Epilogue
Christmas Day
Ryan came awake suddenly as the sun set. He lay in the darkness humming “Jingle Bells” under his breath.
The realization stopped him short.
It was Christmas Day. And he was filled with a sense of anticipation he hadn’t felt in…forever. He couldn’t wait to get out and go find Winter and Liam, to share Christmas with them.
Then a sweet scent tickled his nostrils. Someone cleared their throat, and a smile tugged at his lips. He opened his eyes and found her perched at the bottom of his bed. Tonight, she was dressed in a red leather minidress, trimmed with white fluff, thigh high shiny red boots, and a matching hat. Christ, she looked cute.
“You’re awake,” she said. “It’s about time. We’ve all been waiting for you.”
He pushed himself up, dragging the sheet with him, then patted the mattress at his side. “Come join me.”
“No way. My dad’s upstairs.” She shuddered.
He could see her point. Her dad was seriously scary. “He’s back, then?” They’d only been briefly introduced last night. Apparently, coming to rescue Winter had put him behind schedule. He’d dashed off to finish whatever he should have been doing on Christmas Eve, but with the promise to join them this evening for dinner.
Christmas dinner with Father Christmas.
Ryan was still trying to get his head around it. His new girlfriend’s dad was Father-fucking-Christmas. Though he was a pretty freaking scary Father Christmas. Hell, the fact that Ryan even had a girlfriend was weird enough. After everything they’d been through together, he felt he could call Winter that, even though they’d agreed—no commitment. It was enough, for now, that she wanted to spend time with him.
“Oh yes, he’s here,” she said, jumping from the bed. “And he’s dying to meet you properly.” She grabbed a pile of clothes from the chair and tossed them to him. “Get dressed.”
“Where’s Liam?” he asked as he pulled on the clothes and sat down to put on his boots. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. He slept until lunchtime and now he’s helping Roz cook Christmas dinner.”
He didn’t think Roz could cook. Anyway, he knew the only thing he wanted for dinner. He lunged for her as she sashayed past, pulling her onto his knee and kissing her. For a moment, she relaxed against him and kissed him back.
“My dad will come looking for us,” she warned. “Though there was something I wanted to show you before we join the others.” She reached into the top of her boot and pulled out a worn piece of paper, then handed it to him.
“What is it?”
“Just read it.”
He smoothed out the paper and read the letter, felt his heart tighten in his chest. He read it again, his finger running over the tear-stained words. Liam was right—he was a dickhead.
“That’s what started all this,” she said.
He lowered his head and rested it against her breasts, breathing in her sweet scent. “Thank you for making it happen.”
“It was my pleasure.”
He held her hand as they headed to Piers’ apartment, one floor up.
Last night, he’d been sure that they were all going to die. He relived the moment when she’d sprouted wings and flown straight for Marissa. His heart had nearly stopped. “Maybe your dad’s right—you should be confined to the house.”
“Ha. Try it, lover-boy.”
But he didn’t really want to clip her wings. “How about from now on, we keep each other safe.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He stopped at the door, lowered his head to kiss her for moral support, just as it opened.
“Hey,” Piers said. “It’s the Leader of the Pack and his bodyguard.”
“Fuck off.”
Apparently, that was another thing…and something Winter had failed to mention when she was screaming at him to challenge Marissa last night. He’d killed the old alpha. Now, he was the Leader of the Pack, not a position he’d ever aspired to. But that was something to worry about after the holidays.
“Hey, how come you never told me Father Christmas was real?” he asked Piers as they stepped past him.
“It never occurred to me that you didn’t know. We’ve been trying to recruit him for years.”
Ryan nodded at Winter’s dad across the room. He was watching them with his one eye. Ryan guessed he was going to get a grilling at some point that evening, but he’d put it off as long as possible.
Roz came over, Liam beside her, carrying a tray of drinks. Ryan handed a glass to Winter and took one for himself.
“How are you doing?” he asked Liam.
“I feel like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole, but otherwise…okay. It’s actually all pretty cool and no one has tried to eat me or anything.” Then he edged closer. “Is that guy over there really Father Christmas?”
“Yeah. I know you wrote to him.”
“You’re kidding? He got my letter?”
“Yes. So you’ll want to say thank you, at some point.” He grinned. “I might not be everyone’s idea of a great Christmas present, but at least you got what you asked for.”
“Wow.”
“I’ll take him over,” Winter said.
Ryan watched them go, then looked around and sighed. It had taken him a while to realize it, but these people were his family. He loved them. And suddenly, he knew that Winter was going to be shit out of luck with the no-commitment thing. But he’d break that to her slowly. After all, they had time.
He stepped into the middle of the room. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. He blew out his breath. He could do this.
He looked at Piers. “I guess I never actually said it before…but thank you. Thank you for saving my life…sort of. For trying to keep me alive, and for giving me the best bodyguard ever.”
“Hear, hear,” Winter said.
Then he turned to include everyone else in the room. “And thank you all for being here with me at Christmas. Because Christmas is for families. And you people are mine.”
“Shit,” Piers muttered. “I might cry.”
Ryan ignored him. He raised his glass. “To families. May we always be together at Christmas.”
And everyone raised their glasses in return. “Happy Christmas.”
If you loved Bittersweet Christmas, don’t miss book one in The Order series, Bittersweet Blood. Turn the page to start reading!
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