Chapter 22

“Is everyone ready to eat? It’s time,” Owen said, not sure how this was going to go over as far as feeding Candice and Strom was concerned.

Jim jogged down the hall to the back rooms, and Owen assumed he was gathering some clothes for his boss, just like Owen needed to do for Candice. Owen slipped the clothes she’d wanted to wear for the special occasion into a backpack and brought it with him.

Then he repacked their stuff on the other sled, and he and Jim rode the snowmobiles over to the MacPhersons’ house while Strom and Candice ran behind them.

She even nipped at her uncle’s tail twice, so thrilled he was here and no longer upset she was a wolf. Not when he wore his jaguar coat just for her.

She lunged for his tail a third time, and he turned so fast she wasn’t expecting it—and tackled her! She woofed and growled with excitement, and attacked him right back, though he had the advantage of being a much bigger male jaguar. She barked in delight, and they continued on their way. Though at one point, she paused, lifted her chin, and howled with joy, telling everyone just how happy she was to be here with them, the rest of the wolf pack, and now her uncle.

* * *

Owen didn’t know how the kids would react to seeing Strom as a jaguar, though they’d loved playing with Everett and Demetria when they visited. He wasn’t sure how Strom would react to them either. Owen got the impression kids weren’t part of his lifestyle. Everyone was so welcoming, as if jaguars were part of the wolf pack, and Owen was proud of being one of its members.

“Merry Christmas,” Owen said in greeting as Cameron and his triplets crowded around their father at the door. “This is Strom Hart and his assistant, Jim Winchester. They’ve come bringing presents.”

“Oh heavens,” Faith said, wiping her hands on a dish towel and joining them. “The kids will be spoiled.”

Everyone was thrilled to see them, and the kids were excited about seeing Strom, telling him all about how Demetria was a black jaguar too. “How can you be Candice’s uncle if you’re a jaguar?” Corey asked.

“No, Corey, he was turned like Candice was. Except he was turned by a jaguar.” Owen didn’t bother to explain she had been adopted. To her, Strom was her flesh-and-blood uncle, more now that they were both shifters.

“A little jaguar like I met at the day care?” Corey asked.

“No, he was a little older.” Owen smiled, unable to tell the pup what had really happened.

“I should have bitten him so he would be an Arctic wolf too,” Corey said, eyeing all the shiny new presents.

They all laughed.

But then Faith said, “No biting to change people, Corey.”

“I was just kidding,” Corey said, as if he was afraid he was going to be in trouble again for the last time he changed someone.

Smiling down at him, Faith ruffled his hair.

“Can we open them now?” Nick asked, bouncing up and down on his toes.

“It’s up to everyone else,” Faith said in her strict momma-knows-best voice.

Strom and Candice shook the snow from their coats and came inside. Candice woofed her approval, and Owen said, “Candice votes for opening them.”

“Kids should never have to wait,” Jim agreed.

Everyone else said it worked for them, so the kids tore off the wrapping paper to see their new gifts. Everyone opened the presents Strom had brought for them before dinner, and Candice tore into several of her packages with her teeth, though if she thought the items might be breakable, she waited for Owen to unwrap them.

The kids gave everyone gingerbread cookies they’d helped make and decorate.

Everyone in the pack had gifts for Strom and whoever might accompany him in case he and someone else showed up for the celebration. They were more generic than anything, since the pack had not been sure what to give a billionaire who had everything. But he seemed thrilled they’d thought of him. Owen wondered if Strom never received gifts.

An hour later, Candice had the urge to shift back into her human form and headed to the guest bedroom where Owen had left her clothes. She was thrilled to be able to join the group like this. When she came out of the room dressed and ready to eat, Strom rubbed up against her and then loped back to the room to shift and dress.

Then she and Strom could eat with the rest of the adults. She hadn’t wanted them to wait, but she was thankful they had. The kids had eaten earlier, and now they were playing with their new toys.

“We’re going to South Dakota to sell my place as soon as it’s safe to do so,” Candice said as she dug into her turkey. “We should be fine then.”

“If you want to go sooner, my jet can fly you there,” Strom said. “Or I can have Jim handle everything for you so you don’t even have to return there.”

Candice smiled at her uncle. “Thanks, Uncle Strom. But I need to sort things out myself.”

Owen couldn’t believe how much Candice’s uncle wanted to help them and was glad about it, but he didn’t think they needed his help in this.

“We’re going during the waning crescent moon.”

