Miracle Wolf for Christmas

by Vanessa Devereaux

  He put his foot down and got onto the road that led up to the mountain range where Nick and Ava now lived. Nick had moved out of his bachelor pad, which he’d told Kent was not baby friendly, and into a new home they’d had built just before his daughter had been born.

  His ears popped as he got to the higher elevation. Great spot for shifting and running. Ideal spot for a wolf to live. He turned the corner, got onto a side road, and then turned into a long driveway and saw the house at the top. The front looked very festive with twinkling lights placed in all the fir trees that led up to the front door. On the step sat Santa and a snowman. Clearly Ava’s touch and not his cousin’s. Well, at least he hoped so.

  He parked the car, grabbed the gifts, and headed toward the house. A Christmas wreath hung on the double glass doors etched with a painting of two wolf heads. Definitely Nick’s touch.

  He rang the doorbell. Through the glass panel, he could see someone walking toward the door and, seconds later, Nick stood there looking at him.

  “Kent, where have you been? We had to go ahead and eat.”

  Christmas music sounded throughout the house accompanied by a baby crying. He liked her already for her obviously good taste in hating holiday music as he did.

  “You wouldn’t believe what happened to me yesterday,” said Kent, stepping inside.

  “Can I take your coat for you? I mean, the woman’s coat you’re wearing.”

  “Sure,” said Kent, shaking it off his shoulders.

  Nick lifted it up to his nose. “Human female coat?”

  “Like I said, it’s long story,” said Kent.

  “And the scrubs?” asked Nick, pointing to his outfit.

  “Also part of the story.”

  He followed Nick into the kitchen, which opened to a huge family room with a glass window that looked down onto the valley below.

  “Hi, Kent,” said Ava. “What happened to you?” She gave him a look from head to toe.

  “He has a long story to tell us,” said Nick.

  Ava hugged him before kissing him on the cheek. “Have you met my son, and now I can officially say his fiancée? You missed the surprise proposal earlier today.”

  A tall young man who looked like Ava stood and walked over to him. “Hi Kent, I’m Jon, and this is my fiancée Renee.”

  “Hi, and congratulations,” said Kent.

  “And this little girl has been whining all day because she wants to meet her second cousin so bad,” said Nick. He lifted his daughter up and she giggled.

  “I have something for you. In fact, I have gifts for everyone. Well, Jon and Renee, I didn’t know you’d be here, but I’m sure Nick wouldn’t mind giving you the bottle of wine from his gift basket.”

  “No, don’t worry. It was a spur of the moment thing for us to come and spend Christmas with Mom, Nick, and my cute baby sister,” said Jon. He tickled her cheek and she giggled again.

  “Don’t you think she looks like great uncle Frederick?” asked Nick.

  “I hope not, he was old and wrinkly, and not the best looking…wolf,” whispered Kent.

  “It’s okay, Jon and Renee know everything,” said Nick. “We thought it best now that we’re going to be all one big happy family.”

  “Well, I’m starving, so I hope you guys have left some food for me,” said Kent.

  “We certainly have,” said Ava. “And while you eat, we’d love to hear all about this long story of yours.”

  Chapter Seven

  Ally ran her finger over the image on the screen. Kent. She’d gone into the file and changed his name from Noel to Kent. Such a beautiful wolf. Such a beautiful man. Her pussy still tingled remembering what had happened. She wondered where he was right now and if he had the radio collar with him. The thought of tracking him, seeing where he was at and what he had in store for her, thrilled her.

  For the first time in what seemed like forever, she had something to look forward to, even if it was just good old sex with this mysterious man-wolf.

  She touched her lips, still not quite believing anything. Maybe she was dreaming that he’d turned into a man and gave her off the charts orgasms. Maybe she was lonely and the effect of the holidays had caused her to make up some bizarre scenario in her head to make it through the day. She’d created an imaginary lover for herself.

  She touched the wolf’s photo again.

  Guess she’d see next week when she went tracking him if she’d met with man or beast.

