~

 

“Don’t worry, I don’t slobber when I kiss,” Jason announced.

A heartbeat later and he felt the sharp stabbing pain that came from his mate’s elbow as she jabbed it between two of his ribs, and he let out a grunt of pain.

Faith tried to jump back away from Mick but the man had something of a death grip around her, and she wiggled and slapped against his biceps until he reluctantly let her go.

“Don’t worry, you won’t get the damn chance,” Jeannie hissed up at him.

She’d been planning a subtle retreat from the kitchen door so that she could leave her friend to it, but her mate had made that impossible. Men were just dumb and tactless in her book.

“Damn it, Jason, grow up,” Mick growled out, but Faith was already turning away from him and heading towards the back door out of the house.

“I need some air,” Faith rushed out, fanning her red cheeks with her hand and berating herself for letting things carry on as long as they did with Mick, and yet, she couldn’t seem to stop it herself, and hadn’t really wanted to.

“Faith,” Jeannie called from inside, but she wasn’t listening. She needed a little time on her own to think.

The deep tones from the house followed her out into the garden. She could hear Mick arguing with Jason, and she rolled her eyes as she started up the garden path towards the woods.

That sound was what she had to look forward to if she stayed and became Mick’s mate – shifter’s constantly bickering – she wasn’t certain that was the life for her.

“Faith,” Mick called from behind her, just as she got to the edge of the woods, and she sighed inwardly, but she stopped and turned on her heels back towards him.

“I’m going for a walk, and you can follow on behind me like a stray if you wish.” She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, and for all hell to break loose again.

Faith gave him a drop dead gorgeous grin that made the man hard in every way possible for her… and then Mick’s heart thumped into his throat at the sight of the bear that was heading right for his mate.

“Faith,” he growled out the warning as he started forward toward the bear as fast as his legs could carry him – shifting in mid-air – with his wolf taking up the chase.

“I didn’t mean stray in a literal…” Faith said, but she stopped at the sound of a deep grunt that came from somewhere beside her.

There was a deep growl that made the hairs rise on her body, and she span on her heels towards the sound. For one long moment, she stared, dumbfounded at the beast that was running in her direction.

“Oh this is so not good,” Faith muttered.

 

~

~

~

 

“Talk to me,” Jason grumbled.

“Talk to you? Talk to the hand,” Jeannie snorted back, but she caught sight of something moving fast out of the corner of her eye and gave her full attention to what was going on outside the window.

“Look, woman…”

“Bear!” Jeannie lifted her hand and pointed to the window as she scowled hard. Then she turned and practically slammed into the solid wall of hard muscles in her mate’s chest when he didn’t immediately get out of the way.

“What the…?” Jason gawked out of the window and felt the jab to his ribs from the pointy finger that his mate delivered.

“Move!” she hissed, eager to get outside. But, Jason didn’t need the encouragement, he was already turning towards the door.

“Stay in the damn house,” he bit out as he yanked open the back door. “Clear enough this time?”

Jeannie didn’t get to answer because he was already gone. She snatched a look out of the window.

“Oh, that’s bad,” she muttered, took one long second to decide, and then started for the back door.

Woman my grandmother.

 

~

~

~

 

Faith’s eyes widened as the bear came at her at full speed. The beast had seen the wolf running toward him, and he wasn’t entirely sure that he could make it to the witch before the beast intercepted him.

The bear ground to a halt and turned towards Mick’s wolf, just as the beast launched upward from the ground, pushing off with its back paws, a snarl on his lips, and his razor sharp claws aimed for his prey.

“Whoa,” Faith bit out, taking a long step backward in surprise as the fighting began not ten feet from her.

“Faith!” Jeannie shouted as she whipped her head around towards her friend and tossed her hands up. Jason was heading straight for the fight, but he didn’t shift. Instead he changed course and headed right for Faith.

“Go back inside,” Jason growled back over his shoulder at his mate, but as he reached Faith, he tried to grab hold of her, but the witch sidestepped him.

“No, you don’t,” Faith bit out, feeling the brush of his fingertips against her forearm, but managing to duck his hold.

Mick’s wolf used his claws to open up the bear’s flesh all down one side, as the beast turned on his paws to get away. The bear was nowhere near as agile as the wolf, and it took him a moment to reposition himself so that he could return the favor, but when he struck, it was more of a backhand blow that knocked Mick sideways across the grass.

“Stop!” Faith bit out, taking a step toward them, but Jason put his body between her and the beasts that were going at it again, like wildlings.

“Stay back; my brother is in full on protection mode…” Jason growled the warning.

His wolf wanted to get in on the fight, but he knew that his brother wouldn’t appreciate that, and he was better served protecting the man’s mate. Even if she didn’t much like it.

“Who’s he protecting?” Faith muttered, but Jason caught it and shot her a curious look back over his shoulder.

“Duh!” Jason said with a small shake of his head.

“And who’s the bear protecting, genius,” Faith said, sidestepping the protective shifter and lifting her hands in front of her, palms out, and separating the beasts with a flick outwards of both of her hands, backed up with a big dose of her magic.

Wolf and bear were torn apart in opposite directions. Mick’s wolf hit the ground on his side and immediately rolled and pushed back up onto his feet. The bear took a few moments longer to be able to right himself.

“Are you insane?” Jason turned and slapped her arms down at the same time.

“Oh, I’m insane?” Faith hissed out. “You people need to learn to ask questions before you get all claws and fangs.”

“What?” Jason went to move in front of her again, but Faith wasn’t about to let that happen and she let him have it with a hard zap that kept his feet locked firmly in place.

“Remy, stand down,” Faith bit out, but the bear was in no mood to listen to her. The man saw red at the attack from the wolf, and he was baying for more of Mick’s blood.

“Who the hell is Remy?” Jason growled.

He shook off the last of the witch’s magic and tried to get in front of her again as bear and wolf snarled at each other.

“Geez, I don’t know, Jason, the tree,” Faith said with so much sarcasm dripping from her voice that the shifter pulled his head back on his neck and scowled at her.

“You know this bear?” He growled.

“Ya think?” she shot back.

“Ah, geez, Faith, is there anyone in the damn supernatural world that isn’t coming to rescue you?” It sounded like an accusation to her ears.

“This is not my fault,” she hissed back, as wolf and bear locked together in battle once more.

 “Does this happen to you a lot?” Jason bit out, annoyed that his brother was fighting the bear for no good reason; if you didn’t count the fact that the bear shifter had invaded their territory without asking.

“Sure, Jason, every damn day of the week,” Faith tossed up a hand in frustration and shook her head in disbelief. “You wanna tell your idiot to stop fighting?”

“Oh, witch, from the look of things, those two are both your idiots,” Jason grinned down at her, but he did use the mental link that the pack possessed to start to warn his brother of his mate's words.

‘Mick, he’s one of Faith’s…’

“Fine,” Faith snapped out, sidestepping him once more, lifting her hands in annoyance as she muttered and grumbled under her breath, and then she let both shifters have it, pushing her magic out, and making both wolf and bear freeze in place.