The Hellhound’s UnChristmas Miracle

by Chant, Zoe

  He was about to argue—he’d only been human, he hadn’t had anything like her sheep to protect him—*I don’t have anything to protect me like your sheep did,* he told her. *I wasn’t a shifter. I was just… me.* His hellhound shivered as he remembered those first months. I let you down, it growled.

  *Being human doesn’t make you less than being a shifter.* Sheena’s voice was steady. *I might just be a back-country bogan, but I know that much. I believe you can fight back the same way my sheep did. Maybe you already did.*

  Fleance tipped his head to one side, confused. *Fleance, you told me your hellhound never wanted to do what this dick told you. Wanting to change your fate is the first step, right? Parker might have turned you, but you choose what you do with your new life.*

  I can choose? Fleance wasn’t sure whether the words came from him, or his hellhound.

  From the moment Fleance had been turned, Parker had steamrolled over him. He’d never even considered there was any other way. Besides, Parker was all he had. His parents were dead, his life had fallen apart, and suddenly there was this strange creature in his head…

  He hadn’t seen a way out. Parker had made sure of that. But now…

  He raised his head. In a burst, Fleance knows that Sheena was right. Parker might have changed his fate, but it was his fate. He couldn’t leave it between Parker’s teeth.

  With that realization his hellhound burned brighter than ever before. It was a clean, sharp brightness, like the morning sun reflecting off still water, not the yellow sulfur-burn he’d always known. Power pulsed through him.

  He glanced at Sheena. He didn’t need to say anything—understanding passed between them, quick as a flash.

  Parker was still focused on Sheena. He wasn’t expecting Fleance to attack. Fleance went low and fast towards his belly, teeth bared. Parker twisted away—straight into Sheena’s hooves.

  Crack!

  The hellsheep kicked Parker in the head. He fell sideways, stunned, and before he could shake it off Fleance was at his throat.

  He put one massive paw on Parker’s neck. The hellsheep roared over like a steam train and put its hoof next to his paw.

  Parker’s eyes rolled, but his voice in Fleance’s head was dripping with disdain.

  *This again? Face it, Flea, even if you’ve fooled yourself that you’re as good as an alpha, you’re not man enough to—aargh!*

  Sheena’s hellsheep was too impatient to wait for him to finish. She chomped down on his neck.

  The shadows that had haunted Fleance’s mind since he stepped into Parker’s web rearranged themselves. They blossomed with light, and weightless joy, and the sweet scent of clover.

  *I don’t want him in your head again,* she told him, her voice low and warm and only for him. *Let this be my burden to bear.*

  Relief spread through his veins, honey-sweet. He never would have asked Sheena to do this, but now that she had he couldn’t see it happening any other way. She knew how much it hurt him to have Parker in his head and she was too fiercely protective to put him through that again.

  But the fact that she had the power to so neatly rearrange the echoes of power in his soul with a single bite…

  My mate is an alpha, he thought, staring at her.

  She was magnificent. Her sheep form had been adorable, but her hellsheep was ferocity on four legs. One glimpse into her burning eyes and you knew the only thing standing between you and a hellish kicking was Sheena’s goodwill—which she had more of that anyone else Fleance had met.

  *Now,* Sheena declared, leaning down to glare into Parker’s eyes. *About making you do things…* She shrugged. *My hellsheep’s still recommending I dunk you into the nearest mud pool. Honestly, right now, I think it might have a point. You’re really annoying, you know that?*

  Fleance had a better idea. *Remember all those shell charities, uncle? The ones that offered false hope to people after you’d got them scared they would lose everything? I think it’s about time they started doing some actual work.*

  Yes, his hellhound murmured. This is right. Fixing what’s wrong.

  Sheena nodded at him and he kept talking. He listed all the loose ends that had been tangling in his conscience since he was a teenager. Every family thrown out on the street, every business sunk into a pit of debt. Each one glowed like a lit fuse.

