“You should try to get some sleep.” I whispered to Haven, who was currently wrapped up in my arms, facing away from me.
“I can’t. I’m too excited for Santa to come.” She joked, but I knew she wasn’t faking the excitement in her voice. I laughed, and rested my chin on her shoulder. We laid like that for a few minutes, before she broke the silence. “Christmas is my favorite.”
“Yeah?” I asked, I hadn’t known that. I felt her nod underneath me. “I’m sorry you can’t spend it with your family this year.”
“It’s alright, I’ll have lots more years for that. Besides, you guys are my family now.” When she said that, a wave of happiness washed over me. But underneath that lurked a sense of dread. Would Haven have more Christmases? Certainly not if we couldn’t kill the wendigo. I shook that thought from my head. I needed to look on the brightside. It was Christmas. I had finally found my mate. And she was wrapped in my arms right now. I shouldn’t ruin the moment.
We spent the rest of the night swapping stories about past Christmases. I had a lot more than Haven, naturally, but I enjoyed listening to her talk about her how her father used to dress up as Santa when she was little, or about how her mother always burned the cookies. I was also envious of her, this was the first Christmas that I had spent with family in decades.
Haven
When I woke up, I could no longer feel Aaron’s arms around me. I called out for him, my voice still groggy with sleep, but no reply came. Without opening my eyes I reached out to him, but instead of feeling his warm skin, like I had expected, my wandering fingers enclosed around a small box. I opened my eyes to see that the box was long and rectangular, decorated with a green bow. There was no card on it, but surely it was from Aaron, no one else would have left it for me while I slept.
I hesitated before opening it, wondering if I should wait until Aaron was there to watch me. After briefly debating it I decided to go ahead and open it, Aaron wouldn’t have left it for me to find if he cared to see my reaction. The ribbon slid off easily as if asking to be opened, and I gasped when I saw the contents of the box. I picked up the gift in wonder, admiring how beautiful it was. The necklace was made of silver and had a thin chain, but it was the three glimmering green emeralds that caught my attention. The jewels were small but stunning, and they were surrounded by Celtic designs.
I gently gathered the necklace in my hand, and hurried downstairs, excited to thank Aaron. But when I reached the first floor, I was greeted only with silence. I checked the living room, hoping to find everyone gathered around the tree, but the large room was empty. I sighed and headed to the kitchen, maybe they were eating breakfast. Again I was disappointed. However, the refrigerator door was ajar, and it closed to reveal Damian.
His short blond hair was disheveled and he looked like he had just crawled out of bed. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find him shirtless, but still I was taken aback. I had never realized just how muscular he was.
“Mornin’” he grinned, holding out his freshly poured glass of eggnog. I took it happily and drank a little, before spitting it out.
“Damian, is there rum in that?” I asked, aghast.
“Of course there is.” He replied, looking at me like it would be crazy to drink it any other way. I’m sure Ryan would agree. I shook my head and handed it back to him, watching disgustedly as he downed the glass. When he was done, he smacked his lips and threw the glass into the sink, where it landed with a crash. I rolled my eyes at him, which only seemed to amuse him.
“Hey, will you do me a favor?” I asked and blushed as he raised an eyebrow. “Nothing like that, you perv.” I laughed and held out the necklace to him.
“I see you found my present.” He said, motioning for me to turn around. I did, but mostly so he would not be able to see the look on my face.
“Your present?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound as surprised as I felt.
“Of course.” He said in a quiet voice as he stepped close behind me. I lifted up my hair so it wouldn’t get in the way. “It was our mother’s, actually. After she died, I returned home for it. I didn’t want it to get pawned off like all of her other belongings. And before her, it was my grandmother’s, she brought it over from Wales in the early eighteen hundreds.”
“It’s beautiful.” I gasped out, not having the right words to express how I felt. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” He said smoothly as he clasped the delicate chain. His hands lingered for a second though, lightly brushing the nape of my neck. I sucked in a breath at the electricity that seemed to radiate from his touch. Before I could say anything the front door opened, and Damian quickly stepped back. “It appears that your mate is home.”
I wondered if I had imagined the contempt in his voice, but he still followed me out of the kitchen to see if it was truly Aaron who had arrived. It was, but he wasn’t alone. Danny and Ryan were with him too, all three sporting excited expressions. I wondered what that was about, but then I saw what Aaron held in his arms.
Mixed emotions flew through me, first surprise, followed by happiness, and then finally doubt.
“Um Aaron, do you think I will be allowed to take that back to school?” I asked, worriedly.
Ryan scoffed loudly. “The principal lets us munch on the school’s wildlife. Do you really think he would care about one little puppy?”
Ryan was right, and I went back to being excited. I scooped the puppy out of Aarons arms, surprised by how heavy it was. Ryan hadn’t been right about the ‘little’ part. I set the little Great Dane down, watching amused as it ran in circles around my legs. I wrapped my arms around Aaron, beaming.
“He’s adorable, thank you.” I whispered to him, and laughed as his cheeks turned pink.
After we finished exchanging gifts we spent the rest of the day watching old Christmas movies and taking turns playing with the puppy, who I had named Duke. The little dog was all grey, except for the little spots of black that were sprinkled throughout his fur.
Duke fell asleep on my lap, and I in turn fell asleep on Aaron’s shoulder, as we watched old episodes of “Rudolph” on Jared’s huge flat screen. But all too soon I was gently shaken awake by Aaron, and I reluctantly went upstairs to get my things. On my way back down the stairs I ran into Kage, and she pulled me into a tight hug.
“Don’t be a stranger okay?” She gave me a friendly smile but I could see that she was sad to see me go.
“I won’t.” I promised, but something in me wondered if I actually would be returning to Jared’s. I certainly hope so, I thought. But images of the Wendigo flashed through my mind. It was all too possible that this would be the last time I would ever see my new friend.
Jared was easier to say goodbye too, but still I felt an unexpected sadness at the thought that I might never see him again. I thanked him for everything, and he pulled my into a brotherly hug before helping take our luggage to the car. It was dark as we pulled away from the giant house, and I watched the lights of the house sadly as we drove off to the airport.
