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  Of Mistletoe and Mating

  Jessica Lynch

  Copyright © 2019 by Jessica Lynch

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover by Jessica Lynch

  Contents

  Foreword

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Epilogue

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  Stay in Touch

  About the Author

  Also by Jessica Lynch

  Foreword

  Surprise!

  So, first off, Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Like last year, with Let Nothing You Dismay in the Hamlet series, I’m releasing a surprise holiday-themed short story. This year it’s part of the Claws Clause series.

  The whole holiday season, from Halloween through New Years… it’s my favorite time of year. I love everything about it, from dressing up and trick-or-treating to decorating the Christmas tree and exchanging gifts. And, since I’m currently working on the second book in this series, I started to wonder how the couple from the first book, Maddox and Evangeline, would celebrate the holidays.

  The more I thought about it, the more I decided it might be nice to take some time out of my schedule and see if I could make a short story out of it. Well, here it is! And, since it takes place while Colt and Shea are off dealing with the Nightwalkers (you’ll read all about that in the upcoming book, Season of the Witch), you get to see Maddox and Evangeline’s Christmas celebration in Of Mistletoe and Mating.

  Plus, even though it’s a steamy holiday short, it actually sets the stage for some important things that will come into play later in the series so that’s fun, too :)

  I hope you enjoy!

  xoxo,

  Jessica

  Prologue

  The Alpha makes all of the laws.

  The Alpha is responsible for upholding all of the laws.

  See #1.

  — Pack Law

  1

  Evangeline woke up slowly.

  The room was quiet. Peaceful. It had snowed the night before and she stayed up late, watching the big, fat flakes drift down while she waited for her mate to return.

  Of course, as usual, Maddox stayed out far later than she could keep her eyes open. With the stress of everything that had been going on these last few weeks, Evangeline found it harder and harder not to just give in, pull her blanket over her head, and go to sleep. Thanks to the potion Luciana—the head witch of Coventry—brewed for her, Evangeline could finally have dreamless nights where she didn’t have to worry about Priscilla Winters trying to harm her while she was unconscious and too vulnerable to fight back.

  Because, though it was now December and no one had seen or heard anything about the psychotic witch since June, Cilla was a constant threat that hung over Evangeline’s head. Maddox wouldn’t let her forget that the witch was still out there, and he vowed that, between him and his brother, the two shifters would track the witch down and have her tossed in the Cage.

  Only Colton was dealing with a whole other threat currently, and Maddox decided that whisking his mate away to the solitude of the mountains was his best option while Evangeline was still at risk. Which was fine—she’d do anything that made her mate happy—except for the fact that he didn’t seem to realize how worried she was about him.

  It was a relief when he slipped into their bed sometime late last night, pulling her close and nuzzling her neck, letting her know that he was home.

  That he was safe.

  Evangeline knew she was being ridiculous. Her mate was a big man, with shoulders that put any linebacker to shame, and sculpted muscles that she adored running her fingers over. He was also an alpha wolf shifter who could transform into an oversized grey wolf with a snap.

  His fangs were longer than her pinkie finger while he was in that shape. His claws were sharper than a chef’s knife. The laws regarding Paras might have blunted them a little, but when it came to protecting his territory—his home, his pack, and his family—Maddox would stop at nothing to keep them safe. His obsessive need t0 mark his territory lines and patrol the boundaries surrounding the rustic, two-story cabin he claimed as his showed just how far he was willing to go.

  Even if Evangeline wished he’d spend more time inside of the cabin with her than outside guarding over it…

  Hey, at least he was in their bed now. Or, she amended, the bed that would be theirs for the foreseeable future. Their home was back in Wolf’s Creek. The bed they were lying in? The cabin in the mountains where Maddox had taken her after he claimed her nearly six months ago.

  And, okay, the same cabin he brought her to after he abducted her last summer.

  Cilla couldn’t get to it. It was on pack land, tucked away, secluded and protected. The group of Nightwalkers that were terrorizing the area surrounding Colt’s Bumptown, all the way to Grayson, where Evangeline used to live? She was sure they couldn’t touch them there, either.

  Which was a good thing. Due to her history with a Grayson police officer, and her being mated to an Alpha’s son, the Nightwalkers were as much a danger to Evangeline as Cilla was.

  Hiding out in the mountains, she was as safe as she could be—but tell that to Maddox’s wolf. The overprotective beast wouldn’t settle for less than constant patrols, marking the outer boundaries of pack land, verifying that no one else was around for miles.

  Once he was satisfied, only then did her mate return to her side. The dip in the bed as Maddox’s weight joined hers on the mattress woke her up last night, alerting her to the fact that he’d finally gone to bed.