  ****

  “And you couldn’t shift?” asked Nick as he and Kent sat in the kitchen enjoying a drink to round out the day.

  Kent shook his head. “That ever happened to you before?”

  “Not that I can ever remember.”

  “I’m guessing it’s whatever the guy slipped me to help me sleep.”

  Nick poured himself more beer. “And I know you didn’t tell us the whole story,” he said, lifting his nose in the direction of Kent’s body.

  Kent didn’t say anything.

  “I’m married to a human and I know when you’ve had sex with one. I can smell her all over you. You gave her a pretty good time by the strength of what’s remained on you.”

  “Thought it was the least I could do. I mean, she seemed so sad.”

  “Yeah, such a sacrifice for you.”

  Kent lifted his glass and winked.

  “So what did you think?”

  “What, of human pussy?” Kent whispered.

  Nick nodded.

  “I have to admit it was pretty good. Do they all come so often, and do they all scream like that when they do?”

  Nick coughed when Ava walked into the kitchen.

  “Jon and Renee have offered to bathe Brianne and get her ready for bed, so I thought I’d join you two.” Ava opened a soda and sat on the stool next to Nick. “You’re going to stay overnight, right?”

  “I wasn’t planning to, but it would be great to spend more time with you guys since I got here so late,” said Kent.

  “Sure, we have more than enough room. You can have the downstairs room and shower all to yourself,” said Nick.

  “Which reminds me, I took her phone by mistake. I found it in her coat.” Kent pulled it out of the back pocket of his pants. “I can give it to her when…”

  “When what?” asked Ava.

  “He’s going to see her again, isn’t that right?” asked Nick.

  “Just for a little humpy bumpy in the woods,” said Kent.

  Ava took the phone from him and turned it on.

  “Hey, I don’t think you should be doing that,” said Kent.

  A photo of Ally and a man appeared on the screen. “Kent, she’s really pretty,” said Ava.

  “Is she? I didn’t really notice what she looked like.”

  Nick winked at Ava.

  “So you think this is the husband that passed away?” asked Ava.

  “Looks that way,” said Kent.

  “So sad when people are that young. Did she happen to say how he died?”

  “Not really, just that was it okay to hate someone who’d taken away someone you loved, or something like that,” said Kent.

  “You think he was murdered?” asked Nick.

  “Sounds like it to me,” said Ava, scrolling through some more photos. “She has some great snaps of wolves in here. Bears, cougars, you name it.”

  “Anyone we know?” asked Nick. He got up and fetched a bowl of dip and chips and set it down in front of them.

  “You didn’t tell her what you were?” asked Ava.

  “I think he was too busy getting horizontal with her,” said Nick, dragging a chip through some salsa.

  “Oh, so you and she did the deed?” asked Ava.

  “She was lonely and sad,” said Kent. “And it’s the holidays.”

  “Pity fuck,” mouthed Nick.

  Ava laughed. “Looks like she has a full calendar, meetings, and a few classes at the university.”

  “I’m one of her test subjects,” said Kent.


  “Ah, so you are going to continue seeing her,” said Nick.

  “I thought I might as well. I mean, seeing how I have the radio collar, sort of a fun game for her to track me down.”

  “Mom, Renee wants to know where you keep the diapers. The bag in the nursery is empty,” said Jon, putting his head around the door.

  “Hallway cupboard, top shelf,” said Ava.

  “Great, and we thought we might turn in for an early night if that’s okay with you guys.”

  “Sure, honey, whatever you want to do. Maybe we can all go check out a movie tomorrow.”

  “That sounds like a plan,” said Jon. “Night, Nick, good to meet you Kent.”

  “Same here,” said Kent, lifting his mug of beer.

  “I just had the scariest thought,” said Ava. “My son’s getting married and that means I could be a grandmother soon. I’m too young to be one, right?”

  “Honey, it’s gonna happen sooner or later, but you’re going to be the sexiest one of the bunch,” said Nick. He threw his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek.

