BY

M. L BRIERS

Copyright © 2017, M L Briers

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced whatsoever without written permission of the author, except for brief exerts in reviews. Any unauthorised reproduction or distribution of the material herein is illegal and may result in criminal proceedings. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to the internet or distributed via electronic or print without prior consent.

Note from the Author;

All names, places, and incidents contained herein are purely fictional and have no basis in actual events or linked to actual Humans, Witches, Vampires, Werewolves, Lycans, Werebears or persons living, dead or undead.

Copyright © 2017, Cover Design by; Rebecca Pau at The Final Wrap.

~

~

“George!” Jessica’s voice pulled him from sleep.

“No!” He grumbled and groaned.

“George!” She snapped.

George felt something hard nudge him in the ribs, knowing Jessica as he did, it was probably her kneecap, and she would probably be going in for another try. George flipped over in bed and faced the other way.

“Go away!” He grumbled.

“George, I swear…” She snapped out.

He didn’t need another lecture. He needed some sleep.

“I’m not doing it — not going anywhere — I need sleep.”

What he really needed was his life back.

“George!”

“Go away — go away — go away,” he practically growled out like a shifter, as he snatched the pillow from under his head and tossed it up over his face.

“George!” She snapped again. He felt something hit him on the side, and flipped over to get away from her.

That was when he hit the floor with a full-on belly flop. George groaned.

“What is with you?” He slapped his hand down on the floorboards and pushed up, twisting his head so he could offer Jessica a death glare.

“Hello, George,” the fairy godmother said as she stood beside Jessica, right there in his bedroom on the other side of his damn bed.

“I…” George couldn’t figure out an excuse to offer. Woken from sleep, his brain just wasn’t firing on all cylinders yet.

“Grumpy in the morning, aren’t you?” The twinkle of amusement in Miriam’s eyes made him groan inwardly.

“He’s a regular bear with a sore head,” Jessica offered back.

The worst thing about having the fairy godmother, and Jessica, in his bedroom, was that he slept naked.

Naked like a baby.

Naked like the day was long.

Naked. Naked. Naked.

Luckily the bed stood between him and them and blocked the view.

“Speaking of which,” Miriam announced.

Miriam turned her attention towards Jessica only briefly, and George lifted his hand in the hopes of snagging a blanket and covering his nakedness, but before he got that far; the fairy godmother turned back toward George. He snatched his hand away and covered his crown jewels.

“Oh yes, let’s.” Jessica clapped her hands together in glee.

George groaned inwardly.

“If you’re going to say, what I think you’re going to say…” George started to protest.

“Yes, we are.” Miriam gave just one solemn nod of her head.

“I don’t want to!” George face planted the mattress.

“Oh, come on, George. Apart from a few mishaps here and there, haven’t you had fun making Christmas mates?” The fairy godmother asked in her most polished and regal tone.

“Oh, it’s been a blast,” George grumbled into the covers.

“See… I told you he’d be up for doing another one.” Jessica chuckled, and that sound grated on every nerve in George’s body.

“Yes, yes you did. Bonus points for you,” the fairy godmother offered in clipped tones that put Jessica in her place.

George lifted his head slightly because he had to get a look at Jessica when her wings had been clipped. The female was chewing on the inside of her cheek and her eyes roamed around the room as she tried desperately not to speak.

For Jessica, that was a hard ask.

“Don’t make me,” George grumbled, and his eyes pleaded with the fairy godmother for clemency.

“But, George, it’s fun,” the fairy godmother said as she tossed up her hands and snapped a brilliant smile on her face.

George groaned.

“Witches — Wolf shifters — fun might not be the word I’d use,” George offered back as he regarded the ceiling and tried not to use any words that would make the fairy godmother blush.

“Well, aren’t you glad it’s not wolf shifters this time?” Miriam asked, and George found he couldn’t help it — his curiosity was piqued — he really did have to know.

“Not a wolf, you say?”

“Not a wolf, George,” Miriam assured him.

George mulled that one over. He snuck a quick look at Jessica, and now the woman was chewing her bottom lip. Something was up.

“And the witch part?” George asked.

“Well, here’s the thing, George,” the fairy godmother offered back. George groaned.

“It’s a witch — you don’t have to sugarcoat it, I know,” he grumbled.

“Yes, yes it is a witch,” Miriam confirmed it. “But not a wolf shifter.” She gave him another beaming smile.

“What’s better than a wolf shifter?” Jessica asked with glee.

“Probably — just about anything,” George shrugged.

“Well, I’m glad you see it that way, George,” Miriam said. “Because you’re right, I do have a little job for you.”

“Haven’t I done my penance?” George asked.

“George, this isn’t penance — this is fun,” Miriam offered in return.

“ Maybe for you .” George’s singsong voice was catching.

“ And for you too ,” Miriam offered back, she tipped her head slightly to the side and grinned.

He knew where he’d like to shove that grin. He started to push up from the floor. He was going to tell Miriam to shove it up her…

“George!” Jessica bit out.

“What! Did I say that out loud?” George rushed back.

Jessica nodded her head, her eyes were wide, and she grimaced as she pointed to his nakedness. George dropped back down to his knees.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before, dear,” Miriam informed Jessica before she turned her attention back to George. “Now, George, I can imagine what you’re thinking,” Miriam offered with a sweet smile. Too sweet.

“No, fairy godmother, I don’t think you can,” George offered back.

“I can,” Jessica muttered.

“Bear, George, bear,” the fairy godmother offered.

“Yes, yes I am. I can’t sleep with clothes on I’m afraid, and I wasn’t expecting you,” George grimaced, and the fairy godmother pulled her head back on her neck and narrowed her eyes at him.

“It’s a bear shifter, George ,” Miriam offered back.

“Oh.” George grimaced again. Didn’t he feel stupid?

“I wasn’t talking about your bare backside that I saw flop out of bed a moment ago,” Miriam offered back.

She lifted her chin slightly and turned her nose up at him. But inside she was smiling.

She might be getting on in years, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t enjoy the view.

“Wait,” George held up one hand and allowed his eyes to close for just moment. “A bear shifter! Are we crazy around here?” George demanded.

“Well, George,” Miriam answered in clipped tones. “As I remember rightly, there was one particular bear shifter that you decided to send a beehive full of bees after…”

“ Oh , no. ” George shook his head.

~

~

“Oh, yes,” Miriam offered back with the kind of twinkle in her eye that reminded him of the one in Jessica’s eyes. Maybe the woman had taught her a thing or two about being devious.

“No, no, no, no — you can’t throw me under that particular bus,” George begged.

“Oh, George, once the man has his mate in his arms he’s not going to care about you,” Miriam offered back.

“You mean once he’s ripped my head off and handed it back to me, he’s not going to care about me?” George grumbled.

“Fairy up, George!” Jessica chuckled.

“Think of it as an adventure,” the fairy godmother added.

George knew an adventure when he saw it. This was not an adventure this was just plain suicidal.

“But…” He started to protest.

“Sorry, George, got to go,” the fairy godmother said, and she clicked her heels together, snapped her fingers, and disappeared from the room.

“But…” George looked at Jessica, and the fairy shrugged. It was a happy shrug. It was accompanied by a smug grin.

“Sorry, George. We have to go,” Jessica said before she snapped her fingers and disappeared as well.

“ Nooooo ,” George face planted the mattress again.

~

~

~

‘Remember, George. The fairy godmother said that under no circumstances are you to kidnap this witch.’ Jessica warned him.

“I know,” George snapped back.

He wasn’t deaf, daft, or stupid. He was just sleep deprived, in need of a drink, and a damn good night out with his friends.

‘ So, what are we going to do?’

“Kill you?” George offered back.

George spotted the witch as she walked along the street and he made a beeline for her. She was in the perfect place, at the perfect time, and all that she needed was a little push — in the back if necessary — right into the bear’s path.

George couldn’t believe his luck when the witch pushed open the door to the bar and went inside. George thought that it just couldn’t be that easy — otherwise — why would they need him?

He pushed open the door and went inside. The bar was noisy, crowded, and yet, he still managed to spot the witch as she walked the length of the bar.

George’s hopes soared. There, at the end of the bar was the bear shifter.

That was fate at its very best. The mates were in one place, at the same time, and as far as George could tell, nothing was going wrong.

Just needed to make sure that mate one, met mate two, and his problems were solved.

He might even get home early before the bar closed and have a drink with his friends. How good was that?

George followed on the witch’s heels. She was headed right for the bear shifter.

‘ Now, don’t screw this up, George,’ Jessica whispered in his ear as she buzzed around his head.

George tried to swat her, and inadvertently caught someone’s elbow. There was a yelp, followed by a stream of curse words, and when George turned to look — the big man beside him was covered in beer.

“Watch where you’re going!” The man growled. But that man was no bear shifter, not even a wolf, just another bad-tempered human.

“Sorry,” George rushed out.

When he turned his attention back toward the witch, she was staring right at him. George swallowed hard.

Busted. Now what?

It wasn’t as if he could just drop and roll. He certainly couldn’t snap into his fairy form.

Deborah narrowed her eyes at George, took in the fairy aura that surrounded the man, and at the sight of it. Her eyes darted left, right, left, right, and George knew what that meant. She was looking for the exit.

“You’re going to pay for that,” the human growled again.

But it wasn’t the human growling that George had to worry about. The man had drawn the bear’s attention toward George, and the big shifter was pushing up from the stool and heading in his direction.

“Oh, that looks bad,” George muttered to himself.

The look in the shifter’s eyes said; he definitely wanted to rip George’s head off and hand it back to him. George swallowed hard.

The only chance George had to get out of there with his head still on his neck was the witch. He definitely needed to toss the woman in her mate’s path.

It was, after all, self-preservation. George could definitely live with that.

Unfortunately, when George turned his attention back toward her, she was nowhere to be seen. He spat out a curse or two.

George’s eyes scanned the area, and there was a witch, hightailing it out of the bar at record speed. George groaned again.

He turned back toward the bear shifter and came face to face with the man’s broad, muscled chest. George swallowed down hard.

There was only a split second before George felt the man’s fist hit him square on the jaw that he actually saw it coming. There was no time to duck, dive, do a little dance on his feet, and escape that blow.

George’s backside hit the floor, his pride taking a knock, and then the lights went out.

~

~

~

‘George!’

Jessica’s shrill-like fairy tone annoyed him so. She had a much sweeter voice when she was either human, or they were both in their fairy form.

‘George!’

“Go away!” George was slowly coming to. The sound of the bear shifter growling wasn’t exactly music to his ears.

George sat bolt upright. The people in the bar were going about their business with only a view tossing looks in his direction.

The bear shifter was nowhere to be seen, which George appreciated because it meant that he wasn’t about to suffer round two. When he turned his head, he saw that the man mountain was stalking out of the door.

“What happened?” George grumbled and felt Jessica flit by his ear.

