Faerie Godmother: Mythic Series, Book 1 (8 page)

“I know what you
think
it is, but I don’t even know what I am, and you’re—”

“Ana. Stop. We’ll work it out together, okay? Slowly. I promise.” Matt exhaled again and changed the subject. “Now, tell me why you’re suddenly screening your calls. Did I upset you that much?”

Yes. No. Maybe.
It was partially him — the dangerous, forbidden feelings he’d stoked earlier — but there was no need to tell him that. Now that he and his muscles and his pheromones weren’t there to confuse her, things seemed clearer.

“I’m not upset. I just...”
had an erotic dream about a vampire and then heard his voice in my head
“...couldn’t sleep. Just like you said.”

She was met with several long moments of silence. There was no way of knowing if he believed her, but there was little he could do about it. The fact that he’d called instead of coming over himself told her he still intended to keep his distance for the time being. That was probably a good thing.

“All right, Ana. Try to get some rest. Derrick and Cal are keeping an eye on things till dawn.”

“That’s really not necessary.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that,” Matt told her firmly, informing her in no uncertain terms, that he would not budge on this. “Goodnight, Ana. Don’t let them schmooze you out of all your food.”

* * *

V
lane felt a sudden, violent surge rip through him. It was such a foreign feeling, it took him several minutes to determine what it was: Fear. Terror. Panic.

It had been fleeting, lasting only for the briefest of moments, but it had been real.

Fear was something Vlane had not felt in a long time. As a master vampire, he had reached the stage where such a thing was wholly unnecessary. With his incredible strength, speed, and skill at practically any and all forms of combat, there were few who could hope to challenge him. When he factored in his ability to hypnotize and sway the minds of those who might wish to do him harm, it became even less of an issue.

Obviously, it was not his own fear that rent so viciously through him. It had come and gone in the mere blink of an eye, for no apparent reason. He stood on his patio, gazing out into the lighted gardens, surrounded by nothing but peace and serenity — his own personal turmoil excluded, of course.

So, whose fear had he felt so keenly?

He reached out and touched the minds of those closely connected to him. Armand was in the study, reading. Kristoff was in one of the guest rooms with three human females — pleasuring one with his mouth, one with his hands, and one with his cock. Jason was checking the perimeter while Zarek replenished his strength in the kitchen.

One by one, he touched upon each of those in his bloodline and found them all to be peacefully engaged in whatever they were doing.

Vlane frowned. Had it been, perhaps, some long forgotten bond reconnecting? While Vlane had always been a responsible sire, there were those who had chosen to go on their own. Was one of them in danger now? It was unlikely. The sensation had passed and he felt no further tug upon his blood bonds.

He tried to recall what he’d been thinking when he’d first felt it. Ah, yes. The fragile female dressed as a lovely faerie who had so captured his attention...

And then, just like that, he knew whose fear he’d sensed. It had been
hers
...

He reached out desperately again, but found nothing. No fear. No panic. Nothing, except perhaps the slightest hint of familiarity. Of recognition.

The realization hit him like the proverbial brick upside the head.

He had
bonded
with the female.

A
na shook her head as brute after brute carried in supplies, stocking the cupboards, pantry, and refrigerator. When she asked them what they were doing, they just grinned and told her to take it up with the Alpha. Ana planned on doing just that, but it would have to wait. She had a full day of appointments and she was already running behind. Lack of sleep coupled with sexual frustration had a way of doing that to a girl.

Dani arrived in the midst of it all, glowing with approval as she viewed the massive quantities of food. Although female and significantly smaller than the males in the pack, Dani managed to eat as much in one day as Ana did in a week. The she-wolf once told Ana Were metabolisms ran much higher than a human’s and shifting alone required a tremendous amount of energy.

She greeted the brutes with grins and high-fives, slinging what appeared to be an overnight bag onto one of the oversized sofas in the living space. Ana took one look at the bag and gazed at Dani questioningly. “More food?”

“Hardly,” Dani laughed. “I was hoping you’d let me crash on your couch for a couple of days.”

Ana narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why?”

“Matt’s being an overbearing, testosterone-fueled, unreasonable jerk.”

