Dasher Claws: The Twelve Mates Of Christmas, Book 1

by Sylvan, Sable

  Sean plodded over to the snow-covered meadow and got on his tummy. He pushed himself with his paws and soon, he started sliding. His bear roared with glee. The bear remembered doing this with Sean when Sean was but a wee ‘cub’ at eighteen, his first winter with Sean.

  Joy held onto Sean’s fur tightly. Snow flung up around her face, and she spit it out. Sean’s body slid faster and faster until the pair hit a pile of snow piled up on the side of Joy’s rental house.

  Joy got up from Sean and wiped herself off.

  “You know, Sean, I can see why they call you a ‘bad boy’ because that was a bad idea,” joked Joy. “Come on inside. I’ll make us some hot cocoa.”

  Joy walked to the front of the unit and left her bag on the sofa. Sean walked in, and once Joy had gone to the kitchen, he quickly changed back into his human form.

  Joy came back out to hang up her coat, and when she did, she saw Sean, standing in the middle of her living room, naked.

  “Oh, sorry,” said Joy. “Uh…your stuff is in my backpack. Just open it up and get it.”

  “You sure?” asked Sean.

  “Yup, real sure,” said Joy, blushing, avoiding looking down at Sean’s candy cane and ornaments, feeling a lot like the word across Sean’s chest: ‘Naughty.’

  Joy went back to the kitchen. She felt like she needed a glass of ice-cold water rather than a cup of hot chocolate. How could she have been so stupid? She knew shifters were naked when they shifted. She pulled out two mugs and put on an electric kettle of hot water. She put extra marshmallows in the hot chocolate.

  “Is it safe for me to come out now?” called Joy.

  “It only took me a minute to get changed,” said Sean, who was already sitting at the counter dividing the kitchen from the living room. “I’ve just been watching you make hot chocolate for five minutes.”

  “And that means you heard me beat myself up over having seen you naked,” said Joy.

  “A gentleman doesn’t eavesdrop and tell,” said Sean, taking one of the mugs of hot chocolate. “Nice place you got here.”

  “I’m renting it from Avery for a meager price,” said Joy. “I can leave any time after Christmas. The temp contract was lump sum. I can theoretically leave Christmas Day and still get my pay.”

  “Is that your plan? You’re going to leave ASAP?” asked Sean.

  “Abso-frikkin’-lutely,” said Joy. “Why stay here any longer than I have to? At the end of the day, it’s just a job.”

  “You wouldn’t’ve come all the way from Port Jameson to The Wreath if you were just looking for a temp job,” said Sean. “You could’ve gone to Portland, Seattle, heck, San Francisco. Why The Wreath?”

  “I’ve got two exes back home, and the town’s small,” said Joy. “I didn’t want to see them at the town tree lighting, or out caroling, or at any of the million and one activities the town does together. Everyone goes home for the holidays, and lots of them bring their mate home. You know what it’s like to see your ex with a mate? It’s heartbreaking. It means you weren’t good enough for them.”

  “Hey, that’s not how Fate works,” said Sean. “Fated mates are just that. Fated. If you weren’t fated to be your ex’s mate, it wasn’t meant to be.”

  “Here’s what gets me,” said Joy. “How come there are these scumbag guys, who date girls like me, who don’t clean their act up, who clean it up for other girls? What makes those girls worth cleaning their act up for?”

  “I told you,” said Sean. “It’s just Fate.”

  “I’ve had two bear shifter exes, Sean,” said Joy. “I think Fate’s telling me that I’m stupid for dating the same types of guys over and over: bad bears who can’t get their act together…or who won’t get it together for me.”

  “I…” started Sean. “Never mind. You’re going to think it’s stupid.”

  “What?” asked Joy. “Is this about Fate again?”

  “It’s nothing,” said Sean. “Thanks for talking to me, Joy. I was serious when I said I wanted to be your friend. I hope you found what you were looking for out here on The Wreath. I should be heading back to camp now.”

  Sean finished his hot chocolate and headed outside.

  “Huh,” said Sean. “Guess it’s technically past midnight. Merry Christmas, Joy.”