‘The humans told him to get out.’

“And the witch?” George asked.

‘ Gone.’ Jessica sighed. ‘ Get up George; you have to make this right.’

George grumbled as he pushed up to his feet. Things were still a little blurry, and he felt a little shaky on his legs, but all in all — his head was still on his neck.

That was a bonus.

George headed toward the door. He’d messed up again, and Jessica was right, he had to put it right.

Fate had arranged a meeting between the witch and her mate. He guessed that fate hadn’t considered his place in any of it.

There was only one thing for it. He’d have to do something to arrange the meeting between the mates himself.

Easier said than done.

Or was it?

~

~

‘George, I don’t believe you did that!’

George couldn’t quite believe that he’d done it either. This time, he’d also gone against what the fairy mother had said. He had the feeling that he was in big trouble.

“It was the only way that I could think to bring the mate’s back together,” George offered back to the little fairy that sat on the dashboard of the witch’s car.

The sound of muffled chattering from the back seat snatched George’s attention for only a moment. The witch had a death glare in her eyes, and he hated to admit it, but he was getting used to that look.

He couldn’t blame her. He’d probably have a death glare too if someone had kidnapped him.

‘ You know what the fairy godmother said, George.’ Jessica shook her head in dismay.

“I have the witch — I know where the shifter lives. I screwed up, and this is the only way to make it better,” George offered back.

There was more chattering from the back seat as the witch tried to make herself heard.

Of course, she’d overheard his conversation with Jessica.

Of course, she was going to want to be heard.

Of course, George had bound her with his magic and gagged her for his own sanity.

This time, at least, he’d screwed up before the mates had met. So, maybe this time when he brought them together, nothing bad would happen – that was the way he saw it.

In theory, what could go wrong?

~

~

~

Evan eyed the car as it raced up to his truck. The lunatic had his full beams on, and the sun was only just setting.

The bear shifter grumbled a growl of annoyance. He could see there was a male in the driver’s seat, and he had to wonder if the guy had had too much to drink.

It was getting close to Christmas, and he knew how much humans liked to drink around the holidays. The guy shouldn’t be on the road if he’d been drinking, but Evan guessed that wasn’t any concern of his — until he felt the car play bumper tag with his truck.

Evan’s bear was already sitting just beneath the surface of his skin. After encountering that damn male fairy in the bar, his beast was taking its own sweet time to go back in its cage and settle down.

Now, this. Evan growled long and hard.

He’d already wanted to hand the fairy’s head back to him, but surrounded by the humans; he never had the chance. Now some stupid human had been drinking and driving and thought it was fun to smack his bumper. That wasn’t on.

Evan doubted that there was much damage to the back of his truck. He decided that it wasn’t worth pulling over and risking a confrontation.

Not with his beast so close to the surface.

That was until the moment that the idiot behind him started honking his horn and waving his fist like a lunatic. Evan couldn’t resist that kind of a challenge.

When he pulled his truck over to the side of the road, his eyes locked on the mirror, and he saw the car pull up behind him. He tried to even out his temper, quash his beast, and then he felt the bump against his truck once more.

Evan curse under his breath growled for good measure and slammed open the driver’s door. He just hoped he didn’t hurt the guy too badly.

When his eyes took in exactly who it was behind the steering wheel of the car, Evan felt like all his Christmases had come at once.

Damn stupid fairy, coming back for more, and right out there in the middle of nowhere with no humans about. Oh boy, was Evan was about to give it to him.

~

~

~

‘Oh, George — he looks mad, are you sure that you’ve done the right thing?’ Jessica rushed out as she flitted around the windscreen, and panicked at the sight of the bear shifter looking as if he was fit to kill — George.

“Yeah — well, maybe — not so much,” George grumbled at the sight of the man mountain that was headed in his direction.

George’s palms started to sweat. His heart was racing, and he had a strange taste in his mouth — he might even have been sick a little.

“If the worst comes to the worst; I have my magic,” George rushed out as he offered the prayer to the fairy godmother so that he may keep his head on his neck this Christmas.

“Out!” Evan growled as he drew alongside the driver’s door.

But the big bear shifter didn’t wait for George to open his door, he yanked it open himself, and the hinges protested with a squeal that George found decidedly unhelpful to his bravery gene.

George knew that if Jessica wasn’t in the car, then he probably would have crawled over to the passenger seat and got out the other side at brake-neck speed.

He might even have run away screaming, but the screams would only have been to hurt the shifter’s sensitive ears and disorientate him long enough for him to make his escape – at least, that’s what George would have told himself.

But, alas, none of that was going to happen, because Jessica was in the car and the bear shifter was already at the open door.

“Out!” Evan growled again.

“Now, hold on a minute…” George got no further as Evan reached in, fisted his shirt, and yanked him out of the car like a child with a ragdoll.

George just knew that his feet were not touching the ground, but there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it. It was kind of embarrassing.

“You!” Evan growled.

“I’m sensing that you like one word to sentences,” George offered and was bolstered slightly by the sound of Jessica’s chuckling.

“I’m going to rip your head off,” Evan growled back.

“Okay, maybe one-word sentences are better than the whole thing,” George grumbled.

George’s feet hit the ground, and the man pulled back his fist. George’s eyes widened at the sight of it. It was huge, and he’d already felt the pain of it once.

“You must have a death wish,” Evan growled, but he growled even harder when his arm wouldn’t move, refused to swing, and he couldn’t apply the blow to George’s chin.

“Okay, let’s take a pause,” George offered. It hadn’t been his magic that had saved his head this time — he doubted it was the witch – it must have been Jessica’s.

“Release me,” Evan growled.

His bear roared inside of him. The beast pushed forward and tried to make the shift, take Evan’s place, but even he was stuck in place.

“See what a little fairy magic can do?” George crowed.

It might not have been his magic that had saved his him, but at least he still had a head, and the shifter didn’t need to know any different.

“What the hell is that?” Evan’s eyes had flicked into the back of the car where the witch was laying. He offered another growl to the fairy as his eyes flicked back, and the hungry look said that he wanted to kill George.

“Okay, a funny thing happened on the way out of the bar,” George offered.

Then he wrenched his shirt from the shifter’s fist and took a step sideways out of the man’s reach.

“Is she a fairy?” Evan growled.

“A witch,” George offered back, and the shifter grunted.

“Still, she is a female,” Evan said.

The bear shifter didn’t much care for witches. But, he was protective of females.

“Yes, she is. Glad you recognize that fact,” George teased.

“What’s wrong with her?” Evan growled.

He didn’t know why, but he had an overriding sense of protection where the woman was concerned. Sure, she had magic, and technically she should be able to take care of herself. But it didn’t look that way to Evan.

Then there was the fact that the witch’s eyes were practically begging him for help. Unfortunately, Evan wasn’t in a position to do that until he was released from the fairy’s magic.

Still, he would find a way to help the woman out of the clutches of the evil fairy.

“She’s just under a little magic spell,” George offered back. Evan grunted again in annoyance.

“Let her go,” Evan demanded.

“That was my plan,” George said.

“So, do it,” Evan growled, fast losing patience with the fact that he could do nothing while under the fairy’s magic spell.

“There’s just one little issue that we have to clear up,” George offered back.

“Let her go, or…”

“Fine. She’s all yours,” George said with a beaming smile.

“Mine?”

“Exactly!” George nodded happily.

“Huh?”

“Take the witch; she’s yours. My gift, and a happy Christmas!”

“I don’t want her!” Evan growled back.

~

~

“Then we have a little problem,” George said.

“Oh, me and you are gonna have a big problem. Fairy boy .”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” George offered back. He was bolstered by the fact that the shifter was still all tied up in Jessica’s magic.

‘ Tell him, George, ’ Jessica said. Evan caught the chatter and eyed the area, looking for a female fairy to put with that voice.

“Faeries should be female,” Evan growled back.

“If there were no male faeries, then how could there be female fairies? It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg,” George offered back.

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” George gave a small shake of his head.

“Let that damn witch go,” Evan demanded.

He might not have been able to move right there and then, but as soon as the magic set him free — boy, was he going to rip that guy’s fluffy little head off.

“Damn witch?” George grimaced. “You may regret that one, my friend.”

“I’m not your friend,” Evan growled back.

“You can say that again,” George muttered.

“Are you going to let that damn witch go, or…”

“You really should watch what you’re saying,” George’s singsong voice annoyed Evan and his bear.

“Or what?” Evan demanded.

“Or your mate might just witch slap you,” George offered back.

“I don’t have a mate!” Evan looked at the man as if he’d just grown another head, and it was a troll head.

“I think you do,” George said.

“I think you’re delusional,” Evan snapped back.

“I think your mate is closer than you think,” George teased.

He was getting the hang of it, was enjoying himself, and so he should — if he couldn’t have a personal life and some fun — then why not have some fun with his business life.

“Whatever you’re putting in your fairy dust this year, I don’t wanna sniff any of it,” Evan growled.

“You probably will after finding out who your mate is,” George chuckled.

“Okay, that’s it — who’s my damn mate?” Evan growled.

“Abracadabra — enjoy the witch!” George used both hands to motion toward Deborah on the back seat as if she was a brand-new spanking truck in a cheesy TV commercial.

Evan opened his mouth to speak — his brain farted — his eyes narrowed on George — they flicked toward Deborah — and he swallowed down a good portion of his tongue.

Then he grunted in disbelief.

“That’s not my mate,” Evan gave a fast shake of his head in denial.

“I think you’ll find she is,” George’s singsong voice was back again.

“I think I’m going to kill you,” Evan growled.

“I think you’re going to be too preoccupied with your witch mate.”

George kept that singsong voice up because he just knew that Evan hated it so much. The dead giveaway was the way that the man flinched every time he used it.

Oh, and he was going to use it. Payback was a bitch.

“That’s not my mate!” Evan growled.

“Denying your mate.” George gave a slow shake of his head in disbelief. “How could you?”

“Now hold on a…”

“And when she’s bound by fairy magic and needs your help — you turn your back on your mate .” George was playing it for all that he was worth.

“That’s not…”

“Shame on you,” George grumbled.

“Now…”

“Call yourself a bear shifter?”

‘That’s enough, George, ’ Jessica said as she flitted around George’s head until he got the message.

“I’m just having a little fun — he did punch me in the face,” George grumbled.

‘And he’s going to do it again if you don’t stop – now .’

“Too damn right I am,” Evan growled.

“See. He hasn’t learned his lesson.” George shook his head in dismay.

“I could say the same about you, fairy.”

“That’s — the Christmas fairy to you — shifter ,” George offered back and watched as Evan’s eyes slowly narrowed on him, and the man’s brain kicked in.

George could even picture the lightbulb over Evan’s head, and suddenly, it clicked on.

“Christmas fairy!” Evan tossed his head back on his neck and roared with laughter.

‘ Unfortunately, George, that one never gets old.’

