Hot Holida Treats

by Sorcha Mowbray, Rachel Kenley, Jocelyn Dex, Sotia Lazu, Leigh Ellwood, Eva Lefoy, Daisy Banks, Sofia Grey

  There were three guys, all young and strong looking. Each had the same brilliant blue eyes as Levi, and the same graceful way of moving. I tried not to stare. Were they wolves too?

  “I’m Levi, and this is Jess.” He hesitated, and then squeezed my fingers. “She’s my Mate.”

  Mate? It seemed to hold some significance to the Welsh men, as they instantly relaxed around me.

  “We’re ten miles outside the village. Fastest if I shift, and run like that,” offered the youngest. He gave me a shy smile. “I’m Dai Evans.”

  One the others clapped him on the shoulder. “Good lad. Get them to send the tractor to drag the vehicles clear. Morris is putting out some warning lights to stop anyone else from coming through.”

  Levi tugged me closer on the back seat of the car. “I’m sorry, baby. Did I hurt you?”

  His concern brought tears to my eyes. “I’m fine, thanks to you.”

  With the help of the third rescuer, Taff, we pieced the events together. The van had swerved to avoid a fox, spun on the ice and got stuck. The driver had set off to get help, and this crew had been on their way to recover the vehicle. Coming around the bend, they’d been unable to avoid our car, smashing the passenger side of the BMW into the rock face.

  Where I’d been sitting was completely mangled.

  In the shunt, the BMW had lurched forward, and Levi had pushed me clear, taking the hit himself. The young wolf, Dai, was going to despatch the local doctor to come and check on Levi, and then they’d figure out if he needed to go to hospital. In the meantime, they kindly recovered our luggage, and gave us hot drinks, then left us alone while they worked to clear the road.

  We huddled together, and I tried very hard not to cry. Levi’s pained, wheezing breath scared me. I needed to talk, to distract myself from the realisation that Levi had risked himself to save my life. “You called me your mate,” I whispered. “I thought I was a bit more than that.”

  “Ah yes.” He ran his knuckles down my cheek. “There’s something I should explain. It’s not mate, as in friend.” He paused, and I saw uncertainty in his eyes. “Some wolves,” he continued slowly, “are lucky enough to find their true partner. Their Mate. Like your dad, when he met your mum.” His smile was hesitant. “We mate for life.”

  “Oh.” I tried to focus on his words. Thought about how good my parents were together, how happy, and still in love with each other. “And you think I’m your Mate?”

  “I know you are.” He drew my hand to his mouth and pressed a hot kiss on my palm. “When you freed me from that cage. My wolf recognised you as its own.”

  “Oh,” I repeated, my mind spinning and Levi nipped playfully at my fingertips.

  “You already said that,” he murmured.

  I pulled my wits together, as best I could. “So what does this mean?”

  “That all depends on you, Jess. Whether or not you want to accept me.”

  A short while later, things went chaotic again. The local doctor arrived and checked out Levi. There were definitely some broken ribs, and most likely fractures to his sternum and collarbone. He needed an X-ray, to make sure his lungs hadn’t been punctured, but apart from that he seemed to be fine. Luckily for us, the medical centre in Beddgelert could do this, rather than having to transport him to hospital—a near impossibility in this weather.

  Wherever he went, I’d be with him, holding his hand.

  I couldn’t be sure how I felt about the Mate issue. It was too big and complicated to think about right now, and so I pushed it from my mind. At least for the moment.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Our first night in a shared bed was not how I imagined. Despite Levi’s protests of feeling fine, he’d been given strong painkillers and lay doped up and grumpy, while I tried to avoid moving. He was bruised from the neck down to his stomach, and I was terrified of hurting him in my sleep, if I rolled over.

  “I want to hold you,” he grumbled, and so we spooned together. “I wanted to turn your legs to jelly again tonight, and then fuck you into oblivion.”

  I stroked his hand where it curved around my breast. “Maybe in a few days.”

  “These damned drugs.” His sleep-filled voice rumbled in my ear. “I don’t think I can even stay awake long enough to come into your dreams. I’m sorry, baby.”

  My eyes filled up. “You have nothing to apologise for.” From his slow, steady breathing, I figured he was already asleep.

  I was still wide awake, and with too many thoughts tearing around inside my head, to sleep any time soon. Everybody here had been so helpful and friendly, wolves and non-wolves alike. We’d met Tammy, the sister of Levi’s friend, Sasha, and she’d been brilliant. She’d booked us a room in this lovely inn, and had promised us a guided tour of the area as soon as Levi was up and about. She was also organising the insurance on Mum’s battered car, and sorting out a hire vehicle for us.

  Our immediate problems had all been taken care of.

  My thoughts returned to the man beside me. His body curled around mine, protecting me even in his sleep. Could I really consider a long-term relationship with him after such a short time? And if I did, would I move back to New Zealand with him? What about the shop?

