The Snow Yeti’s Grouchy Werewolf (Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala #3)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Dain

“The snow yeti’s here… again,” Jed, my boss’s fledgling and an old as hell vampire, whispered into my ear. Ever since his father found his viramore—his soulmate—Jed had become uber interested in my love life. And the love life of everyone else around him, including his siblings.

It was the most ridiculous thing because the vampire kept gossiping.

What kind of vampire gossiped this much?

Especially one as old as Jed?

And he was old. I didn’t know exactly how ancient he was, but I knew it was at least a few thousand years… and yet, he acted like a gossipy twelve-year-old. Sigh.

And why in the world was he always here?

Did he even work here?

Sure, his sire owned the bookshop, but come on. Whyyyyyy did he have to poke at me so much?

I shot him a glare. “Don’t you have a job to do… somewhere else?”

Jed just grinned at me and whisper-sung, “That yeti’s checking you ouuuuuttt.”

I sighed and shook my head even though my heart did a little flip. Maybe if I ignored him, he’d lose interest and go away—Jed, not the yeti. I kind of… liked the attention the snow monster was giving me, if I was being honest with myself.

We hadn’t talked much, but he’d been coming in almost every day—every day I worked—and buying books.

I always tried to meet him at the cash register when he was ready to check out so we could talk, but the man was so damn shy.

Every time I asked him a question, his entire face flamed, like it was the most embarrassing thing in the world.

It was actually really sweet.

And cute.

And the man was hot as hell, at least in his human form, so add in that blushing face, and phew… I was lucky I hadn’t passed out from the hotness yet.

This wasn’t the first time I thought about it, but I’d really love to see his monster side.

About fifty years ago, the magical community was still in hiding, so nearly all of the supernatural species had some kind of human form—at least the ones that’d integrated with humans.

Which meant that we had a lot of different kinds of shifters, at least here in Gauhala, including snow yetis, or as some would call them, abominable snowmen.

I’d never seen a snow yeti in their shifted form up close, but I’d seen the pictures. And every time I did, all I could think about was hugging that furry body tight and resting my cheek against its soft fur.

Which was… probably super weird, but I supposed that was what I got when I was forced to hang out with quirky thousands-years-old vampires all the time.

Jed sidled up to me and spoke quietly out of the side of his mouth. “Don’t look now, but he’s looking over here.”

Of course, I turned my head to see.

Jed grabbed my arm. “I said don’t look.”

I rolled my eyes at him, removed his hand from my arm, and casually turned around, feigning to search under the cashier’s counter for something or other.

My eyes immediately went to the very tall and thick man staring at the bookshelf directly across from me.

His hair hung down over his shoulders and was as white as I imagined his yeti coat was.

His build was big and bulky—I was a big guy, and he seemed like a giant to me—and so much like a big giant teddy bear that it was hard to hold myself back from jumping into his arms and demanding a hug.

Not that I would ever do that, even if we knew each other well. I wasn’t exactly… huggable. If my resting bitch face wasn’t enough of a deterrent, my grouchiness was—just ask any of my exes.

But despite his humongous size, his face was sort of cute. Sweet, even. And he was so, so, so damn shy. He barely spoke more than three words to me every time he came in.

Normally, I had zero patience for crap like that, but when it came to the big, giant snow yeti, I found it sort of… endearing.

Not that I would ever in a million years admit to that out loud. Especially not to Jed.

The snow yeti turned his head toward me, and our gazes met.

My bright brown eyes met his reddish-brown ones, and I had to stop myself from inhaling sharply.

The light sometimes reflected off his eyes and made them look very red, but right now, all I could see was chocolate brown staring at me like I was the most beautiful thing they’d ever seen.

I couldn’t help the way my lips twitched, wanting to form a small smile, but I managed to keep it from fully forming.

Every time I saw the man, I wanted to smile at him. He was just so… adorable.

I didn’t know him well, but he seemed really sweet. And cuddly.

I liked cuddles—but I wouldn’t admit to that on pain of death.

“Awwwwww,” Jed said, stepping up beside me. “You two practically have hearts in your eyes.”

Without looking, I punched him in the shoulder.

“Ow! What the hell, Dain?”