“It’s not that damn funny!” George grumbled.

He wasn’t the perfect Christmas fairy. He wasn’t female. But he was getting the job done.

Why couldn’t people give him credit for that?

“Yes, yes it is,” Evan chuckled.

“No, no it’s not,” George grumbled back.

‘He really is the Christmas fairy,’ Jessica whispered against the shifter’s ear, and Evan immediately stopped laughing.

“You’re the Christmas fairy?” Evan demanded a truthful answer.

“Yes, damn it, I’m the Christmas fairy — problem?” George snapped back.

“You’re the Christmas fairy — and that’s my mate?” Evan scented the air looking for any kind of deceit from the fairy.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! How many times do I need to say it?”

That was when he caught the sweet scent on the air — a scent that was filled with promise — Evan’s nose twitched, and his beast roared within him. Whoops.

Mine…

“That’s my mate!” Evan growled.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to…”

“Let my mate out of there, or I will kill you,” Evan growled.

Somehow Evan managed to break the bonds of Jessica’s magic. His fist shot through the air toward George, but it was a finger of accusation that he was pointing — but, he still managed to swat Jessica sideways as he did it.

Jessica hit the roof of the car hard. George’s eyes snapped to where she was laying, and his body turned to follow.

“Jessica!” George snapped his fingers and was in his fairy form in an instant. It took him just a moment for his senses to recover from the change, but that moment felt like an eternity.

He immediately flew to Jessica’s side, kneeling down over her still body, and he pulled on his healing magic as he reached for her.

He’d never imagine something could go this wrong.

It was all his fault.

George knew that he would rather it was him lying there than her.

He felt sick to his stomach and as guilty as hell.

What had he done?

~

~

“Jessica?” George reached out to her. His hands were shaking with fear, and his stomach felt as if he had a large rock dropped in it.

“You idiot!” Jessica turned fast and zapped George with all of the power that she possessed.

George went flying through the air and dropped like a rock. His back hit the bonnet of the car, and he groaned.

Not only had the devious little female zapped him, but she’d also paralyzed his wings to boot. Oh boy, did he want to wring her scrawny little neck?

Never trust a female fairy!

The sound of the shifter’s roar filled the air. The sound of the metal hinges on the back door of the car being twisted grated on George’s nerves.

George guessed that was two doors that the witch would need to replace, but that wasn’t his concern. That was down to her mate.

George yanked his body to his feet and whizzed up in the air. He performed a low flyby over Jessica, making sure to keep enough distance between them to see things coming, like zapping, that time.

The woman was dragging herself up to her hands and knees, and she offered him a death glare as he flew by. Yep, she was still miffed off.

“Idiot!” Jessica grumbled.

“Shame he didn’t hit you on the head’ it might have brightened your whole personality,” George grumbled.

Then George flew over to the other side of the car, snapped his fingers, and return to his human form.

Evan was just about to reach inside the car for his mate when he saw the fairy shift back into his human form, and he hesitated for a moment on a long, hungry, growl.

“Just take care of your — what did you call her? Oh yes, damn — witch,” George offered back. He was in no mood for the shifter’s antics.

The man could grumble and growl all that he wanted. It didn’t matter a jot to George.

George had done his job. He’d brought mates together and fulfilled his side of the bargain — now; it was up to the stupid shifter to woo his stupid mate.

George had had enough.

He was done.

When, and if, the shifter finally managed to woo his mate — then that was it.

No more.

He was going to march into the fairy godmother’s office and tell her as much.

“I should rip your head off,” Evan growled.

“Or, maybe — you should keep your eye on the ball,” George offered as he snapped his fingers and released the magic from the witch.

Deborah squealed as she felt the bonds of magic release her. She kicked out and pushed up at the same time, catching Evan right in the balls with her foot, and shrieking with disbelief at the fairy.

“I’m going to kill you!” Deborah screeched out.

She was halfway up to a sitting position, resting on her elbow on the back seat when she caught sight of the large figure of the shifter at the open doorway.

She couldn’t see his face, just that large torso. His hands grabbed his balls, his knees buckled beneath him, and he dropped to the ground.

Now she could see his face, and he was staring right at her.

Deborah twisted her head on her neck and eyed him right back. His face was bright red, his eyes were practically bulging in his head, and the twisted look of sheer pain on his face made her guilty gene click on.

“Whoops,” she muttered and then grimaced as Evan squeaked out a long, wheezing groan.

“That’s one way to put it,” George chuckled.

“You!” Deborah snapped back to the reality of the fairy being so close by, and her mind locked onto what she’d like to do to him.

She scrambled up in the seat, turned to the window, and found that annoying, devious man looking right in at her. She gargled a few curse words in the back of her throat before she lifted her hands and used her magic to slam open the back door of the car.

The car door head-butted George right on the forehead and caught his nose. One moment; he was looking in the window, and the next he was flat on his back and holding his face.

‘ Karma is such a bitch — and one I appreciate so much, ’ Jessica chuckled as she did a quick fly-by over George’s head.

She gracefully turned in midair and came back for another run. She couldn’t resist zapping him as she went, and enjoyed the moment when his body shivered uncontrollably as if he’d been Tasered.

“Somebody is definitely a bitch,” George muttered under his breath, and Jessica zapped him again. “Did I say you?” George snapped.

‘I’m sticking up for the whole female race as a species — woman power, ’ Jessica chuckled as she zipped right by him.

“Two men down,” Deborah said as she climbed out of the back of the car, brushed the magic from her hands, and turned her attention toward the female fairy. “Do we have a problem?”

“You certainly have a problem,” George grumbled. “It’s right behind you,” he added.

“Think I’m going to fall for that one?” Deborah tossed her hands onto her hips and snorted her contempt for the man and his tricks.

The low, deep growl of annoyance that rumbled from somewhere over her left shoulder made Deborah jump in place. She grimaced, but she didn’t turn around.

“Told you,” George offered back as he dropped his hands from his nose to enjoy the moment when he offered her a smug grin.

“You kicked me in the balls,” Evan growled.

“Not on purpose,” Deborah lied.

Evan scented deceit. His mate was lying to him, and that wasn’t acceptable.

“Oh, if you believe that then you believe anything,” George said as he pulled himself up to his feet, and dusted himself off.

“You’re my mate…” Evan growled.

“Says him.” Deborah lifted her hand and pointed to the fairy.

She still hadn’t turned to look at the shifter. She guessed that if the fairy wasn’t lying, and she looked at the man — then it would truly be real.

She would be his mate.

That wasn’t good.

Deborah felt kind of childish — if she didn’t look then it wasn’t happening – if only.

Damn that Christmas fairy!

“Trust me; I can smell you,” Evan growled.

“Wow, what a way to put it!” George chuckled.

“Tell me about it,” Deborah grumbled.

“I mean, I can scent you,” Evan growled.

“No, no you can’t,” Deborah said with a grimace.

“Yes, yes I can!” Evan growled back.

“No, no you can’t, and if you try it, then I might just kick you in the balls again,” Deborah snapped, as she turned on her heels and came face to chest with the big man mountain.

An even bigger growl rumbled through that broad chest, and Deborah felt that rumble travel over her skin.

That was definitely not good.

~

~

There was a time and place for everything, and as Deborah tipped her head back on her neck to look up at Evan’s face, she thought that time was now.

Run!

Deborah lifted her hands, pulled on her magic, and zapped the shifter a good one. So good, that the man dropped to his knees on the ground, and continued down onto his face.

“Really?” George tossed up his hands in dismay.

That was when Deborah took off on fast feet.

~

~

~

Of course, Deborah had no idea where she was, and that meant that she had absolutely no idea where she was going either. All she knew was that she needed to get away from the shifter — her mate — and fast.

It seemed like the fairy had other ideas. She tossed a look back over her shoulder, and there he was in his human form, chasing her.

“Why are you chasing me? You’re not my mate!”

Deborah called back at him, but there was no way that she was going to stop. That shifter was going to get up sooner rather than later — and she wanted to put as much distance between them as was humanly possible in the meantime.

“It’s my job!” George called back.

“To chase me?” Deborah tossed back over her shoulder, barely missing a tree trunk as she tossed a look back at George.

“I’m the Christmas fairy!” George called.

“Sure you are.”

“Trust me; I wish I weren't at times like this,” George grumbled.

“Stop chasing me!”

“Stop running!”

“I can’t!”

“Neither can I!”

Just then, George heard a hearty growl and the thud-thud-thud of big, heavy feet coming up behind him. He tossed a look back over his shoulder, and there was Evan — his arms were pumping against the air — and once again, he looked fit to kill.

George just hoped that he wasn’t fit to kill him.

Not that he wanted Evan to kill his mate’s, but if he was being entirely truthful, then self-preservation might just have kicked in.

“Why are you chasing my mate?” Evan growled.

“It’s my job!” George tossed his hands up as he carried on running. “Why can anyone understand that?”

“It’s your job to chase my mate?” Evan drew level with George and offered him a dark glare.

“I’m the Christmas fairy…” Evan’s fist shot out and connected with George’s jaw.

One moment they were running together side-by-side, and the next George was flying sideways through the air.

“And I’m Santa Claws,” Evan growled back over his shoulder as he continued after his mate.

George hit the ground at speed. The pain racked through his body, and his body protested in no uncertain terms.

George had thought he was going to stop on that first initial thud, but instead, he continued to roll, head over heels, head over heels, head over heels, until he came to a sudden halt — upside down against a tree trunk.

George groaned in pain.

“I — hate — shifters,” George grumbled.

He narrowed his eyes at the pink aura that buzzed in front of him.

‘Now we’re having fun! Don’t you think?’

“So much fun,” George grumbled.

‘ Merry Christmas!’

“I hate Christmas — I hate you — I hate — Christmas!” George grumbled, and then gravity took his legs down to the ground, and he grunted in pain.

‘Bite your tongue!’ Jessica berated him.

“Don’t you dare…” But George was too slow, Jessica’s magic made him bite down on his tongue anyway.

~

~

~

“Don’t run from me!” Evan growled.

He could feel his bear just under the surface of the skin trying to break free. If the bear burst from within him, then he was done for — because she would be done for.

In the moment after his beast burst from inside of him, Evan would have little control over what came next. Sure, he could fight and claw to gain control of the animals instincts — but, could he do it in time?

“Go find another mate!” Deborah called back over her shoulder as she raced into the open fields as fast as her legs could carry her.

“It doesn’t work like that, and you know it!” He growled back.

Suddenly Deborah felt the wind pick up, and she found herself running into the first hard snow flurries that were being whipped up over the sparse landscape. That was all that she needed.

“What? You thought I needed another challenge?” Deborah yelled in annoyance at Fate, the Goddess, the damn Christmas Fairy, or even Jack Frost — whomever it was that had conspired to send the winter flurries her way.

