Bittersweet Christmas_The Order

by Nina Croft

  Now he felt the tug of familiarity. He’d walked this route to school every day for years.

  He stopped at the wrought iron gates in front of the church grounds, pushed them open, and ushered her down the yew-lined avenue that led to the towering gothic church and its huge wooden doors.

  The service was still in progress, and the sound of singing drifted out into the still night air. “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” He headed for the door, but then paused as something occurred to him. Weren’t vampires supposed to be barred from churches? Didn’t they spontaneously combust or something? That would impress Liam.

  Before he could decide whether to risk it, the singing stopped and a moment later, the joyful ringing of the church bells filled the air. Midnight. It was Christmas Day.

  “Happy Christmas,” Winter murmured, and he squeezed her hand.

  The door opened. He stepped to the side, Winter beside him as the congregation started to leave.

  Ryan studied them, watching for his nephew. He hadn’t seen Liam in more than two years. Would he have changed? The church was nearly empty by the time he spotted him.

  God, he’d grown.

  He was as tall as Ryan now. But lanky, with short dark hair.

  “He looks just like you,” Winter whispered from beside him.

  Liam was with Steve and his wife and presumably their four kids, but he looked apart and alone. As the small group came up level with them, Ryan stepped out onto the pathway.

  “Hello, Liam.”

  They all stopped. Ryan kept his gaze fixed on his nephew, catching the moment the boy recognized him, the flash of a smile that was quickly wiped out and replaced with a scowl. He hoped the boy wasn’t going to make this difficult. They needed to get back on the road. But first, he owed Liam an apology.

  “I’m sorry about your mother,” he said. “And for not being there for you.”

  “It’s been six months. Where were you?”

  He shrugged. Now was not the moment to go into that particular answer. Hopefully, there would be lots of time later. “It’s difficult. I will explain, but there were reasons.”

  “Really good reasons,” Winter added. She nudged him to the side and held out her hand to Liam. “Hi, I’m Winter. I’m a friend of your uncle’s.”

  “You look like a total dick, Ryan,” Steve said. “Tell me the two of you have just come from a fancy-dress party.”

  Ryan glanced down at himself. All in black, he looked like a goddamn vampire. Winter was no better, in her black leather Goth gear. They were a matching pair. He grinned. “Yeah. Something like that. I’ve come to take Liam home for Christmas.”

  “Home?” Liam asked.

  “We’re heading back to London. I’d like you to come and spend the holidays with me. After that, you can decide where you want to live.”

  “But I could stay with you?” He sounded so tentative that Ryan’s heart ached.

  “If you want.” There was a good chance that he wouldn’t, not once everything came out. If he decided to come back here, then Ryan wouldn’t make him stay. “I hope you will.”

  “Are you sure, Liam?” Steve asked.

  “Yeah. I’m sure.”

  At that moment, Ryan’s wolf awoke and growled softly. Ryan ignored him, then stepped forward and shook Steve’s hand. “Thanks, mate.”

  “One day you’ll tell me what’s been going on, right?”

  “Of course.” If the Order’s plans to reveal their existence to the world came to fruition, then there was no reason why he couldn’t. In fact, he was quite looking forward to it.

  His wolf growled again, then lashed out, raking his claws down Ryan’s insides. “Ouch.” What the hell was his problem?

  Steve and his family turned to go, just as Winter tugged on his arm. “Ryan?”

  He looked down. Her eyes were wide and slightly panicked. He followed her gaze. The rest of the congregation had left. Only the vicar still stood in the doorway. But all around them, figures emerged from the darkness.

  Oh shit. There’s the problem.

  He went still. Werewolves. A whole freaking pack of them, it seemed. As he watched, Marissa strolled out of the shadow of the trees. “Happy Christmas, asshole. It’s payback time.”

  Chapter Twelve

  And things had been going so well.

  Steve looked at them. “More friends of yours?” he asked Ryan. He didn’t sound unduly worried. Winter was sure that wouldn’t last.

  “No,” Ryan replied. “You need to get out of here. And take Liam with you.” He turned to her. “You go, too,” he said.

