Despite his blind spot where our mating was concerned, Graeson was a smart man, and he must have read the stubborn refusal to give up either my man or my career in my expression, because he nodded once and then the sultry grin resurfaced.
“Blindfold?” I held out my hand, forcing us back on track.
He draped it over my palm, the silk cool and the color that of fresh blood. “I’ll count to one hundred.”
I snorted, well aware of how fast he counted, like the beats of my heart when it fluttered wild against my ribcage.
Exiting what once was a rental office for the Stone’s Throw RV park, property the Lorimar pack called home, I took the short hall and stepped out of the building into the darkened parking lot. A chill December wind promising snow stirred long strands of blond hair into my eyes. I hadn’t realized the hour. I had procrastinated longer than I thought. Gravel crunched underfoot as I knotted the blindfold behind my head. I drew on my wolf aspect, fae magic that gave me limited warg abilities, and set off at a trot. A few of the pack members catcalled as I passed. They recognized the game and wouldn’t interrupt us while we played.
Putting our sex life out on display had left me unable to meet the gazes of the pack members for days afterward when I first came to Stone’s Throw to be mate to the alpha, becoming alpha in turn. But I was adjusting my fae sensibilities to life among folk who spent as much of their time naked as clothed or furry.
Plus, as Graeson had explained to me, the simple fact was it kept our people happy. The pack structure gave them a sense of belonging, and our public displays of affection settled their wolves. All that stability kept them calm and made them feel safe.
Leaves crinkled under my heels as I traded the parking lot for the woods. The scents of fir and pine filled my lungs, crisp and welcome. Under that, the pungent reek of gasoline made my nose twitch. I pondered the source of that caustic stink so deep in our woods, but the pack was expanding, and generators were common out here to supply electricity to the smaller campsites.
A shiver rippled across my skin, the impression of unseen eyes—thanks to the blindfold—watching me. Not pack, those I sensed as mental shadows through the pack bond. The Stoners might be to blame. They weren’t ours, not really. Named after the RV park, the Stoners were a small army of wargs cobbled together from other packs. They had come by twos and threes to volunteer as soldiers in the war with Faerie that crept nearer with every day and every broken treaty. They were more curious about me than was wise at times. I didn’t know them all, and I knew none of them as well as I should have considering the sacrifice they were willing to make to help keep my loved ones safe.
The mate bond sizzled to life, a hot spike of intent, warning me Graeson was in close proximity.
The stinging on my nape increased, and my gut tightened until I covered my abdomen with both hands. What if…? I terminated the thought before it completed.
Charybdis was dead.
I killed him.
Not before he murdered Graeson’s little sister, but soon after. He would claim no more victims, ruin no more lives. He was gone, but we were still here. We had survived, and I refused to let his dark shadow eclipse the rest of our lives.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I kept pushing. Less than thirty seconds later, I heard booted feet hitting the ground in an easy trot that mirrored mine. And then more footsteps. Lighter ones. And I smelled wolf. No, wolves. Familiar ones. Their presence ought to comfort and yet… Why had Graeson invited them along? And it must be his doing. Hadn’t I just been thinking how they never intruded on our private time? Suspicion bloomed in the back of my mind, the corner his presence occupied, and I wondered what my mate had gotten up to this time.
I kept up my easy lope until I reached what should have been a small clearing based on the map of the property in my head, but the low hum of a generator buzzed louder here, and the gasoline smell overpowered my senses until I sneezed. Skin pebbling, I sensed more bodies here, watching me from the trees. A slight breeze stirred, and a whiff of cinnamon and nutmeg teased my nose. What in the world…?
Giving up the game as a loss, I slowed to a walk, waiting on someone to illuminate me. I had been herded here, I realized. Wolves are sneaky that way. I reached up to tug down the blindfold and demand answers when Graeson’s strong arms encircled me from behind, hauling me back against his chest.
“Is this some new kink of yours?” I drew on the mate bond, projecting my thoughts to keep our conversation private.
He lowered one hand until his fingers fanned across my abdomen and pressed, pinning hips tight against my backside, and I forgot how to breathe for fear he had figured out my secret.
