CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - Lyla
I glanced at the clock again as the minute hand ticked closer to the hour. Once eight o’clock hit, I’d have to go home by myself and spend Christmas Eve night alone. Even after I pulled out the tears, Miss Eloise wouldn’t let me stay overnight in the hospital with her.
Mariska was supposed to be home, but her pack had apologized for whatever they did and took her back to their farm.
Miss Eloise showed me the pictures of the sleigh with the white horses.
So pretty, but it was no sleighride that convinced my bestie to not go to California and stay in the state.
She sent a text promising me all the details later.
I’d hoped Mariska and I could commiserate. Stay up late and yell at the women on Hallmark movies not to fall for the men who convinced them running a country store was better than a million dollar job in the city. We’d eat cookies and cakes and drink mulled wine, and then pass out on the couch.
Now it would just be me, crying into my wine, gorging on cookies, and wishing lumps of coal on all the happy movie couples.
I’d never spent a Christmas alone. Not once. It was eating me up inside. Though that could be the aftermath of me kicking Jason and Ozzi out and still feeling the increasingly painful ache of my heat.
I went back and forth wondering why I told them to go away and rallying myself to stay strong. Did I overreact because I’ve been an emotional bomb these past few days? Or was I in the right, and I should just wipe my boots of the mess?
“Lyla?” Miss Eloise’s voice broke into my thoughts, and I blinked, straightening in my chair and smiling. “That’s the third time I’ve said your name. Come see this picture. Can you imagine a household with this many people in it?”
I stood and came to look at the image on her phone. It was Emberlee and her family, minus her parents. Yet she had ten brothers and sisters. Some who had mates and children. They were all gathered around a grand Christmas tree, and… Wait.
I recognized Emberlee’s siblings. They either had really red hair like her or black hair. There were three men I didn’t know. Two handsome blonds and one with messy green hair. They stood surrounding Emberlee, each of them touching her in some way, protective and possessive.
Alphas. Look at her face! Emberlee was grinning like she’d won the lottery.
I gasped and expanded the picture on the screen to get a closer look. “Those are Alphas!”
“That’s Em’s new pack. She’s found her mates.” Miss Eloise said it so sweetly that my outrage got confused, and I sputtered out a few nonsense sounds before finding some real words.
“When did this happen? She told me and Mariska nothing. This is major! Why didn’t she say anything to us?”
“Perhaps the same reason you haven’t said anything to either Em or Mari?” Miss Eloise gave me that look with one eyebrow arched which declared her ultimate wisdom without rubbing it in my face.
I huffed and grunted. She had a point. I was an emotional mess.
I didn’t know how I felt about Ozzi and Jason, never mind trying to explain it to my friends.
Especially with Mariska going through her heat and dealing with the Silver Tree Farm pack.
I’d seen her elated and devastated within the time span of a few days.
So yeah… I understood why Emberlee hadn’t told us, but I didn’t like it.
“Em is happy, and she has her whole family looking out for her. She promised me that she’s going to continue going to college here in town, but I suspect she’ll be moving out of Primrose House and renting a place with her pack.” Miss Eloise’s eyes shimmered with tears. “I’m losing all my girls.”
“No!” I flung my arms around her and hugged her. “You have me. You’ll always have me. I’m never leaving Primrose House.”
“Oh, sweetheart, don’t say such things.” She put her phone down and patted my arm.
“No, I love living there. The new Omegas who will be moving in better appreciate the slice of heaven they found.” I would make sure that they did, and that they helped out around the house.
With Miss Eloise recovering from her stroke, she wasn’t going to be able to do as much as she once did.
I would have to be the assistant housemother, and I would do it for the rest of my life if she needed me.
Miss Eloise helped me when I was at my lowest, and I owed her everything.
“You never know what might happen.” Her eyes darted to the door, and she gave me a smile that was strangely omniscient. “You should get home and have some dinner. I’m ready to have a good night's sleep and wake up to a beautiful Christmas day.”
There was a stone in my gut that felt suddenly heavy. I didn’t want to leave, but that was clearly a dismissal. I stood and fussed around for a minute making sure everything she needed was in reach. “Anything else you need? I have more cookies in my backpack.”
“You’ve brought enough treats, dear.” She chuckled and glanced over my shoulder as if telling me that’s the way to the door. “I’m well taken care of here. Stop worrying. Thank you for decorating the room and for my Christmas pajamas. It wouldn’t have felt right going to sleep tonight without them.”
Geez. I could take a hint.
Heaving a sigh, I gave her one more hug. “All right. Have a good night, and I’ll be here as soon as visiting hours start tomorrow. Happy Christmas Eve.”
“Happy Christmas Eve, dear.” Miss Eloise waved me off.
I pulled on my coat and grabbed my bag, my shoulders slumping. I didn’t want to go home. I’d be all alone, and I didn’t want to cry myself to sleep.
Tansy was asleep as I passed her. The poor woman napped a lot. I didn’t know what was wrong with her, and I suspected she might have said something was wrong to spend time in the hospital to get sleep. I’d left some cookies and a fruitcake for her too.
I’d scheduled a ride share to pick me up at a few minutes after eight, so at least I didn’t have to wait. Maybe if Culver’s was open, I’d get the driver to go there and I could stuff myself with butter burgers all night.
