by J. K Harper
Christmas Night Bear: Wyatt
Silvertip Shifters
J.K. Harper
Contents
CHRISTMAS NIGHT BEAR
Stay in Touch!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Sneak Peek! Mountain Bear’s Baby: Shane
More by J.K. Harper
About J.K.
CHRISTMAS NIGHT BEAR
Copyright © 2019 by J.K. Harper
First electronic publication: November 2019
First print publication: November 2019
J.K. Harper
www.jkharper.com
Cover design by Jacqueline Sweet
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the copyright owner except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published in the United States of America
Can a wounded, possessive bear and a stubborn, holiday-hating reindeer heal their busted hearts just in time to make some mistletoe magic that will last forever?
A reindeer shifter fleeing her past…
Brynna Darby can’t help that she’s a reindeer shifter. But she sure can do her darned best to ignore that part of her life, and has done so for years. Until she abruptly lands back in her tiny shifter hometown. Expectations there are suffocating her—but one sexy bear shifter might open up her guarded heart and show her how to find joy again.
A bear shifter searching for home...
Wyatt Webber returned to his hometown of Deep Hollow right before Christmas, his favorite time of year. Then he runs into the onetime love of his life, Brynna, and everything threatens to turn into a lump of coal. She’s the mate who broke his heart...but she also might be the only one who can put it back together again.
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1
Brynna Darby flung up her hands in victory and hollered out to the cold December sky, "YASS!"
Whooping with joy, she danced on the cement pathway beside the railing decorated with shiny garlands of red and green in honor of the holidays. She didn't care one little bit about looking like a total goof in front of others who also traveled the frozen Silvertip Creek walkway. She was a freaking champion runner, woot!
Just moments ago, that final daunting hill had appeared ahead of her, right at the point when her leg muscles usually started to scream in protest. But she'd gritted her teeth, dug in, and pushed her way up the short but steep hill. Passing her trainer in a burst of speed, huffing out a single shout of laughter as he muttered something about dirty pool, she'd raced up that hill on two legs that today felt as strong and solid as they'd ever been.
She was just about healed up from her injury. That meant she was thisclose to being able to escape her hometown once more. This time, she would never look back.
A quiet grumble very deep inside her floated up, but Brynna ignored it. No. Deep Hollow was her past, and she wanted no part of it anymore.
With a somewhat theatrical groan, Thor, her sister's fiancé and also Brynna's physical therapist and training partner, reached her side. "Way to hand a guy his balls," he complained cheerfully if also slightly breathlessly. "Good job, Bryn."
He smiled down at her with the genuine pride of a trainer who had done his job well, then gave her a brotherly ruffle on her head. "You owned this run. Just like you owned the last several runs. So,” he drawled out with a big grin, “I think we're gonna have to declare you officially fit and ready to go back to work, little deer."
Breath catching in her throat, Brynna ignored the irritating nickname as she stared up at him. “Shut up,” she said in a near whisper. “For real? You're going to declare me fully healed?”
Thor nodded. “You just ran like you were on fire and beat the hell out of me. For the third time this week, no less. My official word is that you're healed, sister-to-be,” he said in a gentle but firm voice. “For real.”
With another happy shriek, Brynna leaped forward to give him a quick hug before whirling away to dance an even more excited jig on the pathway, scattered snow crunching underfoot. This time she got more stares and a few giggles from passersby, but they all still seemed cheerful. This time of year did that to people.
She felt utterly giddy with happiness. She was whole, she was healed, and most importantly, now she'd be able to get the hell out of tiny shifter town Deep Hollow, Colorado, a.k.a. the bane of her existence. Just being here, trapped at her parents' house for the past six weeks while she recuperated from a bad tibial fracture caused by that distracted teenager driving his scooter like a madman through Rome, had been making her go mad.
Just holiday nerves, the little voice in her mind whispered in a comforting tone. Reindeer don't go mad. They just sometimes play their reindeer games is all.
Rolling her eyes and frowning at the same time, Brynna shoved the thoughts away. No. She didn't have holiday nerves, and she never played games. She was simply ready to once again flee her stifling hometown. Being an invalid sucked, and she’d struggled being back here where everyone had expectations of her. She was ready to leave, and that was that.
Even though, she had to grudgingly admit, Deep Hollow was pretty cute right now. Everything was decorated for Christmas and had been since the day after Thanksgiving. Everyone she saw was cheerful and laughing, beautifully decorated trees were on display in living room windows every night, and carols tinkled from speakers in every store in town. Secretly, so very secretly, she thought it all looked charming. Welcoming. Filled with a bunch of happy fa la la la la and abundant joy that actually did lift her spirits. Somewhat.
