Page 31 of Wolves’ Midlife Reunion (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #3)

“Wow. This is a huge turnout,” Amanda Quinn observed as she threaded her way through the crowd along Washington Square.

Throngs of people were already lining up across the street from the Hawthorne Hotel.

For early December, downtown Salem was unusually packed—busier, even, than it always was on Halloween.

A brass band played nearby, and several vendor stalls had been set up along the street.

Adults chatted while children tipped their heads back, staring up hopefully at the roof of the iconic building.

“What do you expect?” her cousin Kristy asked, her green eyes bright beneath her knit hat. For once, she wasn’t fiddling with a deck of tarot or oracle cards. “It’s not every day you get to see Santa arrive.”

“How long until he comes?” Sage asked, bouncing along as she held Tina’s hand. Her long locks had been carefully tamed into two long braids, each tied with sparkling red ribbons at the end.

“Soon, I think. We’ve just got to find Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Beck. They’re supposed to already be here with Corbin,” Tina explained patiently. She lifted her head and looked through the crowd.

“Who was it that they said was coming?” Erin asked, rubbing a smearing of peanut butter and jelly off Arden’s chin. “I know Chelsea told me, but I’ve been a bit busy at the shop. Everyone wants holiday herbal teas, and I’ve been crafting some new ones for this year.”

“Someone that Beck knows,” Kristy replied. She reached absently into her pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. She looked at her gloved hands, frowned, and put the deck back. “From Norway, I think?”

“Those dragons really do get around,” Tina remarked.

Amanda smiled to herself. It was only in a place like Salem where you could mention a supernatural being in the middle of a crowd and not have anyone look at you sideways.

By looking at her, no one would know that she could shift into a bear at any moment, nor that she could do magic, but the same was likely true of plenty of others in the crowd.

Sirens split the air as a fire truck pulled slowly up in front of the hotel, its lights flashing. Children began screaming, knowing that the special moment was getting closer.

Arden was starting to get really excited now. “A fire truck! A fire truck!”

Amanda looked around as they moved along South Washington Square. “I don’t see Chelsea anywhere.”

“Hang on. I just got a text.” Tina fished her phone out of her pocket. “She and Beck went to get some cocoa for Corbin. They were right near the entrance to the Commons, so we can just meet up with them when they get back.”

Fortunately, there was still some room on the circle of brick pavers right at the corner of the street, so the group settled in there.

Amanda looked up at the darkness above the historical hotel.

She hadn’t agreed to come because she was desperate to see Santa arrive in Salem.

It was just about spending time with family.

Something inside her stirred, though. Her bear was feeling a tad off.

She looked at the crowd around them. Most of them were families and couples, many dressed festively.

All of them looked happy, or at the very worst, a little chilly. Why was her bear so restless?

“Isn’t there just something about the holidays that makes you feel all cozy inside?” Tina said, rubbing her hands together and stomping her feet.

“Oh, definitely,” Erin agreed, her face soft as she looked down at her son, whose eyes were glued to the fire truck. “I even like getting cold just so I can get warm again.”

“It only feels that way because you’ve both found your mates,” Kristy suggested. “The holidays for the rest of us are just a reminder that we haven’t found ours yet.”

“Don’t think about it like that,” Erin said, her eyes full of worry. “You still have plenty of family all around you.”

But Kristy shook her head. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you didn’t have Jace!

Family is great and all, and of course I love you guys, but it’s just not the same.

I’m fine the rest of the year, but then I have to watch all the couples giving each other gifts or kissing under the freaking mistletoe. ”

Tina, who had much more recently rediscovered her connection with her true mate, nodded.

“You’re right. The holidays can highlight all the things that have gone wrong, especially if it’s been a minute since you’ve had…

” She hesitated as she looked down at Sage, who was looking up at the hotel but still right there within earshot. “A good meal,” she finally finished.

Erin let out a snort of laughter. “Maybe I am a little spoiled. I’ve been getting served plenty of good meals for a while now.”

“Well-balanced ones,” Kristy asked, her eyebrow arched, “or fast food?”

“If it’s a busy week, sometimes you’ve just got to make sure you eat,” Erin snickered. “Then on the weekends, you can have something that took a long time to cook, with premium ingredients.”

“Shouldn’t it be an all-you-can-eat buffet when you’ve always got someone to dine with?” Amanda asked.

All the women were laughing now. Fortunately, the kids seemed oblivious.

“You’re lucky because you know exactly where to go when you’re hungry,” Kristy told Tina and Erin. “There are plenty of places to eat in the world, but you have to try them to see if you’re going to like them. And most of them are pretty bad!”

“There should be a rating system,” Amanda suggested. “A place where you can just log in and find out if it’s worth sitting down at the table or not.”

Kristy was laughing so hard her eyes were watering now. “The last place I ate was all appetizer, and no main course!”

Amanda braced herself on Kristy’s arm as she wheezed. “At least you had that! It’s been so long for me that I need a full Viking feast!”

