Betting On His Mate Page 4

  “I am?”Teri almost whispered the words. He was playing with her again, or was he? Could she hope that this was his idea of funny?

  “No, love. This is our reality.” His eyes were so black with desire that she couldn’t look anywhere else. Her heartbeat thundered within her ears and she found that she couldn’t gain a rational thought no matter how hard she tried. Her shields were the first things that floundered and she felt them slipping away from her, unable or just unwilling to hold them in place with him so close.

  When he reached up and brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek, she caught her breath. His touch was so familiar to her, and yet it was as if she was feeling it for the first time, truly feeling his presence. She wanted to slam him against the nearest tree with her magic and run until she reached home, but she couldn’t move…

  “But, you’re a vampire…”Teri tried to hold onto that one last barrier that should have held him at bay within her mind. But when he smiled down at her with all the warmth within him, she found that prejudice had slipped away too.

  “Your vampire, your mate, the other half of you.” His words were so soft, his tone so melodic, that she couldn’t think for a moment. His words and the meaning behind them were almost overwhelming in there magnitude.

  “But, I don’t like vampires…”Teri shook her head, but her eyes never left his.

  “But, you do like me.” He’d waited a lifetime to find his mate. He’d given her six months to become accustomed to him. Now he would give her all the time that she needed to come to him…

  “I…”She wanted to deny it. An hour ago she would have. But knowing who he was… Damn it, why? Why me? Why now? Why him? She furrowed her brow and tried to shake off the damn mating pull that must have been working its way inside her this whole time. Even with her shields up, he’d managed to get to her, and now her shields were down, now the barriers in her mind had been opened… oh Goddess, help me, but I’m going to mate with a vampire…poo.

  “You’re going to need a little time to come to terms with this, aren’t you?”Cyrus knew her well. He’d spent months following her every move. He’d told himself it was to keep her safe, and it was, partly. But it was also because he couldn’t bear to be parted from her now that he knew her. She was his and he was going to be there every moment of every day, even if she didn’t know it. Hell, he’d even slept in the bough of a tree outside her house…

  “I…”And again she was lost for words. Time, more time. Yes, time was good. Or was it? She couldn’t alter the fact that she was his mate. There was no magic that she knew of to undo what fate had put in place so long ago. She nodded her head.

  “Then let me take you home.”Cyrus held out his hand for her to take. A test of trust between them, if she took it then he knew she was his… and when Teri finally stopped hugging the damn tree trunk behind her and slipped her mitten into his hand, he felt the world around him brighten from the dark days he had grown to expect over the centuries.

  “What part of no don’t you understand?”Kiera stared up at Callum with disbelief. The damn man had followed her home, how weird was that? He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. “What are you a stray or something? Don’t you have a home of your own to go too?”

  Callum snapped his jaws shut and twisted his head on his neck as he stared back at her. A comment like that from anyone else and the guy would have been picking up his teeth. She was lucky she was female, and even luckier that she was his mate. It also helped that she had no idea what he was… or did she?

  Caren yanked the front door backwards and out of Kiera’s grasp and her friend moved over in the doorway to give her room. “Now’s not a good time, Callum.” Caren’s words were curtly spoken, but he sensed that she was nervous, especially when her eyes continually flicked from him to Kiera.

  “I didn’t come to speak with you…”The word ‘Witch’ went through his mind and yet he managed to cut it off before it left his lips.

  “Wow, rude and as thick as two short planks, any wonder women turn you down?”Kiera probably wouldn’t have been so bold as to insult him so readily if he wasn’t standing on their doorstep. Not to mention the couple of beers she had downed at the bar, Dutch courage was a wonderful thing.

  Callum’s eyes snapped back to his mate. The low growl that rolled through his chest as his annoyance spiked made her twist her head as if she was hearing something that shouldn’t have been.

  “Do you have a dog?”She turned to look over her shoulder at Caren and for one long moment the woman’s eyes went wide with knowing, and she had to bite down on the smirk that wanted to split her face.

