A Shifter Under the Christmas Tree

by M. L. Briers

Kaylee winced and rolled her eyes. “Long story?” she said, by way of averting another round of guilt and maybe a few awkward questions that she’d rather not answer.

  Tanya started down the ladder. “Which you can spill over coffee and cookies – I have some out back.”

  “More Christmas cookies?” Jackson said with glee.

  “They’re to die for,” Shauna said and motioned for Jackson to follow her.

  “Umm,” Kaylee said when Jackson made haste towards the back door, but he disappeared from sight before she’d made up her mind about whether it was a good idea or not.

  “Relax,” Tanya said, waving an absent hand in the air. “He’s too small to eat.”

  Kaylee opened her mouth, but then when Tanya smiled, she saw the funny side of it and couldn’t help but chuckle. If things were different, she just might have liked the woman, but things weren’t, and they weren’t staying, so she didn’t want Jackson to get attached.

  “We just need a few things to decorate the tree,” she said, deliberately looking around the store rather than at Tanya.

  “Sure, like what?”

  “Umm, everything,” Kaylee admitted. She hadn’t brought a box of decorations with her from home. The car wasn’t huge, and it hadn’t seemed important at the time.

  “That we can do,” Tanya said and motioned for Kaylee to look around. Kaylee put one foot in front of the other and started for the first thing that caught her eye. “Family discount,” the matriarch added and watched the witch almost fall over her own feet.

  Christmas was certainly going to be fun this year.

  ~

  Max stood on the opposite side of the street and looked over at the store. The picturesque Christmas window display with its fake snow and promise of a magical Christmas framed the unusual sight of his mother and mate together as they chose sparkly things that went onto a massacred tree.

  He dug his cold hands into the front pockets of his padded jacket and tipped his head to one side as he felt the warmth in his heart. What more could he want for Christmas than a family of his own, and Kaylee was standing right there, well within his reach of getting what he wanted.

  Kaylee wasn’t married, didn’t have a child of her own, not that a child was a deal-breaker, he was a big enough man to raise a child that wasn’t his by birth, and she was his to woo. So why didn’t his feet want to work?

  Max heard the sound of familiar footsteps and groaned inside. When his father stopped beside him, he shot a quick glance at the alpha and saw him looking at the same heartwarming scene he’d be watching moments earlier. Then the man tipped his head to one side and frowned. “Oh, that’s not good,” Mark said.

  Max shot a look back at the store with a lurch of his heart up into his throat. He was half expecting the females to be going at it tooth and claw, but it all looked normal to him. “What’s not good?”

  “Well,” Mark said, bringing his son’s attention back to him. “Your mom getting her claws into your mate like that…”

  “Huh?” Max said, snapping his attention back to the store and noting that still, nothing much had changed – they were just inspecting a different sparkly thing for the tree.

  “Still, I suppose it means less wooing for you,” the alpha said and patted him on the back hard enough that he had to lock his stance, so he didn’t end up in the road.

  “Huh?” Max screwed up his face as he looked at his old man.

  “Sure, I mean, she’s probably planning when you’ll have your first cub, what to name it, and…”

  “Now, slow down,” Max protested.

  Mark raised his hands to his chest in mock surrender. “Don’t shoot the messenger; you’re the one standing out here letting her woo your mate for you…”

  “No, I’m not…”

  “Not what?” Mark asked, feigning interested as he tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrows.

  “Letting Mom do the wooing for me?”

  “But you are standing out here, and guess what’s going on in there?” he mocked him. “I’m surprised the nude baby pictures of you haven’t come out yet.”

  “What?”

  Mark took a step closer and leaned in. “I hear she carries a copy of the one where you made your first pee-pee on the pot…”

  “We’ll see about that,” Max said, turning on his heels and stalking across the street like he had a newfound purpose in life.

  Mark chuckled to himself. The big old grin he had on his face was reward enough for setting his son right and giving him the kick up the butt he needed to start the rest of his life.

