by Zoe Chant
Jackson kissed her to make her stop laughing. It didn’t work. He kept kissing her, anyway, tasting her lips, biting her until her gulping laughter turned into gasps, covering her delicate, strong body with his and thrusting into her until she clutched at him and her gasps turned into cries of joy.
His cock tightened and he came with a sensation like fireworks going off behind his eyes. Olly held him close, not letting him go even when both their breathing slowed and their heartbeats fell into a slow, satisfied rhythm.
Her eyes were shut. Her lashes flickered, as though she was hunting for something behind her eyelids, or still lost in the aftershocks of her climax.
Despite everything, despite the mythical creature inside him head and the sheer rapturous glee he’d felt emanate from Olly’s mind when she finally had him in her arms… he was afraid.
Somehow, all of this had to be a mistake.
“Stop it,” Olly murmured. She cracked open one eye, then the other. “If you’re a mistake, you’re the best mistake I’ve ever made.”
“How did you know—” He stopped himself and dropped his head, his breath tickling her ear. “Of course you know.”
“Of course I do.” There was a trace of her owl’s smugness in her voice. “And I’m going to keep knowing. And… Oh, God. If I can know what you’re feeling, then you’re going to start knowing exactly all the weird shit that goes through my head.”
“Am I?” He let himself sink down. Olly was warm, soft… his. They lay tangled together in a bed of snow and torn clothing.
Jackson searched inside himself. There was a new warmth inside his chest, a… light, in the same way his pegasus was somehow there inside him. He looked at it, the same way he looked at his pegasus.
There was a thread leading out from it. He followed it, as intensely aware of the strangeness of that sensation as he was of how amazing it felt to hold Olly in his arms.
And there she was, in his arms and at the other end of the thread.
She jumped slightly. “Oh!” Feelings flooded along the thread, this strange, magical connection between them—heart-leaping happiness, a shiver of excitement at this newness, something new in herself and in him and between them, and had her owl been talking to him earlier?
*To my pegasus,* he told her.
*I didn’t think that to you!*
This was going to take some getting used to.
Olly raised her head until she was staring into his eyes. “Did you just think…?” she asked, and groaned. “Oh, God. Some getting used to might be putting it lightly.”
“I’m still getting used to having someone else living in my head,” Jackson admitted. “Might as well have you in there as well. You’ll be better company than the other guy.”
She snorted and wriggled closer against him. They were already close as could be, so the result was almost enough to make him forget what they’d been talking about.
“Still in love?” she asked him.
“Still in love,” he confirmed gravely. He kissed her forehead and sent a feelings-kiss down the mate bond as he added “Even with all this magic rubbish.”
“Christmas magic,” she murmured.
“I guess so.” He stroked her back, making her wriggle against him some more. “Makes as much sense as anything—what’s wrong?”
He’d felt something shiver through the mate bond. Olly groaned. “Christmas magic,” she muttered against his chest. “The mail for the Puppy Express. The Heartwells’ Christmas party…”
“Wasn’t that the other night, at your work?”
“That was their Christmas Week party,” she groaned. “For the local shifters. Followed by their Christmas Eve party, for local shifters who don’t have their own family things on, then the Christmas Day party, which is just for the Heartwells.” She huffed out a breath. “Bob and I always get an invite to the Christmas Eve party. I really should go… and I need to check with the hellhounds about the mail…”
“Bob can’t deal with both of those?”
“The last time I saw him, he was sleeping in the back office with a tissue stuffed up each nostril.” She sighed. “But I don’t want to get out of bed…”
Jackson frowned as a thought struck him, and Olly nudged him. “What?”
“I don’t want to get out of bed either, but… You still want to give those tourists that ring back, don’t you?”
31
Olly
They drove to the Puppy Express because even if Jackson had magical keep-his-clothes-on shifter powers, Olly still didn’t. She’d borrowed some of his clothes at the cottage to replace those she’d burst out of when she shifted in the woods, but given how little he’d packed for the trip, that wasn’t a strategy that would survive more than a couple of shifts.
