The cat on her left moved away from her to roll in the snow. It rolled over and over, rubbing it’s back before the other leopard came and pounced on it. The two fought, growling and hissing. Maya had to laugh when one pushed the others face into the snow making it hiss. The twins really did like the snow but she’d had enough. A two block walk was enough to clear her head. She started walking back to the Inn while the two leopards continued to fight. When she’d gone a few feet, the two caught up to her. They walked next to her the entire way.
When they got back, the twins transformed back to human form outside. They waited for her in the kitchen as she took off all her outside clothes. Her face was red and cheeks stung after the short time outside.
“Want some hot chocolate?” Tate asked.
Maya nodded. “Sorry I ran off.”
Logan gave Tate a dirty look. “It happens. We shouldn’t have told you like that. It would have freaked out anyone.”
“That wasn’t my fault,” Tate scowled at Logan. “Maya why did you leave? Was it because your feelings overwhelmed you?”
“I guess you could say that maybe.”
“See!” Tate preened. “I knew it would work. I knew that you would understand as soon as we mated with you. Don’t be afraid of your feelings. I know it’s hard for a human to understand but this is real. We feel the same way.”
“Do you really love us too?” Logan asked.
“Can we sit down?” Maya walked to the great room before they could answer. She sat on the floor in front of the couch. Tate sat next to her and Logan sat on the couch behind her.
“You don’t have to say you love us,” Tate assured her. “I know that you feel strongly for us. We can take it as slow as you want after this. I just wanted to be sure that you knew how we felt before you left Emerald.”
“I do feel for you and that really freaks me out and another thing,” Maya looked down. “This is crazy. But I think I want you to bite me.”
“Not crazy at all,” Tate said smugly. “I told you you’d feel it.”
“Does this mean something?”
“It means you want us to mark you,” Logan said. “Once we do this, there’s no going back. You have to be very sure.”
Tate knelt on the floor next to her and kissed her shoulder. “You’re our mate, Maya. Once we do this, you’ll truly be ours.”
“Will it hurt?” she asked.
“Not at all,” Tate said, drawing his teeth across her skin.
“Maybe a little,” Logan said, shaking his head. “I don’t want to lie to you, and I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“I want to do it.” Maya took his hand. “I want you to mark me.”
Logan nodded and pulled her hand up to his mouth. Tate didn’t need to be told twice. He sank his teeth into the meaty part of her shoulder, and Logan bit into the fleshy part of her palm. It did sting, but it wasn’t terribly painful. As soon as their teeth were in her, it was like fireworks going off in her head. She couldn’t believe the feelings rushing through her.
None of the things she’d heard about shifters marking their mates compared to this. She wondered if the reaction was the same for all humans, because as soon as she’d been marked, she knew this was truly forever. The twins loved her and weren’t ever going to leave her, and she didn’t want to ever leave them either. They were her mates and she was theirs.
Tate licked the wound he’d made on her shoulder. “Done. Does it hurt?”
“Not much,” she said, looking at the mark.
Logan caressed her hand. “Want us to get you a bandage?”
“No need,” Tate said. He ran his finger over the wound and it came away clean. “She isn’t bleeding. This isn’t a regular bite.”
“I feel different,” she said. “This is wild. I can’t believe this is really happening.”
“Believe it,” Logan said. “I love you. You’re our mate. I’m so happy you let us mark you.”
“I love you too,” Tate said. “And I’m happy I listened to my brother and waited to mark you. This is much more satisfying.”
“I love you both,” Maya said. She was suddenly very aware that the twins were still both naked. “What do we do now?”
Logan looked out the window behind him. “It’s still snowing, and the power is still out. So we don’t have a lot of options.”
Maya pulled her shirt off and smiled. “I can think of one thing.”
Tate bit her shoulder lightly. “I was thinking the same thing.”
Chapter Six
“You have to join us for Christmas,” Tate insisted.
“I couldn’t possibly,” Maya said. “I don’t want to crash your family dinner.”
“You are family,” Logan said. “We love you.”
She shook her head, smiling. “I love you too, but you haven’t even told your parents yet.”
“They’ll understand,” Tate said, then kissed her forehead. “They’re going to be so happy we finally found our mate.”
“Plus, they already like you,” Logan added.
Maya laughed. “Well, if you insist.”
There was no way she was going to stay alone at the Wizard Inn when her mates were celebrating Christmas. She didn’t have gifts for them, but she wanted to spend the day with the twins. Tate was right. She understood now, and she felt it too.
She was going to have to move, she realized. There was no way she would be able to live two states away from them, for even a moment.
At least they lived in Tornado Alley. Even though they didn’t like her job, she knew they wouldn’t stop her from doing something she loved. At least she hoped they wouldn’t. They could talk about it later. It was many months before the next storm season. By that time, who knew where they would be. She knew she would move to Emerald. They’d talked about it the night before. They’d talked about so much. Between love making sessions, they’d discussed their lives, hopes, and dreams. Maya felt like she’d known them her entire life.