  Yeah, like that’s going to happen.

  “No one is going anywhere,” Marissa said. “I wouldn’t want your friends to miss the party.” Two werewolves moved up to stand at her shoulders. They were huge. Winter searched the grounds and counted at least twenty more. No way could they take on that many. Liam was wide-eyed, rooted to the spot. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, but wasn’t sure she pulled it off.

  “Just let them go,” Ryan said. “They have nothing to do with this.”

  “You killed my mate,” Marissa replied. She was tall with long red hair, and Winter hated her on sight.

  “He tried to kill me first.”

  Winter searched her mind. What was it she was supposed to do if everything went bad? Call for backup. Except backup was at least five hours away. This was so not good. She searched around in her bag for her phone.

  Edging behind Ryan, she pulled the phone out and turned it on. Immediately, the screen filled up with a line of missed calls. Graham. Why the hell hadn’t she thought to switch it on earlier?

  She knew why. Because she hadn’t wanted anyone to order them back. Without a direct order, she could plead ignorance and say…what? That it was just an innocent visit. They hadn’t been doing anything wrong. Only once again, she’d messed up spectacularly.

  She raised the phone to her ear and pressed return call.

  “Er…we have a bit of a situation here,” she said.

  “Winter?” Graham’s voice held a mixture of panic and relief. “Where the hell have you been? Where are you?”

  “In Kendal, picking up Ryan’s nephew.”

  “You need to get out of there now. There are a whole load of fucking werewolves heading your way.”

  “Too late. They’re already here.”

  “Shit. Crap.” She could hear the panic rising in Graham’s voice. “You have to hold them off. Keep them talking. Piers is on his way. And your dad.”

  “My dad?” she screeched, her gaze automatically going to the sky, as though her dad might pop up at any moment. But the sky remained empty. Could her dad take on a whole pack of werewolves? She had no doubt he would try. Oh God, Father Christmas was going to die, and it was all her fault.

  “Piers called him. Apparently, you’re grounded.”

  That wouldn’t do much good if she was dead.

  “Just stay alive until they get there,” Graham said. “I’ll find out where everyone is. Don’t die. And don’t let Ryan die. I’ll be right back.”

  The line went dead. And suddenly she wanted him back now. She was a crap bodyguard. Ryan had been right from the start. How could she save him? And now, likely Liam was going to die, too, and it was all her fault.

  Everyone was going to die—her, Ryan, Liam, Steve and his family, even the vicar. And Father Christmas. That really wasn’t fair.

  As she stepped around Ryan, his hand came out to stop her, and she sidestepped, placing herself between him and Marissa. Behind her, she heard him swear.

  “You don’t want to do this,” she said.

  Marissa raised a brow. “I don’t?”

  “Just about everyone in the whole Order is heading our way. If I were you, I would turn around and leave before you really piss them off.”

  Her phone buzzed. Graham. She raised it to her ear. “They’re nearly there,” he said. “Hand me over to Marissa.”

  “He wants to talk to you.”
She handed the phone over. The werewolf’s nostrils flared as she listened. Then she dropped the phone to the ground and stamped on it with her boot.

  “You know,” Marissa said to Ryan. “I wanted to take my time with this. It was my Christmas present to myself. I was going to have fucking fun. You were going to die screaming. First, I’d kill everyone you love, and then you. Now, I guess we’ll just have to kill you quickly. And that pisses me off.”

  Winter tried to remember everything she knew about werewolves, hunting for a way to give them time. Only one thing came to her. But it was a really, really bad idea.

  “Uncle John, what’s happening?” Liam was clearly catching on that something wasn’t right.

  “I’m phoning the police,” Steve said. He reached into his pocket, but a gun appeared in the hands of the wolf on Marissa’s left, aimed right at him. He slowly lowered his hand. “What’s going on, Ryan?”

  “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I should never have come here. I should have stayed the fuck away.”

  But this wasn’t his fault. This was down to her. She had to find a way to put things right, somehow give them more time for help to arrive. She turned to Ryan and spoke quickly under her breath. “You have to challenge her as a wolf.”

