Page 169 of The Alpha

Pari turned to him. “It smells good.”

He nodded, eyes bright. “I got it for you.”

She swallowed hard. “Wow, you didn’t have to…”

“I wanted to, Pari,” he said, cutting her off. “I want to do a lot of things for you.” He took her by the hand and pulled her out of the way so Dallan could bring the tree in. She had nine-foot ceilings, and the tree had to be eight and a half feet.

Shona entered. “I have the tree stand.”

Pari gave Melvale a wide smile. “This is perfect.”

He put an arm around her. “Yes, it is.” He pulled her close. “Are you ready to take your uncle’s tree back to the basement?”

She giggled and nodded.

“Me too.”

“Me three!” Kitty laughed and unplugged Uncle Al’s tree. It didn’t take long to take the fake tree apart and run it back downstairs. Melvale accompanied them, and by the time theyreturned upstairs, Kwaku and Dallan were arguing over whether the new tree was straight.

Melvale cleared his throat and eyed it. “A little to the left. No, too much! Right, Kwaku. Just a tad, yes, no!”

“Och, ye two can finish this,” Dallan groused. “I’m going back to guard duty.” He got to his feet. “It’s just a wee tree! How hard can it be to get the thing straight?”

Shona laughed and followed him into the outside hall. The front door closed with an ominous thud, and Pari took in the amused look on Kwaku’s face. It was in that moment she realized she’d never had this before. A house full of people with a common purpose. In this case, putting up a Christmas tree in July. Kitty was carefully taking ornaments out of the box Melvale brought. Zara took strings of lights out of another box she must have brought in, and Melvale and Kwaku were still arguing over the straightness of the tree.

“I’m going to bake cookies,” Pari announced. It was the only thing missing in her mind.

Melvale, on his knees by the base of the tree, straightened and looked at her. “Really?”

She gave him a happy nod then looked around the room. “I know what else we need. Be right back.” Pari hurried into her bedroom, grabbed the little speaker she used with her phone and laptop, and brought it into the living room. They’d set up the tree in front of the only window. It sat between the radiator and the closed-up fireplace. She set the phone and speaker on the mantle and found some Christmas music. Bing Crosby began to croon “White Christmas,” and she grinned like an idiot. And why not? She was having fun!

“Perfect,” Kitty said. “Do you need any help with the cookies?”

“No, I’ve got this.” Pari practically skipped into the kitchen and got to work. She’d been through a lot over the last weekand a half, and wasn’t sure when this was all going to end. But shouldn’t she try to enjoy it while it lasted? At least she’d have some great memories. In fact, she should start taking pictures with her phone. Why she hadn’t thought of it until now Pari didn’t know. Probably because she’d been so overwhelmed.

“You’ll want to get him a gift.”

Pari jumped at the sound of Kitty’s voice. She spun to her as Kitty entered the kitchen. “Melvale?”

“Who else, silly? Let us know if you need help picking something out. Trust me when I say, he has everything.”

Pari pulled flour out of a cupboard. “What do you mean?”

“He has access to centuries worth of things. You name it, he’s probably got it stashed somewhere in the Muiraran library.”

She thought of the meadows, forests and the old west town she’d seen in the so-called library. “Oh, yeah.” She sniffed. “Whatdoyou get for the man who has everything?”

“Well, he doesn’t haveeverything,” Kitty went on. “He doesn’t have you.”

Pari froze. What was she getting at? A spark of jealousy ignited, and she tried to bat it down. “No… he doesn’t.” She pulled out a mixing bowl next then began to gather the rest of the ingredients. “He’s an alien man. I’m a human. Enough said.”

Kitty sighed and leaned against the counter by the stove. “You like him, don’t you?”

“What is this, high school?” Pari scoffed.

“Wow, I’m sorry. I thought you could see it.”

“See what?” Pari heard the hint of terseness in her voice and pulled a glass from a cupboard. She went to the fridge, poured herself some filtered water from a pitcher and drank.

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