Ho ho ho. Merry freaking Christmas to me.
On the verge of tears, I kept my head down as I exited the room and almost immediately ran into an iceberg.
I bounced back, gasping in surprise, with an apology on my tongue, but then he caught my hands to steady me. A hot zing went through me as my eyes widened.
Jason.
And Ozzi.
Dressed not only in the Christmas sweaters I’d given them, but each in a fancy long tailed jacket with top hats.
Top. Hats.
What was going on?
My body sang at being so close to them again, but my emotions were doing the craziest interpretive dance that had so many ups and downs, I couldn’t keep up.
Realizing I wasn’t breathing, I inhaled and nearly fell backwards. Earthy myrrh and black sugar mixed with lavender and a woodsy musk that embraced me and whispered everything was right in the universe again. A heat pang knocked louder, making me clench my thighs together.
“I’m so sorry, gorgeous. I thought you’d see us.” Jason still held my hands, and I gently removed them.
Oh, I saw them. I could never unsee this glory.
Each of them had a sprig of holly on their lapels, and Jason had a bit of mistletoe in the band of his hat. Silly man. They wore soft deerskin gloves. Jason’s were red to match his coat, and Ozzi’s were forest green. Christmas colors.
“What’s going on?” I should’ve told them to go away, but I couldn’t.
“Lyla Berg, we’d like to invite you to your own Christmas Eve Winter Wonderland.” Ozzi bowed, smooth and graceful, and held his hand out to me. His stance screamed prince while Jason’s declared him a rogue. And damn, I loved the juxtaposition.
I was supposed to be angry. I had said I never wanted to see them again.
But a Christmas Eve Winter Wonderland…
My weakness.
I felt every pair of eyes in the corridor on me. My stomach was a flurry of nerves.
“I’ll come and see, but I have a ride waiting for me.” There. I was setting boundaries, being strong. I didn’t take either of their hands, but fuck, did I want to. Just to feel their warmth through the gloves. “Lead the way.”
Jason looked like he was about to say something, but Ozzi gave him a look and the two of them walked down the hall, consciously making sure that I was just behind them the whole time.
We passed the nurses’ station and the three women standing there grinned at me like they’d gone insane. Patients peeked out their doors and a few orderlies grinned as I walked by. What the heck was going on?
When we reached one of the side exits, a grandmotherly nurse stood waiting with a…
OH. MY. GOD. Was that an Elsa cloak? It was made with thin icy blue material and embroidered with hundreds of snowflakes.
Just like my favorite princess in the movie.
Disney only sold the blue velvet cloak with the white fur trim.
This was handmade. It had to be, and it was so beautiful.
“This is for you, my dear.” The nurse motioned for me to turn around and she placed it over my shoulders. Ozzi gave me a soft smile and pinned it in the front with a sparkling snowflake broach.
“Thank you.” It came out as barely more than a whisper, and Ozzi gave me a little wink. My legs quivered, and I had to turn quickly to smile at the nurse. “Thank you,” I said with more volume. “It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“It was meant for you, Lyla. Enjoy your Winter Wonderland.” The woman looked incredibly tickled and disappeared down the hall.
“Do you trust us?” Jason asked, his tone low with some gravel. I was about to ask what he meant when he held up a blue woolen ear warmer. “We’d like you to put this one and blindfold yourself. We’ll lead you to the Winter Wonderland.”
I looked from one Alpha to the other. Hope shone in their eyes, and I wanted to give in, make them smile and laugh, let them kiss me again. Let them knot me over and over.
One more time. A final moment to end things with a happier note. “All right.”
Taking the ear warmer, I slid the band over my head and back up to cover both my ears and eyes. It wasn’t overly tight and didn’t hinder my breathing.
Jason and Ozzi each took one of my hands and looped my arms through theirs. God, I love being sandwiched between them. Their warmth and scents made me feel more alive than anything else.
One of them pushed open the door and winter’s cold blew over us. I could feel my snowflake cloak flutter behind me as we walked outside. Snow and ice crunched under our feet. I clutched their arms tighter as I felt a slippery spot, but they held me steady.
We walked for a few minutes, and I was about to ask where we were going when I heard soft Christmas music coming from somewhere ahead of us.
It grew louder as we approached, but it wasn’t blasting out.
Were they taking me to their truck? Did they build me a snowman?
Not that either of them had ever seen my favorite Disney movie, but the cloak had to signal something.
We stopped, and one of them lightly touched my chin. “I’m going to take the band off now.” Ozzi slowly slid it up. “Welcome to your Winter Wonderland.”
I blinked rapidly, my eyes adjusting to the sudden glare of lights. But when I could see clearly, I gasped and raised my hands to cover my gaping mouth.
We were at the small park beside the hospital where there was a picnic area inside a circle of trees.
Everything was covered in multi-colored lights.
Bulbs, snowflakes, and icicles. Some twinkling and others not.
Garland was strung between the trees and candy canes hung from branches.
There was an igloo that was designed to look like a castle to the back and fake reindeer prancing on the edge of the clearing.
In the center, there was not one snowman but two. Framing a big snow throne with a red cushion on its seat.
They had truly made me a Winter Wonderland.