The Reindeer's New Year Love (Reindeer Holidays Book 7)

by Elizabeth Ann Price

  Now, his bags were definitely gone, he was definitely gone, and even his calamine lotion was gone from the floor. She supposed what happened was just a one-night stand for him. Last night, she hadn’t stopped to think what it would be for her. Hadn’t stopped to think about the consequences at all. Carrie was fairly certain she couldn’t have stopped herself last night even if she wanted.

  She flinched at the banging on the door, and her beast grunted in annoyance as the female shouted, “Tick tock.”

  Was there anything more annoying than people who shouted ‘tick tock’ at you?

  “Yeah, I’m coming.”

  Carrie dragged her suitcase out of the bathroom and did a quick check to make sure she didn’t leave anything behind. She hesitated at the door.

  “Umm, the guy I was with, he umm, do you know if he said where he was heading?”

  The female gave her an ugly look, clearly suggesting that she knew Carrie had spent the night with a stranger, and that she thought Carrie would be going to slutty hell for her misdeeds.

  “What do I look like, a…”

  “Ugh!”

  Carrie stomped out of the room. Outside, she resisted the urge to scream, clenched and unclenched her fists, and calmed down.

  “No big deal,” she muttered to herself. “That woman is just nuts.”

  “What?” came the squawk from within the room and Carrie fled to the reception office.

  At least this time the young coyote shifter, who was now wearing a name tag that said Kyle, was actually at the reception desk. Though, he had a small portable TV next to him and was currently hooked up to it via a pair of headphones. Given the dilation of his eyes and the – shudder – scent of his arousal, it was likely to be porn again. She was glad she couldn’t see the screen.

  He didn’t look up as she noisily dragged her suitcase into the reception, nor as she stood watching him for twenty seconds. But a firm clang to the bell on the desk had him leaping up as if someone had put firecrackers in his tighty whities – which she knew he wore because his shirt was tucked into them. She’d never been a fan of tighty whities. She noted that Michael had been wearing black boxers. She very much approved of them, though she approved more when he took them off.

  Carrie flushed as her thoughts took a lascivious turn, and noticed that she did indeed finally have the attention of Kyle. Luckily, Kyle looked just as guilty as her – his thoughts were probably ten-fold more lascivious than hers – so she had nothing to worry about.

  “Uh, if you’ve come for your bill, it’s already been taken care of. He even came in and said he would pay for the damage to the couch. He said it collapsed when you put your suitcase on it, right?”

  Carrie pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. “Yes, that’s absolutely true. Honestly, though, even if someone as light as a feather sat on it I think it would have broken.”

  Kyle shrugged. “Yeah, the owner cheaped out on the furniture. She’s a real tight-wad – won’t even pay a maid to clean the rooms, insists on doing it herself.”

  “Oh, right, yes, I’ve already had the pleasure.” And it was not a pleasure that she hoped she would ever have to have again. “Umm, the man I was with…” she started with a wince, recalling that she only knew his first name.

  “Oh yeah, he checked out of here hours ago – he was the one who paid for the couch,” Kyle told her.

  “Right, of course.” Well, she didn’t think some random stranger off the street walked in and offered to foot the bill.

  “But he should be back soon.”

  Carrie blinked. “He said he was coming back?”

  “He paid in advance and said he’d be back to collect his bag later.” Kyle pointed to the office door and she frowned. “It’s in the office,” he explained.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, he left his truck outside too.”

  “Oh.” For a second, she thought he was coming back for her, but really he was coming back for his truck and his bag, unless… it could be both.

  Her reindeer hooted coyly. Maybe it was for both. She didn’t know for certain, though their time together, although very limited, had certainly been wonderful. She’d never had a one-night stand, but she didn’t think they felt quite this magical. And to think, she never would have met him were it not for her car breaking down. Oh right – her car!

  “Can I use your phone?” she asked.

  “Sure,” said Kyle, his eyes slithering back to the portable TV. Apparently, whatever he was watching was just as riveting without sound.

