A Very Merry Iona Christmas (8 page)

“Mason and my mum?”
Hope didn’t get it. But she liked Mason and if Mason liked her mum, then that
was cool. She smiled as she wiggled her toes in her boots. “My toes are icy
cold…”

“Maybe I should take
you back.” Bo frowned. He was starting to feel the cold, but he guessed girls
felt it differently. They were smaller and more breakable.

“I’m tired. Maybe I
should take my nap first.” Hope snuggled into him a little more for the small
amount of warmth that he provided.

“Ok. Then I’ll take
you back.”

~

~

~

Dougie rounded the
break in the large rock that sat in the deepest heart of the woods. There was a
break in the trees to his left and denser undergrowth to his right. Still,
everything was covered in a hearty dousing of snow and more was falling by the
second.

His wolf lifted its
head and scented the air. At the same instant that he caught the two scents of
the children on the breeze, so he heard the heartbeats. They were close.

‘I’ve got there
scents by Devil rock…’
Dougie felt
heartened even if that second heartbeat was slower than it should have been.

‘
I’m nearly there…’
Annie was fast approaching. Her eyes spotted the huddled children inside a
makeshift shelter and Bo’s eyes lit up when he saw the wolf.

“She’s asleep…” Bo
informed Annie’s beast and the woman approached with caution. She didn’t want
to scare the life out of the child, but she also knew that something was wrong.

‘
I’ve found them.
But you need to get here and fast.’
Annie growled down the link. Mason’s
heart jolted inside of him. That wasn’t the news that he wanted to hear.

‘
What’s happened,
Annie?’
Mason sped up. He knew that Carly was having a hard time keeping up
with him already, but he needed to get to Hope.

‘
She’s frozen to
her bones. Her heartbeat’s slowed, and she needs warming…’
Annie didn’t
give two hoots about exposing her wolf to the child. Some things didn’t apply
when there was a life on the line, and Hope might only have been out in the
snow a short time, but the temperature was brutal out on pack land in the
winter…

Annie curled her body
around the sleeping child for warmth. She heard the paws approaching in the
snow and knew from the scent in the air that it was Dougie. His beast whimpered
at the sight of just how pale Hope had become, and he stepped inside the
makeshift den and used his body to give the children warmth.

‘
Mason, do you want
me to shift and run the child back to you?’
Dougie growled in frustration
at not being able to do more.

‘
We’re nearly
there…’
Mason’s answer was something of a relief for Annie and Dougie.
Human children were so fragile.

Mason reached behind
him and his fingers closed around Carly’s wrist. He didn’t want to leave her
behind and yet he couldn’t afford to waste any more time. He yanked her against
his hip and hoisted her upwards, carrying her with him as he sped up. His mate
never said a word of protest.

The moment that he
came out of the thick trees and followed the tracks that his brother’s wolf had
left in the snow. He needed to put Carly back down onto her feet again. The
denseness of the woods wouldn’t allow for him to carry her a step further.

“They’re in here.”
Mason assured her and Carly nodded as she followed him through the clumps of
trees.

The moment that Carly’s
eyes fell on the group she gasped in a horrified breath at the sight of the two
wolves curled around her daughter. But it was Hope’s face that shocked her the
most. Carly’s only reaction was to panic…

“Oh my…”

‘
Hold on, girl. The
wolves are just warming her…’
Iona had tried to give Carly some comfort the
whole time that they had been searching, but Carly hadn’t wanted to acknowledge
anything but the fact that Hope was missing and in danger.

Mason took charge.
Moving quickly; he reached down and started to wrap his arms around her, when
her eyelids flickered up. There was a hint of a smile on Hope’s face as it
registered who he was, and then her eyes took in the wolves around her and she
opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“I told you that
wolves huggle for warmth.” Bo announced. As Mason lifted her against his body,
wrapping his arms around her and giving her his warmth, Hope let her fingers
run through Annie’s fur…

“Hope?” Carly threw
herself down onto her knees beside Mason and Hope dragged her eyes from Annie
to look at her mother.

“Real life wolves…”
Hope grinned and Carly let out the longest breath that she’d been holding.
Mason grunted as he pushed up to his feet.