  *Caine just wanted you to go away,* Fleance growled. *I want you to stay and make right what you did. All the world thinks you’re some great philanthropist. Now you’re going to actually be one. And if you get back to your old tricks…*

  Sheena’s laughter sizzled against his mind. By the way Parker flinched, he felt it too. *Then you’ll have me to deal with,* she said.

  12

  Sheena

  Hours later…

  Fleance jumped as Sheena grabbed hold of the mate bond.

  “Sorry,” she said, not sorry at all. “Just checking.”

  He made a low sound in the back of his throat and tugged her into his arms. “You’re still my mate,” he said. “Hellsheep.”

  She grinned, wide and lazy and thoroughly pleased. The mate bond sang between them, then roared as Fleance kissed her. “And you’re mine.”

  They were back at the hotel. Getting there had been less of a mission than Sheena had expected. The car was munted—Sheena had explained to Fleance that that was the technical term for “has half its roof torn off”—but it still drove fine. They’d puttered back to Rotorua without incident. Sheena’s blood was still blazing with adrenaline when they pulled into the hotel carpark and she hadn’t been able to help taking her hellsheep’s shape again to sneak back up to the room.

  Being able to turn invisible had helped a lot, there.

  You’re doing a good job of holding back the fear, Fleance had said as she walked half through a wall to dodge a group of hotel guests coming down the corridor. He’d shifted back to human form. Clothes intact, the bastard. It took me months to learn that fine control. People kept running away from me and I didn’t know why.

  I’m not holding anything back, Sheena had said. I’m just… being. She’d almost nuzzled against him, still invisible, wanting to smooth away the pain in his voice when he talked about driving people away with his unfamiliar magic. She hadn’t reckoned on her hellsheep’s phasing ability. She’d passed straight through Fleance, not touching him.

  Which had sucked.

  Sheena had shifted and re-solidified as soon as they were back in their room. She’d put on the dressing gown again, which was a mistake, because it was bad enough that Fleance was wearing clothes without her adding to the problem.

  She slid her hands under his shirt and kissed down his neck to the thick muscle that joined to his shoulder.

  Fleance buried his face in her hair. “Parker isn’t going to be a problem?”

  “Only if you keep talking about him while I’m trying to take your clothes off.” She groaned. *Fine. He’s dealt with. Back in his own hotel room at the other end of town, sulking like a wee baby. And now that I’ve confirmed that, I’m going to pull the blinds on him for the next while, okay?*

  It was weird and more than a bit gross, being the sun around which Angus Parker’s mangy psychic presence orbited, but she could block him out when she wanted. Like right now.

  She pulled back to stare into Fleance’s eyes. Fire kindled in them, then he blinked, and they were pure ice melt gray-blue again. All human. He reached up, his fingertips brushing her face. “Have I told you lately how incredible you are?”

  “Only every ten seconds on the drive over here.”

  “Then I’m well below quota.” Fleance’s eyes were shining. She’d never seen him look this happy.

  Sheena felt like she’d just woken up on Christmas morning. She couldn’t stop herself pulling on the mate bond again, like a cat with a piece of string. It was bright, and pure, and wonderful, and theirs, untainted by anything connected to Parker. As she focused on it, it seemed to expand to fill her entire body with golden light.<
br />
  Fleance’s fingers tensed against her cheek, then gentled as the electricity thrumming through her skin met the same energy humming in his. *You’re incredible.*

  “And you’re mine.”

  Fleance laughed and kissed her. The mate bond sang, a single pure note that thrummed through Sheena’s whole body.

  *I think I need to stop saying I’ve figured out how being a shifter works,* he said, his voice curling against her mind like a happy cat. A happy hellhound, she corrected herself. *Alphas, being turned into a hellhound… The world keeps proving me wrong.*

  *That goes for both of us.* Sheena nuzzled against him. *I thought I had to go far away from my family to find out who I really was. Instead, protecting them showed me that I didn’t need to pretend to be strong. I already was.* She paused. *Well, except for the whole snorting fire thing.*

  *I think your sheep always was a hellsheep at heart.*

  *And you must have been a hellhound.*

  Fleance froze. Sheena stopped kissing him but kept her arms around his shoulders so he knew she wasn’t going anywhere. *Not the way your dick uncle does it. Which clearly isn’t working for him; the guy looks like a stiff wind would knock him to pieces. I mean… you’re a good person. You want to protect people. And that’s what your hellhound wanted to do, too.*

  *It didn’t do a good job of it.* Fleance’s face went still, then he caught Sheena’s eye and let his mouth twist bitterly. *Hurting people isn’t justice.*

  “It’s been through a lot. You’ve been through a lot. And now you’ve got me.” She smiled and bit him gently on the chin. “If your hellhound gets confused again, I’ll be here to sort you out.”

