Page 12 of Holiday Surprise

“Ready when you are,” I said.

He stared at me intently. “Are you okay?”

“Maybe,” I said.

He started to grin and put up a hand to hide his face as he mouthed, “Did you find your mate?”

The mention of the word had me lighting up like Christmas and he knew before I even said anything. Thomas shook my hand.

“Congratulations. She’s a lucky woman,” he said in a hushed voice.

“Pretty sure she hates me, but I’ll convince her otherwise,” I murmured softly in hopes that only he could hear.

Thomas laughed. “Remind me to tell you my mating stories someday.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “This girl can’t possibly hate you as much as Lily hated me.”

It was my turn to laugh. “I’ve seen you and your mate together. There is no way that girl ever hated you.”

Thomas shook his head with a big grin on his face. “Don’t you know? I was the biggest douchebag on the planet.”

Lily walked up on stage and hugged her mate. “But you’re my douchebag,” she said affectionately, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

I noticed she was straining out over the crowd and I wondered if she was looking for the same person I was. It bothered me that even from this higher vantage point I couldn’t find her.

Finally, I spotted the dark-haired goddess that had changed my life in an instant. She was at the far back to the right and she was entirely naked. Nudity wasn’t a big deal for shifters. Unless you really had the money to constantly replace clothes, it was best to shed them before shifting. The majority of the gathered crowd was already naked, including much of my own pack, but she was the only one that mattered to me.

A man turned to her and started talking. She was back to refusing to look in my direction. I knew it must be on purpose because the pull of the bond was too strong to simply ignore without consciously doing it. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t feeling the call of the bond as strongly as I was, even in her inebriated state.

As the man laughed at something she said, and took a step closer to her, a low growl started to rumble through me. Lily gave me a concerned look.

“Pull it together, Luke or you’re going to shift before you’re ready.”

I gulped in some deep breaths and tried to regain my composure. Some asshat was flirting with my mate. That’s all I could think about and it caused some kind of primal need in me that said I had to protect her.

Through gritted teeth I leaned over to Lily and did the only thing I could think of without causing a scene.

“Looks like your friend is in the back and has caught some unwanted attention.”

Lily snorted. “You sure it’s unwanted?”

I was able to catch the growl this time before it surfaced, but my nails were digging into my palms so hard I feared they may begin to bleed.

“I’m just kidding. Sydney really isn’t much of a flirt,” she sighed. “Just when she’s drunk. Thanks for keeping an eye on her.”

She leaned up to Thomas and whispered what was happening. He nodded and she left the stage to make her way back to Sydney. I didn’t begin to calm even a little until I knew she was safe under Lily’s watchful eye.

“Good evening everyone,” Thomas said into the mic immediately capturing everyone’s attention. “As you know tonight is the winter solstice.” A loud cheer went up and excitement filled the air. “But it’s more than that this year. For the first time in several decades, we are reunited with our brothers from Larken pack.” His words this time weren’t met with quite as much energy. “I know some of you are still a little leery about their presence, but I hope you’ll trust me as your Alpha to know what I’m doing. Without Luke’s cooperation and allowing his people onto Collier land, we would not have been able to successfully expand the dairy this year. So, thank you Luke and Larken Pack.” Everyone began to clap. “Today marks a monumental shift of friendship and respect as we all come together as wolf shifters and run in unity.”

He turned back to me and asked, “Should we do this together?”

“Do what?”

“Start the run.”

“I always start it with a howl, then a shift, and my wolves follow my lead,” I told him.

He grinned. “It’s the same for me. On the count of three?”

“Okay,” I agreed.

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