A Christmas Home

by April Zyon

  “That sounds like a great plan,” she told him, then took a deep breath and looked around, trying to focus on something happy. “So, this place is amazing. Shifter Falls. Who came up with that name, by the way? Do you celebrate all of the shifters in the world with equal abandon? If so, this is going to be such an amazing place to be.”

  “One of the founders named the place, or rather his wife did. She loved all shifters and was a pacifist no matter what they were. She started the traditions we still carry on to this day. She was also big on holidays, so we celebrate every single one of them. Christmas is the big one, obviously. The only bigger celebration is the town’s birthday. That is usually a week’s worth of revelry that is unsurpassed. I don’t think most places are even open during that time because we’re all partying so hard and long.”

  “That sounds like a fabulous time. I can’t wait to celebrate New Year’s but please, please tell me that they don’t start getting ready for Christmas before it’s even Halloween. If so, we will have to have a discussion with the people in charge. Each holiday should have its own month, ya know?”

  He let out a snort. “We don’t start on Christmas until the first of December. And everything usually comes down by the tenth of January.” The door behind him opened, and one of the alphas stuck his head out to let them know to come back in. Jagger nodded, then looked down at her. “Ready?”

  She slipped her hand back into Jagger’s and let him lead her into the room of alphas once more. She took a seat with Jagger, allowing him to pull her into his lap. She looked to the alphas and waited to see just what they had to tell them.

  One of the two females leaned forward in her chair to brace her elbows on the table. “Thank you for sharing that with us, allowing us to see and truly believe. There are some here that never would have if you hadn’t, but I think you knew that walking in here. So, too, did your mate, I’m guessing.” At Ophelia’s nod, the woman blew out a breath. “I called my second and told him to get men down into the old mines to look for easy to get at deposits. So did Harold. We will bring all the silver to your men for them to turn into weapons. What do we do next, Jagger? How the fuck do we protect our packs, our families, from these assholes?”

  “We band together like never before. I know it’s not easy. We all have issues with at least one other pack in this room, but in this we must unite. While I may not particularly like how some of you handle things within your own packs that is not my business, but this threat is. I will not let us be hurt by these animals who think to take away what we have fought to build here. We need intel on these assholes, and fast. We only have a few days before Christmas. I know they are probably thinking we’re too busy with preparations and with trying to figure out who they are for the vote two days after Christmas. I think that’s why they’ll attack on the holiday, when we’re all at ease and unconcerned. I have four men already watching over the sabertooths, but I need you each to help with the watch. They can’t keep track of the alpha and his inner circle on their own twenty-four hours a day.”

  The other alphas shared looks before giving firm nods. The woman spoke up again. “You’ll have it. In this we are united, Jagger. Afterward we go back to our truce, and sneer at each other as we will on the streets. Nobody comes into my town and fucks with the people, shifter or human.” Her words were echoed by the others quickly.

  “Good,” Jagger said. Ophelia felt him relax under her and realized he had been hopeful, but until that moment still unsure if they would go along with his plans. “Keep all information on need to know. Inner circle should know everything. With the rest of the pack filter what you say. We don’t want one of them saying something in town that might get back to the sabertooths. All our meetings will be in here since it’s shielded and protected. We need to meet daily until we end this threat. Any problems with that?” When the others gave him their no’s he stood and settled her on her feet. He then moved to shake each alpha’s hand firmly. She noticed they made eye contact, held, and seemed to also have some silent agreement pass between them one by one. Then the room cleared out with each alpha passing by her. A couple tipped their heads her direction out of what she guessed to be respect before leaving.

  When they were finally alone she looked to Jagger and gave a wan smile. “So, I’m assuming that things went better than you expected, right?” She’d felt the tension in his body, had known that he’d been ready for any sort of danger but these had been his friends so she couldn’t understand why he was so uptight. “Why were you so upset?” she asked. “Your whole body was tense.”

  “You’re my mate. I don’t like having you around so many other males. Especially alphas,” he said. At her look he shrugged, then rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s a primitive need to keep you cosseted. If I’d had my way I would have had you in the corner with me in front in full bear form to keep you safe. Like I said, it’s a primitive need from the bear within. Obviously, I controlled it. The other part of it all is that they are alphas, and therefore not always predictable, unlike other members of a pack. Alphas tend to be smarter, better at hiding their thoughts and emotions, and more cunning, too. Having the five of them in here with you had my hackles up in case one of them set another off. We don’t always play well together, if you didn’t get that from the conversation.”

  “I sort of got that idea from you guys,” she said with a grin, then shrugged. “I’d love to curl up against you when you’re in your bear form anytime. I love knowing just how soft your fur is, how the muscles move under your fur and just like what you look like, period.”

  “You know what my bear looks like,” he said. Then he shot her a purely male grin. “You know what every part of me looks like,” he pointed out. Walking toward her, he put his hands on her hips before moving them to cup her ass, squeeze, and use his hold to pull her up against him.

