A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12) (6 page)

“I’m thrilled to be with him, too. I wouldn’t
want to be anywhere else.”

Chapter
7

Mishka grimaced as he looked at the video
footage from the front of the club. Protesters were harassing those
waiting in line to get inside. He turned away from the computer
screen and looked at Brone, who was the head of club and coven
security.

“The police?”

He shook his head. “The protesters are on the
sidewalk, which is technically public property. As long as they
don’t touch anyone, they can stand there being assholes all
night.”

“I don’t suppose Arissa would be willing to
hex them?”

Arissa chuckled from where she stood in
Brone’s embrace. “Sorry. I hate them, too, but I can’t just go
around hexing people who aren’t technically being evil. Now if they
start acting badly, that’s different. I’ll hex the hell out of
them.”

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair. He
wished that Harmony were with him right then, so he could pull her
into his lap and hold her tightly. He knew she was safe in the
club, guarded by her friends, but he still wanted her there.

“That damned church,” he said. “I wish they’d
find something else to be fanatical over. Go ahead with your plan
to increase security. Reiterate to the coven that no one is to go
anywhere alone. I don’t want our people to become easy
targets.”

Brone nodded, but instead of leaving, he
stared at Mishka in silence. Mishka glanced at Arissa, whose smile
had slipped slightly.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Your beloved needs protection.”

“Of course.”

“Her bandmates are fighters and clearly stand
by her, but I’d like to assign coven guards to her. As mistress of
the coven, it makes sense that she would be guarded by
vampires.”

“I’ll speak to her about it.”

Brone nodded. “I’ll assign Finn and
Dolan.”

Mishka nodded. Both males were mated, so they
wouldn’t push Mishka’s need to keep his mate away from unmated
males. Although she was currently with her friends who were all
unmated, he knew from her memories that there had never been
anything sexual between them and that she valued them as brothers
and nothing more.

When Brone and Arissa were gone, he looked at
the video feed of the protestors. It amazed him that humans could
be so violent and hateful and still not see themselves as monsters.
These particular protestors were members of the First Church of
Humanity, an establishment that had sprung up several years ago
with the sole focus of destroying vampires. There were churches all
over the country, wherever large covens were, and they looked for
ways to hurt vampires. Some of the groups were less violent than
others, simply interested in getting covens out of major cities.
The one in Cleveland, however, had done terrible things in the name
of taking back the city. They’d attempted to kidnap the mates of
the vampires, they set fire to the club in an attempt to push the
vampires out into the daylight, and they’d even worked with an evil
witch and nearly killed Arissa. The First Church was a menace.

Mishka’s stomach churned. Seeing those
protestors brought to mind Harmony and her need to be protected.
Rising to his feet, he headed for the door, reaching for the
connection of their beloved bond. He could feel her in the club and
knew she was in the converted apartments on the third floor.

As he exited the offices, he was flanked by
Vex and Rage, who always accompanied him whenever he headed out
into the club. Although he could and would fight if necessary, it
was always better to have security. Especially with those damn
church members hanging around.

As if reading his mind, Rage said, “I could
just go kill them all. Problem solved.”

Mishka snorted. “If it were only that
simple.”

“Hell, I probably wouldn’t even break a
sweat.”

“Perhaps, but you’d be held accountable by
the human court system, and I’m in no mood to go through that mess
again.”

During the previous fall, Arissa had set up a
protective barrier around the club. A church member had crossed the
barrier in order to grab the mate of a coven member and had been
severely injured. The man had brought a lawsuit against the coven
for harming him. It had been a non-starter – the idiot was on the
surveillance cameras trying to abduct the female – but it had
wasted time and money and been one large headache after
another.

“All right. What if I go turn a fire hose on
them?” Vex said.

“Let’s just keep watching them and ensure
they don’t do anything worse than hurl insults at the people
waiting in line outside.”

