3. Abigail

3

Abigail

P ine Valley at Christmas used to be everything Abigail hated. Christmas anywhere used to be anything she hated. But somehow it was this cute little town that threw itself heart and soul into the holiday season that changed her own heart.

Or rather, one Christmas-obsessed dragon shifter who lived there.

These days, she loved it. The decorations. The market in the town square. The smell of cinnamon and pine. The carols.

Yes, even the carols. Now that she wasn’t trapped behind a cash register with the same crackly off-brand recordings playing all day long, she could appreciate even them.

And so many other people loved it too. Thanks to all the hard work Jasper put into the public celebrations.

Was she really going to put all that at risk?

Don’t be ridiculous, she told herself as she packed a bag for the evening. I’m not going to ruin Christmas! I just…am going to steal it… a little…

She bit back a sigh, remembering a fleeting look of tension in Jasper’s eyes that morning as he stared at their Christmas tree. It was the biggest one they’d ever had in all the Christmases they’d spent together, and she’d joked that if they were going to top it next year, they’d need to add another floor to their house.

He’d grinned like it was a challenge, but the golden bond in her heart had pinched.

The problem was obvious. He was overworking himself. Even if he wouldn’t admit it. She wasn’t going to ruin Christmas. She was going to help her husband, her fated mate, relax and enjoy himself.

And get some.

Oh, lord, was she going to get some.

Heat flared with unexpected speed across her skin, and she squeezed her legs together. It wasn’t that they never had any time together. It was just that somehow, she was… extra horny?

She blamed Sheena for putting the idea in her head.

“Everyone ready to go?” she hollered as she headed for the front door, and Jasper bounded down the stairs. He and Ruby were in matching Christmas elf outfits. The same as she was, because she was a part of this crazy Christmas-loving family, after all.

Even if she was going to ruin Christmas.

I’m not going to ruin anything! She snapped at herself and jingled the keys. “Race you to the car!”

The town square could have been designed to hold the Christmas market. For all Abigail knew, it really had been.

Every shop front was ablaze with lights and festive decorations. Christmas trees in wine-barrel planters had been rolled into the plaza, creating a mock forest through which tinsel-y paths wove in and out between food trucks and picnic areas. There was a big open space with a stage, where the local choir would be singing, and it smelled like a festive feast in an enchanted, snowy grove.

The Christmas market opened each year with a small ceremony, early enough in the evening for kids to enjoy. Jasper kissed Abigail and Ruby and bounded up on stage to begin the official festivities. There were speeches by Jasper and local business owners, spot-prizes for best dressed and best Christmas-themed heckling, and finally Jasper relinquished the stage to the local choir, to sing in the holiday season.

He picked up Ruby and swung her onto his shoulders. Dwarfed by them both, Abigail leaned against him and let out a happy sigh. “This is so lovely. Just like last year,” she said happily.

“Just like?” Jasper echoed.

Was she imagining things, or did he sound almost disappointed?

“Can we get donut sticks again like last year?” Ruby asked, wide-eyed.

“You betcha,” Abigail told her. “You remember them?”

“You said that this year I can have five, because I’m five!”

“First of all, you’re four and a half. Second, I definitely did not… but I’m willing to negotiate.” She cracked her knuckles with a grin. “We can start there first, and then check out the—Jasper?”

He offered her a winning smile that made her heart drop.

“I… may have to sneak away for a bit,” he admitted.

“What are you planning?” she asked, and didn’t like the tone of warning that snuck into her voice.

“Only wonderful things,” he promised her. “Look, there’s Caine and Meaghan!”

“Look, there’s Jasper and Abigail,” Meaghan retorted, walking up to them with a grin. She leaned in for a hug and Abigail got a bonus, sticky-mittened hug from the toddler strapped to her back. Caine followed a moment later, the other twin slung over one shoulder, cackling wildly. “The Christmas market looks amazing this year! You guys heading over to get some food?”

“And…” Jasper’s eyes flicked conspiratorially to Caine.

And Meaghan’s eyes snapped to meet Abigail’s. She nodded sharply. Neither of them had shifter telepathic abilities, but right now, they didn’t need them.

Operation Save-or-Steal-or- Utterly-Destroy -Christmas was go.

“And what? What are you two up to?” Meaghan prodded her husband in the chest.

“Well—”

“What’s happening?” The rest of the hellhound pack had caught up to them, and Sheena was leading the charge. “Hey, Abigail, Jasper, Ruby, how are you guys going?”

“We’re—”

“Ooh, who said something about fireworks?” Sheena exclaimed, and Abigail figured someone had just totally failed at keeping a telepathic whisper quiet enough. Sheena grinned. “What do you need us to do?”

“I was going to—” Jasper began.

“Nuh-uh. Fireworks are hellhound business. And hellsheep business.”

“I breathe fire!” He glanced sideways and winced as a few probably-not-shifter festival-goers gave him an odd look. “Ahem. Metaphorically speaking.”

Sheena folded her arms. “And we can stop them. Which I feel like is more important for last-minute, amateur fireworks displays. You enjoy the Christmas village.” She gave Abigail a ‘subtle’ hip-bump shove towards Jasper. “So, what was the plan? We just let them off, or…? Do you need a license for it? Ooh, what if we turned it into a Santa thing? Jackson and Hardwick can fly…”

“We can what?” The rest of their group had arrived: Olly and Jackson, and Delphine and Hardwick. Hardwick’s expression darkened as the others caught him up.

Meaghan nudged her. “This is your chance to escape,” she murmured. “Want me to take Ruby on the pony rides?”

“Ooh, Jackson can do pony rides, too!”

“I think you’ll find I can’t,” Jackson tried in vain to point out.

Meanwhile, Hardwick was growling, “I may be able to fly, but I also have very strong views on fire safety—”

Abigail looked up at her husband. She took his hand, and he shook himself as though coming out of a dream.

“Donuts?” she suggested.

An expression of something close to regret flickered over his face, and her chest tightened.

“This wasn’t what I—” he began, but Ruby interrupted.

“Donuts!” she declared. “I get FIVE.”

She clambered down from his shoulders and marched off, leaving them no choice but to hurry after her through the glittering Christmas village.

“Come and find me after you get the donuts!” Meaghan called after them.

“I feel like someone just stole Christmas off me,” Jasper complained as they rushed after their determined daughter.

“Maybe they’re just excited to help out?” Abigail suggested innocently.

Ruby found the donut truck. And then, with an attention to detail Abigail had never noticed in her before, she found every other food and drink truck in the village. By the time they made it back to the main pavilion, they were laden down with holiday treats and trinkets from the market stalls.

One look at Ruby’s shining eyes as she showed her parents all the things she’d bought and listed which of her friends they were for, and Abigail knew there was no chance she was going to take up Meaghan’s offer to watch her while she and Jasper snuck off together.

If she could even convince Jasper to sneak off.

Not that that was what this was all about, even if that was what her friends believed.

So, they stayed. They cheered the choir and whooped as fireworks filled the sky. They spent the evening drinking hot chocolate and feasting on food truck treats, and as Abigail watched the reflection of fireworks and fairy lights in her family’s eyes, something eased inside her.

Maybe she had been wrong. Jasper wasn’t overworking himself over Christmas. She’d got the wrong end of things—probably because of her own lingering Christmas-related issues.

Everything was fine.