Page 12

TAL

I didn’t know why we’d been sent on this stupid errand. On Christmas Eve, of all times. What was so important it couldn’t wait until after Christmas? Nothing. I wanted to be at home, watching in case we had, um, any visitors for the holidays. Like we did last year. Okay, I finally admitted to myself, I was hoping Irian would turn up again, but it’d been so long since we’d seen each other, or spoken, that I didn’t really know whether the tether that had seemed to bind us last year would be enough to bring him back.

It was in the Goddess’ hands.

Darkness had already wrapped itself around the compound by the time the boys and I got back. A few doorways and windows cast a golden glow outside. Colored lights twinkled in the windows of all the houses, and someone had even put tiny colored sparkle lights around the trunk of our tree in the center of the yard.

Luke went off to tell Alpha the result of our trip, and the rest of us scattered towards the comfort of our respective homes.

As I approached my front door, I heard the hum of voices getting children ready for bed, murmuring between my sister and her husband, soft snores from my parents’ room.

Yellow light spilled out from the little window beside the front door, the glint of red, blue, green and yellow visible through the filmy curtains.

Inside, silence greeted me except for the mechanical candle rasping away on the mantelpiece next to the winged wolf, and faint buzz of the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. The occasional murmur from distant parts of the house died away as the last of the household settled down for sleep.

I couldn’t believe we had to stay out so late on Christmas Eve, though in a way it was justice for the way our crowd liked to pretend we despised the celebration.

In the kitchen, I found some leftover food, which I quickly heated up and devoured. When I’d cleaned up, I wandered back out to the living room, and standing in the middle of the room cast my eyes around, taking in the familiar decorations that were brought out year after year. All the years felt rolled into one. It was like looking down a tunnel into the nostalgic past, one I would leave behind very soon. This would be my last Christmas before completing my majority. Next year I’d be considered a shifter adult. I supposed many things would change for me then.

I looked around some more. The brightly wrapped packages took up most of the room under the tree, and there was no special present from the Goddess waiting for me this year.

With a sigh, I turned off the main lights, leaving only the fairy lights in the tree and those strung around the room. The room itself was in partial darkness, though the fairy lights cast a magical glow.

I settled on the hard floor behind the tree and waited to see if he would come. I told myself, if he didn’t come, then it was a sign. It wasn’t meant to be. I felt a little foolish, sitting there under the tree, old enough to not believe in fairy tales and Santa Wolf, but also not prepared to give it all up yet. This would be my last Christmas as a non-adult, I crossed my fingers and prayed it would be a good one.

◆◆◆

At 11.45pm, something disturbed me. I must have dozed off, despite it being uncomfortable under the tree, and the searing pain in my leg made me grunt. I supposed I could have shifted to sleep more comfortably, but I’d wanted my human eyes, so I’d simply lain down on the cold hard floor. I was rethinking that decision now as I stretched out the cramping leg.

The room was silent. My senses on alert, I waited. A faint squeak from the hinges of the front door warned me someone was on the threshold. It was an odd time to arrive. My heart leaped into my throat and for a minute, no, only a second, I believed I was going to see Santa Wolf… but no, of course not. I exhaled, a huff that fell softly between the blinking of the twinkle lights. I knew the truth of that.

Another, less fantastical, but even more pleasing thought sent a thrill up my spine. Careful not to make any noise, I got to my feet. My ears strained for sounds.

Fabric rustled followed by the faint click of a latch falling into place; the soft tread of bare feet across hardwood floor came towards where I was hidden behind the tree. I inhaled a deep breath and the strong omega scent hit me hard. I blinked, dazed by the dopamine rush. Swaying slightly, I stepped out from behind the tree.

Startled brown omega eyes met mine. A couple of snowy white teeth nervously worried the plump lower lip, drawing a flick of my eyes. My tongue swiped a wet trail across my lips. And when I realized what I’d done, I hoped the glow cast by the Christmas lights was too dim for the heat in my cheeks to be visible.

“Hey,” his soft greeting tumbled breathlessly into the space between us. “Wha- what were you doing there?” He seemed a little dazed too. “I- I mean… I know it’s your house and all…” his voice trailed off.

“Waiting to see if you turned up.”

“You were?” His cheeks plumped up and the poor abused lip was set free, thank the Goddess. The lights of the Christmas tree were reflected as blue, green and red sparkles in his eyes.

“Yeah.”

A moment later, two slender arms wrapped me in a hug and his face was smooshed against my chest. It would have been rude to extricate myself too soon, right? That’s what I told myself as I let my arms wind around him too, and for the briefest of moments, I felt our hearts thump in time.

When I felt my cock stir, I hurriedly pulled away, hoping he hadn't noticed. I looked at him. His hair was a mess. It was longer than it had been last year, and he was a little taller, but I’d grown a lot, and he only came part-way up my chest.

“So,” I said, my face stretched wide with my grin. “Are you here for the holidays again?”

“Sure am.”

“Gonna stay here with us?”

“Um. Well I’m sort of supposed to be staying in Alpha’s house…”

A low growl vibrated its way out of my throat.

“…but they didn’t have enough bedrooms, so I’m sleeping in the dorm again. Mar tried to convince me to sleep on a mattress in his room, but I got out of that. Supposed to have my meals with them though.”

I scowled. At least he was sleeping in the dorm. But I had a better idea.

“So… it’s late… do you want to stay here?”

“Sure.”

“Want to sleep under the tree like last year or on the mattress in my room?”

He wrinkled his cute nose. I bet he hated that people described it that way, but it really was.

“Um, are we gonna get woken up early if we stay out here?”

“Probably,” I said cheerfully. I really didn’t care right now, I was just so happy and relieved that he was there. We were gonna pick up our friendship right where it left off.

