Christmas with the Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 4.50)

“We’ll do that tomorrow night.”

“And a bottle of wine.”

“Only if you’re sure you can carry everything and still hold on to me.”

“Oh, I can do anything I set my mind to.”

He kissed the top of her head.

There was no point in climbing up the mountain slope, not tonight. Tonight was about enjoying each other’s presence and contemplating just how happy they were.

Over two hours passed when Avelyn noticed her back was rather stiff, and she could use some chocolate chip cookies and a few glasses of wine. So, Max shifted, she jumped up on his back, and they both left with the silent promise to return the next day. Neither of them said it out loud, but they also hoped they could return here next Christmas. That was… if their wolf pups gave them another permission slip.

CHAPTER FOUR

This year, Avelyn and Max had bought gifts for everyone in the family, but not for each other. In truth, they hadn’t had the time. They had made sure the huge Christmas tree in the living room, at the Schloss, would hold mountains of presents for Nick, Luke, and Jake underneath its evergreen branches, and the effort of remembering what each of the pups wanted had left the two parents exhausted. When the kids presented them with the gift from them, both Avelyn and Max agreed it was all they had ever wanted for Christmas. Material gifts didn’t mean much, anyway. Okay, Max had taken the time to buy his wife a sexy set of lingerie, but that was a different story.

So, there had been no cutely wrapped boxes waiting for them under the small Christmas tree the Beta, Kevin, had decorated for them in the cabin. And that was fine. As they were rushing through the deep forest to get back to the comfort of the fireplace, neither of them was thinking about Christmas presents. Avelyn was dreaming of a tall glass of wine, and Max couldn’t wait to dig into the Christmas pudding. All this running around had made him hungry again. For a second, he considered hunting. But that meant leaving his wife at the cabin and going alone, and he didn’t want to spend a single minute away from her, let alone one hour. The pudding would have to do.

When they arrived, Avelyn hopped down and went right inside. Max needed a few seconds to shift back into his human form, then followed her.

The cabin was warm although the fire was almost out, and the tiny lights in the Christmas tree were glowing happily, enveloping the room in subtle light. However, something was off. Avelyn and Max stopped in the middle of the room, all their senses alert. Max sniffed the air, and Avelyn inspected every corner with her keen sight. Something wasn’t quite right, but they couldn’t put their finger on it.

“Do you smell… lemongrass?”

“So, it’s not your perfume?”

“No, I left it at home.”

Max cocked an eyebrow and walked over to the fireplace. The fire was dying, so he threw three logs onto the pile of embers and watched them come to life. They didn’t really need the light, nor the warmth, but he was trying to keep himself busy as he thought. He felt like they were being watched. He slowed his breathing and expanded his wolf senses as much as he could. Soon, he’d identify where the intruders were hiding. Because, yes, he was sure that while he and Avelyn had been gone, intruders had broken in.

“Max?”

Avelyn’s hesitant voice made him jump to his feet. He ran to her side.

“Are you okay?”

“Look…”

She pointed towards the Christmas tree.

“Those… weren’t there before, were they?”

They stepped closer to what they could see was peeking from underneath the lower branches, and knelt down to get a better view. Christmas presents. Six boxes of various sizes, with their names on them. The writing was sloppy and impersonal, as if the person doing it had intentionally tried to mask their real style. Well, they had failed. Because Max and Avelyn could recognize Luke’s hand anywhere. He had done his best, sure, but he had completely failed to hide the flowery stroke of his “y”.

Avelyn chuckled. “I don’t believe this.”

Max ran his hands through his hair, rubbed his temples, sighed, then stood up and looked around the room again. He checked the small kitchen and the bathroom, but they were empty.

“Outside,” Avelyn suggested. “Behind the cabin.”

Sure enough, when they went to search the woods behind the cabin, they found tiny paw prints everywhere. By the looks of it, the pups had sneaked in through the bathroom window, left the presents under the tree, sprayed some of Avelyn’s perfume to cover their scent, then went back out through the same window, making sure they cleaned all possible tracks they might have left inside. Unfortunately, there was no way they could cover the prints they’d left in the snow. In the past hour or so, it hadn’t snowed at all.

“Fresh,” said Max.

Avelyn smiled. “You’re not mad, are you?”

“Of course I’m mad! How did they even find o