by E A Price
“It was my dad’s,” he said roughly. “He had about a hundred of them. He loved Christmas.”
His face took on a hard look and Mira placed her hand on his arm. She waited to see if he would object, and was pleased when he didn’t. She had to be careful around him. She had to remember that while she was starting to get some very warm non-platonic tinglings for him, he didn’t reciprocate them.
He wanted this to be a business arrangement, and she didn’t want to complicate matters by introducing her own girlish yearnings. But he couldn’t help the way she was feeling. She could tamp it down and say it was a crush because he was handsome and because he downright smoldered, but she knew it was more than that. He wasn’t perfect – no siree – he could be bossy and stubborn and difficult, but he was also generous and devoted to his herd. Not to mention loyal – even if their relationship was fake, he had been absolutely livid when Maris tried to entice him with her lacy underwear.
But no matter what her budding feelings may be, all she wanted was to comfort him – she didn’t want him to think it was anything else. He missed his father, and she could certainly understand that.
“My dad loved Christmas too,” she murmured. “He used to insist on wearing a sweater on Christmas Day – all day.” Mira let out a small fond giggle. “One year, we were experiencing a heat wave, but he insisted on wearing it, and he ended up at the hospital with heat stroke.”
Branch raised his eyebrows and she continued to giggle.
“Oh, he was fine,” she explained. “In fact, we spent all Christmas at the hospital celebrating with the doctors and nurses and the patients who couldn’t leave. My dad bought them all gifts from the hospital gift shop, and we ended up having a huge Christmas meal together in the cafeteria. It was nothing like we planned, but it was an awesome Christmas.”
“He sounds like he was an… interesting man.”
Mira threw back her head and laughed. “Yeah, he was like me only he talked more.”
“Really? He talked more than even you?”
That seemed to shock him, and by that point, Mira was virtually crying with laughter. Though, she stilled as Branch cupped her cheek and used his thumb to catch a couple of her tears.
There was a fluttering inside her chest as his expression seemed to warm with lust. Could it be? Did he really desire her? Okay, yes, she’d seen him looking at her chest now and then, but then so did her sixty-year-old neighbor who was very happily married with eight grandchildren - she kind of thought that the chest glance was just a reflex action. But maybe…
“Hey, guys!”
Ariel bustled into the room and Branch broke their gaze so that he could glare at his younger sister. Though, he didn’t remove his hand from her face.
Right. Of course. Disappointment swelled. He was just pretending to share a tender moment with her to make their relationship look real. He must have known Ariel was there.
Mira backed away from his hand, and he frowned at her. She noticed Ariel watching them with interest.
“Everything okay?”
Mira nodded and forced a cheery smile on her face. “I’m just going to splash some cold water on my face. Back in a minute.”
Branch dropped his hand and shoved it into his pocket. He could sense something was amiss with her, but he didn’t stop her as she fled. She barrelled through the house, dodging various herd members, groaned as she found the bathroom occupied – by Branch’s third cousin Arnold who suffered digestive distress, poor dear - and didn’t stop until she reached the kitchen.
The cool water felt good on her skin. It was almost enough to stop the blush spreading. She had almost embarrassed herself with Branch again – almost considered trying to kiss him again, and if she had, he probably would have been mad.
Mira dabbed her face dry and on turning, squeaked, as she found Maris glowering at her. The tall, slim female had opted for a mini skirt, tights with candy canes all over them, and a very tight sweater that declared ‘I’m on the naughty list.’ Mira could believe that, though she wouldn’t deny the woman looked fabulous.
“How much?” snapped Maris.
“Pardon?”
“How much to make you go away?”
“Ah…”
Maris’ pretty lips pursed in exasperation. “I know this isn’t a real mating. He has to be paying you to do this. There’s no way he has been dating you – I’d know.”
Mira snorted. “Oh, have you been stalking his every move?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, really?” Mira squeaked in surprise at her readiness to admit that.
“And I know that the two of you just met less than a week ago. So I’m asking you how much? I have money.”
Mira rolled her eyes. “Look…”
“I’ve been waiting to be the alpha female for over eight years now. I was patient while Branch grieved for his first mate, but I will not have this stolen out from under me.” Maris stamped her foot as if to prove her point.
Mira threw up her hands. “I don’t know what to tell you. Do you not think that if Branch wanted to mate you, he would? I mean, are you even in love with Branch? Is that it?”
Maris frowned. “Well no, I don’t love him. But my mother always told me I needed to reach for the stars. I needed to make something of myself and become the female alpha.”
Mira had heard some gossip about Maris’ mother – the word nymphomaniac had been thrown around.
“Can’t you make something of yourself without mating the alpha? Ariel told me that you’re a pretty successful model.”
Yep, that was apparently Maris’ neck on the box for the extremely expensive face cream that Mira always told herself not to buy and then did anyway.
“I do enjoy modeling,” she admitted.
“But wouldn’t you have to give that up if you became the alpha’s mate?”