“I don’t share.” He nuzzled me, a hint of wolf in his voice. “You’re all mine, Ellis.”
Relief swept through me in swirling eddies that left me dizzy. “Why is the pack gathered here?”
“They wanted to be part of the surprise,” he explained in a reasonable tone that gave away nothing.
A trill of alarm zinged through me, and I covered his hand with mine. “And what is the surprise?”
“Are we ready?” he called out loud, telling me two things. He wanted to include everyone in what was about to happen, and that not everyone present was pack. Otherwise, he could have used the pack’s mental bond to convey the same message without words.
“Yes,” Dell’s voice rang out, loud and clear. “Let’s do this.”
The crackle of electricity sizzled along my nerves.
A booming cheer rose and then fell silent. A few voices yelled, “Boo.”
“False alarm, people.” Dell cursed, and I heard rattling. “Damn it. Let go.”
“Don’t plug that in there,” Isaac warned her. “No. Stop. Give me that.”
“That’s what she said,” Nathalie chuckled off to my left, and Aisha joined in the laugh.
“It’ll fit,” Dell snapped back. “I’ll make it fit.”
More laughter peppered the air, and Aisha snarked, “That’s what he said.”
“Graeson?” I reached for his mind. “On a scale of one to run for your life, how worried should I be right now?”
He didn’t get a chance to answer.
“Got it,” Dell crowed. “Assume the position.”
I held up a hand to quiet the snickering. “Don’t say it.”
“Spoilsport,” Nathalie and Aisha grumped in tandem.
Graeson firmed his hold on me, his thumb smoothing over my navel, sending frissons of pleasure swooping straight through my abdomen. “Ready?”
I breathed out. “Sure.”
“Such enthusiasm.” His teeth grazed the side of my neck. “We’ll have to do something about that.”
His arms vanished from around me, and his fingertips brushed my temples as he shoved the blindfold down around my throat. My eyes focused in the dark just as Dell jammed the ends of two extension cords together. Light and music flooded the area, and I stumbled back into Graeson while I acclimated to the sensory onslaught.
Acting the part of conductor, Dell raced to a gathering of pack members—on two legs and four—and proceeded to guide them through an offbeat rendition of a Christmas song familiar enough I could hum along, though I had never learned the words. One part wolf howl and one part human voice, the caroling was oddly beautiful, and the first joyful tears had slipped over my cheeks before I could wipe them dry.
Before us, a lush fir tree had been draped in lights and shiny garland. Ornaments of all shapes and sizes hung from the limbs, and a glowing star capped the top. Beneath it, sprawling for several yards in all directions, was a mountain of gifts wrapped in shiny paper and topped with metallic bows.
“What is all this?” I wondered, delight spiraling through me. “I thought you guys were lighting the tree next week.”
“Turns out Job has a gig out of town that week, so we bumped up the celebration.”
Across the clearing, Haden waved over Graeson. After pressing a kiss to my temple, he excused himself with a
promise to return in a moment, leaving me to absorb the glittering splendor surrounding me.
Christmas was a holiday the pack celebrated. Most fae, including my family, did not. Graeson explained when I asked that giving presents wasn’t required. But, being the alpha female, I expected to receive more than a token few. That had decided me. I ended up buying a simple gift for each pack member as a way of honoring them and their beliefs, and I spotted my teal and silver wrapping paper on the pile from here. So, while I had expected to attend the ceremony, I hadn’t anticipated being the center of the production.
“Here you go, coz.” Isaac pressed a mug warm with hot chai latte into my hand.
“You helped?” The mild surprise in my tone sent his gaze skittering toward Dell. “Ah. I see.”
Our beta had Isaac wrapped around her little finger. Several times if his conflicted expression was any indication. I got the feeling he knew he was caught, but he hadn’t decided if he liked being trapped.
