~

 

The last thing that Sarah wanted to do was to offend Hank by finding amusement in the elder witch’s words. She quite liked the man, and offending him was definitely in the domain of his mate as he tried to woo her, and woo her he would. She was sure of that.

Hank was quite a good catch, and on a good day, which sadly wasn’t that day, Dorothy had a bright, sparkling personality that any mate should be proud of. She also cared deeply about people, and was as loyal as they came.

Sarah thought that the pair made a good match.

“Is it wrong that I second that rather vivid picture of events?” Hank offered dryly to Sarah, and a quick burst of laughter escaped her lips before she could contain it…

“Don’t drag me into this.” Sarah shook her head and teasingly berated the man…

“Oh, but where’s the fun of us all not suffering together?” Dorothy shot back.

That woman was just too on the ball, too sharp for her own good sometimes, and Sarah pressed her lips together once more.

“Should I feel offended?” Hank bit out dryly.

“You’d need a brain for that, dear,” Dorothy tossed out, refusing to look at the man.

“Ok, now that was an insult,” Hank grumbled.

“No, that was a statement of fact.”

Dorothy wasn’t feeling very generous and she saw absolutely no benefit in finding her mate or being nice to him for that matter – not when it seemed that the world was moving so fast that she felt as if she couldn’t keep up…

A Granddaughter.

A mate.

What next? She dreaded to think…

“You’re such a sweetheart,” Hank growled.

“And you’re a bumbling old fart … there, now that’s an insult.” Dorothy shot back.

“Thanks for pointing that out,” Hank growled.

“You’re welcome.”

Dorothy still hadn’t looked back at the man. She didn’t want too. She knew what the mating pull could do, she’d seen it happen to Angela, and she had no intention of letting that happen to her.

The man did have nice eyes and a genuine smile that had made her insides flutter. His voice was deep and soothing, and his growl, well, that did things to her that she hadn’t felt in a long time, and maybe any other day of the week she might have been as happy as Larry to feel that way again – just not right then.

“Isn’t finding your mate just…?” Sarah stopped talking, stopped grinning, and stopped drawing in a long, deep breath when both elders eyed her like she was about to shift into a she-demon and devour then whole. “Ok, well… forget I said anything.”

“Not hard for him – he’s senile with the attention span of a goldfish.” Dorothy hissed.

“Gee Gods, I wonder how much a full lobotomy would cost…” Hank grumbled.

“What did he say?” Dorothy barked at Sarah, as she cupped her ear and feigned a sudden attack of deafness. But from the look in the elder witch’s eyes, Sarah had the feeling that the woman had heard every word.

There was no way in hell that Sarah was stepping into that particular minefield.

 

~

~

~

 

“I’m kind of guessing that you’re regretting your actions right about now,” Jamie said.

He’d managed to take his weigh off of his mate – just a little – the moment that she’d released her magic from him and his muscles had started to unlock. They weren’t yet back to normal, but he did what he could so as not to keep on squishing her.

Jamie’s beast growled and clawed inside of him, more than eager to get out. Miffed that it couldn’t…

Mine…

The wolf had tried to take advantage of the lack of ability that Jamie had to do much of anything, and it pushed forwards, trying to get to their mate, but he’d managed to cage the beast the instant that she’d let her magic snap back away from him out of a sheer sense of self-preservation.

“Say something stupid, why don’t ya.” Fallon bit out.

Yes, she regretted zapping him the instant that he’d started to collapse down on top of her. She’d warned him not to do something stupid, and yet, she’d been the one to put herself in the position of being trapped beneath his body, beneath his weight, and didn’t she feel like the village idiot when it had all gone so badly wrong?

She’d debated, for all of about ten seconds, the rights and wrongs of using her magic to toss the man away from her, and then she’s felt his arm still locked around her body, and she had to wonder if she’d just be cutting her nose off to spite her face … again, because where he went; she was sure to follow.

“In for a penny…” he said on a shrug and something of a wicked grin, “mine.” 

Fallon groaned as she dragged her eyes away from him and grimaced at the thought. There was little doubt in her mind that her body was well and truly responding to him.

