Chapter Nine
Riker considered that he was probably just going mad. Yep, that had to be it. The lack of sleep from over the past year and a half was finally catching up to him, and he was officially going mad.
The night had started out pretty normal. A former hunter was getting mated soon, so whatever hunters were in the area had rallied to give him a bachelor party. Riker had made the trip because he liked Mal. The younger reindeer shifter had been a very good hunter, one of the better hunters that Riker had trained, and he wished him well.
As usual, they had started the evening by kidnapping the groom and… it was at this point where Riker started to think he was going mad. They went to Mal’s house, burst in, and while three bear shifter hunters were subduing Mal, Riker caught a scent he knew. Not just any scent. It was a scent that had nearly sent him around the bend over the last eighteen months. It was her scent – Anne.
But, that couldn’t be right, could it? He couldn’t have scented Anne in Mal’s house. Of course, the house had Mal’s scent, and Ariel, his mate – whom Riker had already met briefly, but there was also two more scents – another female and the faint scent of a baby. But, the only other person he knew to live with Mal was… his sister. But, that couldn’t be Anne… He’d never met her but her name was Carrie, and, well, she was Mal’s sister! She was a reindeer shifter though… But maybe after so many restless nights, Riker was just losing his mind - bound to happen eventually.
“He can’t leave, can he, Riker?”
“Huh?” Riker looked up and realized he had been staring into space. A large bear shifter called Bee was looking at him expectantly. “No,” Riker quickly added.
Mal groaned and grasped his bottle of beer. “I can’t stay long; I need to get home to Ariel.”
Lucky - a wolf shifter - sneered. “Already pussy whipped - tragic.”
It was well known that Lucky, in spite of his efforts, had a long term girlfriend, but he was in no hurry to settle down with her, or even visit her often.
“Depends on the pussy,” smirked Mick amiably before turning to Mal. “What’s Ariel’s pu…”
“Finish that sentence and I will beat you,” rumbled Mal with a hard expression.
He downed his beer and grabbed another with a sigh.
“Cheer up, you’re bringing the whole strip club down,” groused Mariska.
She was the only female hunter there, not that there were many hunters who were female, but Mariska was pretty dominant and outstripped most of the male hunters.
Mal rolled his eyes. His back was to the stage, as was Riker’s, and he wasn’t paying the strippers any attention. He didn’t say it out loud, but it was obvious that he didn’t want to look at them because he felt guilty over his mate.
The other hunters shared a few smirks and wandered closer to the stage. They had some idea that Ariel was some kind of harpy, who had made their alpha demand Mal leave the hunters and force him into mating her. Riker had met her, and he doubted she had it in her to demand Mal even pick his socks up off the floor. Not because she was weak, but because she was kind. That thought just had him turning to Anne again and his beast growled unhappily.
“Whose idea was the strip club?” grumbled Mal.
“Mariska, but if she hadn’t suggested it, another of them would have.”
Riker didn’t really have the patience to be in a strip club at the moment, not that he had frequented them other than for bachelor parties before, but he didn’t want to be titillated and teased. He hadn’t wanted much of anything over the last eighteen months. Well, he knew what he wanted, or whom he wanted.
“Worried about Ariel finding out?” asked Riker.
Mal rolled a shoulder and smiled dreamily. “Nah, she’d be fine. Ariel knows it doesn’t mean anything.” His smile turned to a grimace. “And knowing Ariel’s wedding planner, undoubtedly she has some big plans for the bachelorette party that undoubtedly involve a lot of men taking their clothes off.”
Riker snorted. “That doesn’t bother you?”
Mal chuckled. “No, Ariel covers her eyes when there’s nudity on TV, and knowing Ariel’s friends, the poor stripper will be mobbed before Ariel sees anything.” He smiled proudly. “Ariel’s not interested in other guys, and I’m not interested in other women. She’s my mate.”
Riker prickled uneasily. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to think about being with another woman since Anne, never mind looking at one or even talking to one. Maybe Anne was…
Mal placed his beer on the table with a thump. “Look, I really need to talk to Ariel. Just tell the idiots I got alcohol poisoning and had to leave or something.”
