A Very Alpha Christmas

by Anthology

  “Can’t help it. You smell good.”

  Rolling her eyes, she picked up the saw, then pointed to the eight-foot-tall spruce tree closest to them. “I pick that one.”

  Graylan’s eyes went all thoughtful as he studied the tree. “Helena did say she wanted a spruce.” Nodding slowly, he circled the evergreen. “I think you found the perfect one.”

  “Good.” She handed him the saw and gave a private smile as he knelt down to cut it at the trunk.

  She’d never admit it out loud, but she hadn’t picked the tree for Helena. She’d picked it for herself, so that every time she passed by it in the house, she could be reminded of how Graylan had made her feel warm, special, and alive out here in the snow, right beside it.

  And as he slid the saw against the trunk with powerful strokes, cutting down a Christmas tree for his landlady on his few hours off work, Emry’s heart tethered to him a little more.

  5

  Emry cast another shy glance at Graylan in the cab of his ride, but this time he caught her and grinned. Heart stuttering, she giggled and looked out the window, only to have her gaze drawn to him again.

  “Say it,” he murmured in that deep, growly voice of his.

  “It’s not weird between us now, right?”

  “Not for me.” He draped his arm behind her neck and pulled her close, then kissed her hairline. “Now stop fussing about it. We had fun.”

  Swallowing an excited squeal at how damned sexy he was, Emry turned his stereo to the local holiday station. “Do you mind?”

  “Usually I’m more of a hard rock kind of guy, but today this music feels fitting.”

  “I’m converting you, you know. You’ll be all mushy around the holidays before you know it. Every year from here on, you’ll remember this one.”

  Graylan’s grip loosened on her, and he placed both hands on the wheel again with a slight frown marring his features.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  Graylan opened his mouth, then closed it again. After the span of a few heartbeats, he said, “Does it bother you that I’ll be dropping you off right in front of the community center where everyone in town will see us together?”

  “What? That’s ridiculous, Graylan. Why would it bother me?”

  “Because it’s a small town, and word has already spread about who I am. I can tell by the stares when I was looking for a place to stay.”

  Emry turned down the music. “You can hear a lie, right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well listen up real good, mister. I’m proud to be seen with you. I feel like the lucky one. You’re smiling at me. You’re talking to me.” Her voice dipped to a shy murmur. “You’re kissing me. I don’t care if some people have opinions on that. This town is more used to bear shifters than you probably think. The Kellers live here, remember? And they were the ones who came out to the public first. Breckenridge is ground zero for shifter tolerance. And besides, I get all fluttery around you.”

  Graylan slid his bright blue gaze to her, a slow smile curving his lips. “Fluttery?”

  “Yeah, you know…that breathless, excited feeling when you meet someone who gets you.”

  Shaking his head, he returned his attention back to the snowy road he was plowing toward town. “You’re so fucking cute, Emry. You’re killing me.”

  That didn’t sound like such a bad thing when he said it with a smile in his voice like that.

  “What time do you need me to pick you up?” he asked. It had been at his insistence that she accept his offer to take her into town after they’d finished decorating the tree with Helena. He seemed worried about her little car on the icy roads.

  “There aren’t set hours, and I know there is still a lot of work to do with decorating to be ready for the dance tomorrow night, so whenever you finish your shift is fine.”

  He grunted and nodded his head. “The plowing is flexible, so just call my cell if anything changes, and I’ll come get you.”

  Emry pulled her gaze away from the snow-covered evergreens that lined the road and rolled her head toward him. “I will.” She yanked his cell from the cup holder between them and punched in her number, saved it to his contacts, and then called her own phone so she would have his. “Are you ever going to tell me what kind of bear shifter you are?”

  Graylan leveled her with a troubled look and didn’t answer. That was a no. Something about that bothered her. Emry didn’t want to be like Bethany. She didn’t want him to hide that side from her.

