Shifters of Silver Peak: A Very Shifty Christmas

by Georgette St. Clair

  He looked at her reproachfully.

  “You didn’t answer your phone either.”

  “I left my purse in the car. I was kind of in shock. I would have answered if I’d known you were calling,” Valerie said. She sat up. “Wait, how do you feel about me?”

  “I’m crazy about you. I can’t stop thinking about you. When you’re not with me, I imagine that you’re there. When I do something stupid, I think about what you’d say to me, and it makes me want to do better. When I do something smart, I think about what you’d say, and it makes me feel warm all over.”

  She felt her heart speed up in her chest, and her breath caught in her throat. “It does?”

  He seized her hand and squeezed it. “The way I’ve been acting since we got back…”

  She put her hand over his and met his intense gaze. “I understand that this time of year is hard for you. Honoria told me about your father.”

  He drew in a sharp breath and looked away.

  “I’m sorry about what happened to you back then,” she said quietly. “It was terrible. It’s an enormous burden to carry all by yourself.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m here for you, Morgan. You don’t have to carry that burden alone.”

  He looked away, staring out the window into nothingness. “When my mother lost my father…it nearly killed her. She was lost to all of us, for years. It was terrifying, Valerie. You know what’s just as terrifying? The thought that I could love someone as much as she loved him, and lose that person. What if it destroyed me like it did her, and I couldn’t take care of the pack anymore?”

  “You’re not her. You wouldn’t let that happen. And you’ve been letting this fear dictate your life, make you live in this protective bubble. Working from the minute you get up ’til the minute you fall asleep, shutting away all your feelings. But that’s not really living, Morgan.”

  He looked at her again, and this time she saw the deep, dark depths of pain that he’d lived with. “When we were in the woods, I felt as if we were melting together. Fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle. I felt as if I couldn’t live without you. And it scared the hell out of me. That’s why I’ve been pulling away. And if it hurt you, I’m so sorry.”

  “Of course it hurt me, you jerk.” Tears filled her eyes.

  “Do you want to smack me upside the head or something?” he offered.

  “Kind of,” she sniffled, “but it would just hurt my hand and you probably wouldn’t even feel it. Because you’re so damn hard-headed.”

  He gave a brief laugh, his face softening in a way that was unfamiliar, and Valerie realized that the arrogance she had always seen in his features hadn’t been that at all. It had been pain. Fear of failing the people he loved; the people he felt responsible for. And maybe she could help him to let that fear go.

  Then his expression turned serious again and he bent down and kissed her hard, passionately. His arms locked around her in a possessive embrace that left her short of breath – or maybe that was the way he was claiming her mouth, his lips firm and warm against hers.

  She clung to him, drinking in the masculine scent of his skin and the taste of his mouth, butterflies fluttering inside her with every touch of his lips, every tilt of his head.

  He tore his mouth away with obvious reluctance and looked deeply into her eyes. His pupils were dark, fathomless pools of desire, and she felt like she was tumbling into them. She never wanted to stop falling.

  “I don’t want you to leave,” he said. “This isn’t just a mating of convenience. I want you to stay with me forever. I want you with me, wherever I go. Will you do that?” The muscles of his arms were almost trembling with tension beneath her palms.

  “Of course I will, you big, stupid wolf,” she said, eyes burning as tears ran down her cheeks. “I love you.”

  “Oh, thank God,” he said on a long breath of relief. “I love you too. I was afraid that I was too much of a rude, stupid ass and you were going to leave me forever.”

  “You are definitely too much of a rude, stupid ass, but you’re my ass. I love your ass.”

  His smile was one hundred percent masculine smugness as he pressed her back onto the bed. “I do have a really sexy ass,” he agreed.

  She really might have smacked him then, but he kissed her so thoroughly that the impulse completely disappeared from her head. The only thing she could think about was the blossoming heat between her thighs and the thrilling little shivers of anticipation running over her skin.