Being a real alpha’s mate was practically a full-time job. It meant taking care of herd mates, organizing events and generally being at the alpha’s beck and call. Mira didn’t like the sound of that last thing.
“I…” Maris thought about it and scowled. “I’ve always wanted to mate high up in the herd, and you won’t talk me out of it.”
“Well, Branch isn’t going to mate you – ever. So you might as well give up now.”
Not the nastiest thing she could say, but it pissed Maris off enough to pick up the punch bowl and hurl the contents in Mira’s direction. Thankfully, Maris’ aim wasn’t terrific, and Mira had a lot of experience of dodging – her school gym teacher loved to torture her students with endless games of dodgeball.
Mira ducked, and the bright red punch found a victim in Mal, who just happened to be coming into the kitchen in search of more ginger cookies.
His eyes narrowed, and he growled at Maris who let out an eep.
“What’s going on in here?” rumbled Clay.
He entered the room followed by Ariel and Branch. Maris and Mira shrugged while Mal glowered.
“C’mon,” chuckled Ariel taking Mal’s hand, “I’m sure you can borrow some of my dad’s old clothes.”
“I’ll take Maris home,” declared Clay.
He took her elbow and marched her out of the house before she could object.
“Okay?” asked Branch.
“Sure,” laughed Mira. “She’s a bit of a handful.”
Branch relaxed a little and chuckled. “Yeah. I don’t envy her future mate.”
“Hmmm.”
“Hmmm?” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m suspicious when you are quiet.”
Mira twisted her fingers together. “Do you mind me asking what happened to your mate? It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, I was just wondering because people keep mentioning her. Well, they’ve mentioned her once or twice – not a lot really, and ah… I’ll stop now.”
Branch smiled sadly. “Her name was Janelle. We mated when we were nineteen. Just over a year later, she had an accident while out running as her beast.”
“I�
��m so sorry, Branch.”
His lips quirked. “Not dude?”
Mira giggled softly. “It didn’t feel like a dude moment.”
“No,” he agreed.
Mira folded her hands together, lest she run over to him and start trying to comfort him again. He really didn’t need the woman he was pretending to care about offering him support while he spoke about the woman he still loved.
“I can’t even imagine.”
“Janelle was wild – we both were – and reckless. It was a couple of days before Christmas…”
“Oh!” Mira’s hand flew to her mouth.
“We were spending Christmas together up in the mountains. There was a snowstorm and Janelle… well, she never let anyone tell her what to do – not even the weather forecast. She went out and…” Branch focused on his hands. “She didn’t come back.”
“I can understand why you’re not so keen on Christmas.”
Branch jerked to look at her. “No, I started to dislike Christmas ever since I was four and my mother started dressing me up as a donkey for our Christmas photo. The woman is merciless.”
“I’ll bet you were a cute donkey.”
He grinned. “Truthfully, Janelle disliked Christmas as much as me. We were very similar.”
Mira nodded sadly. What a waste. Poor Janelle, and poor Branch. She just hoped he could find someone else who could make him as happy. Clearly, it couldn’t be her – she obviously wasn’t what he was looking for.
“What makes you love Christmas so much?” he asked.
Mira rubbed her arms, suddenly feeling very cold. “My mom left when I was five – on Christmas Eve. She took off and didn’t come back. That’s why my dad started making such a big deal about it. He didn’t want me to be sad on Christmas, so every year our decorations and our customs and celebrations just got bigger and bigger, so we didn’t remember any of the sad things about that time of year.
“I always hoped to have a big family – I always hoped that I’d get married and have kids and they could enjoy Christmas with my dad as much as me.” She could feel the tears starting to well. “He’ll never meet them now.”
Branch moved towards her and held out his hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
Twenty-Five
“Oh my goodness,” breathed Mira. “You’re just as beautiful as the reindeer in Santa Claus the Movie.” A movie she had watched over two hundred times as a child.
Branch snorted, but when she held out her hand, he pushed his muzzle against her, allowing her to stroke him.
Branch was showing her his beast – his reindeer bull. She had watched in awe as he stripped and shimmered through the change, and now she was getting up close and personal with him.
She ran her fingers over his magnificent antlers, and he pawed the ground.
“This is so incredible,” she murmured.
Words didn’t do the moment justice. It was the most wondrous thing she had ever seen.
Mira scratched his ear and whispered, “Thank you for showing me this.”
No matter how short her acquaintance with Branch would be, he had certainly made it a magical Christmas.
*
December 20th
It was Christmas movie night. Another herd tradition that Mira was loving and Branch was tolerating.
Mira had retreated to the kitchen to gather more snacks while the debate raged on about which movie to watch next. They had already sat through It’s a Wonderful Life – all members of the herd conceding it was a classic that needed watching every year, but there was some argument about what to watch next. One faction was lobbying for Elf, while another demanded Scrooged and a small contingent asked for Gremlins. Mira would happily watch any of them and left the herd members to duke it out.
She found Ariel already in the kitchen, staring into space.
“Hey. Everything okay?”
Ariel blinked. “Sorry,” she muttered, “I was a million miles away. Have they chosen anything yet?”
