Her Christmas Wolf

by Lane, Cecilia

  Her Christmas Wolf

  Cecilia Lane

  A Shifting Destinies Holiday Novella

  Contents

  Her Christmas Wolf

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  New Series

  Also by Cecilia Lane

  About the Author

  Her Christmas Wolf

  A Shifting Destinies Holiday Story

  Tommy Conri has been burned by love, but that doesn’t stop everyone in his life urging him to find a good woman and settle down. Though he’s buried himself in excuses and his work at his diner, one woman has his inner wolf sitting up and taking notice every time her brown curls bounce past his window.

  Fox shifter Faith Holden owns the coffee shop across the street from her perfect man. While she’s held a torch for Tommy since they were teens, they’ve never before been single at the same time. She’s determined to muster the nerve to invite the scrumptious, reclusive wolf shifter to the town’s annual Winter Wonderland Bash.

  The attraction between the rival diner owners becomes irresistible as they near the holiday festivities. But Faith’s dreams of sleigh rides through the snow and mistletoe kisses are dashed when Tommy's ex slithers back into town. Can Tommy forget his past wounds before he ruins his chance to make Faith his mate?

  Previously published in the All He Wants for Christmas Holiday Bundle!

  * * *

  Step into the world of Shifting Destinies, where the men and women you meet might just be a little more than human. Their towns are protected by magic, and their hearts are open and ready for love. But watch your step - more than darkness lurks in the shadows.

  * * *

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  http://cecilialane.com/cecilianews

  Chapter 1

  Son of a snowflake.

  Faith Holden silently cursed and eyed the trio gathered in front of her coffee shop. The weather was too cold to let their curly blue hair fly proud, so they dressed in identical blue coats. The Old Maids were notorious complainers. Faith was sure she wouldn’t have a moment’s peace for the rest of the day simply for leaving them waiting. Didn’t matter if she wasn’t the one scheduled to open. Her name was on the lease and she’d take the blame.

  Her sister, supposedly the one to have the doors unlocked and coffee brewing, was nowhere in sight. Becca had been back in Bearden for a week and was sure to drive her into bankruptcy by week three.

  Faith stamped her feet to clear the last of the snow from the bottom of her boots. She willed herself to keep calm and dug out the keys to Mug Shot Coffee Bar. “Morning, ladies,” she said brightly.

  “Tommy never makes us wait out in the cold,” Old Miss, the leader of the Old Maids, grumbled.

  Sure enough, Faith caught sight of Tommy through one of his front windows across the street. He quirked an eyebrow at her and turned to pour another seated customer a cup of coffee. Faith wanted to growl. Instead, she plastered a smile on her face and held open the door for the town’s eldest member to enter.

  Faith hurried to the back of the shop as soon as the trio shuffled inside. Coffee needed brewing and the pastry case filled with the easy morning offerings. Coffee came first, or the Old Maids would have her head on a spike. She’d grabbed the air pots and shoveled the regular beans through the grinder when her missing sister finally appeared.

  Becca wandered in through the back with sunglasses over her eyes and a steaming mug in her hand. Faith glared at the offending cup. How many minutes did it take to brew that when she could have been doing her job? And the sunglasses meant she’d been out all night and wanted to hide her hangover. Again.

  The shades slipped down Becca’s nose as she stood still and eyed Faith. "I know I’m late—"

  Faith finally let her fox shove forward and laced her tone with the growl she’d wanted to unleash on the Old Maids. “Holly and mistletoe, Becca, I expected you to be here."

  Becca shrugged out of her coat and tied an apron around her neck. "You’re still doing the Christmas curses, I see."

  "As the matriarch of this family—"

  It was a long shot and Faith knew it. But she was the eldest kit by several minutes and what good was that fact if she couldn’t lord it over Becca once in a while?

  "Nope."

  Faith carried on as if she hadn’t been interrupted. "—and your boss—"

  "Only temporarily."

  "—you need to show me a little more respect. If you aren’t going to do the job you’re given, then I’ll have to give it to someone else. Now the customers aren’t happy.”

  Becca peered out of the kitchen and rolled her eyes. “Let me handle her.”

  "Becca, no." Faith grabbed her sister’s hand before she could slip through the double doors.

  Becca whirled. "What are you going to do? Fire me?"

  Despite herself, Faith grinned. They had vastly different outlooks on life and responsibility, but she could always count on Becca to be in her corner when needed. Sometimes it was nice to have a little spunk where she could later claim innocence. She missed her twin while she’d been away.

  "Fine, fine. Don’t come running to me if she stabs you with her tusks and makes a fox stole out of you." Faith waved her sister off and turned to finish putting together the coffee menu for the day. She took only a minute more to walk through the double doors to the counter. She flicked on the pastry case lights and overheard Becca calmly listening to Old Miss’ belly-aching.

  "I’ve never had to wait this long in my life," Old Miss complained.

  "Really? Never? Never, ever, in the ten thousand years you’ve been making this town miserable?" Becca crossed her arms and stared down Old Miss.