  Morgan tangled one hand in her hair, and with the other he explored her body, palming her breast and giving a satisfied hum as she arched up against his hand.

  His fingers moved lower, exploring, and Valerie winced and gave a sharp intake of breath when he pressed against the tender spot on her ribs where she’d been thrown against her seatbelt.

  Morgan pulled back, his expression concerned. “You told me you weren’t hurt,” he chastised her.

  She took his hand and placed it back on her breast. “It’s nothing,” she reassured him. “Just a few bumps and bruises. It’s lucky I’m well-padded.”

  Morgan dropped a soft kiss on her lips, then his fingers went to the buttons of her blouse. He slipped them from their buttonholes one by one, exposing her lace-clad breasts. The intentness of his expression made her ache, and she felt slickness between her thighs. Morgan peeled her blouse down her arms, careful not to brush the seatbelt-graze on her shoulder, then unfastened the front clasp of her bra and tossed the garments onto the floor, leaving Valerie naked from the waist up.

  He bent his head and brushed his lips over the scrape near her collarbone, a touch so gentle that it felt like little more than a whisper of breath. She sighed as he moved down her body to kiss her breasts, cupping them with his palms and tweaking one nipple and then the other with his lips. It sent arousal coiling down her body, making her core clench with desire.

  He put his big hands above her hips, fitting them into the curve of her waist, and bent his head again to kiss the bruised skin on her ribs. The blossom of purple felt tender under the slight pressure of his lips, but the small pain was welcome, anchoring her to the moment, reminding her that this was real. Morgan wanted her to stay with him forever, as his mate. Her heart, throbbing fast with anticipation, seemed to miss a beat.

  Morgan hooked his thumbs under her waistband, pulling down her slacks and her underwear, kissing each inch of flesh he uncovered as he pulled the fabric over the plump curve of her belly.

  Valerie let out a squeak when he parted her thighs, which turned into a moan when he placed his mouth against her pussy and gave her a long, slow lick that ended with a sweet, swirling pressure on her clit. A pulse of arousal so sudden that it made her gasp and shudder had her twisting her fingers into his hair, pulling him up to lie over her, desperate to have him inside her.

  He lay between her thighs, rolling his hips against her, the hard, hot length of his shaft a sweet friction against her slick folds. Shudders and flutters raced through her body while sparks of electricity seemed to dance over her skin. His big, hot shifter body pressed down on her, hard with smooth, toned muscle, and she wrapped her legs around his lean hips, urging him inside her with squirms and moans, far too turned on for words.

  Morgan obliged her gladly, eagerly, plunging inside her with a fevered desperation that mirrored hers. His thick cock stretched and filled her, driving the breath from her body in a low, long moan of absolute pleasure. She placed her hands flat on his back and felt his muscles flexing against her palms as he began to work his way in and out of her wetness in a steady rhythm that with each thrust drove them both higher.

  Their skin was sheened with sweat, their breathing ragged as they moved together, oblivious to everything but each other, their bodies meeting and parting and meeting again. Exquisite sensation pooled between her thighs, building higher and higher. She clutched at his shoulders, urging him on, and when he thrust even harder and deeper, something inside her shattered into a million sp
arkling fragments that drifted blissfully then settled like falling snow.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Downtown Silver Peak was bustling with shoppers. A fresh layer of snow blanketed the cars and hedges, and the air smelled clean and crisp.

  Morgan had taken Valerie, Arthur, Nelda, Teddy, and his siblings out to shop – after Arthur had once again checked under his car.

  Teddy was unrecognizable. She’d been scrubbed clean, her cheeks were pink, and she wore a puffy down coat, cashmere sweater and corduroy slacks, and matching Ugg boots. She clung to Nelda’s hand and talked nonstop.

  It was a weekday, and Morgan had decided to take the day off work. They had wandered from shop to shop – poor Arthur was now staggering under a load of packages. They had stopped for breakfast, then for coffee and pastries. Morgan had held Valerie’s hand the whole time and hadn’t rushed anyone. Not once.