  “Not me, exactly…”Caren couldn’t even look the Alpha in the eye for fear she would cackle like an old hag. It was one of those times when she could have split her sides laughing. Oh lord, hold onto that thought… She begged her mind as another, lower growl drifted on the icy cold air towards her.

  “We need to talk.”Callum directed his words at Caren. He’d tried to make the other witch see reason, but the damn vampire had swept her away. He didn’t know what Cyrus was playing at, probably trying to win his damn challenge, and he’d be having words with him. But for now the only avenue left open to him was to go through this witch, because if they decided to be awkward and put wards up around the house to keep his mate away from him, well, that would end badly for them.

  “We do?”Caren put on her best innocent guise. She knew the alpha didn’t much care for the Fae. He’d made that abundantly clear since they’d been here. She also knew why, apparently they were mischievous, or that’s one of the reasons that the damn Vampire who constantly visited their shop told them, so she thought it might just be time to live up to that reputation.

  “You know we do…”His eyes flicked back to his mate and then he had a hell of a time returning them to the witch.

  Caren made a great show of understanding him. “Oh, we do.”She nodded her head emphatically. “Just not now.” She grabbed a handful of the back of Kiera’s top, yanked her backwards away from the door and slammed it shut in the Alpha’s face. And she had to admit, it gave her a great sense of joy and warm fuzzies to do it.

  The thudding started immediately. “Open the damn door.”Callum growled through the wood, but his annoyance couldn’t wipe the smile from Caren’s face.

  “Or you’ll huff and puff and blow my house down? I think not.”Caren teased as she looked at Kiera. Her eyebrows were desperately reaching up for her hairline as she opened her mouth to speak, but was sidetracked by more pounding.

  “I’m warning you, witch…”He growled against the door.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “He knows you’re a witch?”Kiera whispered towards her friend and Caren couldn’t help the smile that she beamed back at her friend. It was hard for Kiera to accept the other world, so telling her she had a Lycan mate and was going to be bound to him for the rest of her life should be a fun conversation to have…

  “Folks around here are more, enlightened.”Caren offered and then rolled her eyes when the pounding started again.

  “Except for that guy, he’s like stone age man for God sakes…”Kiera folded her arms across her chest and regarded the back of the door with annoyance. “Maybe we should call the police?”

  “Animal control.”Caren bit out and then remembered that Kiera had no idea of what she was talking about, and yet her friend chuckled anyway. It seemed that deep down Kiera recognized the beast within the man. That was a good start.

  “Open the damn door and talk to me…”Callum was done playing games. His beast was riled up inside him that the witch was keeping his mate from him. Even though he knew that this could wait until tomorrow, a day or even two, they both wanted it so badly that he could just taste it.

  “These little piggies are going to bed. Perhaps you should come back in the morning.”Caren reached out and turned Kiera away from the door, guiding her back into the living room and nudging her down onto the sofa. The further away she was fro
m the entrance the less likely the Alpha would be able to scent her.

  Caren wondered what had happened to Teri. She’d held back to speak with Callum, and obviously that hadn’t worked, and yet she wasn’t here. Caren didn’t know what kind of warning bells should be going off within her head, but she didn’t like it.

  “I’ll put the kettle on; you put the TV on and turn it up. If the man wants to keep knocking at least we can drown him out somewhat.” Caren offered. Reaching for her mobile and pocketing it, not wanting Kiera to know that she was worried about Teri. It wouldn’t do anyone any good for them both to be panicking for no good reason. The pounding on the front door might have already stopped, but having the TV on meant that Kiera wouldn’t hear her calling Teri.

  Caren stalked into the kitchen and over to the kettle, flicking the on button, she reached for her mobile and found Teri’s number. Cradling the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she set about making coffee, she nearly dropped the damn thing when Callum appeared at the window. Dark and intent with his glare upon her, she jumped backwards and gave a small outward shriek and a lot of inward cursing.