  Faith snorted and pushed back through the double doors before she lost control of her laugh. Hands clasped over her mouth, she peeked through the doors and watched the scene unfold.

  Old Miss bared her teeth in a threatening smile. "I can see why that young Conri boy has all the customers these days. I think I’ll take my girls there if we will receive this sort of treatment."

  Becca pretended to study her fingernails. “You’re not going to defect to the other side and we all know it. You don’t like the smell of bacon, you old boar. We’ve all heard you say it. You tried to get him banned from serving it at the last three town meetings, from what I hear. Now, kindly take a seat and we’ll be with you in just a moment.”

  Old Miss harrumphed and shuffled to a seat near the window.

  Not wanting to press her luck, Faith shot out of the back and delivered steaming mugs to the trio, followed by their usual breakfast of bagels and cream cheese. Old Miss’ sugary sweet ‘thank you’ hinted at weeks of trouble heading her way.

  Faith could only shrug and get on with her morning. After the Old Maids, her usual customers were from the fire station just a few buildings down. One by one, they visited and ordered goodies filled with sugar and gave strict instructions not to tell their friends. But it seemed everyone was feeling out of sorts.

  Nolan, one of the firefighters, stepped into the middle of the street and stared at her building. He took another step forward, snarled, then turned on his heel.

  Faith frowned and watched Nolan trudge into Tommy’s Diner. She knew there was history between Becca and the man, though Becca refused to divulge any details. Whatever had happened between the bear and her siste
r was losing her business. They’d need to sort it out, and soon.

  Faith glanced out the window and wondered if Tommy ever had to deal with the same grinchy attitudes or if she’d just lucked out and all the cantankerous folk frequented her coffee shop.

  The town had created a rivalry between their two shops. The Old Maids, especially, fostered the hidden competition. Nothing could convince the town that they weren’t enemies. Even a side-by-side comparison of their menus wouldn’t put down the talk of the rivalry. The town persisted in taking sides in a fight neither she nor Tommy wanted to begin.

  Small town politics would never cease to amaze her.

  Once again, she caught Tommy staring in her direction. Cheeks heating, she busied herself with wiping down the counter. Her inner fox refused to back down, though. Faith shoved at the beast and then tried to ignore her. That little vixen wanted to roll right over and offer Tommy her belly anytime he appeared.

  Peeking back through her windows, Faith saw Tommy turn and walk behind his own counter. She bit her tongue to keep from letting go of the soft sigh that wanted to brush past her lips. His jeans clung to his hips and powerful thighs. He brushed a hand through his dark brown hair before slamming a coffee pot into the brewer. She imagined she could see the tendrils of tattoo ink moving on his flexed arms. She’d memorized the patterns on his skin as they appeared over the years.

  He was her perfect cup of coffee. Tall, dark, and strong enough to keep her up all night. Okay, the last was pure conjecture. But she’d imagined him enough that she was sure he’d keep her active well past the hour of the wolf. And if he was like any other shifter, he was packing more than muscles under those tight jeans.

  She’d had a crush on the man since they were teens. As one of the few wolf shifters in a town named after the bears, Tommy embraced the lone wolf persona. His deep mysteriousness kept all the girls drooling then, and not much had changed in the years since. They’d each gone through their share of relationships, but never managed to line up in singlesville at the same time.

  That’d changed in the last year. She’d had enough of her contrarian boyfriend just a few months before. Faith didn’t know too many details—except for the gossip spilled by the Old Maids—but Tommy’s ex left town in a hurry last December. And despite the Old Maids’ best efforts, neither she nor Tommy took them up on their offers to play matchmaker with a seemingly never-ending parade of adopted grandsons and granddaughters.

  Another glance toward the diner showed Tommy quickly finding somewhere else to direct his eyes. Faith gulped and shoved her fox back down yet again. The little beast wavered between sending her pictures of moonlit runs through the midnight snow and a red fox curled up next to a giant wolf. Her animal had certainly made her wish known. Faith needed to decide what to do about it.

  On one hand, there was no need to dip her toes into the dating pool ever again. Love had been elusive, and her fox had never liked the men in her life enough to want to mark them as a mate. She and Tommy had known each other for years. If they were supposed to be together, they’d have made it happen before.

  But, Faith wavered, Christmas was her favorite time of the year. There was nothing more romantic than hot cocoa on a sleigh ride, followed up by a kiss under the mistletoe. And oh holy night, did Tommy make her mouth water.

  Faith nodded to herself, aware she probably looked like a crazy idiot. It was time to grab her jingle bells and lady up. Tommy Conri headlined her wish list.

  Chapter 2

  "Tommy, another round here?"

  Tommy Conri blinked and found the source of intrusion. The damn firefighter clan had invaded his diner during the morning rush. That meant on top of his usual crowd, they were eating him out of house and, well, diner.

  "Yeah, no problem," he said, grabbing the nearly empty pot of coffee. He filled the mugs he could and promised to return with a new pot as soon as it finished brewing.

  "I think it’s time, Thomas. You’ve had a whole year."

