Christmas for the Wolves & a Wolf for Valentine's Day (Grey Wolf Pack) (7 page)

Later that day

When they got off the plane and turned their phones back on, Don received a message from his brother, Evan. Neither he nor their other brother Rick would be able to collect them, so Evan was sending his eldest son, Brett.

Brett was 18, and Don was amazed at how much he looked like Evan had at that age. Like both of Don’s brothers, he was six foot five and built like a truck. Don, on the other hand, was six foot one and much more slender, not as strong as either of his brothers, but talented in other areas, such as tracking and hunting. Neither Evan nor Rick was such great shakes at either of those things, which was unusual for an Alpha and a Beta. Although Don’s current Alpha and Beta weren’t as good as he was, they were pretty damn close.

Don surmised that, like Evan, one day Brett would be the pack Alpha. The Cross pack was quite a bit bigger than the Grey pack, but less like a family. Kayleigh had asked him if he wanted to move back to his old pack, now that they were on speaking terms again. He had no doubt that Kayleigh would, however reluctantly, move with him if he asked her. He wouldn’t do that though. She was happy in Rose; they both were for that matter.
He doubted he could say the same for Charming.

Brett’s eyes bugged out at the sight of Kayleigh. The whole pack knew Don was bringing his new mate to meet them, but he doubted they were expecting anyone as young or luscious as Kayleigh. If the looks Brett gave her were anything to go by, he certainly approved of her.

On the drive home, Don sat up front with Brett while Kayleigh sat in the back, so she could nap.
She’d planned on napping on the plane but they found something altogether much more fun to do.

Brett twisted the rearview mirror so he got a clear look at her breasts. Don’s wolf huffed at him, wanting him to do something about the impudent young wolf looking at their mate, but after their exploits on the plane, Don was far too relaxed.

Don didn’t like other men looking at her, but he was wise enough to realize that looks didn’t amount to anything. He was possessive of his mate, but he didn’t smother her. Don knew he had nothing to worry about; Kayleigh was loyal to a fault and more than feisty enough to tell hornbags where to go when they hit on her.

His nephew was just a sleazy young wolf. Still, Don did growl at him for good measure, and the young man looked suitably chastised.

Don chatted to Brett the entire drive, getting to know his nephew a little. Brett didn’t really have hobbies, or aspirations for the future, or any interest in anything besides meeting girls. All that mattered to Brett was that one day he would be Alpha.
It’s like Evan had cloned himself
.

The drive soon lapsed into silence until finally they arrived at the hotel, twenty minutes drive outside of Charming. Kayleigh and Don said goodbye to Brett, with Kayleigh adeptly dodging Brett’s attempts at getting a goodbye kiss.

The hotel was okay; a little bland and boring for Kayleigh’s liking. She’d never slept in a hotel before and had high expectations. She was particularly disappointed by the absence of a mini-bar.
She’d planned on taking everything out of it, particularly as her in-laws were paying for the room.

The bed however was extremely large and after a few quick bounces Kayleigh found it to be very soft. She was about to ask Don to come and test it with her when he received a text from his brother. Evan said that he, Rick and their wives were downstairs and waiting for them in the breakfast room.

Don chuckled at her disappointed face. “Don’t worry, darlin’, there’ll be plenty of time to christen the bed later.”

“There damn well better be,” Kayleigh groused, thoroughly annoyed, as she freshened up and changed into a new dress
.

When she was ready, Don almost,
almost
, changed his mind about going to see his family. She was startlingly lovely in a figure hugging, hot pink, secretary-style dress.
She looked like she’d just stepped out of Mad Men
. His wolf roared appreciatively. The urge to give in and rip it from her lush body almost overwhelmed him. It was one of his favorites, and, by the look on her evil face, she knew that, too.

He smoothed his hand over her ass and stilled. “You’re not wearin’ underwear?”

Kayleigh’s eyes twinkled. “Nope. Ruins the lines of the dress.”

