“A bit of what?” the alpha asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

  “I thought I’d give the female a hand in taming the beast,” he said.

  “Mercy,” Chloe informed him.

  “Is that her name or the safe word?” he asked, causing everyone to chuckle.

  “How long is a bit?” Mark asked.

  “See, you’re missing me already,” Cameron shot back, and the alpha grunted.

  “That’s not…”

  “I knew you cared,” Cameron said, holding his hands up to his chest and backing away.

  Mark shook his head. “I don’t…”

  “Too late,” Cameron said, and then he tossed the keys of his house towards the alpha; who reached out and snatched them from the air. “Water the plants.”

  “I’m not watering your…”

  “I’m very attached to those plants. Maybe find someone to live there for a while,” he said, and then he was gone.

  Mark stood there opened mouthed. He was going to miss that damn vampire no matter how much he denied it.

  He turned back to his family, and one member was walking towards him, grinning like Christmas had come early. Shauna reached out and snatched the keys from his hand. “I know the perfect tenant,” she said, and her eyes sparkled with mischief.

  Mark went to snatch the keys back, but she put her hands behind her back. “Now wait a…”

  “You heard Cameron, and I am his favourite,” Shauna said.

  “Yes, but…”

  “Just until my family builds us a cabin,” she said grinning from ear to ear.

  “But…” Mark let the words die on his lips when she spun on her heels, linked her arm around Jacob’s and stalked away with him.

  Tanya was at her mate’s side in an instant. She put her finger under his chin and pushed up, snapping his teeth together. “Catching flies, honey,” she teased.

  Mark grunted. “And a Merry damn Christmas to me.” He growled.

  ~

  Chloe didn’t know what to say. Yea, it was Christmas, and she was going to see her son open his Christmas presents for once on Christmas morning, but boo, how could she deprive Kaylee of that pleasure when her sister had been his mother for the last seven years?

  Now, Kaylee had invited her to sleep at Max’s cabin for the night, and her mate was looking a little restless. She knew one thing – that bear was going to be circling the cabin like it could smell fresh meat inside.

  “Fine, if you stop pouting, you can stay too,” Max grumbled at his baby brother. “But you’re sleeping on the living room sofa…”

  “Sofa?” Lucas screwed up his face and regarded his brother as if he’d just farted in his food.

  “Jackson will be there,” Max said and slapped his brother around the back of the head. “You got a son to think about now, boy.”

  Lucas hadn’t thought about it like that, not really – he’d gone from footloose and fancy-free to being the dad to a seven-year-old boy wizard – that was going to take some getting used to. “I know…”

  “Then you also know that there’s no funny business allowed,” Max growled.

  “There’s gonna be some funny business at some point because…” Lucas bit down on his tongue when his brother slapped him around the back of the head once more. “Do not do that again.” He growled.

  “Not the first time with the boy under the roof,” Max warned him.

  “Because…?”

  “The mating roar, you idiot!” Max tossed back and shook his head in disbelief.

  “Oh, sure, the roar, I knew that,” Lucas said, wondering if he was ever going to get his big brain back from his little brain’s death grip – probably not until he was mated, and when he tossed a look over at the sisters sitting together in front of the fire, Chloe cocked just one eyebrow and looked at him like he was an idiot.

  Hand on heart, he probably was, but he’d still do whatever it took to woo her as his.

  ~

  Kaylee hated to brace the subject, but she didn’t have much choice. Things had been left up in the air earlier, and she didn’t feel like they’d finalised anything.

  She’d been shocked to discover the real reason Chloe had left Jackson with her, and she’d been even more shocked to see the vampire in person showing up on their doorstep, but that didn’t mean she could just leave stuff unsaid.

  Kaylee leant in, careful not to spill the wine from the glass in her hand, and kept her voice low. Jackson might have been playing a board game with Tanya and Shauna, but the boy had quite good hearing at the wrong times. “So, you’re going to stay, right?”

