Her Christmas Wolf

by Lane, Cecilia

  Faith sniffed. “Fine. And I never once received coal in my stocking. Can’t say the same, can you, Becca?”

  "Here, let me see," Tommy said. He reached for her hand and Faith shivered as soon as their skin touched.

  She wasn’t going to survive the day. She’d melt before the end. He was simply too close, too sexy, and too... too... everything. Her teenage crush had returned with a vengeance. The fluttering heart and yipping fox in the back of her mind were all too familiar.

  He turned her palm over to rest on his and traced his fingertips over the fading red mark.

  They weren’t teenagers any longer. Every brush of his fingertips over her skin pooled more heat in her core and pushed Tommy Conri closer to the center of her world.

  Dangerous to feel so attached to a man. Dangerous to want anyone so badly.

  "You won’t even need to bandage this," he said, eyes not leaving her face.

  The gold color had returned, and she didn’t think she’d ever seen a prettier pair on any of the shifters in town. Flakes of his natural brown lingered still and gave his eyes a slightly speckled look. "I’ve had worse."

  "Comes with the territory, doesn’t it?"

  "Can’t make anything sweet without a little bit of pain," she huffed a shaky laugh. "You should get back to your side. We’re getting all sorts of attention."

  Several disapproving frowns and furrowed brows were directed at them. Everyone probably wondered when they’d break out in fur and fight, and if that fight would ruin their chances for treats.

  "Damn rivalry," Tommy muttered, but he let go of her hand.

  "You take care of these, and I’ll see to the hot cocoa." Becca grabbed the thermos on the ground and quickly retreated toward the shop.

  “Morning, Chief. How’s your dad doing?”

  Faith turned at Tommy’s greeting and saw exactly the reason why Becca made herself scarce. Nearly the entire firehouse had turned out, with their former fire chief among them.

  As much as Tommy tried to act aloof, he had a caring streak a mile wide. Not just with her, either. He managed snarky small talk with just about everyone who stopped by his tent, but it was the firefighters that had his friendship.

  “Not chief anymore, Tommy. That’s all on Cole now.” Callum jerked his chin to his brother trying to balance a handful of cookies and stuff another between his lips. "Pop is... as well as can be expected. We have a nurse coming in to watch him during the day and I’m taking over in the mayor’s office until we can decide who will replace him."

  “Cole as chief is going to take some getting used to.” Tommy held up a hand when Callum tried to shove money his way for the heaping plate he’d requested.

  “Time this town learns to appreciate change. I thought you might be feeling a little of the same.”

  Faith’s cheeks reddened when she glanced to the side and found both Tommy and Callum staring at her.

  “Yeah. Maybe it’s time for some changes around here,” Tommy said lightly. "You should try one of Faith’s new cupcakes. We need a little win for this end of the town."

  "Oh, I don’t think—," she tried to object.

  "Faith has new cupcakes?" Callum flicked his eyes to Tommy, then back to Faith. "Where are they? You know these boys will go crazy for anything you put in front of them."

  Faith beamed. They were some of her best customers. She knelt and retrieved her secret stash and opened it wide for grabbing hands. Smiles, full mouths, and promises to vote for her were her reward.

  Becca reappeared too soon, or she decided she wanted to stir the pot. Faith watched warily as she set the new thermos back on the table and did her best to ignore one firefighter in particular.

  Nolan’s jaw tightened before he finally spoke. “You’re back. You didn’t tell me.”

  "You’re right. Must have slipped my mind while I was living for myself instead of waiting for someone else." Becca pasted on a bright smile and turned her head. It was a move of utter dismissal and Nolan glowered.

  Becca wasn’t finished rubbing dirt in his face. Her smile upped the wattage, and she addressed Graham. “Gray! How are you? Can’t wait to see the lights this year. Want to take me?”

  Nolan growled and Cole appeared. Tall and dark, just like his brother, he didn’t yet have the surly attitude that came with managing men that wanted to fight with each other as much as anyone who crossed them. Still, he inserted himself between Graham and Nolan and forced the two to separate before they erupted into a fight.