  “You are seriously hot in any form you take. In fact I think tonight when we go to bed you need to be in bear form in front of the fire and let me curl up against you. Naked. You up for that?”

  “Damn, woman,” he breathed out heavily. “Throwing temptation like that in front of me. I’m going to have a fucking bear boner the entire time. Not funny,” he growled when she snickered. “For you, though, I’ll do it. You better appreciate the pain I’ll be in lying there aching for you.”

  “Thank you for doing that for me and yes I don’t want you to have a bear boner so maybe we will only spend a little time like that and then when you shift that boner can be put to very, very good use. In fact I really like the idea of you sliding into me when you are all jacked up.”

  Shaking his head, he pulled her closer so he could kiss her hard. “You are so lucky I adore you, Ophelia. Let’s get you home. I don’t want you or anyone away from pack lands any more than necessary right now.”

  “Sounds good. We should stop at the store on our way home. How do steaks sound for dinner? That or salmon for my bear?” Tonight she wanted to cook for him, wanted to pamper him.

  “Despite the propaganda I’m not a huge fan of fish. I’m a steak man, very meat and potatoes, truth be told. We need to get some other things, too, so that’s a good plan. We should go now. Here soon I have to meet with my lieutenants to update them and see what the other alphas have decided for their part in helping us watch over the rogue pack,” he said, waving her toward the door.

  She walked out of the door and turned to watch him as he locked up. Once more they walked arm in arm toward his waiting vehicle so that they could get on with their day.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ophelia heard Jagger finish his call while she put the last items from their shopping trip away. He’d called the lieutenants of his pack to check on the silver progress and to update them on what the other alphas had said during the meeting. When his arms slid around her from behind and his lips pressed to her neck she leaned back into his body. “Did you want me to start the grill up for those steaks or are you good?” he asked, nuzzling at her skin.
/>
  “I’m good for right now. I don’t want them to go on too soon because then we will be waiting for the sides and the steaks will cook through.” She tilted her head to the side and smiled. “And yes, I’m still making you have veggies with me.” Well, if you called twice baked potatoes and corn veggies, but she would take whatever she could get. “Or we could go and get naked under the Christmas tree. That would be even more fun.” She loved this time of year, the lights on the trees casting a delightful glow over everything, the snow falling lightly and him. Oh definitely him.

  “Probably not a good idea to get naked yet. We both tend to get hugely distracted when we do that. Besides, gotta save the naked time for when I shift into my bear so you can cuddle with me, remember? But since we have a couple minutes to kill.” He lifted her and set her on the counter, stepping between her legs. “We can get up to some hanky panky here while we wait on the timer.”

  “Oh yes. I love how you think. You do have the best of ideas.” She was laughing just a bit and let her hands move over his chest. “And yes, I do want to have some cuddle time with your bear. I think it will be a lot of fun to pet him. You won’t be upset with that, will you?”

  “Why would I be?” he asked. “We’re the same being. Our thought patterns are a little different but I’m still me when I’m in that form, and he’s still here when I’m in this form. Any chance to have our mate petting either one of us is a huge score in our books.”

  “Good because I can’t wait.” She was petting him now, however, her hands moving down his shoulders, then under his shirt when they reached his waist. “You can cook the steaks on the grill without your shirt, right?” she wanted to know.

  “It’s less dangerous than attempting to cook bacon without a shirt on.” He reached over his head to pull the t-shirt off and, balling it up, he tossed it toward a chair at the dining table. “Now that you have me half-naked what are you planning to do with me?”

  “Well.” She let her fingers move over his chest and leaned in. Her mouth closed over his nipple and she scraped it lightly with her teeth. God she loved hearing that growl that he let go when she bit his nipple just right.

  Shoving a hand into her hair, Jagger yanked her head up and back, his mouth coming down to meet hers. His free hand worked under her own top to lay against the small of her back as he devoured her mouth, their tongues tangling and teeth banging.

  When they parted she was panting. She lifted her arms. “Take my shirt off.”

  “And end up missing the timer and not eating at all? Not happening, sweetheart. I want food in my belly at some point tonight.” He winked. “A bear has to have sustenance to make sure he is strong enough to look after his mate in all the ways he knows she likes.”

  “Okay, okay.” She let her hands move up and down his chest. “Later, though. Under the Christmas tree after I’ve had some bear snuggling we will figure out just how naked we want to get and how naughty we want to get. Deal?” she asked with a grin.

  “Fully naked, totally naughty,” he told her. He brushed his lips to hers, then down over her neck. Slowly her bear nibbled, licked, and nuzzled a path down to her shoulder before making the return journey up the other side.

  “Mmmm and what sort of naughtiness do you want to get up to? I did see that blindfold and silk rope in your drawer when I grabbed a pair of your shorts to put on yesterday. Can we play?” She wanted to play with him and have him toy with her. She wanted to be everything to him.

  “If you’re up for it. We’ll start out slow and we can get more adventurous as we go. Although I don’t remember leaving the rope in that particular drawer. I’m pretty sure it was tucked neatly away with my other items.”