  Sean pulled Joy in for a hug. Joy stiffened. She hadn’t expected Sean to be the first person to wish her a Merry Christmas on Christmas Eve (technically Christmas Eve’s Morning), to give her a hug. She relaxed and hugged Sean back. She let Sean’s thick arms embrace her, hold her, and, just as she got settled into his arms, Sean pulled away.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow for deliveries,” said Sean, before leaving.

  Joy went back inside. She turned on the television and picked a classic Christmas movie. She curled up on the couch with her cocoa and watched it. Why couldn’t she have just told Sean how she felt?

  Sean walked up the hill back to the main street that ran around The Wreath, back to the bakery, to the dock where his boat was still tied up. As he rowed back to the camp, Sean and his bear argued about why Sean couldn’t have just told Joy what he’d wanted to say.

  Chapter Eight

  Christmas Eve Morning, 2007

  “Hey, get up, sleepy head,” said a familiar voice.

  Sean rubbed his eyes and opened them. Next to his bed was a familiar set of faces. It was Pandora and Jack, the two volunteers from the bakery.

  “What are you two doing here?” asked Sean.

  “We’re here to get you across the lake in time to help with deliveries,” said Pandora. “We’ll wait for you on the porch.”

  Sean quickly got changed and went downstairs. He grabbed some pastries and two cups of coffee. Krampus sat across from him.

  “Sean, tonight’s The Ride,” said Krampus.

  “Yeah, I know,” said Sean.

  “Here,” said Krampus, passing the snow globe across the table. “You need to swap shifts again.”

  “Thanks, nearly forgot,” said Sean.

  While the snow globe worked its magic, Krampus continued.

  “Tonight, I’ll be taking you to The North Pole,” said Krampus. “I’ll take you there the same way I took you from Nuthusk to The Wreath, using my magic chains. At The North Pole, you’ll be briefed on how The Ride works. I’ve already given you some basic information. You’ll be put in a magic harness, attached to the sleigh, and outfitted with magical earpieces and such so you can communicate with me. I’ll be at Santa’s Workshop, the base of operations, and I’ll help you with any problems you’ll have on The Ride. You won’t be back until dawn. You’ll travel around the entire world tonight. You can sleep in tomorrow. Don’t worry about coming back to Camp Kringle tonight. Wherever you are, I’ll find you. Be careful. ‘Old Man’ Winter’s really living up to his reputation. He’s got one Hell of a storm brewing – and trust me when I say that Boreas can toss a wrench into anyone’s plans. Be safe, and if you have to quit early…just go back to the bakery and wait for me to pick you up for The Ride.”

  “Got it, Krampus,” said Sean. “But…you know me. I’m a runner. I finish every race I start. Come Hell or high water – or Boreas Winter – I’ll finish my deliveries, today and tonight.”

  “You’re one crazy bear, but I don’t know what else I expected from a future Clan Alpha. Maybe it’s the mate madness kicking in. Too soon? Anyway, here,” said Krampus, passing Sean a keychain containing a key and a giant red metal devil’s head.

  “What’s this?” asked Sean.

  “Keys to my speedboat,” said Krampus. “You’ll need something fast to make it to the bakery in time for deliveries.”

  “You had a speedboat this whole frikkin’ time, and you made me row across the lake every day, twice a day?” asked Sean.

  “What part of ‘I’m a demon, not a nice guy,’ do people keep on not understanding?” asked Krampus. “Don’t scratch her up.”

  Sean took the keys and walked out to the patio. The bright red speedboat was already
at the dock. Sean and Pandora and Jack stepped down from the patio to the dock and got in the speedboat.

  “Ever driven one of these bad boys?” asked Jack.

  “Nope,” said Sean.

  “I’ll do it,” said Jack, taking the keys.

  “So, Sean, you and Joy have any fun after Jack, and I left?” asked Pandora.

  “I walked her home. She rode my shift. We had hot chocolate,” said Sean.

  “And did you tell her how you feel?” asked Pandora.

  “No,” said Sean. “Wait, who says I feel anything for her?”

  “It’s super obvious you two have a spark,” said Pandora.

  “Tell her how you feel,” said Jack. “You never know when it might be your last chance to tell someone you love them.”