  Kent smiled. Domestic bliss. Not really bad if you liked that sort of thing.

  ****

  Kent woke the next day to see the sun shining through the gap in the drapes. He was still stiff from being in wolf form for so long. He’d been dead on his feet and thought he’d sleep all through the night, but that hadn’t been the case. He’d been awakened first by Jon and Renee and squeaky bedsprings. He was guessing the room they were staying in was directly above his and the noise had traveled through the air vents. He’d then gone back to sleep only to be awakened by Brianne crying and Nick singing to her to try and get her to quiet down. At least he hadn’t chosen any Christmas tunes.

  Kent yawned and threw the quilt back off the bed. He put his nose in the air. Someone was cooking breakfast. It was bacon and it made him immediately think of Ally. He wondered what she was up to this morning. By what he could make out, she was spending a few more days at the center. Maybe he’d swing by her car and drop off her cellphone, with a little gift of course.

  Hash browns and sausages were on the menu, too. Kent stood, pulled on his sweats, and made his way upstairs where the smell was getting stronger, and it made his mouth literally water. As he rounded the corner he noticed the baby in one of the bouncing things that hung from the ceiling. She was drooling and giggling as Nick bounced her higher with each movement of his hand. Ava was standing at the island cooking sausages while Jon and Renee sat watching her.

  “It’s up to you whether you want to invite him to your wedding,” said Ava. “It doesn’t matter to me either way.”

  Kent knew that Ava had been a single mother and that Jon’s father hadn’t played a role in his upbringing.

  “I think it would be sort of awkward after all this time,” said Jon. “I mean, he’s my biological father, but I can’t think of him as Dad.”

  “Well, maybe you can phone him just to tell him you’re getting married and take it from there,” said Ava, putting the sausages onto a platter. “Hi, Kent, you want to pull up a stool? We’re just about to eat.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Kent dragged a chair over, sat, and flicked through the paper while he waited for Ava to finish cooking. Nick took Brianne out of the bouncer and placed her in a high chair.

  “Hope she didn’t wake anyone, but she’s got a tooth coming in,” said Nick, wiping the baby’s chin to free it of drool. “She’s happy one minute, a grouch the next.”

  Kent was more than happy he didn’t have to deal with any of that sort of thing. Not now or ever was his motto. “I heard you singing to her,” he said. “Never could hold a note, but you’re not half as bad as Ally, who kept singing Christmas tunes.”

  Everyone looked at him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Ally. When you said her name, your face lit up. You know what that means?” asked Nick.

  “No idea whatsoever,” said Kent.

  “There’s some interest there.”

  “Bullshit,” said Kent, going back to reading the paper. Utter BS.

  ****

  “The wolf seemed okay then?” asked Axel.

  “Yes, he was fine. Didn’t even look like he had anything wrong with his leg.”

  She’d hated having to call him to come take her to her car. She had to make up some wild excuse about a friend dropping by unexpectedly asking to borrow it to run an errand and then calling to say it wouldn’t start.

  “When’s the last time you bought a battery?”

  Axel’s question jarred her out of her train of thought. “Couple of years ago,” said Ally, knowing the car would mysteriously start once she turned the key.

  “Should still be good, but maybe you should think about starting it once in a while if you’re going to leave it out during the winter and not drive it.”

  “Yeah, I should have thought of that.”

  Axel pulled up behind her car.

  “Why don’t I see if I can start it?” asked Ally.

  “But if your friend said it wouldn’t start…”

  “Miracles happen, and this is the season for them,” she said, thinking about her own one that happened less than twenty-four hours ago.

  “Okay, if you say so.”

  Ally hoped that Kent had left the key underneath the vehicle like he’d promised. She hoped Axel didn’t see her bend down on the ground to feel around. Bingo, one key. She got in, put it into the ignition and it started. Axel walked over to her.

  “Told you something wonderful might happen,” she said.

  “You sure you’ll be okay now?”

