Happy Howlidays: Shifters in Love Romance Collection (Shifter in Love Book 1)

by V. Vaughn

  Bear shifter Wyatt and reindeer shifter Brynna have history. Lots of it. Their youthful dreams were dashed years ago when Wyatt left town, but now he's come home for good. Can a sexy, possessive bruin and a stubborn, holiday-hating reindeer heal their busted hearts just in time to make some mistletoe magic that will last forever?

  * a version of this book was formerly published in the One True Mate Kindle World as Shifter's Shadow. It has been significantly altered and is now set in J.K. Harper's Silvertip Shifters world.

  If you'd like to be the first to know when more Silvertip Shifters books release, please sign up for J.K.'s newsletter

  Copyright © 2018 by J. K. Harper

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  1

  The second she reached the top of the rise, Brynna stopped running, whirled around, and flung up her fists in victory, hollering out, "I am a champion!" She didn't care one whit about the other joggers and casual Sunday walkers who also traveled the frozen river pathway, bundled up against the cold late December day.

  A final daunting hill had appeared on the trail in front of her, just at the point when her leg muscles usually started to scream in protest. But she'd gritted her teeth, dug in, and charged up the steps. Passing her running companion in a burst of speed, huffing out a single shout of laughter as he muttered something about dirty pool, she'd run up that hill on two legs that today felt as strong and solid as they'd ever been.

  With a somewhat theatrical groan, Thor, her sister's fiancé and also Brynna's physical therapist and training partner, made it over the top of the steps, which had been decorated by the town with shiny garlands of red and green in honor of the holidays. "Way to hand a guy his balls," he complained in a cheerful if slightly breathless tone. "Good job, Bryn." He smiled down at her with the genuine pride of a trainer who had done his job well, giving her a brotherly ruffle on her head. She laughed and swatted at him as he went on. "You owned this run. Just like you owned the last five runs, little deer. I think we're gonna have to declare you officially fit and ready to go back to work."

  Breath catching in her throat, Brynna ignored the irritating nickname as she stared at him, letting her arms fall back to her sides. “Shut up,” she said in a near whisper. “For real? You're going to declare me fully healed?”

  Thor nodded. “You just ran like you were on fire and beat the hell out of me. For the third time this week. My official word is that you're healed, sister-to-be,” he said in a gentle but firm voice. “For real.”

  With another shriek, Brynna leaped forward to give him a quick hug before whirling away to dance an excited jig on the pathway, scattered snow crunching underfoot. This time she got more stares and a few giggles from passersby, but they all still seemed cheerful.

  Happiness, she decided as she danced around, was infectious. Just like it should be. She was whole, she was healed. Most importantly, now she'd be able to get the hell out of tiny shifter town Deep Hollow, Colorado, a.k.a. the bane of her existence. Just being here, trapped at her parents' house for the past six weeks while she recuperated from a tibial fracture, had been making her go mad.

  Just holiday nerves, the little voice in her mind whispered in a comforting tone. Reindeer don't go mad. They just sometimes play their reindeer games is all. Rolling her eyes and frowning at the same time, Brynna shoved the thought away. No. She didn't have holiday nerves, she never played games. She was just ready to once again flee her stifling hometown. Being an invalid sucked, and she hated being back here where everyone had expectations of her.

  Even though town was pretty cute, all decorated for Christmas like it had been since the day after Thanksgiving. Everyone was cheerful and laughing, beautifully decorated trees were on display in living room windows every night, carols tinkled from speakers in every store in town. Secretly, so very secretly, she had to admit it all looked really good. Really...welcoming. Fun. Cheerful.

  But no. She tipped up her chin in determination. She, Brynna Elyse Darby, had a nice life outside of Deep Hollow, Colorado, and she was going back to it. She was a unique human being with her own goals in life. Half human, the whisper came again, drifting up from inside her somewhere. Half shifter. Cannot forget this truth. Dammit. That was the biggest part she didn't like to think about. The part of her she wanted to leave behind, trapped back here in Deep Hollow forever.

