Smoke and Mistletoe (Best Wishes Book 3)

by A. J. Macey

  Right?

  7

  December 25th

  Tuesday Midday

  Dante

  An hour later, after opening the cards from everyone, Lucie and the twins were talking with Hudson’s dad and sisters alongside Nik who was talking to Vera about some potion ingredients in the kitchen. Hudson, Cam, and I though, were in a tense silence with my brothers and father. Bas had been sulking since losing his attempt at challenging Lucie, and his shirt was stained with the amber coloring of his liquor. Miguel was murmuring quietly to my father, his eyes darting around the room every few moments.

  “Hey, boys,” Lucie said quietly, appearing in the entrance. “We’re heading out in just a bit; I wanted to come say bye.”

  “Bye, Firecracker, stay out of trouble,” I teased. Kissing her softly, I lingered for longer than usual, smirking at my brothers when I pulled away. Cam and Hudson followed suit as Bas and Miguel scowled at us.

  “They’re just jealous,” Hudson thought.

  “Yup, the scent of it is pungent,” Cam added as Nik stepped out into the room.

  “Cam, do you remember if I have my crystal pestle with the infusions at the university?” Nik murmured.

  “Yeah, you do. I had it to study for one of my essays, remember?” Cam answered. Nik nodded, flashing Cam a tiny smile before moving back out into the kitchen.

  “Aww, look at the cute couple,” Bas teased, his gaze centered on Cam. “How does Lucie like knowing two of her boyfriends are fucking?”

  “Sounds a bit like cheating to me,” Miguel added coolly.

  I ground my teeth, my jaw aching from how much tension I had put on it today. For one day, I wished my brothers would just keep their fucking mouths shut. One day! I ranted.

  “Last I checked, what we do or don’t do is none of your concern,” Cam countered sharply, his mood quickly going south. Well, more south than it had been to begin with. When they trifled with things and people Cam’s predator was possessive of, he clashed with the alpha animals in my family. Glaring at Bas and Miguel, I couldn’t stop the snarl that appeared briefly, my brothers noticing before I could smooth my expression.

  “Aww, is little Dante getting upset about our teasing?” Bas directed at me before acting like he had some brilliant idea. “Or is Dante jealous about the cute little couple? That’s it, isn’t it? Getting a crush on them?”

  “Boys,” my father chided, finally stepping in, only serving to piss me off more.

  I can’t believe he fucking challenged Lucie. That was the epitome of bad manners. I nearly growled audibly at my family’s incessant need to push and test everyone around them in their attempt to figure out who would be the most useful.

  “I’m going to go with Lucie and the twins,” Cam ground out, his shoulders tense as he strode out of the room. I didn’t have to read emotions to know Cam was pissed about the way my brothers were speaking about his relationship with Nik. Hudson glanced at me as he turned to follow.

  “Going to make sure he’s all right, I’ll be back,” he mentally told me before disappearing from the living space.

  “Did you challenge Lucie?” I demanded softly, not wanting our conversation to be overheard by my mom or Hudson’s family as they said goodbye to half of our group that was heading out for a couple hours.

  “What I do is none of your concern, son,” my father ground out. My griffin’s attention was piqued, waiting at the ready for a shift, my muscles starting to twitch with the urge to correct my father’s disrespect.

  “It is when you’re being blatantly disrespectful to my girlfriend,” I countered. “How would you feel if another shifter did that to Mom?”

  “No one would dare do that to Miranda,” he hissed, his neck muscles reflecting mine as he reacted to the thought of someone treating her as such.

  “Then I suggest the three of you learn to respect Lucie and give her the same courtesy you expect for Mom.”

  “Or what?” Miguel asked skeptically. I smirked, my griffin roaring in my mind in anger. As my animal paced in my mind, a possessive wave flared over me, my shoulders curling back as I realized what I was feeling.

  “Lucie may have some qualms about putting you in your place, Miguel, but I do not. Challenge her again and you’ll be permanently wearing a scar of my claws on your chest,” I threatened. Their eyes widened slightly, not having expected me to threaten a Mated Duel.

