Sean woke up to a warm, wet feeling. At first, he expected the worst. He looked down. There was a lump in the sheets and a set of curves missing from the spot next to him. Sean ripped off the sheet.

“Joy?” asked Sean, rubbing his eyes.

“Surprise,” said Joy. “Happy Turkey Day. Gobble-gobble.”

“Gobble-gobble indeed,” said Sean, putting his hands behind his head. “You know, I’m next in line to be Alpha, but I’m not the Alpha yet, so you don’t have to give me the royal treatment.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll stop,” said Joy, pulling her mouth off of Sean’s cock and looking up at him with eyes that were pleading innocent, even though they were damn guilty.

“N-n-n-no, no, no,” said Sean, putting his hand on the back of Joy’s head. “I’m just saying you don’t have to.”

“Don’t ‘have’ to? I’ll never have to,” said Joy, arms crossed. “You know what? Why don’t we pretend you never opened your mouth, and I’ll open mine? You just sit there and do what you do best: look real pretty.”

Joy went back to sucking on Sean’s shaft. She felt Sean take a sharp breath of air. She knew that he was already close. She knew how to work him like a jack-in-the-box. Helped that his shaft was always ready to get cranked. This time, she didn’t want his surprise to pop out at her and hit her in the eye. They were running out of eyedrops.

Soon, Joy had a mouthful of creamer, sans coffee.

“Spitting? Really?” asked Sean, as Joy spit into a napkin.

“I’m saving my appetite,” teased Joy. “This potluck’s gonna be huge.”

“Guess we should get ready to head over to the lodge,” said Sean.

“Not so fast,” said Joy. “I need mine.”

“Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be right on it,” said Sean.

“No,” said Joy, pulling her hands out from between her legs, where she’d been rubbing herself while sucking off Sean.

Joy pushed her hand towards Sean’s face and put two fingers in Sean’s mouth. Sean licked Joy’s juices off his fingers.

“Your hand’s not broken, is it?” asked Joy.

“No, but I have a feeling your tight pussy might break it,” said Sean.

“What about that tongue?” asked Joy. “You need to warm up and have something nutritious to eat before you spend all day eating. You’re the one who always goes on about the importance of stretching and warm-ups. So…want a warm up?”

Joy leaned back and spread her legs, revealing her wetness to Sean.

“Hot damn,” cursed Sean. “That oven’s hot.”

Sean got down on his stomach and buried his head between Joy’s legs. Just as Joy knew what made Sean tick, he knew what could make her pussy go ‘boom.’ He pressed two fingers into her canal while licking her clit, encouraging it to come out and play.

“This’d be a lot easier if your clit got morning wood,” said Sean.

“Less talking, more eating,” said Joy, shoving Sean’s head back down between her legs.

Sean’s bad boy ways hadn’t entirely been tamed away. Sean’s bad boy Naughtiness had rubbed off on Joy, who was becoming a downright bad bitch. She wasn’t afraid to get what she wanted, and if that meant she wanted to ride Sean’s head with her hips, pressing his whole face into the space between her thighs, well, she was gonna do it.

Joy came around Sean’s fingers, leaning back and barely catching herself with one hand against the mattress.

“Fuck,” moaned Joy, crawling back to her space next to Sean. “Just woke up and I already feel like I need some more sleep.”

“I could just stay in bed with you all day,” said Sean. “Nothing at that potluck will taste as good as that pussy. I could eat that thing all day.”

“Come on,” said Joy with a grin. “You know why we can’t do that.”

“Fine, fine,” said Sean. “Speaking of things we have to do…I have something to give you.”

“A present?” asked Joy.

“Consider it an early Christmas present,” said Sean.

Sean reached into his nightstand and pulled out a jewelry box. The jewelry box held a necklace. The necklace was on a medium weight gold chain. The necklace had a large pendant in the shape of a tree. The tree was hammered out of green gold for the leaves and pinkish gold for the trunk. Nestled in the tree was a small bird made of yellow gold. The bird was easy to miss, as the tree’s boughs had small golden fruits.

“Sean, you didn’t have to get me this,” said Joy.

“I know, but I thought it was fitting,” said Sean. “I had it custom made for you, out of Black Hills gold. I sent a custom order to a jeweler there. Their jewelry is famous for its nature motifs and the usage of those three colors: green, gold, pink. I thought the color scheme was fitting, given the upcoming season.”

“What kind of a bird is in the tree?” asked Joy.

“It’s a partridge in a pear tree,” said Sean. “On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me…”

“…A partridge in a pear tree,” sang Joy, completing the song.

“I fell in love with you the first day I met you,” said Sean. “Whenever I’m with you, it’s like I’m living that first day all over again.”

“Are you sure this is enough food?” asked Joy from the middle backseat, where she was making sure the big trays of food they’d just cooked up wouldn’t slide around. “At first, I thought we’d made too much, and now I’m worried we made too little…”

“It’s just right, Goldilocks,” joked Sean. “We’ll be bringing home enough leftovers to keep us fed ‘til Christmas.”

