Shifters of Silver Peak: A Very Shifty Christmas (5 page)

Nelda shook her head in puzzlement. “All these people with holes in their clothing. They clearly need a tailor. It’s a wonder that it hasn’t occurred to them.”

“You’ve never actually hung out with poor people before, have you?” Valerie asked, staring at her.

“Of course not, why would I?”

“It’s nothing personal,” the silver-haired man said, looking down his nose at Valerie.

“That’s funny. It sure feels personal,” Morgan said with irritation.

Valerie didn’t know a lot about shifter packs, but she did know that they all followed their own set of rules, mostly formed back in the 1930s when shifters had first been created. The rules of Morgan’s pack were enforced by the Pack Elder. His name was Boothe Suggit. He was a tall, lean man with salt-and-pepper hair and deep lines like parentheses running from his nose to the corners of his downturned mouth.

Someone had summoned him from the pack’s home in California, although he refused to say who and nobody was ‘fessing up. Now he stood there, holding a copy of the contract in his hand and looking at them all with an imperious, disapproving gaze.

Morgan’s entire family was already at the main house, where they’d gathered for an uncomfortable and awkward breakfast.

They all stood there looking innocent and staring at various points on the ceiling.

“It wasn’t me,” Arthur said to his boss. He’d moved into the house to help Morgan out while his family was there.

“Well, obviously. You’d never do something that would stir up a fight,” Morgan said, scowling at his family.

“True,” Arthur agreed.

“I know it was you,” Elmira said to Nelda.

Nelda looked at her haughtily. “You’re the one who actually thinks either of her sons would have a chance at Alpha.”

“Well, that’s just ridiculous. Of course my Hud would be Alpha,” CoraBelle said indignantly, stroking Hud’s arm.

“Would not!” Camden said loudly, glowering and bunching his hands into fists. “I could whip him with one paw tied behind my back.”

“So could I,” Festus added quickly, but he didn’t sound as sure of himself.

Elmira patted his arm. “Of course you could, dear,” she said.

“Neither one of them is fit to be Beta, much less lead the pack!” CoraBelle snarled at her.

All the women went furry-faced and started snapping at each other.

“Knock it off!” Morgan barked at them.

They kept snarling.

“This is your Alpha speaking,” he growled, and they retracted their fangs and smoothed their fur back under their skin, but kept glaring at each other.

“That contract is at least eighty years old. It’s got to be horribly outdated,” Honoria said.

“Still legally binding,” Boothe said coolly.

“Aren’t you a distant cousin of Hud’s? That means you’re related to someone who’s got a vested interest in who becomes Alpha,” Honoria continued. “That’s a conflict of interest.”

Boothe gave her a superior look. “Shifter law is entirely different from human law. And my blood relations don’t change what was written in the contract eighty-five years ago.”

He turned to Morgan. “When did you announce that you’d selected a mate?”

“He told us one week ago,” Nelda said. “Why?”

“Exactly one week?”

Nelda nodded. “Yes. To the day.”

“Has he taken his mate out for their wilderness retreat yet?” Boothe asked.

“What’s that?” Valerie asked.

Nelda nodded eagerly. “Ah, yes, the wilderness retreat.”

“Within one week of the Alpha announcing his selection of a mate, he’s required to take her out into the wilderness, naked. They remain there for three days and hunt their own food. This symbolizes their strength and their ability to lead the pack.” He looked down his nose at Morgan. “That’s one reason why the Alpha usually announces the mating in the summertime. But your call, not mine.”

He flashed Morgan a triumphant look. “It’s been a week. You failed to fulfill the contract,” he said.

Nelda let out a sigh of relief. “It’s okay, we’ll find you someone much better suited for you, dear,” she said, nodding at Morgan.

Valerie felt her heart sink. Of course she knew this mating was fake. Of course it was a torment to be around Morgan and pretend to be his mate when she knew she could never have him. She’d barely slept the night before, wrapped up in her flannel pajamas and listening to the sound of Morgan’s breathing, so close to her and yet so far away. She should be relieved that this farce was over and she could go ahead and quit, like she’d told him, and…never see him again.