  Whipping a bright smile back into place, she stopped her little dance and walked around the pathway railing to drop into some light post-run stretches. "You're awesome, Thor, thanks. You're the best physical therapist in the world, and the best guy I ever could've hoped for for Alina. I'll tell her she can keep you," she added with a decisive little nod as she stretched her quads.

  Thor laughed. “Gee, thanks. Though I'm pretty sure she already decided to keep me.” He happily flashed the engagement band on his left hand as he stretched his own quads.

  Brynna's glance flicked to the bright glint of the brushed titanium band that indicated Thor's taken status. Swallowing the sharp lurch of a sigh, she just smiled before hiding her face between her arms as she grasped the railing and leaned back. She was utterly thrilled for her sweet sister. But shameful as it was, Brynna couldn't help the tinge of jealousy that her sister had found the right man while Brynna was still single. Stupid, she muttered to herself. She was about to go back to the most amazing life ever, and never once in all her twenty-eight years had she thought she needed a man to complement it. She liked guys, of course. She dated them and vaguely considered that one day, she'd have a kickass daredevil partner who liked to greet life the same way she did: with an eye to experiencing the most risky, most exhilarating adventures possible. But it wasn't like she pined for a normal life for two, complete with white picket fence, a sweet goofy dog, and a little bun in the oven.

  She wasn't like her sister, Alina, who was perfectly content to settle down with Thor into a normal, quiet life here in Deep Hollow, complete with stable little jobs, and a nice little house that did indeed have a white picket fence and a very sweet, goofy golden retriever in residence who didn't mind being owned by two shifters, even if Thor was a hulking bear shifter.

  No. The sooner she could get out of Deep Hollow, the sooner she could get back to living life out loud and on her own terms, the better off she'd be. It sure didn't mean she needed a permanent guy back in the exciting hustle and bustle of worldwide travel guiding.

  Then why, she reluctantly mused, did seeing an engagement ring make her feel wistful? Worse, why did it make her think of a certain pair of brilliant blue eyes, talented lips, muscles that went on for days, and a quick, funny, interesting mind that turned her on like that of no other guy she'd ever met? A guy she thought she'd never see again—until she saw him again just the other night and felt herself falling so hard she was afraid she might never find her way up again. Yes, the voice inside her whispered, very firmly. Him. He's mine.

  No. Stop right there, she commanded herself back just as firmly. She was leaving Deep Hollow, and that was that. Brilliant blue eyes be damned. She shoved away the weird little pinch somewhere in the vicinity of her chest as she thought that. Damn you, Wyatt, she thought. Damn you for coming back here, too.

  Abruptly straightening up, she turned back to the path. “Do you mind if we head back to the cars now? If you're going to clear me, I need to start packing. Today.” Without looking at Thor, Brynna slipped around the railing and began to walk with a brisk stride to the small side path that led out to the main street and the parking lot.

  “Uh, right now?” he called from behind her, jogging the few steps to catch up next to her. She could hear the confusion in his voice. “Wait. It's Christmas in a few days. I thought you planned to stick around for that.”

  A frown creased her face again. She p
icked up the pace. “Ugh. You know how much I can't stand this time of year.” Well, that's kind of a lie, the voice murmured at her. You're enjoying it. Admit it. Her voice. Damn it, things were so confusing since she'd come back to Deep Hollow. “You guys can all enjoy Christmas without me being here. Besides, it's not like I've been here for the holidays once ever since I first left home. Everyone else can handle it without me.” She glanced at Thor. Concern etched itself over his expression. “Christmas isn't my job, Thor!” She winced. That sounded harsher than she'd intended. “This isn't my home anymore,” she said more softly. “Everyone just has to accept that. I'm grateful I could come here to heal, but it was temporary. Now I'm ready to leave.”

  Silence. Smart man, he didn't press on that touchy subject any longer. He just shrugged. “Okay. But you will be back in the spring for the wedding, right?” Now slight anxiety tinged his voice. Big bear shifter that he was, her sister had him utterly wrapped around her tiny, cute finger. “Alina will kill me if I said you were ready to go and it meant you were gonna bail on being the maid of honor. This wedding day thing is so important to her that she's kinda turning into a basket case over the details.”

