Page 1 of Christmas with a Chimera (Claw Haven)

“H uh,” said Arthur Pineclaw as the limo cruised into town. “They changed the sign. I heard they were thinking of changing that back in high school. Didn’t think they’d actually go through with it.”

Arthur extended a wing and nudged the human. “Rust. They changed it.”

Rusty glanced up. “What? Oh. Yeah, bud, I bet a lot’s changed. How long has it been since you came back?”

Claw Haven , the new sign had declared. For the monster who wants some peace and quiet . It was a cute little slogan. Arthur might have even liked it if he was the kind of guy who enjoyed peace and quiet.

But Arthur was meant for cityscapes and noise. Which was why he’d gotten out of this sleepy town the year after high school ended and hadn’t looked back since. Not until Rusty got in touch with an exciting new opportunity: a Christmas rom-com based in Arthur’s own hometown.

We don’t want to do it without you, Rusty had told him after his agent put them in touch. If you don’t say yes, we might as well scrap the whole project.

So, of course, Arthur had signed on. How could he not, with so many people counting on him?

Besides, he’d been meaning to squeeze another shoot into his winter schedule.

It was a quick enough job—they’d already shot in LA for a month, and now they needed two weeks in Claw Haven for the small-town scenes.

They’d wrap on Christmas Eve, and Arthur would be back in LA in time for another carefree Christmas watching the holiday episodes of Friends, eating takeout, and “forgetting” to call his parents, who would in turn “forget” to call him before trading apologies and promising a New Year’s call that would never happen.

Rusty tapped on the partition. “Driver! Cozy Grotto Café. We’re here!”

The limo skidded to a stop outside a café that Arthur vaguely remembered.

It used to be called something different, but it had still been a café.

One of the only cafés. Not anymore, though—they’d multiplied since Arthur had gone.

He’d counted at least four tucked in between the revamped bookstore, bakery, and tattoo studio.

They even had a skincare shop now, which was exciting.

He only had so many of his special creams, and he could already feel his mane drying out.

Arthur slipped his sunglasses on and turned to Rusty. “I can pull these off, right? They’re not too much?”

“You look great,” Rusty assured him. He clapped Arthur on the back, right between his wings. “Ready for your triumphant return?”

“Always.” Arthur winked, telling his pesky nerves to shut up. He had nothing to be nervous about. He’d been popular in high school, and now he was returning as a movie star. He had a limo , for god’s sake. These small-town folks wouldn’t know what hit them.

He shook out his mane and climbed out onto the snowy sidewalk. A few shoppers glanced his way, and one of them even did a double take. But no mobs, no pleading for autographs. Arthur told himself he was relieved. He liked the attention, but it got tiring sometimes.

Rust shivered. “Goddamn! This cold is intense . Wish I had fur.”

“We can’t all be perfect,” Arthur told him, stretching out his cramped wings.

First a plane ride, then a limo ride—he would need a good fly around while he was here.

Even if it didn’t stop snowing, this weather was manageable to fly in.

He used to do it all the time. A million years ago, back when he spent every winter flying around the mountains with a certain someone’s arms around his shoulders, her bright laugh in his ear…

He squeezed his eyes shut. One thing he had decided when he told Rusty he’d do the movie: This wasn’t a trip down memory lane.

He had a script from his publicist about what to say in interviews, but those responses were all vague and mostly fake.

He wasn’t going to get lost in the memories. Especially not memories about her.

He reached for the café door.

It swung open, a peppy human beaming up at him. Her hair was blond and glossy, her clothes the kind of fashionable he thought you couldn’t get in Claw Haven.

“Hi,” she said, her accent decidedly not local. “I’m Luna Musgrove!”

“You’re the one who reached out to my agent and got Rusty on board,” he supplied, stepping past her into the warm café.

It was bigger than he’d expected, all tiny tables and ornate chairs and a persistent smell of cinnamon in the air.

A camera guy was setting up near the counter, and a prop guy slotted plastic minotaur-themed cupcakes into the cabinet.

Arthur turned toward the door, calling out into the cold, “Rusty! It’s your old pal Luna!”

Rusty rushed into the café after him, brushing snow out of his hair. “Luna, hi. Great to finally meet you in person. You look even better off Zoom.”

