A Catamount Christmas, Paranormal Romance (Catamount Lion Shifters Book 5)

by J. H. Croix

  He figured he should be relieved she’d actually invited him to the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the store. It spoke volumes in more ways than one. It most certainly staked out his full return to Catamount within the shifter community and allied the most powerful shifter families at his side. With the undercurrents running through town at his return, that meant a lot to him. While unspoken, he didn’t doubt some rumors had started to percolate around Hank’s investigation.

  Max reached the store and pushed through the door. The retail portion of the store was closed, but even from the front, delicious scents wafted through the space. He walked down the center aisle to the deli area to find a small crowd already. He could hear Roxy’s voice in the deli kitchen, but figured he needed to be polite and mingle with the company up front before finding his way to her. He recognized many faces he hadn’t yet seen since his return. As he stood there, Hank waved from across the room where he stood by the deli counter. Max walked to his side.

  “Hey Hank, figured I’d might find you here.”

  Hank clapped him on the shoulder. “Glad you made it! I was just telling Gail this morning it would be good to have a Stone family member back at Thanksgiving this year.”

  Gail was standing a few feet away chatting with someone else, but she paused and glanced over. “Max! We were hoping you’d be here.” Her blue eyes were warm as she waved him to her side and pulled him in for a quick hug.

  “Good to see you too,” he replied as he stepped back.

  Gail gestured toward a narrow table behind them. “Go get yourself something to drink. There’s a bit of everything.”

  “Including the best mulled cider you ever had!” Hank added with a grin and a wink in Gail’s direction.

  Gail smiled. “That’s my contribution this year. It’s got a bit of a kick though, so go easy.”

  “I’ll have to try it,” Max said as he stepped past her to the table.

  When he returned, Gail was already absorbed in another conversation. Before he had a chance to look around, Hank nudged his shoulder. “Max, you remember Jake North, right?”

  Max glanced to Hank’s side, immediately recognizing Jake, his dark blonde hair and blue eyes familiar. Jake carried himself with the unmistakable power of a shifter. Jake had been a few years ahead of Max in school, but their families knew each other. Like Roxanne’s, Jake’s family was also one of the founding shifter families, so he held unspoken power in Catamount. Max was gradually piecing together the events that led to the build up and tear down of the shifter smuggling network, and he was aware Jake was one of the central players in breaking the network apart. Max nodded toward him. “Of course I do. Good to see you, Jake,” he said, holding a hand out.

  Jake shook his hand quickly and firmly, his eyes sharp and assessing. “Heard you were back in Catamount. It’s always nice when shifters make their way back home. Sorry to hear your mother passed away.”

  Max nodded. “Thanks for that. I still miss her,” he said simply.

  Someone called Jake’s name from across the room. He lifted his hand in a wave before turning back to Max and Hank. “I drove by your family’s place the other day. Looks like you’re getting the house and property back in order.”

  “Getting there. Hank rounded up some kids to take care of the yard. The house is actually in decent shape, all things considered. The boiler’s shot though, so I need to take care of that before I even consider moving in. There’s that and the damn break in the other day.”

  Hank leaned closer, catching Max’s eyes. “I mentioned the investigation I’ve opened into your dad’s accident. Jake’s offered to do some online sleuthing for me. He’ll also keep his ear to the ground about any rumors starting to circulate.”

  Jake nodded. “Glad to help out however I can.”

  “What would you look for online? When my dad died, the internet was in its infancy.”

  “River Run Mill started using electronic records early. I already did some digging today. If your dad’s suspicions were right, we’ll find the trail. I’ll ask Lily to help too. She’s a whiz at sniffing out accounting issues.”

  “What exactly do you do?” Max asked, slightly surprised to learn Jake had already accessed the old mill’s records.

  Hank laughed. “He’s mostly a legal hacker.”

  Jake chuckled. “That’s one way to put it. Technically, I do online forensics for all kinds of things. Most of the time it’s legal. If people don’t set up security protocols, it’s like leaving a house unlocked with a Welcome sign on the door. River Run Mill was ahead of the game in using electronic accounting and records, but they set up their systems well before there were security concerns online. They also closed down before those factors came into play. If you know what to look for, it’s easy to access old systems like theirs. I’ll do the hunting, and Lily will do the rest.”

