His Christmas Magic

by Drea Roman

  Facing Nick, I continue. “I won’t miss the cold nights, I have to tell you.”

  My best friend laughs. “No, I imagine not.”

  I change the subject because one thing about my whole experience in Vale Valley since the crash bothers me the most—my memory loss. “Why did it take so long for me to regain my memories?”

  Nick shrugs. “Hell if I know. It’s just the way the magic works sometimes.”

  Darren hugs me closer. “Maybe so we could get to know each other first? You know the thought of you flying around in a Christmas sleigh scares me half to death. Maybe it would have been harder for us if I had known for sure you were a Christmas elf all along. I mean, I did sort of know.” He pulls back to look at me. “And it did scare me, a lot. I am very glad you are hanging up your jingle bell shoes.”

  “I will do no such thing! I love my jingle bell shoes! But I am settling down here with you.”

  Nick stays for a little while longer, and I can tell that he and Darren will be fast friends, though my wolf currently feels a bit territorial about me. I can’t really blame him for that, nor do I really mind. Who doesn’t want a mate who is crazy about them?

  Once my best friend is off, his flying schedule demanding his return home, I settle down with Darren on the couch. I have some interrogating of him to do now that we appear to be on the same page. Our mate bond sings happily between us, and I can feel Darren’s belief in me shining through.

  “What changed your mind?” I ask as I settle myself on Darren’s lap, facing the Christmas tree so I can watch the lights change color as they cycle from white to full color and back again. LED lights are so much more efficient and safer than the candles people used to put in their trees.

  “I spoke with Eddie and Colt,” he says, and he snuggles his face into my neck, kissing his mate mark. “But they didn’t help me as much as my father did.”

  I’m surprised at that. “Your father? How did he help you?”

  Darren laughs softly, his breath puffing my hair. “He stopped by to tell me to stop worrying so much.”

  “Your dad’s ghost paid you a visit?” I shouldn’t be so shocked, considering my own magic, but I am.

  “It was very Dickens-like in here for a moment. I guess we could call him the ghost of Christmas past.”

  “And what did he tell you?” I turn around in Darren’s arms so I can see his face.

  He smiles. “To stop worrying so much and blaming myself for his death. I don’t really blame myself, but life has been very difficult without him.” Darren pauses a moment before continuing. “He said I have to accept you as you are, that worrying won’t protect you or my heart from the dangers life might throw at us. I am glad you are retiring, though. The thought of you flying around in that death trap sleigh nearly gives me a heart attack.”

  I kiss him softly and wrap my arms around his neck. “It is actually a wonderful sleigh. That was the first crash I have ever had. I blame the drunken reindeer. Nick is usually a better driver than that.”

  Darren makes a har-humph noise before kissing my nose. “So you say.”

  I can’t help but chuckle at that grumpy response. “I think you two will get along well in the future. He is a lot like Eddie.”

  Darren rolls his eyes. “Good lord, like I need another trickster to bail out of trouble.”

  I shrug. “You do have me.”

  “I do indeed.”

  “I am a bit worried about the snow globe vision, though. You have a very dangerous job, Darren.”

  My mate snuggles me. “I think we both will have to learn how to worry less and embrace the now more.”

  “That sounds very Zen and not like you at all, my mate,” I reply with a laugh.

  “I am trying to turn over a new leaf and be a bit more like this happy elf I know.”

  “Should I be jealous?” I tease.

  Darren laughs. “Of course not, silly. It’s you.”

  I pretend to wipe my brow in relief. “That’s good to know. Wouldn’t want to have to kill a fellow elf for flirting with my wolf-man.”

  16

  Darren

  Even though the day has been long already, Tuck insists we go to the annual Christmas Eve shifter run at midnight. “I’ve never been to one, and I am not missing out on my first opportunity to see all sorts of shifters just because you are a Dunder-headed wolf.”

  “Hey,” I pout at him, “I thought you forgave me for my stupidity.”

  Tuck rolls his eyes at me. “I’m still considering my options.”