  Jack pulled the speedboat up to the dock by the Bear Claw Bakery. The trio got out of the motorboat and walked up to the back of the bakery, where Avery and Joy were lugging packages from cold storage to the two SUVs parked outside the bakery.

  “Great, y’all are here,” said Avery. “Pandora, Jack, you’re taking Pandora’s car and making the deliveries on the list I left on the seat. Sean, Joy, you’ll take Joy’s car and make your deliveries. I’m staying here, at the base of operations. Each set of deliveries is divided up by neighborhood, so you won’t have to drive far. You just need to drive from here to the neighborhood, find the houses, deliver the goods, and come back here for the rest of the goods. There’s a storm brewin’. I think we’re in for a very white Christmas. A blizzard’s expected for tonight, Jack, so be careful out there. Y’all’re earning your after party tonight.”

  Pandora, Jack, and Sean helped load the last of the Christmas packages into the SUV. Each SUV was able to hold about twenty packages, a driver, and a passenger (with a bundle on their lap).

  “One last thing,” said Avery. “Boss wants y’all to wear these.”

  Avery passed out some Santa hats to the group.

  “How’s mine look?” asked Joy.

  “Here,” said Sean. “Let me adjust it.”

  Joy looked up into Sean’s eyes while Sean adjusted the silly hat on her head. She wanted nothing more than to lean in and just kiss Sean, but she didn’t. She knew that she’d be making yet another mistake. Fate had already told her that she wasn’t meant to be with a bear shifter. Maybe instead, she was meant to be with that mysterious reindeer who had defended her honor. It was too bad he hadn’t come back into the cafe to introduce himself to her.

  “I’ll fix yours too,” said Joy, reaching up to fix Sean’s hat.

  Sean looked down at Joy. She was so delicate, so small. She was curvy by human standards but compared to Sean, she was absolutely teeny, like a delicate snowflake.

  “Hey, look up,” said Pandora, about to get into her SUV.

  “What?” asked Joy, before looking up. There was a bundle of white berries and green leaves tied to one of the power lines leading to the bakery.

  “You know what that means,” said Pandora, raising an eyebrow, before getting in her car and driving off.

  “What is it?” asked Joy. “What did she mean by…you know what that means?”

  “You really don’t recognize that?” asked Sean.

  “Obviously not,” said Joy, putting a hand to her hip.

  “Well…my bear and I, we’d go in the woods for runs, and I often ate the berries and fruits I found growing in the forest,” said Sean. “That’s one berry I never ate. Didn’t want to risk it. It’s poisonous to humans. It’s…mistletoe.”

  “No,” groaned Joy. “I thought mistletoe had red berries!”

  “No,” said Sean. “That’s holly. That, up there…that’s mistletoe.”

  “And mistletoe is for…” started Joy, blushing.

  “You don’t have to,” said Sean. “I know you aren’t really into all this Christmas stuff anyway.”

  “I mean…I wasn’t before…well, you know,” started Joy, cheeks turning red as the berries she’d thought mistletoe bore.

  “Before what?” asked Sean.

  Joy looked down nervously, and then, up at Sean’s expectant face. She did something impulsive, something she’d told herself she’d never do.

  She got on her tiptoes as if she was going to put a star on a Christmas tree.

  She wrapped her arms around Sean, like boughs of holly decked ‘round the halls of an English manor.

  She pulled Sean close, like a big, fluffy teddy bear

  She put her lips up against Sean’s and did the one thing she’d promised herself she’d never, ever do again.

  She kissed a werebear.

  Joy pressed her lips against Sean’s and closed her eyes. Sean’s firm hands moved to her sides and then, down to her waist. Sean’s grip was firm, but not lewd. Sean’s arms made her feel safe and warm, even though they were out in the cold, snow rapidly swirling around them. A curvy baker and a werebear, both wearing Santa hats, kissing underneath mistletoe magically strung up by ‘Panda Claus’ herself, as the snow gave them but a thin veil of privacy from the outside world. They felt as if they were in a bubble where only the two of them existed, but it wasn’t just a bubble. It was like a magical snow globe.

  Joy broke the kiss and fluttered her eyelashes before taking a deep breath.

  “What was that for?” joked Sean.

  “For…for tradition,” insisted Joy. “I wouldn’t want us to have bad luck today, going out on these icy roads and all. After all, tons of families are depending on us to grant their Christmas wishes!”