“Let’s get you home where
we can warm you in the bath.” He growled in annoyance as his eyes flicked
towards Bo. The young Lycan frowned and dropped his chin to his chest.

“We were just building
a den…” The boy offered.

“You know that… little
girls are delicate.” Mason growled out over his shoulder as he started to stalk
away. He’d nearly said humans. This parenting thing was a lot damn harder than
he’d thought it would be…

“Come on, Bo.” Carly
felt sorry for the boy. He looked so forlorn as he sat among the wolves. Annie
nuzzled against him.

“It’s not your fault.
I should have taken you aside and told you how to care for Hope, but you kept
her safe and that’s the main thing.” Mason shot the boy a look over his
shoulder. “Come on, you need to be warm and dry too, and I’m sure Annie has a
pie with your name on it.”

Carly watched as Bo’s
face came to life with happiness. He’d been chastised and then rewarded for his
efforts. Bo skipped out on the wolves with a happy smile.

She was seeing a
different side to Mason now. The leader. The carer. The true strength of the
man that wasn’t in his beast’s claws and fangs. It looked good on him.

‘
Told you!’
Iona
crowed. ‘
And that’s all I’m gonna say on the subject.’

I very much doubt
that.
Carly shot back.

~

~

~

Hope had been bathed
by her mother, fed by Annie, and now Bo and Hope were snuggled together under
blankets on the sofa in front of a roaring fire while Dougie read them story,
after story, after story, and all under the watchful eye of the alpha. Mason
knew that he’d screwed up, again. He should have been more watchful over the
child.

He hadn’t had a moment
alone with Carly since they’d brought Hope back from the woods. He wasn’t even
sure if she could forgive him for his lack of care where Hope was concerned. He
wanted to pace back and forth the whole time.

His beast felt uneasy,
frustrated, and caged, and yet he stood close and made sure that Hope was doing
well.

“Read it again!”
Hope’s eyes were wide like saucers with excitement.

“Maybe Doug needs a
break, honey. He’s been reading a long time.” Carly chuckled.

“But he does the voice
and everything, mummy. He does it way better than you.” Hope informed her and
Carly saw Doug’s chest inflate with pride. He turned towards Carly and gave her
a victory grin.

“You people really are
competitive.” She chuckled.

‘
You’d better
believe it.’
Iona chuckled too.

“I do it better than
you.” Doug teased and Carly rolled her eyes.

“Now if you could only
give birth I’d be impressed.” Carly offered back and Doug roared with laughter.
Mason felt the pang of jealousy shoot through him. That was his job to sooth
his mate, to make her laugh, and he wanted to rip Doug’s head off for taking
his place.

“Easy, Alpha. It takes
a pack to raise a child, remember?” Annie put her hand on Mason’s shoulder as
she whispered her words. Mason felt a little of the tension release in his
body, but he’d still like to put his fist in Doug’s face.

“It’s nap time for
you.” Carly thought Doug needed saving. The man had been a patient orator for
the last couple of hours, and he could probably do with some time off.

“But…?” Hope’s
eyebrows raised up high in expectation, but Carly shook her head.

“Nap.” Carly chastised
her and Hope sighed.

“Well ok, but can he
read to me at bedtime too?” Hope bargained and Doug chuckled as he turned back
towards Carly.

“I do it better than
you.” Doug offered her another grin and Carly chuckled again.

“Fine. Now sleep. You
too Bo.” The boy was already yawning throughout the last story. He nodded and
closed his eyes. He didn’t need to be told twice. He’d had quite a day of it so
far.

As the children
drifted off the room cleared, leaving Carly to push up from her seat at the end
of the sofa, and Mason still standing by the door where he’d been since the
children had been wrapped up in front of the fire. Carly took a slow walk
towards him as she pushed her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Mason
resisted the urge to reach out and pull her into his arms.

“You gonna stand guard
there while they sleep?” Carly asked.

“I thought I might.”
Mason offered back and Carly’s faced showed the surprise.

“I was joking.” She
chuckled.

“I wasn’t.” Mason’s
voice held the slightest of growls.

“Mason…?”