  “That was a little cruel,” Cameron said, standing beside the alpha, and Mark shot a look at him.

  “You again?”

  “I couldn’t help but overhear…”

  “That’s a side effect of eavesdropping…”

  “But a good one.”

  Mark grunted in reply. “Just think of me as Santa, spreading joy to this little corner of the world.”

  “Do I get a free tree and a pint of blood?”

  “Sure,” Mark said, nodding slowly. “Go wrestle Lucas for it. He could use a workout.”

  “I’d like to think there’s a method in your madness.”

  “There’s an art to it. I never overthink things,” Mark said and shot one more look at his son entering the store like a bull in a china shop before he turned on his heels and started down the road.

  “Not going to stay and witness your meddling?”

  “I’m sure you’ll let me know if anything really ugly happens,” he called back over his shoulder with a backwards wave before offering the vampire his middle finger.

  “Well, when you put it like that,” Cameron said, snorting a chuckle. “Not really, no.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ~

  “What’s going on here?” Max demanded the moment that his mother and mate looked up at him. His arms were folded, his chin was angled down, and he was staring at them from beneath his dark eyebrows like he had a bone to pick with one of them but couldn’t figure out which one.

  Kaylee’s eyebrows took a slow upward trip towards her hairline, and his mother’s went down in a frown. “It’s called – shopping,” Tanya said, motioning to the glittery string in his mate’s hand.

  “As in, buying stuff,” Kaylee added, lifting the string and shaking it like it was mocking him.

  “This is how things get in your house without you doing the work,” Tanya said.

  Max snapped his head back on his neck and frowned at his mother. “I shop…”

  “Ordering a takeaway when you’re too lazy to walk over to our house isn’t shopping,” she berated him.

  “It’s a man thing,” Kaylee added, and the two women looked at each other and nodded like conspirators.

  Max didn’t like it. His father was right – they were … bonding – as only females knew how to do, and he didn’t like that one little bit because it was now two against one. If he was a betting man, he’d bet his father had set him up for the fall, and he’d jumped in like an idiot.

  But then again, if his mother wanted to bond with his mate, it would have to be after he bonded with his mate, and his bonding was a lot different from her bonding – but most importantly – he had first bonding dibs.

  Max certainly didn’t want his mother wooing his damn mate for him. That was his job, and he was going to step up to bat and knock it out of the park – he hoped.

  “Hold on,” Tanya said, nudging Kaylee. “He has something on his mind that he needs to spit out.”

  “How can you tell?” Kaylee asked.

  “See that constipated look? He gets it when he’s thinking, and he’s had it ever since he was a kid…”

  Max grumbled a growl and looked anywhere but at his mate or his mother. “Ah, hell, that’s not right,” he muttered.

  The sound of Kaylee’s laughter drew his gaze to her. It was certainly music to his ears, and she looked so … sparkly when she laughed like the light was dancing
in her eyes. He liked it a lot, and it outshone anything else inside his mother’s store.

  “Funny, Jackson gets the same look, must be a guy thing,” Kaylee said with a mocking grin.

  “Yep, his father and brother are the same,” Tanya said.

  “Mom, can I get a word in without you giving out all the family secrets?” Max asked, narrowing his eyes on her in the hope she’d get the message and stop embarrassing him in front of his mate.

  Tanya took a little step back, folded her arms, and looked at him with expectation. “Over to you son, go ahead.” She motioned to his mate.

  Max grimaced internally. The hell was he going to woo his mate in front of his mother – that was … awkward. “I’ve forgotten what I…” He waved an absent hand.

  “You got nothing?” Kaylee asked, enjoying the camaraderie with his mother too much to let him off the hook just yet.

  “I had something, but…” He waved his hand again, motioning to his mother.

  “Seriously going to blame me for this, are ya?” Tanya asked, skewering him with a mock look of disbelief.

  Max shuffled on his feet. “Pretty much.”

