Home for the Holidays

by Terry Spear

  Peter chuckled, though he wouldn’t know how he’d react if Tom put on too much of a show. Their territorial behavior was purely instinctual.

  “If I begin talking to Lena, you can glance at me, like most would who wonder who I’m talking to. In other words, don’t make it obvious that you’re trying to avoid me,” she added.

  “All right. This might be more difficult to do than I suspected.” He hoped he didn’t screw things up.

  “We’ll tell her the house is coming down because it’s no longer safe and ask her what she needs so she can move on. We’ll convey messages from her to you.”

  “Okay, if she’s there.” He didn’t know how he’d feel if he could hear what she had to say to him. It was not the same when others were speaking to their loved ones through Meghan. “Dinner is wonderful by the way.” He took second helpings of everything, and she smiled. “Energy for the rest of the night.”

  She laughed. “All right. I’d better have a little more too.”

  He didn’t want to rush through dinner, but he was looking forward to loving on his beautiful mate some more. He still couldn’t believe they were mated wolves.

  After they finished eating, they put the leftovers away, cleaned up the dishes and Crock-Pot, and returned to bed.

  Wrapped up in each other’s arms, their legs tangled, Peter caressed Meghan’s arm. “I love that your name means ‘wolf’ in Irish. Will you keep your maiden name?” There were so many things they still hadn’t talked about, he realized.

  “I will keep mine as my middle name, like my sisters have.”

  “All right. We’d better tell CJ and Laurel if something comes up that I need to deal with, I’ll drop you off over there so he can watch over you.”

  “I’m sure they figure that, but it’s always good to clarify things.” She dreamily traced Peter’s nipple.

  “I could stay with you like this forever.” Then his phone rang. “Great.” He untangled himself from her and got out of bed to search for his phone in his dress trousers. Phone in hand, he saw it was CJ and hoped he was only concerned they were safe. “Hey, CJ.”

  Meghan smiled and closed her eyes.

  “Laurel’s been bugging me to check on the two of you. She wants to go to bed, but she wanted to make sure Meghan was staying with you. I asked her how she expected the two of you to become mated wolves if you didn’t have some private time together.”

  Peter laughed. “Well, tell her we became…” He glanced at Meghan.

  Without opening her eyes, she nodded.

  “Mated wolves.”

  CJ said, “Okay, I thought you’d do it tonight, except that there’s the issue of Lena.”

  “We’ll deal with that when we can. Meghan and I weren’t waiting any longer.”

  “Well, congratulations are in order. Have you told anyone else?”

  Peter sighed. “It’s late, so no. I was going to call you to tell you she’s staying here at her place with me tonight. But if I get called up to investigate something, I’ll drop her by the house so you can safeguard both the sisters.”

  Laurel took the phone from CJ. “You’d better tell Ellie that you’re officially mated, or she’ll be miffed.”

  “All right.”

  “Oh, and congratulations, you two,” Laurel said, sounding overjoyed.

  “Thanks. We couldn’t be happier. I’ll call Ellie so you two can get some sleep.”

  “We’ll be celebrating this tomorrow night. Just be prepared.”

  He chuckled. “All right. Night, Laurel. Tell CJ good night for me.” Peter glanced down at Meghan. She was sound asleep. He called Ellie and Brett next. “Hey, Brett, tell Ellie her sister is a mated wolf.”

  “Hell, that’s good news. Wait, who’s the lucky guy?”

  “Wiseass. We’re staying at Meghan’s place, selling mine, and Laurel said we’ll be having a celebration tomorrow night.”

  “Sounds good to me. Are you telling Darien and Lelandi that you’re mated wolves?”

  “Yeah, I guess I better. Just wanted to let you all know. Night, Brett.”

  “I’ll tell Ellie. She’s sound asleep.”

  “All right, talk later.” Peter called the pack leaders next to let them know. Everyone would know by morning, and Brett would be sure to make an announcement in the paper.

  Peter set his phone on the bedside table and climbed into bed, then pulled Meghan into his arms.