  Faith clucked her tongue and watched the firefighters retreat. “You’re playing with fire,” she warned.

  Her sister snorted. “Good thing he’s part of the damn fire brigade, huh?”

  The day faded into night and colorful lights turned on up and down the street. Nearly every shop decorated for the festivities and even more homes in the surrounding neighborhoods would show off their creativity. Faith grinned when she heard the first bells from sleighs approaching. Ranchers on the outskirts of Bearden sent drivers every year to line up in the town square and take couples and families on trips to see the best displays.

  Tommy rubbed a hand over his head and shot a glance at the thinning crowd. "Do you want to go see the lights?"

  That was her opening. Lights, sleigh, hot cocoa, then maybe some mistletoe. It was right there in her grasp and Faith couldn’t form the words to accept.

  Her fox snapped at her and she was once again treated to images of the little creature bouncing through the snow and curling up in front of a fire with a large wolf right beside her.

  The significance wasn’t wasted on her, nor was the entire day of feeling jittery at Tommy’s closeness. The animal had chosen, but Faith found herself with enough nerves for a lifetime. What if everything went sour? Then they’d truly be rivals across the street from one another. After having such a thrilling day, she wasn’t sure she wanted to risk anything that could ruin it.

  Mate.

  Or not.

  Her fox clawed at her insides. She was too aware of her sister staring. The whole town stared, it felt like. Mother flipping mistletoe, she couldn’t think with so many eyes staring at her.

  “It’s getting late and takedown is about to start…”

  He shrugged, but a note of disappointment entered his scent. “What’s the point of having minions if you don’t make them clean up once in a while?”

  “Hey! Maybe I had plans,” Becca pouted.

  “Hey! Maybe you want to keep your job,” Faith teased. And there it was. Her answer appeared while she’d been distracted. "Yes," she reaffirmed. "I’d love to go."

  Chapter 5

  Five tiny words and Tommy’s heart leaped in his chest.

  "Come on. Let’s leave our minions to the dirty work before they wander off," he said with a smile.

  He needed to touch her, to claim some small part of her. She was his, at least for the night. His wolf howled and clawed to make it longer, but he couldn’t promise the beast anything. She might not feel the same way or he might fuck things up.

  But right then, for the time it took to walk down the main drag and to the town square, Faith belonged to him.

  He slung an arm over her shoulder and tugged her closer to his body. Close enough to stick his nose in her hair and inhale. Sugar and spice and everything nice, that’s what Faith was made of.

  He nearly laughed. He hadn’t heard that rhyme since he was a child. Which would make him full of snakes and snails and puppy dog tails? Maybe it wasn’t so far from the truth.

  She stiffened for the briefest of moments, then wrapped her arm around his waist. "I don’t really think you’re trying to put me out of business. This whole rivalry thing is ridiculous."

  She was close enough that her words vibrated against his chest. His wolf rumbled lightly. Content. She made him content. "In a town this size, you have to cook up entertainment somewhere. Food joints separated by the main road in and out of town, owners who’ve known each other for a lifetime... It plays right into thei
r hands."

  "So you’re saying we’re the Romeo and Juliet of the food world? Star-crossed lovers across the street?"

  Fuck, it’d been difficult to be around her all day. He had his suspicions of who arranged for their tents to be together and force them close for an entire day. Probably the same endearing woman who connived for him to pull Faith’s name from her gift exchange box. His mother was a terror.

  He couldn’t fault her methods. He now stood in line for a sleigh ride with the only woman to grab his wolf by the scruff since Shana’s betrayal.

  "I don’t know about that," he teased and finally removed his arm just to snatch two hot cocoas off the complimentary table. "I’m not about to kill myself or my business for you."

  Faith sipped at her drink and her eyes twinkled over the rim. "Good. Because we both know I’d put you out of business if it came down to it."

  He heard the whispers before he saw the darting glances. She stiffened and frowned. Bearden’s top competitors, out on a date? That was prime gossip.