  Tommy rolled his eyes. He grabbed a plate of bacon and eggs to shove under the nose of a lone man at the end of the counter, then turned to address his mother. "Ma, it’s not going to happen. You’re stuck with just me for the Christmas party. Take it or leave it."

  Sabrina Conri wasn’t one to be put off. She sighed dramatically and shoved food around on her plate like she’d lost all will to live. "You say these things to make my heart ache. I just know it."

  Tommy was used to his mother’s dramatics and didn’t have the patience. The morning crowd was beginning to stream in and he hurriedly wrote orders as they approached the counter or took seats at tables. And he definitely did not want to discuss his lack of a date to his mother’s party competition.

  She’d been at war with the Old Maids for as long as he could remember. Rather than pit the town on two sides, a type of armistice had been declared. The Old Maids hosted a party on one night, then Sabrina hosted hers the next. Their rivalry was one of the top events of Bearden’s week-long Winter Wonderland Bash.

  The whole damn town placed far too much importance on holidays.

  "I hear Shana is back in town." His mother shook her head sadly. "Such a shame it didn’t work out for you two."

  Tommy grunted. Shana was a name he didn’t want to repeat ever again. Such a shame he didn’t hold her interest. Such a shame he’d ever agreed to court the broad in the first place.

  The arrangement had been part of a bigger plan. His Conri cousins in Wolfden thought his beast would be steadier if he had another wolf under him, in more ways than one. So he’d been sent Shana. For all her talk of keeping the Conri line full of wolves, she didn’t have a problem taking others to her bed.

  No way he’d be bringing her as his date. That his mother even hinted at it churned anger in his stomach and set his wolf pacing and snarling through his head.

  "It didn’t work out for a reason. Revisiting the past won’t change that we want different things," he said, struggling to keep the growl out of his voice.

  He glanced up for the thousandth time that morning and zeroed in on Faith. Immediately, his wolf stopped fighting him so hard and settled. Mostly. There was still a struggle not to lure her out into the woods for a mad dash through the snow and finding a private cave to ride out the cold. But the beast was manageable. Hopeful. Almost like he was watching and waiting for his opportunity.

  He’d turned from a vicious predator into a patient hunter almost overnight, where Faith was concerned.

  Fuck, he’d been half in love with her since they were kids. She always had someone better, though. She was pure goodness where he could barely make it through a day at the diner. People wore him out and made his wolf want to jump out of his skin.

  "Tommy!"

  "Coming," he snarled. The coffee had barely finished brewing, but he grabbed the pot and hurried it over to the crew of firefighters. He made a damn mess of pouring and sloshed hot coffee onto the table.

  "Mother trouble, huh?" Cole, the current Chief of the Bearden Fire Department leaned back and fixed a smirk on his lips. "Almost makes me glad I don’t have one."

  Tommy pointed a finger at the man. "Just you wait. I’m sending her after you and your brother next. No RSVPs? No wonder you two turned feral without a mother to teach you manners. You going to order another plate, or you just going to talk shit all morning?"

  Nolan, Hudson, and Graham, three other bear shifters in the firehouse, sniggered.

  Cole took a swig of his mug and set it down with a hard clank. "Your coffee sucks and I’m going to Faith’s after this. Put me down for another house special."

  Tommy made a note on his order pad and made another round of the other tables. He was aware of his mother’s eyes following him even as he hurried back to update the cook. Knowing she was watching, he tried to limit the number of glances he threw out his front windows and across the street.

  Mug Shot Coffee Bar. What a stupid, perfect name. Way better than his simple Tommy’s Diner. And owned by a much bet
ter class of person. She had control over her fox. She could stand to chat with her customers. He wanted to throw half the town through his windows on a daily basis.

  There was a reason he kept strict hours and then retreated to his house in the woods. His wolf needed to socialize and his hands needed to stay busy. Working the diner solved both, but it wore him down. The Conri solution of courting a potential mate and starting a pack had ended in disaster. There was no reason to believe he’d do any better with Faith.

  She crossed out of the back and leaned against her counter, jabbering away at her sister. Antagonizing her, if he guessed. Her brown curls were tamed in a soft braid over her shoulder. He knew kinks would work their way out by noon. Then she’d be pushing the strands behind her ears for the rest of the day.

  Ears. He never knew he was an ear man. But hers were adorable and made for nibbling.

  He thought he could pinpoint the exact moment he’d really noticed Faith. Oh, he’d noticed her plenty of times before. Her bouncing curls, her cute little nose, those full lips made for wrapping around his—.

  "I just think it’s time for you to get back on the horse. I want grandchildren someday," his mother said quietly.

  "Ma, please. I’m working here." Tommy shook his head and tried to clear the image of Faith out of his head. "I’ll be at the party. I won’t be there with a date."

  The Fall Festival. That was the moment his wolf stopped growling long enough to take a sniff. He didn’t know exactly what went down, but it ended with Faith standing up in the middle of the movie on the lawn party, stomping her foot, and screaming at her boyfriend that she would not go down on him with the entire town around them.