Don let out a throaty growl. “You don’t play fair.”

“True, but you can think about that while we’re having breakfast with your family. After all, there’ll be plenty of time
later
.”

Don groaned as his snickering mate led him downstairs.

*

Kayleigh looked between Don’s brothers. There was a family resemblance between all three of them. But while Don was in fantastic shape and still had thick dark hair, distinguished by a dab of grey at his temples,
which Kayleigh would not change for anything
, the two older brothers were not quite so well preserved. It was a little hard to believe that the age difference between the three brothers was so small. Don was 40, Rick was 42 and Evan was 44.

Rick had a terrific paunch, hanging over his straining belt and jeans. Not an easy feat for shifters whose natural metabolisms meant that they could eat a lot and stay thin -
Kayleigh always envied that
. And his hair had completely turned grey. Evan, on the other, hand was still quite buff; he was quite a bit bulkier than Don, not surprising given that he was an Alpha. But while Don kept it tight,
boy did he!,
Evan’s muscles were kind of fleshy. Not to mention Evan’s comb over...
Ugh!

Don had told her that his brothers had been pretty promiscuous back in the day; they’d worked their way through nearly every girl in school, including a few of the teachers. She was glad Don hadn’t been like that...
or so he said
.

He’d told her girls always preferred his brothers to him. She was half pleased and half irritated by that. Glad, because the thought of Don being with anyone else had her seething with jealousy, but irritated at the stupidity of the women of Charming.
Don was a walking wet dream, those women were idiots!

Although, she wasn’t that surprised that girls had gone wild for his brothers twenty years ago. As an Alpha and Beta, women, particularly wolf shifters, would have gravitated to their natural power.

She’d seen a couple of photos of the three of them when they were young, and, personally, she couldn’t see the attraction. The older brothers looked like they were steroidal wrestlers, with flattened noses and small piggy eyes. Don looked like he’d been carved by Rodin.
Seriously, no contest! But then she might be just a tad biased...

Kayleigh couldn’t see that they had ever been more attractive than Don.
Damn she was lucky; she’d snagged the hot brother!
Don left the table to find her some chamomile tea.
He was such a treasure!
She bristled to see that the brothers’ wives were also being very appreciative of her man as he walked away,
his ass really was gorgeous
.
Well they could look, but if they dared to try and touch...

The wives in question were still attractive. Shifters generally aged very well,
again another thing that annoyed and incited envy in Kayleigh
. They were both in their early forties, but the only giveaway to their ages was the worry lines on their faces. From his last brief visit, Don gleaned that neither couple was overly happy in their mating. Apparently they were arranged matings to cement fuzzy feelings between rival packs.
It appeared the arrangements had led to a few resentments...

The two women were very trim in their matching tracksuits; they were about Kayleigh’s height, but they were a lot skinnier and toned than she was. The women sneered a little at Kayleigh, but she didn’t care, Don loved her curves and, more importantly, so did she.
She’d tell the women to go suck on a pair of lemons, but judging by their matching sour expressions, she guessed it was too late.

Evan leered at Kayleigh’s breasts.
Apparently he didn’t mind curves either
. There was a loud thump and then Evan snapped his head to his wife, Jodie, who was starring daggers at him.
She’d kicked him under the table.

Evan cleared his throat. “So, Kayleigh, how old are you?”

Jodie shook her head and sniggered. “I apologize for my husband,” she said imperiously. “It’s just that you’re so... so young... it’s kind of a surprise.”

Kayleigh arched an eyebrow. “It’s okay. I have a very old soul.” She winked at Rick, who blushed furiously.

Neither Jodie nor Crystal, Rick’s wife, was impressed by that answer, and they gave each other a look.

Don placed the tea in front of her. “Here you go, darlin’.”

She beamed at him. “Thank you.” They kissed chastely when he sat, before turning back to their table mates. Don put an arm round the back of her chair, and Kayleigh put her hand on her mate’s thigh and gently rubbed.