  While Alina was a half shifter, just like Brynna, Thor was a full shifter. All bear, all the time. Although shifters usually had a mating ceremony when they cemented their bond, there were so many mixed pairings in this mixed town that mating ceremonies heavily styled after a traditional human wedding were the norm. Alina and Thor's wedding was planned for the first day of spring in a huge, blow-out celebration to which practically the entire town had been invited. Alina had definitely gone off the deep end when it came to planning it. Brynna snorted and nodded vigorously, her long dark braid whacking her back. “Definitely. She'd kill us both if I didn't. I just need to get out of here for now. There's too much—distraction,” she ended after a moment of searching for the right word. Distraction was as close as she could come to putting a label on everything that had been wildly spinning inside her since just a few nights ago. Distraction with blue eyes, a sexy dark beard, and a voice that could bring her to her little reindeer knees. Sexy jerk of a bear.

  “Sounds good,” Thor said, back to his usual easygoing manner. “You just go on now and have some fun before the wedding.” Thor's laidback nature was part of the reason Alina liked him, Brynna knew. Simple, uncomplicated, nice. Just like Alina.

  Brynna frowned again. She had never had it so easy. She'd denied part of her heritage from the word go, making her life crazy complicated in too many ways when she was growing up. Denying part of herself had also meant denying certain responsibilities, ones she'd been born to do but hated the very thought of. She hadn't exactly been asked to be born a reindeer shifter. Even just half one. Leaving Deep Hollow had been the best thing she'd ever done. Being back here for as long as she had made all those uncomfortable memories crowd into her mind every day, made the little voice in her head more insistent, made the differences between herself and every half shifter in this town who was completely at peace with themselves that much more pointed.

  Being back here was too damned hard, and she was done. She didn't care that it was Christmas soon, that her family had been excited at the thought of her finally being here for it. She needed to leave now. Especially since those molten eyes she couldn't get out of her head were haunting her every moment since the other night. The eyes that set her on fire and made her want to throw herself into his arms like a loony, moony girl.

  Damn that bear shifter and his panty-melting ways. He'd never been easy, either. He wasn't simple. He wasn't uncomplicated. Wyatt was actually the most complicated thing she'd ever had in her entire life. Which was why she had to leave now.

  “So,” Thor said, pulling up alongside Brynna as they headed down the uncrowded little side trail that led to the small parking lot, shaking her out of her thoughts. “Did Alina tell you about our little pre-holiday dinner tomorrow night? Just a few friends, and some of the neighbors. We planned it to be just a casual get together, but now we can make it a going away dinner. A temporary going away, that is,” he added quickly, laughing a bit and slinging a brotherly arm around Brynna's shoulders as she rolled her eyes, relaxing as the conversation turned to a less dangerous topic. “We really need to emphasize that to my beloved bride-to-be or else she'll—”

  Sudden movement ahead halted them both into wariness. Around the curve in the trail, a huge yet graceful guy ran almost right into them. His demeanor was casual yet his enormous stride somehow took up all the space on the trail. Tall, broad, drop-dead gorgeous with the most amazingly bright blue eyes and a dark beard. A beard Brynna had just recently felt scrape across her face, raising a thousand delicious tingles and the desire to feel that beard scrape somewhere else on her body, too. He was wearing a ridiculous red t-shirt with the words holiday mode: on written in bright green letters across his very broad chest. The second he laid eyes on Brynna, he stopped dead.

  Ohhh, shit. Her heart simultaneously jumped and squeezed. Stupid little heart. “Wyatt,” she breathed, as startled to see him here as he was to see her. Wyatt, the voice in her head echoed, just as taken with him. Mine.

  What? No, he wasn't mine. He was just a jerk of a guy, all brawn and no manners. In fact—

  Oh, no. Brynna's insides lurched as Wyatt's brilliant blue eyes narrowed to nearly glowing slits as he stared at Thor. His bear was roused, lurking just beneath the surface. Barely controlled bear. No manners, for sure. Wyatt wasn't just startled to see her here. He was startled to see her here with another guy. A guy whose arm was around her shoulders.

