by Trisha Linde
Noel was mine. End of story.
I had to hand it to Darren. He was faster than I was. He’d had more practice shifting back and forth, he’d likely been doing it his whole life. But I’d spent more time as a wolf.
Our bodies had begun this discussion as humans, but we would end it as wolves.
Somewhere distantly I heard Noel shouting at me, but in this form, it was as if he were speaking a different language. My human side was quickly being buried, though the need to protect him was still burning strong.
I didn’t want to hurt Darren, not really, but I found that my animal instincts were too strong, too hard to control. I snapped at his jugular, but he moved at the last second and my teeth caught his shoulder instead.
I had only a split second to be grateful I’d missed before the beast in me overruled the sliver of humanity. I lunged again, and we became a whirlwind of gnashing teeth and scrabbling claws. We rolled across the snowy terrain, and I somehow ended up on top. I had the upper hand. I saw an opening and took it, darting forward with my jaws, when suddenly a bright flash of light flared and a blast to my chest knocked me back.
The pain was dull at first, the adrenaline pushing it to the back of my awareness, but then the pain seemed to burn brighter.
“Ah! Shit!” I cried, rubbing at my chest.
“Wolf,” Noel panted, rushing to my side. He kneeled down in the snow and raised my head into his lap. “What the hell was that all about?”
I looked down at my body, very obviously human. Somehow, that blast had forced a shift. “What happened?” I asked, but then the details of the fight started to trickle back in. “Darren! Is he okay?”
I sat up, my eyes darting through the crowd until they laid on Darren’s form. He wasn’t prone, at least, but he was panting hard and examining his shoulder where I’d bitten him. There was another man at his side, blond and thin, and he was glaring daggers at me. Was it just me or were his fingers glowing?
Noel helped me stand after I staggered. My balance was a bit off, but I could already feel the effects passing. What was that light? I could still smell the lingering scent in the air, like fireworks. Or maybe that was just melted fur…
Noel insisted he hold my hand as I wobbled through the snow in my bare feet. “Is that to help me stand, or to make sure I don’t shift and go after him again?” I asked under my breath, though shifters have remarkable hearing, they’d all likely heard me.
“Yes,” Noel said, giving me a little side-eye. “You’d better behave yourself.”
“Of course, anything for you, mate.”
He sighed, and it was almost blissful, but with a hint of exasperation. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Hmmm, if you need help, I’ve got a few suggestions on how you can punish me.” That earned me a smack.
By the time we were standing in front of Darren, he was smirking at us. The mischievous glint to his eyes said he’d definitely heard the whole thing. The man beside him was most decidedly not smiling. By his posture in relation to Darren, I would guess they were mates. Yeah, it would take a miracle for him to ever forgive me for hurting his mate, no doubt.
I put my hand over my heart, feeling the edges of the singed skin. “I am very truly sorry for that. I was way out of line.”
“You’re telling me,” the blond said, crossing his arms over his chest. His scent was peculiar, nothing I’d ever scented before. There was definitely a hint of magic to it.
Darren gestured to the man at his side. “This is Tuck. He’s a Christmas elf, hence the...” He wiggled his fingers at me and then made an explosion gesture.
I turned to Tuck and said as genuinely as I could, “Thank you for stopping me from doing anything worse.”
“Psh, as if you could’ve won.” He rolled his eyes at me, and I gave a small smile. At least he’d stopped glaring.
“Again, Darren, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, let me know. It was so weird, I don’t know what came over me.”
Darren’s eyebrows drew skyhigh. “You don’t know?”
“I know it sounds like some lame excuse, but I promise I’m not copping out. I guess I was excited about the run, and I was nervous about the shift. It was bizarre, I’m not usually so angry or territorial like that, not even as a wolf. I’m really glad you’re not seriously hurt, that could’ve gone horribly wrong.” I looked back and forth between the two men, but they were both staring back at me with a stunned expression.
“You should tell them,” Tuck whisper-yelled.
“Tell me what?”
Darren shuffled stiffly, looking anywhere but at us. “This is so awkward, I don’t know you that well.”
“Seriously,” Noel snapped, “just spit it out already. You two are standing here buck naked. Whatever it is, I think you know each other well enough by now.”
Darren chuckled sheepishly. “Fair enough, except you may think otherwise in a minute. This involves you as much as it does him.”
Tuck gave a huff. “You guys are taking too long. The run is about to start.” He turned to look Noel in the eye. “You’re pregnant.” Then he grabbed Darren by the hand and dragged him over to where the other shifters were gathering.
“Congratulations,” Darren shouted over his shoulder at us.
I watched them wander away until they were barely visible among the gathered crowd. Then I continued to stare off into space, my jaw hanging slack. How had I not noticed? Noel’s scent had changed, but I assumed it just had something to do with me rubbing myself all over him every chance I got.
I could feel Noel’s hand still in mine, and I knew he was just as shocked as I was. The stragglers all moved past us, and when midnight came, we mutely watched all the various animals move off into the woods, howling, yipping, and braying.
Finally Noel squeezed my hand. “Don’t you want to run?”