Ana hid the twitch of her lips. “He won’t let you go on the overnight, huh?” she guessed. Every year a bunch of the young adults took a road trip into the mountains. From what she understood, it was a pretty wild time. She wasn’t at all surprised Matt didn’t want his little sister going along.

“No,” Dani said with a pout that could have rivaled the best Hollywood starlet’s. “Maybe next year, when you’re finished with school,” she mimicked, deepening her voice in an attempt to capture Matt’s growly baritone.

Ana held her hand up to her mouth to stifle her giggles. Dani had her brother’s stern glare and growly voice down perfectly.

“He says I’m too young, but Jackie — you know, the sleek black one? — gets to go. She’s only a couple of months older than me, but then, she’s also already let half the males in the pack mount her.”

Several of the young brutes unpacking the boxes of groceries bumped knuckles and chuckled at that, causing Dani to glare at them. “Don’t you smirk like that, Markus. That’s nothing to be proud of. Even your little brother lifted that tail.”

Markus’s smile faded, but the others laughed. Dani sighed. “Sometimes I hate being the Alpha’s sister. No one’s got the guts to even try to hit on me like that.”

Ana saw Dani glance pointedly at Derrick, who stopped laughing immediately and turned bright red. In the next moment, he was walking purposefully out for more boxes.

Ana didn’t pretend to understand everything about adolescent Weres, but from where she stood, they didn’t seem all that different from human teenagers. They were more open about things in general, especially their sexuality, and tended to heed their natural instincts, but the underlying premises were the same. There was still that awkward adjustment period when they were no longer children but not quite adults.

“Is that what you want, Dani? To be like Jackie?”

Dani exhaled heavily. “No, not really. But I’m still pissed. So, can I stay?”

Ana didn’t have the heart to say no. “I suppose so.” Just that quickly, Dani’s mood shifted and she was back to grinning. She jumped up and was wrapping Ana in an enthusiastic hug when Matt appeared.

“Dani.”

“Uh-oh,” Dani whispered loudly in Ana’s ear. “Busted.”

“I should have known I’d find you here.” Matt fixed her with a gimlet eye. “Go on home now and let Ana be.”

Dani sniffed, shifting so Ana was between her and her brother. It was kind of funny, really, because Dani was a full head taller than Ana. “Ana said I could stay.”

“Did she now?” Matt turned his Alpha gaze her way. It softened slightly, but not nearly enough. Ana felt herself wilting. So did everyone else in the immediate vicinity as they stopped what they were doing to listen.

Ana took a deep breath to steel herself, her body quivering under the Alpha’s authority. Dani gave her arms a squeeze of encouragement.

“Yes,” Ana managed in a rather small voice. “I mean, I’d like the company.” Matt narrowed his eyes, and Ana hastened to add, “If that’s okay with you, of course.”

After several long moments, he exhaled. “Fine. Maybe you can teach her how a young female
should
act when surrounded by a bunch of rutting males.”

Ana blinked, stunned, not knowing quite how to respond to that.
How would I know?

She was saved from having to say anything when Matt turned and directed his attention to the young males still hauling in supplies.

––––––––

“T
hanks for standing up for me, Ana,” Dani said later as she painted her toenails a sparkly metallic bronze that complimented her natural coloring beautifully. “I think you are quite possibly the only female Matt will listen to when he’s in one of his snits.”

Ana looked up from the book she was reading, a paranormal romance based on, of all things, werewolves and vampires. At that point, she wasn’t sure which one she was rooting for. “He cares about you, Dani.”

“Yeah, I know.” She glanced at Ana with a wicked grin. “He cares for you, too.”

Ana blushed a dark red and tried to hide behind her book. “Of course he does. He cares for everyone around here.”

“But you’re special.”

“No, I’m not.” Surely, Matt wouldn’t have said anything to Dani. He’d promised.

“Come off it, Ana. My brother’s got it bad for you. Jeez, I can still smell the mating scent he left behind.”

Without thinking, Ana lifted her face and sniffed lightly. It was faint, but she could smell it — musky, male, and decidedly sensual. She recognized it immediately as the same scent she noticed whenever Matt was nearby.