  Chloe pulled her attention away from her son and levelled it on her sister. “I have a mate. I don’t see much choice, do you?”

  “Well, we could kill him,” Kaylee said and offered her a crooked grin as Chloe shot a quick look at her mate and back again. “But, he seems like a reasonably nice guy, and that would be a waste.”

  “Considering there weren’t many untaken nice guys left in the world,” Chloe offered back.

  “Or you could fight fate?” Kaylee said and leant back against the cushions with a shrug.

  “I’ve been fighting things for seven years. I’m tired,” Chloe said. “Maybe just slap fate around a little for a while.”

  “A while?” Kaylee chuckled. “Wait until that mating pull hits you…”

  “Already has,” Chloe informed her.

  “Then you’ve probably had your ‘while’,” she said.

  “What about Jackson?”

  “What about him?” Kaylee knew what was coming, and she felt the ache inside of her, growing at the thought of losing him. But he wasn’t hers to keep.

  “He might call me mom, but we both know who has wiped his nose and cared for him for seven years,” Chloe said. She couldn’t just whip him away to live with her; it would be wrong – for her sister and for Jackson.

  “We can time share him for now,” Kaylee said, hopeful that her sister didn’t want to just wrench him out of his life.

  Chloe raised her glass on a nod. “Sounds good,” she agreed.

  Kaylee went to clink her glass with Chloe’s and stopped. “But tomorrow morning is Christmas, so we definitely share,” she said, and Chloe nodded.

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she agreed and clinked their glasses together.

  “That’s if you can drag yourself away from your mate,” Kaylee chuckled.

  “That’s not…” Chloe snorted a chuckle of disbelief.

  “Better to get it out of the way before Christmas,” Kaylee teased her. “He’s only going to be growling and prowling until you do.”

  “Kaylee!” Chloe berated her. “I need a little time to get used to the idea.”

  “How much?”

  Chloe opened her mouth and considered it. “About now is good,” she said chuckling. “But, I need at least another glass of wine.”

  Kaylee produced the bottle and filled Chloe’s glass to the brim. “Drink up then off to his cabin you go, and if all goes well, you’ll be back at my cabin by the wee small hours.” Kaylee offered her a big, wide grin.

  “You are supposed to be the sensible sister,” Chloe admonished her.

  “And I am, I even planned out the timing for you,” Kaylee said and got zapped for laughing a little too much.

  When Lucas got up and walked her way, Chloe snorted a chuckle. “Here comes trouble,” she muttered.

  “I was wondering if you wanted me to show you our … my … the cabin,” he said and mentally kicked himself. He was going for Mr Smooth, not Mr Falls over his own feet.

  “Am I going to be surprised?” Chloe asked, knowing it was mean to tease him, but she couldn’t help herself. It had been a long time since she’d flirted or teased a guy, and how could she resist?

  It had been a long time since she’d been with family, and longer since she’d felt like she could relax.

  “I’d say bloody shocked,” Kaylee said out of the corner of her mouth as she looked anywhere but at her sister.

  Chloe zapped her, but Kaylee didn’t care, it was just too much fun putting her sister on the squirmy seat.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  ~

  “Are you leaving?” Jackson asked his mother, and he had a case of Puss in Boots eyes going on, but there was also an underlying sadness there.

  “I’m going to dump my stuff off at Lucas’ cabin…”

  “Why?” Jackson asked, and his brow furrowed as he snapped a look at the shifter in question and if looks could kill … toast.

  “Remember what I told you about Kaylee and mates?” Chloe asked, crouching down in front of the boy and bringing his attention back to her.

  “Yes,” Jackson nodded to back his words up.

  “Well, I found my mate too.” Jackson was off his chair and throwing his arms around Chloe’s neck before she could finish.

  “So, you’re going to stay!” Jackson blurted out, and then he froze. He slowly pulled back until he was glaring at Lucas once again. “Unless he’s going to take you away.”