“I think under the circumstances maybe I should pass until next time,” I answered, though I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
“Why won’t you look at me?” he said sadly. “You’re not happy about it?”
How could he possibly think that? I swiveled towards him and gripped him by the shoulders, giving him a little shake. “Are you crazy? I’m over-the-moon excited, but I know you didn’t want to have a baby. You seemed so horrified by the prospect of having my child, you must be so furious with me! I should’ve been safer with you, I didn’t even consider the consequences. I am so sorry.”
I fell down on my knees in front of him, begging his forgiveness. Noel tugged my arms. “Please get up,” he said, not unkindly.
“It’s my fault, I didn’t mean to rush you into this. We should’ve had more time—”
Noel dropped to his knees to meet me on the ground. He grabbed my face with his hands and held me tight. “Wolf,” he said fiercely.
“What? Tell me what I can do, I’ll do anything.”
“Love me,” he said. “All I ask is that you love me.” He placed his lips against mine, gently at first, and then he deepened the kiss as I responded to him.
When we broke apart, I rested my forehead against his. “You’re not mad?”
“Not even a little,” he said with a little sob, and I realized his eyes were shining with tears in the moonlight. “I’m just absolutely terrified.”
I wiped his tears from his cheeks with my thumbs. “Why, omega mine? What scares you and how can I fix it? I will seriously do anything for you, if you hadn’t noticed my midnight brawl just a few minutes ago.”
He laughed under his breath, and then sobered. “I’ve been having nightmares. They’re… violent and bloody. And also heartbreaking. And I’m not sure I’m strong enough to handle something like that in real life.”
His words echoed through me as a mirror of my own nightmares. I couldn’t help but have that same dream myself, again and again, reliving the night our ancestors made a pledge to be reunited, even through death. They must have imagined they would be together a
gain in the afterlife. Neither of them could have anticipated the lengths to which they would have to go to once again have their souls’ halves rejoined. I clutched my omega, trembling in fear. “I won’t let anything happen to you, ever.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about. In the nightmares, I can’t bear the thought that I’m leaving you alone, our child—”
Noel’s shiver rattled him in my embrace. “You must be freezing! Why didn’t you say anything?”
He looked down to his pants, soaked through at the knees. “Oh, I guess I was distracted.” He offered me a small shrug, and without another word, I scooped him up into my arms and carried him back to the car.
“What about your clothes?” he said, fighting to be free of my embrace, but I redoubled my hold on him.
“Clothes are overrated.” He laughed, and it felt so good to feel the vibration against my chest. He slapped me gently. “Oh, all right, I’ll get you settled into the car to warm up with the heater and then I’ll come back for them. I can only imagine showing up back at home naked. What would the neighbors think?”
The mood between us had changed so much over such a short period of time. We arrived as two new lovers, looking to expand our world a little. And now as we left, we felt more like an old married couple on a second honeymoon. And before the night was through, we had reached new heights again… and again...
15
Noel
The fire was roaring, keeping the winter at bay behind the walls, although my pregnant self could likely warm the entire cabin on its own. My cheeks were hot and my feet swollen, but I couldn’t bring myself to bank the fire because I knew Edmund, my alpha, was feeling the chill night air. He had just returned from hunting, and his skin was pink and chapped from the wind.
“A fat goose for our yuletide supper,” he said, raising his prize up triumphantly.
“What would I do without you?” I said, half-serious, giving him a small smile.
“You would likely starve, I expect,” he said, placing his trophy upon the table and coming up behind me. He pulled my knee-length shift up to slip his fingers around my middle. “Now, where’s my payment?”
“You brute,” I squeaked, slapping his arm. I didn’t push him away, though. Rather, I pulled him closer, enjoying the pleasurable pain his cold hands brought my flushed skin.
“I am a brute,” he growled, pushing his cold nose against my neck.
I gasped at the sensation, and then tangled my hands into his hair to keep him in place. “It is a miracle I have stayed with you this long,” I teased.
His chuckle tickled the skin below my ear. “As if I gave you any choice. You are stuck with me for eternity.”
“It will not be long enough,” I whispered, and he brought his face up to look into my eyes. They burned with such emotion.
We were fortunate to have found each other in this new land. In a different time, under different circumstances, we could have wandered the earth alone, never finding our souls’ mate. The stars, however, aligned in just such a way to bring us together. It truly was a miracle.
His lips met mine with a feverish intensity, devouring me and conducting his emotions without the need for words. He finally pulled back and lowered himself to his knees before me. He brushed his lips against my stomach gently, caressing the swell. “Merry Christmas, little one,” he whispered. “I cannot wait to meet you.”
The fire raged in the hearth, scalding my skin. I hissed as the heat increased to a near-intolerable level. I knelt beside Edmund, taking his hands and pressing them against my skin, trying to ease the burning sensation. It only increased, spreading across my abdomen and chest.
I blinked and found I was lying in bed, writhing in pain. Dying.
He cupped my face, and I fell into his eyes. His words echoed through time. “I will walk this earth, but I will not truly live until we are once again reunited. Will you wait for me?”
