by E A Price
Christmas for the Wolves
&
A Wolf for Valentine’s Day
(Grey Wolf Pack Romance Short Stories Collections)
By E A Price
Copyright ©2014 by Elizabeth Ann Price
All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Front cover
All images used to create the front cover have been deemed to be in the public domain, and available for reuse. No offense is meant in the use of them.
Picture one was posted by Zoya, found on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/502151427173654935/ (noted it was originally taken from hurricane69.tumblr.com
Picture two was posted by Bryan Brenneman on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23401759@N00/3751354690/
Picture three was added by Angelina Fareri (via Republic of You), found on Pinterest at http://uk.pinterest.com/pin/406872147558737241/
Picture four was authored by Tudor, found on Wikimedia Commons at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BW_Embrace.jpg
Picture five was added by Júlia Leão, found at http://weheartit.com/entry/43800881/in-set/5283735-sexy?context_user=JuLFroldi
Picture six was posted by Diane Tisseur (Groovy Lens Photographic Art / Diane Tisseur, Photographer ) on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/491596115547181045/
Picture seven ‘Affectionate Love’ was posted by Brittany Matters (taken from forum.santabanta.com), found on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/171347960795282625/
Picture eight was posted by Luke, found on http://www.sodahead.com/fun/what-is-something-you-cant-ever-say-no-to/question-3558233/?link=ibaf&q=&esrc=s
Picture nine was posted by Arden, found on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ardenswayoflife/3157660996/
Table of Contents
Christmas for the Wolves – (stories take place after Book 7)
1 - Liv & Alec – Just One Dance (edited by Linda Garrison Gray)
2 – Terri & Mal – A Family Christmas
3 - Hans & Melanie – Christmas in Bunk Beds
4 - Delilah & Andy – Grudge Match
5 - Kayleigh & Don – Christmas in Texas (edited by Linda Garrison Gray)
6 - Kira & Gabe – Secret Admirer
7 - Adam & Rosalee – Spa Day
A Wolf for Valentine’s Day – (stories take place after book 9)
1 – Adam & Rosalee – Diet
2 – Carly & Cain – The Bed
3 – Delilah & Andy – Baby Blues
4 – Terri & Mal – Ghost of Relationships Past
5 – Hans & Melanie - Jealousy
6 – Liv & Alec – Cheating
7 – Casey & Deanna - Party
8 – Kira & Gabe - Wedding
9 – Kayleigh & Don - Camping
Thanks
Liv & Alec – Just One Dance
23rd December
“Come on! Just one dance!”
Liv pouted prettily and tugged at her mate Alec’s hand. He was being ferociously stubborn! All she wanted was one dance. What could that hurt?
Alec frowned at her and refused to budge. There was no way she was physically going to get him to move. She was five-foot tall and although plump, even plumper than usual since she was over three months pregnant, she was still a wisp of a witch compared to Alec. He was a six-foot-three wolf shifter and built like a pro wrestler. If he didn’t wanna dance, he wasn’t gonna dance.
Liv dropped his hand and put hers on her thickening waist. It was still early days, but she was putting on weight at a terrific rate. Probably something to do with those six meals a day she was consuming. She was a tad hormonal and cried at the fact that she was getting fat. Well fatter. Alec however had been adamant that she was beautiful, and he couldn’t wait until she got even bigger. There was something about male shifters; they were ragingly turned on by seeing their mates pregnant. Probably something to do with their beasts and the strong urges they had to breed. Liv was particularly glad of this; she planned on having a lot of children.
She tapped her foot as he stared at her dreamily. She was wearing a floor length, pink, strapless, chiffon dress, and she looked like she just stepped of a fairytale. Her short blonde hair was artfully curled on top of her head, meaning her creamy shoulders were tantalizingly on display. In particular, his eyes were proudly drawn to the bonding mark he had given her only a few months before. It had healed nicely to a neat bite mark, and was proof of the fact that she belonged to him. Everyone who saw it would know that. Mine. His wolf howled possessively. His gaze wandered down to her generous breasts, in particular he thought of the breast on which he had bestowed a second bite mark. That however was only for him to see.
“Sorry angel, I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Liv narrowed her eyes. “It’s one dance, we’ll go slow. You’ll barely even notice we’re moving!”
Alec fingered the tight collar of his tuxedo. He’d been fiddling with it all day. Fuck, he hated wearing a suit. He’d just about gotten used to wearing his Sheriff’s uniform, but this tight suit was torture. Rosalee had insisted though.
Today was the Alpha’s wedding. Earlier, his Alpha, Adam, had married his true mate, Rosalee. As was tradition, the Alpha couple had exchanged vows out in the open on pack land, much to Rosalee’s consternation as it was December and freezing! It was officiated by the eldest living member of the pack. In this case a cranky she-wolf called Hermia. Every member of the pack had bestowed blessings on the couple, and then they each drank a few drops of the other’s blood. After that it was party time!
Wolves, in general, weren’t big on wedding ceremonies. The shifters considered themselves to be married after bonding, so most shifters didn’t bother with the actual ceremony. Although Alec had insisted that Liv marry him; he was a possessive ass, and he didn’t care.