  “Perfectly. You get back to your family and I’ll see you next week for the meeting.”

  “Okay, but I’d buy a new battery just in case. You don’t want to get stuck out someplace at this time of the year.”

  “I’ll do that on my way home.”

  Axel headed to his car, sounded the horn, and then drove off.

  Her car smelled like Kent. She’d remember his scent forever. She took a deep breath. It was almost intoxicating. She glanced at the passenger seat. She hadn’t remembered her phone being there or the scrap of paper attached to it.

  Turn me on, was written on it.

  She did, and saw a photo had been added. It was Kent, and he’d obviously taken a selfie.

  Her pussy pulled just thinking about what he’d done to her and what he’d be doing to her when she tracked him. The need to turn on the tracking device and see if his collar was picking up a signal almost burned her finger. She had to get her head back on the present. She had studying to do, and a paper to research.

  She felt the phone vibrate. Someone was texting her.

  Hope you found the car and phone. I forgot all about New Year’s Eve. Wanna spend it with me in my own habitat?

  Yes, she typed back.

  Great. Come to the spot where I left your car, turn on the tracking device, and see where it leads you.

  Okay.

  He was gone. Maybe she should Google his name. She wanted to know what he did for a living and where he was from. Most of all, she wanted to know how he could turn from a wolf into a man.

  Chapter Eight

  “Do you know any cozy cabins in the woods out near Flathead?” Kent asked Nick.

  “Cozy as in one made for two?”

  “That’s the general idea. I have a date for New Year’s Eve.”

  “Really. And would that be Ally the human?”

  “It might be.” Kent smiled.

  Nick did, too. “Should I tell Ava that she might have some human company at family gatherings very soon?”

  “I wouldn’t quite go that far just yet. Let’s just say this wolf needs to get some action and that’s all.”

  “For now,” added Nick.

  Kent shrugged his shoulders. “So where could a wolf get a nice cabin for some action?”

  “I know Maisey’s parents have a cabin around there, but I think she mentioned her family is using i
t for a pack gathering.”

  Maisey was Nick’s business partner at Downward Facing Wolf, which reminded him he should get a massage and work out to get him in good shape for his New Year’s activities.

  “I do remember there were a couple of rental ones down close to the lake. If I remember, it’s Lakeside Properties.”

  “Lakeside,” said Kent.

  “Good luck trying to get one for New Year’s Eve.”

  “I’ll have to use my charm. And I might just think about buying a few and starting my own rental company.”

  “You should partner up with Brady Walsh.”

  “Me going into business with a bear?”

  “There are worse things you could do.”

  “Like partnering with a human?”

  “You know I definitely didn’t mean that,” said Nick.

  “Okay, who’s ready to go see a movie?” asked Ava, stepping into the kitchen.

  “How about you, Kent?” asked Nick.

  “No, I have a cabin to find, but maybe next time.”

  ****

  Ally looked up from her book. The library was quiet since it was between semesters, but she still couldn’t concentrate. Before, her problem had been her loss and sadness—dreading the future, even hating the thought of another tomorrow without Andy. However, now she was thinking ahead to New Year’s Eve. She was even contemplating buying some new clothes.

  She guessed he was only interested in sex, but that was fine with her. It was company, someone to spend one of the worst nights of the year—apart from Valentine’s Day —with. And she had sexual needs, too. It wasn’t as if it was a hardship for her. She wanted to fuck just as much as he probably did.

  She wiggled on her seat, knowing her panties were growing damp just thinking about having sex again. Would it be as good as the first time? Would she have multiple orgasms?

  Ally looked around at the few people in the library. She felt like they knew she was having dirty thoughts of fucking until her hair and toes curled. And Andy, he’d understand about her physical needs. Yeah, she knew he’d approve.

  ****

  Kent never liked to waste money, but in this case, it was cash well spent. He’d doubled the usual rental fee for the cabin and purchased a crate of top-of-the-line wines from the rental agent.