  To her surprise, Maddox had reached out for her when he slipped into the bed, his hand going straight to her hip. She was wearing pajama pants that had shifted while she tossed and turned, leaving the patch open and inviting for her mate. He had barely grazed the curve of her naked skin, though, when he pulled his hand back like he’d been burned.

  “It’s cold as shit out there,” he said, shaking his hand as if he was trying to get rid of the chill. “Sorry, Ang.”

  The way he touched her before immediately moving away left her feeling far colder than the temperature of his skin.

  He’d been doing it a lot lately. Moves just like that, where he absently went to stroke her, nuzzle her, kiss her… then didn’t. He just stopped.

  Mating?

  Forget it.

  She kept waiting for him to make the first move. It had been ages since he even tried. When was the last time they actually mated?

  Beginning of December?

  Maybe.

  Disappointed and feeling rejected, Evangeline had murmured something that might’ve been an I love you or maybe you’re right, but was really a what’s wrong with us before she rolled over, curled up in a ball, and drifted off to another uneasy sleep.

  When she woke up the next morning, the quiet was the first thing she noticed. Quiet… because there were no loud snores coming from the wolf in bed with her.

  Because there was no wolf.

  Maddox had already left the room.

  Her heart sank. He’d probably risen with the sun, waking up early to check his traps, his marks, his territory and make sure that no one had attempted to cross the lines while he got a couple of hours of shu
t-eye.

  It was something he’d been focusing on since they came to the cabin. As second-in-line to take over the pack when his father, the current Alpha, finally gave up the reins, Maddox could’ve arranged for some of the unmated packmates to act as additional soldiers. Could’ve, but didn’t. As much as he trusted his packmates, the only person he would let around his mate was his brother, and since Colt was already preoccupied, that left Maddox to run the watch all on his own.

  She tried to tell him that it wasn’t necessary. She’d been more than fine the first few months after Cilla first transported her away and, well, nearly killed her. But then the Nightwalkers tried to use her as leverage and… yeah. Maddox was too stubborn to let that go.

  But Evangeline was secure now. And all she wanted was to spend a cozy, quaint Christmas with the mate she adored.

  Too bad they weren’t on the same page.

  They never really had a chance for a honeymoon. When they were married three years ago, the near-fatal accident that Cilla orchestrated came right before they could celebrate their elopement. Then, after Maddox served his time in a Cage while Cilla held Evangeline’s memories hostage, her mate had only one thought on his mind: getting Evangeline to remember him so that he could finally claim her as his bonded mate.

  Which he did, but there still hadn’t been any time for a true honeymoon. Evangeline was still getting used to her memories coming back to her in waves, then pieces, and there was the question of where did Cilla disappear off to and what the jealous witch was plotting now?

  This was supposed to be their time together. That’s what Maddox said when he first proposed the idea of their spending Christmas together at the cabin that meant so much to them.

  Evangeline went along with it because, even a month ago, she had started to sense her mate pulling away from her, both physically and emotionally. In the weeks since they moved into the cabin for the holidays, it had only gotten worse.

  And then there was last night. She could still feel his hand against her hip, the possessive brand that warmed her all the way to her heart—until he jerked it away, making another excuse to put more space between them.

  So they slept in the same bed. It might as well have been different worlds.

  She shook her head, then threw back the rumpled comforter. No use in sitting in bed and moping all day. When Maddox came back from wherever he’d run off to this time, she’d confront him.

  He was keeping something from her. She knew him well enough to tell when he was being secretive.

  After his desperate approach to get her to remember him, the way he drugged her then kidnapped her so that she’d remember who he was and that she was his wife, Maddox swore that he’d never keep secrets from Evangeline again. It was the only thing she asked for back then.

  It was all she wanted now.

  Christmas was in little more than a week. If that’s all he gave her for a gift, she’d get to the bottom of why Maddox seemed to be regretting their mating.

  He was her mate. She was his. They had a marriage certificate and a bonding license—plus Evangeline had Maddox’s bite—or prove it.

  If he changed his mind about them, he owed her an explanation at least.

  * * *

  Evangeline was in the upstairs shower.

  Maddox could hear the soft spray of the water against the tile the instant he let himself back into the cabin. Just imagining his mate’s gorgeous body standing beneath the water had his cock twitching, going instantly hard. If he thought she’d welcome him, he’d shuck off his clothes, his boots, and go join her for a little shower sex.

  With a rough hand, he palmed at his erection through his jeans. He needed to tame the bulge because, honestly, Maddox wasn’t so sure that Angie would welcome him.

  Ever since he brought his mate back to this cabin, leaving their fledgling home in Wolf’s Creek behind them, she’d been giving him the cold shoulder. He didn’t want to push her, not when it was still so soon after the trauma she went through, but giving her her space was giving him the worst case of blue balls he’d ever known.