They accessed the third floor through the
security door connected to the
family
room on the second
floor and took the stairs. At another security door, Vex entered
the passcode and opened the door for Mishka. The long hallway was
sparsely decorated, with a long carpet runner down the center. The
last door on the left was open, and he could hear Harmony
laughing.

He entered the room, and she turned as soon
as he walked in. “Oh, Mishka!” She ran to him and leaped into his
arms. “I felt you coming down the hallway.”

He kissed her as she chuckled. “It’s our
bond.”

“It’s freaking cool.”

“I wanted to talk to you about security,” he
said as she slid down his body and put her feet on the floor.

“Of course. Let’s go talk in private.” She
took Mishka’s hand and led him across the hall, opening a door to
another apartment. All the apartments were similar – two bedrooms,
two bathrooms, kitchen, and living room – but were decorated in
different styles. When he’d converted the building to a club with
the coven’s living space underground, he’d anticipated having
important guests from time to time, but it turned out people rarely
stayed the night in another coven’s home.

Rage shut the door behind them.

“What’s up with security?”

“Brone suggested, and I agree, that as the
mistress of the coven, you need to have vampire security. Whenever
you’re in the club, and especially if you leave the building, you
should have at least two guards.”

She hummed. “It’s important to the
coven?”

“I think it could be. But more important than
that is there’s a group of malcontents who have made it their
mission in life to destroy anyone associated with vampires. They
went quiet for a while, but they’ve started protesting again. It’s
why you can’t go anywhere alone, even in the club.”

“What is the protestors’ problem?”

“They don’t like vampires or anyone who lives
or works with vampires. They’re mostly just idiots with nothing
better to do, but some of them are violent. They should all be
considered dangerous.”

“I promise I won’t go anywhere alone.”

He nodded. “The guards won’t get in your way;
they’ll just be alert for trouble. Any time you’re in the club, two
males that Brone wants to assign to you would be with you. Even if
your friends wanted to be guards with you, I am still strongly
encouraging you to have vampire guards.”

“They’d protect me if I needed it, but I
don’t want them to be full-time guards. Who did you have in
mind?”

“Their names are Finn and Dolan. They’re not
family
members, but they’re well-trained guards and have
been part of my coven for many years.”

“When can I meet them?”

“After the club closes. I’ve called a meeting
with the coven so I can introduce you.”

“Cool. Should I change?”

“You look lovely.”

She made a face. “You’re biased.”

He cupped her face and pressed his lips to
hers. “Can’t help it that my mate is beautiful. You could wear a
potato sack and I’d still find you irresistible.”

“I’ll go see if Cella has anything ‘mistress
of the city’ appropriate. Come with me?”

“Of course.”

On the way down the hall, she leaned into the
open door where her friends were gathered and said, “I’ll see you
guys downstairs for a coven meet-and-greet after the club
closes.”

A chorus of “okay” came from her friends, and
she hooked her arm in Mishka’s and smiled up at him.

“Lead the way.”

* * *

Mishka knocked on Cella’s open office door.
“Harmony is going to meet the coven tonight, and she wanted to
borrow something of yours to wear, since you won’t have an
opportunity to take her shopping until tomorrow.”

Cella smiled. “Of course! I have just the
thing.”

Harmony kissed Mishka’s cheek and said, “I’ll
see you in a little while.”

“You’re in good hands,” he said.

He watched them walk down the hall toward the
elevator, and after waving at his beloved, he strode into Temple’s
office. “I need a necklace.”

“Oh? You don’t strike me as a jewelry sort of
guy,” he said and grinned.

“Not for me. For Harmony. She’s meeting the
coven tonight, and Cella is loaning her a dress to wear. I want to
give her something that is as beautiful as she is.”

“I know a guy. Do you want to go out or have
him come here?”

He glanced toward the elevator. “It would be
simpler if he could come to the club.”

“I’ll text Cella and tell her to keep Harmony
busy until we’re done. I’ll meet you in the War Room in an
hour.”

