12. Holden

Chapter 12

Holden

I’d hoped Evan would like the tree, but the sheer joy on his face when he saw it made my heart beat a little faster. He seemed genuinely surprised and appreciative that I’d considered how he might want to celebrate the holiday his entire life had always revolved around. It made me even more compelled to do things to bring him that kind of happiness.

He came to Joyville for more than a mate. He wanted joy too, and I planned to give that to him.

When he skipped up to me with his boots and coat on, I reached for his hand and brought it up to my lips. “Thank you for finding me, Evan.”

His joy softened into a different kind of affection as he rested his head against my shoulder. “Thank you for finding me, Holden.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, and we stepped outside. “Okay, this isn’t Christmas-tree level or anything. It’s just some space for you to work, if you want.”

We crossed the property to the woodshed, and Evan was quiet. When I turned to him, he looked a little stunned, like he was speechless. I hoped it was a good speechless and not bad as I pulled open the shed doors and turned on the lights.

“I don’t use this space for much, so if you want to work on some of your projects out here, I’ll get new blades for the saws and whatever other tools you?—”

Evan threw himself against me, silencing me with his chokehold as he clung to my body like a baby monkey. “I love it.”

My arms closed around him and I held in against me, already getting hard from feeling his body all over mine and his cookie scent filling my senses. “Are you sure?”

He giggled and kissed my neck before letting go and walking around the edges of the shed. “Yeah, it’s perfect. I can make everything in here. I just need some wood, but there’s probably a lot of that outside.”

I grinned. “A lot.” I waved to the far wall where the logs I’d brought in were stacked by length and width to make it easy for him to find what he needed. “One of the neighbors has a mill that we can probably borrow once you have some measurements in mind.”

“I’ll make a list.” He kneeled down in front of one of the stumps and counted the rings. “This was almost a hundred years old.”

I wasn’t sure if I heard sadness in his voice, so I was quick to set straight any concerns he might have about using it. “I fell during a storm, I promise. I don’t cut down beautiful trees like that. This one had done its job providing shade and comfort to the saplings and populating the forest. Now it’s time for you to use it to do your job.”

Evan smiled and placed his hand over his tummy. “Maybe it’ll provide shade and comfort to our pup?”

I hadn’t ever expected to have a family, so the idea of raising a pup was almost foreign to me…but in the best possible way. “Yeah, I hope so.”

Later that evening, we put on a silly Christmas movie about an elf out in the big world, and Evan pointed out all the things that were accurate and all the things they’d gotten totally wrong. He was the expert, after all.

I was exhausted after the day I’d had fighting off my urge to mate him and then the complete relief when I finally did. After trying to stay awake as long as possible, I dozed off halfway through the movie with Evan’s head resting in my lap.

When I woke up a few hours later, Evan was standing at the tree with his back to me. I leaned back, curious to see what had him so focused. He stepped back, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The tree we’d brought in and put in the corner was now covered in white pine cones and ornaments that were an array of reds and oranges.

“Wow, that looks great, Evan.”

He flinched and turned to look at me. “Oh, did I wake you?”

“Not at all.” I sat up and leaned forward to get a better look. “Where did you find those ornaments?” I hadn’t seen any around the cabin, but maybe there was a storage box somewhere that I hadn’t noticed.

“I made them.” He grabbed a pine cone and held it out for me to take. “I found a bucket of paint in the shed and painted these.” Then he grabbed one of the ornaments. “And these are leaves I found. I cut them into circles and used twine to hang them.”

Pushing up to my feet, I wrapped my arms around him and admired his handiwork. “It looks amazing. Thank you.”

Evan looked up at me with a sweet smile. “This is what I do, alpha. You’ll never have a boring Christmas with me around.”

I leaned down and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Then I better keep you around for all my Christmases.”

He nodded and pulled my head down to kiss him again. “Good idea, alpha. Now, take me to bed.”