Free The Lightning Prophecy (The Lightning Witch Trilogy Book 1) by Emily Cyr

palpable. Oddly enough the lust wasn’t mine.
    “Delaney, hey!” Reid called.
    From my limited view, I saw Reid stop short and glare at the back of Mitch’s head. If Reid’s eyes had been lasers, they would have bored twin holes right through his skull. “Mitch, could you put a shirt on or close the one you have?” he all but growled.
    Mitch let his eyes travel down the length of my body, hesitating on my breasts. What was that saying? Oh, that’s right, he undressed me with his eyes. Well, that's what it felt like he did and frankly it was unnerving. Waiting a fraction of a second more than was polite, he then smiled and raked his eyes over me once more before saying, “Sure thing, boss.” That last word he spat.
    Reid and I walked out to the parking lot while we waited on Mitch to get fully dressed. Much to my great disappointment.
    “Well, Mitch seems ... nice.” God was my face flushed? Lord, these men are going to be the death of me.
    “Yeah, something like that,” Reid muttered.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    I REALLY HATED that Delaney was in the middle of this, but there wasn't much I could do at this point. I had to take her to the crime scene. I needed to see if she found anything there that she recognized that belonged to Sierra.
    If Mitch wasn't a good friend and if I hadn't worked with him before, I might rip the bastard’s throat out for how he looked at Delaney. And did the bastard think me a new pup without a sense of smell? The lust wafted off of him like waves in the damned sea. I bet Delaney could smell it.
    Let’s be realistic about this. She’s not mine and I have no claim on her. Then why the hell do I feel so territorial over her? Ah, fuck me . Two territorial males with an unclaimed female. Today was going to test my willpower.
    “Mitch, we need to talk about Delaney,” I said on the short drive to President Street. We needed to set some kind of ground rules. Delaney was following us in her car. As she said, my Jeep looked a bit small for the three of us. She wasn't stupid and I had to quit underestimating her. She knew damn well something was brewing between Mitch and me.
    Mitch grunted in the affirmative. “I assume there's an attraction to her?” he questioned.
    “Uh, yeah.” Why couldn't Delaney be less than she was? It would make my life easier.
    “And I guessing neither of us want to put a claim on her?” Mitch questioned.
    When a werewolf puts a claim on an unclaimed female, it’s like saying back off, she’s owned property. Claiming a female was not permanent like a mating was, but mating can only happen with another werewolf. Claiming doesn't take the urge of an unmated female away, but it helps ease the tension between unmated males. Though, it’s more like the were/human/witch version of marriage, and mating I would say is so much more than marriage. It goes beyond death. You’re mated until you both die, and if one dies, typically the other will soon follow.
    Mating between weres is like the combining of souls. What were two became one. It is said that the souls are together even after death. The first and last female I claimed was my wife when I was first turned. I never had the chance to turn her so we could mate. I killed her before we could.
    “No, that’s out of the question,” I told him.
    “I agree, we are here for a job and Delaney can’t be part of it. In fact, we need to get her out of this investigation altogether. Why is she here? Hot piece of ass she may be, she’s going to cause problems.” He emphasized the word ass and it made me want to throttle him. I proceeded to roll the window down. I had to empty this Jeep of the built-up testosterone; it was getting so thick I was about to choke. As soon as the window was down, the tension in the car eased markedly.
    “Sierra was her only friend and she just showed up at the police station. Honestly, I don't want her to go out on her own for some damn vengeance quest. We need to get this son of a bitch.