Chapter 7

Ares managed to convince a cop and then a firefighter—by name-dropping his association with Derek—to let Charly run in to grab a few things for her and Greta. Poor Rudolph lay on his side in the front yard and, given the big dent in its ribs from being stepped on, might never be the same.

An ashen Charly emerged from the townhouse with two bulging bags.

Greta in the back seat asked softly, “Are we moving again?”

“More like going on a holiday at my house for a few days.”

“But it’s almost Christmas. How will Santa find me?”

He paused as he waited for inspiration.

His wolf had it. Tell her Santa is like a wolf. He can sniff out little kids who’ve been good.

Ares modified the advice. “Santa knows all. I wouldn’t worry. He’ll find you just fine.”

He stepped out of the car and popped the trunk for Charly.

She huffed as she heaved her haul into the space and slammed it shut. Only then did she eye him. “Are you sure we won’t be intruding?”

“If you ask me again, I am going to kiss you until you can’t talk.”

She blinked. “That’s not really a great threat.”

“Then go ahead and ask me.”

Her lips pursed. “Not the time.”

“Agreed. Now, can you drive? If you can’t, then I’ll leave my truck here and figure out a ride to work in the morning.”

“I can drive.”

“You sure? Because it’s not a big deal if you can’t. I know this came as a shock.”

“Wasn’t my place that burned.” Her lips twisted. “Which is awful to even say. Especially since I know the lady who owns that house. Thankfully she wasn’t home when it happened. She is—was—my babysitter. I’m going to have to call in sick to work tomorrow until I can find a new one. Which, again, sounds selfish.”

“No, it’s you being a mom. And don’t worry about Greta. I’ll just start my holidays a day early.”

No alarm. His wolf liked that bit.

“You shouldn’t be so quick to volunteer. It’s one thing to spend a few hours with me around and her toys. But you’re talking an entire day with a kid who will get bored of television.”

“I live on a farm, remember? More than enough stuff to keep us busy. And I won’t be alone. Mom and Selene don’t leave until late afternoon.” Maybe. The forecast was calling for snow.

“We shouldn’t have to impose for long. While the place smells smoky, there doesn’t seem to be damage. The fireman seems to think we’ll be cleared to move back in within a few days.”

“Don’t be in a rush.” He meant it. He had a feeling once he got used to having them around, he wouldn’t want them to leave.

“I hate intruding.”

“The house has tons of room. The biggest issue is going to be Mom and Selene.”

“Oh dear, will they be upset?”

“Only because their flight is tomorrow, meaning they won’t have much time with Greta.” He winked.

Charlotte smacked him in the arm. “You’re a brat.”

“I know. Shall we?”

Ares watched as she climbed into the driver seat and, before the door shut, heard Greta chirp, “Old Mac Ares had a farm…”

Damn, he wished he could be singing along with them.

Instead, he had to drive his truck, keeping his speed sedate, watching in his rearview to make sure he didn’t lose Charlotte. They headed out of Arnprior into a more remote area. Calabogie, also known as cottage country, catered a lot to seasonal tourists offering summers by the lake or skiing in the winter for those who wanted a break from the city.

As he drove, he gave his mom a shout.

“Hey, sweetheart. How was the concert?”

“Awesome, but there was an issue after. Just a warning. I’m bringing Charly and Greta to stay for a few days.”

“Is everything okay?” His mom’s tone held concern.

“Neighbor’s place caught on fire, and everyone’s been kicked out of their place until they give the all clear.”

“Oh dear. How awful. You tell them they are welcome to stay as long as they need. Should Selene and I postpone our trip?”

“Don’t you dare! The tickets are nonrefundable. I’ll be fine.” That, and he wouldn’t mind some alone time with Charly.

“I know you will be, but I’m excited to meet your ladyfriend and her daughter.”

“You don’t have to leave for the airport until early afternoon. Plenty of time to bake cookies with Greta.” Because he knew his mom.

“Are they hungry? I’ll whip up something for when you arrive. Should I give Greta the daisy room or the honeybee one?” Mom had a theme going in the two guest bedrooms. The five-bedroom farmhouse was made for large families.

“Honeybee has the queen-sized bed, which might be better. I imagine she’ll want to sleep with Charly since it’s a new place.”

“Oh, Charly’s not bunking with you?” Mom’s less-than-innocent query.

“Mom!”

“What? You obviously like her.”

“I am not discussing this with you.”

“Such a prude.” His mom laughed. “I’ll see you shortly. I’ve got stuff to do.”

And by stuff, she meant hanging more than a wreath outside their front door. He arrived to see the bay window lit up with lights and, on the sill inside, her collection of ugly nutcrackers. Her most prized ones. She had too many to sit them all on the ledge—blame him and his sisters. They spent a few years trying to out-ugly the other by hunting for the most ridiculous nutcrackers they could find. The mermaid one with a Santa hat. The pirate with the peg leg. Tropical Santa. At last count, Mom had over thirty of them.

