~

 

‘What are you doing?’ Jessica bellowed into George’s ear as he stood by the window and gazed inside. He jumped in place and ground his teeth together in annoyance at her presence.

“Wondering when I get to go home,” he grumbled back.

‘Are you missing your mother, George?’ Jessica babied him again.

“I’m missing a game of sink it…”

‘A drinking game — really?’ Jessica blew out a hard breath in dismay. George really wasn’t taking being the Christmas fairy seriously, and it was high time that he started.

“Stop hating, just because you don’t have a life,” George shot back with a frown for her negativity.

‘Look at them, George. They are just setting out on life, a real life together. There’s chemistry happening there – love blossoming…’

“I know. It sends a shiver down your spine with disgust, doesn’t it? Therefore the grace of…”

‘Why did the fairy godmother ever think that you could handle something like this?’ Jessica huffed.

“What does that mean? I got the mates together…”

‘But you don’t understand — either the meaning of Christmas — or the meaning of mates.’ She huffed.

“I’m a fairy, of course, I understand the meaning of Christmas,” George grumbled.

‘Really?’

“I just want to have a little fun of my own. Where’s the harm in that?” George demanded.

But instead of answering him, Jessica turned on her wings and flew away. George sighed.

Good riddance. He was better off without her.

Now, maybe he could get some action going between the mates and be home before the last call.

 

~

~

~

 

“Oh my Goddess, what are you doing?” Angelique hissed out at the sight of the Christmas fairy appearing in the open bathroom window as he stared in at her. “Pervert!”

Before George could utter a word in his defense, Angelique lifted her hands and zapped him a hard one. His feet slipped upon the fresh snow and the blast of her magic hitting his chest sent him skidding backward to land on his backside on the, slightly cushioned, but still hard ground.

George grumbled at his own misery. This is what his life had become. He wasn’t best pleased.

Angelique’s head and upper body came into view at the open window, and she glared down at him from her lofty perch. She had the urge to zap him again, and again, and maybe until the cows came home.

She didn’t see anything wrong with making it up as she went along — he had.

“Now, you hold on a minute,” George berated the woman as he glared back at her.

“So this is how the Christmas fairy gets his kicks, is it?” Angelique berated him right back.

“In case you didn’t notice the window is wide open for your escape and there are no shifters around — including the alpha,” George berated her again.

“And what makes you think that I want to escape…” Angelique rolled her eyes at the snow filled sky and considered her words for a moment. “Okay, backpedal…”

“Forget about backpedaling and take your chance to escape,” George grumbled.

“Why would I trust you?” Angelique demanded. She wasn’t that drunk to trust the man that had dragged her there in the first place.

“Let’s just say I had a change of heart,” George offered back as he dragged himself to his feet and brushed the snow from his backside.

“Liar – liar, gonna set your fairy wings on fire,” Angelique sneered at the man.

“That sounds like fun,” he rolled his eyes in his head. “But if you want to escape, then that’s going to have to wait, isn’t it?”

“I can multitask,” she lied.

Perhaps she’d had too much to drink — she couldn’t really tell — because she was the one that was intoxicated in the first place. She knew enough to know that.

“Well, while you’re setting me on fire — get your backside out here, and now. That’s all I’m saying,” George tossed up his hands and strolled away.

It was her choice.

Angelique grimaced. The outside world didn’t look very hospitable. But inside there was an alpha who was her mate.

Choices — choices.

Now, she had choices, and she had no idea what to do with them. Angelique mentally slapped herself around the back of the head. Of course, she did.

Escape.

 

~

~

~

 

The freezing temperature was doing a very good job at sobering her up. She’d made her escape from the bathroom with just a minimum of effort and one or two bruises that she was sure she’d have on her backside the next morning.

She aimlessly and blindly followed her nose. Not that she was actually following her nose, she was just walking and hoping that she was going in the right direction so as to actually meet civilization at some point, preferably before she died.

That thought sobered her up even more. It was dark, but then night-time usually was, but the veil of snow that was coming down made life a little more challenging for her.

Angelique had started off on a jog. That was more about trying to keep warm when she didn’t have a jacket than it was about actually trying to get anywhere faster than her feet would carry her.

Then she’d walked. That was more to do with the fact that every muscle within her body, and her lungs to boot, were protesting, more rioting, at her attempts to jog.

Now, she was plodding. It felt like she was; not only dragging her body but also dragging that damn Christmas tree along behind her as well.

She was tired, cold, and more than miserable. She even kind of wished that she was back at the cabin with Luke.

How crazy was that?

Angelique guessed that it wasn’t crazy at all. The man must have imprinted on her psyche, as fate allowed mates to do, damn fate and its good intentions.

For the last little while, all that she could think about was Luke. At first, it was his hot, sexy body, and the muscles upon muscles that packed into that large frame. But as time had worn on, all she could think about was his smile, those expressive puppy dog eyes, and the way that his eyes lit up when he smiled.

Angelique had the distinct impression of doom, and it was sitting on her shoulders and weighing her down. She was lost in the snow in the middle of nowhere.

How stupid was she?

Yes, she’d been wrong to leave by the bathroom window — that was the Christmas fairy’s fault as well. She did have to take some of the blame for her own actions; she could have said no.

She could have zapped the fairy again — that thought seemed to warm her — and she made a mental note that if she somehow survived, then she was going to zap the fairy until she ran out of magic.

Angelique thought about Luke. Of course, she’d been selfish. If she died tonight, then Luke would almost certainly become rogue.

Alphas were more prone to do that than the average…wolf.

That thought unsettled more than anything else. Luke didn’t deserve that. She didn’t know him well, but she knew him well enough to know that shouldn’t be his fate.

Angelique stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath in. Then she allowed her tired, weary body to drop down onto her knees, and she turned her face up to the falling snow and asked for help — not for herself, but for Luke.

“Please don’t let Luke go rogue — this is my fault, not his — whatever my fate may be then let it come to pass — but with my last remaining breath I ask you to spare him.” Angelique started to recite her appeal to fate over and over again.

She wasn’t going to stop until she had no more breath within her to speak.