A Shifter Under the Christmas Tree

by M. L. Briers

  How did that happen?

  “You can’t sleep on the sofa,” Tanya berated him.

  “That’s what I said!” The alpha protested, but he turned back to Cameron, opened his mouth in a silent laugh and mocked him.

  “I can see you in the mirror, you know?” Tanya said and snapped that smile right off the alpha’s face.

  “Huh?” Mark tried for innocent.

  “Perhaps someone would like to take Cameron’s place on the sofa?” she asked, suddenly sounding more like his mother than his mate.

  “Umm…” He took a long moment to try to think of how he was going to dig himself out of the hole he’d jumped into.

  “There’s already a blanket for you,” Cameron said, motioning to the cushions as he got up and sidestepped the sofa to head towards the stairs.

  “But…” Mark started as he turned towards his mate and noted the glare she was giving him. “I’m just going to watch a little sports, honey, and then I’ll be up.”

  “Take your time,” she growled back, turning on her heels and starting after the vampire. “And don’t wake me!”

  Mark bit down on a thousand curse words as he screwed up his face at the sight of Cameron disappearing around the corner, and he grumbled to himself, but he snapped that all off and tried to look innocent when his mate shot a look back at him over her shoulder. “Goodnight, sweetheart,” he offered her a little wave, and she offered him a backwards middle finger.

  His pretend war with the vampire had backfired something fierce this time, but he’d won most of the points, but in the end, it had lost him the damn battle.

  Boy, he sure was going to have to do something to earn some brownie points for this one with his mate.

  Damn vampire.

  ~

  Max was barely holding on to his wild side, and his bear knew it was only a matter of time before the cage sprung open, and he could put his mark into her skin to warn every other supernatural being that they didn’t want to mess with his mate.

  He’d kill for her, and he’d willingly die to protect her.

  Right then, all he could think about was being inside her.

  They’d clawed and torn each other’s clothes off, and skin-to-skin, as nature intended, was so much better than he ever could have hoped. He’d touched, kissed, teased, and licked as much of her body as he could, but every time he breathed in the scent of her arousal it called to him until he could no longer resist.

  The taste of her on his tongue was delicious, and the sweet sounds that she was making only added to the frenzy within him.

  The need to be joined together as one was hammering in his brain like a sledgehammer, and the moment that she cried out with the first orgasm that torn through her, he knew that moment had arrived.

  Max wasn’t a small man in any sense of the word. He needed to get her body good and ready to take his length inside of her, and as he lowered his weight onto his elbows above her and slowly pushed into the wet heat of her still throbbing channel – he almost lost his mind when those satin walls clenched tightly around his length.

  “Kaylee, don’t kill me yet, honey,” he growled, easing back and pushing in further each time.

  “I think you can do better than that,” she said, and he caught a wicked gleam in her eyes a heartbeat before she clawed down his back from his shoulders to his backside.

  With a stunted grunt and a growl to follow, his hips met hers of their own volition, and she arched her body and pressed the back of her head into the mattress as she tightened her inner muscles around his length once more. “See,” she said with a wicked giggle.

  “Damn,” Max growled. “I don’t want to break you…”

  “I’m your mate, I was made for you,” she informed and berated him all in one go.

  When Max looked like he was thinking about that, she clawed down his back again and sent his hips moving once more.

  Over and over again, he took her to the hilt, faster and faster until he could feel those satin walls squeezing around him of their own free will and he knew she was getting close to another orgasm. Max needed something more, something that was clawing within him to be fulfilled.

  He snatched her from the bed and pulled out of her. He turned her onto her hands and knees in front of him and thrust back inside of her before she’d even opened her mouth to bemoan his absence.

  That beautiful curve of her back bewitched him. The soft skin of her shoulder called to his inner beast, and he reached out and ran his fingers over the smooth skin to remember exactly how it felt before he placed his mark there.

  Max wrapped a strong arm around her waist and leaned in over her. His chest rubbed over her back as he rode low. His hips pounded against her backside, taking her closer and closer to the edge of oblivion.

  Finally, Max allowed his beast to have its way. His fangs elongated and locked into place, and the moment that she cried out in pleasure, his fangs sliced down into her flesh and dragged them down her skin.

  The taste of her blood on his tongue was sweeter than honey, and he consigned it to memory. His beast roared within him.

  He used his tongue to clean and seal his mark into her skin, but his hips were still working, and her body was climbing for a second time towards another release.

  Max grunted as he pushed back onto his heels. He slapped his large hands against her hips, and he lost his mind to the need within him.

  He felt wilder and freer than he’d ever felt before in his life as he thrust to the hilt over and over, taking her with him towards the edge of insanity, and towards the climax that would seal their fate and bond them together for the rest of their lives.

  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard her cry of pleasure, and he let go the last of his restraint that was holding him back from finding his own release. His head craned back on his neck, and he roared as the first of his seed found her womb, over and over, he buried his length to the hilt and gave his mate everything he had to give.

  When Max found his way back, he almost fell on top of her. As weak as a newborn, and with his muscles shaking like he’d caught the flu, he slammed his hand against the mattress and drew of every last ounce of strength he had left within him to lock her body against his as he turned them and took her down to the mattress with him.