While she liked snow as much as the next girl — she preferred it when she was tucked up under a warm blanket, looking out of her window at it. Not, when she was running from a hyped up, testosterone-fuelled, mate-seeking, man mountain of a shifter that was chasing her.

“I’m catching you!” Evan called out.

He might have been at a disadvantage when she’d zapped him and taken his legs out from under him. But now that they were running, and he was catching up, he knew that she didn’t stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting away.

Did his witch really think that she could outrun him?

Silly witch.

He had her now. He had her in his sights, and he was going to snatch her right up.

What was she going to do fly away on her broomstick?

With a hearty squeal, Deborah found that her feet were running in mid-air. For one long moment; her brain couldn’t comprehend what was happening — and then she started to fall.

Evan couldn’t believe his eyes. One moment she was there — so damn close that he could practically taste it — and the next, she was gone.

~

~

Deborah squealed out once more just before the ice water covered her head, and she plummeted deep down into the raging water. Her body seized up as her mind did the same from the shock to her system.

Fear held her in the palm of its hand. Confusion gripped her.

Yes, she knew that she was in the water. Yes, she knew that she needed to get out of the water.

But, that was easier said than done when she wasn’t entirely sure which way was up. The icy cold fingers of the freezing water seeped into her very bones.

It might have been seconds — it could have been minute — she wasn’t sure how long she had been under the surface. But she knew that she needed to breathe.

That was the moment when she felt the heat of his body around hers. Tight, strong arms wrapped around her, and an overwhelming sense of security flooded through her like the blood within her veins.

Then she was breaking the surface of the water and gasping for air. She held onto the shifter, as she coughed and spluttered against his shoulder.

“I’ve got you,” Evan growled.

It was only the fact that she was shivering uncontrollably against him that snapped off his need to berate her, to wring her neck for what could have happened, and his protective gene snapped on with the desperate need to get her to the safety of the riverbank.

There would be time enough to berate her for running from him. Right then, he needed her to be safe, warm, and he wasn’t about to let her out of his arms again until they were mated.

~

~

~

“Well — who the hell — puts a river in the middle of a field?” Deborah grumbled in annoyance, her teeth were chattering, and her body was shivering against the cold that still had a hold on her bones.

She wasn’t just annoyed that she’d fallen into the icy water.

She wasn’t just annoyed that the shifter had saved her.

She wasn’t just annoyed that she hadn’t escaped.

But, she was bloody annoyed that she was being carried back across the field towards the truck by a grumpy, growly, bad mood bear-man.

Oh, the irony of it all. She didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or roll herself into a ball and stay there for eternity.

“Mother Nature. See what happens when you run from your mate,” George berated her from a safe distance away from the bear shifter.

George wasn’t stupid, Evan was growling, moody, brooding, and the epitome of a bear with a sore head. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that man’s fist again.

“Why don’t you take your fairy head and shove it up your fairy…” Deborah snapped back, but she didn’t get to finish her suggestion when her mate talked right over the top of her.

“He’s right,” Evan growled.

“Well, thank you, it’s nice to be appreciated,” George offered back.

“Shut up, fairy,” Evan growled.

“And for all of two seconds before you’re back to your winning personality again,” George grumbled.

“Don’t you have a Christmas tree to sit on?” Deborah hissed out with all of the venom that she could manage to place within her tone when her teeth were still chattering so much.

“Yes, yours,” George shot back.

“Lucky then that I’m a witch and have no need for your silly traditions,” she shot back.

“Oh, I think there’s going to be a Christmas tree in your future,” George offered back.

“Over my dead body,” Deborah snapped.

“Could you two stop? It’s like ping-pong with hissy on one side and snappy on the other.” Evan growled.

“Well, at least your neck muscles will get a workout,” George offered back.

“Does it look like his muscles need a workout to you?” Deborah snapped back.

“Unless you to want to meet my bear, I suggest you both stop now,” Evan growled.

His beast was still firmly wedged under his skin. The animal would not back down.

It had experienced the danger that his mate had brought upon herself, and it wasn’t happy. It wouldn’t be happy until they were mated — bonded — for life.

Having the fairy around them didn’t help. Having the two of them snapping at each other was akin to a special kind of torture that Evan would rather not have to go through.

He needed to get his mate home. He needed to warm her through to the bone, and he didn’t need the Christmas fairy to stop causing any more problems.

~

~

~

The heat in the truck had been stifling, but it felt so good to Deborah. Evan had yanked a super-sized sweatshirt over her head, obviously, one of his, and had gone without himself, as he wrapped her in a blanket, and tucked her in the front passenger seat of his truck.

Deborah hadn’t complained about being snuggled inside warm layers, or the heat of the truck. Although, the guilty gene had pinged that Evan was sitting there dripping wet as they drove to his cabin.

Deborah wanted to go home. She knew that she was in no danger, the man was her mate, and he would do her no harm. But, she also knew that spending any more time in his company would only enforce the mating pull between them.

It seemed that she didn’t really have a choice in the matter. She had mentioned the fact that her home was in the other direction — but, all that she had gotten for her trouble was a grunt.

That seemed to be Evan’s default mode. Grunting.

When they got to the cabin, it wasn’t any better. The man continued to answer any question that she asked with a grunt.

Evan’s back was turned toward her as he stood at the wardrobe and pulled out clothing while Deborah stood at the bedroom door, still wrapped in a blanket, and still shivering a little.

“The least you can do is actually talk to me after you chased me into a river,” Deborah said. She figured that if she pinged his guilty gene enough, then he might actually speak.

“I did not chase you into a river — you stupidly ran into one, and I had to fish you out,” Evan begrudgingly grumbled words.

~

~

Deborah felt a sense of achievement. At least, she’d managed to get the man to speak, even if it was an accusation.

“Okay, I’ll give you that one,” she offered back. It still felt like a victory to her.

Evan grunted again. She rolled her eyes and her shoulder against the doorframe as she turned back into the living room of the cabin and eyed her surroundings.

For a man living alone, the place seemed very neat and tidy. Almost homely. She liked it — and she hated that she liked it — because she didn’t want to like it, or him.

Evan turned in place, clothes in hand, and grunted again as he started toward the door, and her. Deborah snapped to attention.

“Bath,” Evan growled.

“Go right ahead. I’m not going anywhere,” she offered back.

“What are the odds?” Sarcasm dripped from his voice and batted her guilty gene once more.

Damn, she hated that she felt guilty. Why should she felt guilty about trying to escape her fate?

She didn’t ask fate to be a mate. She certainly didn’t ask fate to deliver her a big, growly, broody, bear shifter for Christmas.

Unfortunately, this was not a Christmas present that she could give back or exchange.

Fate sucked.

That Christmas fairy sucked.

Christmas just sucked in general.

~

~

~

George kicked out at a clump of grass and muttered curses under his breath. He’d followed the shifter’s truck all the way back to the cabin in the witch’s car, cursing and muttering the whole way.

‘George, give it a rest, they are where they are supposed to be,’ Jessica grumbled as she flitted by his head.

Surprisingly, George did not reach out to try to splat her that time. She had to wonder if it was the fact that he was in such a bad mood or the fact that he remembered the last time that someone had splattered her.

“I tried to do it better this time,” George grumbled.

He really wasn’t Christmas fairy material. He thought he had a handle on it this time, how wrong could one man be?

‘Well, you really shouldn’t have kidnapped the witch…’

“Tell me about,” he grumbled.

‘ And you really shouldn’t have wound up a bear shifter — you know how they get ,’ Jessica berated him.

“Tell me about it,” George grumbled once more.

‘And you really shouldn’t have got in the way of the bear shifter’s fist so many times .’ She giggled.

“You’re telling me, and you can stop now.”

‘ But, the mates are together, and right now that’s all that matters.’

“It all came so easy to you…”

‘ No, it really didn’t ,’ Jessica sighed.

Of course, she’d strutted around the fairy kingdom like she was the bee's knees just because she was the Christmas fairy — but, it was all a big show, one big lie, and, truth be told, she’d probably messed up just as much as George had.

Although, she hadn’t kidnapped any witches.

“Don’t try to make me feel better,” George grumbled.

‘Trust me — I wouldn’t do that ,’ she lied.

Jessica did want to make him feel better. She didn’t know why — she didn’t really know how — but, she did feel sorry for George.

“Thanks,” George grumbled again. Then he considered what she’d said. “Does that mean that you did mess up? Or does that mean that you have no intention of making me feel better because you hate me?”

‘George, please don’t try to overthink everything. Your male — enough said.’

“Yep, you’re right…” George bit off his words and rolled his eyes to the snow filled sky.

She’d got him there.

~

~

~

“Bath!” Evan growled. He even pointed to the tub that was filled with water so that there could be no misunderstanding between them.

“I’m not getting into a bath with you!” Deborah hissed back.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Evan growled. Then he turned on his heels, strolled out of the room, and slammed the bathroom door behind him.

“That’s…” Deborah bit off the choice words that she really wanted to offer back to him.

She knew that he could hear her through the door just fine, but still, she had her pride. He’d just insulted her, and she might have had the urge to get her own back, but then she thought about what he’d done for her, and she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Deborah turned toward the bath and sighed. Strangely, another dip into the wet stuff was very tempting.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but she reached out with her magic and snapped on the lock on the door.

“I said; don’t flatter yourself,” Evan called from outside the door.

Deborah’s mouth opened in shocked surprise. Boy, did she have a list of words that she would like to have handed back to him?

She gave a small squeak of annoyance as she bit down on each and every one of them. Then she turned back toward the bath and started to peel off her wet clothing.

He might have won the battle — but that didn’t mean that he’d won the fight between them.

At that moment in time, she was taking the high road, regrouping and assessing her situation, then and only then, she would decide if she was going to kill the man, or not.

~

~

Evan heard the thud of the front door closing, and he knew the sound of the feet that stomped across the living room floorboards. The huff as the kid dropped down onto the sofa made him leave his station outside the bathroom door and head into the living room.

There was Marcus with his feet up on the coffee table and a sour look on his face, and he flicked a look at Evan and huffed again.

“Hey, Evan,” Marcus’ downbeat tones ruffled Evan’s bear’s fur.

“You walk through the snow to get here?” Evan growled.

“Not far. I’m staying at Anita’s cabin for the night.”

“Where’s your mom?” Evan asked, not that he needed to know, the kid was welcome in his cabin any time he chose to come.

“She went out for the night,” Marcus grumbled back.

The kid was thirteen going on thirty. He’d had to grow up faster when his father had taken off on him, and his mother spent her days working and her nights looking for a replacement for his father.

“Anita knows you’re here?” Evan asked.

“We saw your truck come home, and she said if it’s okay with you then I can spend a little while here,” Marcus shrugged.

“Well, turn on the TV and crank up the game system, we can go a few rounds,” Evan offered.

That seemed to perk Marcus up. Evan could do two things at once, keep an ear out for his mate’s attempted escape, and keep the kid company.