  “What?”

  “It’s pack lore. If another werewolf challenges her, then she must accept that challenge. She has to fight you, one-on-one. Wolf-on-wolf.”

  Steve, who was the closest, picked up her words. “What’s she talking about Ryan? Fucking werewolves? Are you crazy? Are you on something?”

  Ryan snarled, his fangs had elongated, and the tips showed. Steve took a step back. As did Liam.

  “If you don’t challenge her,” Winter said quickly, “she can just shoot you. And the rest of us. We need time. The others are coming. You’re a werewolf. Challenge her.”

  Ryan gritted his teeth. “I don’t know how.”

  “Just say the words after me.”

  Ryan snarled again, then strode past her and stopped only a foot from Marissa. “I challenge you…”

  “Under pack law,” Winter said under her breath.

  “Under pack law.”

  “To a duel to the death.”

  Ryan cast her a look of panicked disbelief, but repeated the words, and a mutter ran through the pack of werewolves. They all glanced at Marissa, awaiting her response.

  Marissa glared. “Are you crazy?”

  “Without a fucking doubt,” Ryan muttered.

  “You’re young, barely a year old. And you expect to fight me?”

  Ryan looked over his shoulder at her, and Winter nodded. “Yes,” he said.

  “You’ll die.”

  “Hey…weren’t you going to kill me anyway? And everyone else. I haven’t exactly got a lot to lose.”

  Marissa frowned. “You’re just playing for time. You think someone is going to come and save you.” She turned to the man at her side. “As soon as it’s over, shoot them all.”

  And then a ripple of magic ran through the air, and she was gone. In her place stood a huge red wolf, her golden eyes gleaming in the darkness.

  She heard Liam’s indrawn breath.

  “Holy crap,” Steve muttered. His children were huddled behind their mother, frozen in place.

  “What next?” Ryan asked her.

  “You need to shift. But take off the coat first,” Winter said.

  “What?”

  “The coat—take it off. You’ll only ruin it.”

  He looked at her as though she was crazy, but shrugged out of the leather coat anyway. “I don’t know how to shift.”

  The red wolf leaped at him, slashing claws across his cheek, and he snarled. But he kept his body between the wolf and Winter.

  “Just let it go.” Come on. Come on.

  She could see the wolf behind his eyes, pacing, growling, but the vampire was too strong. She needed to find a way to break that control. Winter shrugged out of her own jacket, released her hold on her glamor, and her wings sprouted. She popped into the air, over his head, and landed in front of the red wolf.

  “Winter!”

  She ignored Ryan, dancing in the air in front of the wolf’s nose, so it snapped at her, its huge, white slobbery teeth missing her by inches.

  Behind her, she heard a growl. At last. She turned in the air as Ryan crashed to his knees. It wasn’t an easy shift—she’d heard the first time never was, and his vampire was still fighting him. But it was a shift, and she watched as his clothes ripped and the black fur sprouted over his body. She heard the crack of bones realigning as he turned into the scariest wolf she had ever seen, midnight black fur, huge elongated fangs, and crimson eyes.

  “What the fuck…” someone murmured. She wasn’t sure if the words came from friend or foe. Ryan threw back his head and howled. Then he leaped. Winter only just managed to buzz out of the way as he hurtled past her and slammed into the red wolf. Marissa went down under the force of the attack, rolled, and came up on her feet. She backed away, all confidence gone, her golden eyes wary. Ryan paced in front of her, a low growl rumbling in his throat. What was he waiting for?

  He turned to look at her, where she hovered just above the ground, and she could almost see the question in his wolf’s eyes. It occurred to her then that Ryan had very likely never killed anything in his life before. He had no clue what to do. But he had to end this.

  She bared her teeth at him.

  Hoping he’d get the hint.

  His long nose wrinkled.

  “For goodness sake,” she yelled. “Kill the bitch.”

