Page 70 of The Twelve Knots of Christmas
“Fuck.” I whistled. “We are definitely putting that up in the living room.”
“No!” Mariska laughed even as she protested. “Lucian, you’re next.”
Lucian eagerly waited as she sent him another image. His eyes went dark with appreciation. “The goddess of the forest. Beautiful.”
He flipped his phone around to show us Mariska in her red lingerie crouched down with her legs spread among thesmall firs we had stored in the barn to plant in the spring. She was caressing the soft needles of the one tree positioned between her legs, and a small stuffed bat—which had come from the kids’ room—sat at the top of one of the other trees.
They embraced and murmured that they loved each other.
My heart thundered. I could barely wait for my own.
Mariska turned to me and smirked, tapping her screen a few times. “Merry Christmas.”
Those ten seconds felt like the longest in my life as I waited for the image to load on my phone. When it finally blinked as it appeared, I made a sound in my throat that was a growl and a wanton groan.
Mariska wore the Mrs. Claus dress with no tights or anything under it, and she was bending to put an ornament on the Christmas tree downstairs. The curve of her bare ass was visible as she winked at the camera.
“Fucking hell. All of these pictures are going to be blown up and put on the wall!” I gathered my real Mrs. Claus to me and kissed her. “Thank you so much, baby. When did you find the time to do this?”
“Well, remember last night when I said I needed to take a long hot shower and rest my body?” She looked at each of us.
“Yeah, that was a really long shower.” Jasper nodded.
“Well, I left it running and snuck out through the back door while you were all raiding the kitchen.”
I exchanged a surprised look with my packmates and then we all grinned. I hadn’t noticed she left, and clearly they hadn’t either.
“Sneaky girl,” Lucian teasingly chastised her and hugged her again. Jasper leapt into the hug, and so did I.
Mariska beamed, her eyes shimmering with tears. “I’ve never been so happy as I am right now.”
“Every day from here on out will be just as happy.” I vowed, and I damn well was going to do everything in my power to make that happen. My stomach gurgled its demand for food again.
Jasper patted my shoulder. “Let’s go make breakfast, man. Afterwards we can open presents and then maybe take more sexy pictures of this gorgeous Omega.”
“We’re going to see Eloise and Lyla too, and then everyone’s coming over for a big dinner. So maybe the photo shoot will have to wait until tonight.” Lucian reminded us.
“No photo shoot. I just want to see all the people I love and then cuddle with my pack.” Mariska hugged us again. “I love you all so much. Thank you for making this Christmas the best one ever.”
Lucian and Jasper said they loved her in unison and stole more kisses.
I gave her a lingering kiss and rubbed my nose to hers. “I love you, baby.” And then pulled us all together once more. My heart felt so big like it might burst out of my chest. “Merry Christmas.”
My pack. My Omega. The perfect life.
EPILOGUE - Mariska
One year later…
I opened the oven and waved the dishtowel around to disperse the smoke before it set off the fire alarm. The last thing I needed was everyone rushing into the kitchen to see I burnt a second apple pie. I didn’t want this Christmas to be remembered as the year I set the house on fire.
Picking up the ruined pie, I whisked it over to the nearest window and opened it. I continued to fan the smoke out and glanced at the silent alarm. “Thank God.”
The kitchen door swung open and I froze, but thankfully it was only Artemis and Liz’s dogs, Twinkle and Sugarplum. I sagged and kept flapping the dishtowel. “Hi girls. It’s not dinnertime yet. Aren’t you supposed to be outside chasing the kids around? The only thing happening here is me ruining Christmas dessert.”
Sugarplum flopped down on the floor with a heavy sigh, but her sister walked over to me with her big Saint Bernard eyes on the pie. Artemis sat nearby, alert, ready to listen if I told her to do anything, but her gaze kept going to Twinkle as if they were planning a pie heist.
“Uh-uh. No way, girls. Go lie down. No pie for doggies.” I set the dish on the counter and put my hands on my hips as I surveyed everything laid out for the feast. I had time to try making one more pie. I’d wanted to contribute and this was the one thing they let me do. I had to get it right. “I hope there’s at least a decent pie once I’m done.”
