I could have left. Hell, I probably should have left.

Yet I was here, wondering if the Dozing Dragon really was magical after all. 

And what was that spark that had passed between us?

I’d hastily brushed it off. Told him it was static electricity, nothing more. But the way my heart raced, the way my soul sung out for him? I knew that wasn’t the case. 

It was almost like I was meant to find him here. Like I was meant to get stuck in the snow with this grumpy alpha. Like I had a part in all of this, somehow. Some way.

When I’d walked up the hill to check on the Dozing Dragon, I hadn’t actually expected the spirits to be telling the truth. But there it was. The sign on the door saying ‘closed for business’, and Nellie nowhere to be found.

Only, I’d found something else instead. 

Her son.

I remembered him vaguely from my first years here in the Valley. I hadn’t really taken a chance to get to know anyone, back then. I was still in survival mode after escaping from my old town. Seeing ghosts and hearing voices? Anywhere but here, that was liable to get you thrown in the hospital. Or worse.

Even here, with all the magic and diversity around us, I still held on to some of those lingering fears. I’d learned well enough that if I ever showed my true self, nothing good would come of it. So I didn’t. I kept to myself. Ran my little flower shop. Kept busy.

Until I ran right into Sebastian, and everything changed.

I took a breath and decided to try to make conversation. Anything to cut through this awkward silence. “So how was it, after you left the Valley?” If there was one thing I’d learned from staying here, it was that most people didn’t leave. They either grew up here, or found the place when they needed it most. But I remembered Sebastian making the announcement that he was leaving for business school in the big city. It was quite a big deal, back then, for one of us to go back into the human world. But I knew, even back then, that this alpha had greater ambitions than Vale Valley. I admired that, in a way. Even had a little bit of a crush on him before he left.

Not that I ever did anything about it, of course. He was destined for so much more than a shy little omega like me.

But now he was here, and we were sitting in front of Nellie’s fireplace with hot cocoa and candy canes and a glittering tree watching us.

Like every cheesy holiday movie ever, I grinned at the thought.

“Different,” Sebastian said, reclining back into the plush armchair. He put his feet up on an ottoman and regarded me over the rim of his mug. “I grew up here, you know. Didn’t know what it was like.”

“And wanderlust got a hold of you?” I offered.

Sebastian smiled. I could get used to that. “Something like that.”

“I heard you’re doing pretty well for yourself.”

He took a few moments to answer this time, regarding his cocoa with ferocious intensity. “I stay busy,” he said finally. “Was actually in the middle of closing a huge deal right before I got the news.”

“Oh.” My heart sank. Of course he had a life outside the Valley. There were people that depended on him. It was foolish to think that he would stay.

And yet, my heart yearned for just that.

“You’ll be heading back up to New York, then?” I asked. I already knew the answer.

Sebastian paused for a moment, pursing his lips in thought. His eyebrows knitted together, forming a deep crease on his forehead. “Yeah,” he said at last. “I’ve got work to do.”

“And the Dozing Dragon?” My voice shook. I couldn’t help it. “It’s yours now, by law. What are you going to do with it?”

This time the alpha didn’t answer. Tension clouded between us, neither one of us willing to make the next move. My heart was sinking, and something deep inside me wailed with the loss of something I’d never even had. 

He was leaving. He didn’t care about this place. Didn’t care about the Valley. 

Don’t get attached, I told myself through gritted teeth.

Too late, came the voice from inside me.

“Hey,” Sebastian spoke up after what seemed like forever. He drained his mug and set it back on the tray. “I can probably stay until the Festival of Fire, at least. It was always my favorite part of the season.”

My face fell. He didn’t know. And I didn’t know how to tell him.

“Seb,” I started, liking the way the nickname felt on my tongue. “We...we haven’t had the Festival in years. There was a fire, and someone died, and...” I stared at the ground, trying to ignore the lump in my throat. “We haven’t had the heart to do it since.”

Not just someone, I reminded myself. The one person who’d taken me in when I first got to the Valley with nothing more than the clothes on my back.

Sebastian’s eyes widened. His face fell and yet another shadow of grief passed over him. I shouldn’t have said anything. First to lose his mother, and then the Festival...

“Jesus,” Sebastian muttered. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “You couldn’t have.”

Because you abandoned your home, was what I couldn’t voice.

And so we sat there, watching the flames and dreaming of better days. 

I was walking down a long corridor. It looked like the ones in the Dozing Dragon, but different somehow. Like the house had gained a mind of its own and started shifting things around. I kept walking, but still the endless hall stretched out before me. What did it mean?

“Hello?” I called into the darkness. I didn’t really expect an answer. But one came.

A ghostly figure floated out of the wall just in front of me and I jumped backward in surprise. No matter how many times I saw them, they always startled me. Stupid ghosts, just popping up whenever they felt like it! The whole ‘coming out of the walls’ thing was kinda hard to get used to, as well. 

The ghost turned to face me and I swear my heart must have stopped dead in my chest. 

That was no ordinary ghost. That was Nellie Wallace, former proprietor of the Dozing Dragon. Sebastian’s mother. 

The spirits I saw usually were random passersby. No one I knew. But this was definitely Nellie, and if she was here, that meant she had a message for me.

“It’s good to see you again, dear,” she said, her voice just like it had been in life, if a little more tenuous.

“What are you doing here?” A shiver rocked through me from head to foot.

“I’ve got a job for you, boy.” She grinned that Cheshire Cat grin, and snapped her fingers. In an instant, everything went black and the chime of a grandfather clock echoed in my ears. 

