~

 

Every inch of Mick’s body was primed and ready. He didn’t like where the whole thing was going, but he had a need to take her scent, and that need couldn’t be denied.

He wouldn’t be denied.

If looks could have killed, then he suspected that both he and Clive would have already been dead, but he could also see that she was considering her options – which, in his mind, were very limited.

“I don’t think that it’s a good idea,” Faith offered up to him.

She was still caught within his arms, and he had the kind of body that was rock solid and made her tingle. She doubted very much that she could do much to him except with her magic, and that was somewhere that she wasn’t sure she wanted to go until she absolutely had to.

It was all well and good zapping the other beta, especially when he was oblivious to it, but this man? He didn’t look as if he’d take a zap from her lying down, not unless she knocked him on his backside.

“I think it’s a fabulous idea,” Clive announced, and boy did she want to zap that bloodsucker.

“Me too,” Mick growled.

“Well, you would, because you’re Mr. Sniffy, aren’t you?” Faith hissed, annoyed at being ganged up on.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Vanessa said.

“Me either,” Jeannie added.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Ryan trusted his brother’s instincts, and if the man had a need to scent her – then he had to trust that it was for a damn good reason.

“How about you, Jason?” Clive chimed in, and the beta lifted his hand and scratched his head.

“I’m thinking about it,” Jason offered, but when his brother’s head snapped around, and he growled a warning at him, dark eyes glaring like his wolf wanted to take a bite, he held up his hands and chuckled. “Great idea. Let the growly, bad mood wolf have a scent of your neck.”

“You and me, later, Brother,” Mick growled.

“Can’t wait,” Jason tossed back as he folded his arms across his chest and grinned hard.

“Four to three,” Mick turned his attention back towards Faith, and she snorted her contempt for him.

“Five,” Nick the barman said.

“Five to three,” Mick bit out.

“I’m sorry … my wards aren’t up for a vote. This isn’t a democracy.”

“I wonder how long you can hold that magic around your body,” Mick growled low and deep in his chest. “I mean, how many days and nights would I need to stay by your side before you let those wards of yours slip… hmm?”

“Days and nights?” Faith bit out.

“Oops,” Jeannie offered from behind her hand. She was hiding her grin because she didn’t want Faith to zap her, and the woman would, because when she lost her temper.

“Big oops,” Vanessa bit out.

Ryan flicked his eyes towards her, and she felt his stare, she returned and offered him a glare. She didn’t like the way that he was looking at her, and she scowled long and hard at him, giving him a non-verbal warning, before turning most of her attention back towards Faith.

She would have like to give her friend her sole attention, but she just couldn’t seem to shake off some sort of weird interest and attraction towards the alpha. She could feel his eyes still on her, and it was unnerving.

“Days…” Mick offered back slowly, “and nights.”

“I could zap your big furry butt,” Faith rushed out, but the sight of a slow grin started on his lips, and she was mesmerized by it.

She wanted to drag her eyes away, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t manage it. The man was superglue, and she was stuck.

“Fine…” Faith bit out.

In her mind, it wasn’t as if she was admitting defeat, more heading the whole charade off at the pass.

There was no way in hell that he was her mate. She’d bet her last magic spell on it.

Faith felt the rush of uncertainty within her. She told herself it was absurd, but still, there was a nervous apprehension inside of her that flapped around like a million butterflies had taken to the wing inside her stomach.

She swallowed hard and offered up a silent prayer to a God, any God, just to hedge her bets, and she hoped that if there was a God listening, then he didn’t smite her for being a witch.

Then she allowed her wards to drop slowly.

Mick grumbled a growl of victory. He liked that he’d won his point and he didn’t have to take harsher methods with the witch to secure her scent because frankly, he didn’t know what the hell to do to get a witch to let go of her magic.

He did know that he would have followed her to the ends of the earth if he’d have too, and he knew why.

The minute that her magic dropped and her scent filled the air. He didn’t even need to dip his head, but he did anyway. It was symbolic, and he’d gone to all that trouble of asking, then telling, demanding, then threatening.

Mick’s whole body came to life with a fever that shot through his blood, and a need that couldn’t be denied.

Mine…

“Mine…” he growled against her ear, or the covering that she wore over her head, didn’t matter which, she heard him alright.

Faith felt as if someone had stolen the floor right out from beneath her feet.

“Oh, there is no damn way in hell that you’re my fricking mate!” She bit out in sheer disbelief.

“The language, and from a nun!” Clive let his jaw drop in mock horror and slapped his palms against his cheeks. Faith had the urge to zap him until he begged for mercy.

The only trouble was, she had more problems right then than she knew what to do with.

“Ha! Mick and a nun!” Jason chuckled, reaching for the mobile phone from his back pocket and swiping straight to camera.

One click later and he had what he needed to send to the whole pack back home.

“Tell me you did not just…” Mick growled out, snapping his head around and glaring at his younger brother.

“Oh, yeah!” Jason offered back with so much glee that Mick really did want to rip off the hand holding the phone and beat him over the head with it.

He hadn’t yet sent the picture, but he fully intended to do it.

“I’m going to kill you,” Mick growled, starting to release his mate.

“That would be…” Faith bit down on her words the moment that her mate stopped moving and turned to stare down at her. “Ok with me.” She could have hit herself upside the head.

She’d had a chance to get away from him, and she’d put her damn foot in her mouth. She berated herself with dark words – lots and lots of dark words.

“You’re not a nun,” Ryan said out of nowhere, nodding his head solemnly, and yet he was biting down on his annoyance, and Vanessa could see it right there on his face.

“Technically…”

“Not even close,” Ryan snapped back, warning her with just a glare not to try to keep up the pretense.

She must really have thought him a damn gullible fool.

“But…” Vanessa grimaced.

“Don’t go there,” the alpha warned her.

Ryan had a bad feeling about the woman. Probably the same bad feeling that his brother had before he’d laid claim to his mate.

His body was doing strange things, things that it had never done before with any other female that he’d met, and his wolf was overly protective.

All in all, things didn’t look good for him, or her, but mainly him.

“I’m a woman with faith,” Vanessa offered back, turning her head to give him her cheekiest sideways smile.

“Ha!” Jason chuckled, tossing a hand towards Mick’s mate. “With Faith.” He grinned like an idiot. “I get it.”

“You should get that one neutered,” Faith bit out towards Mick, and he grunted a chuckle.

“Hey!” Jason growled.

“Don’t growl at my mate,” Mick growled back.

“Could you all just stop doing… stuff, and take a minute?” Vanessa said, but Ryan had other ideas.

He took one step and closed the distance between them.

“I need to…” he started, but Vanessa literally jumped back away from him in disbelief.

“You do not…” she bit out, sounding more than offended by his proposed actions, and yet it was more the horror of the thought that she could find herself with Faith’s problem than getting up close and personal with the sexy-as-hell alpha.

Oh, how she wished that she’d never walked into the damn bar in the first place.

It was all Faith’s fault!

“I think it’s inevitable,” Clive offered.

“Shut up!” Faith grumbled at the vampire, and he snatched his upper body back and raised his eyebrows at her.

“How did you ever think you’d pass for anything other than a witch…?”

“Witch!” Mick exclaimed. He hadn’t picked up her Fae scent when he’d sniffed.