“Whoa, whoa, hold the phone,” said Honoria. She looked at her watch. “It’s 10:15 a.m. Morgan spoke to us at nine a.m. last week. You can check the phone records,” she added to Boothe. “So technically, it hasn’t been one full week yet. We’ve got an hour.”

She smirked at him and high-fived her brother.

“You’ve just been lawyered,” she said smugly to Boothe.

“Honoria,” her mother said indignantly. “I am proud of your legal skills, but this is not the time or the place to use them.”

“Breathe,” Morgan said to Valerie. “You’re turning blue.”

Valerie realized she’d been holding her breath, and let it out again

Boothe and CoraBelle exchanged looks of dismay.

“But we live in California,” Hud said quickly. “So we’re on Eastern Time, not Mountain Time. An hour earlier. Time’s up.” He gave Boothe a dirty look. “You should have thought of that. Call yourself an Elder?”

“We’ve still got fifteen minutes.” Honoria folded her arms across her chest. “You cannot out-argue me. Trust me on this.”

Nelda nodded, with a look of annoyance on her face. “Unfortunately, true,” she said.

“Well, have fun out in the snow, naked, with no shelter, trying to hunt your own food,” Elmira said, with a smirk at Valerie.

A look of concern furrowed Morgan’s brow. He glanced out the window; it was clear and sunny out, but it was also twenty degrees Fahrenheit and there was a foot of snow on the ground.

“She’s human. Obviously she can’t fulfill that part of the contract,” Morgan said to Boothe.

“The law is the law. So you concede?” Boothe said, with just a little too much eagerness. “You can’t fulfill the mating requirements?”

“With
her
,” Nelda interjected quickly. “He can fulfill them with someone appropriate. I mean someone else.”

Valerie stared at them, trying to hide her growing unease. How long could she last in this kind of weather, naked and barefoot in the snow, without succumbing to hypothermia? Minutes, probably. Morgan could carry her, she guessed, but that would just slow the hypothermia down a teeny bit.

She closed her eyes and tried not to picture herself naked, resting in Morgan’s muscular arms.

“No, I do not concede. This is just a ridiculous requirement,” Morgan said with irritation.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s pack law. “

“Wait a minute,” Honoria said. “That law was passed when our pack first formed, and when it was illegal for humans and shifters to mate. Back when shifters were first created and nobody knew what would happen with a human-shifter mating. Those laws were biased and antiquated and based on scientific ignorance.”

“Oh lord, she’s climbing up on her soapbox,” Nelda muttered. “There’ll be no stopping her now. Unless her Alpha orders her to…” She glanced at Morgan, who shook his head.

“I’m enjoying this,” he said. “Honoria, please continue.”

“Therefore, if I recall my civics class correctly – and trust me, I do – the law is prejudicial and illegal and cannot be enforced. But we can take it up with the Council for Shifter Affairs, if you like.” She looked Boothe straight in the eye. “It’ll get national publicity. You won’t come out looking good.”

He cleared his throat. “All right,” he muttered. “I will concede that she can wear appropriate clothing for the weather.”

“And they can stay in a shelter,” Honoria said quickly. “You can’t require them to do something that would be physically impossible for a human.”

Boothe’s face was flushed with anger, and he looked from one of them to the other.

“There’s an empty hunter’s cabin three miles due north of here,” Morgan said. “No electricity. It’s a good compromise. We’ll leave right now.”

“Fine,” Boothe bit out. “You won’t be allowed to pack. And you’re not supposed to cook any food that you catch—” He saw Honoria’s challenging look. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Morgan can cook the food for her. But he has to eat his raw.”

“Wait!” Morgan’s mother said, her voice ringing out imperiously. “Valerie. Admit this is ridiculous. Look at the problems you’re running into already, trying to integrate into our lifestyle. I will pay you one million dollars to leave this mating right now.”

“I’ll pay you zero dollars to kiss my fat ass,” Valerie said, grabbing her overcoat from the hallway closet. Honoria and Homer laughed behind their hands, and Nelda gasped in outrage, as Valerie pulled her overcoat on.

“I’ll match it,” CoraBelle said quickly. “And you will too, won’t you, Elmira?” Elmira looked startled, hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Three million dollars, Valerie! Think of it!” She pasted a big, bright smile on her face.

