A Chase Christmas (City Shifters: the Pride Book 6) Read online

  Logan held up his hands to fend me off. "Breathe, Natalia. I didn't want you to stress out about it. That's why I didn't tell you."

  "So waiting until there's less than a week before she arrives to tell me is supposed to save me stress? You are a stupid asshole, Logan Chase." I clenched my jaw and turned on my heel to storm away. Unbelievable man. Ridiculous, infuriating jackass. The list of things I had to accomplish quadrupled.

  "Nat, wait," he called after me, sounding exasperated, and I braced myself to deal with one of his patient, 'don't get worked up' conversations. Those never worked out well for him, but he sure as hell didn't learn his lesson from the first six times it happened.

  I gritted my teeth, about to give him a piece of my mind, but heat surged in my chest and my heart stuttered. Pain burst in my stomach, just above where the baby moved, and I took a sharp breath. I braced myself on the wall, bending over to try to alleviate the deep burning in my chest as my lungs screamed and my vision darkened around the edges.

  Logan caught my arm. "Nat? What's wrong? What happened?"

  Words failed me and I could only shake my head. I winced and held my stomach, struggling to breathe.

  "I'm calling an ambulance," he said, phone out as he supported me with his other arm. "We're going to the hospital."

  "Wait," I managed. I pressed on my lower back and tried to straighten, dull fire radiating from my abdomen all the way through to my fingertips. Breathing through my nose helped, but he still stared at me as if I were about to explode. I nodded at the living room. "It's just heartburn. I need to sit and put my feet up."

  "That didn't look like heartburn." He didn't move, eyes narrowed as he watched me. Suspicious man, as well as infuriating. Logan still held his phone, ready to call in a helicopter, no doubt.

  "I'm fine. I just need to sit." I concentrated on the armchair and ottoman in front of the fire in the living room, focusing all my effort on just getting there. He might notice if I passed out from pain in the hallway, but I could blame a nap if I sat in front of the fire. If I wasn't sweating my boobs off. "Damn it, Logan."

  He helped me, grumbling under his breath the entire way about 'damn stubborn women' and other things I was glad I didn't hear, but loomed over me once I sat and stretched my legs out. "What happened? What hurt?"

  "What happened was you pissed me off by lying to me about your mother coming to visit, and don't think I forgot about that, asshole." I covered my eyes so he couldn't see them. He could read me better than anyone I'd ever known. "And I had chili for breakfast. Between the two — heartburn."

  Between my fingers, I could see his eyebrow arch and his lips compress into a thin line. Logan pulled one of the other armchairs next to mine and leaned close enough to catch my hand and squeeze it. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my mother coming to visit. We didn't know if she'd be able to make it. She was going to take a cruise with some of her girlfriends, we thought..."

  I shot him a dirty look. "It's Christmas. All five of her sons have wives or mates, and one of them has a child. Do you really think she would have gone on a cruise?"

  "No." Logan ran a hand through his hair and set it in disarray. "Still. I'm sorry. But she doesn't expect anything big or elaborate. We always had low-key Christmases. A tree, some presents, dinner. That's it. Nothing crazy."

  "Except this is the first Christmas." I sat up enough to catch his face in my hands and pat his cheeks with enough force it could have been called a slap. "The very first Christmas we're spending together. It has to be amazing. It has to be perfect. You idiot."

  "It will be perfect, because you're perfect." He kissed me, a gentle brushing of lips, then sat back to regard me with a hint of worry around his eyes. "But you have to tell me if something's wrong, Nat. Seriously. There aren't a lot of cases where full humans carried shifter babies. We don't really know how frequently problems come up. I don't want you to put yourself or the baby in danger because you think it's just heartburn. I'd rather make a trip to the hospital every day if we have to."

  "Don't get worked up." I sighed and let my head fall back against the chair's plush cushion. "Everything will be fine. I'm sure it was the chili."

  He tugged on a lock of my hair until I opened my eyes and looked at him, and the worry lines deepened. "I'm sure it was. But still — there's something I need to ask you."

  When he paused to take a deep breath, my heart thudded again — and not in a good way. I struggled to sit up more, wincing as my back tweaked.