“The pack wanted to include you in their celebration. It’s tradition for the alpha to flip the switch, but Graeson passed on the honor so that you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable or obligated to participate.” His attention never strayed from Dell, who had bent over to untangle a strand of lights, presenting us with a view straight down her shirt. When he spoke again, it sounded like he had gargled with glass shards that morning. “I assured him that wouldn’t be an issue. Mom raised us to respect other cultures and their traditions.”
“Although other manners she taught seem to have been forgotten.” I indicated Dell and her ample cleavage with my chin. “Are you going to tell her, or am I?”
“You do it.” He drank in her curves, undisguised longing clear on his features. “I’m not that strong.”
Before I could ruin Isaac’s fun, Dell finished finessing the snarl of cord and straightened. Noticing she was the focus of our attention, she smoothed her shirt down then bounded over to shimmy between Isaac and me. The effect of her wiggling on my cousin prompted a reaction I never wanted to see on a male relation again.
“What do you think?” She wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “There were more lights, but then Zed mentioned smelling smoke, and Isaac started cursing and unplugging strands.”
“The tree almost caught fire,” he muttered. “That happens when you string enough lights for the runway at Hartsfield on an eight-foot-tall fir.”
Dell stuck out her tongue at him. “You lack imagination.”
“Keep that tongue out, Dell. See what happens.” Sliding his hand under the curls of her auburn hair, he wrapped his palm around the base of her neck and hauled her closer. “I’m feeling inspired all of a sudden.”
She squeaked and whirled out of his grasp. As she bolted across the clearing, she smashed into Abram, who had been on his phone, no doubt eBaying again. Not slowing down, she shouted an apology before zipping to the farthest point from Isaac and taking shelter with Zed.
The commotion drew Graeson’s attention, and he patted Haden on the shoulder before returning to my side with a grin wreathing his face. He strolled over, and through some Pied Piper magic, the others trailed after him until they gathered around us in a tight circle. A fluttering sensation filled my stomach, and I scanned the crowd for clues, but I found only smiles and the occasional tear.
Proving how well he knew me, he sensed my budding panic and waved back the crowd. “Is this one of those things I should have asked you about first?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “What is this?”
“No cheating!” someone called from the back. “We all want to hear.”
Ignoring the gathering, Graeson collected my hands in his. “Say the word, and this all goes away. We go back to our room and talk there. I don’t need the spectacle. I know you don’t either. I was thinking of the good of the pack when I should have been considering your needs.”
“We’re alphas now.” My heart melted at his words, and I shored up my resolve. “We must consider the pack’s wellbeing above our own.”
Plus, this was just the shot in the arm of courage I needed to make my own announcement. The lights, the music, the laughter and smiles. This was a perfect moment they had created for me, to welcome me deeper into their world, and it made for perfect timing.
“You are and always will be the person who matters most,” he corrected. “We might be alphas, but we’re mates first. That brings us back around to the reason why we’re all gathered here tonight.”
Graeson reached into his back pocket and produced a small black box with a red bow on top then knelt on the leaves and offered it up to me. With a flick of his fingers, he raised the lid to expose a pear-shaped solitaire engagement ring. Twinkling lights danced over the surface of the diamond, and the stone glittered, the cut and sparkle reminding me of a most perfect teardrop.
“When wargs mate, it’s instinctual. We celebrate pairings, but we don’t exchange tokens, and there’s no elaborate ceremony. I understand fae are different. I spoke to Aunt Dot—” Isaac’s mother, the woman who had raised me, “—and she explained how traditional fae vows are exchanged. I want that for you. I want your whole family to bear witness to our union and understand that you will be loved, honored and treasured all the days of your life.”
Fresh tears blurred my vision, and I wiped them away with trembling fingers. “I didn’t need this.” I had to say so before my throat closed. “All I needed to be happy was you.”
“As your mate, it’s my job to give you what you don’t even know you need, and I think this is one of those things. I want you bound to me on every level, in every way.” He removed the ring and held it poised before my left hand’s middle finger. “Will you, Camille Annalise Ellis, do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes,” I whispered, and then louder, for the others, “I will.”
As he slipped the ring in place, I bent to steal the bow from the top of the jewelry box. “I have a gift for you too.”