Plus, this time she had the engagement ring with her. Shifting now and losing it in a flurry of feathers would ruin all of her plans.
“The lights are still on,” she said as Jackson parked his truck in front of the Puppy Express. *Bob? You still around?*
There was no reply. She raised her eyebrows at Jackson. “You want to try?”
“I think having a bad cold is hard enough without a strange shifter yelling at him.”
“You’re not a stranger.” She hung onto his arm as they headed for the front door. “And he told me I should snap you up without you being my mate, anyway.”
“He did?”
“Earlier today.” She huffed out a frustrated breath. “Wish he could have told me a year ago, but from what I’m picking up, everyone’s been tiptoeing around me since I got hit by the hellfire.”
“Yeah, they should have told you to get over your trauma, get your head out of your ass and get on with life.”
“Hey!” She elbowed him.
“I should have been here to tell you.” His voice was gravelly. She wound her arm around his, delight leaping in her heart as he automatically leaned closer to her.
“But you would have needed someone to tell you to get your head out of your ass first, and I’m the only one who’s allowed to do that, and I wasn’t in any shape for it.” She tipped her head back and looked at him from under lowered lashes. “Maybe we needed all of that shit to happen to get us to this point, though.”
She reached out to him along the strange, shining mate bond that stretched between them, and he smiled.
“Except for you getting shot,” she added with a growl, and tweaked the bond.
“Ow! Hey!”
He chased her inside and kissed her.
“I hope you don’t think that’s going to make me apologize,” she told him. “You’re just giving me a good reason to do it again.”
He gave her a look that made her want to go back to the cottage right that instant.
*Tease,* she hissed at him, and headed for the back office. “Hey, Bob, are you… still asleep. Cool.”
Her uncle was right where she’d left him, comfortably nestled in his desk chair. He stirred as she crossed his light.
“Gotta… postcards,” he murmured.
“Uh-huh.” She smiled at him fondly. *Don’t worry. We’ll look after it.*
*Zzz.*
Jackson nudged her mind. *No sign of the hellhounds. I’ll check the dogs have been fed.* He as back a moment later. *No sign of the dogs, either.*
Those thieving hellhounds! Olly’s owl hissed. All that talk about punishing wrongdoers. Stealing is wrong! Why don’t they punish themselves?
Olly had a pretty good idea of where the dogs were, and why, but she called the Guinnesses anyway. Meaghan answered.
“Sorry, babe,” she said when she knew who she was talking to. “Yeah, they’re all here. And they’re not moving.” She sighed. “I don’t think even Caine will be able to convince any of the boys to go back to work tonight, either.”
Olly wished her a merry Christmas and hung up with a sigh. “Well, I did the whole delivery last year,” she said. “It only took literally until Christmas Day…”
“Last year
, you didn’t have a pegasus.”
Aaaaaaah! Olly’s owl screamed.
“This is amazing!” she whooped out loud as Jackson’s pegasus soared into the air.
It’s unnatural! her owl insisted. What if we fall off?
Then I’ll shift and you can take care of it! Olly felt her fingers start to harden into claws. Not yet! I want to enjoy this.
*Are you okay up there?* Jackson asked. *I’m getting mixed signals.*
Olly snorted. *I’m fine. My owl’s not a fan of flying without being the one doing the flying.*
*It doesn’t trust my dashing, elegant pegasus?*
Of course I do! her owl huffed, and Jackson laughed.
*Where to first?* he asked.
Olly fastened the fingers of one hand into his mane, and reached into the sack on her lap with the other. *Holly Lane. You remember where that is?*
Delivering postcards by pegasus was even better than delivering them by dogsled, and miles better than flying around as an owl with cards stuffed in her beak. Jackson landed on snow-covered roofs one by one, hooves clattering festively, she would drop the postcards on the front step or through an open window, and they’d both be flying off into the night by the time the doors or windows were flung open with cries of “Santa’s here!”