  “You’d fight one of us until we’re permanently marred because of your feelings for Lucie?” Miguel asked, his tone skeptical. Mated Duels, while rare, were done in cases of grave insults or incredible disrespect being leveled at another shifter’s partner, the power play forcefully earning the missing respect.

  “Yes.” Because no one messes with Lucie.

  No one messes with my mate.

  Logan

  “You all right, dude?” I asked when we reached our house, Landon and Lucie trailing behind us as we walked up to the front door. Cam had been abnormally tense, his jaw clenched and his arms crossed over his chest tightly.

  “Feeling irritable,” he murmured. “I need to feed, I think. I didn’t take much last time I fed, and I didn’t think about Abigail’s not having blood bags.”

  “What about Lucie?” I pointed to her over my shoulder discreetly, but she was too busy talking to Landon about what else she wanted to do during break.

  “No, I don’t want her to overextend her healing. Not after that show of power with Bas.” Cam sighed, rubbing his eyes as he took off his coat.

  “I know it’s been a while since the last time, but you can feed from me,” I offered.

  “You sure?” he murmured.

  “Yeah, we’ll socialize for a bit, then go to the room so you can eat. Don’t need you getting all hangry on Christmas,” I teased. Cam rolled his eyes, but agreed.

  “Boys? That you?” our dad called out.

  “Yup! With Cam and Lucie in tow,” I hollered.

  “Oh, wonderful!” our mom exclaimed. “Come, come, I want to meet her.” The house was much quieter than Hudson’s, only the sound of a movie playing on the TV and our footsteps filling the house. Our childhood home looked exactly the same as it had for as long as I could remember with its neutral colors and pops of blue here and there in a piece of art, vase, or throw pillow our mom had found and loved. The hardwood floors were a worn dark brown, but not scuffed, and the living room area housed tan carpeting.

  “Mom,” Landon huffed in exasperation. “Please don’t embarrass us.”

  “Why not? It’s so much fun,” she teased. Mom gave Lucie a smile, her crow’s feet appearing with the crooked grin. Her quickly graying brunette hair was tossed into a ponytail. “I’m Rhonda, it’s so nice to meet you. This is my husband, the twins’ dad, Garrett.”

  “Nice to meet you too,” Lucie murmured with a small smile, shaking my mom’s outstretched hand. Lucie’s voice was only slightly wobbly from her nerves, but it was subtle enough that I don’t think my parents were able to tell.

  “At least she’s less tense than she was over at Hudson’s,” Landon sent to me.

  “Not hard to do when there’s three shifters who were looking at her like a commodity to use,” I pointed out. “Cam needs to eat, and he doesn’t want to take any from Lucie with the risk of affecting her healing so we’ll be heading upstairs soon.”

  “All right, more alone time for me with Lucie,” my twin teased. Rolling my eyes, I tuned back into the conversation around us. Our girlfriend sank onto the soft, well-loved couch between Landon and me, Cam choosing to sit on one of the two armchairs close by. My mom was sitting in the other as my dad leaned into the side of her seat from where he stood.

  “Oh, you’re a police officer?” Lucie asked my dad. “What’s that like?” My dad launched into his usual explanation of what his day to day job was as a beat cop and some of the more interesting calls he’d gone to.

  “Have you thought about what you would like to do after school, Lucie? What about you, boys? Still thinking of wo
rking with your aunt and uncle, Cam?” my mom asked.

  “I definitely would like to continue into some kind of research, but I haven’t fully narrowed down which field or type of study yet. This display they’re hosting for the spring semester has been a good eye opener for possibilities and is helping me get in contact with some potential references,” Cam explained, already relaxing the longer we were away from Miguel, Sebastian, and Alejandro.

  “Oh, very exciting! I heard talks there might be a fancy ball for alumni and major sponsors to come and see the display,” Mom told us. “No real details yet, but that’s what I heard from Nik’s parents.”

  “Hm, that would definitely be good for the university,” Cam agreed. “What about you, Doll? Any ideas for what you want to do?”

  “Not sure, I was considering being a baker like my mom, maybe putting some kind of fun twist into my creations. Other than that, I’m just trying to get through college.” She laughed, her pale cheeks tinting pink as she shrugged.