  Marissa took advantage of his distraction and leaped for him, jaws gaping open. She landed on his back, her teeth burrowing into the fur at his nape. He roared and shook his head, breaking free. And then they were rolling, a mass of black and red fur, over and over, as each tried to get a killing hold.

  Claws raked across his nose and he howled in fury. It seemed to release the last of his control and his attack turned furious. Seconds later, Marissa was pinned to the ground. She whimpered and bared her throat in submission.

  Winter held her breath, praying he would find the conviction to do what was needed. Only Marissa’s death could end this.

  He looked at Winter, blinked his crimson eyes, and then lunged and sank his fangs into the fur at the red wolf’s throat. Bright blood spurted across the white snow.

  He buried his head in the dying wolf’s throat and she realized he was drinking. A furry vampire. Cool.

  A movement in the air above her head dragged her gaze from Ryan, and she stared up into the night sky. It was her dad on Sleipnir, his eight-legged horse, coming to the rescue.

  Only he was no longer needed.

  The red wolf lay dead on the snow, and Ryan threw back his head and howled.

  Seriously impressive.

  She floated down to the ground in front of Liam. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. No. I have no clue.”

  “Look, things are going to get a little scary, but everything will be fine.” She hoped she was telling the truth. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ryan still in wolf form, pacing and growling. The werewolves had melted back into the trees but were watching from the shadows. Their alpha was dead, killed in a challenge. It looked like they had a new alpha.

  A black SUV screeched to a halt. Piers and Roz jumped out and ran across the space between them.

  Piers glanced from her to the wolf. Ryan snarled. Piers snarled back.

  “What the hell?” he asked Winter. “All you had to do was watch him. Just keep him alive for a few days. What happened?”

  She shrugged. “Hey, he’s alive.”

  She grabbed Ryan’s coat where it lay on the ground and hurried across to him. He paused his pacing and growled. Reaching out her hand, she rested her fingers in the soft fur at his neck. In the crimson depths of his eyes, she saw Ryan take control. The wolf calmed, and a moment later, the man was back, naked and looking pretty good. She handed him the coat, and he
put it on just as her father crash-landed beside her and jumped off his horse.

  He grabbed her by the shoulders, stared into her face, and peered at her neck.

  Oh shit.

  He shook his head. “I knew it was a mistake. From now on, you do not leave the house.”

  Ha, like that was going to happen. Anyway, she’d won this one. Against all odds, she’d succeeded. She’d brought Liam his Christmas present—if not wrapped in a bow, then at least wrapped in a long leather coat.

  “I did it, Dad. Come and meet Liam and his Uncle John.”

  Epilogue

  Christmas Day

  Ryan came awake suddenly as the sun set. He lay in the darkness humming “Jingle Bells” under his breath.

  The realization stopped him short.

  It was Christmas Day. And he was filled with a sense of anticipation he hadn’t felt in…forever. He couldn’t wait to get out and go find Winter and Liam, to share Christmas with them.

  Then a sweet scent tickled his nostrils. Someone cleared their throat, and a smile tugged at his lips. He opened his eyes and found her perched at the bottom of his bed. Tonight, she was dressed in a red leather minidress, trimmed with white fluff, thigh high shiny red boots, and a matching hat. Christ, she looked cute.

  “You’re awake,” she said. “It’s about time. We’ve all been waiting for you.”

  He pushed himself up, dragging the sheet with him, then patted the mattress at his side. “Come join me.”

  “No way. My dad’s upstairs.” She shuddered.

  He could see her point. Her dad was seriously scary. “He’s back, then?” They’d only been briefly introduced last night. Apparently, coming to rescue Winter had put him behind schedule. He’d dashed off to finish whatever he should have been doing on Christmas Eve, but with the promise to join them this evening for dinner.

  Christmas dinner with Father Christmas.

  Ryan was still trying to get his head around it. His new girlfriend’s dad was Father-fucking-Christmas. Though he was a pretty freaking scary Father Christmas. Hell, the fact that Ryan even had a girlfriend was weird enough. After everything they’d been through together, he felt he could call Winter that, even though they’d agreed—no commitment. It was enough, for now, that she wanted to spend time with him.