It was Fallon’s turn to wave her arms around like she was swatting bees, and somewhere inside of Jamie he had to laugh at the sight of her doing it. Even if that sound never reached his tongue…
“It’s Jamie, and yep – it’s happening.” He nodded with a strained smile that yanked his lips thin and made his eyes look like a madman…
“Ooooo … you can take your big, bad, sexy self – your wolf – your claim – your damn mine, and you can shove it all where the sun don’t shine!” Fallon’s eyes glared back at him like a sign that said; stay off the grass or I’ll mow you down with a steamroller.
“Love to … but…”
“No buts!” Fallon hissed back like a rattlesnake about to strike.
“But … it is what it is…” Jamie expanded his arms at his sides and shrugged those big, broad shoulders once more…
“What the hell does that mean? It is what it is…” She tried to mimic his deep voice, but there was no way that she was ever going to get that much bass in her tone…
“It means that fate has…”
“Oh, fate can kiss my grandmother!” Fallon waved a dismissive hand in his direction…
“Really?”
“Truly.”
“Somehow, I don’t think it works like that…”
“And there’s your problem, you’re trying to think, and we all know how well that works for men, and shifters, and men who are shifters stand no chance in hell of thinking rationally.” Fallon sneered back as she placed her hands on her hips in a defiant stand, and looked up at the behemoth with victory in her eyes…
Jamie tried to hold onto the growl that rumbled through his chest, but it was already in his throat by the time that he’d given it any real serious thought … She eyed him back with suspicion…
“Go ahead, take a bite – it’s not just metal bars that I can toss across the grass…” Fallon warned him, and she meant it.
Her magic was already at the ends of her fingertips just waiting to be unleashed, and right then and there, she felt the need to zap someone damn hard…
“Oh look – loves young dream…” Monty grinned, and he showed just a little of his vampire fangs as he stopped just behind Jamie’s right shoulder to take a look at what was going on …
Big mistake!
Fallon reacted to the sight of a vampire without thought or consequence. She lifted her hand and swept the vampire up in the air, before snapping her wrist sideways and depositing the man some thirty feet away into the top of the nearest tree…
Monty whooped all the way as he sailed through the air. He saw the tree coming, and there was nothing that he could do but hit it head on…
He was almost certain that he saw stars, or maybe some little illuminated cartoon birdies that briefly flew around his head, as he hit every damned branch on the way to the ground, and then with a loud thud – he face planted the earth…
“That had to hurt…” Jamie spluttered laughter as he watched the vampire press his hands against the earth and slowly push his upper body up from the ground…
“Almost as much as your face is about to,” Monty bit out…
“Hey … you’re the one who surprised her out of nowhere – my advice would be to be less vamp…” Jamie folded his thick muscled arms across his broad chest and regarded the man with a grin that stretched from one ear to the other…
“Witches…” Monty groaned…
“Monty meet ….” Jamie twisted his head on his neck and questioned her with his eyes…
“Fallon,” she bit out as if she had a sour taste on her tongue.
“Fallon meet Monty, our resident vampire, and all around fall guy,” Jamie chuckled at the man’s expense…
A heartbeat later and Monty was up on his feet, dusting himself down, and groaning slightly as his bones mended…
“Yes, very funny…” He sneered at the shifter, before he turned his attention towards Fallon… “I don’t think I like you.”
“That works for me,” Fallon sneered back.
“Friend of yours?” Monty eyed the witch, but he noted that the beta had suddenly become slightly fidgety on his feet. “Oh, yes, right. I remember now that my head injury is clearing … mate.”
“You know how to wound a girl deeply,” Fallon tossed back, and Monty couldn’t help but smile.
“Someone’s not impressed…” Monty snarked back with glee at the beta, and Jamie grumbled a growl.
“No, but at least she took it out on you,” he tossed back.
Monty grunted. It seemed the beta and his mate were winning in the points scored department, and he didn’t much like that.
“Well, I have a mate to leash…” Monty said, and without another word – he was gone…
Mine…
Jamie’s beast had evaluated the threat from Monty. Luckily for vampire he had a mate. But still, he’d stayed close to her. The need to protect her was paramount within him.
Now that the vampire was gone; he was back to the day job – wooing his mate. That thought didn’t fill the beta with joy.
