A Shifter Under the Christmas Tree

by M. L. Briers

  “That’s because you spend your life-sucking up,” Mark growled.

  “So, you do believe my cooking is second class?” Tanya asked, eyeing her mate with a glare when he snapped a look at her.

  “I didn’t say…”

  “Yep, you did,” Cameron said.

  Mark turned his attention to Shauna. “Shauna, did you hear me say…?”

  “Yep,” Shauna grinned from ear to ear.

  “I heard it,” Lucas said, stalking into the room and flopping down into a chair, and then he shrugged when his father glared at him.

  “Who invited you?” Mark asked, and Lucas pointed at his mother with a mocking grin.

  Cameron leaned in, snatched the plate from Mark’s hand and whispered. “I’d advise you to keep digging until you hit China and then vanish without a trace.”

  Mark opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of his mate’s low growl made him think better of it. There were some battles that you just couldn’t win, and fighting your mate was usually one of them.

  He skewered a piece of meat with his fork, pushed it into his mouth and made the best damn appreciative sounds he’d ever made while smiling and nodding at her.

  “Who’s the suck up now?” Cameron asked, grinning as the alpha shot him a glare.

  ~

  Max had to admit, it might not of been his mother’s cooking, but it was good. Which was more than Kaylee could say about their attempt at decorating the Christmas tree.

  She tipped her head this way and that, and yet, even unfinished, it still looked as if the tree was tilted to the right under the weight of ornaments it had on one side. She’d have to fix that later and claim the Elves did it; otherwise that was going to bug her the whole time.

  Jackson put down his knife and fork on the empty plate in front of him and sighed. “That was nice,” he said as if someone had stolen his favourite toy.

  “But?” Kaylee asked, knowing there was going to be a but.

  “But, there are no Christmas cookies,” he said as if the world was ending from the lack of sugary treats.

  “I have Christmas cookies,” Kaylee protested.

  “But those are your Christmas cookies, I liked Tanya’s Christmas cookies better,” he informed her.

  Kaylee snorted a chuckle. “Well, don’t sugar coat it, kiddo,” she said, reaching out and ruffling his hair. “How about ice cream?”

  Jackson brightened. “I could eat ice cream in front of the TV.”

  “I’ll bet you could,” she said, but she was grateful that he wasn’t going to eat and run into his room and leave her alone with Max.

  “It’ll make up for not having the best Christmas cookies in the world,” he said and offered her the Puss in Boots pleading eyes that she knew so well. He was just too good at that, and she wondered if he practised in front of a mirror to get it just right.

  Damn, but even if she didn’t have an ulterior motive to keep him close by then, she would still have fallen for that look. “Fine,” she said shrugging, and while they were busy eating ice cream and watching the TV, she could use her magic to move the lights on the tree around and some of the baubles, and make it less lopsided.

  It would be stealthy, but necessary if she was to keep her sanity and not hurt anyone’s feelings in the process.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ~

  Kaylee sat in the comfy chair and let the boys have the sofa. It was part tactical, she didn’t want to get too comfortable next to Max, and she could see the Christmas tree perfectly from the position she’d placed the chair. While they were busy gawking at fast cars, sexy women, and high-speed crashes, she was busy weaving her magic and moving the lights into different position on the branches.

  It was a win-win.

  “I saw that,” Max said, at the same time as she caught the movement of his head out of the corner of her eye.

  Busted!

  “You saw nothing,” she informed him with a little glare to make sure he knew to keep it to himself.

  “Saw what?” Jackson asked, turning his head to look up at Max.

  “Stuff?” Max said with a shrug of those broad shoulders that made Jackson look even smaller by comparison as they sat side by side.

  “What stuff?” Jackson asked, not willing to let it go.

  “Adult stuff,” Max said, in the hope, the boy would drop it.

  Jackson turned his attention to Kaylee and noted that she looked a little suspicious as she pulled that face she always did when she was up to no good, and his inquisitive gene really kicked in. “I thought we were friends?” Jackson said, turning to look up at Max again and trying to push his guilt button.

  “Friends don’t ask friends to betray a secret,” Max informed him, and Kaylee liked that answer, it was a good one, and she needed to write that down in her memory for the next time her nephew used her guilt against her.

  “It’s Aunt Kaylee, isn’t it?” Jackson asked, still not letting it drop.

  “Sitting right there,” Max said, hoping to deflect the child from being so damn stubborn.

  “Not what I asked,” Jackson said, sounding older than his years. “The secret is something to do with her?”

  “Maybe,” Max said, sounding like their roles had reversed and he was the child with the secret to hide.

  “You can tell me,” Jackson said, and Kaylee couldn’t help but sniff a chuckle or two.

  Max shot her a look, and she grimaced. If he knew how to deal with the boy’s inquisitive nature then she’d love to learn.

  “Us being friends and all?” Max asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Sorry,” Max said. “Some secrets need to be kept…”

  “Why?” Jackson asked, and Kaylee hated that word, she’d gone through nearly a year of hearing nothing else from his lips.

  “Because.”

  “Because?”