As they cackled with laughter, a man standing in front of them turned around.

His dark blonde hair was carefully combed to the side and back, revealing a creased brow and piercing blue eyes.

Those eyes looked straight into Amanda’s as the corner of his mouth tipped up in amusement, accentuating his hard, square jawline.

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, chasing away the chill of the night.

Sage and Arden might not get the innuendo of their conversation, but that guy obviously did.

She was still giggling a bit, but now she knew for sure that something was off with her bear.

It lurched and pitched inside her. Thank goodness it was just some stranger.

He might go home and tell his friends what he overheard in the crowd, but she’d never see him again.

“Hey, there’s Chelsea!” Tina put her hand in the air and waved.

Chelsea, Beck, and Corbin saw them and made their way through the crowd. “We went ahead and got cocoa for Sage and Arden, too,” Chelsea said, handing the drinks to each of the kids.

“Thank you!” Sage and Arden chorused.

“Ooh, marshmallows!” Sage added, poking one of them down with her finger so that it dunked into the hot liquid.

“I like eating all the marshmallows first,” Corbin told them, showing them that his cup now had only cocoa in it.

“Did you lose your friend?” Erin asked.

“No, he’s right here.” Beck put his hand on the shoulder of the blonde man who’d turned and looked at Amanda a moment ago. “You guys came right to our spot without even trying!”

Oh, goddess. She just made a fool out of herself! The hot guy was a stranger to her, but not to Beck.

“This is Tina, Sage, Erin, Arden, Kristy, and Amanda,” Beck said, making the introductions. “This is my old friend, Lars Olsen. He’s here all the way from Longyearbyen.”

Lars shook each of their hands, including those of the children.

“And where is that?” Erin asked.

“It’s as far north as you can get,” Lars replied, his accent pleasant. He reached for Amanda’s hand.

It was more tempting to turn and run than to stay there, but what choice did she have? Darts of electricity pulsed up her arm from her palm as Lars took her hand. It felt like her magic flowing through her, but in reverse. “That’s, uh, a very long way to come for Christmas,” she managed.

His brow was heavy, making his gaze all the more intense. He was at least a head taller than Amanda, and the spice of his cologne reached her nose, even in the cold air. “I like to think it’ll be worth it.”

Beck beamed. “I thought it was time to show this old Viking what a Christmas in Salem is like.”

Amanda’s throat went tight. Couldn’t she have picked some other way to talk about her dry spell?

But Lars had that impish smile on his face again.

“Look! Look!” Sage was pointing, jumping up and down.

They all turned as Santa himself appeared on the rooftop of the Hawthorne Hotel. He smiled and waved at the crowd below as the ladder from the fire truck slowly ascended to rescue him.

Now, if only she could be rescued.

The screams of the crowd around them intensified as all the children went nuts, impatient for Santa to work his way down six stories’ worth of ladder.

The mob surged around them as the people in the back tried to get closer, jostling everyone forward.

Tina, Erin, and Chelsea made sure the kids stayed in front of them, protected from the crush.

Amanda ended up standing directly next to Lars.

She kept her gaze firmly locked on Santa, though every part of her body was highly aware of the handsome Norwegian.

They were elbow to elbow, and she could feel the heat of his body through his sweater.

Her heart thundered. She forced her lungs to slow down when she realized the visible steam from her breath was giving her away.

Her bear was doing somersaults. Was she just embarrassed, or was this something more?

His arm slid against hers as he leaned over. “Where I’m from, Santa comes in the front door.”

Surprised, she turned to him and found his face only a few inches away from hers. The crowd had pushed them even closer together than she’d realized. “Not down the chimney in the middle of the night?”

Again, he had that little smile on his face. “No, he’s not that sneaky. He just comes right in the front door and gives you what you asked for.”

This time, heat flushed through her entire body instead of just her face. “That’s very bold of him.”

“Just…honest.” His eyes flicked down to her mouth, and then he returned to watching the spectacle.

When Santa was safely on the ground, much of the crowd began moving westward, where the Christmas tree would be lit in Lappin Park. “Are you ready to go?” Tina asked Sage.

“My feet hurt,” she whined.

“Mine, too,” Arden chimed in. He’d been attached to Sage ever since she’d first come to the covenstead, and it was quite possible he was only saying this for her sake.

“How about you?” Chelsea asked Corbin. “We could go watch the Christmas tree lighting, or we can get back to the house for the party.”

“You should all join us,” Beck suggested. “The kids can get comfortable and relax, and Lilith has really decked the place out. I think she’s been cooking for the last few days.”

“A party!” Sage’s eyes lit up. “I like parties!”

“Me, too!” Arden echoed.

Erin smiled. “We’d love to come.”

“Kristy? Amanda? You, too.” Chelsea insisted.

Before she knew it, she was heading back to the Alexander clanhouse, hoping she didn’t find any ways to embarrass herself more than she already had.