  He let out a short breath. Almost a laugh. “My alpha.”

  Sheena did laugh. “I thought we agreed that alphas were bullshit?”

  “Being born an alpha, maybe.” Fleance ran one finger along her jawline. “Sheena, you’re my mate. But any shifter who looks at you will know you’re more than that.”

  She stared at him. “You’re biased.”

  “Obviously.” He tipped his head back, regarding her with so much longing her knees went weak. “I’d be a fool if I wasn’t biased. And I’d be a fool if I couldn’t see that you should be the center of my universe as well as of my heart.”

  Sheena shook her head. Her? An alpha? Sheep didn’t have alphas. Sure, she’d… sort of taken over Angus Parker’s mind, but…

  Am I an alpha? she asked her hellsheep.

  I AM, it said at once, then got back to napping. You’re no use, she grumbled at it, and said to Fleance:

  “But you have an alpha. Back in Pine Valley.”

  “No.” The lines at the edges of his mouth deepened. “Being near Parker again did something to my pack sense. I don’t think I have an alpha anymore. Or a pack. And that’s… bad.”

  Sheena looked harder at him and gasped. His eyes were burning hellhound-bright, but deep in their centers was a hint of the same dark rot that Parker’s eyes had held.

  Was that why Parker’s hellhound looked so sick? He didn’t have a pack. Caine had taken every hellhound Parker had ever turned and cast him loose alone. Maybe hellhounds were pack animals for a reason. Maybe they needed that connection. It would explain why Fleance and the others hadn’t been able to break free. Their hellhounds knew they needed a pack to survive, and since none of them knew about the alpha trick—whatever the alpha trick Sheena’s hellsheep had pulled actually was—they’d stayed. Some instinct must have told them that any pack, even Parker’s, was better than none.

  She sent her question down the mate bond and felt his response almost at once. He was weary, and hopeful… and she was right.

  “Okay,” she said, scrambling for ideas. “We’ll go find Parker again, this time I’ll let you chomp down on him and you can go alpha and—”

  “No.” Fleance’s jaw worked. “I’m not going to hurt people anymore and that includes not using my asshole uncle as a punching bag. Besides, that wouldn’t fix things.”

  “You wouldn’t be alone anymore. You’d be an alpha with a, a very small, very dickhead-heavy pack, but it would stop… whatever this is.”

  “But it would leave you packless.” Parker winced and jerked his head to the side. “And whatever this is, I won’t let it happen to you.”

  “Then you need to go back to the States, right? Back to your alpha, Caine. We can sort that. I already have a ticket—not that we need to go on the same flight, well, flights, but…”

  “No.” He took her hands in his and kissed them gently. “I don’t want to go back to the Guinnesses. Caine is fine, he’s nothing like Parker, but I still didn’t have any choice about joining his pack. There is another option, though. I…”

  His voice stopped in his throat. He was staring at their joined hands, not meeting her eyes. She uncurled one finger and tipped his head up so he was looking at her.

  “What can I do?” she asked.

  Fleance’s eyes were dark—with longing, with exhaustion, with that cold, wretched loneliness of the hound without a pack. “Claim me.” He swallowed. “Like you did Parker.”

  “No.” She put a finger on Fleance’s lips before he could reply. Her heart was racing. “That’s not a no no. I would do anything to help you. I will claim you, but not like with him.”

  Relief washed over her, full of the light of the mate bond, and Fleance pressed his forehead against her hands. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  A shiver went down her spine. Half freaked out, half… excited?