  Max nodded slowly. “Alright then. Sounds like a plan. If you need anything from me, say the word.”

  “Let me know what you find, if anything, in your father’s old papers,” Hank said.

  “Will do. I plan to take some time to go through them tomorrow.”

  Jake started to say something else when another familiar figure approached them, Dane Ashworth. Max recalled him as one of Jake’s best friends and also from a founding shifter family. In all, three of the four founding shifter families were here today. Only the Peyton family, disgraced and with most of them locked up, was missing from the gathering. Dane immediately held his hand out, his gray-blue eyes catching Max’s. “Max Stone, damn good to have you back in Catamount,” Dane said with a firm shake.

  “Good to be here. Today’s like old home day,” Max replied with a chuckle. In the weeks he’d been back, he’d slowly encountered old friends and acquaintances day by day, but this gathering pretty much held anyone he’d known well.

  Dane stepped back, standing shoulder to shoulder with Jake. They were both tall and lanky with the unmistakable feline cast to their features many shifters had. Max turned and saw a face that surprised him. Noah Jasper stood across the room with his arm about Lily’s waist. Noah came from a shifter family best known for constantly causing trouble. Max had known Noah to be quiet and keep to himself, but his father was known mostly for being a heavy drinker and abusive to Noah’s mother. In all the years Max had come to Thanksgiving dinners here, he’d never seen anyone from the Jasper family here. As if reading his mind, Dane caught his eyes. “Noah left Catamount not long after you and your mom did. He stayed away while he was in the military. We couldn’t have broken up the smuggling network without his help. He’s nothing like his dad, or anyone in the Jasper line really. It’s safe to say he takes after his mother. Plus, he’s married to Lily now, so…” Dane grinned when Jake cast a warning glance in his direction.

  At that moment, Roxanne rounded the corner of the deli counter, directing two kids who were walking in front of her carrying platters of food. She wore jeans that hugged her curvy hips and a bright blue shirt with a scoop neck topped with an apron. Her blonde hair was tied up in its usual haphazard knot with loose curls falling around her face. One look at her and lust jolted through him. He’d had this ridiculous idea that once he slaked the fifteen years of pent up need for her, he might be able to get a handle on himself when it came to her. Yet, it was becoming clear it would likely take another fifteen years before he managed that. Having finally had a taste of her again, the burning need for her had only gotten hotter.

  “Heads up, you might get run out of town if you break Roxanne’s heart,” Dane said bluntly.

  Knocked out of staring at Roxanne, Max swung to look at Dane. “Huh?”

  Jake barked a laugh and shrugged. “Between us, we’re married to half of Roxanne’s best friends. Both of us have heard about how they’ll make life plain miserable for you if you harm a hair on her head. With the way you’re looking at her, I’m guessing we don’t need to worry about that.”

  Dane nodded solemnly, a glint of humor in his eyes. “Figured yo
u might want to know where things stand. I told Chloe that Roxanne was more than capable of taking care of herself, but Chloe’s pretty damn protective.” He sobered and held Max’s gaze for a long moment. “Sounds like Jake’s right. We don’t need to worry.”

  “Definitely not. I’d have come back to Catamount one way or another, but I’ve missed Roxanne every day since I left. She was always the woman for me. I’m just trying to be patient and not crowd her.”

  “You definitely know Roxanne if you know you’d better not crowd her,” Jake added with a wry grin.

  Momentum seemed to have taken over the room with people starting to meander toward the massive table in the center of the room. All of the small round tables that were usually scattered about the deli had been neatly stacked against the wall and several long tables were pulled together in the middle of the area. Someone paused to greet Max, effectively breaking up his conversation with Jake and Dane. Hank had already been pulled aside by Gail.