  Wyatt's entire face turned to granite. Thor sensed the danger, his companionable arm slipping off of Brynna's shoulders as he tensed. In a split second, Brynna knew exactly what was going to happen. She knew Wyatt far too well, even if it had been almost five years since she'd last spent real time with him. After all, she'd seen this side of him again just a few nights ago. “Oh, no—” she managed to get out, before all hell broke loose.

  Wyatt lunged forward, his mouth opening in a snarl, his hands reaching right for Thor's throat to squeeze the life out of him.

  2

  Wyatt Webber's casual morning trail run was shot all to hell in a split second. He saw bright red. Not the fun, happy red of this holiday season. No, this was a roaring, angry blood red. That was his Brynna. His woman. With another man's arm around her shoulders. Brynna was his, no one else's. He'd throttle the hell out of anyone who thought otherwise.

  His bear rumbled and roared inside him, just as blindly enraged. Wanting blood. Didn't matter that Wyatt had only recently kissed Brynna again for the first time in years. Last week, under the half-moonlight along this very riverwalk after a most unexpected dinner spent with her. Didn't matter that she was a wild child who itched to leave Deep Hollow in her dust as soon as her doctor or whatever decided her leg was healed enough that she could go back to her job on the other side of the country. Didn't matter that attacking someone else in public was a bad idea. Especially for someone like him, a deputy sworn to uphold the public safety, not cause chaos. Fuck all that. This was one dead male for daring to just breathe in Brynna's space, let alone touch her like he was allowed to do so.

  Wyatt was the only one who could touch her, ever again. Brynna was his—his—

  Shit. She was his what, exactly? Mate, he could feel his bear roaring in his mind. Not anymore, Wyatt barked back at himself. Yet his mind warily circled the possibility of that word, mate, even as his attention was snagged by the shrieking reality of the moment. Literally shrieking.

  Apparently, Brynna was his yelling, angry something right now, for sure.

  “Wyatt, stop! What the hell are you doing?” She'd lunged forward to grab his hands, which were satisfactorily almost closed around the other asshole's throat. “Don't!”

  Wyatt felt bright rage grip him harder in his desire to simply protect what was his. His? The fuck. Just realizing he was thinking about her in such a possessive way doused the flames of a
nger with cold water. That wasn't him anymore. Cursing silently, he shuddered as he fought the urge to kill the guy standing way too close to Brynna. Forced himself to hold his bright anger in check. Using every ounce of strength he possessed, he made himself listen to her outrage and stand down.

  "You haven't changed one bit! Who the hell made you the head cave bear around here anyway?” Brynna stood with her arms down at her sides, fists clenched, her beautiful little breasts heaving as she yelled. Scrappy and strong, even though she was maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet and came up barely to his chest. Cute little reindeer shifter, he'd been in love with her since about the second grade. Damn it all. Tough, tough, beautiful little woman. Small package, big presence. Just like she'd always been.

  Even when furious, was she ever gorgeous. He couldn't help staring, feeling his anger slowly trickling away with each pound of his fucking dumb heart. Her long dark hair was caught back in a braid, with small strands clinging to her damp forehead. Eyes the color of caramel mocha, which was what she smelled like, too, were stunning even though they snapped with her shocked anger. And that body. The curves he'd been able to touch and stroke for far too short a time the other night taunted him now, displayed under her clinging running pants and a tank top he was almost jealous of for the way it could mold itself to her. Even though she was only half shifter, her genetics still allowed her to stay warm enough in the chilly December air, especially since she'd clearly just been exercising. With another man. Another bear shifter, even.

  Wyatt's bear roared again inside him. The red haze threatened to take over again. No, damn it. Fuuuck, this woman made him crazy. Wyatt literally bit his own tongue to shake himself out of it and force his hands to relax away from the other guy's neck. His bear harrumphed inside him but backed off.