  Kaylee snorted another chuckle just as Jackson ran back into the room waving a half-eaten cookie in the air. “It’s true – to die for – soooo goooood,” he informed her.

  “If you think that’s good, then you should try my double cream cookies with chocolate chips,” Tanya informed him.

  Jackson hastily swallowed the bite he’d been munching. “Can I?” he asked like she’d offered him a trip to the moon.

  “Sure, but I don’t have any here,” Tanya informed him. “But at my house…”

  “Oh,” Kaylee said, as Shauna started into the room.

  “That’s not all she’s got. She’s got a chocolate cake that is so good you don’t ever want your slice to end,” Shauna said.

  Kaylee liked the idea of that. “Don’t suppose its calorie-free?”

  “No,” Shauna said, but then she got a wicked look in her eyes. “But there are plenty of fun ways to work those calories off.” She shot a look at her brother and back to Kaylee again.

  Kaylee almost choked on her tongue, and Jackson took that moment to pipe up. “Like what?”

  Kaylee kind of wished that the floor would open up and swallow her whole, but in the absence of that, she wanted to hightail it out of there as quickly as possible. “We should finish buying our decorations and get going because that tree isn’t going to decorate itself.”

  “Maybe the Hulk and Shauna can come and decorate it with us?” Jackson said, motioning to Max.

  “Hulk?” Max asked frowning.

  “Trust me, that’s a compliment,” Kaylee informed him.

  “Maybe we could paint him green for Christmas?” Shauna offered and got a hard stare from her brother in return.

  “Cool,” Jackson’s eye glowed with the possibilities. “Can we?”

  Shauna chuckled harder. “He’d look great in green.”

  “That’s not funny,” Max said.

  “It would amuse the heck out of me,” Shauna and Kaylee said together and then grinned at each other for the jinx.

  “Can we paint him?” Jackson asked, all wide-eyed and enthusiastic about the idea.

  “It’s Christmas, you’d look very festive,” Tanya teased Max, and he dropped his chin towards his chest and grumbled something, but Kaylee had no idea what it was. But when the others chuckled, she knew she probably didn’t want to know, but she could guess.

  “You should pick out some stuff for the tree, Jackson,” Kaylee said, taking pity on Max.

  “Sure,” Jackson said, shrugging. “Can I get some Santa bells?”

  “Oh, we have those,” Tanya informed him and motioned down the aisle. “I’ll show you.”

  “I gotta go…” Shauna rolled her eyes. “Do stuff,” she added lamely and shot off like the hounds of hell was on her tail.

  “Finally,” Max grumbled.

  “Too many females for ya?” Kaylee said, teasing him.

  Max grunted. “When they’re ganging up on me there are.”

  “Ah, diddums,” Kaylee said, teasing him.

  She carried her basket over to the counter and placed it down. She figured that once Jackson had his Santa Bells, she could beat a hasty retreat and come back another time for the rest of what she needed to decorate the size of tree that her nephew had requested.

  Then she remembered that the tree was being delivered, and probably by him. Ugh! Maybe she could pretend to be out, and he’d leave it outside the door?

  Probably not.

  “Listen,” Max said, and she grimaced a little before reluctantly turning to look up at him. The moment he saw the expectation on her face, all and any real thoughts shot right out of his head again.

  “Y-eeeesss?”

  Max stumbled for something to say, and then he sighed. “I have nothing,” he admitted.

  “Okay then,” she said and promptly turned away.

  “Except, would you like to go to dinner with me?” he rushed out.

  Max wasn’t sure why it was easier to talk to the back of her head, but it was. It was hardly the way to go through life, let alone wooing her, but at least he’d said the words.

  “Dinner?” Kaylee said, buying a moment or two of time as she rushed to find a reason why not to have dinner with him.

  “Yes.”

  “With you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I – umm – welllll…” She was stumped.

  Kaylee didn’t want to be overly mean and hurt his feelings, but she didn’t want to agree to go to dinner with him either. Being alone with him would be bad – like right now bad – and right now wasn’t just bad, it was awkward.