“Well, this is nice isn’t it?” asked Rick, to no one in particular.

“Yes,” agreed Evan. He slapped a hand on Don’s shoulder. “It’s good to see our little brother again.” He said warmly.

“Yes, it is nice,” agreed Jodie, half-heartedly. “I’m just sorry that you couldn’t stay at our house, but with so many family members arriving for Christmas, we just haven’t got the room.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Don and I will be fine in the hotel. I always find it fun sleeping somewhere new. It’s kind of an aphrodisiac.” Kayleigh squeezed Don’s thigh and he jerked a little as he felt his sex growing.

“So, how long have you two been together?” asked Crystal, while Jodie spluttered, trying to find a reason to object to what Kayleigh had said.

“Just a few weeks, but we’ve bonded and we’re livin’ together,” answered Don, giving her a crooked smile. Crystal simpered a little, pissing Kayleigh off no end.

Thankfully, a waiter brought a basket of bread over, and Kayleigh was diverted. She eagerly snagged a brown seeded role and put a white roll on Don’s plate for him. No one else moved to take some.

Kayleigh frowned; it smelled absolutely gorgeous. “Doesn’t anybody else want some?”

Evan and Rick mumbled something unintelligibly. While Jodie told her they were on a low carb diet, and Crystal agreed unenthusiastically.

Jodie fingered her cutlery. “Has Don met your family, Kayleigh?”

Kayleigh slathered a roll of bread in some butter and Crystal practically drooled. “Oh, goodness, gracious, no! I only have my mom, and we don’t get along. Besides, if I introduced Don to my mother, she’d try and steal him from me!” Kayleigh made a kissing motion in Don’s direction and he immediately warmed.

Jodie raised her eyebrows. “Oh my, she sounds very... singular.”

“If that means nuts, then yeah, I agree, she is.”

Kayleigh munched on her bread happily. She’d grown up accepting her mother for who she was, she wasn’t going to get upset over it now. Since Kayleigh was 16 and started bringing boyfriends home, her mom had tried to steal them, because she assumed Kayleigh did the same thing to her. Kayleigh would never; she couldn’t really see much merit in any man who would date her mom. But Kayleigh forgave her mom for all her foibles; she believed it all stemmed from low self-esteem.

“So what do you do Kayleigh?” asked Jodie.

“I work at the library part-time and I give readings.”

Crystal frowned. “Readings?”

Kayleigh nodded vigorously. “Yeah, you know, palm or tarot card readings.”

“And people pay you for this?” asked Jodie slowly with an edge of superiority.

Don tensed as his wolf growled; his mate was being slighted. But if Kayleigh minded, she didn’t show it. “Yep, they sure do.”

“Kayleigh’s wonderful at what she does, as well as givin’ readings, she has visions,” intercut Don. “And she can also project images and dreams.”

Kayleigh flushed, pleased at her mate’s praise. “I can only do the projecting thing with Don, no one else. It’s actually a testament to how strong our connection is. I could even do it before we bonded.”

Kayleigh felt an enormous surge of pride push through their bond; she pushed back with her own feelings of love and contentedness.

“So, how accurate are you with the readings?” asked Rick, skeptically.

“Well, fifty-fifty,” she admitted, before her tone turned teasing, “although, sometimes I get it dead on. I told Don that he was going to bond with the most wonderful woman in the world, and here we are!”

Don twisted his fingers in the small whispers of hair on the back of her neck. “Can’t argue there.”

Kayleigh fluttered her eyelashes exaggeratedly, and in her best southern belle voice said, “Oh, Mr Cross, you do go on!”

The other women at the table weren’t overly happy at the couple’s displays of affection.
Jealous bitches, thought Kayleigh smugly.

A petite, dark haired waitress in her late thirties came over to take their order. She stared at Don for a few seconds. “Oh my god! Don, is that you? It’s Cathy Lowe, how are you?”