But all that didn’t matter now. She tipped up her chin in determination. She, Brynna Elyse Darby, had a nice life outside of this backwoods little town, and she was going back to it as soon as she could. Her best life was lived far away from this place and its unsettling memories.
This place is home, the whisper inside her came again. Home.
She stopped dancing, a small frown drawing down her mouth. That was what she really didn't like to think about. The part of her she wanted to leave behind, trapped back here in Deep Hollow forever. The part with demanding requirements she’d fled years ago. The part of her that had left behind a hometown that thought she should live up to a tradition she wanted nothing to do with.
The part of her that also had left behind a piece of her heart, no matter how darned much she tried to deny it.
A flash of something that felt like pain whipped through her. Sexy blue eyes and amazing lips that could kiss her senseless slipped through her thoughts, making everything inside her squeeze together and suck away her breath.
No. She was done. The other night had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she’d made the right decision when she’d left this place years before. She was leaving again, and no one could stop her.
Least of all the sexiest, most irritating, possessive, and downright heart-tugging bear shifter she knew. The panty-melting kis
s she’d shared with him the other night had once again rocked her world, but no. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t, go back to this life. She sure as hell wouldn’t go back to a—a—a dominating, domineering, jealous jackass of a guy who wanted nothing more than to keep her here and never let her leave again.
Hmph.
She didn’t care that he still was the one and only guy in the world who could kiss her with an intensity that made her deeply hidden inner self kick up her heels and do a dance of joy. Brynna Darby wouldn’t let anyone tell her how to live her life anymore, and that was that.
Whipping a stiff smile back onto her face, she walked around the pathway railing to drop into some light post-run stretches. "You're awesome, Thor, thanks. You're the best physical therapist in the world, and the best guy I ever could've wanted for Alina. I'll tell her she can keep you," she added with a decisive nod of her head as she stretched her quads.
Thor laughed. “Gee, thanks. Though I'm pretty sure she’s already decided to keep me.” That dopey smile he wore every time he mentioned Brynna’s sister spread over his face as he flashed the engagement band on his left hand.
Brynna's glance flicked to the bright glint of the brushed titanium band that indicated Thor's taken status. Swallowing the sharp lurch of a sigh, she beamed a quick smile before hiding her face between her arms as she grasped the railing and leaned into her stretch. She was utterly thrilled for her sweet sister. But shameful as it was, Brynna couldn't help the tinge of jealousy that her sister had found the perfect man while Brynna was still single.
Stupid, she muttered to herself. She was about to go back to the most amazing, exciting life ever. She didn’t need a permanent guy in the whirlwind hustle and bustle of global travel guiding. And it sure wasn't like she pined for a normal existence of being married—mated, the internal voice insisted, which made her frown again—complete with white picket fence, a sweet and slightly goofy dog, and a little bun in the oven.
No, Brynna wasn't like her sister, Alina, who was perfectly content to settle down with Thor into just such a normal, simple life here in Deep Hollow. Their lives were complete with stable jobs and a nice little house that did indeed have a white picket fence and a very sweet, goofy golden retriever in residence who didn't mind being owned by two shifters, even if Thor was a hulking bear shifter. And very much unlike Brynna, Alina enjoyed her yearly shifter duties and didn’t mind doing them forever.
But not Brynna. Nope. None of that was for her. She’d always had much bigger dreams. The sooner she could get out of Deep Hollow and return to living on her own terms, the better off she'd be.
Then why, she reluctantly mused as she kept stretching, did seeing an engagement ring make her feel wistful? Worse, why did it make her think of that certain pair of brilliant blue eyes, wildly talented lips, muscles that went on for days, and a quick, funny, interesting mind that turned her on like that of no other guy she'd ever met? A guy she thought she'd never see again—until she ran into him just the other night.
She’d felt herself once more falling so hard for Wyatt Webber she was afraid she might never find her way back up. Even if he was the most domineering, possessive, intense guy she’d ever known.
Yes, the voice inside her whispered, very firmly. Him. Wyatt. He's mine.
No, she commanded herself back just as firmly, pushing away a nip of pain somewhere in the vicinity of her chest. Damn you, Wyatt. Damn you for coming back here too.
Abruptly straightening up, she turned toward the path. “Do you mind if we head back to the cars now? If you're going to clear me, I need to start packing. Today.” Without looking at Thor, Brynna slipped around the railing and began to walk with a brisk stride to the small side path that led away from the creek walkway and back to where they’d parked.
“Uh, right now?” he called from behind her, jogging the few steps to catch up. She could hear the confusion in his voice. “But it's Christmas in just a few days. I thought you planned to stick around for that.”
A frown creased her face again. “Nope. You know how much I can't stand this time of year.”
Well, that's kind of a lie, the voice murmured at her. You like it. Admit it.