*We might be delivering the post, but I think we’re messing up a lot of parents’ present plans tonight,* Jackson said ruefully.
Olly giggled. *They knew what they were getting into when they put the cards in the postbox.*
*What about that couple? They must be coming up.*
Olly picked up the last two cards. The couple must have written them for each other and posted them before their little dip in the lake. She had tied the two cards together with a ribbon, and threaded the ring through it. *They’re our last stop. At the hotel.”
Jackson landed lightly on the hotel roof. He was getting better at landings, Olly’s owl noted with prim smugness. Probably because he was showing off for her.
The couple were staying on the top floor, which made it easy for Olly to climb down onto their veranda and carefully place the cards and ring where they could see them from inside. She caught a glimpse of the couple inside, and a murmur of conversation. As she climbed back out of sight, she tapped the window.
The veranda door opened. “Is someone there?” It was the woman. She looked around, eyes confused—then glanced down. Her mouth dropped open. “Oh my God! Rick! You’ll never guess…”
“I’m glad we could help them,” Olly told Jackson as she climbed onto his back. He rustled his wings. “If they hadn’t lost their ring, how would my owl have ever made its grand romantic gesture?”
*That’s what it’s calling getting you stuck under the ice?*
Her owl whispered something to Olly, and she laughed. *My owl says, it was just making an opportunity for you to make a grand romantic gesture.*
Jackson grumbled. Even his pegasus made a grumpy noise. *Grand romantic pah.*
*Yeah, I wasn’t even conscious to appreciate it.*
*You—* He grumbled again. *Now who’s teasing?*
Olly shook out her hair as though she was a pegasus. *Stop complaining. That was the last delivery—let’s head to the party.*
32
Jackson
Jackson wasn’t sure what to expect. He’d been to the Heartwells’ parties before: barbeques in summer, apple bobbing at Halloween, flower festivals in the spring and, of course, their Christmas parties.
He knew them. But they didn’t know this new him.
A huge bonfire was burning in the courtyard behind the main, castle-like building, with clusters of humans and various creatures gathered around. He spotted Cole’s parents, Opal and Hank: Opal was in her dragon form, her tail poking the fire, while Hank was being chased by a pack of kids armed with snowballs and two small dragons armed with…
*I guess Jasper’s not worried about them setting their own property on fire,* he remarked to Olly. *How are we going to do this?*
*We could land out back and let the Heartwells know we’re here, or—*
Right in the middle of the party!
Wait, no—
Jackson’s pegasus didn’t listen. It saw a gap in front of the bonfire, and swooped down to land in it.
A rumble of surprise filled the courtyard. Jackson knew that if he’d had human cheeks right then, they would have been burning, but his pegasus thrilled at the attention.
Hello, everyone! it trilled. Wait—they can’t hear me! Quick, say hello!
“That isn’t the same pegasus that crashed the last party, was it?”
“Who’s that on its back?”
“It can’t be—Olly?”
*Thanks, Jackson.* Olly sent a psychic prod with the words. *You know how I love being the center of attention.*
*Sorry.* Sorry. *Want me to steal the show?*
She chuckled. *Go for it.*
She slid off his pegasus’s back. Jackson spread his wings and concentrated.
Human with pants, human with pants…
He shifted in an explosion of shimmering lights. The moment he was human, Olly took his hand and squeezed it.
“Getting it over with all at once, huh? Maybe that’s not such a bad idea,” she muttered.
Jackson waved weakly to the nearest shifters: a couple of the Holborn nephews, Suki from the grocery store, and that sheep he still didn’t recognize. “Hey, everyone.”
“Alright, Mr. Petrakis, once was bad enough, but this is—” Jasper Heartwell pushed to the front of the crowd and stopped when he saw them both. His mouth dropped open. “Jackson? Olly?”
