Page 4 of Claiming the Shifter’s Heart (The Macconwood Pack Tales #16)

K ris worried his lower lip and checked his watch. She was late. Snow was falling. Maybe there was trouble on the road.

He stood up, ready to tell Cassie Evangelos, Dr. David’s mate, that he was going to take a quick drive in his truck to check when he finally saw her tiny, battered little sedan enter the employee parking lot.

Thank fuck.

He walked back to the ornately carved bench that was Santa’s designated sitting place. It was quite something with its high back, so it resembled a throne but could easily fit two adults or three children. The wood was trimmed in gold paint, and the cushioned seat was covered in bright red, texturized vinyl, so it looked and felt like leather, but was a heck of a lot easier to clean.

Stephanie Winters owned the farm and ran it with her mate, Nicholas, who happened to be one of Kristoff’s first partners on the job.

Nick was a good guy. He’d been a good cop, too. As had Kristoff.

That was before he’d been forced into taking early retirement from his last post with the NYPD. He’d been feeling pretty raw about it until lately.

But keeping the supernatural secret was important to all Shifterkind, and after getting shot up on the job in an ambush, Kris couldn’t do that and explain why he was in tiptop shape just a month later.

When Nick invited him down to Maccon City, Kris was doubtful. But after he’d visited with the Pack Alpha, where he landed a job as one of the Pack’s Enforcers, he finally had hope.

Maybe here I’d find my place in the world.

Maybe here I could belong.

A few days in Maccon City had changed his whole perspective on life. Kris wasn’t on a decline. In fact, he felt at peace for the first time in months, maybe even years.

But that had more to do with the gorgeous as fuck woman he was currently pretending not to stare at as she headed his way.

Well, not his way, but rather, to fill her position as Santa’s First Elf at the front of the line.

Mate , his beast growled.

Kris cleared his throat to cover up the fact his Wolf was growling.

Nick hadn’t just found a new life for himself and his daughter—he’d built one.

A real one. A family, a future, and a place to belong.

His old friend had found his fated mate. And for some reason, he’d managed to pull Kris down here, into this near perfect world he’d discovered, too.

When Nick had asked Kris to step in as Santa, to fill the boots for a few days while he whisked his family away on a much-needed vacation, it had felt like an odd request at first. But Nick had always known how to make things work, how to make the impossible seem effortless.

The moment Nick had handed over the reins, he’d shown Kris everything: the sleigh, the reindeer he kept in a paddock for visitors to pet and feed, and the small army of Elves who helped run Manning Farms' Christmas operation.

Now, Kris was a part of all that. He was connected to the cheer and holiday spirit that seemed to float around like it was something tangible.

Maybe it was.

Either way, he’d never felt anything like it. So positive and full of joy.

All Kris had to do was fill Nick’s boots and his big velvet suit for a short while, which included keeping up with several of the magnificent wooden structures and pieces that were all part of the Christmas experience at Manning Farms.

Like the custom bench and sleigh Santa would spend most of his time on. He could do that. No problem.

Kris was an expert carpenter, after all. And a bit of a tinkerer, too.

His custom tables and chairs were legendary—sent all over the world, earning him a small fortune. But Kristoff never cared about money. It was nice to have, of course. But it was never the why.

She can be my why.

He thought about his accomplishments and whether it would matter to Della. After all, the New York Times had even called his furniture "art," and some pieces had sold for astronomical prices, pieces that were more sculpture than seating.

He was proud of what he’d created over the years. But after making enough money to sustain him for multiple lifetimes, he only created now for the joy of it.

The things he would make for her and the kids, good God, he could not wait.

As for moving to South Jersey and leaving his job on the force, it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. Maccon City was absolutely beautiful, and the Atlantic was so close, he could smell the icy salt water from his apartment.

There was peace here, a quiet that his city life had never provided. But the real treasure, the one he hadn’t expected, was ten feet away from him, hiding in plain sight.

She was curvy, stunning in a way that felt both effortless and captivating. And yet, she had no idea.

Della Connors had captured his attention, and that of his Wolf ever since the first time he’d spied her that night in her neighbor’s yard.

He’d been there as an Enforcer. The Beta had ordered him to tie up the one Crow still breathing, but every instinct he had said he should kill the fucker.

Oh, he would have enjoyed snapping the neck of that prick who’d dared touch her. But he’d only just met her, and he didn’t get enough of a scent to be sure she was his.

Besides, been given an order, and his Wolf was too good a soldier to disobey.

Now though, well now he’d gotten her scent under his skin and his animal knew exactly what she was.

Mate.

But she was clueless, and Kris just didn’t understand. She seemed to have no idea how he watched her from the corner of his eye. How he longed for her when she wasn’t looking.

Every time she passed him, every time she smiled his way with that innocent warmth, he could feel his heart ache just a little more.

She was everything he wanted. Everything he needed. Yet she remained blissfully unaware that he yearned for her with every inch of his mortal soul.

Fire burned in his veins for this female. His Wolf howled, the enormous animal scratching at his insides, demanding he do something.

But he was doing something. He was working. Keeping an eye on her and her sweet babies. Kris had gotten a look at them a few times, and both he and his beast were already completely taken by the cheerful little boy and beautiful baby girl.

He wanted to claim all three of them as his own, but all he could do was wait for a sign or signal, any hint that she felt the same.

What else did he have to do?

The idea of spending another lonely holiday was unbearable. But Kris couldn’t help but feel that maybe, just maybe, this Christmas, the real magic wouldn’t come from a sleigh ride or a perfectly crafted piece of furniture, but from her. From the woman he could never seem to stop wanting.

Please Santa, if you’re real, let me get what I want this Christmas.