Not the voice, but her voice. The part of her she wanted to deny existed. She grunted low in her throat, not even meaning to do so. A peeved little deer grunt.
That was her shifter side. A reindeer shifter. Dumbest shifter type in the world.
An aggravated snort rattled inside, accompanied by what felt like a sharp kick to her thoughts by little deer legs.
It was definitely time to escape this town. Too bad she couldn’t really leave behind her shifter side. It might be cute, but she didn’t need it out in the world.
Feeling another snort start to bloom inside her, one that threatened to roll out of her mouth, she quickly said out loud to Thor, “You guys can all enjoy Christmas without me being here. Besides, it's not like I've been here for the holidays once ever since I left. Everyone else can handle it without me.” She managed to keep her tone light.
Chancing a glance at her future brother-in-law, she saw concern etched over his expression. For some ridiculous reason, that made her even more annoyed. “Christmas isn't my job, Thor!”
Brynna winced. That had come out harsher than she'd intended. “Sorry. I just mean—Deep Hollow isn't my home anymore,” she said softly. “Everyone here has to accept that. I'm grateful I could come here to heal, and it was good to spend time with family and old friends, but it was temporary. Now I'm ready to leave. And you yourself said I’m all healed up now, so I can leave.”
Silence. Smart man, he didn't press on that touchy subject any longer.
Finally, he just shrugged. “Okay. But you will be back in the spring for the wedding, right?” Slight anxiety tinged his voice. Big bear shifter that he was, her sister had him utterly wrapped around her tiny, cute finger. “Alina will kill me if I said you were ready to go and it meant you were gonna bail on being the maid of honor. This wedding day thing is so important to her that she's kinda turning into a basket case over the details.”
Brynna stifled a chuckle at Thor’s worried expression. He might be a big, brawny bear shifter, but his tiny mate definitely ruled their little roost. Although shifters usually had a mating ceremony when they cemented their bond, there were so many mixed pairings in this mixed town that most mating ceremonies were now heavily styled after a traditional human wedding. Alina and Thor's wedding was planned for late spring in a huge, blow-out celebration to which practically the entire town had been invited. Alina had definitely gone off the deep end when it came to planning it.
Brynna nodded vigorously. “I’ll definitely be back for that. She'd kill us both if I didn't. I just need to get out of here for now. There's too much—distraction,” she settled on after a moment of searching for the right word. Distraction was as close as she could come to putting a label on everything that had been spinning uncontrollably inside her since a few nights ago. Distraction with blue eyes and a deep, rumbling voice that could bring her to her little reindeer knees.
Sexy jerk of a bear.
“Sounds good,” Thor said, back to his usual easygoing manner. His laid-back, accepting nature was part of the reason Alina liked him, Brynna knew. Simple, uncomplicated, and nice. Just like Alina.
She sighed to herself. She’d never had it so easy. Labeled headstrong and even rebellious since she was little—though she preferred to think of it as being determined and self-assured—Brynna had pushed aside her shifter heritage from the word go, making her life crazy complicated in too many ways. After all, she hadn't exactly been asked to be born a reindeer shifter. Being back here now for as long as she had made all those uncomfortable memories crowd into her mind every day, made the little reindeer voice in her head more insistent, and made the differences between herself and every shifter in this town who was completely at peace with themselves that much more pronounced.
Being back here was too freaking hard to deal with, and she was
done.
She didn't care that it was Christmas soon, that her family had been excited at the thought of her finally being back here for it. She needed to leave now. Especially since those molten eyes she couldn't get out of her head had haunted her every moment since the other night. The eyes that set her on fire and made her want to throw herself into Wyatt’s arms like a loony, moony girl instead of the sophisticated world traveler she was now.
Darn that bear shifter and his darned panty-melting ways.
“So,” Thor said, pulling up alongside Brynna, shaking her out of her thoughts. “You’ll at least stay for our pre-holiday dinner tonight, won’t you?” Alina had been planning the casual get-together for weeks. “We could also call it a going-away dinner for you. A temporary going away, that is,” he added quickly, laughing as he slung a brotherly arm around Brynna's shoulders. “We really need to emphasize that to my beloved bride-to-be or else she'll—”
Sudden movement ahead halted them both into wariness. Around a curve in the little side path, a guy almost ran right into them.
Brynna’s breath caught in her throat.
His enormous stride somehow took up all the space in the path. Tall, broad, drop-dead gorgeous, with the most intense blue eyes and the faint shadow of a beard Brynna had just recently felt scrape across her face, raising a thousand delicious tingles and the desire to feel it scrape somewhere else on her body too. He wore a ridiculous red t-shirt with the words holiday mode: on written in bright green letters across his very broad chest. The second he laid eyes on Brynna, he stopped dead.