He wasn’t about to ignore Marcus just because he’d found his mate. The kid might not have been kin to him, but he was still family.

“Who’s that guy hanging around outside?” Marcus asked as he reached for the remote control and flicked on the TV.

“Believe it or not, that’s the Christmas fairy,” Evan grumbled. He stalked across the room and took a seat next to Marcus.

Luckily, Marcus’ mother was a bear shifter. His father might have been human, but that wasn’t the kid’s fault.

Evan couldn’t believe it when the kid’s father had taken off on him. That would never have happened if the man had been a shifter.

Family first.

“You’re pulling my chain,” Marcus chuckled.

That sounded good to Evan’s ears. It wasn’t like the kid had much to laugh about, and if the Christmas fairy could lighten his load — then that was all good in Evan’s book.

“I kid you not.”

When Marcus flicked a look of disbelief at Evan, the man raised his eyebrows and nodded his head.

“Seriously?”

“Would I lie to you?”

“You never have,” Marcus offered back, and that gave Evan a warm feeling deep inside.

“And I never will.”

“The Christmas fairy! I didn’t even know the Christmas fairy was real,” Marcus chuckled at the thought.

“Too damn real,” Evan growled.

“And the Christmas fairy is a guy? I thought it was supposed to be a girl.” Marcus chuckled harder.

“Well, the jury is still out on that one — did you see his hair?” Evan chuckled.

“I heard that!” George called from outside the front door.

Marcus spluttered, even more, laughter as he pointed an accusing finger at Evan.

“Oh, boy, are you in trouble now,” Marcus whispered with a grin that stretched from ear to ear and a lighter mood about him.

“I’m quaking in my boots,” Evan offered back.

“So, if he really is a Christmas fairy then shouldn’t we get a tree?” Marcus frowned at the thought, his eyebrows pinched together over his nose, and Evan grimaced at the thought.

“You’re right — we should,” Evan said.

He didn’t much like the idea, but if the kid wanted a Christmas tree, then the kid got a Christmas tree. It wasn’t like they celebrated Christmas, but still, he always got a couple of presents to give to Marcus every year — he might as well have something to put them under.

~

~

~

“Whoa, who’s that babe?” Marcus said as his eyes took in Deborah, she was wearing oversized sweatpants and a sweatshirt that Evan had provided for her, but she still looked good to him. He grinned from ear to ear.

“Babe?” Evan rolled his eyes at the kid.

“Who’s the mini-me?” Deborah shot back, as she folded her arms across her chest, and eyed the two of them on the sofa.

“I’m Marcus, Evan’s friend, and I’m here a lot.”

That sounded to Evan a lot like the cub was staking his claim and marking out his territory where the female was concerned. That was okay. Luckily for Marcus, he wasn’t old enough to strike up a challenge in the heart of Evan’s bear.

“I’m Deborah, and I’m not planning to be here much longer,” she offered back and heard a low, warning growl that rumbled from Evan’s direction.

Marcus turned his head and offered Evan a quizzical look. If the man was trying to impress that woman, then Marcus thought that he was going the wrong way about it by growling at her.

“Dude, the growl?” Marcus tossed up a shoulder and questioned him with a look.

“That’s okay, she’s a witch,” Evan offered back before even thinking about it.

“A witch!” Marcus tossed his head back on his neck and roared with laughter. “The Christmas fairy outside the cabin and a witch inside — don’t tell me there’s a vampire under the bed and Santa’s on the roof?” Marcus chuckled.

“There had better not be,” Evan growled.

“What are you doing with a witch?” Marcus asked.

“Yes, what are you doing with a witch?” Deborah shot back.

“I found my mate,” Evan growled in annoyance at the witch, but when Marcus tossed his gamepad down on the table and pushed up to his feet, Evan shot a look at the boy.

“I should go,” Marcus’ mood had just turned sour once more.

“Not on my account — I’m going into the bedroom,” Deborah said, and promptly turned on her heels and walked away.

“I should get out of here. Anita is probably wondering where I am.” Marcus thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans and started for the door.

“Hey, Marcus, this doesn’t change anything,” Evan offered back.

“Sure it does,” Marcus said before he pulled open the door to the cabin and stomped outside, slamming the door behind him.

“Hey, kid,” George’s voice came through the barrier of the door. “You wanna talk Christmas?”

“Go sit on a tree,” Marcus growled back.

“Damn it,” Evan growled.

He didn’t want the kid to feel like his nose was being pushed out of joint. He got what Marcus was saying – but, in his mind; it really didn’t change a thing.

He’d be there for Marcus, no matter what. It was a promise that he’d made to the kid back in the day, and he never went back on his word.

~

~

Evan stuck his head outside the cabin door, and Jessica zapped George out of the stupor that he was in.

“What now?” George grumbled.

“I need…” Evan bit down on his pride. If it was for himself then there was no way in hell that he would have asked that man for a thing, but it wasn’t, it was for Marcus.

‘ Help – go on, you can say it…’

“Fine, sure, that…help, thingy.” Evan growled, and George perked up just a little. His interest was piqued.

“To do what?” George didn’t exactly feel that trusting of the man that liked to punch him at every opportunity.

Evan cleared his throat.

“I need…” Evan grumbled and then sighed.

‘ A tree with the works?’ Jessica decided to let the big guy off the hook.

“Yeah,” Evan frowned. He didn’t know fairies could read minds and wasn’t much sure that he liked that idea. “But, I’m sort of stuck…”

‘ Wooing your mate.’

“Can you not read my mind?”

‘ Do I look like a vampire to you? There’s only one of us around here with fangs, and it’s not me.’

“I can,” George said.

“Read minds?” Evan scowled.

“Get you a tree.” George offered the shifter a quizzical look, questioning his sanity.

“Right,” Evan growled. “Good.” He pulled back in the doorway, and when Jessica cleared her throat, he grimaced. “Err…thanks.” Then he was back inside, yanking the door quickly closed behind him.

‘ Men,’ Jessica sighed with a small shake of her head.

“Thanks,” George grumbled.

‘ Not you…’ Jessica started to backtrack.

“So, what you’re saying is; now I’m not even a man?” George huffed as he kicked out at another clump on the ground.

‘You’re the Christmas fairy, George; you’re gender neutral.’

George opened his mouth to speak but huffed instead. Then he snapped his fingers, shifted into his fairy form and whizzed by her.

‘ Just watch the damn mates,’ he bit out before he took off.

‘ George…?’ She watched his aura blink in and out in the veil of snow. ‘ Oh, dear.’

‘Maybe you should stop teasing him,’ Miriam’s clipped tones sounded close to Jessica’s ear and startled her.

‘ Fairy Godmother, what are you doing here?’

‘I think we have a problem.’

‘We do?’ Jessica didn’t like the sound of that.

‘ We do, but I don’t think it’s the mates, but something has pinged up on my to-do list…’

‘Oh, what is it?’

‘If I knew that then I wouldn’t be here.’

‘Of course, sorry.’

‘Don’t be sorry. Just keep an eye out for trouble.’

‘With George around, that’s a given.’

‘He kidnapped the witch, didn’t he?’ Miriam watched the young fairy grimace.

‘ Can I plead the fifth?’

~

~

~

“Foods ready, come and eat,” Evan called through the barrier of the closed bedroom door. He was kind of surprised when she, almost immediately, yanked the door open in front of him.

She did look good, well, in his oversized clothes maybe good wasn’t the word he was looking for. But the fact that she was wearing his clothes was like a claim all on its own.

“You want me to eat?” It wasn’t just the tone her of voice that said she was going to be awkward; it was the fact that she’d raised her eyebrows at him as well.

“Yes.”

“With you?” Then she put her hands on her hips and Evan might as well have bent over and kissed his backside goodbye.

“Yes.”

“That sounds like a dangerous proposition — I mean, I’d hate to put my hand in the way and get it bitten off.” Then she folded her arms and assumed the stroppy look.

“Well, if anything really ugly happens just stab me with your fork,” Evan said.

Then without waiting for her answer, he turned on his heels and started away from her.

Evan almost tripped over his own feet when the sound of her laughter pierced the air and rattled along the walls of the corridor. That sound was worth its weight in gold.

One side of Evan’s mouth lifted in a crooked grin, and he kept on walking, not prepared to chance his luck and turn her mood sour again. She’d either come out of the bedroom, or she wouldn’t.

Either way; he’d managed to lighten the moment between them.

~

~

~

That good mood hadn’t lasted long for her. They ate dinner in relative silence with Evan not really knowing what to say to her, and Deborah not really trying to make conversation.

“Merry Christmas — Ho-Ho-Ho!” George called out from outside the front door.

“Is that the Christmas, fairy guy?” Deborah turned her scowl on the closed front door as if she could see him there.

“The one and only,” Evan snorted.

“Why is he still here?”

“Believe it or not, he’s doing me a favor,” Evan grumbled back.

He hated to ask anyone for anything — he’d rather do things himself. But he couldn’t chance leaving his mate alone when she was a runner.

When Evan pulled open the front door, there was George, a large freshly cut pine tree in one hand, bags of goodies in the other, and even a Christmas hat on his head. But it was the big beaming smile that made Evan grumble inside.

“I come bearing…” George started, but he didn’t get a chance to finish.

“A Christmas tree?” Deborah snorted her contempt for him. “You do Christmas, do you?” She turned a quizzical look onto Evan.

“Not normally, no” Evan grumbled again. He hated the idea of fairy lights, glitter, and baubles anywhere near his house.

“You let the Christmas fairy talk you into it?” Deborah snorted a chuckle.

“It’s for Marcus,” Evan offered back, and her attitude changed completely. She even changed her stance.

“Oh, well, that’s different,” her voice was softer, gentler, and Evan liked it.

George cleared his throat and snatched Evan’s attention back toward him. The bear grumbled a growl within him — he’d much rather be looking at their mate then at George wearing that stupid hat.

“Well, the tree isn’t going to decorate itself, especially not if it’s out here in my hand.” George gave Evan an expectant look

Evan reached out and wrapped a large hand around the tree, yanked it toward him, and popped it against the inner door frame. Then he took the bags, and he offered George the kind of scrutiny that made the Christmas fairy wonder if he was sizing him up for the barbecue.

“Is that everything?” George asked.

“No,” Evan snapped out, before he reached out and snatched the hat off George’s head, took one long step back, and slammed the front door closed in George’s face. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!” George chuckled.

“So, Marcus is part human?” Deborah asked.

“The wrong part. The soft part. The part that doesn’t know what to do with his bear side,” Evan offered back.

“And you’re giving him Christmas?”

“He met the Christmas fairy,” Evan shrugged his broad shoulders, and Deborah hated to admit it, even if she wasn’t going to admit it to him, but something inside her softened a little towards Evan.