  Max was considering where to sit when he felt a hand slip into the crook of his elbow. He instantly knew it was Roxanne and glanced down to find her blue eyes looking up at him. Flour was streaked on her cheek, and her lips were rosy. For a moment, everything stopped. The hum of voices faded and there was nothing and no one but them. The air around them shimmered as he stared down at her. His heart gave a hard thump, and his throat tightened. He angled toward her and reached up to trace her jawline with the back of his knuckles. Her breath hitched, and she caught his hand in hers.

  Someone called her name, snapping the moment. She glanced over her shoulder. “Just a minute!” She swung back to him. “I didn’t know you were here yet. I’m, well, busy in the kitchen, but I wanted to say hi.”

  “Hi,” he said, clearing his throat to get the single syllable out.

  She gestured to the table. “Save me a seat by you, okay?”

  Her request surprised him. “Okay. Do you need some help?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. I’ve got help coming out my ears with all the kids here. The turkey’s on its way out, so grab some seats before we’re stuck in the corner.”

  Her hand slipped from his elbow and she spun away. Max moved, half in a daze, toward the table, uncertain where to sit. Fortunately, Jake lifted a hand and gestured to a pair of seats across from him and Phoebe. Moments later, Max watched while two platters of turkeys were situated on the table. Roxanne came out, tugging her apron over her head and tossing it on the counter behind her. She slipped into the seat beside him.

  14

  Roxanne stood inside the freezer in the back staring at a row of frozen blueberry packages. Maine was famous for its blueberries, and she made a town favorite blueberry pie. She stared so long that she shivered. Snapping out of it, she grabbed a bag of blueberries and made her way back into the kitchen. Ever since Thanksgiving dinner, she’d barely been able to stop thinking about Max. It had been so good, just good, to have him there. She’d promised herself for that day she would let herself enjoy his presence. She’d managed to do just that mostly because Max’s presence was like an elixir for her heart, body and soul. Having him there in the center of her world surrounded by family and friends offered a respite from her busy life, and a glimpse of feeling young and carefree again. It also fanned the flames of hope burning inside of her and made her once discarded dreams of a life with Max seem as if they were possible.

  As if reality existed to hammer home its point, he’d knocked her world sideways with another mind-blowing, earth-shattering sexual encounter to cap off the entire day. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him he had to return to the inn because she selfishly wanted to fall asleep with him beside her again. The intimacy of waking with him and having him slide inside of her, long, slow, strokes that sent pleasure spinning through her, had nearly undone her. It had certainly been a shock to her system and sent her scurrying to a corner inside of her heart. She was annoyed with herself for being so weak when it came to him and constantly battling the part of her that just wouldn’t shut up about how obvious it was they were meant to be. In the days since, she’d come up with one excuse after another about being too busy to spend time with him.

  The intimacy was almost frightening in its depth, and it was testing her view of herself. That view didn’t include her so easily falling back under Max’s spell. And yet, her cat, arguably the strongest part of her, kept growling inside that her fear at facing what lay between her and Max only showed her weakness, rather than her strength. As she wrestled internally, Max stopped by for coffee every day and even tromped into the safe to dig through the file boxes he stored there. The damn safe was now like a glowing neon sign for her because all she could think about every time she saw it was the fact he’d surged inside her in that tiny space with her jeans pulled down around her hips and her desperate for nothing other than the feel of him.

  With a mental shake, she walked briskly to the sink and filled a stainless steel bowl with water before placing the bag of frozen blueberries in there. She’d forgotten to take them out to thaw earlier, yet another forgotten task in what was building up to be an impressive list. She wasn’t usually forgetful, but she supposed she could blame that on Max too.

  She yanked her apron off and hung it by the door. “Hey Becky, I’m running to the bank while I wait for those blueberries to thaw. Be back in a few.”

  Becky nodded from the register and turned back to give a customer change. Roxanne slipped into the hall and out the door. A few moments later, she walked into the bank down the street. She knocked the slushy snow off her boots and walked to the back of the line. She should’ve known it would be busy since it was smack in the middle of lunchtime. She took a step forward when the line moved, glancing back when she sensed someone behind her. An unfamiliar man stood there. He was older with slate gray hair and eyes to match. She guessed him to be a shifter, which surprised her because she knew just about every shifter in town on a passing basis. She mentally shrugged and turned away. He didn’t seem friendly, and she wasn’t too interested in chatting at the moment. She needed to drop off yesterday’s deposit and get back to the deli.