Nathan had successfully wooed his mate, Sarah, and yet – he didn’t think it was going to be that easy with Fallon. The woman was wild, fiery, and definitely spirited, and she had a kickass, zap first, ask questions later approach to life that he knew he’d have to watch out for if he didn’t want to get his backside fried…
But he did have one advantage in the wooing her department that he couldn’t deny – her car wasn’t going anywhere soon; which meant that she was going to have to stick around for the time being.
He wasn’t sure how happy that made him, but his damn wolf was over the moon…
~
~
~
“Let me help you with…” Hank had caught up to Dorothy just as the woman was about to walk up the patio stairs. She slapped at his outstretched hand and scowled up at him, and he was certain that there was a painful death waiting for him in those eyes if she decided to just put a little magic behind that look…
“First I’m senile and now I can’t manage the damn stairs…?” Dorothy grumbled, and Hank groaned inwardly – he’d put his paw in his mouth again and he didn’t much like the taste of fur on his damn tongue…
“I didn’t say…”
“You didn’t have to say anything. Go annoy someone else,” Dorothy bit back.
She was still feeling the need to wallow in self pity for a while and the man wasn’t helping with that.
“Dot, he was just…” Angela started to offer the explanation from behind her, and she snorted her contempt for that as well.
“I don’t care what he was trying to do. Go find a senior citizen and help them across a road or something, probably against their will…” Dorothy grumbled.
“I thought I’d found one already,” Hank grumbled back, mirroring the woman’s sour tones.
“What’s that?” Dorothy bit out as she turned her death glare on him once more.
Hank wasn’t about to repeat himself. She’d heard him well enough the first time.
“But obviously you don’t need me to be a gentleman – I’ll revert to pulling pigtails, farting at the dinner table, and generally being a slob…” Hank grumbled and growled.
Yep, finding his mate wasn’t exactly going to fit in with his rather enjoyable solitary lifestyle…
“You do that – but do it anywhere else…” Dorothy shot back, and Angela chuckled behind her hand.
Angela couldn’t wait for the moment when Dorothy found out that she was Hank’s mate, because the woman had given her an earful when she’d procrastinated about being with Lark. Although, she wasn’t quite sure if that exact moment in time was the right time to drop that particular bombshell – considering what had happened with her granddaughter.
“Yes, there might be a little problem with having that on your wish list,” Hank grumbled.
“You lost?” Dorothy snarked back as she climbed the staircase that suddenly felt as if she was climbing Mount Everest. She felt a little drained, a little strained, and a lot older since Fallon had arrived. “Lark, take the old guy home and get one of his pack to keep an eye on him so that he doesn’t wander off again.”
“Wander off?” Hank did take a little offence at that one.
Lark had said that Dorothy was a bright light of mischief – he didn’t see it himself…
I know women her age don’t have those feminine once a month mood swings, so maybe she’s just losing the plot…
I could be hunting that damn newbie vampire right about now and keeping an eye on her rather than having to deal with Miss Sour Puss, but nooooo – fate had to stick it me and give me a damn mate.
We’ll at least I have one and a half feet in the grave so I won’t have to deal with her for too many years…
“Nothing wrong with your hearing…” Dorothy shot back…
“Is she always like this…?” Hank bit down on his words, because there were so many to choose from, and not many of them could be called female friendly.
“No,” Angela put in quickly, but she wasn’t about to share her friend’s recent trouble, even with her mate, because it wasn’t Angela’s story to tell. Hell, she hadn’t even gotten to the bottom of it yet. “You just caught her at a bad time…”
“You don’t have to talk about me as if I was dead already…” Dorothy bit out.
“Bite your tongue,” Angela berated her. “A witch should know better than to tempt fate.”
“Should I now?” Dorothy hissed. She didn’t much care for anything at that moment, least of all fate.
“Well, you do the math.”
“Because Fate is such a friend of mine…” Dorothy bit out dryly with a flick of her eyes over her shoulder to where Hank was coming up the stairs behind her…
The man stopped in his tracks and squinted up at her…
He was caught a little by surprise by what she’d said.
And here I am treading on eggshells.
I’ve spent all of this time trying to figure out what is the best way to tell her that she’s my damn mate…
Wouldn’t you know it? That ship has sailed already.
“You know?” Hank growled, and his wolf yipped within him at the news.
It certainly made the claim easier…
Made his life a little easier…
If only he could say the same about having a mate.