  “Open the door, Caren.”His eyebrows were doing a dance above dark eyes as he stared through the glass at her. He wasn’t finding this amusing, she could tell, but she also knew that she wasn’t about to let the damn wolf at the door inside. Not while she was alone with Kiera. Two witches to one Lycan, those were better odds. Yet she knew that this man wasn’t going to hurt Kiera, or hopefully her, but still, she couldn’t just fling open the door and let him in without an explanation towards her friend.

  “Go chew on a branch or something…”She hissed back at the window, knowing that Kiera couldn’t hear her words, but his Lycan ears would pick up every word. When he raised just one dark eyebrow and stared back at her though the glass, she wanted to cower from just that look he was giving her, but that wasn’t going to happen. Just like him, she was defending her friend, like it or not, but he’d have to get used to that.

  “I’m warning you…”He placed the palms of his large hands against the window and took a step closer.

  “She doesn’t even believe in magic you idiot. What’s she going to think of the big bad wolf…?”Caren hissed back at him and watched as he chewed that one over.

  “I just need to be around her…”

  “Yeah, and sniffing and drooling isn’t going to be awkward…”She hissed back at him, cutting off his chain of thought. The wolf was pretty much doing all of the reasoning inside him, she wouldn’t wonder. It was time the man took over and thought rationally about this…

  “I can…”He started to explain but she cut him off again.

  “You couldn’t even not growl…”She hissed back.

  “Are you talking to someone?”Kiera asked as she approached the doorway and Caren jumped in fright, busted. She reached out and yanked the curtains closed across the kitchen window, before she turned on her heels and gave her friend a look of pure innocence. Remembering she was holding her mobile she waved it at Kiera as she came into the room.

  “Just leaving a message for Teri.”She lied, snapping off the mobile and putting it down onto the counter as the loud click of the kettle made her jump again. Damn it, this can’t be good for the heart…She told herself as she went to turn back towards the kettle and saw Callum appear at the back door. Oh Lord, save us all. She begged silently as she rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and turned on the balls of her feet towards the counter. The man was peering in at his mate like a lovesick puppy. It was both adorable and somewhat sickening to behold.

  Kiera’s loud squeal, a moment later, made Caren jump and spin back. The grip that she had on the kettle was akin to strangulation, and if it hadn’t of been a piece of damn plastic it probably would have worked. Her eyes locked onto Kiera as she palmed the table and half pushed up from her chair, her backside not quite sure if it was coming or going…

  “It’s him…”Kiera shrieked out again and Caren’s heart pounded in her ears, how many years off her life was she using this very night, she had to wonder.

  “Who?”She tried to calm her heart and act surprised.

  “The guy from the door, the bar, the bar and the door…”Kiera shook her head, trying to shake off the panic and surprise at seeing him, nose pressed against the glass like a child outside a toy store, until she had shrieked and he had pulled back. “The weirdo, stalker guy…”Kiera thrust out her hand towards the back door, and pointed towards where he had been standing with an accusing index finger. Caren took a slow few steps to make it look as plausible as possible.

  “Well, he’s not there now, perhaps your ear piercing screech sent him packing.”Caren turned her back on her friend and walked back towards the counter with the kettle. She couldn’t help but grin, but she kept a tight rein on the giggle that was bursting to get out. Just the thought of the Alpha with his hands over his ears and rolling his eyes with the pain from where his mate had let loose with an ear pounding shriek was enough to make her feel sorry for the guy, almost.

  “We really should call the police…”Kiera dropped her backside down onto the chair and kept her eyes locked on the back door and the darkness outside.

  “Nah, he’s just drunk and horny. He’ll pee in the bushes and trot off home soon enough.”Caren literally bit down on the tip of her tongue to stop her from chuckling, but she grinned at the curtains, knowing that the damn alpha was probably still out there and hoping that his ears had recovered enough for him to hear her words.

  “Are there a lot of men like him out here?”Kiera asked, turning her nose up at the thought of his persistence.