  “You sure you’re not itching to get back to work?” Valerie asked Morgan. “You’re my mate. Don’t lie to me.”

  “Maybe the teeniest bit,” Morgan said. “You?”

  “Possibly a tad,” she conceded. “I don’t think I could have worked with you all these years if I didn’t have a little workaholic in me. We’ll have to keep each other in check.”

  “Oh, I’ll make sure that we have plenty of downtime together,” Morgan said, his eyes glinting with mischief.

  Honoria loudly cleared her throat.

  “Hey, big brother. You’re not being crabby. It’s freaking me out. And Mom isn’t nagging me about studying. I’m not dying, am I?” she asked him suspiciously.

  “What about me? Maybe we’re both dying,” Homer said. “Maybe we have twin tumors.” He clutched dramatically at his chest.

  “Your mother is too busy teaching Teddy to be a snob to worry about your study habits. And as for me, can’t a shifter just enjoy Christmas vacation with his family?” Morgan grinned at Honoria and tousled her hair. She stepped away, patting her hair back into place with annoyance.

  “Because if I was dying,” Honoria continued, “Silver Peak is nice and all, but I’d want that trip to Paris I’ve been subtly hinting about all year.”

  “Japan,” Homer coughed into his hand.

  “About as subtle as a baseball bat to the kneecap,” Morgan mused.

  “There’s my mother,” Teddy said, pointing across the street at Dudley’s, a tavern owned by Joyce Dudley. Joyce was a human whose husband, Paul, was a shifter and the sheriff of Silver Peak.

  “No, Teddy, she’s at the springs today,” Valerie said. “I talked to her on the phone this morning, I wanted to let her know where you were. She said she would be there all day because she wanted to make sure she gets better for you.”

  “Nope, that was her. I saw her in the window,” Teddy said, but then Nelda led her into a candy shop and Honoria and Homer followed them in. Arthur staggered after them, desperately clutching at his pile of packages.

  Valerie glanced over at the tavern. “I need to go check,” she said.

  She stalked across the street with Morgan following her.

  Teddy, of course, was right. Liane was half-sloshed, sitting at a table, making out with some shifter Valerie didn’t recognize.

  Morgan walked over and pulled the guy off her by his collar. “Get out,” he snapped. The shifter started to protest, took one look at Morgan, and squealed in fear. He ducked his head in submission and ran for the door.

  “Hey!” Liane cried out in protest, her voice slurred. When she realized that it was Valerie standing there glaring at her, a vague, confused expression crossed her face. “You. I know you, right? What’s your name again?”

  “Drop the act, you lazy, self-centered bitch. You never had early-onset dementia,” Valerie said furiously. “You just used your family history as an excuse. All those times you wandered off and left your daughter alone, you did it with a clear head.”

  Liane straightened up and glared at her sullenly. “Easy for you to stand there and judge me, princess,” she said, her tone turned nasty. “You don’t have some snot-faced little brat attached to your hip and driving off every decent man.”

  Valerie’s lip wrinkled back in disgust. “The fact that she drove them off means they weren’t decent.”

  “She’s not right in the head, you know,” Liane whined. “She asks weird questions all the time. She never stops asking questions. And she bites people. Who does that?”

  “Me,” Morgan said, looking at her with hard, glittering anger in his eyes. “And I’m tempted to take a chunk out of you, but I don’t think I’d like the taste. My family will be sending lawyers over to your house so that you can sign custody of Teddy over to us.”

  “You’ll have to find me first!” Liane’s tone was belligerent. She stood up, stumbling slightly, and pushed her chair back. “Screw this stupid town. Screw Montana. I’m sicka the cold weather. I’m sicka shifters. I’m outta here.” She staggered out the door and down the street.

  Valerie and Morgan waited until she was out of sight, then slowly walked back across the street to the candy shop.

  “We’ll get her on parental abandonment,” Morgan assured Valerie. “To say nothing of child endangerment, with Teddy wandering off and nearly freezing to death like that.”