Riker nodded and his wolf pushed at him to do something. “Mal?”
The younger male stopped and waited politely.
“Do you have a female in your herd called Anne?”
Mal frowned thoughtfully. “Anne? No, I’m aware of all herd mates and none are called Anne.”
Riker’s wolf snarled in disappointment. That’s it – his mind was going.
“It was my grandma’s name though,” added Mal, “but she died a few years back. My mom named my baby sister after her and my dad’s mom – she’s called Carrie-Anne.”
Mal bade him farewell and Riker stared after him. Maybe… but no - could it really be that Anne had been so close all this time?
Grrr.
*
Carrie was virtually mobbed as Tamra pulled her into the house.
“Where is he?” demanded Teena.
“Where’s our precious little guy?” cooed their mother, Susan.
“I want to hold him first!” squealed Trini.
“Okay, okay!” said Carrie as she maneuvered the baby carrier into the kitchen. “Yeesh!”
She set her baby, Mikey, down on the kitchen counter, and the ladies of the Hart family crowded around him, cooing and crooning at him. He stared back nonplussed.
“He’s so cute,” said Sophie shyly.
“Can we take him up to our room and play with him?” gushed Izzy. Her eyes were alight with mischief.
“Can we read him a story? I’m really good at reading,” said Penny.
“Kind of a preview of what it will be like when I give birth,” said Marion as she caught Carrie’s eye and winked.
Carrie was visiting some herd friends. Tamra, Teena, and Trini were sisters, daughters of Susan, and sisters to the appropriately nicknamed Tank, who happened to be the largest reindeer in the herd. He had also recently mated with Marion, who happened to be human, and had adopted her three wolf shifter pups, Penny, Sophie and Izzy. Marion was also now pregnant and expecting a boy. Clearly, he was going to be smothered and spoiled rotten when he arrived.
Since she moved to the herd, Carrie hadn’t really had a lot of friends. Herd mates were a little wary of her for her wolf shifter blood, and after she got pregnant, she was a little standoffish, not wanting to be judged for her own error in judgment – not that she really saw it that way anymore. But since her brother Mal had now found a mate in the alpha’s sister, Carrie also found herself virtually adopted by the Hart family. She was closest with Tamra, the eldest sister, and found her to be like the sister that Mal was glad they never had growing up. Tamra was also the only person she had told the truth about the father of her baby.
Tamra took her hand and pulled her into the living room. Carrie didn’t bother to object; she knew Mikey would be well taken care of, the only sticking point might be trying to get him back at the end of the night.
“So, spill, spill, spill, what did the private dick say?” asked Tamra excitedly when they were alone.
Carrie sighed and her reindeer huffed as she flopped onto the couch. “Nothing. That there are potentially hundreds of wolf shifters called Michael, and he suggested that it probably wasn’t even his real name. It was also heavily implied that I was a total tramp for getting pregnant by a guy I just met.”
“What a total dick!” snapped Tamra.
“Yes, in more w
ays than one,” laughed Carrie.
Tamra cocked her head. “You don’t seem that upset.”
Carrie shrugged. “It’s been eighteen months, Tam, he’s not going to just roll up to my house now and say hey, is he?”
Tamra flopped onto the couch next to her. “I guess,” she admitted reluctantly.
Tamra had loved the idea – the drama – of Carrie finding Michael and presenting him with Mikey. It was all her daytime talk shows come to life. But, it wasn’t to be. Even Tamra was giving up hope – and Tamra’s hopes had only been raised for the last few weeks since Carrie told her the full story.
“So I guess now is the time to stop thinking about Michael – screw him - and submit to that date with Devon,” said Tamra, eyes lighting up excitedly.
Carrie’s inner beast huffed in disinterest. “Uh, I don’t think so.”