Alphas, however, were expected to marry in front of all their pack. In the old days, they were actually expected to mate and bond in front of the pack, too. Rosalee was considerably thankful that had gone out of fashion. At this wedding, Alec was the best man and Liv was the maid of honor.
Only pack members are permitted to attend the ceremony, but numerous other townspeople had been invited to the wedding reception. It was a lavish affair, being held at the newly constructed pack recreation centre.
The only wrinkle was that Liv wanted to dance, and Alec was being overprotective about hurting the baby. To her annoyance, he was being overprotective to an insane degree. She knew the thought of anything happening to her or the baby was unbearable for him, but come on!
Adam led his new bride back to their table and grinned at his Beta. “Still no luck, Liv?” rumbled the happy Alpha.
“None!” she cried in exasperation.
Rosalee snuggled into her new husband’s shoulder. “You can borrow Adam for a dance if you want, Liv. Or I could dance with you. No reason why two women can’t dance together.”
They smiled as they watched their pack mates, Felicity and Esther, entwined, moving around the dance floor, uncaring as to the panting
and pervy young males watching them. Felicity was a wolf and Esther was a black bear. They were the pack’s first same sex mates. Rosalee was pleased at how progressive the pack was. There were so many other packs, who, even in this day and age, still shunned homosexual shifters.
Liv brightened a little. “You’re right. If Alec won’t dance with me, I should just dance with someone else.”
Alec fidgeted in his seat, not liking where this was going at all.
Liv tapped a finger on her chin and pretended to think. “I don’t want to take either of you away from each other on your wedding day, so I guess I need to find someone else to dance with me. Hey, look, Hunter Donaldson is free…”
Alec snarled, startling a number of nearby pack members, and terrifying those who weren’t part of the pack. The pack were used to how scary he could be; others were not.
Hunter Donaldson was a 20-year-old wolf known for being a flirtatious horn dog. Whether he was actually suicidal enough to flirt with the Beta’s mate remained unseen.
“You are not dancing with Hunter,” hissed Alec balling his fists.
“Well I have to dance with someone… hmmm, how about Casey? Or Jimmy?”
Alec slammed his fist down on the table. They were even worse options than Hunter. “Don’t you even dare…”
Heavens he was exasperating! “Then you dance with me!”
“I told you no,” said Alec quietly.
Liv breathed in and out. She wanted to be angry at her mate, at his refusal to allow her one little bit of enjoyment. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, or that she wasn’t happy with him, but he really sucked all the fun out of things. But she couldn’t be angry; instead she felt a wave of hurt and sadness. Why couldn’t he do this one little thing?!
She felt her lip tremble and realized her eyes were prickling. Oh god, she was about to burst into tears! She wasn’t going to let him see that. Moving slowly but surely, she picked up her small pink purse, a perfect match to her dress.
“I’m going to use the bathroom.”
Alec opened his mouth to say something, but she marched away from him. Pushing into the bathroom, she checked for occupants and, finding it empty, she started sobbing uncontrollably.
*
Alec ignored Rosalee’s glare and excused himself to go after his mate. It was just a dance; it wasn’t a big deal. It’s not like he was trying to be cruel. His wolf whined. If it wasn’t such a big deal why didn’t he just give in then?
He shook his head and strode in the direction of the bathroom. Numerous pack members said hello to him, and he nodded at them.
Ah fuck! He saw Carrie moving in his direction. Swiftly he ducked into the small room Adam designated as an office. His beast huffed at him. Wuss.
Carrie was a human who used to work at the Sheriff’s station, and he had misguidedly slept with her. Carrie had been determined to sleep her way into the pack, and, after frequent rejections from Adam, she went after Alec. In his defense, it was a long time before he met Liv, and he had been extremely horny. And he sure did pay for it afterwards. Carrie spread it about town that she was pregnant, and that he promised he was going to marry her. None of the pack believed it of Alec, but he did get some dirty looks from other townspeople for a while.
Things came to a head with Carrie when she viciously insulted Liv. Alec fired her, and Carrie seemingly cut her losses with the pack and moved on. However, she appeared back in town a few weeks ago, and since then has been seen hanging off the arm of one of his pack mates, Bryce Dalton. Carrie returning was annoying, but the fact that she had taken up with Bryce while he was still dating Carly, the pack Omega, was downright infuriating.
Alec knew he shouldn’t really blame Carrie. Bryce was an asshole who didn’t deserve to lick the feet of the sweet little Omega. But Alec couldn’t help but feel Carrie was partially responsible. Maybe he was tainted by his own dealings with her.
Adam had been livid when he saw Bryce had brought Carrie to the wedding reception. That wasn’t surprising; Adam always had a soft spot for Carly. So did Alec for that matter. The Omega was selfless when it came to her pack mates’ emotional wellbeing, and, because of a difficult childhood, the Alpha was even more protective of her. Undoubtedly Bryce could expect to be chewed out by the Alpha when he got back from his honeymoon.
