Page 2 of Beary Mated Christmas

Not gonna lie, I felt like I’d hit the jackpot. How could I not? The object of all my fantasies was getting naked for me.

But then I realized he wasn’t getting undressedforme, just in front of me. Not a striptease in the cold because he thought I was his too. No…he was shifting.

He took his fur, his wolf beautiful, absolutely stunning.

“You shifted.”

We’d both been longing to shift for the first time. A bunch of our classmates already had, so we knew the time was getting near. I was so happy for him.

He rubbed his body against my leg, and my polar bear took over.

I’d felt my bear a few times in the background, but never once had he hinted that it was time for me to meet him. And now, he was ripping through me, my clothes in shreds as my huge form fell to the ground with a thump.

Abel and I talked about how cool it would be to have our first shift at the same time. And while technically it wasn’t, we saw each other’s beasts first, and that was special, too.

I lifted my head and inhaled. The sweet smell of peppermint chocolate tickled my nose.

Ours, my bear insisted.Ours.

It was a Christmas miracle. Abel was ours. He was my mate.

We ran around in the snow, playing and exploring and, as the sun set, it was time to go back.

Abel shifted first, putting on his clothes. “I gotta tell you, buddy, I didn’t think you’d smell like wet bear, but you’re beautiful, so all is forgiven.”

He thought he was teasing. He had no idea his words shattered my heart into a million pieces.

Abel walked toward the house, and I lumbered after him, not willing to take that trek in my skin. I shifted at his back door and snuck inside, where he tossed me a pair of joggers, a shirt, and a pair of sneakers.

“I have to go.”

“Oh yeah, you probably need to tell your parents about this. I need to tell mine too. I just… I wanted you to be the first one. You’re my best friend, after all.”

“Best friends forever.” Why did those words have to hurt so bad?

I gave him a quick hug, knowing that we would never share more than a friendly one, and got on my bike, pedaling all the way back to my house.

My parents commented that I was back early, neither of them noticing my change of clothes, and I grumbled something about not feeling well. Then I locked myself in my bedroom, where I cried and cried and cried.

Just as I was pulling myself together, my brother came in. “You want to tell me what happened?”

“He shifted,” I said between sobs that reappeared the second I tried to verbalize what was happening. “He’s mine. But I’m not his.”

I threw my arms around my brother. My tears no longer allowed me to form words. He rubbed my back and told me everything would be okay—that Fate doesn’t make mistakes.

If Fate didn’t make mistakes, it meant that Fate hated me. And I wasn’t sure which was worse. Because I knew one thing…a life without Abel wasn’t a happy one, not even close.

Chapter Two

Abel

Ten years later…

Bah-fucking-humbug.

I walked into the Christmas assembly with a fake smile plastered on my face. I had to. Teachers, especially elementary school teachers were pretty much paid to be upbeat and positive, especially during the holiday seasons. I moved to the side where I would watch over the whole thing, making sure everyone stood in their place and no one was picking their nose or flicking someone else in the ear. We didn’t need aHome Alone-Christmas choir situation. Smooth and flawless was the way to go. Of course, with elementary school students, the most we could hope for was less than disastrous.

“They practiced so much, I’ve been singing those songs in my sleep.” My friend James elbowed me in the ribs. He taught Spanish and floated between classrooms. He and I had a contest on a weekly basis about who got more steps in. He usually won.