Riker and his beast growled. Four weeks he had been attempting to find Anne and so far there was no sign of her. The name Anne and the fact that she was a reindeer shifter who had recently dumped her boyfriend was not much to go on.
He stared around the room of the various researchers. They were pretending to work while watching him out of the corner of their eyes. They were waiting for him to leave so they could relax.
The researchers were those who put together dossiers on the shifters the hunters were tracking. They also fielded the reports of shifters misbehaving, and made sure there was some juice to the report before passing it up to their boss. They were good at what they did, which is why Riker was hoping they might have been able to find Anne. Normally, Riker would never think of utilizing them for a personal reason – it was against protocol – but right now, he didn’t care. He had a braying beast inside and a desire to find Anne, and honestly, he didn’t really care what the consequences would be.
Sadly, so far they hadn’t been able to find anything on his mystery reindeer. They had given him a list of tow truck companies in the area though – and one of them was bound to have picked up Anne. Unfortunately, calling them hadn’t helped. Because of the floods, they had been drafted in by the emergency services to help out, and hadn’t been keeping records of what cars, or what people they saved. They had been on the government’s payroll, so hadn’t needed to take details for the likes of bills and invoices. So, none of them could say for definite if they had seen her.
After that was a bust, Riker also went to them in person, and spoke to every driver he could find. He asked them again and again if they had seen her, to the point where they were yelling at him. But he couldn’t provide a picture, and they had been so tired over the days of the floods, that they could barely remember their own names, never mind some random female.
Not some random female snarled his beast. No, she wasn’t. But his description of the most beautiful woman alive hadn’t really helped matters.
Damnit! Riker snarled and punched a wall. He smelled the fear of the people around him and he didn’t care. Normally, he was a pretty even guy. He wouldn’t say he was friendly, but he wasn’t cruel or intimidating. But, he didn’t care about anything but finding Anne. He had never felt this… helpless. Even when he was a teenager, even when his bastard of a stepfather was beating up his mom, he hadn’t felt this churned up inside.
Surely, he had to find her soon – surely this couldn’t go on for much longer…
*
Months later
Carrie smiled at the wrinkled cutie in her arms. Her reindeer cooed in absolute bliss. She was exhausted, but she didn’t want to sleep, didn’t want to miss any of her baby’s first moments in the world.
“Hello, little guy,” she murmured.
The birth had been pretty straightforward, at least, according to the nurse, and Carrie had to admit it had been a lot less horrific than those awful birthing videos promised. Plus, the videos hadn’t really prepared her for how wonderful it would be to hold her baby.
She hadn’t heard a whisper from Michael over the past nine months, not that she really expected to anymore. Over the months she had hired a couple of private investigators, but neither of them had thrown up anything useful. Even getting hold of the credit card receipt from the motel hadn’t helped – the card was for some kind of shell corporation and they couldn’t get any info about who was behind it.
Carrie tried not to dwell on him too much, because when she did, she was alternately sad, annoyed, and horny. She had her moments where she thought that if he walked through the door now, she might burst into tears, throw something at him, or throw herself at him. She knew she still wanted him, and she hated herself for it.
She was glad she had her brother Mal around. He was temporarily suspended from the hunters, which meant he was home with her. While she felt bad that he was unhappy, she was glad to have her brother’s support, glad to not feel completely alone during such a life-changing time of her life. Mal had even been her birthing partner – though neither of them wanted him looking at the business end of the birth – far too gross and weird for him to see, and he remained near her head, holding her hand for the whole thing.
He had popped out to call members of the herd to let them know, as well as to get a drink and something to eat. The birth had been pretty lengthy, and it was the least he deserved. Carrie hadn’t told him who the father was, and not just because she didn’t really know. Oh, she knew it was Michael, but she didn’t know who Michael truly was. It frustrated the hell out of her brother, but she wouldn’t tell him anything about the father – too embarrassed, too hurt by her own foolish actions and Michael’s lack of interest. It led to Mal glaring suspiciously at every male with which she came into contact - convinced they could be the father. Though, the likelihood of Mal meeting him seemed downright slim.