  That night they’d made love again, and Peter was glad Meghan had agreed to mate him despite still needing to deal with the issue of his deceased wife.

  Maybe they could take a nap midday. Though he doubted they’d get a lot of shut-eye that way either. Not when all he’d want to do was make love to his sexy mate.

  Chapter 23

  That morning, after a wonderful night of lovemaking and no nightmares about Rollins, Meghan and Peter didn’t want to get up. They enjoyed being together in bed like this, sharing mated bliss. But she knew Peter had made arrangements with everyone to do something about Lena and his former home, and they would be waiting to hear when they were to meet out there.

  “Let’s have breakfast, and we’ll need to run by my place to get some clothes. I don’t want to wear my Victorian duds out to the old homestead. In fact, if you don’t mind, you can drive us there and I’ll go as a wolf, and then I’ll just get dressed there.”

  “Sure, that sounds like a good idea.” Meghan fixed French toast for them before they headed over to his place.

  When they arrived at his house, she unlocked his door and waited until he checked the whole place out. He ran up the stairs as a wolf, shifted, and called out, “All clear.”

  Meghan joined him while he was pulling on a pair of boxer briefs, jeans, and a sweater. Meghan looked in his closet, trying to figure how they were going to fit everything into her place. It would work.

  “CJ and Trevor are holding down the fort for now, though CJ will be out there with us this morning at the old homestead until I can take care of some business,” Peter said, throwing some things in a bag. “I need to move some of my things to your place—clothes, food, anything else I might need or that we can use. Later, we can put the place on the market. But for now, I just want to grab some essentials to take to your house after we take care of this other business.”

  She hoped they could. She was unusually quiet, working over in her mind how she was going to do this. Peter was unusually talkative, which she thought was his way of dealing with this issue.

  When he finished packing the bag, he threw it in her car. He called CJ and told him they were ready. Tom, who was taking Peter’s place as Meghan’s mate, arrived at Peter’s house a few minutes later.

  “Are you ready to go?” Tom asked Meghan.

  She gave Peter one last hug and kiss. “Remember, you are not my mate.”

  “Hell, I finally have you for my own, and now I have to pretend you’re not my mate.” Peter sighed, shook Tom’s hand, and thanked him for taking care of Meghan.

  “We’ll resolve it soon, Peter.” Then Meghan climbed into Tom’s vehicle, hoping they really could settle this today. “Thanks, Tom, for helping out with this. And thank Elizabeth for me for giving you up for the morning.”

  Tom chuckled. “She loves games, and this is the ultimate game.”

  Meghan hoped Lena had already moved on and they didn’t have to “play” at being mated wolves any further.

  They drove out to the old homestead while Peter followed in his sheriff’s car, keeping some distance. When they reached the place, they were the first ones to arrive.

  Meghan shivered, feeling dread wash over her.

  Tom reached over and ran his hand over her back. She knew he was just comforting her and putting a show on for Lena if she was there, but Meghan hoped Peter wouldn’t be perturbed by it when he arrived.

  She waited for T
om to open her car door, though she intended to get out on her own. Wolves tended to be old-fashioned, as many years as they’d lived—unless they were newer wolves—and still liked the tradition of getting the door for their mate. If she had jumped out of the car first, how would that have looked? Like Tom wasn’t her mate.

  She just wished all the others had gotten here already. She felt super-exposed being here all by herself. Well, with Tom—and then Peter drove up, looking official in his sheriff’s car. But Meghan would probably be the only one who could see Lena if she was here until Meghan’s sisters showed up.

  She studied the windows but didn’t see any sign of anyone. The sun was slowly rising, and the sunrise was beautiful, painting a wash of pink and purple against the white snow.

  Then she saw a woman peering out, her dark hair swept up in a chignon.

  “She’s here,” Meghan said softly to Tom and Peter, both of whom were watching the house. “At the right window.”

  The woman was watching all three of them, not moving away from the window.

  “Can you see her, Peter?” she asked quietly.