  A few minutes later, she strode outside. The weather had been teasing with winter for weeks now. It had snowed lightly during the night, although the day’s sun had melted most of it, leaving the sidewalk covered in dirty slush. She stopped at the base of the stairs and looked around, her eyes pausing on the inn where Max was staying. A pang went through her. Every day she kept him at a distance only made her miss him. With a sharp shake of her head, she turned toward the store when she heard her name.

  She glanced back to see the man who’d been behind her in line at the bank. “Yes?”

  The man reached the bottom of the stairs and paused near her. “Do me a favor. Tell Max Stone to back off.”

  Her stomach coiled and anger flashed within. Her cat rumbled underneath her skin. “What do you mean?” she asked, not bothering to keep the anger out of her tone.

  “People know Brad Peyton’s started looking into his family’s accounts, and they know it’s all because Max Stone is back and digging up the past. The past is the past and can’t be changed now,” the man said, his flat gray eyes holding hers.

  She sensed he was trying to frighten her, but she was furious instead. She stepped closer and leaned forward. “Max Stone has every right to do whatever the hell he wants. I don’t know who the hell you are, but you might want to watch your back. Max isn’t in this alone, so be careful who you try to scare off.”

  She was vibrating with anger as she stood before the man. Though nothing showed in his eyes, she sensed he was surprised at her response. They stood there for several more beats, staring at each other until the man finally turned away. She watched him walk away until he turned a corner down a side street. She yanked her phone out of her pocket and called Hank.

  As soon as he picked up, she started talking. “I’m on Main Street and some shifter I’ve never seen before told me to tell Max to back off. Whoever the h
ell it is knows Brad is looking into his family’s accounts. He just walked onto Valley Street. If you head this way now, you can…”

  Hank cut in. “Already in my car. Did you happen to see what he was driving?"

  “Nope. He’s tall with gray hair and gray eyes. Definitely a shifter.”

  “Got it. I’m on Valley now. Okay, I see him. Call you back in a bit.”

  The line clicked dead in her ear. She fought the urge to shift and bolt down the street to follow the man, but she knew now wasn’t the time or place. She spun around and started walking briskly back to the store, calling Max as she did. All she got was his voice mail, so she left a hurried message and raced back to work.

  Max stood beside the smoking pile of ashes in the backyard. He’d spent most of the morning tending two brush pile fires. The years of overgrown weeds and brush in the yard were reduced to ashes now. He carefully dragged a rake through the coals to make sure the coals were cooling before putting the rake away in the garage. His boots crunched through the thin layer of snow on the ground as he walked toward the back porch. He heard sounds in the front of the house and stilled completely for a moment. His car was in the shop for an oil change this morning. He’d hitched a ride out here from Jake who happened to be getting gas at the station when Max dropped his car off. Knowing his car wasn’t here to announce his presence to anyone coming by, Max quietly eased back into the trees along the edge of the yard. He heard the front door open and then footsteps in the house. With the home mostly void of furnishings, there was nothing to absorb the sound, so the hardwood floors echoed with every step.

  Max inched his way into the trees until he was confident he was completely obscured from view. Then, he shifted into lion form. Fur rippled over his skin and a burst of power raced through him. He wanted the benefit of his lion’s much sharper senses and the ability to stay undetected more easily in lion form. He held still for several moments, his senses attenuating to his shift. He easily heard the person pull down the stairs to the attic and climb up. Since he’d cleared out the remaining boxes, there was nothing there to find. He heard a muttered curse and a kick to the wall before a form appeared in the window. Unfortunately with the angle of the sun, all he could see was a silhouette. It was enough for him to glean the person inside was male. He waited until the man disappeared from view and he heard him descending the stairs again. Moving with stealth and swiftness, he circled through the trees toward the side of the house where he had a clear view of both entrances to the home.