~

 

“One of us doesn’t need to be here, and the other one is chum,” Natalie whispered to her friend as they stood close by the front door of the cabin, ready to make their escape.

“Chum?” Saffy looked confused.

“You know, dog food…”

“Dog food!” Saffy shot back with a wide-eyed look of surprise.

“Mincemeat.”

“Will you stop?” Saffy scowled.

She eyed the open plan living room with its vaulted ceiling, cross beams, and open fireplace. It felt quite homely — and that was worrying, because it wasn’t home and she didn’t think she’d want it to be, not unless the pack moved away.

Her heart did race a little at the sight of the large, fine Christmas tree stood against the far corner of the room in all of its grandeur. The lights twinkled, the tinsel glittered, and the mixed baubles drew her in.

The pack certainly knew how to do Christmas.

“I hate to say this because it sounds a little mercenary,” Natalie whispered.

“Tell me when that’s ever stopped you before,” Saffy shot back and Natalie frowned.

“Fine, then I don’t hate to say it – I hope it’s you,” Natalie saw the surprise on her friend’s face and grimaced. Now she felt guilty.

“Gee, thanks,” Saffy’s tone dripped with acidity.

“Let me tell you why ” Natalie reasoned. Then she expanded her hands and motioned toward the Christmas tree. “You’ll fit right in.”

“Would you stop with your hatred of Christmas?” Saffy rolled her eyes.

“I can’t. It’s woven in my DNA,” Natalie shrugged.

“Don’t you think you have more to worry about right now?” Saffy lifted her hand and motioned towards the alpha.

Both witches stared long and hard at him. The man was pulling on a pair of faded jeans — they both tipped their heads to the side and watched as if spellbound as he covered up his lower body.

“He’s not entirely without…” Natalie started and stopped.

“Without what?” Saffy frowned.

“Without — his — charms?” Natalie frowned as well.

“You so like the alpha!” Saffy announced, and she was sure that she heard Natalie’s neck snap as she spun her head and glared at her friend.

“I so bloody well do not!” Natalie hissed out.

“You like the alpha — you like the alpha,” Saffy’s singsong tone annoyed Natalie even more.

“Have you been on the stupid juice again?” Natalie hissed in a whisper as she nudged her friend in the ribs, and caused her to catch a breath. At least the singing had ended.

“Play nice,” Saffy hissed.

“Then stop being juvenile,” Natalie berated her.

“I think you doth protest too much,” Saffy hissed back.

“I think you’ve overdosed on Christmas,” Natalie grumbled back.

At the sight and sound of the witches bickering, Tom offered the alpha a taunting chuckle. Doug groaned inwardly — he wasn’t going to give the elder the satisfaction of making his feelings public.

“Yes, very, very interesting,” the elder chuckled.

 

~

~

~

 

Doug stood in front of the open fireplace. His arm rested against the ledge above.

He was thinking, caught deep in thought and staring into the dancing flames when the front door opened, and the sound of thumping boots against the outside doormat woke him up to the fact that his pack had started to arrive for the festivities.

He groaned inwardly once more. The witches might have retreated to his bedroom, but it was only a matter of time before he would have to introduce them to his pack as a whole.

The elder had found amusement in his predicament. Rex had reacted with disbelief. The handful of females that were in the kitchen preparing a pack feast had been giving him funny looks and chattering amongst themselves as they offered him a wide berth, going in and out of the main room placing platters of food on the tables.

All that was about to change. His whole pack was about to gather for the Christmas Eve feast — and he still didn’t know which witch was his mate.

That atrocity was going to end. He was going to stalk up to that bedroom and make the witch, Natalie, remove her spell from him.

“That smells good!” Jonathan announced as he slammed the door behind him and started to shuck off his jacket.

“Don’t…!” The alpha exclaimed.

Jonathan froze in place, one arm in and one arm out of his jacket, and he slowly turned his head on his neck and narrowed his eyes on the alpha. The beta looked as if someone had just cracked his head with a baseball bat.

Dazed and confused, Jonathan didn’t move a muscle. Doug didn’t move a muscle either as he stared back at the man.

“What’s — that — smell?” Jonathan was hesitant to sniff the air once more.

“Smell?” Doug swallowed hard.

“Kind of like…” Jonathan could quite find the words to describe it.

“Like a bad smell?” The alpha’s heart raced as he urged him on.

“No — nope,” Jonathan screwed up his face and tried to place the smell. He gave a gentle sniff.

“Don’t…” The alpha grimaced.

“That’s…” Jonathan twisted his head on his neck, raised his chin in the air, and gave a few small sniffs.

“That’s not a good idea,” the alpha chuckled in disbelief.

“Looks like you’re warning came too late,” Tom chuckled from his fireside seat.

“Meaning?” Jonathan turned his attention towards the elder, his eyes narrowed, and his head twisted on his neck again.

“Oh!” Tom offered the man a beaming grin. “Trust me; you’ll figure it out.”

“Oh no!” The alpha grumbled.

“It’s like…” Jonathan took a deeper sniff of the air. His eyes widened — his beast rose up within him — and he gave a long, hard, deep growl. “Witches!” His eyes snapped back to the elder. Then they flicked to the alpha.

“It certainly is,” Doug said as he grimaced once more.

“But it’s like…” Jonathan couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Mine…

The beta snapped his head back on his neck and gave a fast shake of his head in disbelief.

“Take your time,” Tom chuckled.

“I — just…” Jonathan struggled with the next word.

Then he raised his hand, and he held a finger out like he was testing which direction the wind was coming from, for one moment he didn’t look as if he knew what to do next. He looked more constipated than sure of himself.

He gave a loud grunt before pulling open the front door, shoving his head outside, and taking a really big whiff of the freezing cold air.

The beta snatched his head back in, tossed the door closed, and took another deep sniff. Then he groaned like a man in pain.

“We’ve got all night,” Tom chuckled. He was enjoying himself.

Two witches. Two shifters. The poop was surely about to hit the fan, and the elder had a front row seat.

“Who the hell brought witches here?” The beta would kill him with his own two hands.