by M. L. Briers
“Don’t get lost!” Mary called back as she strolled into the living room carrying a bottle of wine and two crystal glasses…
“Ooo, I wouldn’t say no.” Rachel grinned.
“To much of anything, I hear.” Mary shot back and Nessie gave a small shake of her head at the sight of them – excited over a bottle of wine when there was so much more that they could rally behind.
Like Christmas.
CHAPTER THREE
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Shaun’s beast just wouldn’t settle. The wolf was itching and clawing to run, and as the alpha walked into the living room… locked eyes on the damn glittery, shiny, brightly lit Christmas tree with lights that winked and flashed at him like warning signs, and the overpowering scent of pine hit his nostrils… he groaned and did an about face.
“Doesn’t it look…?” Dani was standing there like an apparition that had appeared out of nowhere just to taunt him…
“Doesn’t it though.” He growled, not giving her the chance to tempt him into telling her what he really thought. He snapped off the growl when he saw her face fall a little. He cleared his throat and lifted his hand, went to speak, and then waved it away. “I need to go out.”
There were no other words. None that she wanted to hear.
Shaun started for the front door, but it was pushed wide open, and there he stood – Satan’s minion – Jeffrey had picked the wrong time to pay them a visit. The vampire was sarcastic and had an annoyingly dry sense of humour at the best of times, and these weren’t the best of times.
Just wait until he saw the damn Christmas tree!
Shaun groaned and did another about face. Heading straight for the kitchen and the back door as the next best escape route out of the madhouse.
“Something I said?” Jeff called out – his amused eyes landed on Dani, who stood there with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. Jeff eyed her for a long moment as if she was about to unleash her wolf and go ten rounds with him… “Did I offend someone?”
“Not yet, but the day is still early.” Dani offered back.
“Did I eat someone and not notice, again?” He asked.
“Again?” Her eyebrows shot up towards her hairline.
“Wait… what year is this?” Now he was teasing her and right there and then she knew it. She snorted her contempt for him.
“Get over yourself and come and help me string some tinsel around…”
“Tinsel!” He looked mortified. “I just remembered I have a priest to eat, perhaps a nun or two.” He turned on his heels and slammed the front door closed behind him.
Dani stood there in the hallway and grinned widely. They’d come around… especially if they wanted to eat.
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“Tis the season to kill reindeer…” Shaun half sung and half sneered. His beast rallied within him at the thought of a hunt.
Shaun grunted and groaned with each step.
He needed to make things plain and clear to his sister… what things he wasn’t entirely sure about… but a general generic things would do for now.
The front room looked like a whole bunch of elves and faeries had vomited Christmas cheer everywhere and that was unacceptable. He liked normal. He liked droll and boringly acceptable.
He hated Christmas.
And glitz.
And… how he hated tinsel!
He stomped across the frosty grass. The ice crystals crunching beneath his large feet, and his eyes took in the sight of the wild mistletoe… he groaned.
His beast’s interest piqued. It slowly rose up within him…
The thought of that curly haired blonde slammed back into the forefront of his mind. In truth, he’d been thinking about her since he’d left the shop in a mad rush of panic… or… as he liked to consider it; had made a subtle retreat for the sake of his sanity.
“Mistletoe…” He sighed, and then caught himself doing it.
Gee Gods, now he was beginning to sound like a female!
“Mistletoe?” Her voice reached him before he’d even noticed the crunch of her feet on the frosty grassland.
Shaun spun around in place and took in the sight of her. Her curls were hidden beneath a fake fur hat, but he could still picture them around her cherub face the way that they had been in the shop… and her eyes were bright and glassy… too long out in the frosty air… her cheeks were pink and rosy… and her sweetheart lips were…
His beast growled…
“Mistletoe.” He answered her question… like an idiot.
He noted that she was dressed like a human for winter… not surprising, as she was a human in winter. He berated himself.
What in Hell’s name was wrong with him?
Christmas! That was what it was.
He could put the blame on Christmas because it had all started with that damned argument around the dinner table, and that was over Christmas.
Then the Christmas glittery shopping trip…
And now the damn mistletoe bringing humans onto pack land… one human. Her.
Christmas. Grrr!
“I’ve been looking for that.” Her eyes shone brightly, better than any stupid fairy lights on an equally stupid Christmas tree, and her lips quirked upwards at the corners…
All the blood left his head and ended up in his manhood, and he wanted to growl at the rush to awakening that occurred at his groin…
The woman certainly was… looked… good enough to eat.
Even if she did remind him of the dreaded C word.
“And now you’ve found me… it!” He growled inwardly. Awkward… “It, you’ve found it.” He thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans and took a backwards step away from her.
He didn’t know what it was about her, but it felt like that step was in the wrong damn direction.
Nessie smiled, a chuckle buried deep within her throat for the handsome stranger and his ways, and then she took a step forward…
Her shields went into overdrive as all of the bells and whistles associated with encountering the supernatural resonated through her body and sounded like someone was ringing one of those triangle dinner bells inside of her head…
Ding – ding – ding –ding!