  Logan gripped the arm of the chair, frowning at the fabric as it stretched under his hands. "If something happens, God forbid, there's always the choice to turn out. I could give you enough of my blood and you would be turned into a shifter, with all our healing abilities. It could save your life."

  I stared at him in silence as my thoughts ground to a halt. We hadn't talked about me changing since we first got together and I told him it wouldn't happen unless we talked about it first. And here it was again, a magical and really fucking scary possibility. Losing myself. Changing everything about me. My hands shook as I rubbed my eyes, struggling to find a response. "Logan, I don't —"

  "If it means saving your life, Natalia, or our child..." He exhaled in a rush. "Babe, I don't know if I'm strong enough to not do it. I don't think I could watch you ..." He shook his head, unable to even say it out-loud, and covered his face. "Just think about it. We can talk more later, but think about it. Please."

  I stared past him at the fireplace and the orange flames consuming the logs. "I'll think about it. I don't want to talk about it today, but I'll think about it."

  "Thank you." He kissed my forehead, then checked his watch. "I was supposed to meet Smith up at Edgar's office. Are you okay, or —"

  "I'm fine." I slugged his shoulder and waved him away. "Go. Go help Edgar. Find the wolves. And tell everyone I'm calling a family meeting at dinner. They damn well better be there, because I have chores for them."

  A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I won't tell them about the chores, but they'll be there. You call me the moment you don't feel well, got it? Or I'll hire Owen to follow you around and take your blood pressure every five minutes. Don't laugh — I'm not joking."

  "I'm sure you're not." As much fun as it would be to have the bear trotting after me and making jokes at Benedict's expense, I didn't need the stress of yet another mouth to feed and keep happy. I glanced back as a baby cooed, and smiled to see both Isobel and her daughter, Ella Rose, waiting in the hall. "Besides, Izzy and Ella are here. We've got planning to do, so get out."

  He kissed me again and squeezed my shoulder before heading for the hall. He paused to whisper something to Isobel, and my eyes narrowed as I sat up and tried to read his lips. Damn scheming asshole. Then he was gone, heavy footsteps echoing on the hardwood floors, and Isobel walked in, her eyebrows arched. "Well. Apparently if you do anything, I'm supposed to call the doctor."

  I snorted, then held out my hands for the baby. "He's such a worrier. Give me that darling Ella Rose. How are you, Isobel? Edgar looked grouchy this morning."

  "He wanted to buy me something ridiculous, and I told him not to." She rolled her eyes and handed over the baby before collapsing into the armchair Logan had occupied.

  I made a face at the baby but studied Isobel in my peripheral vision. She'd become the mother of a five-month-old overnight and still looked occasionally uncomfortable with it. It wasn't her fault a lab full of evil scientists took samples from her and her mate, who'd later passed away, and then created a baby via a surrogate. As if Isobel hadn't been through enough. Thank God she had Edgar.

  "What did he want to buy you?"

  She shook her head with a sigh and held up her left hand, waggling the ring finger at me, and I choked. The coughing fit that came after scared the baby and Ella Rose started to fuss, big blue eyes wide as fat tears rolled down her cheeks. I bounced her but could only stare at Isobel. "He got you a ring and you said no, or he wants to buy you a ring?"

  "W
ants to go to Tiffany's downtown Christmas Eve to pick something out." Her expression was difficult to decipher — uneasy, flabbergasted, infatuated, disbelieving... She laughed and drew her legs up to hug to her chest. "Am I an idiot? Should I just let him take me? It's not like the ring is a contract, but it's —"

  "Don't let him make you do anything you don't want to do, including picking out a gorgeous and hideously expensive engagement ring. Edgar has wonderful taste, by the way, but that doesn't matter if you're not ready for it." I blew a raspberry at Ella Rose and she blinked at me, her fist bopping my nose. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here."

  "I know. Thanks." She groaned and ground the heels of her hands against her eyes. "God, he was so sweet about it, too. Got down on one knee and asked me to go shopping for the ring. For half a second I almost thought..." Isobel took a deep breath. "But I can't."