“Okay. Well, if you run into any trouble at all, let me know.”

“Thanks, Uncle Strom. We will.”

Strom turned to Faith and said, “My chef could learn a thing or two from you.”

Faith blushed and thanked him.

Though they tried to convince him to stay with them until they left for South Dakota, Strom had important business to take care of. Moreover, Jim was overseeing the sale of her estate near Houston, and they’d already had a couple of nibbles. But Candice and Owen promised to return to Houston next month and really spend some quality time visiting Strom.

“No telling where you might end up when you come to visit,” Jim warned them, smiling. “One time, Mr. Hart said he wanted to go to this really great French restaurant. I was flabbergasted when we ended up in Paris.”

Strom laughed. “It is my favorite French restaurant.”

* * *

Several days later when they could safely leave Minnesota, Candice and Owen drove to South Dakota. The day after they arrived, they met with a Realtor and began packing up Candice’s personal items and any food they could take with them. When she had left there to go to Minnesota with Owen initially, she had no real notion of moving, so she hadn’t even considered the food she had in the fridge. She was glad she had Owen to help her move this time.

Because of weather conditions, it had taken them longer to arrive in South Dakota, and once they were there, it was going to take some time to pack everything and be ready to move. Candice had already scheduled a mover. That meant they were running into the next moon phase.

It was amazing how much she had to clear out, then remove everything from the walls, spackle and paint, and just plain…clean.

They’d spent another long day of it, but she really felt like she needed a wolf run before they crashed in bed and ravished each other. Sometimes they didn’t wait until nighttime. It was sexy making a meal, her wearing her Naughty Christmas List apron, and him wearing his Extremely Hot apron—naked.

That usually meant meals were started and forgotten for a little bit. But they needed fodder for their romance novels too.

“Let’s run before we go to bed, okay?” she asked.

“Sounds like a great idea. We’ve been so busy that we haven’t had a chance. And it would be fun to have some runs before we leave here for good.”

“Absolutely.” She tossed her clothes in the bedroom, and he hurried to join her.

He pulled her into his arms and smiled down at her. “How did I ever get so lucky?”

“It all started with one little wolf pup—”

“I’ll have to remember to thank him. But not in front of his mom and dad.”

She smiled and kissed Owen. Then before they ended up in bed again, she said, “Last one out the door has to do the dishes.”

She shifted and raced out of the bedroom and down the hall, across the living room, and bolted through the wolf door.

He was right next to her, running like the wind, nuzzling her, and she was nipping at him. They chased each other, tackling, biting, barking, and having a ball. Then they heard snowmobilers coming around the mountain, the telltale sound of them trying to best each other as they dove for the peak, and the rumble of an avalanche.

There were two of them this time, and she hoped the snowmobilers got away in time, but nothing could outrun an avalanche if they were too close to it. The snowmobiles were now silent, not a good sign.

She looked at Owen, and he barked at her. She licked his cheek. And then the decision was made, though she didn’t think they would have done anything differently. Hopefully, they weren’t two of the same men who’d thought they could cheat death. She hoped someone was in the clear so he could call for help, and no one had access to a camera this time.

When they reached the site of the avalanche, they heard men shouting to each other as they started their engines. “Holy shit! Did you see that?”

“Hell yeah. Didn’t think you’d make it out of there alive. Let’s try on the other side.”

“Okay.” They tore off, away from the avalanche and where Candice and Owen were listening.

She woofed at him, and he agreed. It was time to enjoy each other in the privacy of her home, and let the risk-takers take care of themselves. She was glad that where they were going wasn’t avalanche country. Yet, that incident was what had made her leave South Dakota in the first place, and she’d be forever grateful that the men had survived and she and Owen had found a new life together.

Owen would never let Candice know that if he’d been one of the snowmobilers, he probably would have done the same thing as them. He loved his mate and couldn’t wait to make love to her again. He looked forward to being home with her, but he was having fun with her here too.

As soon as they were in the house, had reached the bedroom, and shifted, he tackled her on the bed, with packing boxes stacked everywhere. “Have I told you just how wild I am about you?”

“Every day. As much as I am about you.”

Tomorrow was another busy packing and cleaning day—they were running out of time before her shifting problem returned. But for now, they were in wolf heaven. And every day brought a new adventure. Some would even be in their books, but who got which ones to write about was another story.

All that mattered to them was that they got to live their happily ever after.

Order Terry Spear’s next book
in the White Wolf series

Flight of the White Wolf

On sale March 2018