Dean’s hands, wrapped in giant knit mittens, were sweating as he tromped up the driveway to Ray and Justin Perkin’s home. He’d had to park at the bottom, but thankfully, they had a wide turnaround just off the road before the driveway continued straight up to the house.

It wasn’t completely crazy for the Chicago area to see snow on Christmas Eve, but this? This was insane. It had been snowing for three days now, and the plows were barely able to keep up. Chances were, they’d fall behind soon. Even plowmen needed to take time off for Christmas.

And it seemed like the snow was getting thicker. This had to qualify as a blizzard.

Dean’s imagination ran away with him for a moment. What if it caused a whiteout on his way up the driveway? What if he got lost in the snow, wandering into the woods until he collapsed? It would be days before they found his frozen then thawed body.

He stopped walking and took a few meditative breaths. His anxiety was always high, going into new social situations. He knew Justin Perkins really well—Justin had started the omega counseling center where Dean worked, and he made sure to meet and remember every employee. Dean admired him more than anyone else in the world.

He knew Justin’s husband too, though Ray was a little intimidating. And their son, the older one, was a chip off the alpha block. It was a little early to say on the little one, who was just a bundle of cute, and accompanied Justin on many of his visits to the center. But Dean thought he might end up more like Justin.

The others who would be there were strangers, though. Oh, Dean knew a few of them by name and face—several of the alphas’ mates had come through the center for counseling—but that wasn’t enough to ease his anxiety.

It was the whole meeting people part that was the worst. Once he knew enough people in a group and knew he got along with them, he had no problem. One of the other counselors, after a couple months of getting to know each other, had called Dean “the snarkiest piece of sass ever hidden behind a shy smile and an ‘aw, shucks.’”

Dean didn’t think he was the “aw, shucks” type, but shy? Yeah. At first.

He resumed his trudge through the snow. It wasn’t even the snow that was the worst part—his foot slipped sideways unexpectedly and he threw his arms out to balance himself. It was the ice. Melt during the day, ice at night. And then the snow hiding that treacherously slick surface underneath.

He could see the house from here. They were only a hundred yards off the main road, but up a slight incline. Dean did not want to slide back down and start this all over again. He reached out a red-mittened hand to catch a fat snowflake, and caught several.

Dean smiled. Growing up in Arizona, he’d never had a white Christmas as a kid. His mom had thought he was crazy, moving up to Chicago with all the wind and rain and snow. But once he’d met Justin and found out what his center did? Nothing could have stopped Dean from coming. He’d gone back to Arizona every Christmas though. Until last year.

This was his second Christmas without Mom. She’d passed two summers ago, and she had been his only family. Last year, he’d taken off on a cruise, thinking that would distract him. It had just made it worse, seeing families celebrating all around him.

He hadn’t expected that. He’d thought the cruise would have been full of solo people like himself.

He’d been planning on just staying home alone, but when Justin found out, he wouldn’t hear of it. Dean had been threatened with near-kidnapping if he didn’t at least show up for Christmas Eve dinner.

Dean would do anything for Justin, and he knew the older omega would have worried endlessly about Dean if he didn’t show. He’d certainly been tempted, between meeting strangers and the rough weather.

But here he was.

He stopped in front of the cheery, brightly lit front of the Perkins’ family home. He could already hear the hum of voices inside. It sounded happy. Comforting. Like family.

Okay, Dean, he started his pep talk to himself. You’re not intruding, right? Justin asked—no, demanded that you show up.

Yes, there will be a lot of alphas. You can handle them. They may be gruff and loud, but their bark is worse than their bite.

Dean pushed aside the rumors he’d heard about the twins on Ray’s team. It was ridiculous to think anyone would cut someone up with a rusty spoon. One, it was impossible. Two, they were the good guys. The rescued omegas who came through the center often had a sense of worship about Team ALPHA. That tended to make their stories a little more exaggerated. More grandiose.

Shaking his hands and rolling his head to stretch his neck, Dean continued to psych himself up.

You’ve got a doctorate, for crying out loud. You’ve helped hundreds of omegas reclaim their lives. That’s something to be respected.

His mom had always blamed herself for his shyness—she had been ten times worse than Dean. And there was definitely something to that. Dean was pretty sure anxiety just ran in their DNA. But he didn’t blame her for it. It was just something to deal with. He had meds for if it got too bad, and he wasn’t afraid to take them, but it had been a few years since he’d had an episode that severe.

Now remember to smile, but not that crazy freaked-out grin you default to. Practice now. Lips closed, squeeze your cheeks, feel your eyes crinkle—that’s a signal of a real smile. No, don’t open your lips that much, that’s your crazy clown grin.

Dean adjusted his shoulders and neck, trying to find what felt like a comfortable, natural pose while managing to convey a sense of confidence he didn’t have.

Of course, that was when the door to the house opened, right while Dean was pushing on his cheeks to try to massage his smile into something that wouldn’t give him lockjaw.

“Dean!” Justin Perkins exclaimed. “Come in.”

He either didn’t notice or just ignored Dean’s awkward expression. Probably the latter.

Justin hurried Dean in and helped him struggle out of his thick winter coat. Once that was hung up in the mudroom, Justin wrapped Dean in a hug. Dean hesitated, then returned the hug. It was warm and comforting. Dean hadn’t had a hug like this since his mom had died.

Dean felt awkward about not wanting to let go of this moment, to turn from the comfort of Justin’s fatherly embrace to the greetings of strangers, but he let go when Justin did.

“Come on in and join the family,” Justin said with a smile.

Dean’s lonely and battered heart latched on to those words. For a moment, he imagined that it wasn’t just an invitation to enter their home, but to enter their lives. He didn’t push that thought away. He savored it. He’d pretend it was true, for tonight at least.