A Shifter's Christmas Box Set

by Emilia Hartley

  Frankie stopped dead in her tracks when the front door opened. A familiar scent mingled with one that was more fur than flesh. Her heart stuttered. She slowly turned to find her brother standing in the doorway. He, too, stared at her.

  Neither crossed the space between them. Her wolf squirmed. Colton’s eyes flashed with an unnatural light. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Frankie laughed. Colton snorted and shook his head. As he entered the trailer, Frankie glimpsed a series of scars on his shoulder, just barely peeking out from under his collar.

  Behind him was Ryan, her old high school boyfriend. Ryan gave a sheepish wave as he entered, like he knew Frankie didn’t want to see him, but he couldn’t ignore her mother’s invitation. Every damn year.

  Frankie couldn’t be bothered by her mother’s attempt to matchmake just then. There was a revelation spinning through her mind.

  Her brother had become a shifter, too. Frankie could barely believe it. Colton, with his broad shoulders and shaggy blond hair, stopped at the table to shove a heap of pepperoni into his mouth. Frankie knew why. Feeding the beast helped settle it. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of beast was inside him now.

  When had it happened? Did Mom and Dad know? She had a million questions but didn’t dare fire them out while Mom was hovering nearby.

  Frankie backtracked into the kitchen, but she found Atticus glaring at her brother and Ryan. A low growl vibrated Atticus’s ribs until she touched his chest. The sound faded, but his eyes remained on the two new men in the room.

  “Atticus, this is my brother. Colton, meet Atticus. We work together.”

  Colton’s head rose and his eyes narrowed on Atticus. For a moment, Frankie feared a fight would break out in the middle of the kitchen. She didn’t want a dragon shifter to destroy her parents’ house, so she glided in front of Atticus and leaned back into him.

  Nothing was going like she expected this year. The only thing she could rely on was Ryan’s presence. Her parents had been pushing her to settle down and start a family for years, Ryan being their favorite choice for son-in-law.

  What Frankie hadn’t expected was running into Atticus and feeling a little less alone or seeing her brother for the first time in a year and realizing he was like her now. Her wolf cautiously sniffed the air. Frankie expected the creature to feel threatened, but it wasn’t. It was as if the wolf could recognize their shared blood. Colton was her brother, now and always.

  “Well, shit. You actually made it,” her brother grumbled teasingly.

  Frankie bit back her grin. Any other year, she would have thrown herself into his arms and let him spin her around. Her wolf respected the beast inside her brother, but it didn’t like the idea of being at his mercy. What should have been a gesture of love felt vaguely threatening to the wolf.

  So, Frankie bent her head and went to sit at the base of the Christmas tree. The smell of the wild comforted her wolf. It reminded her of the time she and Atticus spent at the quarry. That had been the first time she’d willingly changed forms, and the ease had surprised her. She hadn’t known it could be like that.

  It’d felt more like a partnership than a curse. Frankie tapped an ornament and watched it swing back and forth. She was making progress, but it was slow. A part of her was very aware of the children in the room, waiting for them to scatter like rabbits and rile up her beast. She kept her face turned away from them.

  Frankie, consumed by her thoughts, was dragged back to reality by a faint rumbling. Her head snapped up. A single support stood between the living room and the kitchen, splitting her view. On one side, standing near their mother, was Colton. On the other side was Atticus. Frankie realized the sound was actually growling as the two men postured for dominance.

  She rolled her eyes and left the sanctuary of the Christmas tree to insert herself between the two. It made her wolf uncomfortable, but she held her head high and challenged either to make a move in the middle of the Christmas gathering.

  Her mother swung around with a wooden spoon in hand and thwacked Colton. He flinched and ducked away from another swing. Their mother hoisted the spoon high.

  “I can hear you,” she said. “Quit being disrespectful. Your sister brought a coworker home. Give him a beer and take him out to go find your father. He’s probably trying to start a bonfire.”