  Main Street was the bustling epicenter of town—surprising for the amount of snowfall that had blanketed all of the shops and restaurants. It was the week before Christmas, though, and people around here were used to this kind of weather during the winter. It would take more than a spotty blizzard to stop the last minute gift shoppers. Though it was midday, the holiday lights that lined the buildings were on. Even the giant Christmas tree that peeked out from between two Victorian-style shops was aglow. And with the white-capped mountains in the background, veined with ski slopes between clusters of pine trees, Breckenridge was more beautiful than ever this time of year. Inhaling happily, she smiled at Graylan, who had stopped at a red light and was watching her with an indecipherable expression.

  As he pulled through the green light and maneuvered expertly into a space right in front of the community center, he cleared his throat. Hands gripping the wheel, he turned to her with his dark brows furrowed. Uh oh.

  “I have to talk to you about something.”

  Emry cringed. Scrunching up her nose, she sighed. She’d known better, of course. This was all too good to be true. “It’s okay, Graylan. I know you aren’t looking for anything serious. We’re just fooling around.”

  He dipped his chin. “Right. Good.”

  “I mean, who am I, right? Just some human who was fine with you finger-banging me right after we met.”

  “Emry,” he said, warning in his dark tone.

  “No, it’s fine. You got what you wanted, and why buy the cow when you can have the cream for free?” God, how could she have been so stupid?

  “That’s not at all what this is about. I’m just… Look, I don’t want you to forget that I’m only here temporarily. I’ve paid through the rest of the month, but I’ve already told Helena I’m leaving in the next couple of days. This place isn’t for me.”

  “Got it,” she said, snatching her purse from the floorboard. She kicked open the heavy door and slid out of the towering SUV. A couple of days? He’d be gone before she got any kind of time to get to know him like she wanted. He could’ve let her enjoy the day without reminding her she didn’t really mean much to him. The door slammed a little harder than she’d intended.

  “Emry,” Graylan called.

  She turned to see the window rolling down. “What?”

  “I’m sorry. I just wanted to get that out in the open so you don’t get hurt.”

  “Mission not accomplished,” she muttered, turning on her heel. She marched up the salted sidewalk to the community center and barely managed to avoid busting her butt twice.

  The roar of his engine echoed down the street as Graylan pulled away, but she was not going to look behind her. Who was she? Graylan had let her know she wasn’t much to him. A friend with benefits, like his last girl. Her mood plummeted, and she blinked back burning tears. She’d thought they had something, but maybe this was what it was like with shifters. Emotions at the door, fool around until they were satisfied, and move on.

  Well, she had learned her lesson with Braden, and he’d trampled her heart on his way to finding the woman he really wanted to settle down with.

  And Emry liked to think she was adept at learning her lesson the first time.

  She was nobody’s temporary balm, and she sure as sugar cookies wasn’t going to be Graylan’s gateway mate.

  * * *

  Today hadn’t been awesome. The garland hadn’t been delivered for decorating the front archway in the community center so she’d had to trek
all over town in the snow to buy out every store that sold it, and now the strands of holiday lights weren’t working. It had to be one messed up lightbulb or something else simple that Emry was missing, but so far, she’d fussed with the tangles and snarls and hadn’t found the culprit.

  And to top it all off, Braden had just walked through the door with his wife, holding the car seat with their baby girl. Emry’s heart dropped to her toes. Sure, he was mayor and was probably here to check out how the dance preparations were coming along. He would be hosting the dance, but still. She had banked on only having to see him tomorrow night at the dance. Not now when she would have to avoid his gaze and…oh shit, he is walking this way. Look busy. Busier. Emry grabbed a wreath and turned her back on him.

  “Hey, Emry,” Braden greeted her in that all too familiar voice. “I saw you over here and just thought…” He swallowed audibly. “Well, I thought I should say hello.”

