’d come a long way since his wilder days, and he doubted that the same could be said for Jaxon…

 

~

~

~

 

“Who is he?” Jamie growled once more at the thought of his mate being owned by anyone.

The fact that the vampire seemed to think that he had some claim on her just made it worse.

There was only one man who had any kind of a claim on his mate and that was him, and she had a choice in that claim. It was never a given that she’d accept him – that she’d mate with him.

He wanted to rip that vampire limb from limb, and he was certain that he would enjoy doing it.

“Vampire…” Fallon shot back.

She didn’t want to go into the whole story, especially in front of Dorothy and the other vampires. Her life history was her own business, and so was her father’s.

“Now is not the time to be sarcastic. I have a pack, witches to protect, and you, my mate…” He bit down on that last word and she felt her last nerve ping.

“Don’t do me any favours, wolf…” Fallon started to build up a head of steam.

Dorothy knew that temper well. She’d had it in her youth – still did, if she was being honest, and so did Fallon’s mother. It was only natural that her granddaughter would have gotten it in her DNA too.

The elder pushed up from the chair to her feet, and that movement gave Fallon a good reason to look away from the dark, glaring eyes of her mate that had her bewitched at the same time that it annoyed her so…

“He has a right to know, Fallon,” Dorothy said, and watched the young witch open her mouth to protest. She never gave her the chance. “He’s your mate, and like it or not, he has a duty to you and his pack.”

“Taking sides?” Fallon hissed.

She felt a sharp sting in the tail of that one and it had nothing to do with magic.

Her grandmother should have been on her side. Whether the woman was right or not didn’t count towards brownie points in her book, but then she guessed the elder didn’t feel like she needed any brownie points where her granddaughter was concerned.

“Stating a fact.”

Dorothy wasn’t about to wither under the younger witch’s glare. Even if she was kin, or maybe it was because of it.

She’d known vampires like that one before in her youth – when they’d had a reason to sniff around her, for her magic and her blood, but she’d always walked away.

Fallon’s father hadn’t.

The man had been beholding to them – worked for them – liked the money and lifestyle that they could give him. Heaven forbid that he should do an honest day’s graft for an honest day’s money.

Now he’d passed that legacy on to his daughter. Well, Dorothy wasn’t about to let that happen.

Whatever the vampire wanted from her kin – she’d stand in her stead. Her youth might not have been a match, but she guessed that her magic was far superior in nature and that was a bargaining point in anyone’s book, especially a vampire.

“I need to leave,” Fallon said, turning on her heels and not taking more than one step before her mate was standing in front of her.

The man was blocking the doorway with his large body once more, and he was looking down at her like a man who wasn’t quite sure if he could rein in his beast.

“I need to protect you, and if that is from yourself then so be it,” Jamie offered the words as he tried to slam the cage door on his wolf. It felt like the hardest thing that he’d ever had to do in his life…