  Atticus met Frankie’s gaze and raised his brow, his growl completely gone.

  Frankie shrugged. “If we leave dad alone for too long, he starts fires. I don’t know how he thinks he’s going to start one when everything is covered in snow.”

  Just as she finished speaking, a dull roar erupted from the back yard. Their mother sidestepped to peer out the window over the kitchen sink, the others piling in behind her to get a view of the now blazing fire.

  “I have underestimated him again,” Frankie muttered.

  This was the kind of holiday she had missed. She wasn’t looking forward to the moment when the video games stopped entertaining the kids, but she could always escape outside and sit beside Dad’s fire if her beast became uncontrollable.

  A hand brushed hers, like an unspoken question. She leaned into Atticus, grateful for his presence. With her hand in his, she sucked in a deep breath and felt the tension in her chest melt away. While her mom and brother watched the fire outside, she looked up at Atticus and silently admonished him.

  He grimaced, like he was ashamed of himself, too. Frankie tightened her grip on his hand. Atticus slipped into her life like he was meant to be there. She couldn’t believe how easy it’d been to bring him into her family home and have him be accepted. It was like no one here could see the dragon inside him. That, or they could tell he was dangerous and figured he would use that power to protect her and so, they trusted him.

  Frankie pulled away when she recalled his offer. It was only to be her pack leader. Atticus would stay in her life as an anchor, but the deal didn’t involve anything else. Anything like what happened in the car. A hunger tightened her lower stomach, slowly turning into a molten heat. Frankie wanted more.

  She told herself she wasn’t the kind of woman to casually sleep around. What they’d done in the car hadn’t felt casual. It’d felt like the beginning of something. Had she misinterpreted it? Was there nothing behind his kiss?

  Suddenly stricken with doubt, Frankie tore herself away from Atticus. She ran down the hall and out the back door, away from her insecurities. It shouldn’t have been this confusing. Atticus should have only been there to help her. It was her own fault for developing feelings. She’d drawn so many lines in her life since her change, and the line blurred around Atticus because for the first time she felt understood.

  Outside, she stomped through the layer of snow to join her father. He stood by the bonfire and had a beer in one hand. The only sound between them was the crackle of the fire. She let out the breath she’d been holding. Away from the small room and the children around the television, Frankie relaxed.

  Wilderness surrounded them on every side. Down the street was a horse farm, the smell of it reaching her sensitive nose despite the chill in the air that should have smothered it. Her wolf sat back on its haunches. She imagined its tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

  This didn’t happen in Maryland. There were too many people, too many buildings where she lived. The tight, urban structure suffocated her there. She liked it at one point, but coming home had always been like breathing fresh air. It was even more refreshing now. Her wolf wanted to dig its claws in and never leave.

  “You’re antsy,” her father said without tearing his gaze away from the fire. “Your brother is like that now.”

  Frankie held her breath. Had Colton told their parents what happened to him? Could Mom and Dad see how she’d changed, too?

  “It probably has something to do with why you didn’t come home last year. You don’t have to talk about it. Colton doesn’t, either. Just know the door is always open.”

  Frankie wrinkled her nos
e. “I’m not moving back in with you like Colton did.”

  Her father laughed. “I don’t think the trailer is big enough for the two of you anymore. You’d wreck the place if you both lived here again.”

  Frankie stifled a laugh, imagining butting heads with the beast inside her brother. “You would be right.”

  She didn’t want to live with her parents, but Frankie had a sudden craving to return home. An image filled her mind, of her and Atticus living nearby with their own stretch of land far away from busy roads where they could be themselves. The thought stole her breath in one moment and saddened her in the next.

  There was no way of knowing if that was what Atticus would want. For all she knew, he was along for the ride until he got what he wanted from her. It was so hard to tell with him. He refused to speak of his past and shared no thoughts for the future other than a simple offer to be her leader. The offer felt strange now, after what they’d done in the car. She didn’t want a leader.

  Frankie wanted a lover.