  “We – I – you…” he started and stumbled again as she shot a look back over her shoulder at him.

  Jackson ran up to her so fast that he used her hip as a crash barrier. “Tanya said we could go have cake tonight…” he informed her in a sugar rush of cookie mania.

  “Oh, Ummm,” Kaylee was lost for words.

  “But…” Max said.

  Kaylee panicked. Caught between a rock and a hard-bodied bear shifter that was her mate – she rushed in where witches feared to tread. “Love to, love cookies, love Christmas, love chocolate cake – love to.” She grimaced when Max grunted in annoyance.

  Out of the frying pan and into the bear cave with a family of shifters – what had she been thinking?

  No alone time with the big, sexy, alleged man of her dreams that was what had caused her to accept an invitation to hell. Although, both his mother and sister were nice, and she hadn’t had any girl talk or adult conversation in a while – maybe it wouldn’t be so bad?

  Or maybe it would be the death of her. Either way, Jackson was bouncing around like Christmas was already here, and she wasn’t going to snatch that away from him.

  ‘Tis the season – to suck it up.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ~

  “Here?” Cameron said with an ounce of disbelief when Tanya announced the witch was coming to dinner.

  “Yes,” Tanya informed him.

  “Tonight?” Mark asked, eyeing the game on the big screen TV and groaning inwardly as he looked at his mate for some pity.

  “Yes,” she said shrugging.

  “Are you going to allow this to happen?” Cameron asked.

  “What?” Mark growled, looking at the vampire like he’d lost his mind.

  “A witch in your home?” Cameron said, folding his arms and pushing back into the comfort of the cushions. He turned to look at Tanya. “Do you feel nothing for my pain and anguish?”

  “No,” she offered back. “It gets better,” Tanya informed them.

  “It can’t get any worse,” Cameron grumbled.

  “She’s bringing Jackson,” Tanya said.

  “The kid?” Mark asked, turning his nose up at the idea.

  It had been a while since he’d had young in the house, and he did kin
d of miss it. But that was no reason to interrupt the game.

  “Is he tasty?” Cameron asked, and got a cold hard glare from Tanya. “Too soon?”

  “That child is going to be our – sort of, grandchild,” she said frowning. “There’s a story there, I just haven’t gotten it yet – but anyway, he’s kin,” she added, offering him a warning glare.

  “So don’t eat the kid, got it,” Cameron grumbled. “Wait a minute – if that kid comes from witches then isn’t he a – Warlock?”

  “Wizard,” Mark tossed back.

  “Male witch,” Tanya said, shrugging.

  “All of the above?” Cameron said, unsure. “Point is – is that the kind of people you want in your house?” he asked the alpha, and Mark tossed a look at him then back to the game before Tanya cleared her throat.

  The alpha snapped a look up at her, after nearly thirty years, he knew that sound. “Yes,” he said, still distracted. “Or no,” he added when her expression didn’t change. Then she raised her eyebrows at him. “I’m gonna go with my first answer – yes,” he informed her, but her expression didn’t change. “I’d already said yes,” he protested.

  “You were hedging your bets,” Tanya chuckled.

  “Best way not to get bitten in the backside,” he announced with a smirk and a cocky chuckle.

  “Don’t count on it,” Tanya said, wiggling her eyebrows at him, and he growled at that sight, boy, did he.

  “There’s a game on,” Cameron reminded him in a dry tone, and he snapped a look back at the screen.

  “So there is, but some things are more important than…”

  “I’ve got dinner to finish,” Tanya announced, letting him off the hook. “But later…” She grinned, and he growled again.

  “Ugh!” Cameron grumbled. Then he folded his arms tighter and huffed for good measure.

  “Stop pouting,” Mark snapped at him. “Why are you here anyway? You don’t live here!”

  “Well, der – dinner,” Cameron said.

  “And when were you invited?”

  “About thirty years ago,” Cameron admitted. “Because you’re rude and don’t say the words enough.”