  “No.”

  Meghan began to move toward the house.

  “Shouldn’t we wait for your sisters?” Peter quickly asked, his head turning sharply to look at her.

  “I’m just getting a little closer. I’m not going into the house.” She refused to look at Peter.

  Tom took her hand and walked her slowly toward the house.

  “Do you see her, Tom?” she asked.

  “No, honey.”

  She smiled at him and slipped her arm around his waist. She was cold, but this was more for show than anything. He looked down at her and kissed her nose.

  The woman stayed at the window. Meghan was dying to talk to her. It really was in Meghan’s blood to help displaced spirits find their way home.

  Peter was walking beside them, and she hoped he was fine with the small display of affection Tom had shown her.

  “She’s still there,” she told them.

  Then the cars began to pull up behind theirs. CJ’s and Brett’s. Everyone climbed out of their cars, but the woman in the window vanished.

  Meghan pulled Tom toward the house. “She disappeared.” She worried Lena was afraid to see that many people. Maybe she’d only speak with her and not with all three of the sisters.

  “Wait,” Laurel called out to Meghan.

  Meghan sighed and stopped in the deep snow.

  Laurel and Ellie ran to catch up to all of them, their mates running behind them.

  When they were all a few feet away from the house, Meghan said, “I saw her. She waited at that window until you drove up.”

  “From everything everyone’s said, she’s shy,” Laurel said. “She’s made first contact of sorts with you. You’ve seen her twice now. You may be the only one she’ll appear to. But I’ll look inside the house and see if she’ll make an appearance for me.”

  CJ was frowning at the prospect.

  “I won’t go inside. The house looks like it’s seen better days.” Laurel moved toward the front porch, and Peter hurried to open the door for her. CJ was close to her, in case he had to protect her if the house began to collapse.

  Meghan shoved her hands in her pockets and watched her sister, as Ellie and Brett stood next to her and Tom.

  “Lena? Peter is a friend of ours, and the house is in such bad shape that he needs to tear it down before someone is injured.”

  Meghan listened for anything but didn’t hear any response.

  “If you’re still living here, we—my sisters and I—want to help you find a way to leave. The house will be torn down, and we don’t want you to have to roam the property when you could find peace.” Laurel waited a long time before she spoke again. “Maybe you’d like to speak to one of my other sisters.” Laurel motioned for Ellie to take her place, and then Laurel moved away from the house.

  CJ and Peter continued to stand on the porch, watching over Ellie now. Frowning, Brett folded his arms.

  “Hi, Lena? My sisters and I have a gift of being able to help people move on. Would you like to talk to Peter? I can convey your words to him.” Ellie waited, then shook her head at her sisters and the others. “Laurel’s right in saying Peter needs to tear down this building before some kids come in here to play and hurt themselves, or worse.” Again, she paused, but then she stepped off the porch. “She’s not willing to see me either. Maybe there are too many of us offering to help her. She could be feeling overwhelmed.”

  “I’ll try.” Meghan ignored Peter’s stricken look. She wanted to tell him to chill because right now he was looking like much more than the sheriff of Silver Town and Lena’s mate. He was looking a hell of a lot like Meghan’s protective mate.

  When Meghan stood in the doorway and peered in, she felt the melancholy pervading her soul. She felt the isolation, the hopelessness, and the pain cloaking the house. “Lena,” she said, not seeing her, but feeling the woman’s presence filling the place.

  “He’s mine,” a voice whispered. A woman’s stern voice. Not belonging to a shy, frail ghost. This was a she-wolf who wasn’t about to part with her wolf mate.

  Meghan shivered involuntarily. She couldn’t believe the woman was finally speaking to her. “Yes.” At least when Lena was alive, he was. “Do you want to say anything to him?”

  Lena snorted. “Who are you?”

  “Meghan MacTire.”

  Looking bothered by the fact that Meghan was talking to his wife’s ghost, Peter moved closer to Meghan. She wanted to move away from him, but she’d run into CJ.