He pulled in first and hopped out as Charly parked behind him. A wide-eyed Greta emerged and exclaimed, “It’s a real farm.”

“It is.” He pointed. “There’s the barn where we keep the goats in the winter. And that there beside it is the chicken coop.”

“Real chickens?” Greta squeaked.

“Yup. We’ll visit them tomorrow and see if they have any fresh eggs for us.”

Greta clapped her hands. “Yay!”

“We might even get a chance to milk a goat.”

“Cows give milk, not goats, silly,” Greta scoffed.

“Greta!” Charly exclaimed.

Ares laughed. “Lots of people think that. If we get enough, I’ll show you how I prepare it to make cheese.”

“Mmm. Cheese.” Greta rubbed her tummy.

Ares grabbed their bag from the trunk and motioned to the house. “Get ready for a warm welcome. Mom is over the moon you’re coming to stay. She was even ready to cancel her cruise with Selene.”

“Oh, don’t let her do that.”

“I won’t.” He chuckled. “Told you she’d be fine with you guys staying.”

As they entered, he smelled cookies baking, heard soft Christmas music playing, and saw Selene pop out of the living room with a cheerful, “Welcome!”

“Thank you for letting us stay. We’ll try to not intrude.” Charlotte had that tense look about her again, and Ares slid his arm around her shoulders for a squeeze.

“Not intruding. Adding joy,” he stated.

The usually precocious Greta tucked against his legs and looked wide-eyed at the biggest nutcracker Mom owned. A hockey player that always had the prime spot in the front hall.

“That’s a big nutcracker,” Greta whispered.

“Say hello to Jean Guy. Mom’s first nutcracker. Dad found it for her.”

“He’s missing a tooth.” Greta pointed to the black spot in Jean Guy’s grin.

“Just like the real thing,” Ares noted.

“Wait until you see the other ones,” Selene exclaimed. “I bought the ugliest nutcracker of the bunch. Come see.” She held out her hand, and Greta gripped it, skipping into the living room for a peek.

“Ugliest, and yet she sounds proud,” Charlotte murmured.

“Remember that sibling rivalry we spoke of? Poke your head into the living room.”

Charlotte did and turned on him with a rounded mouth. “You guys bought those… those…”

“Hideous nutcrackers. Hell yeah, we did.” He grinned. “I’m especially proud of the lumberjack, since he looks like dad.”

“Your dad was hideous?”

He chuckled. “No, but the wooden version of him is pretty funny-looking. Come on. Let’s go find my mom.”

Mom wiped her hands on a towel as they entered the kitchen and beamed. “Hello! You must be Charlotte. I’m Beatrice, but you should call me Bea.”

“Nice to meet you. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Oh goodness, it’s no problem at all. Delighted we can help. Cookie?” Mom, who’d not only managed the quickest Christmas decorating of all time, had also baked. She held out a freshly made, still-hot-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie.

Charlotte took it and had a bite. Groaned. “Good grief that’s good.”

“The best,” Ares agreed, grabbing three and shoving a full one into his mouth. “Mom’s a great cook.”

“Where’s the princess? I can’t wait to meet her.” Mom stacked some cookies on a plate and poured a glass of milk before hurrying to the living room.

Charly glanced at him. “You weren’t kidding about them being happy about us staying over.”

“Mom loves kids. She’d have had more than us three if her uterus would have cooperated. She had to get it removed after Selene due to complications.”

“Oh, that must have been difficult for her.” Charly nodded sympathetically as she nibbled on another bite of cookie. “I can understand wanting more. Kids are great. Greta was a surprise. I was in college at the time, and things were hard, but I managed. And she’s so worth it.”

He didn’t comment on the fact that some might think things were still hard for her. “You said her father left?”

“Yeah. It was only recently he decided he wanted Greta.”

He held her hands and murmured, “You’re safe here with me. I won’t let anyone take her away from you.”

Her lips twisted. “I wish I could believe that. But you don’t know him…” She paused. “Barry’s a got a dark side to him.”

“So do I when my family is threatened.” It had emerged recently when his sisters and Mom were kidnapped. To this day, he didn’t regret the deaths he’d caused when he’d gone to get them back.

Victory, huffed his wolf.

A victory earned with blood and violence. Had he just been a regular man it might have bothered him more, but half of him was a natural-born predator who saw the world more black and white.

“We should go rescue your mom and sister from my hyper kid,” she joked.

Actually, it was debatable who had more energy. They entered the living room to find the three playing Ring Around the Rosie with much laughter when they fell down.

A grinning Greta chirped, “Mama! Ares! Come play.”

They danced and sang and ate cookies for a bit before a wide yawn had Charlotte declaring, “Bedtime for little princesses.”