“Aw, so do you.” Luna kissed his cheek. “ So glad you’re here. There are some set people out back who have a ton of questions for you. Something to do with lighting rigs?”

“On it,” Rusty said and took off in the direction Luna was pointing.

Luna brushed her blond strands out of her face.

She was definitely from LA, he was sure of it now—she had that look .

Dentist-perfect teeth and glowing skin. She looked chic and adorable in her puffy winter clothes, which were much thicker than anything a local would wear.

This was a woman who wasn’t used to the Alaskan cold.

“Jennifer’s still in makeup,” Luna told him. “She’s excited to see you.”

“Jen’s a firecracker,” Arthur said, another thing his publicist had supplied. “I’ve really been enjoying our shoot.”

Unlike many things his publicist had him say, both of these statements were true.

Jen was a firecracker—fun, impulsive, and loud.

She was human and a few years younger than him, and the more time he spent with her, the more he got the feeling she’d like to be more than costars.

But that was a thought for another day. He didn’t like getting involved with his costars until they finished filming.

That way they weren’t stuck together five days a week if something went sideways. He’d learned that the hard way.

“So,” he said. “You’re the girl who revitalized the town.”

Luna shrugged happily. “I just showed them what was already there. Claw Haven did the rest.”

Arthur doubted it. The town’s abrupt shift from boring snooze fest to cute, cozy monster town didn’t happen by accident. He’d only seen one street, but he could tell how different it was. Whatever Luna had done, she might’ve actually turned it into someplace worthwhile. For a visit, anyway.

“Where are you from?” he asked. “You sound like an LA woman.”

Luna curtsied. “Born and raised!”

“And you live here ? Voluntarily?”

Luna laughed. “What can I say? It has its charm.”

“Now, maybe.” Arthur looked out the café’s frosted windows at the bustling street, which was more crowded than he’d ever seen it. “I couldn’t do it. I’d miss the city too much.”

“I miss it sometimes,” Luna said easily. “But I got so attached to this place. It’s small, it’s close-knit—everybody knows you.”

“For better or worse.”

“Just gotta make sure it’s for the better.” Luna smiled again, soft and warm. She wasn’t looking at him anymore—she was staring into the distance, twisting her wedding ring around her finger.

All at once, Arthur understood. She’d moved here for a guy.

Some poor schmuck that Arthur probably knew from high school.

And in her boredom, Luna had decided to do something to make this town worth living in.

Not bad work. Now she just needed to make Claw Haven a hundred times bigger and move it somewhere warm.

He hoped the guy wasn’t too upset when she gave up on this place and moved to brighter pastures.

A personal assistant came by with a wonky headset and the glazed look of someone who had been awake for far too long.

“Coffee orders?” the PA asked, a pen poised over a raggedy notebook.

“Just a latte,” Luna said breezily.

“Same for me,” Arthur said. He had a usual coffee order that included caramel shots and two kinds of milk, but he was trying to be gracious. He didn’t want to confuse these small-town baristas.

Somebody laughed. Arthur turned to see a young minotaur woman and a human woman come in from the back rooms, both of them dressed in white shirts and aprons.

“Still weird that we’re sending them off to get coffee,” the minotaur woman was saying. “We have a coffee machine right…”

She trailed off. Her eyes went wide on Arthur, who beamed. There was the starstruck look he was waiting for. Except the longer he looked, the less sure he was that her furry face was starstruck. She looked…concerned?

The human, however, gasped. “Oh, my god! That’s Arthur Pineclaw! Daisy, wasn’t I literally just saying how cool it would be if it was him?”

“Yeah,” Daisy said slowly, her soft nose twitching. “So…cool.”

Luna gestured at them. “Arthur! This is Daisy and Hazel. They’re a couple of the staff, and they’ll be extras during the café scenes.”

Arthur waved. He didn’t recognize either of them.

They both looked younger; they might have been in middle school when he was in high school.

Or maybe they had moved here since he left—apparently, Claw Haven was the place to be nowadays.

According to Rusty, they’d had more people move here in the last few years than in the entire time his parents lived here.

“You look surprised,” he told them. “Didn’t Luna tell you it was me?”

Both girls shook their heads.

“Rusty wanted it to be a surprise,” Luna said brightly.

The minotaur still looked worried, which Arthur was determinedly not taking as a bad omen. Maybe she just got really anxious around movie stars. She’d probably never met one before. Nobody important stopped in Claw Haven—at least not while he was growing up.