  She dialed and waited for an answer. The tow truck company was probably pretty busy because of the floods, but she couldn’t leave her car abandoned for much longer.

  Kyle glanced at her and smiled. “Awful weather, right?”

  “Yes, dreadful…”

  “Hope the rain didn’t keep you up last night – some of the other guests were complaining about the noise it was making on the roof.”

  “No, no, it was fine,” she murmured almost guiltily.

  She hadn’t noticed a thing outside of the wolf shifter in front of her, and once behind her, making her scream.

  “Things are getting better today though. According to the forecast, we’re supposed to have sunshine for the next five days.”

  “That’s good news, oh yes, hello!”

  She finally got a human on the other end of the line, rather than Greensleeves holding music. According to the harassed woman she spoke to, they were inundated, but if she could manage to be at her car in twenty minutes, she had a guy near her who could pick her up. Carrie snapped up the offer, but when she put the phone down, she bit her lip as she thought of Michael.

  Carrie didn’t really want to run off without saying something. Thank you for the most incredible night of my life might be a start. But at the very least, she wanted him to have her phone number, wanted him to call her, so they could have a repeat of last night and more…

  What would more be? Dating? Would he want to date her? She tried to picture Michael taking her to a movie and out for pizza and her imagination stumbled a little. She couldn’t quite picture her rugged wolf doing anything so cutsey and normal. She really should look for a guy who is normal, who would want to do those things. Wasn’t she just doing the same old thing again? Seeking out a man who would ultimately stomp all over her heart and treat her like… well, like prey? Yet, she just couldn’t bring herself to let him go.

  Carrie grabbed the complimentary pad of paper – noting that it had the name of another hotel on the top of it – and borrowed Kyle’s pencil. She quickly wrote her number down and considered signing it Anne, but decided not to – if he called she would tell him her full name, and if he didn’t… well, she didn’t want to think about that.

  “Kyle?”

  Kyle looked up from the portable TV and smiled politely, even though his eyes kept trying to return to it.

  She folded the paper in half and held it out to him. He put his fingers on it, trying to take it and she held on, and forced a little eye contact. “Can I leave this with you to give to Michael – the man I was with. Please, it’s really important that he gets it.”

  “Yeah, sure, no problem.”

  “Really important,” she said insistently.

  Kyle grinned a little smugly and, despite her reindeer’s urges, she refrained from hitting him.

  He took the paper and put it underneath the telephone. “I’ll keep it here, under the phone for safekeeping.” He patted it.

  “Okay, thank you.”

  Carrie gave the piece of paper one last look, wondering if she was doing the right thing, and said her goodbye to Kyle and left.

  An hour later, Tracey arrived to deliver a bottle of water for the cooler in the reception of the motel. She was new to the job, and hadn’t yet met Kyle, who took quite a shine to her the moment he saw her.

  He tried to engage her in conversation, but Tracey needed to get moving for her next delivery. Sadly, Kyle wouldn’t let her go w
ithout giving her his number. She tried to escape before he did, but, in a rush, he grabbed a piece of paper from under the phone and quickly scribbled his details. She smiled at him, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but she threw it in the trash as soon as she could. Tracey had seen just what he was watching on that portable TV, had noted the tent in his pants, and she wanted none of the little pervert.

  The piece of paper containing both Carrie’s and Kyle’s phone numbers was dumped in the trash at a Burger Queen drive through.

  *

  Riker thundered into the reception area. He looked around hopefully for Anne, but she was nowhere to be found. He had already tried their room, and the couple currently occupying it had not been thrilled with Riker barging in and asking for someone called Anne.

  Finding that damn owl shifter had taken longer than expected. The bastard was wily, he’d give him that, but eventually, Riker and Mick had found him. Now, Riker had a few fresh claw marks and Mick was currently depositing the owl in a holding facility.

