Even though Nick had told me he didn't want to leave at the end of the week, my bear was on edge until the end of that week had come and gone. Both Kit and Nick slid easily into the daily patterns of the pack. Kit had taken over breakfasts at the bachelor pad, now that Ryan was in his own place, and both spent the majority of their day with Jesse and Aspen. 

Jesse had loaded me up with baby books, which Nick had been ecstatic about.  We had fallen in the habit of curling up in bed after dinner while Nick shared the highlights of what he'd read that day, and then I'd distract him with sex. After which we might join the others in the living room for a movie, or just fall asleep.

I was on the road a lot during the day, pounding the pavement, looking for Wamp. At least Asher kept me closer to home. I didn't go farther than Nashville. It was frustrating, covering the same ground we'd covered before with no new insight, but if this guy was targeting shifters, if he was stealing kids, it made it extremely personal to me.

And somehow, in the days leading up to Christmas, I still managed to find time to work on my surprise for Nick, as well as purchase gifts for the rest of the pack. Aspen was easy, as was Jesse, but I had to enlist Nick's help for the rest. "You're sure on the John Wayne DVDs for Kurt? I've only ever seen him watch those crime shows, unless someone's already picked them out."

Nick's smile was absolutely gleeful. "Trust me, he'll love them."

I shrugged and took his word for it. The two had struck up a strange friendship that seemed entirely built on insults, and even after working with the guy for close to five years, it was clear Nick had come to know him better in a couple weeks than I ever had.

Ryan got some kind of giant pot thing for cooking, Simon got the most ridiculous knitted winter hat I'd ever seen, with tassels sticking up in a row like a mohawk, and Asher got an ebook reader. I'd gone a little overboard with Aspen, with clothes and toys and blankets. For Jesse, I'd gone a little crazy with the scrapbooking supplies, which I was fairly certain Asher would make me pay for, but I'd been watching paper goods slowly pop up on Jesse's Pinterest boards for the last few months. That was easy.

"Is that everything?" I asked Nick, completely shopped out, even though Nick had sped through the stores like the Tasmanian Devil.

"All done," Nick assured me. Thankfully, we'd been able to complete the majority of our shopping in Columbia. I'd had to go up to Brentwood for Jesse's presents, and I'd been buying stuff for Aspen for months. 

As we piled back into my car for the drive back home, I finally approached the question that had been digging at my mind for the past few days. All of our talk and plans had been about the pack's Christmas, and Nick had joined in whole-heartedly, as had Kit, but what about their family? "So... are you planning on sticking around for all of Christmas?"

Nick pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about that."

"And?" My knuckles were white on the steering wheel."

"I feel like I ought to go home for Christmas. At least for part of the day."

I flexed my fingers. Part of the day wasn't bad. "Are you sure? You don't want to go back for the evening or the day?"

"I'm having a really hard time getting over the way they treated me when I told them about the pregnancy. I'd known they were going to take it hard, but I hadn't expected them to be that bad."

"They are your family, though."

Nick turned to face me, leaning his cheek against the back of his seat. "What about you? Where is your family?"

"I was raised by my grandparents, and they’ve both passed."

"I'm sorry," Nick said. He slid one hand over my arm and I let go of the steering wheel to hold his hand. "What happened to your parents?"

"Dad was a single omega. My father took off when I was about two. I guess he had this whole other family on the side. I've got at least three half-siblings out there that I've never met. Dad... didn't handle it well. I don't remember any of it, because I was living with my grandparents by the time I was four, but they just told me Dad had died. I didn't realize until I was older that he'd committed suicide."

"Oh shit." Nick squeezed my hand.

"Yeah, at first I was mad at my grandparents for not telling me. I found out when I was twenty-one. But they really did the best thing. It would have really messed me up as a kid. I don't know exactly what I would have thought, but even as an adult, I had to deal with the thoughts that my dad hated me so much he left me, or that I just wasn't enough. I was able to shake that pretty quickly, because I did have my grandparents who loved me and never made any secret about it, but I don't think I could have reasoned through that very well as a kid."

"It really makes you think, doesn't it? About what kind of life you want for your kid?" Nick settled back into his chair again.

"Yeah, it does," I agreed. "I know I've said this before, but I'm really glad you came home with me. You didn't have to tell me the truth, that this was my baby."

"What, and miss out on your amazing foot massages? I'm just using you for the pregnancy support." Nick's smile was mischievous as always.

"Well, I'm not just using you for the sex," I said, feeling the sudden need to make sure he knew how much I appreciated him. "And I don't want you here just because of the baby." I dared a glance at Nick as he wiped at his eyes. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you said something very right. Just ignore me. I'm a basket of hormones lately."

"I can never ignore you," I assured him, my bear pushing me to make it better.

"Dallas, you need to shut up right now or I'm going to have a full out bawlfest right here, and you don't have any tissues."

"But you're not sad or upset?"

"I'm not sad or upset, you big bear. But if you want to make me feel better, you can take me home and boss me around."

My bear liked that. I loved how well Nick complemented me, so sassy in public, so submissive in private. While I was the complete opposite; gentle and easy going on the surface, but completely domineering in bed. 

I was glad Nick was sticking around for Christmas. I was going to lay everything out for him and hope for the best. But first, I had to get my omega home and take care of him.

That plan was foiled, however, because as soon as I was within range, I felt Asher's agitation.

What's wrong?

One of the local rogues contacted us—he's a firefighter, and they just got called out to a house fire of a hawk family they know out here. He says it's going to take them ten minutes to get there, but we can get there in two, if we hurry.

If it's so far out, how did they know? I hit the gas pedal, and Nick looked at me with concern.

The omega managed to escape with one of the kids, but said their other child wasn't in her bed. The alpha went in to look, but that's all I know.

I didn't have to ask if he thought it might be our arsonist. Where is the house?

Asher told me, and I slammed the breaks, pulling over on the side of the road, leaving Nick confused. "You know how to get back to the house, right?"

"Yes, but—"

I was already stripping, the cold December air biting against my skin. "There's a fire, and it's closer from here than from the house. Just get home quickly."

I shifted and told Asher I was on my way.