“Christmas, huh?” asked Joy. “Really makes you think about the time we spent at The Wreath. You’re the best gift I’d ever gotten for Christmas.”

“Does that mean I don’t have to get you anything ever again?” joked Sean.

“Say that one more time, and you’re getting a face of candied yams,” said Joy. “Last year really was special, though.”

“This year will be special too,” said Sean. “Christmas with Clan Marron is an event.”

“Bigger than Thanksgiving?” asked Joy.

“Oh, no way,” said Sean. “But any holiday’s big when it involves the Clan getting together. Even Arbor Day.”

“Are you sure they’re going to like me?” asked Joy.

“My parents love you,” said Sean. “The rest have to as well. And if they don’t? I dare’m to say a word about the Alpha’s daughter-in-law.”

“Future daughter-in-law,” corrected Joy.

“It’s nearly May,” said Sean. “You’ll be getting a new ring soon enough, honeybun. Then, you’ll be the future Alpha’s wife. Word of the woman who got the bad boy that was always running away from things, to run back home, to run down the path of Fate and into his Fated role of Alpha of Clan Marron, will become a legend in Clan Marron. They’ll sing songs about the woman who taught the prodigal son of the Alpha of Clan Marron that the true meaning of Christmas, and the true meaning of being a shifter, was spreading joy.”

“Ugh, you’re so sentimental,” said Joy as Sean pulled into the lot. “You’re going to make me cry. I don’t think anyone would like to give a hug to a gal with mascara running down her face.”

“Don’t move,” said Sean, opening his door. “I’ll get the first loads in on my own.”

“No you won’t,” said a familiar voice, coming from a very pregnant looking woman.

“Emily?” asked Sean. “Is that you?”

“In the flesh,” said Emily, rubbing her belly. “When I heard you’d found your fated mate, I could hardly believe it, but…there’s no denying it now. You gonna open the door and introduce her to me or what?”

“Sorry,” said Sean, opening the door to the car. “Joy, this is one of my friends in the Clan, Emily. I’ve told you about how Emily is the one responsible for our meeting. Emily, meet Joy. She just finished moving up to Nuthusk last month. Can you believe we had to do an LDR for almost a year? Nearly killed me. You’ll make sure to introduce her to everyone, won’t you?”

“I absolutely will,” said Emily. “It’s great to meet you, Joy. I can’t believe Sean finally found someone not only willing to put up with his shizz but capable of taming his wild bad boy side.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emily. I owe you so much for helping bring Sean into my life. But, introducing me to people…I thought Sean would do that,” said Joy, furrowing a brow.

“Sean…has a quick job he’s gonna have to do,” said Emily. “Let me help you with those trays.”

“But you’re pregnant,” blurted out Joy. “Oops. Sorry. I mean…”

“I’m not just pregnant, hon. I’m very pregnant,” said Emily. “They’re thinking triplets.”

“Triplets? Wow,” said Joy, helping unload the trays into Sean and Emily’s arms.

“It’s a small litter,” said Emily. “All four of my mates’ll be fighting over who gets to do diaper duty. It’s gonna be quite the show.”

Emily, Joy, and Sean carried the various dishes into the Clan lodge, where they placed them on buffet tables, and Emily started to introduce Joy to everyone in the Clan, while Sean talked to his father.

“Joy, Emily and I will be right back,” said Sean.

“Where are you going?” asked Joy.

“Remember how we met?” asked Sean, careful to choose his words as they were in mixed company. “There’re seven more Naughty boys in Clan Marron, and they’re all going to need to spend some time at The Wreath. The Council needs me there to ‘soften the blow’ when I take this year’s bad boy in for orientation.”

Sean gave Joy a kiss on the cheek and headed out of the room, taking a turn down a hallway rather than out to the parking lot.

“And I have to work my magic,” said Emily. “You see that car over there? The shifter who’s about to get out?”

“Yeah?” asked Joy.

Joy looked at the tall buff man with disheveled hair. That didn’t seem very special, but the fact the back of his car was filled with pieces of clothing covered in sequins and glitters definitely made Joy raise an eyebrow.

“That’s Ryan Rex,” said Emily. “He’s a ‘male entertainer,’ an ‘exotic dancer,’ a stripper at Bear Buns Seattle. None of that’s scandalous. What’s scandalous is that he’s still single! He’s not that different than Sean is…or rather, was, before he was sent up North. This year, Ryan’s going to have to learn the meaning of Christmas…the hard way.”

“Do you think he’ll find his fated mate?” asked Joy, looking at Sean as he left. She couldn’t believe her luck. In the end…Goldilocks got her bear. The third time was the charm. She’d fallen into the romance that was meant for her, the one that was just right.

“There’s only one way to find out, and that starts with me doing what I do best,” said Emily, shooting Joy a smile before Emily went outside to change the stripper’s life forever.