Page 6 of Christmas Heat
"Merry Christmas, baby!" He says with a wide grin down at his mate, her legs still splayed wide open in the nest and two fingers stuffed in her ass, on full display for the three of them.
At the sight of Luke dragging the tree into the cottage behind him, she comes again.
Merry goddamn Christmas.
Twenty-One Days Until Christmas
Eden
"What if they don't like me?" She fiddles with Tenor's fingers in the backseat of the truck while Bruce Springsteen's Santa Claus is Coming to Town blasts over the speakers.
Pack rules dictated that either Eden or the driver gets to pick the music, and Luke was currently in the driver's seat. She hasn't yet used her veto vote and she definitely was not going to do it now when Luke was so cheerful in the bond, even if Julius looked like he was chewing glass in the passenger seat beside him.
"That's impossible, baby. No one could not like you." Tenor tells her, flipping the hand in her grip to tangle their fingers together in a reassuring way. "And... even if they don't, they'll come around."
She bites her lip but doesn't respond, doesn't remind him thatherownparents hadn't even liked her enough to keep her.
As they keep driving, the uninterrupted blur of green starts giving way to familiar scenes from the city. The highway passes through downtown South York and the high-rise buildings look strangely alien now that she's so used to living in the quiet of the forest.
Gradually the scenes become less familiar as the descend further into suburbia and the city gives way to tidy two-storey family houses, parks, coffee shops, and grocery stores.
They've switched up who's driving so now Julius has Bad Bunny playing through the speakers while Tenor sits in the passenger seat on his phone. Luke has her pulled into the middle seat so her body is snug against his, his arm wrapped around her.
"You good, baby girl?" Luke looks down at her, one eyebrow lifted.
"I'm fine," Eden says, which is a lie, and they all know it. Her stomach is a twisted knot. She's never been more nervous in her life, except maybe in prison, and that was different. These were her in-laws, and the need to gain their approval has her biting at the skin of her lip. "Just… what if I say something stupid?"
Tenor turns around in the front seat and she can tell he's trying to make his face casual and reassuring at the same time but he just looks ends up looking pained and a little bit constipated. "It's going to be fine, baby. Just... ignore my mom maybe."
Her eyes bug. He hasn't said anything about his mother before, other than what she's gleaned from stories from his childhood when he'd made her sound like the best mom in the world. Her gaze quickly cuts to Luke beside her because sheknowsLukewill always give it to her straight. "Is his mom not going to like me?"
Luke slits his gaze down at her and tilts his head before waving his hand in a 'so-so' motion. "She'll be fine, she might just take a bit to warm up to you. Omegas, you know how they are."
Eden's panic dials up to an eleven and her voice is high and anxious when she blurts out "But you said she loved you guys!"
"Well, yeah... she lovesus. But we're her son's pack. And she's always had some strong... ideas... about who we should mate. But you know we won't let her say anything to you, right baby?" Luke's voice is deep and calm and in any other circumstance would be reassuring.
She can't believe she let them talk her into this. Well... okay, technically it had been her idea. And she'd pushed it, despite them telling her it wasn't necessary and that a visit should wait a bit longer for them all to settle a bit more. But still. Oh my god, it all made sense now. This was why they'd been so averse to doing this.
"If you thought they weren't going to like me, why did you tell me to come here after Black Bay?" Her voice is barely more than a startled squeak.
"If you recall, we all encouraged you to go to Luke's place," Julius grumbles from the front seat, his voice tinged with disapproval. "But even if you had come here, they would've taken care of you. You're our mate."
She doesn't have time to respond because they're already pulling up to the house, parking in the crowded driveway behind a sedan with bumper stickers that read"bestie please let me merge"and"if you honk at me, this is who you're honking at"with a picture of a crying hamster.
The house is big and white, with a porch lined with Christmas lights and a massive wreath on the door tastefully covered in holly berries, golden pinecones, and acorns.
They've barely taken the key out of the ignition before the front door bangs open and two girls come bolting out of the house. Tenor isn't even fully out of the vehicle before they both throw themselves at him, all the while as Eden stares out the window at the scene with horror.
If anyone threw themselves at her like that, she would scream. Her mates knew that, right? They weren't going to let anyone throw themselves at her?
Luke opens the door then, pulling her out with him, and the girls then throw themselves at him too, leaping from one alpha to the other like leapfrogs, like the floor was lava and they couldn't bear to touch the ground.
"Luuuuke! Oh my god, hi! You're finally here! You haven't been home inforever!" One of them pouts as she says it. Her voice is painfully high and clear and sounds like tinkling windchimes.
The scent of candied rosebuds and something citrusy hits her nose. She's not sure which one is Cadence, or which one is Lyric, Tenor's two omega sisters who she's only ever seen in his childhood photos, but she recognizes them immediately.
"Oh! Hi!" One girl says as she catches sight of her. And she is agirl. She knows that Cadence and Lyric are only a few years younger than her, but they seemdecadesyounger, like they're in a whole different life stage.