“Can I get you something to drink?” asked a candy striper who was looking at the baby admiringly. “He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”
“Unbelievably so,” agreed Carrie proudly, “and yes a cup of tea would be nice – chamomile or whatever you have, I’m not picky.”
No, she was far too loved up in that moment to care about much at all – an irate bull could stampede through her hospital room and she would barely take her attention away from her little guy. A part of her had been a little worried about how she would feel on seeing her baby for the first time. That maybe she might be a little conflicted because of her feelings for the father.
The candy striper moved to the door and her face lit up with bubbly excitement. “Oh, there’s a handsome guy coming your way with a teddy bear – looks like Daddy’s here, sweetie!”
Carrie and her reindeer gasped. Was he here? Had he found her, and he wanted to meet their baby? She found herself ridiculously excited at the prospect, and as Mal sauntered through the door, this turned to a staggering amount of disappointment.
Of course Michael wasn’t here. She was foolish for thinking for even a second that he would be, and she inwardly cringed. Well, it certainly answered her question about how she would act if he did turn up – she’d be just as smitten as the last time she saw him.
“That’s my brother,” she rasped, forcing her voice to work.
The candy striper was even more pleased to hear this, but Mal paid her no mind as he strode in and presented Carrie with a fluffy brown bear. Perhaps a cuddly wolf might have been more appropriate... That was another worry – just which one of his shifter parents her baby would take after. Both she and Mal were reindeer, but they could easily have been wolves. But her baby, well, he could be a reindeer, but given the wolf shifters in her family, it was more likely he would be a wolf. Though, who knew what lurked in Michael’s family history.
Mal peered at his nephew and smiled. “Any thoughts on names?”
“Michael,” she replied without hesitation. Carrie looked down at her baby. “I’m calling him Michael.”
Chapter Eight
Months later
Riker stared at the ceiling. The room color was officially called battleship. It was drab and miserable, and also the same color they painted the cells. The color matched his mood at that moment. Well, it had matched his mood for over a year.
His irritable wolf humphed at him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Twenty-eight years as a hunter and he couldn’t find one reindeer shifter who wasn’t even running from him. He was ashamed of himself, and pissed at himself, and furious at anyone and everyone who dared even look at him.
He was trying to get a bit of sleep, but he hadn’t managed very much since he met her, so he didn’t know why he would get any now. Each holding facility had a few bunks for the hunters, to allow them a little rest in between hunts, but he wasn’t feeling very restful.
Riker swung his legs off the bed and scrubbed his hands down his face. Damn, he felt tired.
The door to the room swung open and he snarled. Then he realized who it was and snarled again.
; “Not interrupting anything, am I?” said Lucas in a bored, disinterested way, suggesting that he wouldn’t care whether he had woken Riker from sleep or not.
In spite of the fact that he really hadn’t been interrupting anything, Riker was still irritated. He could very well have been asleep, if he still did manage to sleep.
Lucas was technically Riker’s boss, but he doubted Lucas would dare call himself that in front of Riker. Lucas was a pencil-pushing prick of a fox shifter who had no real idea of what it was to be a hunter but he was technically in charge of him. He was supposed to be in charge logistically of all the hunters, and the liaison between them and the council of shifters. He had only been in the job for six months and had already pissed off every single hunter.
It was a role that mainly involved paperwork - that he pawned off on his secretary, keeping track of the hunters – that was done by the head of the researchers, and a lot of kissing up to the council members – which was the only part of his job he seemed to want to do. He was an overpaid idiot who flounced around in a flash car and custom made suits. He threw his weight around, looking down his nose at hunters, and acting like they were something he had just stepped in and messed up his fancy-ass shoes.
If Riker weren’t so frustrated he might have worked himself up to truly hating Lucas, but as it stood, he didn’t have the energy.
