Page 13 of A Merry Misfit Christmas

“For what?” he asks.

“Listening. I don’t know why I feel as though I can trust you with all my baggage, but I do, Kodiak,” I reply. “There’s more, obviously, but I can’t look at it today.”

“I’ll be here with an ear whenever you’re ready. And if you never are? That’s okay too, Callie,” he says. “Now, we have a warm fire and I for one am feeling drowsy. What say we take a nap?”

“You have the best ideas,” I mumble, already sliding into dreamland, his arms snugly around me to keep me safe and protected.

I nearly miss his reply, wondering if I dream about the kiss to my temple, when he whispers, “Wait until you see the others I have.”

Chapter Six

Kodiak

Having never anticipated finding my mate, the fact she’s curled in my arms right now, trusting me enough to sleep, is blowing my mind. As the fire crackles and the snow continues to fall, I let my mind wander to the future.

Ourfuture.

First, I’m going to have to let her know what I am, which could send her running far from Yukon Bluff. I sense, however, that she wants some of the same things I do; a home, a family, someone to love her.

We will do that for our mate,my bear chuffs.We will give her cubs and love her with everything we have in us. She willneverhurt like she did as a child again.

Since I agree with him, I merely nod. My heart aches at what she saw or dealt with at the tender age of five. My beginnings might not have been the best, but I wasn’t stuck living with a dead body for a week. Just the thought of my mate going through that has me glad her mother is no longer among the living. Because I’d probably put her in the ground myself. Parents should cherish their children because kids didn’t ask to be born.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, so I slide it out to see a message from Spike.

Spike: I take it you found Callie.

Me: Yes, at her house now. I fucked up her car but sent a text earlier for Nix to pick it up.

Spike: He got it and has it in the garage. How the hell did you manage to do that?

Me: Forgot my own strength.

I can imagine his reaction, chuckling because I’m not the only one who has to take that into consideration. My bear arms can crush a human if I’m not careful. Spike has to hold in his breath when his temper flares or he gets excited. He already burned down two rooms in the clubhouse that we’ve had to remodel earlier in the year.Fucking dragon.

Spike: Y’all need anything?

I smirk because Spike has acclimated to where we live, adopting a lot of the southern sayings, including ‘y’all’ even though he never stepped foot in the south until we came to Yukon Bluff and set up the club.

Me: I think we’re good for now. Power’s out, but there’s enough wood for the fireplace.

Spike: Gonna get one of the brothers to grab some food and drop it off. Shit for sandwiches, that kind of thing. That work?

Me: Yeah, appreciate it, because I have no fucking clue how to cook over an open flame.

The fucker sends back a bunch of emojis, which I hate. Instead of responding, I make sure Callie is covered, then slide out from the pallet so I can check the house, grab more wood, and see what she’s got in her cupboards in order to fix us something else to eat when she wakes up.

True to his word, Spike gathered food and brought it to us, so I made sandwiches (five for me, one for her), then put everything back in the cooler he provided and placed it on the front porch to keep it cold. He also sent stuff for hot chocolate, and since I know my mate enjoys it, I managed to figure out how to heat water over the fire so I can make her a mug of it when she wakes up.

We need to protect her,my bear reminds me as I wave the sting from a burn away.No burning our mate. Growling in frustration at how demanding he’s getting, I decide to ignore him for the time being and go back to what I was doing.

I feel like a creeper right now, though, because I’ve been watching her sleep. She’s more restless since I’m not on the pallet right now. Judging by the expressions crossing her face, it’s not impossible to figure out that while she may have shared a lot of her past already, she still has demons.

It’s going to be my job to slay them, and I silently vow to do it, knowing that my brothers will help. I can’t help smiling when I think about how the brothers will treat Callie. We named the club Shifted Misfits for a reason; none of us are what society would deem as ‘normal’, but what’s that anyway besides a setting on a washing machine? I suspect she’s going to charm all of them, and while my bear is chuffing over anyone coming near her, I know as does he that my brothers will treat her with the respect she deserves.

“Kodiak?” she mumbles, her voice raspy as though she’s coming down with a cold.

Guilt assails me because she ended up soaked through to the skin by the time we got here thanks to me ripping her car door off its hinges. I don’t know how long she was outside before I got there, either, and with the power out, the house is chilled even with the roaring fire.

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