  “What about you boys? Any ideas? Hopefully not being troublemakers for the rest of your lives,” our dad chastised playfully, but I could see the truth in his gaze as he looked at us.

  “We’re reformed troublemakers,” I reassured.

  “Yeah, Dad, we only do fun things now that are small and non-destructive,” Landon tacked on.

  “I’m not sure whether to be excited by that statement or worried.”

  “They did a confetti glitter bomb thing, and it was fun,” Lucie explained, looking between us with a smile. “It helped that Nik cleaned it up though; otherwise, that would have been a mess.”

  “Oh, boys, I finally got the pictures from over summer added into the album. Want to take a look?” Mom exclaimed, hopping up and moving to the TV to where our family’s many pictures were kept. “I’m sure Lucie would love to see them.”

  “And here we were thinking you wouldn’t bust out the baby photos like Vera usually does,” Landon whined, but it didn’t stop Mom from passing over the thick album.

  Cam came over, sitting on the coffee table next to Mom, Dad moving to look over her shoulder as we all watched Lucie flip through the pages. It was strange to look back over the years, seeing how much had changed between then and now. Lucie’s gift from this year floated through my head, burying deep into my chest. Wouldn’t be where I am now without it.

  “Is this Lance?” she asked quietly, pointing to a photo of our older brother. Nodding, I glanced up when I saw my parents looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes. They tried to hide it, but I could see the shock on their faces that we had told Lucie about him. My mom’s gaze fell on me, her expression turning to contentment as she realized how much Lucie meant to us.

  After another little while of flipping through the album, my dad adding in some funny stories along the way, Mom got up and headed into the kitchen. Before I could follow her, I noticed Cam’s harsh frown.

  “Hey, Mom, Cam needs to eat,” I whispered, hitching a thumb over at Cam who stood near the opening to the kitchen. “We’ll be back in a bit.”

  “All right, we’ll keep Lucie entertained,” my mom told us with a smile, waving us to go upstairs. Turning, we made our way through the dining-room-turned-office and up the stairs. It had been a bit since Cam needed to feed from one of us so I looked over my shoulder at him for him to tell me where he wanted me to go.

  “Standing works, but if you’re worried about being unsteady, we can go on the bed,” he directed.

  “Standing should be good. If I get wobbly or anything I’ll let you know, and we can move.”

  Nodding, he stepped forward, close enough that I could feel his breath on my neck and his chest against mine. Tilting my head to the side, I opened up where he normally fed. Cupping the side of my jaw and neck, Cam angled me slightly before sinking his fangs in.

  This wasn’t like the last time he’d fed from me where it had been somewhat awkward with his mouth sucking at my neck and my body physically reacting to his lips on my skin. My blood roared and eyes fluttered shut, a shiver working its way down my spine. Every place our bodies touched I felt on fire, my body sensitive to his, and his hand gripping tighter on my neck only made me burn hotter.

  Whatever had come over me, I wasn’t mad about, but at the moment, all I could think about was the lust flooding my system. My cock hardened rapidly as I gripped his hips to stay steady, my fingers digging into his ass as I stumbled forward into him.

  “Logan?” Cam asked, his voice rough and thick as he looked at me. His lips were wet, the slightest red tint coating them, and his tongue darted out as he waited for my answer. Shaking my head, I centered myself, the blanket over my thoughts receding.

  “Wow,” I breathed. “That was intense.”

  “What do you mean?” he murmured. “It wasn’t like normal?”

  “I don’t know, does this feel normal to you?” I questioned, pulling his hips forward until we ground together, purposely ignoring the feeling of his hard length against my thigh. Cam chuckled, his grip on my neck tightening ever so slightly.

  “You’re asking the wrong person, Lo. Nik and I fuck regularly, remember?” he teased, but behind the light tone was a hint of heat. I rolled my eyes and stepped back, my hands falling from Cam’s trim hips.

  “Ha ha,” I deadpanned. “No, I mean that I think your Allure is finally developing.” Cam sighed, nodding.