“You could offer me infinity dollars and I’d say no.” Valerie pulled her boots out of the closet and stepped into them. She pulled her wool cap and mittens from the shelf and put them on.

Nelda looked at the two women suspiciously. It was odd that they were trying to help her in this.

“You guys are up to something,” Honoria said.

She snatched the contract from Boothe’s hand and began frantically paging through it. He growled at her in anger; Homer stepped in front of his sister and growled back at him. “Don’t you growl at my sister,” he said, with a hint of fang showing.

“Morgan, be reasonable,” his mother pleaded.

“Mother, unless you want to be on the next plane back to California, by order of the Alpha, you will never insult Valerie like that again,” he snapped at her. He reached into the closet and quickly pulled on his overcoat.

“Aha!” Honoria yelled. She looked up at Morgan. “There’s a clause in here that says that if the Alpha announces he’s mated and then either party voluntarily chooses to end the mating, he can no longer be Alpha. So it’s Valerie or nothing.”

“What?” Nelda gasped in outrage. She looked at Morgan. “I had no idea. I thought Boothe would just be able to find some legal clause to get rid of her. I didn’t realize it would disqualify you.”

“You were the one who called him?” Morgan said furiously. “Why am I not surprised?”

His mother ignored him, swinging around and glaring murderously at CoraBelle and Elmira. “You knew about that clause and tried to disqualify him on purpose. How dare you? You lying, cheating little skanks.”

“Can’t blame a wolf for trying,” CoraBelle said with a smirk.

“Bitch!” Nelda shifted and lunged at her, knocking her off her feet. Boothe shifted. Homer shifted. Hud shifted. Camden shifted. Festus shifted last, but hung back nervously as the rest of them lunged and snarled and snapped at each other.

Arthur and Honoria stayed human.

Honoria stepped out of the way of the howling, yelping wolves, looked up at the wall clock and then back at the two of them. “Go!” she yelled.

“Arthur, keep an eye on the business ‘til I get back,” Morgan called out.

Then he grabbed Valerie’s hand and pulled her out the door.

“But…your family! They’ll hurt each other!” There were sounds of barking and snapping and yelping behind her.

“Welcome to the Rosemont Family Reunion. Happens at least once every holiday.” He kept a firm grip on her hand and tugged her along behind him. “Don’t worry, they heal fast.”

They began trudging through the snow.

“I was supposed to finish decorating the Christmas Village this weekend!” Valerie groaned. “And Teddy! I like to check in on her. I mean, her aunt can watch her, I guess, but… Slow down, will you?” She struggled to keep up, her feet sinking into the thick, deep snow.

He scooped her up in his arms. With his shifter strength, she felt as light as a feather pillow, for the first time ever.

He headed off into the woods without even breathing heavily. After a moment, she relaxed and snuggled into his strong arms, and rested her head on his shoulder.

Valerie shivered and moved closer to the fireplace. Morgan had built a roaring fire in the small cabin, so at least there was that. There was a bearskin rug on the floor, and the cabin was slowly getting warmer. She still wore her overcoat. Morgan had draped his over the small, moth-eaten sofa.

They had plenty of firewood, both in the cabin and in a combination toolshed and woodshed about a hundred feet from the cabin, but not much else.

The cabin only had one room. It felt dim and dark in there, and the windows were dirty and streaked. There was a narrow bed with a black-and-red flannel blanket, and a potbellied stove, which also had a fire blazing in it. There was a cabinet that had a bag of flour, some salt and pepper and other spices in it.

It was going to be a long three days.

“How you hanging in there?” Morgan asked Valerie. He walked over and sat down next to her on the bearskin rug, and put his arm around her shoulders. She managed a smile.

“Honeymoon of my dreams,” she said lightly. “So why are all of them circling like vultures, trying to snatch the Alpha position?”

“This is the only shot they’ve got as long as I’m alive,” he said. “Not to brag, but physically, none of them has a chance of winning against me in a death challenge. If I’m disqualified, then they can fight it out amongst themselves. Last wolf standing is the Alpha.”

“Again, I do not understand why you waited this long to pick a mate,” Valerie said.

“I know,” he said sharply. “Believe me, I know. Most of the time I make smart decisions. This was the rare exception.”