  As soon as physically possible, Riker had returned to the motel, insisting that Mick drop him off first before taking the owl to the facility. That was strictly against protocol and Mick had been shocked by Riker’s demand, but he hadn’t argued – probably because of the glint in Riker’s eye – and had done as he was told.

  His wolf snarled at him to hurry.

  “Where is she?” snapped Riker.

  The young man on reception – Kyle – fell off his chair when Riker came into the room. He had just managed to climb onto it again when Riker’s question startled him again enough to fall off.

  “Wh-who?” whimpered Kyle.

  “The female from my room, where is she?” asked Riker a lot more quietly, but his tone was so sharp it could cut diamonds.

  “Oh ah…” Kyle frowned, trying to wrack his tiny mind.

  Riker ignored his inner wolf - who was all for ripping the young man’s head clean off to see how tiny those brains really were.

  “She left hours ago. I think she had car problems or something.”

  “Didn’t she…” began Riker as his mind started racing.

  He scowled, trying to hush the inner beast who was roaring, and tried to consider what he wanted to do next. Didn’t she leave anything for him? Or did she really just not think their night meant as much as he did? The idea that she saw it as nothing more than a one-night stand staggered him.

  “But I’m sure there was something I was supposed to tell you…”

  Kyle frowned, and then smiled as he thought of the water delivery girl again, and how he was positive that she was going to call him.

  “What?” snapped Riker impatiently.

  A message from Anne? A phone number, an email - hell, he’d settle for a fax number!

  The young man held up his hand and screwed up his face in concentration for a whole twenty seconds – which felt more like twenty minutes, until eventually he relaxed and sighed. “No, it’s gone – it was probably nothing.”

  “Sure,” muttered Riker.

  He felt unbelievably dejected, so much so that he didn’t even try to argue as the receptionist charged him an extortionate amount of cash for the couch Anne had broken.

  His wolf snarled at him furiously. Yeah, yeah, he knew it was a mistake leaving her in bed. He knew he should have stayed with her, and yet, he had gone after that bastard owl shifter. His body still hummed from what happened last night. He could still scent her – she was all over him, and he could still taste her in his mouth. He wanted more.

  So now what? His wolf beat against him, howling in exasperation. Hunt her! Yes, yes he had to find her. Surely he could. Surely, all these years as a hunter would mean something. Surely, they wouldn’t be apart for long. Maybe she didn’t think there was anything to their relationship, but he could find her and tell her she was wrong – there was something more, and well, if she tried to run from him, he was a hunter…

  Chapter Six

  Four weeks later

  Carrie surreptitiously tried to look at her watch. Thankfully, her date was too busy complaining about the food to notice her.

  She was wondering whether it was too early to say she was tired, to beg off from their date, and say she needed to get her sleep for an early start in the morning. Given that it was only 7.30, it probably was.

  The date had been a setup from a herd member. Carrie hadn’t wanted to come, and had tried every which way to get out of it, but it was her boss who assured her Eli was ‘perfect’ for her, and Carrie hadn’t wanted to let him down. Not while she was angling for a pay rise.

  Eli seemed like a perfectly nice deer shifter. Actually, no, he didn’t seem perfectly nice, he seemed like an arrogant, self involved dick, with lashings of misogyny.

  Hey, Carrie had no problem with men who didn’t want to open doors for her. She could open her own doors just dandy, thank you. Plus, she didn’t mind at all that he wanted to go Dutch on the bill for dinner. That was only fair, and she worked, she had money, she could afford her own dinner. What she didn’t like was his thinly veiled, sneering comments about how it was about time that women started paying their own way, and how they were slowly taking over the world, and since they no longer knew their place, the least they could do was cough up the money that probably belonged to their fathers, husbands, and brothers anyway… Yes, it was not going well.

  Her reindeer hooted as she thought about Michael for the fiftieth time that day. He didn’t have a problem with women. No, he had saved her and helped her without making her feel like a pathetic damsel in distress, or like she should show him undying gratitude for his actions. Of course, she was very grateful, but he didn’t act like it was his right to have it.