  In retaliation, I tickle him as he tries to change into his elf suit. “Keep your hands to yourself, wolf.” He snaps his fingers at me, which sends a little zap of energy into my fingertips.

  “Ow! That was mean!”

  Tuck just laughs and wags his finger at me.

  “Behave.” He makes a final adjustment to his hat and takes a bow before me, making me smile.

  “Perfect,” I respond as I offer him my arm. We sing along with the Christmas songs on the radio on the way to the shifter run. Luckily for us, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” does not play. After parking in the designated lot a few blocks from the gathering place in the woods outside of the town proper, we quickly locate Eddie and Colt in the crowd. Most people are already nude, which makes me realize I never talked to Tuck about this.

  “Um, you don’t have to get naked,” I tell him, just as we join my friends near the throng of naked and shivering shifters.

  Eddie cackles at that, and Colt smiles. Tuck laughs. “No worries, my jealous wolf. I have no intention of freezing my elf balls off. I will run in my clothes, thank you very much.”

  I drop a kiss on his head and then divest myself of my clothes quickly, throwing them on the pile with Eddie’s and Colt’s belongings. There are so many different types of shifters here, and my wolf is distracted for a moment trying to figure out all of the scents.

  “You seem pretty excited to be here tonight,” I hear Eddie say to someone nearby. Everyone is naked and waiting to take on their animal forms, all except the non-shifters like Tuck. I look around to see who Eddie is teasing this time, a smile already forming on my face. One day, Eddie is going to get in some serious trouble for his antics.

  A tall naked man with dark hair turns and glares at me. His nostrils flare as he scents me, and I can feel the edge of anger and dominance in him. The man growls and steps toward me. “You need to back up.”

  I look at him, confused about why he is angry at me. “I’m sorry, what?”

  Eddie snickers, but the man snarls at me instead.

  “Hey, man, no need to get rough,” I say, trying to smooth over the conflict my jackass of a best friend just started. “There seems to be some misunderstanding. The name’s Darren.”

  I offer him my hand, but my whole body is tense now. My mate is here, and if need be, I will fight to protect him. I hear the other man’s knuckles crack as his hands clench into fists, and he slaps my hand away.

  “Don’t extend your hand to me as if we were friends,” he snaps. I can feel my wolf pushing at me as I glance at the man standing next to him.

  “I see how it is,” I respond, my wolf’s need to protect my mate overriding any good sense I might normally have in this situation. The other wolf launches himself at me, shifting in midair.

  Knowing a fight is impossible to avoid now, I shift quickly into my wolf, a hair faster than the other wolf. He snaps at my neck, but I jerk away, and his long canines sink their way into the flesh of my shoulder. I shake him off, but he lunges at me again. My wolf’s instincts take over, and we bite and claw at each other, rolling over the snowy ground.

  The larger wolf manages to pin me, and his head drops down so he can bite out my throat. A bright flash of light, and I feel Tuck’s magic pulse through the air. The power surge hits the other wolf squarely in the chest, throwing him off of me. He shifts back to human as he hits the ground, and his mate runs to him and drops to his knees at his side.

 
“Ah! Shit!” the other wolf exclaims, rubbing his chest.

  His mate pets him, even as he admonishes him. “Wolf, what the hell was that all about?”

  “What happened?” the wolf asks as Tuck rushes to my side as I slip back into my human self. I am panting hard as Tuck inspects my shoulder and runs his hands over me, looking for more wounds.

  The two men stand and murmur to one another, but I don’t care what they are talking about. My only concern is that the danger to my mate seems to have passed. My shifter ears pick up something about punishment for the wayward wolf, making me grin despite the high tension of the circumstances. Just then, my wolf picks up something in the scent of the wolf’s companion. Baby. Oh, well, that explains the wolf’s aggression.

  The pair stumble toward us, and the wolf tries to apologize. “I am very truly sorry for that. I was way out of line.”

  But Tuck is less than sympathetic at the man’s words. “You’re telling me,” he snaps, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Since the obvious danger seems to have passed, I introduce my mate before he decides to zap the other wolf again. “This is Tuck. He’s an elf, hence the...” I wiggle my fingers in the air, mimicking an explosion.