  Emry turned slowly on the stool she’d commandeered and plastered a smile on her face. “Hello.” The tiny baby in the car seat kicked and made those little baby sounds that instantly doused her anger. “Congratulations on your new addition. She’d beautiful.”

  “Yeah,” he said, dark eyes on his daughter as he set the car seat down. “She gets that from her mother.”

  Wonderful. “Well, I have lots to do, so…” Make like a Christmas tree and leaf. She snorted at her silent joke, mostly because it didn’t make any sense because evergreens had pine needles, not leaves, but Braden frowned down at her with a look of concern. He’d always done that—found her confusing.

  “Okay,” he drawled out.

  Emry canted her head at his dark eyes, perfectly highlighted blond hair, and clean-shaven, chiseled face without any smile lines. She was most definitely attracted to a different kind of man now.

  “Honey!” Emelia, his wife, called from her conversation with a trio of community center volunteers. She narrowed her eyes at Emry and gestured him back to her. His wife also sported highlighted perfect hair and dark eyes, and her perfectly plumped and pouty lips said she got everything she ever wanted with a puppy dog look. She’d never noticed this before, but Emelia looked like Braden—a perfect matching pair. What chance had she ever stood? Emry would’ve sucked at being a mayor’s wife anyway.

  Braden scowled at his wife in disapproval and arced his attention back to Emry. Great. “Are you going to the dance tomorrow?”

  “I’ll be taking tickets at the door and making sure the punch is spiked enough.”

  “Oh, this isn’t that kind of dance. No drinking.”

  “Yeah, that was a joke. I’ve helped with the dance for the last four years, remember?” Geez, what a fuddy-duddy. How they had managed to date for an entire year and a half was suddenly beyond her.

  “So, it was nice to see you again.” Hint, hint, move along buddy. Your wife is glaring daggers.

  “Yeah.” He looked back at his wife, then frowned at Emry. “Listen, are you okay?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “It’s just, I haven’t seen you move on.”

  “Have you been watching for me to?”

  “Yeah. Kind of. It’s a little…strange… that you haven’t dated anyone since me.”

  “Oh, my gosh,” she groaned, scrubbing her hands down her face. “Braden, I’m not waiting around pining for you. I’m annoyed I have to see you everywhere, but that isn’t because of lingering feelings for you.”

  Braden dipped his chin and gave her a look that said he didn’t believe a word she was saying. “It’s okay, Emry. I know what we had was big, and it’s hard to move on from a relationship like we had—”

  “Yet it took you negative two weeks—”

  “But it would be healthy for you to think about dating again. Maybe you should think about bringing someone to the dance.”

  Mortification heated her cheeks as she stood, pissed that he could be such a condescending prick. He didn’t know anything about her—not anymore. And besides all that, he wasn’t saying any of this because he cared about her future. He was saying it because he wanted his reputation to stay untarnished over a very public relationship he’d had with Emelia before he’d broken things off with Emry, and all while he’d been running for mayor. His little girlfriend swap stunt was probably still a burr in his popularity ratings.

  “Hey, darlin’,” Graylan said, sidling around Braden. His glowing eyes went wide in question before he leaned down and kissed her. His hands gripped her sweater as he pulled her closer, and his lips went soft against hers, plucking at her once, twice, with sexy little smacking sounds.

  Emry’s knees numbed as she melted against him. When he eased back, she grasped his arms to steady herself. His kisses had definitely made her feel like she’d tossed back a few shots of cheap whiskey.

  Graylan swung an easy, friendly smile to Braden, who was frozen in place, staring. He offered his hand and introduced himself. “Graylan Young.”

  “Yeah, I know who you are. You’re the new bear shifter in town,” Braden said, pumping his hand slowly.

  As the buzz of his kiss started to wear off, Emry leaned into Graylan’s side and offered her ex an empty smile. “I’m moving on just fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  “With a bear shifter?” Braden asked in a stunned tone, still shaking Graylan’s hand.

  Graylan yanked out of his grip at that, and fury blasted through Emry, heating her core like she was cooking magma in her middle.