  Then he buried his face in her hair so he could take her scent at will, and protectively wrapped his body around hers.

  Mated.

  Joined together as one forever, Max had never felt so strong, so complete, and so in charge of his life as he did at that moment.

  Everything he had never wanted, being a leader, being an alpha, responsibility, and making decisions that would affect others all changed in that one moment of holding his mate in his arms.

  Kaylee was his to protect, to love, and he would do right by her for the rest of his life – or he’d die trying.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  ~

  The moment Kaylee walked through the door of her cabin Chloe started to pull on her coat. “Well, we know what you were doing last night,” her sister said, just as Max walked into the cabin behind his mate and closed the door.

  Kaylee shot a look at Jackson who was happily playing on his handheld game, ignoring the grown-ups in the room for something far more interesting, and then turned a glare on her sister. “No, you don’t…”

  “I’m thinking they heard the roar on the south coast, but what do I know?” Chloe said, wrapping a woollen scarf around her neck, yanking on a woolly hat and grinning from ear to ear. She jumped in place at the hard sting of her sister’s magic. “Mean witch,” she bit out, screwing up her face.

  “You’re not leaving now…”

  “Oh, but I am,” Chloe assured her. “Jackson and I talked about it, and I’ll try to get back this way around New Year…”

  “New Year?” Kaylee hissed in annoyance on a whisper so that she didn’t upset Jackson.

  “When one year ceases to exist, and the next one starts…”


  “I know what New Year is,” Kaylee bit out, narrowing her eyes on her sister and trying to resist the temptation to zap her again.

  “It’s not like you won’t be here,” Chloe said, allowing her gaze to wander to Max before she smirked at her sister once more.

  “It’s not like for one Christmas you could think to stick around for your so…”

  “Don’t start,” Chloe said, and she turned on her heels away from Kaylee and walked towards Jackson. “Come give me hugs, little man; I need to be on my way.”

  Jackson did as he was asked and as Kaylee watched mother and son together, she battled down the anger and tried to see nothing but the love at that moment.

  It was harder than hell to do.

  “When I come back, I’ll play you at that game and beat you,” Chloe said, and Jackson snorted a chuckle of disbelief as he stepped back.

  “I’m not a little kid anymore. If you want to beat me now, then you’ll need to practice,” he informed her.

  Chloe gave a heartfelt little chuckle, but his words still hit home – he was a little kid, but he was growing up fast, and she’d missed so much of his life to date. “Are you kidding – I play those games every night. It’s you that needs to practice.”

  Jackson grinned from ear to ear and looked at Kaylee with a smile of victory. “See, I need to spend more time on my games, not less.”

  Kaylee rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. It was like a running battle to get him to put the damn thing down; anyone would have thought it was glued to his hands, and having her thoughtless sister step in and tell him it was fine to spend every breathing minute playing it wasn’t helpful.

  “Whoops, my bad,” Chloe said, realising that she’d stepped on Kaylee’s toes. “Do as Kaylee says, ok?” she informed him, but she reached up and ruffled his hair to make it seem more playful and less of an order.

  “I always do,” Jackson lied and shot a look at Kaylee to see if she was going to challenge him on that. He was happy when she just cocked an eyebrow back at him.

  “Well, I gotta go,” Chloe said and planted a tender kiss on the top of his head.

  “That’s embarrassing,” Jackson said, looking at the ground before sneaking a look at Max.

  “You’re really not gonna get far in this,” Max warned her. “The snow has really piled up outside…”

  “It’s all good,” Chloe assured him as she started for the door. “Be good kiddo!” She pulled open the door and just before she closed it behind her, she called back over her shoulder. “Or I’ll tell Santa not to come.” Then she was gone.

  “Yeah, right,” Jackson said, snorting a chuckle as he sat back down and reached for his games system. “Like being bad has ever stopped Santa from coming.”

  Kaylee rolled her eyes and grimaced – there wasn’t a parent alive that had an answer for that one. “You eaten?” she asked, and he nodded. “You ok?” he nodded again and continued playing.

  “You wanna go build a snowman and get pounded with snowballs?” Max asked, and Jackson’s head shot up so fast that he took a second for him to focus.

  “Really?” Jackson asked with a big grin on his face.

  “Sure, it’s snowed,” Max said, shrugging. “What else is snow for?”

  “Making everything look pretty,” Kaylee said.

  “Can I hit Aunt Kaylee with snowballs?” Jackson said with glee.

  “Sure,” Max said, eyeing his mate with amusement.

  “Hey,” she grumbled. “What about, me and Jackson against you?”

  “Nah, I’m on Max’s team,” Jackson said, tossing his game system down and pushing up to his feet. He looked pleased with himself.

  “Well then, I guess I get to use magic on my team,” Kaylee said and noted the way they both frowned at exactly the same moment. “And I’m not planning on being nice about it.”

  ~

  Jackson eyed the row of Snowmen and women that lined the field and grinned to himself. Of course, the snowwomen were all Aunt Kaylee’s creations, and she’d cheated and used magic to do it, but the snowmen were all his – and Max’s – but, still his idea.