  Max took a couple of steps away from his brother, and Lucas shot him a frown. “I really don’t like the way he’s looking at you, Bro,” Max said and chuckled.

  Lucas snapped to attention. “You’re mom’s staying right here,” he rushed out. He’d seen what that child could do to a vampire, and he didn’t heal half as fast. “I made that happen,” he added, smiling like they were best friends.

  “Did he?” Jackson whispered to his mother.

  “Well, him and fate,” Chloe said shrugging.

  “Mostly fate,” Max said, chuckling.

  “Not helping,” Lucas growled at his brother.

  “So when I wake up tomorrow?” Jackson asked.

  “I’m gonna be there,” Chloe assured him.

  “And the day after that?”

  “Still gonna be there,” she tossed back.

  “And the day after that…?”

  “And the day after that, and the day after that, and a heck of a lot of days after that,” she informed him, and when he wrapped his arms tightly around her neck she wondered when he got to be so strong. “Can’t breathe…” He let go.

  “So are you going to live with Kaylee, Max and me?” he asked, excited at the prospect of having his mother home.

  “Nope,” Chloe said, shaking her head.

  “Am – am I going to live with you?” he asked and frowned.

  “Kaylee and I thought we could share you for a while until we figured some things out,” Chloe said.

  “What things?” Jackson asked.

  Chloe winced. “Little things – like, I’ve got to learn how to do all the things Kaylee does for you, and you’ve got to teach me stuff like, how you like your eggs when you like to sleep…”

  “Oh, I go to bed at ten,” he lied, and Kaylee coughed. “At ten to eight,” he corrected. “Oh, no wait, it’s eight, nine if I’m good and we watch a movie on a school…” Kaylee coughed again. “On a weekend.”

  “Well, I gotta learn – stuff, and you’ve got to learn to sleepover at my house without Kaylee being there,” she said and heard the rumble of a growl from behind her. She shot a look over her shoulder at her mate and frowned.

  “Translation of growl – you said, your house,” Max said.

  Chloe questioned that with just a look, but she shook her head and turned back to Jackson. “So, are we good?” Chloe asked and he took a moment to think on it.

  “Well, sure, but where am I staying tonight? Santa needs to know,” he said, making everyone chuckle.

  “How about here?” Tanya piped up, and Mark’s head came up, and he snapped a look at his mate.

  He guessed he didn’t know what his mate had got him for Christmas after all – at least, he wasn’t getting what he thought he was if the boy was staying over.

  “Here?” Jackson said, and his eyes lit up.

  Chloe shot a look at Kaylee and Kaylee shrugged. “I guess if he wants to…” She got no further as Jackson started jumping on the spot.

  “Do I get to have some sugar cookies when we leave some for Santa?” he asked Tanya.

  “A bite or two,” Tanya said.

  “Translation that’s two cookies,” Mark said. “The mother in her can’t say no.”

  “Sure I can,” Tanya bit out, scowling at him. “I can say no to you all the time. No, no and – yeah, no.”

  Mark grumbled something under his breath and went back to reading his book. He was back in the doghouse and all because he wanted a little alone time with his mate.

  “Ok, bye,” Shauna called, and she was almost out of the door before Mark snapped back a reply.

  “Not happening!”

  “But, Daddy!” Shauna said, turning back to him.

  “Stop saying that,” Mark growled.

  “You don’t want me to call you Daddy anymore?” Shauna asked.

  Mark closed his book on a long sigh. “There’s calling me Daddy, and then there’s the whining, begging, pleading Daddy,” he said.

  “I don’t see your point,” Shauna informed him and he shot a pleading look at Tanya. “A little help?”

  “I’m learning to say no,” Tanya tossed back.

  “Right!” Mark said, pushing up to his feet and walking towards the front door where his daughter and her mate stood, one looking sheepish and the other looking annoyed – unfortunately, it was his daughter who was annoyed, and he knew he might just have another battle to fight before the last sleep before Christmas.