  ***

  Atticus could feel Colton’s gaze burning the back of his neck. Frankie had not mentioned that her brother was a shifter, although her surprise upon his entrance must have meant that she hadn’t known either. The only shifters nearby were Atticus’s old pack.

  This raised questions Atticus couldn’t answer unless he turned the burner phone back on and called Althea. It wasn’t like Colton was going to give up answers. The young man was clearly bothered by Atticus’s presence. Could Colton sense the dragon inside Atticus, much larger than the young man’s bear? Or did he know something Atticus didn’t?

  Norma kept Atticus busy, but he felt there was something Colton wanted to say. The young man was practically bursting at the seams, his rage and contempt pouring out of every pore. Beside him was another young man, clearly not part of the family. He didn’t express his discomfort but slipped outside to join Frankie and her father.

  Atticus watched through the window as the other young man sidled up beside Frankie. Jealousy unfurled inside Atticus. It was vicious and dangerous. The sight distracted Atticus from Colton’s disappearance until Norma made a sound in the back of her throat and announced that everyone had abandoned her.

  As much as Atticus wanted to go outside and place himself between Frankie and the young man, he stayed and helped Norma prepare dinner. Every so often, he would glance toward the front door and wonder where Colton had gone to. Was he calling Althea? Or did Colton have Devin on speed dial?

  Atticus didn’t want to bring Devin here. Frankie deserved a nice holiday, and Atticus was starting to look forward to the feast he was helping prepare. If Devin arrived and caused a scene, the holiday would be ruined. Atticus almost wanted to excuse himself. If he left, then Devin would have no reason to come here.

  But Frankie needed him, and he couldn’t ask her to leave after she’d just gotten here.

  So, Atticus set aside his kitchen towel and apologized to Norma for having to leave her, too. She waved him off and called one of the kids into the kitchen to help. The kid groaned but took one look at Norma’s wooden spoon and did exactly what she asked.

  Atticus slipped out the front door and scanned the snowy world for Colton. He found Colton splitting wood, bringing the ax high above his head before using his newfound strength to bring it down on the unsuspecting log.

  “I know who you are,” Colton said as Atticus approached.

  “Who made you?” Atticus hadn’t meant to growl, but this was still his territory. If a shifter was attacking people, Atticus deserved to know.

  “Don’t worry yourself,” Colton grunted. “It didn’t happen here. I was hiking in Colorado on a trip. Fucking bear attacked. When I came back, someone told me to apply to work in the quarry.”

  Atticus nodded. Whoever gave Colton the hint was smart. The quarry was a safe place for people like him. Where Frankie had been alone, Colton came home and found a second family. Atticus trusted Althea to keep Colton safe, even from himself.

  Colton straightened, but didn’t let go of the ax as he fixed Atticus with a glare. “Did you change my sister?”

  The threat in Colton’s voice was unmistakable, and it roused Atticus’s dragon. Hot steam billowed from his nose and his lips curled back from his teeth.

  “If you know about me, you’d know that I burrowed. When would I have the time to change your sister?”

  Colton raised his brows in challenge. “Looks like you’re standing in front of me right now. You arrived with her. Now, answer my question.”

  Atticus snarled. His hand was around Colton’s throat before he could stop himself. His whole body vibrated with the fury of his dragon. He couldn’t unleash it here. He couldn’t let this human family see the beast.

  Atticus dropped Colton, who landed on his feet without so much as a flinch.

  “Your sister woke me from my sleep. When I found her, she was already a shifter. She was alone and suffering and damn near out of control.”

  Colton studied him for a long moment before nodding. He bent and grabbed another log, glancing back at the house to make sure no one else had joined them before bringing the ax down on the log.

  “Althea said you were a good guy, but after dealing with Devin for this long, I was doubtful of dragon shifters in general. Sorry for challenging you.” The log split and tumbled into the snow.

  Devin. Atticus wanted to go shake his cousin and ask him what he was doing.