  “Do you think Nelda is willing to take her on permanently?” Valerie asked, worried.

  The candy shop door opened, and the Rosemonts trooped out. Honoria and Homer had taken some of the packages from Arthur. His face was peeping out above the stack now.

  Teddy stopped to look at Valerie with concern. She gave her a long, slow once-over, her little forehead wrinkling in dismay.

  “What is it?” Valerie asked.

  Teddy looked up at Nelda. “She’s wearing white. It’s after Labour Day,” she said, shaking her head and making a tsking sound. Then she looked back at Valerie with a mixture of understanding and pity. “It’s okay, though,” she said, patting Valerie on the hand. “You’re only human.”

  Nelda seized Teddy’s hand and looked down at her as if Teddy were minted of platinum and studded with rubies.

  “Arthur, isn’t she the most precious thing ever?” she breathed.

  “Yes, ma’am – I mean Nelda – I expect she is.”

  “Would she be willing to keep her?” Morgan whispered to Valerie. “I think she’d bite the face off anyone who tried to take her.”

  * * * * *

  The festive mood was dimmed that afternoon when Morgan called the entire family and all of the household servants into the living room.

  “I just got a call from the police department,” he said. His voice was deadly calm. “I suppose I’ve been in denial up until now, because I really didn’t want to believe that anyone in my pack was capable of this kind of devious, cowardly behavior. A death challenge, yes. But this? The brake line to my car was punctured. Somebody tried to kill my mate.” There was murder in his eyes, and his ears went pointy and furry. Claws sprang from his fingertips.

  “And my son,” Elmira said indignantly. “I suppose you don’t care what happens to him.”

  Morgan looked at her. “I care about attacks on any member of my pack. My brother and sister were also in that car. However, it’s clear that Valerie was the intended target. Everybody knows that Valerie drives that car. Festus getting into the car was a last-minute thing, and the same with my brother and sister.”

  His gaze slowly swept over them, and the bones of his face rippled and cracked. His face melted into wolf form, then went human again.

  His mother looked at him indignantly. “Alpha. I sincerely hope you’re not looking at me,” she said, her tone severe.

  He ignored her and addressed the group. His expression was grim.

  “For Valerie’s safety, I will be by her side twenty-four hours a day until the culprit is caught,” he said. “I have pack members guarding the cars to ensure that they are not tampered with again. And I don’t think I need to tell any of you that attempting to harm the Alpha’s mate is an offense
punishable by death. It is an attack on the Alpha, it is an attack on the integrity and honor of the pack, and it will not be tolerated. I will find out who’s behind this, and I will end them.”

  He put his arm around Valerie’s shoulders, and they left the room together. Valerie’s face was glum as she trudged up the stairs with him.

  “You’ll be safe, I swear,” Morgan assured her.

  “I know you’ll protect me,” she said unhappily. “Nobody will try anything while you’re with me.”

  That wasn’t what was bothering her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Early that evening, Valerie and Morgan were talking to Arthur in the living room when they heard howls of pain coming from the kitchen.

  They rushed in and found Festus lying on the floor by the stove, curled up and clutching at his stomach. A ceramic bowl lay next to him on the floor, shattered to pieces, and stew had spilled out on the flagstones.

  DeeDee knelt next to him, her hands fluttering frantically in the air, her eyes huge. “What do I do? What do I do?” she cried out.

  Camden came racing in and knelt next to his brother. “What happened to you?” he demanded. “Did someone attack you?” He looked up at them with a ferocious glare, as if trying to decide who to bite first. “Nobody hurts my family!” he barked angrily.

  Festus vomited onto the floor. “The stew,” he moaned weakly. “My stomach. Poison. Don’t eat it…” Sweat was pouring from his forehead and matting his hair.

  The rest of the pack began piling in. Elmira saw her son lying there and burst into tears.

  “My son! Who did this to him?” she cried, looking around wildly.

  “What happened?” Morgan demanded of DeeDee as Arthur dialed 911.