“I failed Hope and I
failed you. I said I would protect her- that she would be safe here, and she
wasn’t. I didn’t do my job or keep my word.” Mason looked as serious as a heart
attack and Carly frowned.

“You mean that, don’t
you?”

“Yes.” Mason could see
the surprise on her face and he didn’t understand it. He thought she would be
the first one to condemn him for his lack of forethought, and his failings…

“Wow. It’s lucky you
have such wide shoulders, Alpha, because you seem to want to take on the weight
of the world.”

“It’s my job, Carly.”
Mason frowned back.

“Things happen, Mason.
You didn’t send Hope off with Bo. They’re kids. They do stupid stuff.” Carly
couldn’t understand why he was beating himself up over it.

“And I’m the one that
should be there to stop them.”

“You can’t be with
them every minute of every day…” Carly didn’t believe that she was arguing that
point with him. He was like a parent berating himself for not having their eyes
glued to their kids behind when something went wrong. “And hindsight is a
wonderful thing…”

“That’s not the
point.” Mason shook his head from side to side on a scowl.

“T’is too.” Carly
reminded herself of Hope just then.

‘
T’is too? What the
hell kind of logical adult argument is that?’

I’m… winging it.

‘Obviously.’

Shut u…

‘Up, Iona. Yeah, I
heard that before.’

“T’is too?” Mason
repeated and Carly winced. Then she saw the corners of his mouth bow upwards in
the start of a smile and she chuckled a little.

“I know. But you are
being so pig headed.” Carly shrugged.

“I’m being the alpha.”
Mason offered back.

“Is there a
difference?” Carly and Iona said together. Mason considered it. Then he gave a small
shrug.

“Probably not.” He
agreed and she beamed him the kind of smile that made him happier than he’d
ever been. Her eyes were luminous. Her smile was like a pup being born. It
brought him happiness and contentment with his lot in life.

“Thank you.” Carly’s
quick change of subject made him frown again. “For what you and the pack did
for Hope.” Carly added when she saw his confusion.

“She’s one of us,
Carly…”

“Don’t start that
again, Mason…” Carly went to turn on her heels back towards the children, but
Mason reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her into his
arms, and her hands came up and palmed his chest as she tipped her head back to
look up at him.

“I just can’t help
myself…” He said it like it was an apology, and Carly went to speak, but his
lips came down on hers a moment later, and the jolt that went through her body flipped
the off switch on her brain. She was lost to his kiss, and oh what a kiss that
was.

Fire melted the ice
within her. It wasn’t a gradual process it happened in a heartbeat. The heat
started inside of her womb and spread outwards.

Mason turned her back
to the wall and caged her in. If the children woke they wouldn’t be able to see
around his broad back… He felt that hard ache of his length trapped between
them and he growled, boy did he growl.

That rumble, that
growl that started deep within him fanned the flames of desire inside of her
and grew. Her fingers curled against his chest as she found that she couldn’t
get close enough to him.

Lust, it’s just
lust…
She tried to tell herself and
yet even without Iona speaking a word, calling her a liar, she knew it wasn’t
true. She wanted him, but she wanted all of him, every last piece.

Mason didn’t want to
break away from her lips. He’d not done tasting her yet. He wasn’t nearly drunk
on her, and yet, if he went any further then he’d be taking his mate up against
the living room wall with the children sleeping across the damn way.

Mason released her
lips and turned his head to nuzzle between her neck and her shoulder. Her scent
was all around him, and he wanted her more than he wanted life itself. He
palmed the wall and eased back away from her…

“One more minute and
you’d be mine and there’s not a damn thing either one of us could do to put a
stop to it.” Mason warned with a deep rumble that underscored every word. His
beast was close to the surface. He was close to letting his beast out.

“Mason, I…” Carly
tried to shake the fog from her mind. It was that tunnel vision kind that
pulled you in and wouldn’t let the hell go. She heard his words and she felt
the same way.

Was he giving her a
way out? Was he offering her the chance to leave? Could she honestly say that
was what she wanted now?

~

~

~

Mason pushed away from
the wall. Pushed back away from her. Before she could say or do anything; he
was stalking away from her and down the corridor.