  “Uh-huh, sure,” said Sean, crossing his arms.

  “And…maybe it was to thank you for helping me get in the Christmas spirit or something,” said Joy. “Whatever. Let’s get on the road. Pandora and Jack already have a lead on us, and you’re not the only one with a competitive streak.”

  What’s wrong? asked Dasher as Sean moved toward the car.

  I could’ve done this a lot sooner, said Sean. I never appreciated my shift, not until I could lose it. I didn’t have the confidence I had when I had my bear. I might lose it, Dasher — literally.

  You might not, said Dasher. You have all day today and the day after to get off The Naughty List and find a fated mate.

  Same way parents have all day tomorrow and the day after to get a last-minute Christmas gift, but can still end up empty-handed on Christmas day, said Sean. This isn’t anyone’s fault but mine. I should’ve taken my search for a fated mate more seriously.

  Did you take it seriously on The Wreath? asked Dasher.

  You know I did, said Sean. But she doesn’t want me. She doesn’t want anything to do with me. And the stupid part is, I can’t find it in my heart to pursue anyone else. I had nearly a month to find someone, and all I did was waste my time going after a girl who didn’t want me. Every second I spent talking to Joy could’ve been spent finding a girl that wanted me, but every second I spent talking to Joy, I forgot about my obligation. In those precious moments, I was…I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it.

  “Earth to Sean, you there?” asked Joy.

  “Sorry, got distracted,” said Sean.

  “Do you need a coffee or something?” asked Joy. At the mention of coffee, she’d usually taste coffee in her mouth, a Pavlovian response of sorts, but, her mouth was still full of the taste of Sean’s lips. She swore they tasted like wood and pine and sugar cookies, all mixed together.

  “No. I had some back at Camp Kringle,” said Sean. “Really, it’s nothing.”

  Joy and Sean got into Joy’s SUV. Joy was on driving duty while Sean was on delivery duty. It took them about fifteen minutes to get to their assigned neighborhood, longer than expected because of snow.

  “It’s really coming down,” said Joy. “I hope it doesn’t get worse. I’d hate for some kid not to get their Christmas treats because of some bad weather.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Sean. “I’m fast. Real fast. I’ll make sure we deliver each and every package tonight.”

  Joy park
ed and Sean got out of the car. Sean grabbed one of the packages from the back and figured out which house he was meant to go to. As a shifter, Sean’s body ran hot. He was comfortable in a red flannel shirt, green work pants, and a pair of work boots, Santa hat tightly placed around his head. He just had to be careful not to slip on the ice.

  Sean went up to the door of the first house and knocked. There was no answer, so he rang the doorbell.

  Somebody opened the door. It was a small child in reindeer pajamas.

  “Hey, kiddo, are your parents home?” asked Sean.

  “Who are you?” asked the little boy.

  “I’m…one of Santa’s helpers, but keep it a secret, okay?” said Sean, holding his finger up to his lips.

  “Got it,” said the boy with a smile.

  The kid left and returned with his parent.

  “Thanks, Timothy,” said the boy’s mom. “Go back to the TV now.”

  “Here, this is for you all,” said Sean, passing the basket of goodies to Timothy’s mom. “You signed up for Operation Milk and Cookies?”

  “I didn’t think you all would come through, given the weather,” said Timothy’s mom. “This is really a Christmas miracle. Thank you so, so much.”

  “Don’t worry about it, ma’am,” said Sean. “Merry Christmas.

  While Sean delivered packages, Joy figured out which house he should go to next, so he wouldn’t have to waste time trying to read street numbers during the snow storm. Sean came back to the car and got the next package.

  She also spent the time wondering why she’d been so impulsive and kissed Sean underneath that frikkin’ mistletoe. She could’ve laughed it off. A year ago, she would’ve. Heck, a few weeks ago, she would’ve just rolled her eyes if somebody mentioned she was standing underneath that cursed plant, but…something was different, and that thing was Sean. Joy knew that Sean had to be trouble. He was a werebear, and he had a mark literally reading ‘Naughty’ on his chest, so, why was this Goldilocks so sure that her third bear would be ‘just right’ after all?