Devon was one of her brother’s enforcers, and yes, he seemed… okay, but that was all she could say. Tamra and Ariel had this idea that he was interested in Carrie, but she hadn’t seen it. He was a young reindeer bull who was looking for a mate – any mate, and showed all the single females interest. It was just that the other single male bulls didn’t show Carrie any interest. Most male shifters weren’t interested in raising another male’s babies. It took a special male shifter to do that – like Tamra’s brother, Tank.
“He likes you,” said Tamra insistently. “And since Michael the dick refuses to call you and has disappeared off the face of the earth – good riddance – it’s time you started having a little fun.”
“Devon likes anything female.”
Tamra looked her up and down. “Well, you’re female aren’t you?”
“Last time I checked,” giggled Carrie.
“Well, there you are then!”
“Yes, I check all his boxes,” she said wryly and then shook her head. “I’m not ready,” she admitted. “I still think about Michael too much, and then there’s Mikey to think about…”
“He’s not ready to date, is he?”
“Well, if he was, it would be a fight between your three nieces as to who would get him.”
“Yeah, aren’t they cute?” cooed Tamra. “Izzy said she was going to marry him when she gets older the other day, and my brother got all prickly and said Mikey would have to ask for her hand first, and Marion swatted him with a newspaper.”
“He’s a wolf shifter,” Carrie said quietly.
Tamra blinked at her. “You’re sure?”
Carrie nodded. She knew there was nothing wrong with him being a wolf, but it might have been a bit easier if he was a reindeer. All of Tamra’s nieces were wolves, but they were females, and they had Tank for a father who wouldn’t take any crap from members of the herd. Mikey was male, and male wolves were a lot wilder and stronger than females – what if he did start behaving violently as he got older? What if he started behaving the way her father had?
Hoot! Her reindeer glowered at her and Carrie shook her head, banishing those irrational thought. No, Mikey was perfect – he was the sweetest, most loving baby in the world, and there was no way he was going to turn into her father.
“Well, if he’s a wolf then Izzy is definitely going to want to marry him,” declared Tamra in amusement, before adding a little more gently, “You’re not really worried about him being a wolf, are you?”
“A little,” admitted Carrie. “It would just be better if Michael was around.”
In more ways than one her reindeer added. Tamra raised an eyebrow and Carrie blushed.
“Right, yes, we are not thinking about Michael at all.”
“Screw him!” agreed Tamra.
“Screw him!” repeated Izzy who had just run into the room with a naughty smile on her face. She ran out again repeating it over and over.
“Tamra!” called Marion from the kitchen. “I only sent her in there to see if you guys wanted something to eat!”
“Whoops! My bad!”
Tamra and Carrie devolved into fits of laughter as they heard Izzy and Sophie singing those two words over and over.
Chapter Ten
Riker stared at the door to Mal’s house. Something was going on. He’d seen plenty of reindeer shifters wandering in and out, as well as a few wolf pups strangely enough.
Riker had been watching the house since midnight. Unable to sleep, he had left his motel and come here, found himself a handy house which was empty – the occupants were on vacation over Christmas and had terrible security (most shifters did) – and he was watching Mal’s house.
If Anne was there, he was going to wait until he saw her. His wolf huffed, but Riker wasn’t about to go storming in there, demanding that Mal produce his sister to prove whether or not Riker had really sexed her up over a year ago. He doubted Anne would ever forgive him if he went all caveman, and Mal would probably try to kill him.
So, yes, he was thinking like a hunter, rather than a lovelorn loon, and he was going to gather intel before trundling in there and making demands. He needed to know for certain it was Anne, in case he really was going mad.
So far, he hadn’t seen Anne. He’d seen plenty of females going in and out of the house, but none that compared to his beautiful Anne.
His phone beeped and he glanced at it – a text from Mal. Change of plan. Mating happening today. Herd party later. Welcome to join if still in town.
Riker smirked. Yeah, the couple of times he had spoken to Mal over the last month – while they were tying up loose ends as Mal left the hunters – Mal had hinted at the fact that the wedding preparations were driving him bananas. Also that he was considering strangling his wedding planner – a friend of Ariel’s. Apparently, Mal now had his wish of a small wedding.