  The depth of what I felt for Levi was impossible to explain. I knew with a profound certainty that leaving him was not an option, so now I had to figure out how we could make it work. What would happen to Dad’s shop? How would my parents cope with me living thousands of miles away?

  I had no answers.

  ❄ ❄ ❄

  After breakfast the next morning, Levi went for a check-up with the doctor, and I had a little time to myself. I found a quiet spot and set up a Facetime call with my parents.

  I told them of the accident. How Levi had saved me. How he wanted to claim me as his Mate, and how I wanted to say yes.

  Dad looked sideways at Mum, and then back at me. “The day I met your mum, I knew she was mine. I would move heaven and earth to be with her, and I still feel the same.” He gazed into the distance for a moment. Mum nudged him with her elbow and he met my eyes again. “I know how Levi must feel about you. I understand.”

  “And,” piped up Mum. “If you feel for Levi even a tenth of what I feel for your dad, you’ll be very happy with him.”

  Dad spoke again. “If you want to make a life together, Jessie-Bell, I’d be wrong to stand in your way. We’ll figure it out.”

  The call over, I went back to our room, and found Levi sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “Hey,” he greeted me, and patted the space beside him. “C’mon over here. I think I’m dying of hypothermia and I need your body warmth to keep me alive.”

  I moved to his side. “If I want to hold you, will it hurt?”

  “I’d be more hurt if you didn’t.”

  We sprawled together, Levi propped up with a mountain of pillows, and he found a comfortable position where we could snuggle.

  “I’ve been thinking,” I began, watching the expression on his face. “If I became your Mate, what would that mean for us?”

  Hope flared in his eyes. He slid one hand into my hair and cupped the back of my head. “It’d be tough. There’d be lots of hot sex.”

  I bit back my giggle. “Really?”

  “Oh yeah. I’d also spend all my days telling you how beautiful you are, and how much I love you.”

  “Really?”

  He huffed out a laugh. “I’m thinking it’s a good sign that I reduce you to near speechlessness.”

  I grabbed my courage and held it tight. “I love you. I know it’s early days, but I love you, Levi. I want to make this work.”

  “I love you too, baby. You’ve just caught yourself a wolf.”

  I stole a kiss. “I haven’t put you in cage.”

  He stole one from me. “Actually you have. But your love is a cage I never want to leave.”

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later...

  When we returned to Manchester, it was to several pieces o
f good news. Charlie was home, and looked set to make a good recovery, and my parents had come to terms with Levi being my Mate. I think Mum had something to do with that, but Levi’s willingness to risk himself for me, won Dad over.

  That would be have been enough celebration for me, but Dad had some other news to share. He was planning to sell the shop—not to Jack Harper—but to the supermarket chain that wanted to open a branch of their DIY stores in the same street. Dad had been tipped off by Becca, who’d found out from Toby. This was why Jack had been so keen to buy the shop, in the hope of reselling it and making a quick profit.

  “You’re free to make your own decisions about your future, Jessie-Bell. Chaining you to this life isn’t fair. And now I can retire early,” he told us. “Very early. So if you do end up living half way around the world, we can come and see you.”

  “I’ve always fancied visiting New Zealand.” Mum’s smile was bright. “Maybe even living there one day.”

  When I’d come back home, just a few weeks ago, I thought I had my life planned out. The only wolves I knew, were the little wooden ones on the Christmas tree.

  Now I had a real wolf of my own, and many Christmases to look forward to with him.

  ❄ The End ❄

  Meet Sofia Grey

  Romance author Sofia Grey spends her days managing projects in the corporate world and her nights hanging out with wolf shifters and alpha males. She devours pretty much anything in the fiction line, but she prefers her romances to be hot, and her heroes to have hidden depths. When writing, she enjoys peeling back the layers to expose her characters’ flaws and always makes them work hard for their happy endings.

  Music is interwoven so tightly into my writing that I can’t untangle the two. Either I’m listening to a playlist on my iPod, have music seeping from my laptop speakers, or there’s a song playing in my head – sometimes on auto-repeat.

  Check out my playlists on Pinterest

  Website | GoodReads | Facebook | Pintrest | Twitter | Tumblr

  Catch me blogging with Allyson Lindt at www.GeminiGirls.com

  Other Titles by Sofia Grey

  Wolf at the Door (Snowdonia Wolves #1)

  A Handful of Wolf (Snowdonia Wolves #2)

  Return to Emerald City

  Crash Into Love (Love at the Beach #1)

  Come To Me

  About Silken Sheets & Seduction

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  Each member blogs twice a month, either the first and third weeks of the month or the second and fourth weeks. In between we will have guest bloggers stopping by to keep you informed and entertained.

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  Hot Holiday Treats © October 2014

  Sorcha Mowbray, Rachel Kenley, Jocelyn Dex, Sotia Lazu, Leigh Ellwood, Eva Lefoy, Daisy Banks, Sofia Grey

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