Nodding, Mishka headed to his office to work
until it was time to choose something for his beloved. He nearly
headed for the elevator, wanting to see Harmony and spend as much
time with her as possible. He found it difficult to be without her,
and he finally understood how Brone felt. When Brone first met
Arissa, Mishka had asked him to hold off on mating with her because
his bites didn’t heal as quickly as a normal vampire’s did.
Stopping at Brone’s office, he leaned against the doorjamb.

“I wanted to apologize,” he said.

Brone’s eyes widened. “For what?”

“When you and Arissa were first together, I
asked you to wait. I didn’t understand the pull of the beloved
bond. I’m bonded completely to Harmony, and I can hardly bear to be
apart from her. It must have been hell for you.”

“It wasn’t pleasant, but I understood your
reasoning. I would have broken my vow to you if she’d asked me to,
but Arissa values you and the coven a great deal. She didn’t want
me to betray my honor for her, even though I would have gladly done
so.”

“I had no right to ask that of you, and I
hope you’ll forgive me.”

Brone was silent for a long moment. “Mating
makes males soft in some ways. It’s not a bad thing to be more
aware of others. I accept your apology. Forgiven and
forgotten.”

Mishka nodded at Brone and resumed his walk
to his office. He was thankful for every member of his
family
. They weren’t just the inner circle of his coven;
they were the family of his heart. Harmony was the newest and most
important member of his
family
, and he was thankful that she
had been so welcomed. He hoped that the rest of his
family
found their beloveds.

* * *

“You look amazing,” Mishka said as Harmony
walked into his chamber. He was sitting on the bed, waiting for
her, his gift heavy in his pocket. She twirled in a circle for him,
giggling softly.

“All her stuff is so revealing! You sure do
like to have the girls in the office wear sexy stuff.”

He could have denied it, but there was no
reason to. She wasn’t jealous; she was teasing him. “Now that I
have you, I’m rethinking the sexy clothing. Maybe for you I’ll
recommend turtlenecks and floor-length skirts.”

His beloved was truly the most beautiful
woman he’d ever seen. She was very swiftly becoming his
everything.

“Come here, beloved,” he said, his voice
tipping huskily.

She moved into the V of his legs and cupped
his face as he gripped her hips gently. “Can I tell you
something?”

“You may tell me anything.”

“I don’t like being away from you.
It’s…difficult. I feel like I can’t breathe unless we’re in the
same room.”

If his heart were beating, it would have been
racing like a thoroughbred. He so dearly loved to hear that she
felt the same. “It’s like that for me, too. When you’re not with
me, my thoughts are on you. It feels fast, but because we’re
beloveds, we share far more than others ever have an opportunity.
You know everything about me. You can access my memories as if
they’re your own. I cherish the memories of your childhood. Yours
was so different from mine.”

“A few centuries difference in birthdates
will do that,” she murmured with a smile.

“Indeed. I’ll tell
you
something
now.”

“Anything.”

“My heart is yours, entirely. I want you to
be mine in every way, not only as beloveds but also as my wife.
Will you marry me?”

Her mouth fell open. Her voice cracked with
emotion as she whispered, “Yes, of course I will.”

Sliding his hand into his pocket, he pulled
out the diamond necklace he’d picked from the jeweler’s collection.
The small diamond and platinum chain was stunning. She gasped and
sank to her knees, turning around and lifting her hair off her
neck.

“I didn’t plan to ask you to marry me
tonight, beloved. I wanted to give you a spectacular piece of
jewelry, so I bought this. But as I was waiting for you to join me,
I knew that I didn’t want to go another moment without asking you
to be mine in every way. Whenever you’d like, we can go pick a ring
for you.”

“You’ll wear one too?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Just you,” she said as she turned and gazed
up at him from between his legs. “Diamonds are good, too,
though.”

* * *

Harmony fidgeted next to him as they stood in
the War Room, tugging on the hem of the short dress. “I feel like
my butt is hanging out. Is it?” She peeked over her shoulder and
looked down toward her bottom.