“What?” grumbled Riker, holding his throbbing head in his hands.
Maybe he should consider going to a doctor and asking for some sleeping pills. He could find a shifter doctor who could give him a high dosage that would knock out even his surly wolf. But even as he thought it, he knew he wouldn’t. He needed to be on his toes during a hunt, not conked out and dead to the world.
Lucas sniffed and let out a sound of disgust. Yeah, it probably had been a while since he washed properly – he didn’t really blame Lucas for that.
“Mick said you refused to take a hunt in Florida and sent him instead.”
Riker grunted.
Lucas waited and huffed when Riker didn’t add anything more. “Why did you refuse the hunt in Florida? I specifically said it was you who had to do it.”
Riker grunted again, and even though he wasn’t looking at Lucas, he could tell the other male was seething.
Truthfully, the hunters were contractors – they weren’t rigid employees who had no choice but to hunt whosoever they were told. The hunters didn’t have a whole heck of a lot of rights, but they had the right to say get stuffed when they didn’t want to do a hunt. Not that many hunters ever did say no - not that Lucas appreciated that.
“Didn’t feel like making the trip,” said Riker eventually, fearing that if he didn’t answer, Lucas still wouldn’t take the hint to bugger off. “Sent Mick, figured he’d enjoy rolling around in the everglades.”
Crocs enjoyed sweltering swamps, right? Or was that just alligators?
“You didn’t feel like it?” hissed Lucas indignantly.
Riker tilted his head and peered at Lucas through one narrowed eye. “The humidity is murder on my hair,” he growled sourly.
Lucas slipped into the room and slammed the door behind him. Great, that’s it - take away the witnesses – as if he wasn’t already struggling to not go for Lucas’ throat! His grouchy beast was all for taking a chunk out of the fox, but the main thing holding him back was that Riker couldn’t be bothered to make the effort and didn’t fancy any jail time.
“You were supposed to be on that hunt. The shifter in question has been exceedingly elusive and Mick has already lost him.”
Riker grunted in disinterest. The shifter in question was wanted for credit card fraud. He had charged thousands of dollars to a particularly affluent and cruel wolf pack – not something that especially bothered Riker. But the pack was pretty influential so no wonder Lucas was getting his boxers in a bunch.
“I wanted you to handle it,” persisted Lucas.
Yeah, he could care less what Lucas wanted. Lucas was a dipshit, trying to leapfrog his way to the top, and trying to work the hunters to death to do it. The guy flaunted the fact that the hunters were enjoying such a high rate of success, suggesting it was all down to his influence. More like Lucas was pushing them to work harder, and allowing them even less down time than ever - that and maybe shifter criminals were just getting dumber. The latter might be partially true; the last guy Riker chased tried to hide out as a nun to throw him off the trail. Yeah, sure, that was going to work.
“How am I supposed to explain how our suspect managed to get away?”
Lucas – the career mountaineer – had probably promised the affected pack that justice would be swift and brutal, and now they had lost their suspect. Mick wasn’t to blame; that was just how some hunts went - well, not for Riker, he always got his guy – but not all hunts were successful. Shifters could be damn wily.
His wolf huffed and Riker groaned. Okay, until recently, he always got his guy, but he had thus far failed to hunt down Anne.
“Well?” prompted Lucas. “What am I to say when they ask why I didn’t put my best hunter on it as I promised I would?”
“No idea, but that’s your job – figure it out,” sighed Riker.
“How dare you speak to me…”
Lucas started faltering as Riker slowly rose to his feet, stretching out his tired limbs. Riker, even on a bad day, was pretty intimidating physically, a fact that had served him well in many a hunt. Lucas was a slender, rather weak fox. His inner fox paled compared to the strength of his ambition, and he really didn’t do well in physical confrontations.
“The suspect never should have gotten away,” said Lucas, rallying.
“Mick’s a good hunter. I’m sure he did all he could.”