“Well, you find something to plant it in, and I’ll help you decorate it.” She offered him a one-shoulder shrug, but Evan felt the change within her, and he didn’t think it was just wishful thinking.

Maybe Christmas wasn’t so bad after all.

~

~

“That doesn’t go there,” Deborah chuckled at the sight of the cluster of red baubles that Evan had placed on one side of the tree.

“Which one?”

“Oh.” She took a sideways step closer to him and motioned to the whole cluster. “Just those eight or so.” She chuckled.

“As you can tell — I’m not very girly about these things.” Evan dropped his chin toward his chest and grumbled.

She chuckled again, and he liked that sound. He snatched a look at her from under his dark brown — the sun came out when she smiled.

“Shocker,” Deborah offered as she tried really hard not to grin from ear to ear. He looked like a scolded child.

Evan’s bear was already sitting so close to the surface that when the beast tried to push forward, Evan had to act fast to slam that cage door shut.

The last thing that he needed was to offer her a fangy grin. He reckoned that would probably go down like a lead balloon.

“Maybe I should just pass them to you and point?” Yep, she couldn’t stop that smile from happening. The best thing about it was, she got a smile in return.

Or maybe that was the worst thing about it, because when the man smiled at her, her stomach pitched, rolled, dropped, somersaulted, and then flopped over with a case of the vapors.

Damn his good looks, hard body, and growly charm.

There were no two ways about it, Evan was getting to her — or, at least, the mating pull was getting to her. She didn’t know which one it was, but she was sure she didn’t like it — or she did like — she was confused.

Evan’s mobile phone went off and almost made her sigh with relief. Caught under his spell, her feet had flatly refused to move away from him again, at least now he was distracted.

With a grumbled growl, Evan pulled the phone from his pocket and swiped it before placing it against his ear.

“What?” He demanded in a voice that said he would much rather have sunk his fangs into whoever was calling him then have to speak to them.

Deborah found the willpower to move away. She bent at the waist to retrieve another bubble and heard the man’s hungry growl from close behind her.

Deborah snapped up and turned to offer him a scowl.

“About an hour ago,” Evan growled into the phone. He had a scowl of his own on his face, and it wasn’t for her. “Don’t worry — I’ll hunt him down.”

Evan’s words were underlined by a hearty growl, and when he cut off the call, Deborah almost expected the phone to snap in two under the pressure of his thumb.

“Something I can help with?” Deborah asked.

The change in Evan was obvious, she didn’t need to ask if something was wrong, it was, and from the look of him — it was bad.

“Marcus is missing,” Evan growled and turned toward the front door. He got two steps, stopped, and turned back toward her as if she was an afterthought. “I need to go look for him — but I need you not to…”

“I’ll go with you,” Deborah said, and Evan was already shaking his head.

He thought that was a bad idea. He couldn’t hunt the pair of them if they were both missing, and his bear would be torn in two about which one to find first.

Evan opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

“This isn’t about us. Let’s just find Marcus first. My witchy powers and your nose should be able to track twice as fast.”

Evan nodded just once and turned to the door. When he yanked it open, he found George standing there.

“We’re going,” George said.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Evan growled.

“It can’t hurt to have a couple of faeries with us,” Deborah reasoned with the man. She received something of a grunt of annoyance back.

“Fine. Take the fairy,” Evan growled. Although, he didn’t much like that idea.

~

~

~

The wind had picked up and so had the snow. Marcus had at least an hours head start on them.

Evan was trying to follow his tracks in the snow — but the snow that was coming down just got too thick, and it covered up the impressions on the ground.

Evan had to try to rely on his nose more. With the winds high, blowing across the land, that was almost an impossibility as well.

George had shifted into his fairy form and had taken off with Jessica, dodging the missile-like snowflakes and scouring the land around them.

Deborah had pulled on her magic and had cast her net as far as she could away from her, away from Evan, in the hope of picking up Marcus’s supernatural presence. The one thing that the four of them had in common was that they weren’t about to give up.

“We are losing time,” Evan growled. “I can’t track him like this.”

‘ Over here! Over here! George has picked up his trail — follow us,’ Jessica called as she buzzed by his ear, and the man resisted the urge to swat her away.

“I can’t…” Evan started as he shook his head.

“I can,” Deborah assured him as she started off after Jessica’s aura and the magical trail that the fairy was leaving behind her.

Fairy dust.

Normally, Deborah wouldn’t have anything to do with fairy dust, but this was exceptional circumstances. They needed to find Marcus, and they needed to find him soon.

Evan’s internal combustion engine kept his body nice and warm, but Marcus’ body was still growing, still changing, and he was half human. The weather would get to him eventually.

“You sure you can track them?” Evan didn’t want to go off on a wild goose chase. He still didn’t trust the faeries, but he did trust his mate.

“Jessica is leaving a trail of fairy dust. As long as she does that then we’re good to go,” Deborah tossed back over her shoulder as she chased after the fairy, and Evan chased after her.

“Find him, Deborah — please,” Evan growled out.

Deborah shot a quick glance back over her shoulder at Evan, and the look on his face was heartbreaking. The man was worried sick, and helpless to do much of anything but follow their lead.

That must have been hard for a man like Evan, having to rely on somebody else. Deborah wasn’t about to let him down.

Evan and Marcus needed her, and she’d never had that before. For the moment, worrying about the mating pull was the least of her problems. Right then and there all that mattered was not letting them down.

~

~

‘ George! George — I have them — they’re following me,’ Jessica said as she closed the distance between them and inadvertently nudged George with her wing.

George immediately took evasive action, but in doing so, his other wing caught a leaf, and a big dollop of snow dragged his wing downward, and his body followed.

George tried desperately to flap his wing and shake off the snow, but it wasn’t happening for him. He spiraled downward, picked up speed, and entered a snow bank head first with his legs sticking up in the air.

‘ Whoops!’ Jessica grimaced, and she circled back towards the man. ‘ Come on, George, time is wasting!’

When George’s legs started kicking against the air, and his feet flapped like he was trying to swim in flippers, Jessica knew that something was wrong, and it was – George was stuck.

Jessica groaned inwardly, flew down, wrapped a hand around each of George’s ankles and furiously flapped her wings in flight, and she finally managed to wrench his head and shoulders from the snow.

Jessica groaned as she ended up on her pride. Both faeries offered a stream of curse words that turned the air blue.

George turned accusing eyes on Jessica, and the woman snapped her mouth shut and grimaced.

‘ What’s the first rule of flight club?’ George demanded with a dark scowl that sent her defenses up.

‘ Don’t talk about flight club?’

‘Don’t even start with me…’

‘Fine, Mr. bad mood. The first rule is to make sure you get in the damn air.’

‘Second rule then?’

‘Make sure you have somewhere soft to land – and you did!’ She snapped back.

‘ Third damn rule!’

‘Don’t get too close,’ she muttered.

‘ Right, don’t get too close.’ He offered her a damning look.

‘ Did I mess up your hair?’ She sneered back.

‘ You and me…’ he bit out as he pulled himself to his feet and shook the snow from his head and shoulders like a dog, ‘ will be having damn words when this is over .’

‘ Can’t wait – now, if you’re done playing, can we find the bear-boy?’

George caught a movement and flicked his gaze to the side. The next moment Jessica squealed as George flew at her head-on, tackling her with a full body lock, and sent the pair of them spinning around and around across the snow.

‘ Are you kidding me?’ she hissed as they finally came to a stop, and she unleashed one hell of a magical zap at him.

George’s whole body seized up; every muscle was forced to lock-up so tightly that George actually waited for them to rip apart.

‘ I – just – saved – your – ungrateful – backside,’ George bit out each and every word.

‘ From what? A fast-moving snowflake?’ Jessica hissed back.

‘ That.’ George’s eyes flicked sideways, and Jessica’s head turned to take in the sight.

‘ Whoops!’

‘One – way – to put it.’ George felt her magic release him from its tight grip. ‘You’re welcome.’

~

~

~

One moment Deborah was rushing after Jessica, and the next, Evan had wrapped one big strong arm around her waist, and her feet lifted off the ground as she was spun behind the shifter’s body. She didn’t know which way was up.

“What the…?”

The hard warning growl of her mate sent a shiver down her spine. That warning obviously wasn’t meant for her, it couldn’t have been meant for Marcus, and she very much doubted that Evan thought the faeries were dangerous.

Deborah tried to take a step to the side to see around Evan’s bulky frame, but she was being held in place by his strong grip, and the sound of an equally chilling growl that almost matched her mate’s told her all she needed to know.

Bear.

“Marcus.” Evan’s voice was as hard as steel. “Easy. Your first shift will always be the hardest. It’s easy sailing from here on in.” Evan assured him.

Evan hated himself at that moment. The first shift was always the hardest, and he should have been there for him.

Marcus had come to an age where it was bound to happen sooner rather than later, but the boy’s emotions were obviously all over the place, and that wasn’t good. Those emotions had obviously triggered the shift — and it was hard enough to control your beast at first, without the added anger.

Worst of all — Deborah was in the firing line. He should never have let her come with him.

He berated himself.

He hated himself.

He might just have to choose between Marcus and his mate after all.

~

~

The one thing that Evan didn’t want to do was to challenge Marcus’ bear. The cub was still young — the bear was new — and the beast would relish the thought of being tested.

That couldn’t happen. Not with his mate there.

There was too much that could go wrong. Evan had to find a way to make Marcus shift back into his human form before things went too far.

Marcus’s beast didn’t look like it wanted to let go of the boy.

Both Evan and his bear might have been sympathetic to Marcus’s plight, but still, they sensed that their mate was in danger.

“Easy, Marcus,” Evan tried not to growl and force the bear into a corner, but it was damn hard.

Evan reached behind him and pushed Deborah away. If he was going to have to go one-on-one with Marcus, then he did her anywhere near it.

His beast would break out — it would have to just to defend himself. Marcus’ bear lifted his head and showed interest in Deborah, and that rung a few bells in Evan’s mind.

Perhaps Marcus thought that now that Evan had found his mate there was no place in his life for the boy. That would never be true.

“Marcus, look at me. You and me — nothing’s changed. Let me help you pull back the bear, rein in your beast,” Evan kept his voice low and non-threatening.

It didn’t appear to have worked. A moment later and Marcus’ beast reared up and roared.

“Deborah, get out of here now,” Evan growled. He could see the way that this was going to go, and he didn’t want her anywhere near it.

“Magic…” She started, but he cut her off when the bear roared again.

“No! Leave — now,” Evan growled back.

Marcus’ bear was already starting toward the mates. The beast grumbled a low, deep, hungry growl in Deborah’s direction, and Evan could feel his bear clawing to get out.

“I’ve got this,” George announced, appearing out of nowhere and startling the bear into action.

The beast charged. Not at Evan, not even at Deborah, but at George.

~

~

~

‘ Oh poop!’ Jessica bit out at the sight of the bear heading straight for George.