“You know you deserved it.”

Before he could respond, I heard Anton’s voice call out, “Dain? Can you help me for a minute?”

I elbowed Jed in a friendly manner. “Sounds like I’m needed in the back. You’re fine out here alone, right?”

He sighed but nodded. “If I must, but don’t take too long. I get lonely.”

Rolling my eyes, I walked into the back, trying not to be amused by Jed’s antics. That vampire was something else.

Maybe I acted annoyed with him at times, but truth be told, he did keep me entertained, and life would be a little boring without him around. The job had certainly perked up after he and his siblings moved back here a few years ago.

I glanced around the back, trying to figure out exactly where Anton was.

The whole back area was actually a pretty big place, and Anton had done an amazing job of making it nice and cozy back there.

The entire store was cozy with a relaxed and fun atmosphere, but unlike most places that didn’t care what the back looked like or that the workers were comfortable in their break space, Anton had continued the peaceful atmosphere back there too.

He continued the red and gold theme, and even though there were boxes and extra storage, he made them feel as if they were a part of the tranquil ambiance.

He even had some reading nooks. Not nearly as many as out front—they were literally everywhere—but considering this was only for employees, there were a good number of them.

Honestly, this place felt like a second home, and I was so very glad I’d gotten an interview with Anton seven years ago because I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else or for anyone else. He was a great boss.

He actually cared about his employees. He treated us well, paid us great salaries, and made sure his people were taken care of.

It was why I’d worked here so long.

Some of my family thought I needed to aspire to be something else, to work somewhere else, to have a more serious job than this. But I didn’t feel that way at all.

I loved my job, and it paid well enough that I could afford my apartment while I saved up for a house or condo.

Maybe not wanting to be some grand lawyer or something like that was looked down upon in my family, but I didn’t care. I loved my life. Truly and wholly loved it.

I snorted and walked into the back room where Anton was opening a new shipment of books. “What’s up, boss?”

“Do you mind giving me a hand with this? They packed everything so ridiculously that I have to organize it before I can shelve anything. Some of this is extra stock for the stock room.”

I nodded. “Got it. Do you have a utility knife?”

He pulled one out of his pocket. “Here. I have another.” He waved his other one around before diving in.

With my box cutter in hand, I joined him.

I walked out of the back room, stretching my arms out. That had been a lot of books. I wasn’t sure why Anton had ordered so many, but maybe he had some ideas for a few events.

Sleepless Books was the only bookstore I knew of that was open twenty-four hours a day.

I’d thought it was kind of strange when I’d first heard that, but after seeing how many supernaturals appreciated having somewhere to go at night, especially vampires, I understood Anton’s reasoning.

He even had emergency shutters on the windows that only required the push of a button to activate in case a vampire got stuck here during the day.

And Anton didn’t mind having people simply hang out here, even if they didn’t buy anything.

He even made sure all his employees knew that any of the unhoused that wandered in were welcomed to stay and charge their phones, if they had one, and warm up since we lived in the coldest district in Gauhala.

Even our summers were pretty cool, and our winters were icy, snowy, and blizzardy.

There were so many businesses that wouldn’t even allow someone they suspected was unhoused inside their doors, no matter how freezing it was outside.

Some of the problem was pure bigotry. Most unhoused were fae because the laws in the Sedoba Territory used to allow people to kick fae out of businesses, refuse services, refuse jobs, housing, and food, and so many other terrible things.

Since King Garrick Von Stein had finally come down from his Tower to see how his people were doing—his advisors had been lying to him and sending fake documents to his office since he’d been stuck up there—things began to change.

Now, no one could refuse the fae anything. They were supposed to be treated as equals in every aspect.

But unfortunately, prejudices and small-mindedness didn’t go away simply because the laws changed.

Things were a hell of a lot better now than they’d been, but there were still people here who did everything they could to keep the fae down, including literally leaving them outside in the cold.

The unhousing problem in the city was getting better under King Garrick’s rule, but since there was still an issue, I was beyond grateful that Anton allowed anyone, absolutely anyone, in his store at literally any time.

I saw that Jed was helping a customer find something, so when another patron came to the register, I stepped up to check them out, making small talk as I rang up their order.