Eamonn Costello replayed the events of the last week in his head. He’d done a lot of bad things in his life, but few were things he’d call mistakes. Fuel for good stories, maybe, but not mistakes.

This time, Eamonn had made a mistake.

There was no way he hadn’t lost his sponsorships and his spot on the team. The only reason he didn’t know for sure was that he’d been in lockdown since the incident happened. Everything was a blur. He’d blacked out as a bear, woken up wrapped in an orange jumpsuit with a pair of shiny new bracelets around his hand. He’d been hustled into the cop car without being given the opportunity to make a call.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out where they were taking him.

Eamonn kept his head down, through five transfers and six states. He didn’t bother fighting back. He didn’t need to hear another set of cops read him his rights to know that anything he did or said could be used against him, not only in a court of human law but in the council chambers of the Clan Elders of Clan Marron.

The police car pulled into a bumpy lot and came to a stop. The cops exited, and soon, he was dragged out of the car and onto his feet.

“Come on, Eamonn, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way,” said a familiar voice.

“Emily?” asked Eamonn. “Is that you?”

“Yes, but there’s no time for us to talk,” said Emily. “Kevin, take his other arm.”

Eamonn turned. One of the other bad boys of Clan Marron, Kevin, was taking his other arm.

“I can walk on my own,” said Eamonn.

“Yeah, like we’d trust you to do that,” said Emily. “We can’t even trust you to stay out of trouble. Come on.”

Eamonn walked to the lodge, Emily taking one of his arms and Kevin holding the other, making sure Eamonn wouldn’t escape. Eamonn’s cheeks burned. How many members of the Clan were watching this spectacle? Emily and Kevin walked Eamonn down a familiar hall.

“In there,” said Emily. “You got it from here, Kevin?”

“Yep,” said Kevin.

Emily opened the door, and Kevin pulled Eamonn into the council chambers, towards a solitary chair in the center of the room. Kevin sat Eamonn down before going to take his own seat.

“Eamonn Costello, do you know why you’re here today?” asked a familiar low voice.

“Yes,” growled Eamonn. “I know why I’m here, Jasper.”

The Clan Alpha cleared his throat.

“That’s not why you’re here today,” said Jasper. “You’re here today because you’re in danger of mate madness. Fate just delivered you to us in a rather…unorthodox way.”

“I’m here today because of my own actions,” said Eamonn. “No need to sugarcoat it. I had one Hell of a night.”

“What exactly did you do?” asked Kevin.

“I put the ‘disorderly’ in ‘drunk and disorderly conduct.’ Hit on the wrong women, got in all the right fights,” said Eamonn with a smirk. “Never go to a party full of strippers, truckers, and pharmaceutical accountants, especially as a football player without a team to back him up.”

“And?” asked Jasper.

“And, I may’ve put my hands on some things that didn’t quite belong to me,” said Eamonn. “They call it ‘stealing,’ I call it a prank. What does one guy need with all those trophies anyway?”

“And?” asked Jasper.

“And, I may’ve used one of those trophies as a spittoon,” admitted Eamonn. “And then used it to scratch up his new sports car.”

“And?” asked Jasper.

“And, I may’ve scratched the word ‘douchebag’ into the paint,” said Eamonn. “But hey. At least I used cursive.”

“Congrats. That’s not why you’re here. At least, it’s not the only reason,” said Jasper. “You’re here because you’re succumbing to mate madness. You haven’t claimed your fated mate, Eamonn – and that’s why your behavior is so erratic. You know it’s true. If you don’t claim your mate, and soon, you could turn into your shift – forever. What happened to the quiet, bookish kid I saw grow up right here in Nuthusk? I’d say football changed you, but plenty of players aren’t players and have found their fated mates. You’ve heard of killing two birds with one stone. Well, you can think of this intervention as being like knocking out two bears with one boulder.”

“Let’s say I am,” said Eamonn. “What concern is it of yours?”

“You’re a football player,” said Jasper. “You know the importance of playing on a team. Well, I’m the QB, and right now, my goal is making sure all my men are in line and playing by the rules. Seven bad boys have reformed themselves over the last seven years. This year, it’s your turn.”

“What are you going to do, send me to some training camp to reform bad boys?” joked Eamonn.

“Actually, that’s exactly what’s going to happen,” said a voice.

A man stepped out of thin air and appeared in front of Eamonn. Out of shock, Eamonn stood, but the man grabbed something from around his neck and tossed it at Eamonn.

Eamonn fell back down on the chair, bound by chains. He struggled against the chains, but they only grew tighter around his torso, until he stopped fighting, and he could finally breathe again.

“Wh-who are you?” asked Eamonn. “What did you just do?”

“The name’s Krampus,” said the stranger. “I’m not just a Christmas demon, I’m the Christmas demon, and it’s Mr. Christmas demon to you, boy, and I do mean boy. I’ll be teaching you to be a real man this holiday season. After all, Eamonn – you’re falling into mate madness. What do you think will happen if you become a grizzly forever? You think you can still play in your league? You think they’ll make you a special uniform and helmet? Hire a sports veterinarian to take care of your injuries? Send you to a special training camp for wild bears? Hire sexy female bears to dance as the bear cheerleaders for your bear fans who will sit in the stadium wagging their tails and eating popcorn out of their paws? If you believe all that, well, I’ve got a covered bridge to sell you.”

“And if I refuse to go along with you? Then what?” asked Eamonn.