  “Because of the wonderful things he does,” Max tossed back, not knowing if it would work or not, but his mother used to use the Wizard of Oz with him when he was younger, and it always seemed to get him thinking about other things.

  “Huh?” Jackson looked perplexed. “Was that a joke?”

  “Now that I think about it, probably not,” Max offered, and then snapped a look at the screen when a car exploded, drawing Jackson’s gaze that way.

  When they both grunted in appreciation, Kaylee rolled her eyes – men – males – little boys – they were basically all the same. One little exploding car and they lost interest in everything else.

  Then she went back to weaving her magic on the baubles on the tree, but she could feel Max’s gaze as it kept flicking over to her. But he knew what she’d been doing, and he’d kept the secret, so she didn’t stop on his account.

  “I saw that!” Jackson announced and Kaylee snapped to attention.

  “Saw what?” Max asked.

  “You looking at Aunt Kaylee,” Jackson said.

  Max frowned. “Can’t I look at Aunt Kaylee?”

  “Yes, but only if there’s a reason,” Jackson argued.

  “Ok,” Kaylee said. “There’s a reason.”

  “There is?” Jackson asked, all wide-eyed and hopeful to finally get an answer.

  “Sure,” she said and pointed to Max. “Watch,” she waited for him to turn back to Max and then she carefully weaved her magic on the very end of a string of lights. Slowly, it rose up from the branch, like a snake, moving through the air, and then it tapped the shifter on the head.

  “Now, I definitely saw that,” Max said, playing along.

  “No, you didn’t,” Jackson said. “You were looking the other way. I saw that” he said like he was the king of the world.

  “Oh, really?” Kaylee asked, and he turned to look at her. That was when she snatched a bauble from the tree and tossed it at him. It hit Jackson on the head and bounced down to the floor. “Betcha didn’t see that.”

  Jackson chuckled and then frowned. He turned back to Max. “Can bears do magic?”

 
Max smiled. “Apart from changing into humans, you mean?”

  Jackson thought about that for a moment. “That sure is a good trick,” he said in awe. “Can you teach me?”

  “No,” Max said, disappointing the boy.

  “Oh,” Jackson turned his attention to his Aunt. “Can you teach me?”

  “Nope, only people born with the shifting gene can shift,” she explained.

  “Can’t he bite me or something, like a werewolf?” Jackson asked, filling with excitement again.

  “Bear’s don’t do that,” Max said, frowning at the thought of it. “And werewolves are bad…”

  “But bears are good?” Jackson asked, looking confused.

  “And some wolf shifters, the Lycan kind,” Max informed him.

  “I don’t get it,” Jackson said shrugging.

  “We don’t bite people to make them like us. That would be wrong, and we have rules,” Max informed him.

  “Like you’d get arrested?” Jackson asked.

  “Something like that,” Kaylee said. She’d rather not give him the whole hunting down and killing rogue beasts stories before he went to bed.

  “I don’t want you to get in trouble,” Jackson said. “So, you’d better not bite me and turn me into a bear.”

  “Got it, and thanks,” Max said, giving the boy an easy smile.

  Kaylee watched the two of them together and smiled to herself. Max was a little more open with him than he was at the start, but then, he’d spoken to her as well.

  Something seemed to have changed since she’d first met him, and she didn’t know what it was, but she wasn’t sure that she liked it either.

  Looking at them together, it was like getting a little snapshot of the family that they could be – but that wasn’t how this was going to play out. Like it or not, she needed to leave after Christmas, and right then – that idea didn’t fill her with glee.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  ~

  With one leg hooked over the arm of the sofa, the other squished up beneath him as he laid sprawled over the seat with his head butted against Max’s ribs, Jackson looked kind of cute and kind of weird, like a doll that had been tossed down by an unthinking child.

  For Kaylee, the picture of domesticity that the two of them had been painting in slow strokes for her all night was just reinforced by that scene. In truth, it couldn’t get much worse – could it?

  Oh, but it surely could.

  When Max decided enough was enough with the little pig snorts that made him chuckle, and the small butting of Jackson’s head against his ribs every so often as he moved or stretched in his sleep, he decided in his infinite male wisdom to carry the boy to his bed.

  Oh, but damn it, was that a scene that tugged on Kaylee’s heartstrings, swirled the butterflies in her stomach, and made her want to headbutt the nearest wall? Yep.

  Ugh!

  What the heck was she supposed to think about the equal amounts of strength and tenderness on display by that big man-mountain?

  Well, fate was not playing fair, and neither was that damn shifter.

  Max had to know what that looked like to her, what sort of images that conjured up in her mind’s eye, and if he didn’t, then he should have put more thought into it.

  Stupid man.

  Stupid fate.

  Stupid squishy inner feelings that would send her barmy if she allowed them to fester too long. She needed a distraction.

  A heartbeat later and she was stalking towards the Christmas tree. She’d been slowly fixing that stupidly lopsided thing the whole evening, but now, oh now, she could actually get her hands on it without Jackson feeling upset that she didn’t like his effort.

  In truth, his effort would send her bat-poop crazy by Christmas morning, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

  On the other hand, she had no problem hurting Max’s feelings whatsoever. If the man was soft and squishy on the inside and easily put out, well, that was just tough – he’d get over it.