“Why are they all so eager to take your place anyway?” Valerie wondered. “What’s so great about being Alpha?”

“A lot of it is the prestige and power that they perceive as coming with the position,” Morgan said. “They don’t see the tough decisions and hard work that goes on behind the scenes. Also, while the pack shares in the wealth from Rosemont Resorts, the Alpha is the one who runs the business. It doesn’t matter that I built up the business to the success it is now; a new Alpha would be the CEO, and the wrong person could run it into the ground.”

He shook his head, frowning. “None of the other potential candidates has what it takes to be Alpha. Hud and CoraBelle are both obsessed with status, with owning more shiny objects than anybody else. Elmira’s sons… Festus is too weak to win an Alpha fight. I’m surprised he’d even try, except his mother keeps pushing him into it. Camden is physically very strong but he’s immature and a bully. Their leadership would be a disaster for my pack, and for the business as well.”

“I understand. Whatever I can do to help ensure that you’re not disqualified, let me know.” She was silent for a moment. “That thing he said about how if you choose a mate and then the mating fails…does that mean we’re stuck in this fake mating?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Honoria is right about pack law being out of date. It’s possible that I could challenge that with the Council for Shifter Affairs. I’ll start looking into it after this weekend.”

She felt a sharp stab of sorrow in her chest, and looked away from him, staring at the crackling flames in the fireplace.

“So if you can successfully challenge the law…” She kept her voice casual, with hardly a quaver to it.

“I’d look at the list of candidates who would be suitable for entering a business arrangement kind of mating.” He looked at her. “Not you. You deserve to have a real relationship.” He hesitated. “Also, you drive me crazy. If I were mated to you, I’d never have a moment’s peace.”

She snorted. “And, there’s the Morgan I know and loathe. For a moment there, you were starting to get all sappy and mushy.”

“Sappy and mushy?” he said in mock horror. “Watch yourself, or you’ll be hunting your own food this weekend.”

She snorted. “I doubt that very much. You wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.”

“A Hulk reference. Nice. And who says I like you now?”

She elbowed him hard.

He let out a chuckle.

“I’m going to go out and hunt our dinner,” he said.

He walked over to the door and stripped off his clothing. Valerie couldn’t stop herself from watching, and admiring his perfect physique. He was so tall he had to stoop to go through the doorway. His butt cheeks were perfectly round, his thighs muscular, his back broad.

He glanced at her and a smile curled his lips.

“Saw you look,” he teased.

She felt a blush warming her cheeks. “I’ve seen better,” she said loftily. “Go get my lunch.”

He laughed at that, and hurried outside, shutting the door quickly behind him. He’d shift and hunt down her food in wolf form.

She retreated to the couch, half dozing while he was gone. Then she woke with a start.

The wind moaned outside, and the cabin creaked. It felt creepy and eerie being out there by herself. She couldn’t believe that hunters came out here for fun. Staying out here was some people’s idea of a good time?

The wind howled more loudly, and she thought she saw a dark shape drifting by the window.

Was there something out there? Or someone?

She leaped to her feet and grabbed a poker from the hearth.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she stood by the door, waiting. The door didn’t even have a lock on it – probably because there was nothing in the cabin but stacks of firewood and old, beaten-up furniture. Nothing worth stealing.

The door flew open and she let out a shriek and raised the poker high over her head – and then stepped back and lowered it when she saw Morgan walking in with an armful of rabbits.

He glanced at the poker. “Jeez, woman, watch it there. This is the best I could do on short notice. It’s not like I can go out and hunt us a pizza.”

She replaced the poker and shook her head. “Sorry. Just my mind playing tricks on me. I thought I heard something.”

Then he looked at her suspiciously. “Hey. Do I smell granola on your breath?”

She moved away from him. “Maybe,” she said. “Maybe I have a box of granola bars in my overcoat pocket.”

“Share!” he demanded, holding out his hand.

She shook her head. “Nope. You can hunt your own food. You can even eat raw food.”

“So what? I’m a shifter, not a wolf. I like human food.”