Her brain was kind of on board as well – but oh, how she hated to give up the ghost of the chance of killing him before she had to mate with the smug mug of a man…

That thought rattled around in her mind. It was just such a tempting option to her right then, and one she needed to keep simmering on the backburner.  

Fallon felt that she had so much trouble on her plate that she really didn’t need to add to it with some big, sexy wolf shifter that fate had decided to throw in her direction like she should be grateful or something. She definitely wasn’t.

First there was her father dying and leaving her owing a debt to the damn vampire that wanted his pound of flesh, blood, and spells to pay it off.

Then she’d finally managed to track down her grandmother, only to realise that had been a very bad idea …

Now a mate.

I need a plan.

Get up.

Get that damn tyre fixed, and get the heck out of here.

You do not need any more complications in your life, and this complication is a damned big one.

Just look at the size of him.

A mate.

A wolf.

A shifter, all muscles, and very, very little brain…

Bet ya didn’t expect to find an instant family, complete with a damn pet wolf, did ya?

Serves me right, I guess.

Never cannonball the damn water until you’ve at least stuck your toe in it to gauge the temperature.

First rule of not being an idiot – don’t do stupid things.

Jaxon is going to be so damn miffed when he figures out I’m gone, and a rampant vampire is never a good thing.

Hopefully, I can get back before he even notices that I left.

No harm – no foul.

I should never have come…

What did I think was going to happen – Granny was going to welcome me with open arms and bestow her aged wisdom on me after all of these years?

Fat chance.

No chance.

The woman had abandoned my mother when she was pregnant – enough said.

The proof is in the pudding, and it tastes rotten to the core.

“How about we beg to differ?” Fallon offered up to him.

She was still more than distracted by the hard length of his body against hers, not to mention a certain hard length that was pressed against her stomach, now that one was distracting.

He was leaned over her like he was about to devour her in all the best ways possible … that wasn’t what she wanted or needed, and neither was bringing Jaxon to their door.

The old woman might have stood for everything that had gone wrong in her life to date. Her mother dying when she was young – having nobody but her father in her life, and the man wasn’t exactly the warmest … but she’d still feel damned guilty to bring them all onto Jaxon’s radar.

“How about we go somewhere with a big bed and continue this conversation…?” Jamie gave her a suggestive wiggle of his dark eyebrows, and a smile that was as sexy as it was tempting … and tempted she was, right to the point where her body flared with excitement at the thought of it.

Why the hell does that thought sounds so good to my ears that my toes are curling?

I need a life…

“Dream on,” Fallon bit out as she tried once more to use sheer strength and determination to push him away from her.

Like the solidity of the mountain that she found herself on – he didn’t move one inch.

“I see how this is going…”

“Do you?” Fallon sighed.

She didn’t want to have a conversation with the man, she wanted him to move his backside and get the heck off of her. Pronto.

“I do.”

“Oh, do share. After all - I’m riveted to the spot by some big mountain shifter man that is too stupid to get the hell off me.”

“That’s harsh, after all, it was you that put you in this situation with me, and not the other way around.” He teased, and she sighed again.

“You’ve got me on that one.”

“I’ve certainly got you,” his grin got a whole lot sexier in his victory. His eyes shone brighter, and she was sure that if he shifted into his wolf then his damn tail would be wagging. And she hated him for it.

“Maybe, I’m just lulling you into a false sense of security.”

“Maybe, but I think not.”

“Oh, you think?”

“It’s been known.”

“Just not often, right?”

“You’re mean.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“I know.”

“So … you’re thinking about me naked right now, right?” Jamie teased, and she might have given him a look like he’d just slapped her with a wet fish, but her eyes said guilty as charged…

“It will be your own fault if I vomit on you…” she bit back with a deeply dry tone.

“Me naked, you naked, us wrapped around each other as I…”

“Seriously going to vomit at the thought…” she warned him, but in truth there was a deep warmth within her that was spreading outwards to every inch of her body as her skin tingled and her womb decided to dance to his tune…

She hated that so much more.

“I think you like that thought just fine,” Jamie said with so much conviction that she believed he could read her mind.

Busted. She berated herself.

“I’d say bite me, but you being a dog and all…”

Jamie’s wolf didn’t like that comparison much, and it grumbled and growled within him. The beast tried to push forward once more – like it had been challenged by her words…