  “More than you’d think, but he is kind of unique in himself…”Caren could walk the tightrope, dance around the edges and ease her friend into the truth of what he was.

  “How so?”Kiera watched as Caren brought their mugs of coffee to the table and as she slipped into the chair next to her, she saw the smirk on her face.

  “He’s kind of the top dog around these parts…”Caren offered and Kiera questioned her with her eyebrows before she lifted that index finger and pointed back at the back door again.

  “Him?”Kiera asked in disbelief and Caren nodded.

  “Yeah, we like to call him the Alpha.”Caren twitched her nose. It wasn’t a lie, and it had the added bonus that if she called him that by mistake her mishap would be covered.

  “He’s deranged.”Kiera sniffed her contempt as lifted her mug and blew against the torrent of steam coming from it.

  “Maybe it’s love at first sight.”Caren teased. Knowing the truth was stranger than any romance novel that was likely to be sitting on Kiera’s nightstand at home. Just because her friend wasn’t looking for a man, didn’t mean she didn’t like reading about others finding theirs.

  Kiera grunted and turned her nose up at the idea. Sneering at the concept of true love had become something of a pastime for her ever since Charlie, lousy, cheating, cretin... Perhaps there was a true love out there for everybody, everybody except her. Why would she even bother looking? Dating was just a series of nightmares where the rules changed on a weekly basis. Wouldn’t life just be so much easier to meet and know that you’d found The One? The thought that the Neanderthal man that had stalked her back home was that one person that she was meant to be with gave her the chills or the shivers anyway.

  “Maybe you should shut your yapping.”Kiera sneered back before tentatively sipping her too-hot coffee and feeling the burn on the tip of her tongue.

  “Maybe the pair of you should play nice.”Teri announced from the kitchen door and both her friends spun around with the unexpectedness of it. Relief was on Caren’s face as she saw her. Kiera, not knowing there was any potential problem with Teri’s absence, just shrugged her shoulder dismissively.

  “I still think we should call the police.” Kiera offered before turning her attention back to her coffee mug.

  Teri flicked her eyes towards Caren, questioning her without words. Caren slipped out
of her chair and walked over to the kettle where Teri joined her. Leaning towards her so she couldn’t be overheard, Caren couldn’t keep the amusement from her voice.

  “Alpha’s outside marking his territory.”

  Teri snorted a chuckle. “I thought he might come here, we got into a little altercation…” Caren pulled back slightly so she could look over her friend with fresh eyes. “I’m fine. I did zap his furry little butt though. Cyrus swooped in and swept me away, literally.”

  “Cyrus?” Caren didn’t look as shocked by that as Teri expected her to. Teri just gave her a long lingering stare of the ‘spit it out’ kind in return, but Caren went the other route and tried to look more innocent. “Oh.” As if it was nothing for a vampire to come to the rescue, especially that vampire, and especially rescuing her.

  “Is there something you wanted to share?”Teri was nibbling at the edges of her friend’s strange behaviour, when what she wanted to do was take the bull by the horns and make her talk. But all she got what a look of surprise. It felt as if Caren’s emotions and words were out of synch.

  “No.”She shook her head, looking a little too innocent. “Why, do you find it odd that Cyrus would do that?” Now she looked like the shrink her mother sent her too when she was twelve and set the apartment on fire with a wayward spell, a little misfire, so to speak.

  “No…”She snapped back quickly and then took a long moment to consider it. “Do you?” Teri was fishing, Caren knew it.

  “No.”Caren answered with a slight shrug off her shoulders, and then chewed it over. “Not considering…” She left the trap open to see if Teri was going to walk into it.

  “You…” Teri gave her an accusing glare, but when Caren raised just one eyebrow towards her she clamped her lips together. It felt like Caren knew what Cyrus was to her, and yet she wasn’t sure if she knew or not. If she didn’t, well, she didn’t want Caren going into a total meltdown in front of Kiera.