Mick could be a bit of a joker, but he was good, and one of the better hunters.
“The suspect would already be in custody if you had just done as you were told!” hissed Lucas.
Riker was the best hunter they had. Arrogant maybe, but it was true, and probably had more to do with the fact that he had more experience than most of the other hunters put together. But, that didn’t mean he was always going to get his guy – one day he would fail. Well, he already had with Anne.
“Maybe. Maybe not,” Riker replied evenly.
Lucas opened and shut his mouth like a fish and Riker grunted.
“Think I’ll take a shower.”
A hot shower was probably good for him. He could stand under the water, thinking of Anne… Or maybe a cold shower might be a better option.
*
Months later
“Peek-a-boo! Peek-a-boo!”
Mikey gave her a giggle the first time, but after that he didn’t seem all that impressed by Mommy hiding behind his ducky-decorated blankie.
“Jeez, I can’t believe you got bored of that before me, little man,” crooned Carrie.
She tickled his stomach, a very sensitive spot that elicited numerous giggles, and got back to putting her shopping away while Mikey sucked on his teddy bear. Mikey refused pacifiers, but he was intent on putting all his toys, and all the books that Carrie tried to read to him, in his mouth
Carrie smiled as she opened the cupboard door and noted that the spices had been arranged alphabetically. That was down to Ariel who was now living with her, Mal and Mikey. Ariel was the sweet, loving, and intimidatingly efficient younger daughter of the reindeer herd alpha. She was also absolutely besotted with Mal, and the two of them were planning on mating on Christmas Eve. Ariel was insanely organized, and got more things done before breakfast than Carrie did all day long. But, after putting her petty jealousies and feelings of inadequacies aside, Carrie had come to adore her, and so did Mikey.
Carrie hummed a song – Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to be precise – as she moved around the kitchen. The dull ache over Michael was still there, but she couldn’t deny she was happy. Her head told her that she was never going to see him again, but her heart still yearned for him. It was her heart that had persuaded her to make one l
ast crack attempt at using a private detective, but it was her head that had known they would not find anything.
Still, at least she had Mikey. Whether she never saw Michael again, she would always have something wonderful from their time together.
“I hope you’ve got plenty of energy for tonight, little man, because we are going out, and the people we are going to see are definitely going to want to play with you.”
Mal had asked her politely but insistently to get out of the house so he could spend time alone with Ariel.
The bear tumbled to the floor and Carrie giggled and picked it up. Mikey held out his chubby arms expectantly.
“Oh, I don’t want you putting this in your mouth, little man – it’s been on the floor. I’ll put it through the wash for you.” Carrie looked at the much-chewed bear. “Yeah, definitely time for a wash.”
Mikey scrunched up his face in annoyance on seeing the bear wasn’t going to be returned immediately. Carrie gave him a patient look, waiting for him to wail and produce some fake tears – his go to move when he wasn’t getting something he wanted. But, it didn’t happen. No, Mikey’s eyes flashed amber and he let out a small, sharp sound.
Carrie dropped the bear in surprise as her reindeer hooted in shock. It was a growl. Her baby just growled at her, and his eyes flashed amber like… like a wolf. Mikey stared at the bear on the floor in consternation and let out another growl. Of course, she knew he was probably going to be a wolf, but she had no idea he would start showing the signs so early.
“Here, little man, this one’s clean,” she said as she passed Mikey a back-up stuffed toy to chew on.
Mikey grasped the bunny toy and immediately stuffed a leg into his mouth and started gnawing on it in quite a violent way.
“Not sure why I didn’t see the wolf thing sooner,” she muttered with a wince.
Mikey freed the bunny from his mouth and smiled and giggled and he started making a rumbling, motorboat noise. Carrie gasped. He sounded just like Michael, and the desire, which she had so carefully managed to tame into the aforementioned dull ache, quickly blossomed to full on longing again. Oh.
The Reindeer's New Year Love (Reindeer Holidays Book 7) Page 5