  Tommy wanted to whirl and shout until they left them alone. They upset Faith. That couldn’t stand. Instead, he swallowed a scalding sip of cocoa and gave her his biggest smile. "Don’t sound so sure of yourself, sugar. You don’t even have a full menu."

  She relaxed in tiny increments. Her eyes flashed silent thanks. "Maybe. But your coffee sucks. Ever noticed I’m the next stop on the food tour? You fill them up, and they come to me for dessert."

  "Maybe I’ll have some dessert tonight," he said softly. Oh, she heard him. A lovely red spread across her cheeks and her chest hitched with her sucked in breath. If he listened hard enough over the background chatter, he could hear her heart jumping up its beat.

  A few snowflakes started to fall and scattered in her hair. Her wild curls had come loose from yet another braid and she hadn’t bothered to secure them again. He itched to reach out and push those strands behind her ear.

  Or wrap them in his fist and arch her against him.

  "Here’s our turn," he said before she could react.

  Tommy pushed the thought away before it got the better of him or the telling signs became indecent. Throwing her down in front of the entire town was not the way to secure her heart or stop the tittering behind hands. As much as he wanted to, he needed to restrain himself. Court her. Take her on a damn sleigh ride to see the Christmas lights.

  She bounced on her toes with excitement as they drew to the front of the line. Maybe it wasn’t a total loss. Whatever made her happy seemingly pleased him, too. Surprise, that. Putting Shana’s wants before his own only made him want to fight.

  A commotion broke out right behind him and he turned just as Faith stepped up and took her seat in the sleigh.

  "Tommy?" Faith called.

  The Old Maids descended and blocked him from slipping into the sleigh with her. They twisted and turned, shouting at him for something he couldn’t understand. Something about being needed back at his tent to clean his disgusting bacon mess.

  Then his mother was there, yelling at them for disturbing the peace and holding up the line and how dare they try to ruin Christmas. Their shouting match turned louder and more vicious by the second.

  “Hey, wait!” Faith shouted.

  Tommy had enough of the bickering hens. With a growl, he shoved his way through the crowd and found the sleigh he should have boarded lurching forward. Another man sat next to her.

  Faith turned and shot him an apologetic look. She made to get out before the driver snapped at her to sit.

  Glowering, Tommy waved her on and jumped into the next sleigh to pull forward. He’d go with her, even if he couldn’t sit next to her and even if the town conspired against them. They could meet at the end of the line and then see where the night took them.

  "Hello, Thomas."

  The voice sent a ripple of anger down his spine, where it lodged in his stomach. "Shana. I warned you to never come back here."

  She hopped lightly beside him and pounded on the side of the sleigh to get the driver’s attention. A quick jerk of the reins made escape unacceptable. Impossible, no. Impolite, yes.

  Too many years with his mother telling him to hear a person out and find the calm within himself kept him from letting his wolf take over. Shana might not survive if he did.

  And Faith was right ahead of him. He could almost catch every other complaint Nolan voiced. Mostly about her sister. Some about his fellow clan member, Gray.

  Nothing to worry about there. His wolf only snarled a little.

  The driver turned and shot him a worried look.

  Okay, maybe more than a little. Tommy took a deep breath and tried to find some semblance of calm. But with Shana at his side and Faith seated next to an unmated male—and a damn bear, no less—it was impossible.

  "You’re not still upset over last year, are you?" Shana laughed too loudly. "Move on, Thomas. It’s not like we were mated."

  No, they weren’t. His wolf had come close, but he never broke her skin and laid a claiming mark on her. Thank the fucking Broken. "You were supposed to be mine. You weren’t supposed to go spreading your legs for half the town."

  "Like you haven’t slept around." Shana tossed her hair indignantly. "We’re shifters, Thomas. Wolves. You’re a Conri. You need a pack under you and a wolf for a mate. Everything else is just fun."

  "Did my cousins send you?" He thought he made it perfectly clear last year that he wanted nothing to do with their antiquated bloodlines. He was a Conri wolf, but he wasn’t under their pack law in Wolfden.

  Shana shrugged. "I thought it’d be best to try on my own. Things got a little heated when I went back to Wolfden without you."