“Wha?” I mumbled, snapping awake. The chimes continued, and I realized they were coming from Nellie’s old clock she kept in the den. I peered with blurry, sleep-riddled eyes toward it. 

Midnight.

I must have fallen asleep. Rubbing my eyes, I tried to get my bearings. I was in the Dozing Dragon. There were two empty cocoa mugs on the tray beside me. And where did this blanket come from?

I picked at the soft, woolen hand-knit. I didn’t remember any blanket before I fell asleep.

And that meant...

Thoughts came back to me now, filling in the gaps. 

I’d come here to check on Nellie. But Nellie was dead. Instead, I found her son, returned from New York to deal with his mother’s affairs. 

Sebastian.

Even thinking the name sent a shiver of need through my body. I had always been good at falling for the wrong people, but this took the cake. There was nothing between us. I’d helped him out of respect for Nellie, that was all. 

But it isn’t, the little voice in the back of my mind whispered. You want him. 

And this was far from the first time I had wanted something I couldn’t have. 

He’d be done with this place soon enough, and jet back to New York City with his big skyscrapers and fancy suits. He’d chosen that life, and who was I to tear him away from it?

I tossed the blanket aside and stood up, bracing for a moment on the side of the chair until I got my balance. Sebastian was nowhere to be seen, and the house was so big and labyrinthine I probably couldn’t find him if I tried. Instead, I focused on the next step in front of me. 

I’d imposed long enough. It was time to leave.

I flipped on the porch light and peered out the chilly windows. The wind and snow had let up, finally, and the town hung suspended in the quiet embrace of winter. Snow drifts pressed against trees and down the road sloping toward the center of town, but the storm had passed.

Who knew when it would return again, so I grabbed my coat off the hook and made for the door.

“Will?” The voice called. 

At first, I thought it was another spirit playing tricks on me. But then I recognized that voice. That was Sebastian.

I followed the source of the sound down a long hallway not unlike the one in my dreams. I turned a corner and there he was, hunched over a desk with a notebook and laptop by his side. 

He turned to face me. “You’re awake.” There was no surprise there. Simply stating the facts. I looked beyond him and saw a spreadsheet filled with numbers and graphs on his screen. Even in the dead of night, he just couldn’t stop working.

“I was trying to be quiet,” he added, shifting in his seat.

“You didn’t wake me.” I shook my head. “But I think I need to go. It’s late.”

Sebastian tilted his head. “Now? It’s the middle of the night.”

“Weren’t you just trying to get rid of me earlier?” I teased, remembering how he’d tried to shoo me away when I first arrived.

That silenced him. 

“Besides,” I added. “The storm has let up at last. I wanna get out of here while I still can.”

Seb’s eyes flashed with something I couldn’t name. Loneliness? Loss? It was gone in an instant, and he regained his steely demeanor. “If that is your wish,” he said, and then added, “Thank you, Will. For the help today.”

I tried to ignore the tugging at my heart. The singing in my soul. Dammit, I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted an alpha before, and it was that much worse because I knew I couldn’t have him. I had to get out of here while I still had my sanity. 

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “Thanks for everything, but I’ve really got to go.”

I turned and walked back down the hallway, cursing myself at every step. This was for the best. It had to be.

I was standing under the doorway when I heard footsteps behind me. 

“Wait,” Seb called out. I froze, and a tiny spark of hope flared within me. What was it now? 

I turned around and he was standing there, watching me. Those gold flecks in his eyes were brighter than ever, watching me with an intensity that both unnerved and aroused me. 

“What?” I crossed my arms, and then I happened to notice what was hanging right above me. 

Mistletoe. 

You have got to be kidding me.

It all came back to me now. In fact, I was the one that made this delivery. Nellie always wanted all the seasonal plants for the holidays, so I’d delivered several wreaths along with holly, poinsettias, and—oh, right—mistletoe. Never mind the fact that we had very strict guidelines for handling it. It was known to trigger heats in unmated omegas, and none of us wanted to deal with that on the job.

But now, standing in front of this alpha with his lingering scent calling me closer? I almost hoped it would.

“Huh,” I said, a nervous laugh coming out. “Would you look at that.” I pointed upward. 

“Oh, the mistletoe?” Sebastian asked. His eyes flashed golden once more. “What about it?”

I sputtered. 

“Mom was into all those superstitions.” Seb shrugged.

I raised an eyebrow. “Superstitions?” I repeated. “Come on, man. Everyone knows the meaning of mistletoe. When we get it into the shop, it even comes with special instructions on handling it. Quite the naughty plant, depending on who you ask. Some of the old witches here use them for fertility treatments, I think. They call it the Life-Giver.”

I was blushing just saying that. Why did he care? And why did I suddenly feel rooted to the spot, unable to think or breathe?

“Legends,” Sebastian said dismissively, waving his hand. “Nellie was full of them. I’ve dedicated my life to reason, not magic.”

“What are you implying?” I asked, cocking my hip out to one side. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and suddenly I felt feisty. I didn’t know why I was challenging him on this when I was supposed to be hightailing it back home, but something pressed me forward.

“It doesn’t work,” the alpha repeated, crossing his arms. “Old wive’s tales.”

“Oh yeah?” I retorted, flaring my nostrils. “Prove it.”

Then Sebastian advanced on me like a predator stalks his prey. He never took his eyes off mine and as he closed the distance between us, he growled. 

“Maybe I will.”