  “Ah, yeah. I hadn’t thought about that as a reason to why I was so irritable or hungry, thought my calculations of how long I could go until my next feeding was wrong. Sorry, dude,” he apologized with a grimace. “I wouldn’t have asked if I knew.”

  “It’s all good,” I reassured. “Did you get enough?”

  “Yeah,” he tried to tell me, but I cocked a brow and waited him out. “No, but I’ll be fine until I get to Nik later.”

  “We’re already here, take what you need,” I offered. Cam gave me a skeptical stare with narrowed eyes and thinned lips.

  “You sure?” he asked. “The Allurement doesn’t weird you out or anything?”

  “Nope, a boner is really not that weird or uncommon.”

  He scoffed, half-assed glaring at me for my smart-ass remark. “Yeah, but getting one from a friend may be weird, so I wanted to check.”

  “Bite away,” I said, tilting my head once more. As soon as the offer was out there, his pupils widened, swallowing almost his entire hazel irises, and with deadly precision, he stalked over to me. This time when his fangs sank into my skin, I was ready for the wave of desire that filled me, and while I was able to keep the initial shock at bay, I couldn’t push back the feeling of ‘what if.’ My mind willingly accepted the thoughts of what ran through my head.

  But before I could fall too deeply into the spiral that was Cam, his pulling at my neck slowed, his tongue lapping at my neck as the wounds healed. A shudder rippled through me at the tenderness he took with my neck, but I kept it contained, not wanting to make things weird.

  “All good?” I asked, my voice cracking in the middle. He nodded, licking his lips as he stepped back. His skin was flushed, no longer sallow and greyish looking as it had been before, and his eyes were bright, alert as he gave me a grateful smile.

  “Thank you, Lo. If it weirds you out or anything, we don’t have to tell the guys or do this again—”

  “Cam, it’s fine, I promise,” I reassured. He gave me a skeptical gaze but didn’t push any further, understanding that I wasn’t going to budge on how I felt. “And over the next few months as you grow into your Allure and you get a little grumpy, I’ll remind you to eat, okay?”

  “Thanks, I’d appreciate it. I’ll try to keep up with the uptake of blood I’ll need as it develops, but I’m not entirely sure how often that’ll need to be yet. Let’s get back to Lucie and Landon, hopefully he didn’t do something crazy while we were gone.” Cam laughed, turning to walk out of my shared room with Landon. Chuckling, I shook my head before both of us barrelled down the hall and stairs in an impromptu
race.

  Knowing my twin? They were already doing something crazy.

  8

  December 26th

  Wednesday Late Afternoon

  Lucienne

  “Welcome!” I hollered over the guys’ loud noise as I threw open the front door to reveal Sadie, Benji, and Austin. The first two squealed loudly as they converged on me, giving me a hug at the same time. “Can’t. Breathe,” I huffed between their arms, somehow their hug not hitting any of the tender spots on my torso.

  “Sorry,” Benji apologized, stepping back. Austin stood there awkwardly, giving me a smile and wave.

  “Hey, Lucie. Thanks for having us,” he said, his honeyed tone bright and cheerful as he smiled at me.

  “Of course, the holidays are meant to be spent with friends and family!” I cheered, feeling abnormally happy. “We’re just waiting on Char to get here, but the boys are all in the living room. As I’m sure you can all hear,” I tacked on when I heard them crashing around down the hall.

  “I can’t wait to meet her!” Sadie nearly shouted, her freshly dyed hair flopping around her shoulders in a wave of royal blue.

  “Hello, kids, I’m Abigail. Please come on in,” my mom introduced herself, waving them to head farther into the house. I checked the front one more time, noting Char’s cherry red sedan pulling up and parking behind Dante’s Jeep, so I waited for her.

  “Hey, move it, boo, it’s cold as hell out here.” She waved me out of the way.

  “Well, maybe you should have put on a coat,” I teased, poking her in the arm where her thin sleeve fluttered around. “It is winter outside.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she closed the door behind her. “Come on, let’s go meet everyone.”

  “Hi! You must be Charlie, I mean Char, or whatever you want to go by,” Sadie immediately spouted, rushing over to pull her into a hug. “I’m Sadie, it’s so awesome to finally meet you. Holy shit, I love your shirt!”