Chapter Thirteen
Denali
It was hard to believe it was already Christmas Eve. It felt like we’d just checked in. Every day went by too quickly. Before we knew it, our time here would be over and we’d have to get back to “real life” with work and bills and responsibilities.
“Quit thinking about our time being over.” I grumbled to myself.
I’d woken early, unable to sleep. My bear was overly energetic, for some reason. I was going to make a pot of coffee, but then I got a better idea…hot chocolate.
I was following a recipe I’d picked up at a stand at the festival after we complimented one of their beverages.
It was simple, but somehow something I’d never considered before…
boiling the milk and adding shredded chocolate.
Easy peasy and delicious. Something told me that was exactly the perfect beverage to start our day.
Abel came out a few minutes later, his hair tousled and eyes still half closed. Freaking adorable.
“I made us some cocoa,” I said. “Sound good?”
“Perfect.” He bit back a yawn. “I rolled over, and you weren’t there.”
I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around him. “Sorry. My bear was restless. I don’t know if it’s because it’s Christmas Eve or what, but sleeping wasn’t happening. And then I thought…hot chocolate. How about we have some then go wandering in the woods?”
“Sounds nice.”
“This time it’s the higher-end kind,” I said with a grin.
“It has caffeine, right?”
“Yeah, it says it has caffeine. But if you want, I can make coffee too.”
He shook his head. “Cocoa.”
We took our mugs outside onto the front steps. It was nice, drinking the warm, sweet liquid surrounded by the cold air.
“Are we just exploring,” he asked, “or are we on a mission?”
“Maybe both.” I remembered the front desk clerk saying that at Christmas time, mistletoe could be found in the woods. I thought that might be a romantic Christmas Eve kind of wander. But if we didn’t find any, hunting with my mate sounded nice too.
We got out of our clothes and shifted, and I let my mate lead the way.
His head was up, nose twitching as he sniffed the air before darting toward the woods.
At first, I thought he was just running to play, but then I caught the scent of prey in his path.
Soon the two of us were working together to get a midmorning snack, a rabbit.
It was fun doing this together. My bear loved hunting, but it had always been a solo activity for us. The two of us working in tandem was amazing.
After we’d had our fill, it was my turn to lead.
I found a small brook. There were no fish, which was a shame, because rabbit followed by fish would have been my bear’s perfect day.
Once upon a time, Abel and I used to hike together, and I suppose this was similar to that, only in our fur.
Maybe we enjoyed it so much back then because a part of us knew this was going to be our future.
All the years lost. I tried not to focus on that because that decade apart made us who we were today. And who Abel was, was exactly the omega I wanted to be with.
We slowed, moving side by side. If any humans had been in the woods, they would’ve first freaked out that there was a polar bear here, and then wondered why a wolf and a bear were just chilling together.
It amused me, but it also made me think I’d like to have a picture of us like this.
Maybe next Christmas, I’d do a photo shoot of us in the woods.
And look at me, already looking forward to next Christmas, a holiday I used to hate and dread.
The last time we’d shifted together on Christmas Eve had been so very different. That night, my heart broke into a thousand pieces. Now, my heart was so full of love, it was about to burst.
Abel stopped short and shifted, not caring that he was in the middle of the woods and it was cold. I did the same.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
He took my hand and pulled me down beside him. “Better than okay. Look up.”
In the tree above us, someone had hung mistletoe. It wasn’t naturally growing mistletoe like I’d assumed. The owners had clearly hung it there, but I didn’t care.
It gave me an excuse to kiss my mate.
“Can’t disobey the mistletoe,” I murmured, brushing my lips against his.
“Nope. It’s like Christmas law.”
He kissed me back, this time deeper and longer, and if the cold breeze hadn’t cut through our skin, we’d probably have stayed there longer.
“This is a much better shift than our first one,” he said, nipping my bottom lip. “But it’s time to run because I am cold.”
He took three steps back and shifted, bolting toward the cabin. I took my fur and followed him. This time, it was a race. I might be larger and my strides longer, but my mate was fast, and he reached the steps moments before I did.
“I won!” he called.
“And what does the winner get?” I asked.
“You’ll see.” He took my hand and led me inside. “You’ll see.”
He tugged me inside and straight to the bedroom where we spent the next few hours enjoying each other’s bodies, talking about our future.
It was already the best Christmas ever and we hadn’t even gotten to the big day.
Tonight, we would probably hit up the sing-along at the main lodge and toast some s’mores over the fire.
We had skipped pretty much every activity they’d had, our focus on each other.
But singing and toasted marshmallows sounded like the perfect way to welcome in Christmas.
Our first Christmas of our forever. I could hardly wait.