Shaun noted the way that her eyes became instantly wide, like a doe caught in the headlights, or the scent his wolf on the air, and his eyes narrowed as she drew a harsh breath in, and that foot that had been hovering in the air, ready to take a step towards him… changed direction and she went backwards instead…
His beast growled.
His heart thumped his ribcage…
And for the very first time… he scented the air…
“Witch!” It was his turn for his eyes to snap wide open, and then a heartbeat later his brow came down on a hard scowl…
“Wolf.” She didn’t look too sure about that… but she knew he was a shifter and that meant only one thing…
Christmas was about to be cancelled!
CHAPTER FOUR
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“Where are you going?” Mary asked as she pulled one of the little ear buds that was piping music straight into her brain from the mobile phone in her hand, and waited for Rachel’s reply.
“For my phone charger.” Rachel’s hand was on the handle of the front door, but she wasn’t dressed for the cold weather.
“That’s a long way home.” Mary snorted a chuckle at her own funny as she padded towards the bathroom on sock clad feet.
“I think I remember putting it in the glove box, but it was stupid o’clock in the morning when we left home and it’s all a fuzz on the details.” Rachel’s eyes narrowed as she tried to remember.
“You were probably still drunk from the night before.” Mary grinned. “You really should work on your drinking problem.”
“Says the witch with a glass of wine in her hand.” Rachel wiggled her eyebrows and motioned to the bathroom door. “Time for a three hour soak, is it?” She knew her friend liked the bubbles, couldn’t resist w
allowing in the heat of the water on a cold day.
“I thought I might indulge, as it’s a holiday.”
“Well, you might want to take the rest of that bottle of wine in with you – I’d hate for you to have to make choices.” Rachel teased. “Bubbles or more wine.” She weighed that up in her hands.
“Oooo, good call.” Mary said and padded off towards the living room to retrieve the bottle.
Rachel pulled open the front door and gasped as the frosty air rushed in to meet her. She shivered long and hard against Jack Frosts’ icy touch and gritted her teeth as she stalked outside. It would have taken a moment to grab her jacket and pull it on, but that seemed like a wasted effort when she was only dashing outside…
She pulled the front door closed to the sound of Mary singing along, and killing dead, one of her favourite songs, and stalked towards the car. The crisp sound of a frosty path underfoot made her feel even colder, and she shivered once more as she reached for the little white gate and yanked it open…
Her eyes took in the open fields that stretched out all around her. Green and brown as far as the eye could see with a glistening layer of ice laid out like a veil across the land… She shivered again…
“Country living.” She grunted in dismay. “No shops. No people. No traffic. No buzz of excitement…” Her ears picked up the sounds of silence. “No… nothing… it’s – weird.”
She reached for the passenger door handle. Her fingers felt the freezer like touch of the metal and she grumbled.
“Should have gone somewhere hot and sunny.” She sighed inwardly at the thought of being laid out on a nice white sandy beach under a hot sun with the waves lapping at her toes and someone on hand to refill her glass. “Now that’s a holiday.”
She pulled and the door stayed shut.
“Right. Keys. Doh!” She eyed the area around her. “Who’s going to see – Peter Rabbit?”
She drew on her magic and clicked her fingers. The sound of the locks snapping off was music to her cold ears.
The sound of a meaty car engine was as if a deafness had been lifted from her – like a miracle. Signs of life in an otherwise barren land.
“Not the last people left on earth then.” She grumbled as she reached in, flicked open the glove box and made haste to get the phone charger out before the car reached her, knowing that the open door was blocking the small lane…
The charger was within her grasp for a few seconds only – when in her haste to retrieve it and let the stranger pass, it had slipped from her fingers and fell downwards between the two seats… Sod’s law.
She cursed under her breath and pushed her knee into the seat, leaning in with her backside up in the air as she rushed to get it back… Mindful of that sound of that engine…
“Now there’s a view worth a second look.” The deep, very male, very disrespectful voice rumbled through the air towards her along with the sound of the diesel engine of his truck.
Rachel’s head came up and her eyes shot daggers at the driver. He wasn’t a small man. His upper body filled up the space in the cab, and those big shoulders looked mighty wide to her, and she knew that she shouldn’t mess with a guy built like that… and yet…
She felt the weight of the others that had come before her. Generations of women that had been oppressed and sexualised for their body, for their gender…
She wasn’t a feminist in that respect. She liked it when a guy opened the door for her. She shaved her legs and pits, and there was no way in hell that she was ever going to burn her bra… not at the prices they charged for a decent set in her favourite shop…
But still…
“Why don’t you take that male chauvinistic, misogynistic, predatory attitude and shove it up your ass!” She offered him the kind of glare that could freeze water – if everything around her hadn’t already been frozen solid.
“Well, you don’t need a bumper sticker to say you’re from the city.” He offered back, turning off the engine, and popping open the door to his truck.