“You’ll be going with Krampus, and that’s final,” said Jasper. “Usually, the bad boys in your position get to bargain. You are not being afforded that luxury. You knew that any crimes you committed in the human world would lead to you being punished by the council.”

“And the council’s decided the best thing is to hand me off to a literal demon?” asked Eamonn.

“Just as there are problems that the human courts cannot handle, there are problems that the council of Clan Elders cannot handle,” said Jasper. “We find…outside sources to help with those cases. Congratulations, Eamonn. You managed to fuck shit up extraordinarily. You’re truly an over-achiever.”

“And if I don’t cooperate?” asked Eamonn.

“You don’t exactly have an option,” said Krampus.

“Eamonn Costello, the Council of Clan Elders has decided to escalate your case and put you in the care of Santana Claus, whose representative, Krampus, has come here today to collect you, process you, and take you to Camp Kringle, where you’ll serve out your sentence,” said Jasper. “This is your sentencing. There will be no negotiation.”

“Process me?” asked Eamonn.

“Like this,” said Krampus.

Krampus took his suit jacket off and tossed it aside. He pressed his palm onto Eamonn’s chest. The top of Eamonn’s orange jumpsuit burst into scraps of fabric and flew away from Eamonn’s body. Eamonn felt a burning sensation as he struggled against Krampus’s palm. He let out a primal roar and fought the demon the best he could.

Krampus finally pulled his palm away from Eamonn.

“I’ll be holding this for you,” said Krampus.

Krampus flashed his palm at Eamonn. Krampus’s palm had the tell-tale ‘pawprint’ marks of a shifter, but Eamonn had never seen tracks like the ones on Krampus’s hand. On the palm was a familiar mark, Eamonn’s mate mark.

Eamonn looked down. His mark was no longer on his chest. Instead, there was one word, in candy-cane red: ‘Naughty.’

“What did you do to me?” roared Eamonn.

“You can earn back your mate mark once you’ve proved you deserve to have it back,” said Krampus. “Same goes for your shift. The rules are simple, Eamonn. Your resistance to finding a mate has landed your furry butt on Santana Claus’ Naughty List. You have to get off The Naughty List to earn back your mate mark and prove you’re worthy of your future mate. Then, you have to claim your fated mate by Christmas if you want to get your bear shift back for good. Oh, and you have to help Santana with The Ride, for good measure. Hopefully, your time at Camp Kringle will teach you some discipline…hopefully. When Fate and Christmas magic get together, anything can happen. Heck, even a were-tiger might change its stripes…and an alpha male werebear might lose his shift.”

“You can’t take my shift,” growled Eamonn.

Krampus reached into his suit pants pocket and pulled out a snow globe. Krampus held the snow globe up to Eamonn’s face. Inside the globe was a living thunderstorm, with streaks of lightning making the glass globe glow. In the center was a figure, brown, furry, with four legs and antlers.

“Meet your new shift, Blitzen,” said Krampus.

Before Eamonn could protest, Krampus had grabbed Eamonn’s hand and put it on the top of the snow globe. Eamonn felt the electricity from the thunderstorm leave the globe and enter his fingertips. He watched as ribbons of red and green magical energy left the snow globe and wrapped around Eamonn’s hand.

Eamonn felt something try to enter his body as something else fought to stay inside of him. He suddenly smelled the scent of oranges and cloves. He could hear the sound of a roaring fire.

Finally, Eamonn was able to pull his hand away.

“For safekeeping,” said Krampus, holding the globe up to Eamonn’s face.

Eamonn looked in the globe. The reindeer was gone. Instead, there was a cave, by a creek, and in the cave, napping, was his bear.

“No!” roared Eamonn. “My bear!”

“You’ll get your bear back and your mate mark back once you’ve learned your lesson,” said Krampus. “I’d say I don’t like seeing you like this, but, well, I am the Christmas demon.”

“Calm down, Eamonn,” said Kevin.

“Kevin…you let them do this to you?” asked Eamonn. “You were one of the baddest boys in the Clan!”

“Calm down,” ordered Kevin. “I went through exactly what you’re going to go through. I got my shift back, my mark back, and found my mate, my fated mate. This is your Fate, Eamonn. What awaits you is a world unlike any you’ve ever known, more magical than you could ever imagine. Be a badass. Take the journey.”

“There’s no more time for pleasantries,” said Krampus. “I can tell this one’s going to take a while to train. Thanks, Jasper. You know I need the exercise.”

“He’s under your command now,” said Jasper.

“Remember this, Eamonn!” shouted Kevin. “The true meaning of Christmas…is having hope!”

Krampus put his jacket back on. He reached towards Eamonn and grabbed the chains binding Eamonn. The chains disappeared into thin air. The chain reappeared in Krampus’s hands as a chain necklace. Krampus took the jewelry and tossed it up into the air. The necklace expanded into a circle around ten feet in diameter and, once it hit the floor, filled with a pool of green flames licking at Eamonn and Krampus’s feet, flames that did not burn.

Soon, the flames disappeared, a glassy pool taking their place. Krampus ran a hand over the pool, and the pool showed a forest scene from above. The forest was found on an island in the center of a lake, small cabins peppering the island and small buildings surrounding the outside of the leak.

“What…what is that place?” asked Eamonn.

“Welcome to Camp Kringle, kid,” said Krampus, pushing Eamonn down into the pool. “Merry frikkin’ Christmas.”