  Fleance was already hers. They were bound together by the mate bond, as equals. If she wanted to claim Fleance—and oh, hell, did she—did that make her a bad person? Like Parker?

  She peered at the solar system whirling inside her head. Her in the middle and the single soul circling like a planet around the sun—Angus Parker.

  No, she decided. She wouldn’t be like Parker. She wasn’t like Parker. Fleance wanted her to claim him and her wanting the same thing wasn’t about controlling him. He was trusting her to be even more intimately connected to him than the mate bond allowed.

  In a way it would make her as vulnerable to him as he was to her.

  Maybe that’s why Parker ruled with his boot on his pack’s necks, Sheena thought, and immediately pushed the thought away. She didn’t give a shit about Parker right now. The most important person in her life was right in front of her.

  She rested one hand on Fleance’s chest and kissed him.

  “I’m going to clean my teeth first,” she told him.

  * * *

  Two minutes later:

  “This is torture,” Fleance groaned from where he was sitting on the edge of the tub.

  *I’m not going to claim you with dirty teeth!* Sheena told him. Again. *I bit Parker with these teeth! Well, with my hellsheep’s version of these teeth. Either way, that’s fucking feral.*

  “Fine.” Fleance stood up. “Then I’m going to take a shower.”

  This is torture, she thought, watching him in the mirror.

  Fleance stripped off his jacket and dropped it on the floor. He was bare-chested underneath. Sheena had borrowed his shirt for the drive back into town, and promptly disintegrated it when she shifted to sneak through the corridors. Fleance’s skin was scuffed with dirt, as though he’d brought along the mud he’d picked up in his hellhound form the same way he shifted with his clothes intact.

  His pants joined his jacket on the floor. Then his boxers. Sheena let out a toothpaste-flavored groan as he stepped into the tub. His body was pure muscular power, honed and polished until his every movement was like a dance. A sexy shower dance. He stood under the water, turning so that it ran over every inch of his body. Over his face, his toned chest, the hard lines of his abs. It trickled down his hips, caught in the deep grooves of his V and then…

  Sheena groaned out loud and threw her toothbrush down. Fleance crossed his arms and leaned against the shower wall.

  “You’ve already had a shower,” he
protested as she slid her dressing gown over her shoulders.

  “Hush,” she commanded as she stepped into the shower with him. Hot water pounded down on her shoulders, but she barely noticed it. All her attention was on her mate.

  It wasn’t just dirt darkening his skin. There were bruises, too. She touched her fingertips to a livid mark on his ribs. “When did this happen?”

  “During the fight. You were there, remember?”

  She remembered Fleance limping in his hellhound form and protectiveness rose up inside her, hot and fierce. “You’re hurt—”

  “But you’re not. That’s what is important.”

  “No, it’s not.” She soaped up a cloth and ran it gently over the bruise. Then over his chest, his arms, every part of him that she could reach. There were more bruises hidden under the dirt, and scratches. Most of them were already scabbing over but enough were still unhealed enough to stain the water red as it whirled into the drain.

  Sheena looked into his eyes. “If we’re ever in a fight like that again, you have to let me take some hits. I won’t let you put yourself on the front line again.” She pulled him down for a kiss. *Not without me by your side.*

  *If we’re in a fight again,* he agreed. *My job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. As your mate and as your pack.*

  *Good luck. I don’t think my hellsheep has the same opinion on fighting as you. Or me, for that matter.*

  Fleance smiled against her lips. *I’m still a hellhound. If your hellsheep needs to be herded…*

  *You wouldn’t dare.*

  He stroked her sides, drawing her closer. *You’re not my alpha yet.*

  She leaned towards the heat that emanated from his entire body. She was hot, too, her body straining for his touch. Every brush of his hands on her skin, his lips against hers, made her burn more fiercely. Desire was a weight strung between them, pulling them both in.

  But she didn’t want to rush. The last time had felt almost brutal with desperation. There’d been no space for her to cherish his body. This man, who was already so much a part of her and yet about whom she still had so much to learn.