  Kaylee was elbow deep in branches, baubles, shiny stringy things, and lights when she felt Max’s eyes on her. It was the strangest feeling like she just knew he was watching her – not so much like that creepy feeling you got when you thought you were being stalked by a serial killer, not that she felt that often, but just that she wasn’t alone.

  Maybe she’d get lucky, and he was a serial killer – at least then she’d have a damn good reason for killing him. But, she didn’t think her luck would run that deep.

  Nope, fate had other plans for her, and when she turned to look at him over her shoulder – her heart bounced up into her throat, butterflies danced the dance of lust, and she couldn’t look away as she’d planned to do.

  Of course, she couldn’t look away, the man was pure eye candy, standing there with his big muscled arms folded across his broad muscled chest, leaning a shoulder against a wall, and looking at her with those smoky, sexy chocolate brown eyes – how the frap did you look away from that?

  Kaylee had never wished for anything more than she did right then – she wished she’d been born a lesbian – Ha! That would have shown fate the door. Or maybe not, because Max would have been Maxine, and she’d still be in trouble.

  But, it never hurt to try new things – right?

  “You’ve been fussing with that tree all night,” he said, in a low, deep, velvety voice that was every bit as soulful as Barry White.

  Ugh! If he burst into song, then she was out of the door to stick her head in a snowbank.

  Fate was right; there was no way she could just become a lesbian – it wasn’t something that you just adopted like a puppy. Lesbianism wasn’t just for Christmas, it was for life, and looking at him – there was no way in hell that she was attracted to women.

  Kaylee turned back to the tree, dropped her head on her neck for a moment and resisted the urge to curse in several languages. Not that she spoke several languages, but she did know the bad words.

  She needed to do something, or she was toast.

  “You were right, and I’m a lesbian,” she said, kind of on a mutter, and when she heard him chuckle – which was also deep, velvety, and as sexy as hell – her head snapped up, and she tossed a glare back over her shoulder at him. “That’s funny to you?” she asked, trying to sound offended for the whole community of lesbians on the planet.

  “Let’s follow the logic – as women are born lesbians,” he said, pushing away from the wall and taking a step towards her, and she definitely snapped to attention then. “And you were born my mate…”

  “Ok, fine, so shoot me,” she grumbled.

  Kaylee wanted to get that torture over and move onto the next not-so-bright idea. Plus, he was still moving towards her.

  She frowned and sidestepped a little so she could watch what he was up to – because there was definitely a walk going on – or maybe less a walk and more a stalk – yes, that was it, he was stalking towards her like a predator and she’d be damned if she was going to let him pounce!

  “What’s with the walking?” she rushed out.

  “I find it helps get from one place to another,” Max said, teasing her with a smile, and what a smile it was.

  “What’s with the smiling?” she demanded.

  Max couldn’t help but chuckle. Attached as she seemed to be to the Christmas tree, and with an air of nervous suspicion about her that told him she was on the back foot, he liked the way she looked. Sexy nervous – like a cat on a hot tin roof.

  “I find it makes people feel more comfortable around me, given my size,” he said.

  Not that it had ever bothered him before if people were comfortable around him or not. If anything, not being comfortable tended to end the conversation rather rapidly, and he was free to be his solitary self again. But he didn’t much feel like being on his own now.

  “Well, you stop right there and stop smiling,” she demanded and tried to wrench her hands out from the mess she’d gotten herself in by delving too deeply in the jumble on the tre
e.

  It didn’t go so well; she kind of got her hands free and clear, she thought, when in fact she hadn’t. A couple of bulbs had managed to get snagged on her sweater and before she could say poop – her sweater yanked the lights, the lights yanked the tree, and the tree was falling.

  Max saw the tree move and growled at his stupidity. He’d fixed the tree in the base, but he hadn’t anchored it – down it came – timber! And it was about to land on his mate when he managed to get to her before the tree got to them both.

  Splat. The tree hit him just as her foot snagged on the rug and she was falling, then Max was falling, and to add insult to injury the tree was following them down.

  Kaylee felt the hard thud echo through her when her body hit the floor, and then the crushing weight of her mate came down on top of her with another thud, before branches, baubles, shiny things, and lights closed in around them.

  It appeared that it wasn’t just a shifter that fate had put under the Christmas tree that year – she was under it too.

  Could life have gotten any more embarrassing?

  Well, yeah, she guessed she could have been naked, but could anything else come close to being the bottom slice of a shifter, Christmas tree sandwich?

  So much for staying away from him.

  What else could go wrong?

  It just couldn’t get any worse than that, could it?

  Kaylee thought it and grimaced. Every witch knows not to ask that question or the powers that be were sure to send something to screw with your brain. Aside from dancing reindeer and Santa dropping down the chimney, she thought she was safe for now.

  How wrong could a witch be?

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ~

  Max had to admit, it was a novel way to get his mate just where he wanted her, but the Christmas tree that lay over them like a blanket hadn’t been on his list of ways to do it. He raised his upper body and rested his weight on his elbows as he stared down into her eyes.