Now that it was Christmas, they were going to have to go out and start telling people. The twins spent all of Christmas with their parents. They opened presents in the morning, had brunch, and then watched Christmas movies or played games. The twins made dinner for their parents in the evening and after food, they all enjoyed cookies and cake. It was a cozy Christmas. The exact opposite of how Maya spent her holiday.
Usually, she would get up after noon and then enjoy a quiet day of relaxing. She ordered in Chinese food and then would eat ice cream after her meal. She didn’t even have a tree or wrap presents for herself. She’d gone to friends’ holiday parties in college but after she graduated, she decided to stop that too. It was much nicer to spend the day doing exactly what she wanted without having to pretend she was having a good time with someone else’s family.
This was different. She was actually going to be Marietta and Dale’s family soon. The twins hadn’t asked her to marry them yet but she knew it was coming in the next few days. They had already said last night that they wanted to marry her and start a family as soon as possible. She felt the same way and she couldn’t wait to be married to Logan and Tate. She wanted to be a part of their family and wanted to start learning their holiday traditions already. The only thing she was worried about was telling Marietta and Dale.
They had been very nice to her but that didn’t mean they would be excited she was becoming part of their family. Logan and Tate were her mate but their parents weren’t. They didn’t share the crazy mating bond that made the twins love her and she them. To Dale and Mariette she was just a nice girl who was passing through town. They didn’t know anything about her and they might not like her once they learned more. The thought was terrifying. The twins were close to her parents and valued their opinion.
There would be a lot of pressure on this meeting Maya wished she could spend one more day snowed in with the twins. Instead, she got dressed in the nicest clothes she had brought with her and braved the roads with her mates.
Their parents only lived on the other side of town but it still took twenty minutes to get their home. The blizzard had dumped fifteen inches of snow on the city of Emerald and the power had only come on last night. There were still some roads that were unplowed.
“Don’t be nervous,” Tate squeezed her hand. “They’re going to love you.”
They got out of the truck in front of a white farmhouse decorated with lots of lights and a Santa on the roof. Maya got out and followed the twins to the front door. Dale answered after Tate rung the bell.
“Merry Christmas!” He hugged his sons as they came inside. He hugged Maya too when he got to her. “Looks like you took my advice and stayed off the roads.”
She nodded and gave him a weak smile. “Yup.”
Marietta was sitting in the living room with a tablet on her lap. She looked from Maya to the twins as she stood up. “Something is going on here.”
Logan nodded. “Maybe.”
Marietta came to Maya with tears in her eyes hugged her. “I knew it! I told Dale as soon as you and Logan left. I knew you were their mate.”
Dale looked shocked. “What? Is she your mate?”
“She is,” Tate said.
“This is the best Christmas present,” Marietta said. She stepped back. “I’m so happy you could join our family. You seemed like such a sweet woman. My sons are so lucky to have you.”
Maya burst into tears. Tate hugged her. “I told you they would love you.”
“Come on,” Dale took her by the hand. “I’ll show you all our decorations.”
Maya followed Dale Wizard as he begun the tour of his home. They loved her. She was going to be part of the family. The snow lightening hadn’t been her present. This was her Christmas miracle.
Epilogue
One Year Later
“This is too many presents,” Maya said looking at the mound of presents under the tree in the great room. Unlike last year, all the presents under the tree were real this year. The twins had gone overboard shopping.
“There is no such thing as too many presents,” Tate said.
“Half of these are for the baby,” Maya said.
“There are some for you too.” Logan kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry. You’ll get everything you want and a few surprises too.”
“The baby isn’t even born yet.” Maya rubbed her stomach.
“But it will be soon and then he’ll have lots of presents to play with,” Tate said.
Maya could only roll her eyes. She was as guilty as her husbands were. She had bought three presents for their unborn soon and had felt silly doing it. Their little boy wouldn’t be born until January but it didn’t feel right to not have at least one present under the tree for him. If she’d known that Tate and Logan were buying an entire toy store for the boy, she would have only bought one toy.
“I have everything I could possibly want,” she kissed Tate and then Logan. “You two really don’t have to get me anything.”
“But we like buying you gifts,” Tate said. “In fact, I think you should open one tonight.”
Logan nodded. “I think so too.”
“I can wait for the morning,” Maya said.
“Christmas Eve is basically Christmas,” Tate said. “Plus this one is special.”
Logan went to the tree and pulled a small blue package from the back of the tree. “Have a seat.”
Maya sat on the couch and he put the present in her lap. The twins sat on either side of her. She unwrapped the little package with trembling hands. What else could they possibly get her? They spoiled her at every turn. As soon as the holiday season was over last year, they had started looking for a home.