The fairy pulled on her magic, but before she could deliver it, the beast had collided with George — its huge bulk caught George off guard and sent him flying.

‘ That’s gotta hurt ,’ Jessica said as she grimaced.

The bear had already changed direction. It was heading straight for Deborah.

Evan’s beast would not be caged a moment longer. With a roar of intention, the bear burst free, and a moment later it was headed straight for Marcus’ bear.

“Boys will be boys,” Deborah muttered to herself as she pulled on her magic and called on the winds to tear them in two different directions.

Jessica was startled to action. She unleashed her magic on Marcus’ beast, forcing the shift, and bringing the boy forward.

‘ Ask a man to do a job, and you have catastrophe — ask a woman and viola.’

“Tell me about it,” Deborah said as she placed her hands on her hips and regarded Evan’s bear with an expectant look.

The beast grumbled a growl. Evan tried to push forward, but his beast refused to allow it.

The bear slowly padded toward their mate.

“Oh, you don’t even want to start with me,” Deborah bit out as she lifted her hand and wagged her finger at the beast.

Evan’s bear made a strange whiny sound. Then it craned its head on its neck and brushed his cheek against the hand on her hip.

“I didn’t mean to,” Marcus rushed out.

Evan’s bear turned to look at the boy. The beast turned toward him.

“We know. No harm no foul,” Deborah said, but the tone of her voice sounded more like a warning for Evan’s bear.

The beast grumbled a growl. It seemed that Evan’s beast was less forgiving and more intent on teaching the boy a lesson.

“Back off — fat butt,” Deborah bit out, and moved faster than she had ever moved in her life.

The bear twisted its head on its neck and stared at her. She had put herself between Marcus and him.

‘ Okay, well this isn’t the way I thought the evening was going to go,’ Jessica said. She didn’t like the turn of events one little bit.

Mates were supposed to be on the same page.

Mates were supposed to stick up one and other.

Mates were not supposed to be at loggerheads like they were now.

Evan’s bear grumbled a growl. It took just one step — and Marcus threw himself in front of Deborah.

“It’s not her, she’s your mate — it’s me you want,” Marcus bit out as he lifted his chin in defiance.

“Kid — no offense, get the hell behind me,” Deborah grumbled as she tried to get in front of Marcus, and the two of them started to play a somewhat surreal game of push and shove with each other.

“Glad to see we’re all on the same page now,” Evan growled. He’d shifted back into his human form while the two of them were playing silly beggars.

“That’s…” Deborah grumbled and pressed her lips together in annoyance.

“Genius,” George announced from somewhere on the other side of the bushes.

‘ Oh, poop! George!’ Jessica hated to say it, but she had forgotten all about poor George.

“I’m fine,” George grumbled as he pushed up to his feet and peeked over the top of the bushes. “Unless this gets me brownie points and a day off.” He grumbled some more.

“How is this genius?” Marcus asked, confused by everything that had happened.

“Because, butthead here,” Deborah motioned toward a very naked Evan. Her eyes flicked up and down his hard, muscled body, and for a moment her brain farted, and she couldn’t even remember her own name — let alone what she was saying.

“Somebody likes what they see,” Evan’s voice was still deep, and full of his bear as he teased her.

Deborah’s brain snapped back into gear. Her eyes flicked back up to his face, and she fidgeted on the spot. Busted. Guilty as charged.

“Butthead decided that it was a good idea to threaten you so that my instincts were to kick in, and then threaten me so that yours would kick in as well.” She folded her arms and gave Evan an expectant look.

“Don’t credit me with being smart,” Evan offered back. But the corners of his lips were turning up in a grin, and laughter sparkled in his dark eyes.

“Perish the thought,” George announced. He started around the bush, and tripped over his own feet, disappearing again as he hit the ground. “Ouch.” He ground out.

‘ You okay, George?’

“I’m good. I’ve got this.”

‘The walking part?’

~

~

‘ George, you’re limping,’ Jessica said as she fluttered around George’s head.

“I didn’t know you cared,” George offered back.

‘ I don’t .’

“Could have fooled me,” George shot back.

‘A slowworm could fool you, George,’ Jessica offered in clipped tones that sounded just like the fairy godmothers. She certainly had learned a few things being at Miriam’s right hand for a few years.

“You know I really don’t like you,” George grumbled.

‘ Says you.’

“Well, der, I am the one talking.”

‘ How like you to like the sound of his own voice .’

“Says you!”

‘Well, doh!’

“Go away before I swapped you,” George grumbled.

‘A little while ago you were rushing to save me…’

“And I wasn’t even drunk,” George grumbled.

‘Go on, George. You can admit that you like me just a little.’

“Do me a favor — hold your breath.”

‘That’s not nice.’ She zapped him. Not hard, just a sting, but enough to get her message across. ‘ You’re the Christmas fairy, George. Haven’t you learned to be nice yet?’

“To you — no,” George grumbled as he put on a spurt and walked off.

The only problem with that was that his pursuer had wings. On foot or in the air, Jessica was always going to be faster than him.

George really and truly had had enough this time. Three sets of mates — three headaches.

He’d just love it if the fairy godmother turned up now. Boy, would he have something to say to her?

The Christmas fairy indeed!

The job should come with health pay.

~

~

~

“Go on, get going inside.”

Evan tossed the door to his cabin open and motioned to Marcus to go in. Marcus motioned for Deborah to go in first. Evan grinned at that one.

“I thought you’d tell me to go straight to Anita’s,” Marcus said.

“We’ve got something to show you first,” Evan nudged him inside the cabin. “And I’ll lend you some clothes.”

“Whoa,” Marcus stopped in his tracks and eyed the Christmas tree.

“It’s not finished yet, but,” Evan let his words trailed off as he shrugged a shoulder at the boy.

“Where did that come from?” Marcus asked.

“From the guy you put in a bush,” George offered from outside the door.

“Yeah,” Marcus grimaced as he turned and offered George an apologetic look. “Sorry about that.”

“I’m sure you’ll get the hang of your bear. And the next time our paths cross — don’t eat me,” George said, before turning and walking away.

“I still can’t believe that the Christmas fairy is a dude,” Marcus chuckled.

“You and me both,” Evan said on a slow shake of his head.

“Did he decorate the tree?” Marcus asked.

“Evan did,” Deborah said, and Marcus shot an amused look at Evan.

“You’re tree decorating now?” Marcus chuckled. Evan growled. Marcus stopped chuckling.

“Go and get some clothes from the bedroom,” Evan grumbled, and the boy didn’t argue with that.

He started toward the bedroom, and Evan turned his eyes to his mate. She was silently laughing at him as well.

“What do you do for a living, tree decorator?” Deborah asked.

“Carpenter,” Evan offered back, raising just one eyebrow at her. “Good with my hands.”

Deborah wasn’t entirely sure if Evan meant to send a rush of heat and excitement through her body, or if it was just a happy coincidence, but it was there.

The fact that her mate was still standing there stark naked, obviously, had nothing to do with it at all. Not one little bit.

“Done,” Marcus said as he appeared wearing oversized clothes that sort of made him a matching pair with Deborah.

“That was fast,” Evan said. Too fast.

Evan had seen the color that burned in Deborah’s cheeks, and he’d wanted to take that conversation further. Now that Marcus was back; he didn’t have the chance.

“I need to get to Anita’s place before she loses her bear and tries killing me when I walk through the door,” Marcus offered back.

“I’ll come with you,” Evan said, and his eyes flicked toward Deborah. He wasn’t sure that his mate would be there when he got back, but he hoped that she would. “I’ll just grab some clothes.”

The moment that Evan disappeared down the hallway Marcus sidestepped closer to Deborah. He leaned in and whispered.

“He’s a really good guy.”

“I know,” Deborah whispered back.

The size of the grin on Marcus’ face was good enough for her. She felt a sense of achievement that the boy seemed happier now.

“You’re not going anywhere, are you?” Marcus asked.

“Do you want me to?”

“No.”

“Good. Because I’m not going anywhere,” she offered back.

That cheeky grin on Marcus’ face was worth its weight in gold.

Deborah swallowed hard at the thought that she’d just offered her word to Marcus.

What if she couldn’t keep it?

~

~

“You’re still here,” Evan said as his gaze fell upon his mate; who was snuggled up in front of the roaring open fire, with a cup of something that smelled like hot chocolate in her hand.

“I am. It shocks the hell out of me too,” Deborah offered back with a small smile that graced her lips and brightened his mood.

“I didn’t see the Christmas fairy outside.”

“Well, maybe the man felt that he’d done what he’d set out to do, and brought us both together.” Deborah offered a small shrug.

“Are we — together?” Evan asked as he took just one step and then froze in place. He was holding his breath, and he kind of hoped that she’d get to the answer sooner rather than later.

“Well, I’m here, you’re here,” she teased, but the low grumble of his growl made the snigger that she was trying to hold back escape from her lips.

“You’re just a whole heap of trouble, aren’t you?” Evan growled. But he managed to take another step toward her.

“You’d better believe your fat butt I am,” she offered back, and Evan hesitated in step as a slow to boil smile started on her face. He was held spellbound until it was in full bloom.

“Yeah, about that fat backside thing,” Evan grumbled.

“You might want to park it here.” Deborah chuckled as she patted the rug beside her.

Evan didn’t need to be told twice. He went from a snail’s pace to rocketman in a matter of seconds. He did exactly as she’d told him to do and parked his backside beside her in front of the fire.

“That smells good,” Evan gently sniffed the air and nodded toward her cup.

“Let’s get one thing straight between us — chocolate is mine, and I don’t share my chocolate — but, I do share your chocolate – which is also mine,” she offered.

“Got it. I think,” Evan chuckled back.

“You can have hard sweets, marshmallows, ice cream, unless it’s chocolate, cake unless it’s chocolate…”

“I got it,” Evan said, cutting her off with his words, and then he reached for her cup, and she gave a small gasp. “Trust me.” He took it out of her hand and placed it on the table next to him.

As he turned back toward her, one arm wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her in for a kiss. His other hand palmed her cheek, and he brought his lips down to hers.

Deborah didn’t know what hit her, not that he’d hit her, but he could have knocked her down with a steamroller — it would have had the same effect.

His kisses were moreish — like that first little cube of chocolate from the big bar — the one that you rushed to chew just, so you get to the next bit, and the next bit, and the bit after that — until it was all gone.

The best thing about Evan’s kisses was that they were never going to be gone. He was her mate, and he couldn’t walk away if he tried.

That took the uncertainty out of it for her. She didn’t need to think if he’d be there tomorrow — because he’d be there for all of her tomorrows.

Deborah knew that Evan would never deliberately hurt her. He’d run himself ragged trying to give her everything that she wanted — but, she was a simple witch, and she thought that all that she wanted out of life she would find in Evan’s arms.