I nodded. “Forever.”
Forever.
The words continued to echo long after I opened my eyes. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the soft snores of my mate. I wished I could have another dream, another memory of that past life, if that’s what it truly was. Why couldn’t I remember when they had sex? That would’ve been way more fun that dying every night in my sleep.
Wolf’s hand was resting gently on my stomach, where it had been nearly every waking minute. He gave a little snort, and I smirked. He kept it there even in sleep, apparently. It was as if he thought that he could keep us safe by staying in constant contact. I tried to think of it as cute, but I couldn’t convince myself of it.
It just made this all the more terrifying.
Even Wolf could sense the impending inevitability associated with this pregnancy. He could see my death, and the death of our unborn child, just over the horizon. I wasn’t exactly the most superstitious person, but the dreams of Adam’s death were really starting to feel like a portent of doom.
It would certainly be easier to ignore the feeling of foreboding if it weren’t for the whole fated love thing. From everything that Ella had been telling me, magic had this way of coming full circle. Wolf and I were destined to find one another again, but what was stopping us from repeating the cycle? Hell, who could say that we hadn’t been going through this loop for thousands of years before! Maybe I had died in childbirth a dozen times, and this was just my fate.
It was my destiny to die.
Bile rose in my throat and I dashed from the bed, pounding down the hall. I collapsed in front of the toilet, heaving stomach acid.
Wolf was right on my heels. “What is it? What’s wrong?” When my stomach settled a little, I glanced over my shoulder to see him wild-eyed and frantic. He was whipping his head back and forth as if ready to ward off some invisible attacker.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say this is morning sickness,” I moaned, my voice reverberating in the toilet bowl. At least I hoped that’s what this was, but the shadow of my recurring dream lingered in the periphery of my thoughts. What if this wasn’t morning sickness, but was maybe more of a death rattle.
“Huh?” Wolf said, his brow creasing in confusion. “Oh, sorry. I don’t think you had morning sickness last time.” He lowered down onto his knees beside me and rubbed my back.
“You know that wasn’t actually me, right? I’ve never actually been pregnant before. This is the first time…” I said it just as much for myself as I did for Wolf. That wasn’t me who died on that birthing bed.
It wasn’t me.
“What can I bring you? Water? Cold cloth? Ginger ale? I can run to the store to pick up any weird cravings?”
When most mates said they could run out for something, they meant to get in the car and drive to the store, but Wolf didn’t have a driver’s license yet, and I suspected he would literally run, on two legs or four, if I needed anything.
“I don’t think any stores are open today. It’s Christmas,” I reminded him.
A look crossed his face, impossible to decipher. “Christmas,” he said wistfully. “It’s been ages since I was human for Christmas.”
He tried to give me a kiss, but I ducked away. “Ew, no, you don’t want to do that yet.” I flushed the toilet and stood up on shaky legs. I brushed my teeth and swished some mouthwash, finally shaking off the vestiges of the dream and feeling halfway normal. “How about a Christmas shower,” I suggested with a wink.
“I can do that,” he said with a smile, half sweet, half devious. He gently rubbed his hand along my back and got the water started. “What’s on the agenda for this week?”
I went through the list of all the things I needed to get done and my muscles tensed. “Well, I think we need to go meet with Ella.”
“It’s the holidays! Tell me this isn’t work related. Are you saying the law waits for no man?” Wolf asked with a smirk.
“Oh no, the law waits for anything and everything,” I said with a laugh. “This isn’t LA or New York. I suppose if we e
ver had any serious crimes committed in Vale Valley, then maybe it would move a little faster, but I was thinking more about meeting Ella to pick up paperwork for a certain new citizen…”
“Oh!” Wolf said, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “Does that mean I can get a driver’s license?”
“Let’s just start with a birth certificate. We’ll worry about putting you behind the wheel another day.”
He stuck his lip out in a pout. I wasn’t sure why he was so eager to drive, but I was going to put that off as long as possible. Nothing good could come from a mystically reincarnated wolf driving my car.
I let out a little yip when Wolf picked me up and spun me around, depositing me into the warm spray of the shower.
“Would you like some company?” he asked with his characteristic smirk.
I allowed my eyes to take in his naked form. He hadn’t adjusted to wearing pajamas to bed, or even underwear for that matter, but I wasn’t complaining. My cock gave a little twitch, but my stomach gave a responding flip. “Hmm, company yes, but no fraternizing.”
I pointed my finger at him in warning. He put his hands up in surrender, but as his own cock was also raising in surrender, I wasn’t sure I could believe him. “Got it, I’m only here to wash your back.”
“Uh huh.” I was skeptical, but he remained the perfect gentleman, er… wolf. I could feel the suds running down my back as he ran the shower puff over my muscles. The sleepless nights were leaving me tense, and hunching over the toilet certainly didn’t help.
“What else?” he murmured behind me.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re hiding something. You distracted me with driver’s licenses and your naked body, but there’s something else.”
I couldn’t face him as I answered. “Well, I need to make a doctor’s appointment.”