  Then the woman appeared before her, startling her. She was just inches away, and Meghan fought stepping back. Lena was telling her by her posture that the home was hers and Meghan hadn’t been invited in. Not that Meghan was going inside anyway.

  “You won’t have him,” Lena said, her blue eyes sharp.

  Meghan was afraid the woman might try to possess her. Laurel had done that with spirits, to allow them to talk through her, but Meghan hadn’t done that before, and no way did she want to do so with this ghost.

  “Peter, why don’t you tell Lena how you feel about her,” Meghan said.

  Peter looked a bit pale. She suspected he’d really hoped his wife’s ghost had been a figment of his imagination when he’d been drinking too hard.

  “Lena, you don’t know how much I’ve missed you. I love you,” he said.

  Meghan didn’t think this was going well at all. Peter’s sentiments didn’t sound like he meant them, maybe because he’d just professed his love to Meghan and he didn’t want to let on how much he’d cared about his former mate. She felt bad for him because she knew just how much he’d loved Lena. That’s what made him so special to Meghan. He’d loved and lost but was willing to try again.

  Lena didn’t look at Peter. She only cast Meghan an evil smile as though she knew Peter was courting her. Would Lena lose the smile if she knew Peter and Meghan were mated wolves?

  “Do you want to say anything to Peter?”

  “Like how much I hated him for not protecting me when I had to face a murderer? Did they ever catch him, by the way? Or is he running around, continuing to kill the innocent?”

  “Peter killed him.”

  Lena frowned at her. “You keep calling him Peter. Why?”

  “We all call each other by first names. All the pack members. Except, maybe, Dr. Weber. A lot of us call him Doc. Same with the vet, Dr. Mitchell. We aren’t as formal in this day and age.” That was the truth, but Meghan wasn’t sure a woman who was brought up on certain kinds of etiquette during another era could understand how it was today.

  “I…I can’t believe he’s the sheriff of Silver Town,” Lena finally said.

  “He’s a good sheriff. Honest, law-abiding.”

  “But he didn’t protect his mat
e, me,” Lena said.

  Meghan could understand how she felt, probably wishing her mate had arrived to save her.

  “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have died.”

  “You’re right.” Lena folded her arms. “What do you propose to do about it?”

  “Help you to move on, if you’ll let me.”

  “Why would I do that? Peter comes to see me regularly. That’s how I know he misses me and loves me. Even if his words don’t sound like it now. I wonder why that could be?” Lena tilted her head, frowning at Meghan.

  Meghan glanced at Peter.

  He looked at her in question.

  “She knows you love her.” Meghan wasn’t about to mention the rest. Lena might be lying about Peter coming to see her regularly, or she might be confused. Or maybe she was being truthful. Maybe Peter had wanted to return to be with Lena for all these years because of the connection he’d felt with her and the sorrow he hadn’t protected her.

  Meghan didn’t mention anything else.

  “Why aren’t you telling him everything?” Lena asked, narrowing her eyes at Meghan.

  Meghan had to be careful how she responded, or Peter might suspect she was trying to protect him.

  Ellie and Laurel were close enough to hear what was being said, if they could hear her. They wouldn’t tell Peter anything either. Not if it would make him feel bad.

  “Tell him to join me, and then we can move on…together.” Lena gave her an evil smile.

  Okay, so this really wasn’t going how Meghan had planned it. She wanted to tell the ghost that she must not love Peter that much if she wanted him to die too, but she held her tongue. If he hadn’t been standing there, Meghan would have spoken her mind. She wanted to speak with Lena again, but not with Peter hearing everything Meghan said to the woman.

  Meghan told Peter, “She said she would move on if you removed the house so that no one else would die in it. Then she vanished. It’s cold out here. I’ve got to get to work.”

  Her sisters and the ghost gaped at her. Okay, so her sisters had heard everything Lena said too. So they had to know Meghan was totally fed up with the woman for wishing Peter were dead. Still, knowing how much Laurel was into ghost etiquette, Meghan knew her sister would lecture her about it later.