  "Why not?" I focused on the baby's chubby arms, like a stack of donuts, and pretended to bite her fingers until Ella Rose squealed.

  Her forehead wrinkled as she watched me play with the baby, and as the silence stretched, my heart sank. Still waters ran deep, and Isobel was like a glacier most days. Nearly impossible to read, so cautious and thoughtful, and haunted by a very dark past. Her silences were scarier than most of my nightmares, and I'd seen my share of bad times.

  Isobel chewed on her lower lip and eventually took a deep breath. "Because of her. And everything else."

  "He's crazy about Ella Rose, and you know it."

  "It's not her, exactly. It's how she came about." Half her mouth turned down in a frown and she shook her head once more. "We could keep finding more babies and kids and — God forbid — almost teenagers that belong to me, made in a lab. They could show up on my doorstep for the next twenty years or so. Maybe longer. I can't saddle him with that. He doesn't need to be forever responsible for all that shit."

  "Honey." I untangled my necklace from the baby's grabby hands and moved Ella Rose to the side so I could shoot Isobel a pointed look. "He would be overjoyed to have more of your babies show up, not just because he loves kids but because they're a part of you. So don't let that stop you from letting him buy you a ring, if that's what you want."

  The rest of her mouth turned down, and she didn't look convinced.

  I swallowed a burble of pain in my chest, rethinking the urge to have more chili for lunch, and sighed. "Then look at it this way — he's not leaving you any time soon, or pretty much ever, and if you get the ring, you can make sure he gets a ring. Which goes a long way toward marking your territory, girl."

  Isobel's frown turned thoughtful. "Huh."

  I smiled at the baby and wiggled my eyebrows. "Unless your wolverine wants to just pee on him. I've heard that works, but I imagine you'd have to repeat it every day or so, and you'd have to drink a ton of water..."

  "Shut up," she said, and tossed a pillow at me. But she smiled and seemed to relax in the chair a little more. "The wolverine isn't afraid of pregnant women holding babies, lady. We'll come after you if we have to."

  "Right," I said, laughing. "Until I fight back with this baby. She is fierce." I turned Ella Rose to face her, the baby drooling and shrieking when she saw her mother. "She'll kick a wolverine's ass any day."

  Isobel snorted and held up her hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay. Before this escalates any further, we have to plan menus for the rest of the week. Joe and his guys are going to the store tomorrow morning, so they'll be able to get everything we need."

  I held Ella Rose against my shoulder and patted her back as she pulled my hair. "Plans have changed somewhat. Logan just said their mother is coming to visit. She arrives Christmas Eve."

  Her eyebrows arched. "I'm sorry, what?"

  "Yeah." I closed my eyes and took a cleansing breath, like Carter taught us at morning yoga. I even counted to ten. Twice. "So, we need to make sure Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners are perfect. Turkeys, hams, duck confit, soufflés..." My chest hurt just thinking about it. "Homemade bread, rolls, croissants for breakfast, quiche lorraine, cinnamon rolls —"

  "Whoa there." Isobel scribbled on a notepad as fast as she could, laughing as she tried to keep up. "And I don't think we need all this. We can order from the restaurant, or call in some favors. The chef at Ruby's bar is pretty—"

  "I'm not ordering Christmas dinner," I said, shaking my head. "I'm a professional chef, and there's no way I'm going to let someone else prepare the first meal I share with my mother-in-law."

  She grinned. "Okay, crazy. We'll need reinforcements to make this happen. And a kitchen."

  "There's a family meeting tonight, and everyone is getting an assignment. Maybe three or four assignments. Buckle up. The Chase family hasn't met the master chef yet, but they're going to." I fixed her with my stern expression, honed through years and years of culinary school and sweating it out in hellish kitchens. "I hope you've got a back-up pen, Izzy, because shit's about to get real."

  She sat up and mock-saluted. "Yes, ma'am. Let's go."

  Focusing on menu planning and shopping lists, as well as the gurgling baby in my lap, distracted me from the periodic aches and pains in my middle and chest. There was too much work to be done, not only cooking but decorating the house and the grounds, wrapping presents... Too much work to worry about anything else, including a little heartburn.