  She felt her cheeks heat with the flush of what she was sure was a massive blush. “Well I might have looked around a little when I found the blindfold.”

  “Uh-huh, I thought so. What else did you see when you may have looked around? I’m not complaining. My home is your home and there are no secrets between us, but … did you see the rope, slam the drawer, and sit there blushing like you are now?”

  “I found the toys that hadn’t been opened and the lube—and then I slammed the drawer shut.”

  He gave her a knowing look and chuckled. “I thought so.”

  She grinned and leaned in close to whisper, “But … I love the idea of having you play with me, having you take me in every single, possible orifice that you can.” He growled and tugged her against him. Then the timer on the oven went off, and they both looked that way. Stepping back, he lifted her off the counter and set her onto her feet.

  “Okay, enough teasing. You go start the steaks.” She did give him another kiss, though, then smiled when they parted. While he worked on the steaks, she finished the potatoes and the corn.

  Sitting down around the table once their plates were filled, they dug in quickly. Only once they’d gotten a few bites down did she look over to see Jagger watching her. He gave her a grin that had her squirming in her seat. “You keep looking at me like that and I’m seriously going to come across the table and I’m going to jump into your lap and make you take me right here, right now.”

  He gave a deep chuckle at her words. “I wouldn’t be upset if you wanted to come sit in my lap. I would even feed you if you were over here. But I’m not sure how much food we’d actually get down so it’s probably best you stay over there until after we finish.” She shifted in her seat again and bit her lower lip. “Will it always be like this? Will we always have this need for each other?” If so, she was so screwed because she wanted to jump him seemingly twenty-four-seven.

  “Don’t know, never had a mate before you, sweetheart. I could ask some of the others in the pack. They’ll probably be able to share some insight into this whole being mated thing. Personally, I kind of like it. I definitely like knowing I can make you hot and bothered with a look. And you know I’m always hard for you when you’re in the vicinity.”

  “Thank goodness that it’s not just me that’s feeling that way,” she said with a grin. “Because I seriously want to always have you with me in every single way possible. It would be nice, though, to know if this would be something we would need to be prepared for when we go out and all that fun stuff.”

  “I’ll ask around and see what I can find out. Not that anyone would judge us if we were to disappear into a room or out a door and not come back. You are a hot number and I’m a sucker for a woman who loves me like you do.” Finishing off his meal, he leaned his elbows to the table and sat watching her finish up her food.

  When she was done eating, Jagger carried their dishes to the sink. They made small talk as they loaded the dishwasher and wiped down counters. Tossing the dishtowel aside, Jagger reached for her, brushing a kiss to her cheek, then pulling back when his phone rang. “Crap, let me deal with whoever this is, and you go start the fire. You do know how to start a fire, right?” he asked, pulling the phone out.

  “Yes, I know how to start a fire,” she told him with a small roll of her eyes, laughing. “Go, do what you need to do and I will sit my fluffy, naked ass in front of the fire,” she said with a grin and winked when she walked away.

  “Ha, ha. Women,” she heard him mutter. Then it was the low hum of his voice in the background while she stripped down and got the fire started.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Waking up with an armful of woman was Jagger’s idea of heaven. That it was his mate made it even better. Ophelia was still sound asleep, and as much as he wanted to wake her up on their first Christmas morning together he let her sleep a while longer. She needed it after the rough night she’d had. Two roaring nightmares of what they were to face that night had pulled her awake screaming each time.

  He’d managed to get her calmed enough to sleep again, so any rest she got was good in his book. They were as ready as they could be for what was coming. Each pack had one watcher currently on the saber pack with two specifically tasked to the alpha. Any little move they made was reported back,
then shared among the packs. There would be absolutely no surprises when the sabertooths began to move out.

  The packs had been told what was going down and what they needed to do to prepare. The other alphas had even agreed with him during their final meeting yesterday to alert the townsfolk through the town council. While the festivities would continue Jagger fully expected everyone to be on edge waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. And they all knew it was coming. A necessity to guarantee everyone was ready to move when the word came down.

  At last report from the watchers, just after four that morning there had been scouts sent out to check on the town’s progress for the day’s afternoon and evening plans. Since then they’d apparently settled in to rest. Checking his phone, Jagger noted a text telling him that everything was still quiet on the sabertooth front. Good news, it meant the big cats had no idea that all of Shifter Falls was ready for whatever shit they decided to bring to their doorsteps. He set the phone back down gently on the side table and snuggled into his mate. He would do everything in his power to keep her safe. She was, above all others, his first priority. In such a short time, Ophelia had managed to become everything to him. Pressing a kiss to her shoulder, he let his eyelids drop and felt the tension that had gathered in his body drop away. Maybe he could catch a small cat nap before she woke up.

  “Hey, you.” She sounded sleepy as she snuggled against him. “Do you have any idea what’s going on? I know you’ve been keeping track on the pack so have they made any more moves?” She wanted to know what was going on and he could appreciate that. He could understand where she was coming from because of how brutal the visions had been last night.