  “Thank you for stopping me from doing anything worse.” The wolf attempts to apologize again, but my mate is too pissed to consider it.

  “As if you could’ve won.” He rolls his eyes, but I can feel that the nonchalant attitude is an act. Tuck is pissed, but this wolf isn’t the real object of his anger.

  “Again, Darren, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, let me know. It was so weird. I don’t know what came over me.” The wolf seems confused by his own behavior, which is surprising, considering the state his mate is in.

  I feel my eyebrows shoot up. “You don’t know?” I ask in surprise.

  “I know it sounds like some lame excuse, but I promise I’m not copping out. I guess I was excited about the run, and I was nervous about the shift. It was bizarre. I’m not usually so angry or territorial like that, not even as a wolf. I’m really glad you’re not seriously hurt—that could’ve gone horribly wrong.” He clearly has no idea what is going on.

  “You should tell them,” Tuck whispers to me. I shouldn’t be surprised he picked up on the pregnancy as well. He is a freaking Christmas elf, after all.

  “Tell me what?” the other wolf demands.

  I shift my feet and wish I wasn’t the one who had to deliver this sensitive piece of news. “This is so awkward. I don’t know you that well.”

  “Seriously,” the man’s mate snaps, “just spit it out already. You two are standing here buck naked. Whatever it is, I think you know each other well enough by now.”

  I laugh and nod. “Fair enough, except you may think otherwise is a minute. This involves you as much as it does him.”

  My mate huffs in irritation at all of us. “You guys are taking too long. The run is about to start.” He turns and looks the wolf’s mate in the eye and declares, “You’re pregnant.”

  Tuck grabs my hand and pulls me away, toward the other shifters, and back towards Eddie, who is about to be in big trouble.

  “Congratulations,” I yell over my shoulder at them. Tuck marches me over to where the horse team has gathered and grabs Eddie by the shoulder, spinning him around to face us. His eyes are dilated, and fury fairly pulses off of him.

  “This is your fault, you dumbass horse!”

  I snicker at the shocked look on my best friend’s face until my mate swings his head around to glare me down. When he returns his gaze to Eddie, my best friend backs up, obviously a little scared by the look my mate has on his face.

  “Edmund James Dashing, if you do anything like that again, I am going to kill you.”

  Mister Ed tries to hold up his hands in a placating gesture that usually works for the joker horse, but my mate is having none of it.

  “You will apologize to Darren and that poor wolf shifter. But not tonight, tomorrow. I think you ought to bake him some cookies. And no, I’m not magicking up any for you.”

  Eddie seems to be caught between laughing and hysterical horror. “How—how—how do you know my full name?” He finally manages to stutter out the question.

  “Like you said, Mister Ed,” my mate uses my best friend’s hated nickname, “I’m a fucking Christmas elf. If you cause another problem like that for my mate again, I will fuck you up. Do you understand?”

  I have never seen Eddie so contrite in his life. “Aww,” he says, looking away from my mate, who now has his hands on his hips and is tapping one of his belled shoes angrily.

  “Don't ‘aww shucks’ me, you bratty pony,” Tuck retorts, his tone pure frost.

  I can feel a thrum of energy I’ve come to associate with my mate’s magic pulsing through our bond. His fingers are twitching, and I’m afraid he’s about to light my best friend on fire.

  “It’s okay,” I whisper into my mate’s ear as I take him by the shoulders and turn him away from Eddie. “I’m fine. I’ll make sure that he apologizes to that wolf and makes the cookies you told him to.” It suddenly dawns on me that Tuck may be starting to feel the effects of his pregnancy. But I am a smarter shifter than to mention that to him.

  Tuck turns halfway away from me in order to point his magical fingers at my best friend. “You had better behave from now on, or I will set you on fire.”

  “But tomorrow is Christmas Day,” Eddie whines, clearly not on board with Tuck’s punishment. I shake my head at him in warning. My mate is seriously pissed off and newly pregnant. Messing with him would be one of the worst decisions of Eddie’s life, and considering his lifelong trail of bad decisions, that is saying something.