  “Yeah,” she said in an angry whisper, “a bear shifter. He’s all the man I need and an animal in the sack. Now, piss off, mayor.”

  Beside her, Graylan snorted, and she had to suck in her lips to hold back a smile. Thank you! At least Graylan got her sense of humor.

  Braden cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable, picked up the handle to the baby carrier, and strode off, his polished shoes squeaking across the tile floor.

  Graylan was laughing now, but she turned and swatted him in the chest. “Thanks for the save just now, but I’m still mad at you.”

  The smile fell from his face. With a quick glance around, Graylan leaned forward. “I’m sorry about earlier. I just wanted to be up front with you. Honesty is important, right?”

  “Yeah, it is. So here is my truth. I wasn’t just fooling around with you because I was horny, Graylan. I wanted to be intimate because I like you, but if you’re determined to keep me at arm’s length until you can escape this place, then this,” she said waving her hand between them, “doesn’t work for me.”

  “Well, relationships don’t work for me, Emry. If it wasn’t clear, I’m shit at them, and I can’t stay in one place long enough to keep anyone happy, anyway. I was always traveling when I dated Bethany, and she was miserable.”

  Emry jerked her eyebrows up so high her forehead ached. “I’m not Bethany.”

  “So then what? You’d just wait around for me to visit you when my bear settled down enough to let me go back to an old den? I’m not going to put you through that.”

  “Have you ever tried staying in one place?”

  “Yes, and I was bad at it.”

  With shaking fingers, Emry went back to fiddling with the lights, removing one at a time and plugging the end into an outlet on the wall. A couple of volunteers walked by, and she offered them a quick smile and a greeting, then directed her attention back to the green cords in her hands.

  “Emry?” Graylan murmured, hooking his hands on his hips.

  She ignored him and removed another light.

  “Emry, talk to me.” When she didn’t, he yanked the plug from the wall and sauntered over to another outlet, plugged it in, and, like magic, the lights around the room turned on. “That outlet you were using doesn’t work.”

  With a frustrated little screech in her throat, she stood and grabbed her jacket and purse from a nearby table. The decorations were mostly done, and there was a handful of volunteers still working. They’d be all right without her. They had to be because
there was no way she was going to have an argument with Graylan in public. She gritted her teeth when she looked up to see Braden standing by his wife, staring at her as she made her way out the door.

  Graylan’s ride was parked out front so she threw open the door and climbed inside, studiously ignoring the bags of burgers sitting on the console between the seats. She wouldn’t be bought with fast food, or slow food, or any kind of food. Shivering, she pulled her jacket on. Her breath froze in front of her face, and her hands were shaking like leaves in a stiff wind, but that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the stupid tear that made a single track down her cheek.

  Graylan climbed into the driver’s side as she hastily wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

  “Emry, this is for the best. The sooner I leave, the better for both of us.”

  “No, the better for you. Is this what you do? You find a girl at each town you stay in, satisfy your needs, then move on?”

  “What? No! I messed up and tried a relationship with Bethany, and dammit, Emry, I learned my lesson. I don’t want to put you through any of that. I can’t stay still. I can’t! My animal won’t allow it.” He made a fff sound, as if he were biting back a big curse and slammed his hand against the steering wheel. For a long time, he just sat there, staring out his side window. “I wish I was like the Kellers.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked thickly.

  “I mean, I wish I was a grizzly. I wish I could pick a territory and stick to it. Some of my people can, but I haven’t figured out the trick to it yet. I wish I was different.”

  “Why?”

  He arced his sad, blue-fire gaze to her. “Because of you.”

  Without another word, he put the SUV into drive and pulled out onto Main Street. Snowplow lowered on the front, he drove her home in silence.

  He didn’t want this—didn’t want to hurt her.

  And despite how dangerous it was to attach to a rambling man like Graylan, her silly heart tethered to him even more.