  “I’m not like him,” Atticus said, as if to remind himself as well. Atticus was a dragon, the kind that frightened even his friends, but he wasn’t a monster.

  At least, Frankie didn’t seem to think so.

  “We’ll have to see,” Colton said. “And stay away from my sister in the meantime.”

  Atticus growled, a real threat this time. His beast would not let anyone take her from him. She was its reason for living, the woman who revived him from a fate akin to death.

  Colton stopped and leaned back. His own lips curled, but Atticus was the bigger creature and he knew it. His growl died in his throat before ever entering the world. Atticus wasn’t backing up his statement. He was supposed to be better than Devin and yet here he was, snapping at Frankie’s brother.

  The young man didn’t seem angered by it, though. If anything, he watched Atticus even closer now, then nodded in approval.

  “Alright. Fine. But if you harm a hair on her head, then I’ll bring the whole pack down on you. Do you hear me? I won’t fight you alone. The pack will back me up. Not you.”

  The pack only existed because of Atticus, but he didn’t say that. He didn’t try to take away the man’s fantasy that he was more important because a small part of Atticus worried that his slumber had felt like a betrayal to the clan. There was a chance they hated him. He should have stayed and protected them.

  Atticus couldn’t remain on the outside and still stick around to protect them. Couldn’t they see how much it had cost him to stay as long as he had? By the time he left the pack, he’d been more beast than man. No, of course, no one noticed. His home had been empty. He’d been alone, without a witness to watch him lose the fight to his beast every day.

  “Althea warned me that you were back in town,” Colton said as Atticus turned away. “I didn’t realize that would mean I’d find you in my house. She thinks your return is a sign of good things. I think she called it a Christmas miracle. Is that true? Or are you going to abandon your pack again?”

  The fact that he was awake was the miracle. Atticus had nothing to do with that.

  He left Colton alone and went in search of Frankie. If he’d known she was coming into the heart of his old territory, then he might have stayed elsewhere. He knew that thought was a lie the moment he found Frankie. The bonfire illuminated her features with an ethereal glow, rendering her into an angel he could never have.

  She should have looked down on him and his failure as a leader, but when she saw him her lips split into a grin th
at beckoned him forward. She didn’t know about his past, and he would avoid telling her.

  Atticus told himself that the pack was doing fine without him, but his meeting with Devin felt like an omen of things to come. Colton thought Atticus would be like his cousin and it put the young man on edge. What had Devin been up to in Atticus’s absence?

  Frankie’s brows furrowed as she looked up at him. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. He didn’t have the heart to remind her that they were supposed to be co-workers in front of her parents. Behind her, her father raised a brow but said nothing.

  “You look bothered. Did Colton say something stupid?”

  From the other side of the trailer, Colton barked his defense. “Why are you always blaming me?”

  Their father narrowed his eyes. “How the hell did he hear that all the way over there?”

  Frankie let out a nervous laugh, but when Atticus took her in, he couldn’t find an ounce of anxiety in her. It seemed the wild country air was doing her good. She might have been nervous to see her family again, but she was easily falling into old patterns now that she wasn’t boxed in by a city or a small car.

  In fact, she was doing great out here. Atticus hated himself for the storm he could feel brewing in the air. Waking should have been the best thing that happened to him, but he knew his presence would only draw a fight. Devin wanted to hold onto the empire Atticus had built. He was a thief and a tyrant. Atticus would need to kick him out of his seat eventually, but the desire to grab Frankie and run to the far corners of the earth was overwhelming.

  He made the decision to leave and spare Frankie’s family just as her mother shouted out the kitchen window that dinner was ready. He didn’t have time to even try to leave. Frankie grabbed his hand, and his traitorous heart rolled over. He couldn’t leave her side.

  The beast wouldn’t allow it. There was still so much to learn about her. He needed to know her favorite band, her hobbies, her preferred drink. She had woken him, and he loved her for it, but he wanted to love all of her.