“Not yet, but the Elf lovers seem to be gaining momentum.”
Ariel smiled. “Last year they resorted to races to see who got to choose.”
“Races?”
“Yep. They turned into their reindeer and ran around the garden racing each other. Eventually, they stopped accusing each other of cheating, tired themselves out, fell asleep and we ended up watching Christmas episodes of The Simpsons.” Ariel shook her head in resignation. “Reindeer bulls tend to be hot-headed idiots.”
Mira snickered. She could believe that considering the argument that she could still hear raging.
“I don’t think Branch is very hot-headed.”
“Oh, you don’t know him that well.” Ariel’s eyes widened, and she flushed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply…”
“Oh no, it’s fine, you’re right – we haven’t known each other long.”
Barely a week – if they were really mating, that fact might alarm her.
“But you have the rest of your lives to get to know each other.”
Ariel gave her an encouraging look, and Mira smiled nervously.
“Right, yes.”
“I’m so glad he met you. I’m so glad he’s mating you. It’s the smartest thing he’s ever done.”
“Oh, you’re sweet to say that,” muttered Mira as guilt needled at her.
“It’s true,” said Ariel earnestly. “I haven’t seen him so happy in years.”
“Oh,” murmured Mira faintly.
Made her wonder just what he was like before her then. He was already pretty grumpy. But then, he was grieving for his mate.
“You two are perfect for each other,” insisted Ariel. “I just know you’re going to be together forever.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Was it hot in there? It felt like it was hot in there.
Ariel took her hand. “I’m serious. Branch would never have wanted to come to all these herd parties until he met you. He’s kind of been drifting away from us for years, and now it feels like he’s coming back.”
“You give me far too much credit,” protested Mira.
Ariel didn’t reply, just pulled her into a solid hug and gave her an extra firm squeeze. It was easy to forget that the slim young woman could actually turn into a huge, tough reindeer, but that hug was enough to remind her. Ariel smiled at her and shuffled out the room, her faraway expression returning. Ariel’s arms and legs could easily be described as willowy, but as Mira tried to realign her spine, she suspected the young woman could easily lift cars with her muscles.
Mira chewed her lip. His family was going to be incredibly disappointed when they ended their mating in a couple of months. She wished she could tell them the truth. Wished they weren't so darn nice to her about everything. It would be easier if they hated her, but no, they loved her, and she loved them.
Branch strode into the room, faltering on seeing her expression.
“What’s happening? Who upset you?” he demanded, his eyes swiveling around the room looking for the culprit.
“Nobody, I’m fine,” she replied in her cheeriest voice.
“Humph.”
He didn’t seem to believe her entirely, but he let it drop. “Having a good time?”
“Yes, are you?”
He rolled his eyes. “They finally settled on the movie, Elf.”
He didn’t sound altogether pleased by that, but then he hadn’t wanted to watch It’s a Wonderful Life either.
“Not a fan?” she snickered.
“No.”
“My favorite’s Home Alone.”
“Ugh, worse.”
“Are you kidding? One of the reasons I moved to Chicago was to see the Home Alone house.”
“Dear lord,” he breathed in mock horror.
Mira chuckled and playfully tapped his arm.
“How about some mulled wine? That’s sure to put some cheer into you.”
“Why not?”
Twenty-Six
> “My mother wishes to take you shopping,” said Branch on their journey home.
Why his mother couldn’t just ask Mira herself he had no idea. She had happily told her dozens of embarrassing stories of his antics when he was just a calf. But she wanted Branch to ask her this. His mother seemed to be suggesting that the two of them needed to discuss the mating ceremony more. They hadn’t discussed it at all really – what was there to discuss? He supposed, ordinarily, couples would spend long, tedious hours choosing all sorts of unnecessary things like flowers and menus. But Branch had Ariel and his mother for that. There was no need to burden Mira with it. Now, if they really were mating…
“What for?” asked Mira.
“She wants to buy you a dress for the mating ceremony.”
“Oh.”
She sounded almost disappointed, and he wished his mother had merely chosen one for her as he suggested.
“You don’t want one?”
Mira sighed. “I’m just feeling a little guilty about lying to everyone. Your family had been so nice to me, and they’re going to be disappointed in a couple of months.”
“Yes,” he agreed lamely.
What else could he say?
“I will make sure they know the end of the relationship is not your fault,” he offered.
Mira flashed him a sad smile. “I thought I was supposed to be cheating on you.”
His hands gripped the steering wheel as he thought of Mira with another male. No, he didn’t like that at all. Even pretending, he didn’t like that.
“We will discuss it when the time comes.”
“Can you come too? Dress shopping I mean.”
“Well…”
“Please,” she entreated, “if your mom’s too nice to me I might break down and start crying.”
“Fine,” he rumbled.
If he was there, he could at least influence her choice. No need for her to look too beautiful for their fake mating. Though he wasn’t sure, she could look less beautiful than she always did, and he was fast realizing that she was the most beautiful female he had ever seen. Maybe a garbage bag on her head…