  For his mate, though, he’d deal with it.

  Besides, with Christmas quickly approaching, and no news from Colt, Dodge, or any of his other contacts about their hunt for Cilla or the Nightwalkers, there was no time to even think about mating. When he could be sure that not a single threat existed against his Evangeline, only then could he give in to his urges to climb on top of her and get inside of her where he belonged.

  As his father told him repeatedly, there was more to being mates than just mating. No matter what, her needs had to come first—even if that meant ignoring his own.

  Because his Ang was a human, her hearing was nowhere near as good as his. Locked in the bathroom, with the sounds of the shower echoing around her, this was as good a time as any for him to make the call he’d been meaning to make.

  Reception was shit out on the mountain. He learned that when he’d brought Evangeline here during the few days when she was his captive instead of his mate. He couldn’t get a single bar outside of the cabin which made sense. It was pack land, and the shifters who made up their community knew how to navigate the caves, the trees, and the terrain. No trespassers would.

  Why would the Alpha give them the chance to call out for backup or help?

  Nope. The only spot that got any service was right inside of the cabin.

  He’d have to make this quick, though. Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he pressed a button. There were maybe three people that he kept on speed-dial.

  His brother was one of them.

  Colt answered on the third ring. “Yeah?”

  “It’s me.”

  “Figured when your name popped up on the screen. What’s up, Mad?”

  Maddox could hear noises coming from just beyond Colt. Unless he was mistaken… “What’s going on with you? It sounds like fighting. Everything okay?”

  “It’s fine. Don’t worry about me. What about you?”

  When it came to sensing a lie, a shifter needed his nose and his eyes to tell when an opponent was being deceptive—neither of which he had while he was on the phone. But this was Colton, his younger brother, and Maddox had a sixth sense when it came to Colt being less than honest.

  Colt was totally full of it right now. But, since he was also more than capable of handling whatever was going near him, Maddox was willing to let it go. “Just checking in. Any update on Cilla?”

  “Nope. Sorry, bro. I thought I might have gotten a lead, but it didn’t pan out. I’m still working on it, though. Word is she might’ve hooked up with this gang of corpses I’m trying to flush out of town.”

  Corpses. The Nightwalkers. “Fucking A. Kill two birds with one stone. Throw Cilla in a Cage and get yourself a couple of fangs. Merry Christmas to you.”

  Colt’s laugh came out like a bark. “You know it. Speaking of… how’s the gift for your mate coming along?”

  “The bike? Ralphie came and dropped it off the other day. I’ve got it hidden out in the trees since it’s gonna be a bitch to wrap, but it’s perfect. Just what I ordered.”

  “Not that one,” Colt said. “The big one. One of the runners get my plans to you?”

  They did. And, because they were Colt’s design, they were perfect—and super fucking complicated. Because of the degree of difficulty, and the fact that Colt was too busy to come and help him knock it together, it was taking longer than he’d expected to get right. He’d come up with excuse after excuse to sneak out into the woods to work on it, staying out late and waking up early, and he felt Evangeline’s loneliness through their bond like an ache that wouldn’t go away.

  It would be worth it. And while his mate might be left alone for a little longer, it would all change after he gave her her gift.

  “Yeah. Thanks. Got the tools, too, and they’ve been a big help.”

  “If you need me to take a trip over, I might be able to fit it in. I’m sorry that I won’t be able to be there on Chris
tmas, but I could probably spare a night before then.”

  “Nah. Don’t worry about it, Colt. Finish what’s on your plate and you, me, and Angie can have a Christmas get-together in the New Year. If you want, you can even bring your witch with you.”

  “Don’t have a witch,” Colt retorted automatically. “But, okay. I’ll see if Shea wants to come.”

  Maddox blinked, stunned. This was the first time he’d heard his brother say the raven-haired, purple-eyed witch’s name out loud instead of saying her, witch, she or you.

  Before he could remark on it, though, Colt hung up the phone and he was left teasing a dial tone.

  2

  A couple of days later, nothing had changed.

  Not really.

  Not for a lack of trying on her part, either. It was just, every time she tried to have a heart to heart with Maddox, he looked at her with such adoration, she couldn’t help but convince herself that she was overreacting.

  Then he’d disappear again and she’d regret staying quiet.

  It snowed again, too, which, Evangeline was beginning to understand, was pretty normal for the mountains this time of year. It was so chilly, she was grateful for the space heaters on every floor and in every room of the cabin. Maddox might not feel the cold, but she sure as hell did, and it was warm and cozy inside, with or without her mate to warm her up.

  The morning before, Maddox did surprise her with a Christmas tree that he cut down himself and carried it inside. He lifted it single-handedly, placing it in a tree stand that he pulled out of a closet somewhere, then left it alone so that the branches could fall.