Hazel, the human, looked delighted. “It makes sense now that I think about it, though. You’ve been in a bunch of rom-coms, right?”

“Sure have!” He grinned. “Rom-coms have sadly fallen to the wayside lately. We’re trying to bring them back.”

“Well, if anyone can do it, it’s you,” Hazel gushed. She tugged on Daisy’s furry arm. “I can’t believe the boss agreed to this! Luna, you should’ve mentioned it was Arthur Pineclaw. I bet she would’ve agreed way faster.”

“Ha ha ha,” Daisy said, too loud. “Totally. Hey, Luna, can I talk to you for a second?”

Luna blinked, startled by her tone. “Sure! What’s up?”

“Alone,” Daisy said.

“Sure,” Luna said again after a beat. She turned to Arthur, blond ponytail bouncing. “I’ll just be one moment. Toodles!”

“Toodles,” Arthur replied. He watched them head out of the café, Luna rubbing her arms despite her thick jacket, Daisy giving him an awkward nod as she followed her out. They immediately bent their heads together, Daisy speaking quietly and urgently.

Weird , he thought. Maybe Daisy had a problem with him.

Whatever it was, he was sure he could charm her into liking him before the shoot was over.

They had two weeks. There weren’t a lot of people who could withstand Arthur’s charm for two weeks without at least grudgingly liking him.

Still, it was a surprise. He hadn’t run into many people who openly disliked him for a long time.

Not since he’d become a movie star, anyway.

Hazel slunk up to him with a shy, excited look that he was much more familiar with.

He beamed, twisting his whiskers rakishly. “Would you like an autograph?”

“Yes!” She dug in her apron and produced a pen and a wrinkled notebook. He scribbled his name with a flourish, adding a heart and Hazel’s name underneath. She seemed like the kind of girl who’d appreciate a personal touch.

Hazel giggled, slipping the signed notebook and pen back into her apron. “Thank you! This is so cool. I love Just Kitten Around . And that mermaid one—what was that called?”

“ In Too Deep ,” Arthur said.

Hazel clapped. “Yes! In Too Deep made me cry!”

“Always great to meet a fan,” Arthur said, watching Daisy and Luna out of the corner of his eye. Luna’s smile was stiff with concealed panic, which wasn’t making him feel any more at ease. He might have his work cut out for him with that minotaur.

He flexed his wings and turned back to Hazel. “So! Who’s your boss? I bet I know them.”

“I bet you do,” Hazel said, blushing under the full force of his award-winning smile. “You two probably went to high school together, now that I think about it. You’re about the same age.”

“Oh?” Arthur asked, interest piqued. “Don’t keep me in suspense. Who is it?”

“Her name is—” Hazel stopped, head cocking. “Oh, that’s her now! Don’t tell her I got an autograph. She told me not to bother you.”

A low, angry mutter was coming from the back.

I know that pissed-off mutter , Arthur thought with growing disbelief. Even with everything screaming inside him that it couldn’t be her—why would she buy a café ?—he knew. He’d recognize her voice anywhere.

The back doors flew open. A woman charged through, clutching a bag of coffee beans.

“Fancy pants think they own the place,” she muttered, absentmindedly stopping a coffee bean from toppling out the open end of the bag. “Putting shit in our fridges—”

She looked up, coming to a sudden halt.

Hazel waved. “Hey, boss! Look who’s here! Blast from the past, right?”

The woman didn’t respond. She was staring at him, her arms slack around the bag of coffee beans.

Arthur swallowed with a suddenly dry throat.

Her hair was shorter—once it hung under her shoulders, and now it was a pixie cut, frazzled and wispy over her forehead.

She was wearing a Christmas sweater so tacky that Arthur ached to tweak the snowman’s beady nose like he would’ve done all those years ago.

“Emma,” he said, as charming as he could muster. “Great to see you again.”

Emma Curt gaped at him. Despite everything, Arthur’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest. Once, he’d believed this woman would be the rest of his life. Now she was staring at him like she was offended he was breathing her air. Annoyed and gorgeous, just the way he’d left her.

“What the hell is he doing here?” she demanded. Then she grimaced. “Oh, shit.”

Her arms tightened, but it was too late—the coffee bag slipped through her hands and crashed to the floor.