  “Just do what he said, Eddie. It’s in your best interest, believe me.” Eddie finally nods as Tuck continues to glower at him, revenge clearly still on his mind. I steer my mate away from my best friend as we make our way through the group of naked shifter runners. At this point, I am wondering if we should just go home. But just then, Rosemary Vale begins to speak to the gathered crowd, and my wolf yearns to be free. I shift and hit the frozen ground with my paws, but pause a moment to look at my elf mate. He smiles at me, his anger at Eddie finally melting away.

  “Let’s do this, wolf.”

  We set off running through the trees with all of the other shifters and magical beings of Vale Valley. A dragon swoops by overhead, and I hear Tuck laugh as he easily keeps pace with me. Magic. I bark at him in joy and let him pass me so I can nip at his heels. He delights me with a little squeal, and we chase each other as others pass us by.

  Instead of returning to the clearing, I head us toward home, not caring about the clothes I left behind. I can return for them tomorrow or not. My mate is with me, and that is all I care about in the world. When we finally make it to my front porch, I shift and scoop a breathless Tuck up into my arms and carry him into our home. My wolf and I are happy, complete as we have never been before, now that we have our mate by our side.

  17

  Tuck

  I wake up with the sun and leave Darren curled up in the covers. He whimpers in his sleep, and I give him my pillow to snuggle. So stinking cute. I wonder if our baby will be a shifter, too. Oh, the thought of a sweet little shifter puppy is too much for me. I have to go make something to drink before I explode from the cuteness overload of a sleeping Darren and my mind’s images of our baby in wolf form.

  I hum Christmas carols as I make Darren coffee and myself some hot cocoa. After settling onto the couch, I realize there are more presents under the tree than there were yesterday. Sure, I magicked a couple of them there during my fight with Darren, but I spy a few new packages. One, two, three, four. That naughty wolf, trying to outdo me, Mr. Tuck Christmas Elf, on Christmas morning. I am having none of that. With a snap of my fingers, a few more elaborately wrapped gifts pop into existence under the tree. There really are far too many, but it’s so much fun to tease my mate.

  “Why are w
e up so early?” Darren grumbles as he ambles slowly into the living room, his yawning and stretching causing his t-shirt to ride up and expose his sculpted abs. I glance pointedly at his belly and then back up to his eyes, making him laugh. “Coffee first, elf-boy.”

  “Hmph! I am an elf-man, thank you very much.”

  Darren laughs and retrieves a mug of coffee for himself before joining me on the couch. “So,” he says, stifling a yawn, “what are we doing up early on Christmas Day?”

  I pop a kiss on lips. “We have guests coming over in a few hours. I need to put the ham in the oven and bake some yeast rolls.”

  Yawning again, my wolf looks at me with sleepy eyes. “Couldn’t you just magic some up?”

  “Now, that would just be lazy. Though take a look under the Christmas tree. I evened things out a bit.”

  “Darn it. Now that is cheating.”

  The horse shifter gang is due over at noon for a Christmas brunch. Colt told me they spend the morning with the whole team, including their extended families and the team alpha, an older woman named Eloise. “Never underestimate an old horse,” he advised me. “We get sort of ornery in our old age. We could never skip out on Christmas morning with everyone, not even once we are mated. It’s a big party, and Eloise would have our horse hides if we weren’t there.”

  That remark warmed my heart, reminding me both of the large elf clan I left behind at the North Pole. Jingle bells distract me from my ball of dough. There’s a knock at the door, which makes me shake my head. As soon as I open it, Nick bustles in, his traditional Christmas outfit on, complete with a glorious and completely, magically fake white beard. “You could have just popped into the kitchen, you know.”

  Nick laughs. “No. I’m pretty sure your mate would be pissed if I did that.”

  “You would be right, Santa,” Darren replies sarcastically from the couch, where he is eating up all of the gingerbread cookies.

  “Would you stop calling me that? My name is Nick. Damn Germans.”