~

“What are you doing?” Parker did a double take at Grayson as his brother paced by the back door and casually leaned in to see what he could overhear of the conversation that was taking place between the mates on the other side of the door.

“I thought I heard something,” Grayson answered quickly – too quickly. He’d been busted snooping.

“Like what?” Parker asked, resting the side of his hand against the chopping board, the sharp knife still clenched within his closed fist.

He was done with the tomatoes and had moved on to the onions. Tears welled in his eyes and threatened to spill over to his cheeks, and he used the back of his free hand to brush them away.

“You don’t have to cry, brother. I’m sure you’ll manage to woo your mate eventually,” Grayson tossed back, trying to deflect his sibling’s attention away from what he’d been caught doing.

“Trust me when I say — the only one that will be crying in a moment is you,” Parker growled.

“Moving on,” Grayson grumbled, but he grimaced when Parker lifted the knife in his hand and pointed it at his brother.

“You still haven’t told me what you thought you’d heard,” Parker reminded him, not that he needed reminding, he knew only too well and had failed to sidestep the issue.

“A shriek — maybe a scream…” Grayson lied.

“Really? A scream — I think the whole pack would have heard that from one of those banshees,” Parker tossed back.

“Okay — fine, but you have to admit that they could be out there plotting an escape.” Grayson gave a small shrug of his shoulders and offered his brother a questioning look.

“They aren’t going anywhere…” Parker said, dismissing his brother’s worries and bringing the knife back down to the chopping board.

“Sure?” Grayson said and waited while he watched Parker think about it.

“With those two,” he lifted the knife and pointed it at the door, “you can’t be sure of anything.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Grayson said as he expanded his hands and shrugged again. “Where’s the harm in making sure?”

Parker took a moment to think about that. The alpha grunted at his brother’s point, and then he placed the knife down on the chopping board and stalked to the back door.

“Out the way,” Parker grumbled a growl as he nudged his brother in the ribs with his elbow and leaned in to listen at the door.

Just as he was leaning in, so the door was thrust open as if someone had the devil hard on their heels. The loud thud of the wood against the alpha’s forehead echoed through the kitchen, and through Parker’s skull.

“Damn it!” Parker bit out. He reached up and slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead as the bells in his mind were rung in more ways than one.

The door rebounded off the alpha’s head and back into Kat’s face, smacking her in the forehead and thrusting her back into Mel. Two feminine shrieks went up, and Grayson elbowed his brother out of the way as he reached for the door handle to pull the door back open.

“Mother-frecking…” Kat bit out, as she booted the door as hard as she could, and heard the manly yelp from the other side of the door as it cracked against Grayson’s knuckles.

“What the hell?” Mel’s angry voice rang some alarm bells in Grayson’s brain as the door was flung open, and two miffed witches stood glaring in at them.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kat demanded as she reached up and rubbed the sore spot on her forehead.

“Nothing!” Grayson bit out, guilt written all over his face.

“They were eavesdropping,” Mel grumbled.

Parker growled long and hard in annoyance as he offered his brother a death glare. He’d been trying so damn hard not to put his foot in it with his mate, and now this.

“Eavesdropping?” Kat practically growled at her mate, and that wasn’t an unpleasant sound for the alpha or his wolf.

Mine…

“That wasn’t me…” Grayson rushed out as he flicked the pain out of his hand, and offered a sly nod at his brother.

“You low down dirty…” Parker growled and noted the grimace on his brother’s face, and yet, Grayson still didn’t come clean.

“Nice duck egg on your forehead there, alpha,” Kat’s tone was accusing, and Parker’s hand went straight to his head as if to cover the evidence.

“He practically had his nose pressed against the door,” Grayson said, stirring the pot and bailing with the lifejacket for the exit himself.

“Keep it up, brother,” Parker growled.

“Where’s the trust?” Mel said, folding her arms, tipping her head to one side, and regarding the alpha with a hard stare.

“It wasn’t me,” Parker grumbled as he shot a look at Grayson, hoping the man would do the right thing. The beta grimaced again.

“How’d you get that bump on your head then?” Kat demanded.

“Okay, it wasn’t just me – but it was his idea,” Parker nodded at his brother.

“Shame on the both of you,” Mel said, lifting her chin, nudging her sister with her elbow, and Kat followed on Mel’s heels as she stalked by their mates, through the kitchen, and disappeared into the hallway.

“Now see what you did,” Parker growled at his brother.

“My bad…”

“I should kill you where you stand,” Parker growled.

Didn’t he have enough damn problems with his mate that his brother throwing more into the mix was only digging the grave deeper?

“Don’t blame me because you can’t woo your mate…” Grayson growled back.

“Do you want to take this outside?” Parker growled.

“Love too.”

“After you.” Parker motioned for his brother to go out first. Grayson grunted in annoyance as he put one foot in front of the other and stalked outside.

Just Mel’s head appeared around the door frame as she stared into the kitchen, followed by Kat’s disembodied head that appeared shortly afterwards.

“Ten to one that the beta kicks your boyfriend’s backside,” Mel said with a wicked grin.

“I think you’re letting feeling and emotion cloud your judgement, sister. After all, Parker is the alpha,” Kat crowed back.

“So you’ll bet?”

“It’s a bet. Like taking candy from a baby.”

 

~

~

 

“Hit him, Grayson,” Mel bit out, getting animated and caught up in the moment as she swung a fist in the air and cheered her mate on.

Grayson grunted as his fist landed against the alpha’s jaw and sent him reeling back, but Parker didn’t fall. Instead, he rallied back towards his brother and swung a meaty fist of his own.

“Right in the kisser!” Kat crowed to her sister. “Throw a left! Then a right!” She cheered the alpha on.

“Bite him!” Mel shouted at her mate.

“Bite him?” Kat turned her nose up at that idea as she shot an accusing look at her sister. “Cheater!”

“That’s not cheating — they’re shifters,” Mel snapped back.

“Who are having a fist fight!”

“Not the point!”

“You don’t bring a set of fangs to a fist fight,” Kat sneered in disgust at her sister’s lack of propriety.

“You do if you want to win,” Mel tossed back.

“Witch!” Kat bit out and zapped her sister.

“Oh, you seriously did not go there,” Mel snapped back, and she pulled on her magic and zapped Kat.

The sound of feminine shrieks filled the air as Kat and Mel took to zapping each other. Grayson and Parker turned to look at their mates in disbelief.

“Should we intervene?” Grayson was unsure.

“What the hell do you think?” Parker growled as he started to stalk toward his mate. “You get yours, and I’ll get mine.”

“Umm, which one is yours?” Grayson scowled.

“And you call yourself a mate,” Parker chuckled as his gaze dropped to their hands and the cross from the marker pen that he’d put on the back of Kat’s hand.

Parker reached out and wrapped an arm around Kat’s waist, lifting her from the ground, and turning them away from her sister. Parker grunted at the feel of the witch’s magic as she zapped his back.

A moment later and Grayson had lifted and turned Mel away.

“Let me at her,” Kat snapped out, as she tried to squirm out of the alpha’s arms.

“Me too — I haven’t finished zapping her yet!” Mel bit out.

“You’re both done.” The alpha grunted when Kat turned her magic on him and zapped him.