“But Mama…”

“The sooner to bed, the sooner you and I can bake some sugar cookies,” Ares’ mom declared. “After the pancake breakfast, of course.”

“Ooh.”

“And don’t forget we’ll be visiting the bunnies,” Selene stated, not to be outdone.

“Bah, everyone knows the goats are more awesome,” Ares interjected.

Greta beamed and, to his shock, held her arms out to him as she commanded, “Carry me.”

For the second night in a row, Ares read a bedtime story while the three of them snuggled—him on one side of the bed, Charly on the other, with Greta in between.

When Greta’s eyes drooped, Charly eyed him over her kid’s head with matching sleepy eyes. “Not the evening we had planned,” she softly murmured.

“Shit happens. We’ve got plenty of evenings ahead of us.” He’d make sure of it. “Why don’t you get some sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Thank you, Ares.”

“Bah. It’s nothing.” He wished he could do more.

He headed downstairs to find Mom and Selene waiting for him.

“She go down okay?” his mom asked.

“Yup. Out like a light. Charly too.”

Selene was the one to glance at the ceiling before asking, “What are you going to do if they can’t get back into their house by Christmas Day?” Which also happened to be the next full moon when their change into a wolf would be unavoidable.

Whenever possible, he and his sisters ran through the woods in their wolf forms under the full moon. Although, on a few occasions, when they thought they might be watched, they’d spent the night in the windowless storage room in the basement. Not exactly something he could do with Charly in the house. At the same time, him leaving for the night would look suspicious.

“I don’t know. I’ll figure something out if it comes to that.” He raked fingers through his hair. “Hadn’t really thought of it.”

Selene would be on board the cruise ship when the full moon hit and would spend the evening in their room. Hopefully the staff wouldn’t wonder at the wolf hair she’d shed.

Mom had a suggestion. “You could always invent an emergency. Say coyotes are threatening the livestock. Gives you an excuse to be outside and them in here.”

“That’s not a bad idea, actually.” Much as he hated lying to Charly, they were too new in their courtship for him to reveal his hairy secret.

He spent the night tossing and turning, taunted by the fact Charly slept just across the hall.

Let me out, and I’ll go watch over them, his wolf offered.

Because waking up to a giant beast won’t scare them.

The pup won’t be afraid.

Greta might be enthralled with an oversized dog— Insulting!— however he couldn’t predict how Charly would react. Especially since the dog would disappear as suddenly as it appeared.

Since he wanted to hear them the moment they woke, he left his bedroom door ajar and fell asleep. He woke suddenly, prickling with a sense of being watched, and yet his wolf didn’t react.

He opened his eyes to see Greta standing by his bed, staring at him.

She grinned. “You’re awake.”

“And so are you.”

“Mom’s still sleeping. She snores,” Greta informed him. “So do you.”

His lips tilted. “Like a wolf?”

“Wolves don’t snore. You’re like a bear.” Greta giggled.

“A bear who likes honey. And I know where we can find some, along with some pancakes.”

Eating made-from-scratch chocolate chip pancakes and chewing on bacon while drinking orange juice was how Charly found them when she entered the kitchen looking a bit frantic. She calmed at the sight of Greta.

“Munchkin, you should have woken me. Sorry if she?—”

Mom shook her flipper. “Don’t you dare apologize for getting some rest. We’re early risers, and she was no trouble at all. As a matter of fact, princess helped make breakfast.”

“I got eggs with Ares!” Greta announced. “He has lots of chickens. And after we eat, I’m gonna see bunnies and goats. You coming, Mama?”

Charly shook her head. “I have to go to work. Remember we talked about you being a good girl for Ares while I’m gone?”

“I will be the bestest princess,” Greta declared.

It was Charly who struggled. She didn’t want to leave, and Ares even told her, “Call in sick.”

“I can’t. I need this paycheck.” Charly’s lips turned down.

“We’ll be fine,” he reassured. “I can text you picture updates if it makes you feel better.”

Her lips curved. “I’d like that.”

“See you at dinner.” He drew her close enough for a soft kiss. “It will be just the three of us since my mom and sister will be leaving for the airport this afternoon. I am going to make my famous fajitas.”

“Can’t wait.”

She thanked his mother and sister for their hospitality and wished them well on their travels. With that, she left, and Ares let Selene and his mom take turns with Greta until they had to get ready to go.

He and Greta waved as they left, and it was finally time for the goats, which were a huge hit, especially the little ones when he dressed them in pajamas.

When dinner rolled around, Charly returned to find Christmas music, the smell of food sizzling, and an exuberant greeting from Ares and Greta.

What followed was the most domestic evening ever. Dinner, followed by a Christmas movie, story time, and when Greta closed her eyes…

Charly glanced shyly at him and said, “I’m not tired yet.”

Hell yeah.

Cuddle time.