Page 51 of Donner

My first family vacation was shaping up to be the best one of my life. Sure, Jax's parents could be overbearing, but his papa and I helped Jax and his dad talk through their emotions. After each disagreement, they had a better understanding of each other.

If his dad wanted to see who would win in an antler fight, though, my bet was on Jax, hands down. He was the bigger reindeer, and he still harbored some deep resentment toward anyone who thought he wasn't good enough.

He was a fantastic father, though. It had been his suggestion to take the boys on the Colorado River tour. We wouldn't dare any rapids with them at just under three years old, but we could enjoy some river rafting and camping.

The boys had already found a hornet's nest and a bear cub, at the same time. Both discoveries had scared the shit out of me. Jax's quick-thinking papa had tossed the nest into the water without a second thought, and his dad had distracted the boys from the bear while also making so much noise he scared the cub off into the woods away from our camp. Things had been a lot quieter since.

I loved sharing the mountains with Jax and his family. His parents had never left the North Pole, having found each other at one of Christmas Village's infamous Christmas Eve eve parties when they were in their teens.

I couldn't imagine meeting my fated mate that young. Despite my complaints about loneliness and lack of friends, I'd needed to see the world before I settled down. I was grateful for my tours in Afghanistan and all the different places I'd traveled on the military's dime, not to mention my misguided trip to Colorado the summer I graduated high school.

Returning here with my extended family was like coming full circle. I no longer had to prove anything. I could be myself — husband, dad, son-in-law — and my family loved me for it.

"Dad!" Otis hollered. "Kitty!"

Otis thought everything was a kitty, but he wasn't wrong this time. A mountain lion watched us from a cliff far above. I could just barely make out her hide against rocks the same color. She was too far away for me to scent, but Jax lifted a hand to wave and whispered, "shifter."

I waved, too, hoping I wouldn't need to fly up there and have words with the nosy cat. She slinked back into the underbrush a moment later and disappeared.

I wrapped my arm around Jax's shoulders and pulled him to me in a side hug. "That's why I was drawn here when I was younger. So many shifters live in the wild."

Jax scanned my face. "Do you feel trapped in Christmas Village?"

I'd asked myself that question several times over the last four years. We lived underground so we wouldn't freeze to death. We couldn't leave the confines of the special force field for fear of human detection. We couldn't stay in our animal forms for long in the middle of winter, or we would still freeze to death. It was cold at the North Pole, climate change or no.

"Not at all." I spoke the simple truth. "I love it. My eagle loves flying with you when we can. I love having family and friends as close as a bus ride. I love every minute I get to spend with you and the boys."

"What if you could have all that, but somewhere warmer?"

I laughed. I'd thought about that, too. "What about Christmas?"

Jax shrugged. "I could quit my job."

If there was one thing I'd learned in the time I'd known Jax, it was that his job mattered to him. Not only that, but he also mattered to Santa 30 and his teammates, too. They'd become an extension of his family. As he became more comfortable in his place in his real family, he also relaxed into his role on his team. He needed his job like he needed lungs to breathe, and I wasn't about to take that away from him.

"Not a chance," I said. "I love that you love your job."

"Who says I love my job?"

He tried to pout and cross his arms over his chest, but I stopped him with a kiss.

"I say."

"Do you love yours?" he asked, his voice soft so it wouldn't carry to where his parents and the boys were roasting s'mores over our lunch campfire. It didn't matter that it wasn't dark yet. They wanted s'more's all the time, and they would need a dip in the river when they failed to keep all that marshmallow in their mouths and off their faces.

"It's the easiest job I've ever had." I loved scheduling work shifts and deliveries, planning events, and managing payroll for the community center.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It's also the most rewarding. I get to see the boys every day. I get to come home with you each evening. I wouldn't have had that luxury as a security guard or a bouncer."

Jax nodded, but he looked like he still had something on his mind.

"Why all the questions?" I asked. "Is everything all right?"

"More than all right." He adjusted his ponytail before planting both hands on my chest. "When we get home, it will be time for my next heat."

I couldn't resist the grin spreading across my face. "I love helping you through your heats." Jax's parents took the boys for a few days, and I kept Jax in bed, fucking, feeding, or resting until it ended.

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