  He liked having Max around, and over snowmen and snowball fights they’d told him what his mother had told him that morning – that Kaylee and Max were now a family, and that Max’s family was now his family. The bonus was, he’d get to see the bears, and maybe one would like him enough to be his friend, like a pet, but not.

  The best part for Jackson was that they weren’t going to move around again – it had been part of his wish – and even if the second part hadn’t come true – yet – then he’d still live in a house with Aunt Kaylee and have a real family.

  “Looks like you’ve been working overtime,” Cameron’s melodic tone startled Jackson out of his thoughts, and he whirled towards the vampire.

  “I had help,” Jackson said, feeling the strange rush of knowing within him as his magic sprang to life and he felt the tingle of it at his fingertips. He didn’t know why, but he knew something was … different.

  Cameron shot a look at the cabin and back to the boy once more. “The shifter and the witch…”

  “Whoa, stranger danger,” Jackson said, his eyes widening as he took a few steps back.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  ~

  “Perceptive,” Cameron mused.

  “I don’t know what that means,” Jackson admitted.

  “Then someone should buy you a dictionary for Christmas.”

  Jackson snorted in disgust. “Christmas is for toys, and phones have dictionaries. How old are you?”

  “Compared to you, positively ancient,” he muttered. “Do you know what I am?”

  “Weird,” Jackson offered back.

  Cameron couldn’t fault the boy that observation. “Do you know what you are?”

  “A kid.” He looked at the vampire as if he was unsure what planet he was from. “Are you a shifter?”

  “Don’t insult me,” Cameron said, cocking an eyebrow at the boy and snorting his contempt.

  “A witch?”

  “What part of don’t insult me, didn’t you understand?” He took a step forward, and Jackson snapped to attention.

  “My Uncle is bigger than you,” he warned and noted that did the trick when Cameron stopped and eyed him.

  “Yes, but I’m stronger, faster, and meaner,” he informed him with a devilish grin that offered the boy a view of just a little of his fangs.

  Jackson sucked in a breath and craned his head forward to get a better look. They really were fangs, and if he wasn’t a shifter then that meant – Jackson’s heart thumped his ribs, he lifted one snow drenched mitten and pointed a finger at Cameron, and his new wish was that the man would just disappear.

  ~

  Kaylee felt the strange magic in the air, but there was also a familiarity about it. It held the essence of family magic, and yet, it wasn’t her sister’s.

  She tossed the sweater she’d been packing into a suitcase down and walked through the cabin to the front door. She’d known that Jackson was starting to find his magic, but she also knew that unchecked magic could lead to trouble, and she hoped to avoid bringing any trouble to her door for the foreseeable future.

  The instant she snatched open the door, ready to call Jackson home, she noted the boy running like the wind towards her, and behind him – snow was falling from the trees like an avalanche, but strangely, or not considering he’d used magic, it was all streaming down into one place and forming a life-sized snowman.

  Kaylee was impressed.

  “I’d just wished he’d disappear is all!” Jackson yelled, giving Kaylee her first clue that all was not as it appeared.

  “He who?” she demanded, starting out of the cabin to meet the boy, but she could feel the heat coming off Max’s body behind her as he followed hard on her heels.

  Jackson powered towards her, but detoured at the last moment and scooted behind them, panting hard. “Don’t let him suck me dry – I’m b
asically good, and I won’t magic anymore!”

  “Suck…?” Kaylee snapped to attention, and her magic was at her fingertips before she sucked in another breath. “Vampire!” she bit out, lifting her hands and blasting the snowman with her magic before Max could do a thing to stop her.

  Snow exploded into the air, and in the midst of the powered firework display, she spotted the vampire flying backwards away from where he’d been encased in snow. He flew over the low stone wall, and into the open field behind the trees.

  “That’s gotta hurt,” Max bit out, grimacing as he watched his friend fly, and land with a heavy thud, disappearing into the snow once more. “He’s not gonna be a happy bloodsucker,” he muttered.

  Kaylee shot a curious look at Max over her shoulder. For a protective shifter, he didn’t look too worried, and there was no sign of his bear clawing to be set free to defend them from the danger a vampire could bring.

  It suddenly dawned on her that this vampire, might not be the danger to life she’d originally thought him to be. Oops.

  “Umm,” she started, not sure how to brace the subject. “A friend of yours?”

  “You could say,” he informed her.

  “You see!” Cameron shouted, sight unseen from the snow. “This is what happens when you try to play nice with a witch and a mini-warlock!” he called, sounding miffed.

  “Oh, here we go,” Max said, dropping his head forward on his neck and shaking it as he groaned to himself.

  “Yeah, but you got a free flight, so stop your whining,” Mark called, coming towards them from the other direction. “Besides, who steps up on a boy like that…?”

  “Creepy stranger guy!” Jackson called, agreeing with the other guy.

  “He most certainly is,” Mark called out. “See, even the kid’s got your number.”

  “I resent the implication,” Cameron called back sitting up like he was rising from the dead in a coffin in an old black and white horror movie.