  "They got tired of your shit, too? You keep burning bridges like this and you’ll have to live outside an enclave. No one will want you."

  It was a lonely existence for a shifter outside. The Broken sacrificed themselves to create enclaves all over the world. Humans couldn’t see inside without a supernatural pulling them through the barrier. Inside, shifters didn’t need to hide. Outside, they could be hunted like animals.

  Shana’s hand crept up his thigh and halted his brief moment of pity. She turned and placed her other against his chest. "Come on, Thomas. We had some fun times together, didn’t we?"

  Shana was supposed to calm his wolf. Instead, she tapped into his darkness. He was a monster with her. Chasing her through the woods. Biting her to hold her down. They were violent together, in a way that made him sick to think about after.

  He shoved her hands off him. "No."

  She nearly crawled into his lap and twisted herself around him. "You’re a Conri," she repeated. "You deserve a powerful she-wolf. You think little miss foxy up there can keep up with you? Hell, I could barely keep up with you."

  "You stay away from her." The threat was in her flippant tone and his much lower growl. He let some of his wolf’s power eke out of him. He really wanted to bare his teeth and make her submit, but that could send someone like her the wrong message. He wanted her gone, not thinking she was his pack.

  "I’m not giving up on you. We could be good together," she purred in his ear and clamped her teeth on the lobe.

  "I said no." He stood quickly and ignored the cries from both the driver and Shana. A quick hop into the snow was what he needed. His wolf stopped snarling the moment Shana was out of his nose.

  He glanced quickly ahead and sent silent apologies to Faith for the ruined night. He tried. He tried to be a part of the town and he tried to be the man she needed. He still had too much baggage hanging around his neck and the Old Maids were too invested in their damn rivalry and Shana still made him too angry. There were a thousand reasons he should run now before he hurt her further.

  His wolf broke loose with a growl and a sudden popping of muscle and bone. He shot another look toward the sleigh where Faith had turned to watch. Her eyebrows wrinkled together, and she opened her mouth to shout something.

  Too late.

  He was alread
y running.

  Chapter 6

  "I don’t understand what went wrong," Nolan said for the tenth time.

  Faith twisted in her seat and tried to stare straight ahead. Her fox raised her hackles at seeing Tommy and his ex in the sleigh behind them. She was supposed to be sitting next to him. That other woman wasn’t even supposed to be in Bearden.

  Oh, it’d been easy enough to see what exactly went down. The Old Maids needed to keep up their rivalry. The two diner owners couldn’t be seen cuddling together through the snow. They’d let her take her seat, shoved Nolan in after her, and kept Tommy separated until the driver moved on at their order. It was absolutely infuriating, and she planned to bake one thousand maple bacon cupcakes to plant all around Old Miss’ house to keep her locked inside forever.

  Faith nearly vibrated with her irritation. She turned in her seat again to check on Tommy. Throwing big moon eyes at the man was infinitely better than listening to Nolan spill his life story and try to sort out what Becca was thinking by asking another man to take her to see the lights.

  Hold up. Her eyes narrowed. What the holly jolly Christmas was Tommy doing with another woman’s paws on him? She was supposed to be putting her hands on his chest. Something green and ugly took hold in her middle at the sight.

  A low growl eked out of her chest and Nolan stopped his pouting.

  Tommy stood quickly and jumped out of the sleigh. Two seconds later, and a huge white wolf was sprinting away through the snow.

  "I’m sorry, Nolan. You need to figure this one out. She won’t tell me anything about what happened," she said in a rush. She shoved her cocoa at him and hopped out of the sleigh.

  Fur sprouted from her skin even as her form shrank. Claws tipped her fingernails and everything compacted. She envied the bigger shifters sometimes; their bodies grew where hers had to fold in on itself. There was always a sting of pain that the bigger shifters never mentioned.

  The little red fox crawled out of her clothes and darted after the white wolf.

  She chased after him, mostly by scent. His white coat blended in with the snow, and he was fast. His long legs carried him further with each stride than her short little ones could push her.