He grabbed at her bulky overcoat, pulling her playfully toward him, and she gave an undignified squeak of surprise and tried to twist away. He was too strong, and just yanked her closer to his hard body, throwing his arms around her. She could feel the heavy thumping of his heart against her breasts and she wondered if it was from the exertion of the hunt. Her own pulse was thrumming, but for very different reasons. She felt breathless and too warm, and not from the heat radiating from the crackling fire.

She wrestled and struggled for a while, but there was no point. Morgan always gained the upper hand, but was surprisingly gentle for such a large, dominant man, even as he physically overpowered her. He was just so much stronger and faster that however she moved, even pulling against him to try to yank him off-balance, he easily drew her back against him, laughing in a carefree way that seemed completely unlike her buttoned-up boss. She’d never seen him so playful. She loved it.

But she’d be damned if she was going to let him win. Valerie had never let Morgan Rosemont push her around; not since her very first day on the job, when he’d snapped at her for losing an invoice and she’d pointed out that it was in his inbox and given him a thorough dressing-down for his rudeness. She wasn’t about to start letting him call the shots now.

She pressed against him, squashing her full breasts against his muscular chest, and wrapped her arms around his neck, lips parted, gazing up into his handsome face. Morgan froze, his gaze searching hers, his grasp on her wrists relaxing just a little. She felt a tight little shiver of excitement thrill through her as she leaned toward him, close enough to feel his warm breath against her lips.

Valerie hooked her leg behind his knee and heaved, pulling him off-balance and tumbling him onto the ground, landing hard, stretched full-length on top of him.

“Ha!” She grinned triumphantly, knowing big, tough Morgan Rosemont had been taken down by a
girl
– a
human
girl – and she wasn’t going to let him forget it for a very, very long time…

Then he flipped her over, pressing her against the floor with the full weight of his large body, his muscular thigh between hers, and kissed her. Hard.

Valerie felt as if she were melting into the weathered boards that made up the floor of the cabin, her limbs loose and molten and heat pooling in her core. Morgan’s lips parted against hers, and she sighed, inviting him to slip his tongue into her mouth. She was aware of the pressure of his erection against her lower belly and she wound her arms around his neck again, pulling him closer. Their tongues twined and tangled, flicking and tasting, and Valerie pulled away for a moment, panting, before reclaiming his mouth in a kiss just as hungry and demanding as his had been. He tangled his hands in her hair, anchoring her head in place as he claimed her.

The heavy length of his erection pressed against her and she squirmed restlessly against him, drawing a growl of arousal from deep in his chest. His large hands moved slowly over her, brushing apart the sides of her coat so he could trace the curve of her hip, the soft swell of her belly and the dip of her waist. His touch was confident and self-assured, and Valerie couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have his fingers touching her more intimately, urging her toward bliss.

Tracing kisses over the angle of her jaw and burying his face against her throat, he played his fingers down her body again, then gathered the hem of her sweater in his hand and began to draw it up, exposing her soft, pale flesh.

It was like a splash of cold water, bringing her back to reality. She struggled to sit up, pushing him away and pulling her sweater back down over her stomach, drawing her coat closed and wrapping her arms around herself.

Morgan knelt beside her, breathing hard, and took her hand in his.

“What?” he said.

She tried to center herself. “Morgan,” she said, her voice quiet and a little husky. “This isn’t real, is it?”

He gazed at her for a moment, and she thought his eyes looked sad. A sense of longing seemed to swim in their blue depths. He shook his head. “No. It can’t be. I can’t let myself want you.” He reached out and took her hand, engulfing it in his own. He was so big; so capable. So in control. He always had to be in control.

“You…want me?”

“I’ve been lying to myself pretending that I don’t. Kissing you… Touching you like that… I realize now I’ve wanted you from the very first moment I snapped at you and you told me to go screw myself.”

She snorted. “So…five minutes after we first met?”

He laughed ruefully at that. “Something like that,” he said. “And that’s the reason I can’t be with you. I want you too much,” he said tenderly. “That kind of want…it weakens a man.”

She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes, trying to find the right words, and after a moment they came to her.

“Morgan Rosemont, you’re a complete and utter moron. And I deserve better than a complete and utter moron. So let go of me.”

He gaped at her open-mouthed for a moment before she yanked her hand away, got up off the floor and went to jab aggressively at the fire with the poker, wishing she were jabbing him.