So far, Carly hadn’t seemed to react to Carrie’s presence, or Carrie and Bryce’s overt PDAs, but she had spent all evening ensconced with friends far away from them. For the best no doubt.
The hairs on Alec’s neck stood up, and he spun round. Isaiah, one of the older members of the pack, sat at the desk flipping through an old high school yearbook that had found its way into the office. The older wolf nodded. “Alec.”
“Isaiah.”
Isaiah went back to the yearbook. “How’s it going out there?”
Alec shrugged. “No fights yet, although Ellie Tanner’s threatening to spank her three younger sons in front of the whole pack if they don’t behave.”
Isaiah chuckled. “Poor woman.”
The Tanner boys were notoriously badly behaved. Although, Ellie’s eldest son had recently mated the town librarian and transformed into a responsible young man. So maybe there was hope for all of them.
Alec eyed the older wolf. “How’s it going in here?”
“Just marveling at young Delilah’s goth phase.”
Alec looked at the picture Isaiah pointed to, it was a photo of the Alpha’s sister Delilah (or Mac as she preferred to be known) scowling at the camera through dark eyeliner, black lipstick and a heavy curtain of dyed purple hair. The phase had been short lived; her father the old Alpha soon put a stop to it.
Alec fiddled with his cufflink. He wasn’t good with touchy feely crap, but he needed to know Isaiah was okay. The older wolf had lost his true mate five months ago and had taken it hard. As far as anyone knew, this was the first time he had ventured out of his house since. While Alec and Adam had visited on a regular basis, Carly had spent hours with him, trying to soothe his beast, as well as bringing him groceries, cooking, and cleaning for him.
Although Carly had helped, she could never really fix the ache inside the wolf. Losing your true mate was supposed to be agonizing, like having half of your heart ripped out. Alec himself couldn’t imagine how he could ever cope without Liv.
Alec placed a comforting hand on the older wolf’s shoulder. “How are you doing, Isaiah?”
The old wolf stared at the Beta for a few beats. “Better,” he said frankly. “My daughter and my grandkids are coming to me for Christmas. And my granddaughter’s coming to stay with me for a while in the New Year. Carly’s been looking after me. She’s a treasure, that one.”
“No arguments here.”
“It’s just difficult… my mate and I had over fifty years together and yet it still wasn’t enough. I just think of all the times we wasted arguing, all the things we could have done together, if I hadn’t been so pig headed. Over the years she wanted to do so much, to try out so many new things, and I always refused. I mean, at the time, I thought it was stupid, but really, how hard would it have been to push down my pride and take her salsa dancing?”
Isaiah looked up with a wet smile. “It’s silly really…”
Alec squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
Isaiah dabbed at his eyes, sniffling in embarrassment. “But anyway, how’s your mate? She’s looking radiant today.”
Alec beamed at him with fierce pride. “She’s perfect.”
Isaiah cleared his throat. “Good. You should probably get back to her.”
Alec nodded before slipping out the room quietly, so the old wolf could wipe away his tears in private. He thought over what Isaiah had said and, with a determined step, he went in search of his mate.
*
Melanie Ramirez giggled as she pushed her way into the bathroom. She froze when she saw Liv; her face was a mixture of awkwardness and concern. Red dusted her cheeks but she quickly tried to cover it up.
�
��Liv, what’s wrong?”
Liv dabbed at her eyes. “It’s nothing…”
Melanie came over and rubbed her arms. “Doesn’t look like nothing.”
Liv looked at the other witch sheepishly. “I think it’s just my hormones blowing things out of proportion. I wanted Alec to dance with me and he wouldn’t… that’s it.”
Melanie snickered. “I’m sorry, but yeah, I think it might be your hormones. Alec really doesn’t strike me as the dancing type.”
Liv huffed. What does she know? Standing there in her tight black dress, with her skinny perfect body and lovely caramel skin… Okay, so now all Liv felt was jealousy.
Liv exhaled deeply. “I’m overreacting, I know. I just wanted him to want to dance with me. I don’t want to have to try and force him to do things with me.”
Melanie snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that. I also want my mate to want to spend time with his family, and want to not threaten every guy who comes into Pizza Moon because he’s convinced they’re trying to hit on me. He’s never going to want to do those things, but he does them anyway for me.”
Considering Melanie was mated to Hans Lucas, the most cantankerous wolf in the pack, it was a testament to how he felt about Melanie that he even considered doing those things.
Liv smiled weakly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m glad I rushed in here before Alec could see me cry. I didn’t want him to think I was crying to try and manipulate him into dancing. Thanks.”
Liv approached the mirrors and inspected her light dusting of make-up. In the reflection she noticed Melanie shifting from foot to foot impatiently. “Everything okay?”
Melanie licked her lips. “I was coming in here to take my underwear off. I was going to go out and give them to Hans,” she blurted. “You know to show him that I wanted to… ummm… well you know.”
Liv felt heat suffuse her face. She couldn’t imagine ever doing that. Would Alec be shocked if she did? “Oh, well, I’ll leave you to it.”