  Chapter 6

  Logan

  The meeting with Smith didn't take very long. He and Edgar went back to the office downtown to search the records to determine if the wolf cubs could have been the result of more medical experiments, the same as Ella Rose. Logan pushed away the thought as he, Atticus, and Kaiser paced through knee-deep snow towards where they'd found the kids. It had been a day but some evidence of who abandoned them could remain in the forest. Or maybe those responsible would return and Logan could tear them apart with his bare hands. He smiled at the thought.

  Atticus, pulling another sled, muttered under his breath about getting a goddamn snowmobile. Logan ignored him and kept his eyes out for more perfect trees. After learning Mama Chase would arrive in a few days, Natalia demanded two more trees, decorative branches, and a bunch of other shit he didn't think he wanted in his house. But she wanted to decorate. So Atticus pulled the sled as they loaded it down.

  Kaiser practically gamboled through the snow, and for the first time, Logan saw the polar part of the bear. He moved through the snow with ease and took great lungfuls of air, his jacket on the sled and skin pink from the cold. As they approached the trees where they'd found the cubs, Kaiser glanced at Logan. "What are the odds we'll actually find something helpful?"

  "About as good as the odds someone else will pull this fucking sled on the way back," Atticus said, scowling.

  Logan managed to bite back a smile and walked toward the copse of trees. "Yeah. That's accurate."

  They surveyed the surrounding area, sniffing and studying the tree bark for marks, and eventually Logan shook his head. "If this is their territory, then you'd think —"

  The only warning was a growled breath, and something crashed into him from behind. He dove face-first into the snow, a massive weight on his back, and teeth sank into his shoulders. Logan roared and the lion surged to the surface in a painful flash of breaking bones and tearing skin. He whirled, mane sticking out, and managed to shake off the wolf that clung to his back. More wolves, at least a dozen, came out of the trees like dark ghosts, snarling silently.

  Atticus had already changed, one massive paw knocking a wolf into a tree trunk with a sharp crack. The wolves fought as a pack, though, two or more distracting him as Logan tried to reach his brother. He snarled and bit into one of the wolves, shook it until the neck cracked and blood filled his mouth, and thought only of Natalia. He had to get home to them. There wasn't another choice. He wouldn't die in the woods. He couldn't. He wouldn't abandon his child.

  His roar shook the trees.

  And then a bigger roar — one that rattled his bones and made snow tumble from the branches high
above them — silenced every animal in a twenty mile radius. The biggest fucking bear Logan had ever seen reared up on his hind legs and made a sound Logan hoped to never hear again in his life. Like pure rage and death made audible.

  Kaiser dropped suddenly and the power of his front paws hitting the ground shook the earth around them. Logan staggered and swiped at one of the wolves nearest to him. The wolves shrank back, though, as Kaiser lowered his head and his eyes flashed silver-red. The dark blonde bear, covered in pale crescents of scars, lumbered forward a few steps.

  The wolves retreated, moving uneasily and closer together, and one yipped at them. Another growled. Logan snarled in response, drawing even with Kaiser so they threatened the damn pack together. Atticus guarded the rear from any sneak attacks.

  One of the wolves, braver or stupider than the rest, lunged forward to nip at Kaiser's paw. The bear hardly moved but the wolf flew through the air and landed a good twenty feet away in a snow drift. Logan stared at the wolves, growling, and as the tension simmered, he debated whether they would have to retreat. That many wolves might be able to drag one of them down.

  Kaiser, though, had had enough. The grolar bear charged the wolves, silent and moving far faster than Logan expected, and the pack broke. They scattered, racing for the safety of the trees, as the bear rolled through the snow like an avenging silver-eyed demon. He puffed clouds of bear breath into the air, watching until all the wolves — save the injured ones around them — disappeared from view. Then Kaiser turned and lumbered back toward the sled.

  He bellowed into the silence, one final warning for would-be challengers to the mighty grolar bear, then dropped to the ground and rolled around in the snow. He kicked great chunks of it up and at Logan and Atticus, groaning in pleasure as he rubbed his back into the snow, and Logan ducked another flying piece of ice.