  Yes, Michael had been on her mind a lot over the last four weeks. For the first week she had barely dared leave the phone lest he call and want to speak to her. But, as every day passed, it seemed less and less likely that he was going to call. Of course, there was always the possibility that he had been in an accident and couldn’t get to the phone, but she didn’t want that to be true – she’d rather him be a dick than injured or dead.

  Eli’s nose wrinkled as he gave a sidelong glance to a fox shifter family sitting a few tables away. Apart from clearly having issues with women, he also hated all predator shifters. Although, Carrie couldn’t deny some very uncharitable thoughts toward single male predators, she had no beef with them in general, and particular not with a harmless looking family who were just trying to get their three cubs to eat their spaghetti.

  How would Eli feel if he knew of Carrie’s predator parentage? Maybe he’d be disgusted and walk out on their date. Tell him, urged her inner beast with a certain amount of relish.

  Carrie opened her mouth to do just that and then cringed as her stomach gurgled loudly. Eli gave her a very unimpressed look and she placed her hand over her stomach.

  “Sorry.”

  He huffed, suggesting that she should be. Her stomach made the sound again, and Carrie felt familiar pain – the knowing twinges telling her that her dinner wanted to make a reappearance.

  “Excuse me,” she muttered as she fled to the bathroom.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t quite make it to the bathroom and instead threw up in a large potted plant. The restaurant staff were very understanding, and very considerate as they helped her wash up.

  Eli was mortified and quickly left her to face the shame and the bill on her own. Honestly, it was the best end to the night she could have hoped for, though, she did worry as to why she was getting sick. Shifters generally didn’t get sick – the odd sniffle here and there. The only times she had thrown up before were after imbibing a few too many drinks - which hadn’t happened often because she was kind of a lightweight where alcohol was concerned. But she hadn’t drunk any alcohol all night, no, because her stomach had been queasy all day. She had put that down to just not wanting to come on this awful date, but what if there was another reason?

  *

  Carrie stared a
s one by one the eight pregnancy tests she had bought all confirmed the same thing – she was pregnant.

  “Oh, no, no, no, no, not you too!” she bleated, picking up the final pregnancy test and watching as it agreed with the other seven. “Traitor!”

  Yep, she was definitely having a baby – perhaps a reindeer calf… or a wolf pup. Yes, there was no doubt that the baby was Michael’s. Carrie had never slept with the boyfriend who cheated on her – she had been trying to surprise him for their first time, and she hadn’t been with anyone else for a few months at least. No, the only recent encounter she’d had was Michael, the wolf shifter - the male for whom she had been waiting by the phone for four weeks, and the male who seemed increasingly unlikely to ever call.

  She hadn’t been lying when she said she was on the pill, but in the throes of passion, she hadn’t considered the fact that it wasn’t one hundred percent perfect every time. With previous boyfriends, she had insisted on condoms as well – as the last thing she had wanted was to get pregnant with them. But with Michael, she hadn’t wanted to stop even for a second – consequences be damned!

  Now, she was facing the consequences - alone.

  Carrie placed her hand over her stomach. Her inner reindeer, while still pining for Michael, let out a happy hoot on knowing her calf was growing inside. Or wolf pup, Carrie mentally added. Yes, wolf pup. Would she be able to cope with raising a wolf pup on her own? Oh heck, what if he or she was a wolf and they were like her dad?

  “Oh, boy.”

  Maybe Michael didn’t want to see her again, and while that hurt her more than she cared to admit, things were different now. He was going to have a baby whether he liked it or not, and he needed to know about it. Somehow, she had to find him.

  Chapter Seven

  “Well?” snapped Riker. His four-week old bad mood hadn’t improved any in the last few hours.

  The researcher he had decided to target flinched at Riker’s tone, and then flinched again when he saw the look in Riker’s eyes.

  “N-nothing so far,” he replied, ducking his eyes submissively.