“Hi, Jasper.” Jackson ran one hand through his hair and looked down at Olly. She smiled back, her eyes shining. “We’ve got some news for everyone.”
“I’ll bet.” Jasper folded his arms, grinning. “Go on then. Let’s hear it.”
Jackson took a deep breath. He settled his most serious expression on his face and directed it at the dragon shifter. “You know that cottage by Sweetheart Lake? I’d like to buy it.”
Olly gave him a hard nudge.
“Oh right, and come to think of it, Olly and I are mates after all.”
Her face lit up as everyone around them cheered. Under the cover of their friends’ delight, Olly leaned in close and murmured, “The cottage, huh?”
“It feels like our place already. Doesn’t it? I bet Jasper will let me do a straight-across swap for the house I already own, since he owns both. And that other house never meant anything to me anyway. I walked away without a second thought. The cottage, though…”
“Lots of good memories,” she murmured, lacing her arms around his neck.
“The best.”
Everyone was legitimately happy for them. Confused as all hell, because no one had heard of people spontaneously becoming shifters as late in life as Jackson, but happy.
“How did it happen?” Caine asked. “I mean, I’m guessing you didn’t get bitten by another pegasus shifter…”
Jackson shook his head. “Apparently pegasus shifters take longer to manifest.”
“Well, I’m glad you caught up with yourself at last,” Meaghan joked. “Though—huh. What would happen if you were already going to be a pegasus shifter, but you got bitten by a hellhound, and then…”
Caine steered her gently away. “I think he probably has enough to worry about without thinking about that, love.”
She wrinkled her nose at him and let herself be steered to a comfortable chair.
Jackson grinned. Enough to worry about? He had nothing to worry about. Even Olly didn’t hate all the attention they were getting. He checked in with her through the mate bond as another old friend came up, squealed drunkenly, and wrapped them both in a massive hug.
*I’m all good,* she replied. *My owl actually likes showing you off.*
That made his pegasus so pleased he was surprised he didn’t grow wings.
“Jackson?”
He spun around. “Ma?”
Louisa Gilles pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. “I just got here. I told you I was coming, didn’t I?”
“You did, but…” He stepped back and pulled Olly forward. Their fingers twined together and no power in the world could help the stupid grin that spread across his face. *Things have changed a bit since we talked.*
Louisa’s eyes widened. *You can use telepathy? You—you’re not telling me your father was right about something, for once in his life?*
*That depends what he actually told you he wanted to see me about.*
Louisa folded her arms. “Last week, your father called me up saying you were about to ‘fledge’, whatever that means, and he’d found a mate for you.”
“Well,” Olly said, “he was right about Jackson turning out as a shifter, and right about him finding a mate… he was just wrong about them, too.”
“Now, you can’t be anyone except the Olly Lockey I’ve heard so much about.” Louisa hugged her. “Does this mean…? But I thought, last year?”
Jackson and Olly exchanged a look. “It’s a long story,” they said in unison.
“I only spoke to you two days ago, Jackson! How long can the story be?” Louisa looped her arm into his. “I’ve been driving all day, darling. Why don’t we get some of that mulled wine from the nice dragon in the kitchen and you can tell me all about it?”
They found a quiet nook in the corner of the courtyard where they could sit with mugs of steaming mulled wine and talk with a bit of privacy. Louisa’s eyes flicked between Olly and Jackson as they took turns telling parts of the story.
“…But I still don’t understand why this happened now. At first I thought it had something to do with being shot.” Jackson rubbed his scar. “The whole near-death experience thing. But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t my pegasus turn up then? Why would it wait six months?”
Louisa pursed her lips. “Your father did say he had one of his feelings,” she said. “But frankly, I’ve never trusted those.”
“He did get here right in time for me to shift for the first time,” Jackson said morosely. “Maybe he’s right about that, then. He says shifters’ animals only find them when they become worthy.”