But a mate? It had never been something that had crossed her mind for her to consider before.

But now it was there right in front of her, and she’d seen just what a good man Evan was. When he’d left the cabin to walk Marcus home, she had considered leaving, but that thought was only fleeting.

How could she run out on her soul mate?

The man was a natural protector — check.

The man was a natural provider — check.

The man was good with children — check.

The man was good.

Check — check.

Now that Evan was kissing her, Deborah knew that she’d made the right decision.

It felt like all her Christmases had come at once.

~

~

~

‘George, how long are we going to sit in this Christmas tree?’ Jessica whispered, and he looked something close to dreamy-eyed at the mates sitting in front of the fire, doing what mates did naturally.

‘ From the way those two are kissing — not much longer, ’ George offered back.

Then it would be over. Then he wouldn’t be the Christmas fairy anymore — unless the fairy godmother sprang another surprise on him.

George sighed inwardly. Now that his time as the Christmas fairy was over, he was kind of going to miss it.

He wasn’t going to miss the growly bears.

He wasn’t going to miss the growly wolves.

He certainly wasn’t going to miss being zapped by witches.

But, he might just miss that warm feeling that he had inside of him when the mates finally mated.

‘George, is that a tear in your eye?’ Jessica asked.

‘Yes, it’s called pain — unless you didn’t notice; I was hit by a bloody big bear tonight ,’ George lied. He wasn’t in pain. He was happy — sad — happy.

‘Yes, George, that was rather careless of you, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, Jessica, that was rather careless of me, wasn’t it ?’ George sneered back.

‘Well, there they go — off to do what mates do. Can we go now?’

‘Fine. If you can squeeze your backside through the keyhole in the front door — we’ll be out of here in the blink of an eye.’

‘I was actually thinking the same thing about your fluffy head.’

‘That’s it. I’m getting my hair cut.’

‘Well, I didn’t want to say anything…’

‘At least I can get my hair cut — what are you going to do about the size of your backside ?’ George shot up into the air and out through the branches of the tree before Jessica could zap him.

George was fast, and he’d used the element of surprise to get away from her. He headed straight for the keyhole in the front door — clean through — and out the other side into the night.

It was the perfect escape.

Then a hailstone like a heat-seeking missile smacked him on the back of the head, spun him in the air, and sent him hurtling down headfirst into a snow bank.

The sound might have been muffled, but he could hear Jessica’s laughter even through the frozen crash helmet that enclosed his head.

Payback was a bitch — but she was enjoying it a little too much for his liking.

~

~

Deborah’s legs were tightly wrapped around her mate’s hips, and her sex was pressed against the hard length of his manhood as he walked her into the bedroom, and every step was a special kind of torture as it rubbed against her sensitive nub and sent a damn good feeling to her womb.

Evan was still kissing her, still claiming her lips on each and every torturous step. His cock was desperate to be set free, and he could feel the heat of her sex against it, even through the layers of clothing that he wished weren’t there between them.

Evan wanted to feel her naked body wrapped around his. He wanted to bury his cock so deep inside of her that they felt like one.

The deep, long rumble of his hungry growl was answered by a guttural sound that lodged in her throat. He liked that sound a lot.

His knee found the wooden frame of the bed, and he took her down with him to the mattress, climbing into the middle of the big bed, and picturing her naked and spread out for his tongue to taste every inch of her.

He could scent her arousal in the air as it mixed with his own. He wanted a taste.

Evan dragged his lips from hers and nuzzled against her neck, finally taking her scent, and growling like a man possessed as his beast roared, and clawed within him to be set free.

Mine…

“Mine…” Evan echoed his bear’s sentiment, as he tore his body back from hers and reached for her sweatshirt.

“About that…” Deborah said, and her words slammed into his brain like a freight train hitting him at full speed.

He stopped dead. Didn’t move a muscle as he stared down at her. Fear pierced his heart.

“Huh?” He was ready to hear her rejection.

“Why do you get to say it?”

“Say it, say what?”

“Mine…”

Evan’s beast roared at the sound if her claim on him.

“Oh, crap – that’s why – you just sent my bear nuts,” Evan growled, trying with everything that he had to keep that beast locked up tightly within him.

“Sounds good to me,” She chuckled. “Mine…” Her eyes were wide and teasing, and the mischief was written on the smile that spread her lips.

“You’d better be damned sure about…”

“Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, and, oh yeah – mine!” she stopped chuckling the second that Evan ripped her sweatshirt right down the middle and exposed her breasts with something of a hungry mini roar.

Then he dipped his head and devoured each one like it was harvest time and there was a feast to be had. His hands worked her sweatpants down her legs, and his tongue worked down her body at the same time.

“Mine…” She even put the smallest of growls behind that one, and Evan snapped his body upright back on his knees and wrenched her sweatpants off with a hard tug that brought her body down the bed towards him.

He tossed the material over his shoulder and reached for her inner thighs, opening her sex to him, as he dipped his head towards the scent of her arousal and growled like a hungry bear. Then he devoured her sex with a feverish need to taste the prize that was waiting for him.

Deborah had one fist gripping the covers and another gripping his hair. She rose up towards the heady heights of an orgasm so fast that when he took her over the edge, her head spun.

She came back to the sight of him ripping his clothes from his body and exposing his hard muscles to her gaze. She was practically drooling by the time that he was done.

“Definitely mine…” she growled again, and Evan growled right back at her as he climbed up over her body.

His thick cock hung low, and she grabbed for it, wanted to feel his heat in her hand, but he snatched her wrists up and pushed them down against the mattress on either side of her head.

“But – mine,” she teased, and Evan growled again.

“Are you trying to be the death of me?”

“I’m just trying to hurry things along a little. I mean you have the whole biting-bonding thing to…”

He claimed her lips and silenced her.

Any more of her teasing and he was going to lose his mind, his hold on his beast, and he had so much more to do first.

Evan pressed his cock inside her channel and growled with the pleasure of her tight walls accepting him in and gripping his cock like she never wanted it to leave.

With a long, slow push; he was buried to the hilt. He couldn’t resist doing that again, and again. His hips met hers as she rose to take every inch of him until he was moving too fast for her to keep up.

“Mine…” she rushed out on a breath and Evan’s beast pushed forward while he was so damn preoccupied that he couldn’t keep his fangs from elongating.

Evan wrenched his body away from hers and turned her on the bed. He growled at the sight of her on her hands and knees, her backside was pushed up, waiting for his cock in her channel once more, and he thrust to the hilt as she arched her back.

The sight of her back was so damn inviting. His hips slapped against her backside as his gaze locked onto the place where he needed to place his mark.

Evan reached for her when he felt her inner muscles start to clamp down on his cock. He brought her back to his chest and locked her in place with one arm.

“Mine…” she demanded, and Evan obliged, sending her over the edge and lost in another orgasm as his fangs entered her skin and he dragged them down her flesh.

His bear roared and reached for her soul as her blood spilled over Evan’s tongue, and he savored the taste as he sealed the wound into her skin.

Marked.

Claimed.

“Mine…” Evan growled as the fever reached his blood.

He needed to place his seed within her womb to complete the bond, and he was a man on a mission to do just that.

He released her body back against the mattress, slapped his hands against her thighs, and took her like a wildling, bringing her body right back up with his to the very edge of reason.

Every muscle in his body was on fire as he grunted and strained with every thrust. He sought release, sought relief from the madness that claimed him, mind, body, and soul.

The moment that she cried out in pleasure he let himself go. The hard clenching of her inner muscles sucked at his cock, and as he strained his head back on his neck, he buried his cock to the hilt and roared as he spilled his seed, over and over inside of her.

Mine…

Bonded.

Deborah was his, for now, forever.

Evan used every last ounce of strength that he had to collect her against him and take her down to the bed, wrapping her within the safety of his arms, and offering silent thanks for the damn Christmas fairy, and the miracle he had brought into his life.

~

~

“George!”

George grumbled in his sleep. It felt as if he’d only just closed his eyes — the hell if he was going to wake up again so soon.

“George!”

George didn’t want to hear it. His sister — Jessica — even the fairy godmother, could go and take a running jump. He was asleep.

“George!”

George pulled on his magic, snapped his fingers, and zapped her.

“Oh really?” She zapped him right back. The hard sting of her magic flipped him over on the bed, and he ended up face down on the floorboards with a grunt of annoyance.

“I swear I’m going to rip off your arm…” George pushed up fast. He turned toward the bed, slapped his hand down on the mattress, and glared at — the fairy godmother.

George snapped a bright smile on his face, and a half grimace escaped him.

“Yes, George , you did zap me ,” Miriam’s unimpressed tones rang so many bells in his ears that he could have been a church.

“In my defense…” George held up his hand and pointed his finger toward the ceiling.

“It’s fine, George,” Miriam said.

“Somehow it doesn’t feel fine,” George grimaced.

“George, if I say it’s fine then it’s fine,” Miriam snapped out.

“Okay,” George grimaced again.

It still didn’t sound like it was fine. It still didn’t feel like it was fine. But, he wasn’t going to argue with her.

He’d zapped the fairy godmother — who did that?

“George, I came to you to speak about tonight…”

“About that. Not really my fault — okay, you’re right. It was my fault — kind of — but…”

“George, stop rambling. It’s fine. The mates mated. Job done,” she said as she expanded her hands and offered him a sweet smile.

George was suspicious. He knew sweet smiles; they were normally followed by harsh words and zapping. Or maybe that was just his love life or lack of it.

“Okay…” George narrowed his eyes on her waiting for the hammer to drop.

“And you will no longer be the Christmas fairy,” she offered with something that sounded a little like relief to him.

“But…”

“Well done, George. I knew you could do it.”

“But…”

“Three mates mated. You must feel proud.”

“Yes. But…”

“And don’t worry, George. Next year — you don’t have to be the Christmas fairy if you don’t want to.” Miriam announced before she turned on her heels and started for the bedroom door.

“But…” She turned back toward him, and he pressed his lips together. She looked like she had something else to say.

“And tomorrow, your life gets back to normal,” Miriam smiled.

“But,” he waited for her to interrupt him again, and when she didn’t, he felt a little bit stupid that he’d waited. Now it was just plain awkward.

“Yes, George? Was there something you wanted?” Miriam urged him on. She did have a life to get back to.

“You’re sacking me?” George asked.

“George,” Miriam opened her mouth, took a breath, and sighed. Even her shoulders lifted and dropped.

“It’s just…” George didn’t quite know what it was at all. He said no more.

“George.”

“Yes, fairy godmother?”

“You’re not sacked, George. It’s the day before Christmas Eve — mates are mating — tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. Job done. Merry Christmas, George.” She said with a big beaming smile that reached her eyes.

“Merry Christmas, Fairy Godmother.” George offered back.

With a click of her fingers, she was gone.

George groaned, and face planted the mattress.

“Oh, thank God. Merry Christmas!”

The end.