Rachel swallowed down hard. Most guys when challenged sunk down in their seats and had the decency to look chastised… This guy was getting out of his vehicle…
Now what did she do?
It wasn’t as if she could use her magic to put him flat on his backside, was it? Maybe she could make it feel like he slipped on ice if he got all rowdy…
“Well maybe if people didn’t stare at other people’s… bumpers…” She pushed back and climb backwards out of the car.
“Well maybe if people didn’t have their bumpers right out there on show like that.” He shot back, with the kind of amusement in his eyes that made them sparkle – and it wasn’t at all distracting to her brain function that his eyebrows had that way about them – like two caterpillars trying to meet up over his nose and doing a little jig on the way there…
Nope, that wasn’t at all distracting.
Neither was the way those sparkling chocolate eyes were framed by long black lashes… or the size of the muscles on the man – especially when he placed his hands on his hips and made himself look even bigger – wider – sexier.
Yep, there was definitely something about him, she told herself, as she narrowed her eyes on him and folded her arms across her chest to try to distract from the fact that her nipples were probably poking out like bullets through the soft fabric of her tight sweater…
“Can I help you with something?” She threw him a dark look. “Or we’re you just interested in my… bumper?”
“Your… bumper was blocking the road.” He shot back.
The woman certainly interested him. Intrigued him.
Most women took one look at his size and hardly made a peep. Sure, they might have shown interest in him – he wasn’t hard to look at. They very seldom challenged him the way this one did.
He didn’t know if he should be insulted or just really grateful.
“Are you saying I have a fat ass?” She twisted her head to one side and eyed him with curious contempt.
“I would never tell a woman that she was carrying a wide load…” He offered and watched her lips pout slightly as she considered that. She went to open her mouth to speak, but he wasn’t quite done. “Even if she did.”
Rachel considered that for a long moment…
“So, you’re implying I have a fat ass?” She wanted to get that straight in her mind, but he just stared blankly back at her, not one sign of emotion for her to latch onto… until… his lips quirked, and then they spread wide into a sexy smile the likes of which she had never seen before…
Little dimples appeared in his cheeks, and those chocolate eyes looked playful now, amused at her expense. She didn’t quite know what to make of him…
She wanted to be mad, well, not mad exactly, more insulted or emotions to that effect… but he was just so damn sexy and cute… cute as in puppy dog eyes cute… cute as in her womb did a happy dance and her nipples tried to reach for his chest, cute.
“How about we get a drink and we’ll see if we can’t hash this one out between us?” His smile didn’t fade, neither did the look of sheer certainty on his face that she was going to say yes…
“Pah!” She spat out, and his lips faltered, his eyes narrowed a little. “Does that line work around here? I suppose when it’s cousin to cousin dating and inbreeding of the worst kind there’s little choice but to be swept off your feet by a big…” She waved a hand in his direction and sneered at the thought of it.
“Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.” He took a long step towards her and her body snapped rigid as her eyes widened in surprise…
“I should have guessed…” She rolled her eyes and backed off a step or two. He tilted his head to one side and eyed her for a long minute…
“That you’re madly and passionately in love with me?” He asked – those eyebrows doing double time above those puppy dog eyes…
“Don’t you take another step.” She lifted up her hand and wagged her index finger at hi
s big chest. “Wolf.”
Caleb’s jaw slacked. Those eyes narrowed until she couldn’t see them sparkle anymore, and she regretted that, but not as much as she regretted having a wolf at the front door, and worse… had actually been considering going out for that drink with him…
She watched him lift his chin – a sure sign that he was going to sniff the air and her eyes flared with panic…
“Don’t do that!” She wagged that finger harder. “You might not like what you…”
Too late.
The sound of a low, deep growl rumbled through his chest. His eyes narrowed to slits and there weren’t dimples in his cheeks anymore because he certainly wasn’t smiling…
“Witch.” He made it sound like she’d cheated him at cards or something. She felt the rush of annoyance sweep over her…
This might just end badly.
CHAPTER FIVE
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“Better run along. I hear your master’s voice calling.” Rachel cupped her ear and got a growl back in return.
“Maybe I’ll stick around and chew the fat.” Caleb eyes dropped down to her backside, and she gasped in disbelief.
He saw her bite down on a mouthful that she would surely have liked to have given him. Her top lip twitched in anger, and she dropped her little fists to her sides, revealing two points on her sweater that where aimed directly at him.
She glared. She huffed… and then she slammed the door to the car shut, turned on her heels, and made a low gargled sound as she stalked away from him.
“There she goes… waddle – waddle – waddle.” He chuckled.
It was deep and rumbly, much like his growl, but when she stopped and spun back towards him, hands out, eyes dark and spitting fire… he didn’t feel much like laughing anymore as the sting of her magic sent a thunderbolt of pain through his body…
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Nessie took a long moment to evaluate the trouble that she’d somehow managed to land herself in. It was getting late in the day. It was cold. It was a pretty desolate place, and he was a shifter.