With such a small town, it was hard to find something close to work. They had ended up buying a home in a new subdivision one town over. Maya loved her home but the twins had a twenty-minute commute every day. They never complained about it but she felt bad they’d gone to the trouble for her. They were the best husbands a woman could wish for. Who knew that two husbands were easier than one?
Marietta and Dale were also twenty minutes away and that was a slight problem. Maya was already looking into how to turn the basement of their new home into an apartment for them. Marietta was going to be at the house all the time once their grandbaby was born. Maya wanted to make it as easy as possible for her wonderful mother-in-law.
Thinking of everything she’d gained over the last year it was hard to imagine any what other present the twins could give her. When she opened the small box, she gasped.
“It’s so beautiful.” She held up a delicate necklace. It was silver with a diamond tornado charm.
“Do you love it?” Logan asked.
Maya nodded. “Very much.”
Tate took the necklace and put in on for her. “I don’t know if you’ll ever get to see a winter tornado but at least you’ll have a diamond tornado to take with you everywhere.”
“We don’t want you to stop chasing storms,” Logan said.
“What?”
“You only went out a handful of times this year,” he said. “Next year, once the baby is born, we hope that you start chasing again.”
“If you want,” Tate added. “We’re not going to force you but I hope you didn’t stop for us.”
“We’re proud of your job,” Logan said. “You don’t have to stop just because you’re a wife and mother.”
Tears burned her eyes. “You wouldn’t be mad if I put myself in danger?”
“We trust you to make the right choices,” Logan said. “You would never put yourself in real danger. You’ve been doing this for years. Don’t stop now unless you want to.”
“Don’t give up the bucket list now,” Tate urged. “Chasing brought you to us. We wouldn’t even have you if it weren’t for your job. If you still want to go out, do it.”
“I would like that very much,” Maya wiped her eyes. “I should have talked to you guys about it but I felt so guilty.”
“Why?” Tate asked. “It wasn’t something one of us said was it.”
She shook her head. “No. It was me. I didn’t want to start a fight. We were trying to get pregnant in the spring. I wanted to focus on starting our family and not chasing storms.”
“We would never fight with you about this,” Tate said solemnly. “If it’s important to you, it’s important to us.”
“You support us with the Wizard Inn and we’ll support you with your job,” Logan said.
“Thank you,” Maya said. “That is a huge relief. How did I get so lucky?”
“We’re the lucky ones,” Logan kissed her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Maya said. “I love you both very much.”
She’d come to Emerald to find a tornado. Instead, she’d found her place in the world. She’d been looking for something that wreaked havoc and destroyed people’s lives, and she’d gotten something entirely different. For the first time in a decade, Maya felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. She had found her home.
The End
Thank you for reading There’s Snow Place Like Home!
If you enjoyed the story, there are more books in the series.
Up Next:
Tiger Bite (Shifters Everafter Book 1)
A modern day shifter tale inspired by the folktale Aladdin!
Bodyguard Alek Kern needs a new job. The tiger shifter is supposed to be keeping curvy Jessica Sheridan safe but she’s made it her mission to make his job as difficult as possible. She gets under his skin like no one has before and he’s had enough. Alek decides to get as far away from Jessica as possible, get a new job, and start a new life. Right as he’s planning his exit, an unexpected attack makes him to reconsider. He’s forced to have to follow Jess into dangerous shifter territory. All he wants to do is get her home safely so he can quit. His tiger has other plans.
This is the first book in the Shifters Everafter series. It is a standalone story with a HEA.
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A Note from Lola
Thank you so much for reading There’s Snow Place Like Home. If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review. It really helps other readers decide to take a chance when looking for new authors to try out. I would really appreciate it if you have the time!
If you’d like to keep in touch you can always join my new release mailing list. I won’t spam you’re inbox but you’ll get an email whenever I have a new release. You can also friend me on Facebook. ---Lola
Other Books by Lola Kidd
Other Safari Shifter Novellas
Rhino You Love Me (Book 1)
Between Two Crocs (Book 2)
Elephants Never Forget (Book 3)
Once a Cheetah (Book 4)
Don’t Kiss and Gazelle (Book 5)
Mail-Order Mates Books
Loving the Lion (Book 1)
Wolf Seeks Wife (Book 2)
The Bear’s Bride (Book 3)
Taming the Tiger (Book 4)
A Wife for the Wolves (Book 5)
Surrendering to the Stag (Book 6)
Pursuing the Panther (Book 7)
The Leopard in Love (Book 8)
Witch and Wolf Universe Books
The Witch and the Wolf: The Complete Collection
The Vampire and the Bear
The Lost Tribe: Complete Collection
Black Oak Shifter Universe Books
Taken by the Shifters: The Complete Collection
Captured by the Shifters: The Complete Collection
Shifter Wonderland: Twelve BBW Paranormal Holiday Shape Shifter Romances Page 35