His wolf let out a small growl; Riker looked up and he inhaled. Anne. It was her - no question. His wolf surged as he watched her. She moved gracefully out of the house and, yep, she was putting something in the trash. Still beautiful, still sexy. Her sensual mouth was pulled back in an enchanting smile, and the longing he felt inside was so strong he was almost propelling himself across the street at that moment. Except, he managed to stop, managed to hold himself back. Mal was a good man, and this was his day. Riker wasn’t selfish enough to storm on over there and ruin the wedding. Well, his inner animal was, but he wasn’t.
Riker methodically started straightening the house, and sprayed something to cover his scent – they’d never know he had been there. No, in spite of his animal’s urging, he was going to be patient. He would go back to his motel. He would shower, he would shave, and he would conjure some clean clothes. Then, he would join the herd party, and he would at last have Anne.
*
Carrie opened the door and tried not to gasp, but oh boy, it wasn’t everyday a crocodile shifter rocked up to your door. He grinned at her, all teeth and swaggering, scruffy charm.
“Hello,” she said with a smile, “You must be a friend of Mal’s. I’m Carrie.”
Mal had warned them that he had extended an invite to a few of his hunter friends, but he doubted any of them would show. He was sure most of them would already be halfway to a hunt.
The grin stretched impossibly wider. “The sister,” he crooned, as he looked her up and down with a leer.
Both Carrie and her beast rolled their eyes.
“Mick the brick,” he declared.
“Mick the… brick?” she repeated.
“Yeah, but that’s just what the hunters call me. Females call me Mick the d…”
“She doesn’t need to know,” grumbled Mal, appearing at her shoulder. “So glad you could come,” he said sourly.
Mick roared with laughter. “You know your brother always told the rest of us that he’d smash our faces if we dared try anything with you, but do you reckon he means it?”
“I don’t think it’s worth finding out,” said Carrie diplomatically.
That had both Mick and Mal laughing.
“The party’s out back in the garden,” said Mal, directing Mick. The croc shifter
winked at Carrie as he went.
It was a fairly mild night, but it was still winter, so they had set up plenty of heaters, and all the chairs they had set out had blankets for anyone who needed them. Considering nearly all the partygoers were shifters, they would be fine because shifters ran pretty hot, and any humans – such as Ariel’s brothers’ mates – helpfully had shifter mates to wrap themselves around them at all times.
Mal turned to Carrie and smiled and she beamed at her big brother. He was still the same old Mal, but he seemed so much happier now that he no longer a hunter. Though, in truth, his happiness was likely more about Ariel.
“I’m so happy for you, for both of you,” said Carrie with feeling, and she really was.
Mal had missed out on so much of his childhood while taking care of Carrie. He sacrificed a lot to make sure she was okay, to make sure she had what he didn’t, and it was about time he was happy.
“Thanks, Carrie. I can’t believe Ariel ever agreed to mate me.” He shook his head almost dazedly.
“I can,” she laughed, “but how you managed to convince her to move in with me and Mikey I have no idea.”
Mal snorted. “Are you kidding? Some days I think she only came here for you and Mikey, I’m just an add on.”
“I heard that and it’s not true!” laughed Ariel as she appeared holding Mikey.
Mal slipped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her before tickling Mikey’s stomach. Mikey giggled and then yawned.
“Almost bedtime, little man,” cooed Carrie and moved to take him.
“Let me just take him around and say hello to everyone first,” said Ariel before adding seriously, “you know that Teena, Tamra, Trini, Susan, Izzy, Sophie, and Penny would be heartbroken if they didn’t get to say hello to him, right? And they get heartbroken very loudly.”
Mal huffed and rolled his eyes.
“Okay, five minutes and then bedtime,” agreed Carrie, knowing that five minutes was nothing compared to the matching pouts she would get from Teena, Tamra, Trini, Susan, Izzy, Sophie, and Penny should they not be allowed to say hello.
The Reindeer's New Year Love (Reindeer Holidays Book 7) Page 6