  “Daddy, he’s my mate,” Shauna said, pre-empting him.

  “Yes, he is, and no one is denying him that – commiserations, by the way,” Mark said to Jacob and the teenager frowned. “But there are rules…”

  Shauna snapped her finger up. “There are only rules when I’m living in your house,” she informed him. Then she held up Cameron’s door keys in her other hand. “I’m not living here anymore.”

  Mark winced. “That’s – Hmm, true,” he said and shook his head. “Yeah, I’ve got nothing,” he said and turned away, stalking back to his chair.

  “Ah, poor baby,” Tanya teased him, and he shot her a frown, but she just grinned from ear to ear.

  “Why do I feel like it’s all slipping away and I’m being ganged up on?” Mark grumbled to himself.

  ~

  “Okay, now slow down,” Chloe said, but she couldn’t help but giggle at his antics. “I never said I was going to mate with you…”

  “And you never said you wasn’t going to mate with me either,” Lucas shot back, tipping his head to one side and smirking as he wiggled his dark eyebrows at her.

  “I thought there was supposed to be wooing.”

  “This is wooing,” Lucas informed her.

  “This isn’t wooing; this is trying your luck…”

  “Which is all part of wooing.”

  “But what about winning my heart?” she protested, even if she did do it with another giggle.

  “Hearts, minds – hearts and minds,” he said, waving his hand absently in the air.

  “You do it all?”

  “Full service…”

  “Clean the pipes change the filters?”

  “Huh?” Lucas looked confused.

  “Well, what happened to the hearts and flowers?” Chloe asked, shrugging her shoulders and putting him on the spot.

  Lucas hesitated for a long moment and then lifted his hand. “Wait right there,” he said and dashed off.

  Chloe heard the thud of wood against wood and frowned, but when he dashed into the room with a batch of freshly yanked winter roses in his hand, snow dripping off the petals and blood dripping from his fingers as he held them out to her, she looked bemused.

  “Careful, the thorns are sharp,” Lucas informed her, and she rolled her eyes.

  “I know, you’re bleeding on the rug,” she informed him.

  “I heal fast,” Lucas said as if it was no big thing.

  “Does the rug clean itself?” she asked, grabbing him by the wrist and yanking him with her towards the kitchen. “Men!” She admonished him, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “What?” she asked, getting to the sink and shaking his wrist so that he let go of the roses.

  “You’re gonna be a great full-time mom,” he said.

  Chloe melted.

  All that pent up frustration of the last couple of days just seemed to ebb away from her, and she couldn’t help but smile, and when she did – Lucas couldn’t help but be bewitched by her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  ~

  Chloe blushed. It was the way he was looking at her like she was everything as if she mattered as if he could just eat her up.

  Wasn’t it supposed to be that bears had a sore head and hungry like the wolf? Well, this bear shifter looked hungry, and she knew it wasn’t for food.

  Well, if that’s the way he looked at her now how was he going to look at her when she was naked? That was a thought she wouldn’t mind getting an answer to.

  It appeared Kaylee was right – again, but this time it was about the mating pull, it seemed it was already in full swing, or maybe she was just lusting after some exceptionally handsome, muscle-bound, sexy bear shifter in her bed for a lustful night of all you could get holiday loving?

  Nope, a mate wasn’t for the holidays, he was for life, and she knew it, and funnily enough, that thought didn’t scare the hell out of her.

  “All healed,” Lucas said, holding up his hand and showing her that there may have been some blood, but the wounds were gone.

  “Hope you’re not that fast at everything,” she said and offered him the best wicked smile she could muster up.

  It didn’t take a lot of effort on her part, it just came naturally at the thought of what came next.

  Lucas wrapped one big muscled arm around her body and yanked her towards him. “Wanna find out?”

  The growl that rumbled through his chest and in turn her breasts before it got stuck in his throat made the little angel on her shoulder exhale a sigh and the little devil on the other practically hysterical as it urged her to go for it.

 

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