Kissing the knuckle as he slid the gold band over it, he glanced up at me. “As the song says, “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
“I hope you change your mind about that.” I stuck the bow onto my sweater, over my navel. “They’re kind of unreturnable.”
“They?” His gaze zeroed in on my abdomen, his eyes widening and mouth falling slack. “They?”
“She’s pregnant,” Abram, our pack healer, who must have recognized the signs of his alpha sliding into shock, approached us. “She’s also a Gemini, and they breed true. She’s carrying twins.”
Shouts and wolf whistles sliced through the air as the pack celebrated our good news. Someone cranked up the music, and the pack’s exuberance spilled into the clearing. Howls rose from human throats, a song of welcome for the newest pack members, and the wolves present joined in with yips and barks.
Fingers shaking, the box tumbled from Graeson’s hand. “Babies.” He reached for me then, his touch gentle as he guided me closer. Wrapping his arms around my hips, he stared up at me, his shifting expression a kaleidoscope of emotion. “How?”
“Pretty sure you know exactly how it happened.” I raked my fingers through his hair while he rained kisses over my stomach. “When a boy warg gives a girl fae he loves very much a red silk blindfold then tells her to run through the woods and that he’ll chase her…”
“Ellis. Talk to me.” He shot me a look that shined with too much joy to be the glare he intended. “Warg birthrates are low. Couples with one human and one warg parent produce more children than warg pairs, but you’re fae.”
“Looks like fae and warg pairings don’t suffer the same fertility problems either.” I gripped his elbows and tugged until he rose. He didn’t unlink his arms from around me, just slid them higher as he stood. “I waited to tell you until I was sure…” I bit my bottom lip. “I’m three months along, out of my first trimester. The babies are strong.”
Graeson swung his head toward Abram. “Three months? You knew, and you didn’t tell me?”
/>
“Her body—” he met the alpha’s stare and didn’t flinch, “—her decision.”
Unhappy to have been left out of the loop, he shifted tracks. “How did you mask her scent change?”
“That would be my doing.” Enzo, the pack witch, lifted his hand. “She didn’t want to broadcast her condition and get the pack’s hopes up until Abram gave her the green light, so I crafted a charm to buy her time.”
“Hey, don’t be mad at them.” I yanked on Graeson’s shirt collar to get his attention. “I asked them to keep it quiet until I knew what kind of news I would be bringing you.” His next question was an easy one to guess. “They were the only two I told, and I only approached them because I needed their help.”
“You shouldered this burden alone.” The wolf shone golden in Graeson’s eyes. “You must have been worried, even a little scared, to have hidden this from me. That’s not how this works, Ellis. We’re a team. We don’t get to pick which parts of life we experience. Good, bad. We share it all. Deal?”
“Deal.” Reaching into my back pocket, I removed the crumpled paper. “Starting with this.” I passed it to him. “Say hello to your future—” I snapped my mouth shut before I spilled the beans. I read magic, it was part of my gift, and our little ones had power budding within them that identified their sex with more accuracy than any machine could hope to duplicate. Stealing a page from his book, I squinted up at him. “Is this one of those times where I should ask you if you want to know?”
Graeson’s hands shook as his fingers smoothed the wrinkles. The ultrasound photo was blurred, a black and white Rorschach test I had failed until Abram explained the blobs and whirls to me.
“No secrets between us. Not even this.” His voice cracked on the last syllable. “Tell me. Finish unwrapping the gift.”
“Girls.” I wiped fresh tears from my lashes. “We’re having girls.”
Graeson locked his arm around the back of my neck and clamped me flush against him. He braced his forehead on my shoulder, and moist warmth dampened my sweater. Without asking, I knew he was thinking of his little sister, the girl he had raised when he was no more than a child. Our daughters would not be substitutes, they would never sense there were bigger shoes for them to fill. His grief was that Marie would miss out on being an aunt, a role she would have relished, our girls being more sisters than nieces to her. And I understood, better than almost anyone else.
Magic & Mistletoe: 15 Paranormal Stories for the Holidays Page 14