“Then is it okay if we sleep in your room? We’re probably gonna talk for a while, right? And I don’t wanna be totally destroyed on Christmas Day, so I’m gonna need some sleep.”

“That’s perfect,” I told him. “We won’t have to get up ‘til mid-morning that way. No-one will bother us until then.”

I led the way, and he fell into step beside and a little behind me. Huh. I was fairly certain he didn’t even realize he did that.

There was no spare mattress of course, so we piled onto my bed, which was plenty big enough even with me being larger this year, and we talked.

There was a lot to catch up on. I’d been to my first Alpha Camp and Irian peppered me with questions about that. He seemed genuinely interested and his questions were intelligent. Honestly, it was hard to see the age gap between us at this point.

For his part, he’d been at school of course, but he’d been traveling around the country with his parents as they attended conferences and Council meetings and the like. The world he inhabited was so different to mine. Out here in the country, pack life was relaxed, but in the city, he was leading a much more sophisticated life with his family.

“Are you sure your family won’t mind me staying over?” Irian broke the comfortable silence that had eventually fallen between us.

“No, they’ll be happy to see you. It’ll be fine. Although,” I frowned as a thought occurs to me, “You said Mar tried to get you to stay in his room, right?”

“Yeah, but I told them I was happy in the dorm.”

“When was this?”

“We got here just after lunch. It was right after that.”

“And Mar was there when you arrived?”

“Um, yeah. His whole family was there when we arrived.”

“When did they find out you were arriving today?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s been planned for a while. Why? What’s up?”

“Fuck that,” I snarled. Internally, my wolf bristled, and the hairs on the back of my neck and arms and feet stood on end.

Irian's eyes grew enormous, the irises small brown circles in a sea of white.

“What? What is it?” he whispered.

“Every one of us older shifters was sent on a useless, fucking errand for Alpha today. It took all fucking day and it was totally pointless - you can't get anything done on Christmas Eve, but no, we had to go. That’s why I didn’t get back until after everyone was in bed tonight. Every fucking one of us went. Everyone... except Mar.” I was furious. Blood rushed into my face. My ears burned, and my eyes prickled hot.

Irian’s sharp inhale, as his eyes fixed on me, told me something was wrong. My shirt felt tight and rubbed uncomfortably against my back. My back was itchy as fuck.

“Your eyes are red,” the furrow in Irian’s brow deepened. “And your ears…” His eyes went even wider and he stepped back.

Suddenly, I knew what was happening. I was doing an involuntary shift! And I must have been blasting him with a whole lot of alpha aggression. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t. My wolf was going absolutely nuts. He wanted to break out of this body, and race up to Mar’s house and rip his throat out of his neck. How dare he try to take what was ours?

My head started to buzz, my vision narrowing, and I began to panic, knowing I couldn’t control the shift.

A gentle hand slid up my arm, soothing the bristling hairs. The hand was cool against my fevered skin. Although I must have been very frightening in that moment, as my canines had started to descend, Irian leaned in close and the next inhale hit my nostrils laced with his sweet fresh omega scent. It sent a soothing ripple through me. I dragged in another lungful of his scent. The buzzing subsided. I became more aware… of my labored breathing, of my pounding heart, and my racing pulse, which, thankfully, seemed to be slowing.

My wolf was completely distracted by Irian’s omega scent. The rage subsided. Embarrassingly, because I was still part-wolf I want to nuzzle up against him, but I had enough presence of mind not to. We were too young for any of that sort of shit, and I didn’t understand why I reacted so strongly to him. Although he hadn’t reached majority yet, when the scent glands would really kick in, I was very reactive to this omega. Even last year I had been able to scent him at a distance. And he’d always been able to calm me. I wondered if we were fated. It’d be a few years yet before we’d find out, but it seemed a possibility.

I took a few more breaths, until I was feeling more myself. I touched my ears, but they felt normal.

“Shame,” smirked Irian. “They were cute.”

“Fuck off,” I told him, but there was no heat in it and he knew it.

“Are you okay now?”

I still felt jittery. My legs were shaky and I was glad we were on the mattress, otherwise I didn’t think they’d be able to hold me up right now. I’d never experienced such a lack of control before, and it was terrifying.

“Yeah. Thanks… for what you did. I…” I choked on the words, almost in tears. “I was out of control. I couldn’t stop the shift,” I explained. I was mortified. What sort of alpha lost control like that?

Irian shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “You haven’t passed majority yet, you can’t expect to have full control.”

“I’ve never heard of anyone losing it like that,” I whispered, “none of the others have ever had that happen to them.”

He cocked his head. “Would they have told you if they had? Are you going to tell them ?”

I thought about it for a moment. He had a point. They probably wouldn’t want to talk about it either. But it occurred to me that maybe I had a responsibility to warn them it could happen. If Irian hadn’t been with me, I might not have been able to stop. The consequences could have been dire.

“Besides,” Irian continued in his soft voice, “I think I know what caused that.”

I squinted at him, brows scrunching.

“It seemed to start when you were thinking about Mar. Do you want to know what I think?” and he giggled softly, though an involuntary shift was no laughing matter. “I think your wolf got jealous.”

Oh fuck! Now I had a jealous wolf to deal with.

◆◆◆

Christmas lunch was similar to last year. There was the empty seat beside Mar again as we all went to seat ourselves, and with a sigh, I escorted Irian to it. I hated it, from the look on his face I was certain he hated it, but it was better than allowing his mother to compel him again.

Irian refused all venison again and helped himself to chicken, beef and potatoes, with an unobtrusive eye-roll to me where I was watching with narrowed eyes from further down the table. Yes, I felt possessive. Yes, I felt protective. I wasn't sure why, but it felt right.

I piled the venison high on my plate, not caring that I looked like a glutton, and I put it aside for when Irian came over that evening.