“Oh, I know that look,” laughed Dani. “It’s the same look a deer has when it’s surrounded and knows it’s about to go down.”

Ana blinked, trying to regain some semblance of personal control. In that moment, Dani’s analogy felt eerily accurate.

“I don’t know why you don’t just sleep with him already. Were males are way better than human guys. They’re bigger, thicker, and can last all night.” It was Dani’s turn to blush. “Or, at least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

Ana had no intention of discussing her overactive female hormones with Dani, but since she brought it up... “I’m sure lots of she-wolves are willing to...uh, be with your brother.”

“Oh, yeah. But he’s not serious about any of them. It’s like what we were talking about before with Jackie. He’ll fuck them, but he won’t mate them or chance impregnating them.” Ana winced at Dani’s explicit language, but the she-wolf didn’t appear to notice. “He wants a real mate for that. And from where I’m sniffing, he wants you.”

Ana shook her head, her mind and body scrambling to process that little bit of TMI while trying to pull-off the same air of casual comfort Dani had. She was only partially successful. The thought of a male like Matt being interested in her was a heady one indeed, but it also scared her senseless.

“But I’m not a Were, Dani,” she countered. “It doesn’t make any sense why he would be interested in me. Especially if he wants kids...uh, pups. I mean, I’m not even sure I could...” Her cheeks reddened again when she realized she was actually thinking out loud.

“He could turn you,” Dani said quietly. “Didn’t he offer?”

“Yes, he did, but that was only so he could offer his protection.” Wasn’t it? He didn’t make the offer until after he found out what Vlane Masterson had done.

“Don’t kid yourself. Matt wouldn’t have offered such a thing for something he could give you anyway. And Weres can breed with human females as easily as they can she-wolves. Easier, really, because human fertility cycles occur every month compared to the less frequent heat cycle for us. No, Ana. If all Matt cared about was siring pups, he could have had dozens by now. Not too many bitches would say no to a piece of that, you know?”

Ana thought about that for a while. Yes, she knew. Even she felt the persistent tug of his pheromone-fueled spell whenever he was around. Ruggedly handsome, oozing barely-leashed power and male sexuality, Matt might have just walked around with a big sign that said, “come on, you know you want to”. But how much of that was a purely physical reaction, based solely in biochemistry and the hard-wired primitive urge to mate with the strongest male? Sure, the sex would probably be phenomenally hot, but could it ever be anything more than that?

“I think he might have changed his mind anyway. He’s been avoiding me the past few days,” Ana said finally. Other than brief, cameo appearances like the one earlier, Matt hadn’t been by much since he’d almost marked her in the kitchen.

Ana wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. His notable absence both relieved and vexed her. On the one hand, it simplified things. She didn’t have to worry about her involuntary (and confusing) hormonally-based reactions to him when he wasn’t around. On the other hand, she kind of missed him. Alpha power aside, Matt was a very likable, personable kind of guy. And the only one who knew her secret.

Ana exhaled heavily, conflicted. Surely she must be sending out mixed signals if she couldn’t even resolve her own feelings.

Dani bit her lip, as if deciding whether to say something. After a long moment, she finally said, “Ana, there’s something you must understand about Were males. When a female goes into her mating heat, it’s nearly impossible for the males to resist, especially if they have feelings for the female to begin with. For she-wolves who aren’t interested in mating, it’s not a big deal. We only hit our heat cycles twice a year, and for those couple of days, we just make ourselves scarce or hole up somewhere so we don’t tempt the males.”

Dani paused, shooting Ana an uncomfortable glance. “I don’t really know if there’s a right way to tell you this, so I’m just going to say it, okay? Matt’s trying to stay away from you because you are fertile right now and it’s driving him nuts. It’s one of the reasons his mating scent is so strong in here — he’s using it to mask your scent from the others. All they can smell is him.”

“But
you
know,” Ana said, her words barely audible. She felt as if she were on the verge of total mortification.

“Because I’m a female,” Dani said logically. “Females have a better sense of smell.”

Oh.
“Should I leave for a few days?”

“No,” Dani answered, but her tone lacked conviction. “I suggested that, but Matt shot me down. He wants both of us to stay close by. I’m not sure why, exactly.”