~

“Okay, you two, behave,” Paige said as she peered out of the window at the shifter and vampire that were standing by the pickup truck and eyeing the house as if it was cursed.

“It’s not me, it’s her,” the twins said together.

“We’ve got a vampire to deal with…” Paige reasoned.

“Don’t forget the shifter — he’s a mean one,” Kat protested.

“I’d rather go toe to toe with a shifter than a vampire,” Paige said, and her sisters could see her point.

“That’s Mel’s job,” Kat said, folding her arms, and offering her twin a death glare.

“What’s my job?” Mel’s eyebrows pinched together as she scowled back at her sister.

“Dealing with the vampire,” Kat offered her a small, smug grin.

“Oh no, you’re the one that’s met him…”

“Yes, it was such a pleasure that I want to do it all over again — not,” Kat sneered.

“But you’re still in a better position than I am to deal with the…” Mel was protesting, but Kat didn’t want to hear it.

“Bite me!”

“No thanks, but one of those two might take you up on that offer,” Mel sneered.

“Kiss my…”

“Can you two stop? They’re coming toward the house,” Paige bit out in annoyance at her siblings.

There were times when her sisters bickering could be amusing — this wasn’t one of those times. Instead of bickering amongst themselves, they should have been running around the house putting up wards, deciding on which spells to use, and protecting themselves.

Instead, her sisters were standing there like idiots glaring at each other and not doing much of anything else.

“Relax, the house is protected by magic.” Mel waved a distracted hand as she continued to glare out of the window.

“Oh, really?” Kat sneered at her sister.

“Yes, really,” Mel sneered back.

“Protected against vampires?” Kat demanded.

“Actually, yes,” Mel smirked.

“And shifters?” Kat asked, as she raised her eyebrows toward her hairline, and challenged her sister with just a look. Mel fidgeted in place, and her nose twitched – that was always a bad sign.

“Well, not shifters exactly…”

“Ah-ha!” Kat raised her index finger and pointed to the ceiling. She thought she’d made her point.

“Look, I don’t think they came all the way out here to kill us,” Mel tossed back.

“No, I’m sure they brought a muffin basket,” Kat sneered.

“I could eat muffins,” Paige said, somewhat absently, and she shook her head and kicked her backside into gear. “But that’s not the point. They are practically at our front door – and we haven’t zapped them yet.”

“I have.” Kat shrugged just one shoulder.

“Which is probably why they’re at our front door in the first place,” Mel sneered back.

“To avenge a kick in the balls?” Kat demanded.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Kat snapped.

“Shifter – a dog with a bone.”

“Maybe, or maybe they need more of your potion,” Kat snapped. “What was that for anyway?”

“Don’t ask — won’t tell,” Mel shrugged.

“I did ask…” Kat snapped back.

“Not telling,” Mel said with a song in her voice that really annoyed her sister — so, Kat zapped her again. “Stop doing that,” she hissed.

“Stop being such a — witch, and I’ll stop doing it,” Kat hissed back. Paige groaned.

“Can you two stop fighting among yourselves when we have evildoers coming up the driveway?” Paige bit out.

“Evildoers?” Mel chuckled.

“Hey, what else would you call a vampire and a shifter on your doorstep?” Paige snapped back.

“Toast,” Mel shrugged.

 

~

~

 

“So, how are we going to handle this?” Raff asked, and got a curious look in return.

“We?” Parker growled.

“Think of me as your wingman,” the vampire offered back.

“I don’t need a wingman,” Parker bit out, with a scowl that brought his dark eyebrows down over his eyes.

“Well, if you’re going in there all Mr Happy, I guess not.” The vampire’s sarcasm rattled against Parker’s last nerve.

Parker bit down on a curse and opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of a pickup truck driving down the lane towards them made him pause for thought — and he slowly turned towards the sound.

He knew that truck — it was his brother’s. He turned accusing eyes back on the vampire.

“You called my brothers?” He growled long and hard.

He had the urge to reach out and rip the vampire’s heart from his chest just to have the satisfaction of handing it back to him.

That was all he needed. An audience for wooing his mate.

“Yes.”

“Son of a…”

“Well, I thought you might need backup…”

“Wooing my mate?”

Parker’s hands clenched into tight fists at his sides, and he wanted to punch the vampire in the face as if he were a damn punchbag. At least that would get out some of the built-up tension within his body — and the vampire would live — unfortunately.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Do I need a plan?” Parker snapped back.

“Let me see — a witch mate — witch’s territory — a witch house — magic abounds — a plan might be helpful,” the vampire reasoned.

Begrudgingly, Parker thought that that the vampire might just have a point. He was on the witch’s territory — that put him at a disadvantage — but, it was his mate — and yet, she didn’t know that.

Damn. He never thought that wooing would involve planning.

“I plan to go up to that door, knock…”

“That might not be the best idea,” Raff offered back.

“You have a better one?” Parker growled. “Would you prefer it if I waited out here until she finally came out?”

“No — who knows how much stock she has in her kitchen — it could take a while, and by then you could be a rabid rogue of a wolf that I would have to put down — permanently.”

Parker twisted his head on his neck and eyed the vampire with disbelief. The man really was unbelievable, and as a wingman — he sucked.

“It’s so good to know that you have faith in me and that you’re so damn optimistic about life,” Parker growled back.

It wasn’t lost on the alpha that his brothers had parked their truck, disembarked, and were heading towards them. That was bad — if things went wrong — he was never going to live this day down. Still, on the bright side, if things went really wrong – then he’d more than likely be dead.

“We hear you need help wooing your mate,” Grayson chuckled, and Parker seethed at his brother’s enjoyment of the moment.

“I do not need help…” Parker bit out between clenched teeth.

“Yeah, Raff thought this was something that you couldn’t handle alone,” Dusty grinned from ear to ear, and Parker didn’t know which one he wanted to hit first.

“Get the hell out of here,” the alpha growled.

His wolf was just under the surface of his skin, so much so, that he could almost feel the prickle of the beast’s fur trying to break free. That would be bad.

Not only would he be distracted from the matter at hand by chewing on his siblings and spitting them out — but, he didn’t think that his mate would appreciate the sentiment.