A Chase Christmas (City Shifters: the Pride Book 6) Page 4

  Irritated, Logan shifted back to human and started checking himself for any injuries. His shoulder ached and dripped blood down his back from where the first wolf ambushed him, but other than that, he'd already healed. Logan brushed snow off his bare legs, wondering how to patch together his clothes so he wouldn't die of hypothermia before reaching the truck. "Damn, Kaiser. I don't think I've ever seen you shift before. Who knew something that fat could move so fast?"

  The bear, finally done playing in the snow and back to human, raised an eyebrow and gave an expressive, if dismissive, sniff. "King of the jungle, my ass. Try king of the Arctic, asshole. Largest land predator in the world."

  "You mean your mom?" Atticus slapped a hand over his mouth the moment Kaiser looked at him, then held up his hands and backed up. "Dude, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I wasn't thinking. I'd never call your mom — large."

  "You're lucky I like you, kid." Kaiser stretched, reveling in the freezing air, and tugged at his beard. "But we'd better help your brother back to the car before he freezes his ass off. Natalia would never speak to me again."

  Logan snorted and shook his head, but shifted back to lion form. He hated the cold. And he didn't want to give the wolves another chance to attack them. Only fools or the insane would think of attacking two lions and the largest fucking bear he'd ever seen in his life. Not that that particular wolf pack seemed well-adjusted, if they abandoned pups to die in the cold and attacked three strangers for trespassing. He shook out his mane and concentrated on getting back to the car. At least they had their answer — the ones responsible for abandoning the kids were the mystery wolf pack, encroaching on the city from the west. Ruby would be pissed.

  Chapter 7

  Natalia

  I still felt a little off the rest of the afternoon and into dinner, though Isobel and Sophia were great help. They parked me in front of the fire and helped make lists, set up orders for presents and food and additional help, and distracted me from the light-headedness that periodically sent me reeling. By dinner around the big table, I almost felt like myself. Except that Logan returned from the hunting expedition without any trees and bloodied besides.

  He said something about being attacked by the outsider pack when he returned with Kaiser and Atticus, then they closeted themselves in Edgar's office with Ruby and her brother Rafe to talk about how much wolf business the pride would get itself involved in. Logan looked mad enough he might have even called Miles Evershaw, the alpha of the SilverLine pack, even though he usually couldn't say the man's name without an expletive in the middle.

  Things seemed settled down, or at least resolved for the near term, as we sat down for dinner. Henry sat next to Sophia and Isobel, though he looked uneasy, and fed his brother and sister where they played behind his chair. Neither of them had shifted back to human, which contributed to the worried look on Ruby's face as she pretended everything was fine.

  I waited until dessert to clear my throat and raise my hands to get everyone's attention. A deep breath didn't quite steady my nerves as I considered the long list of things Isobel and I wrote down earlier in the day. "All right, Chase family. We have less than a week until Christmas. And now we have a special guest joining us on Christmas Eve."

  Henry's face lit up. "Santa?"

  I blinked, speechless, and Logan coughed to hide his laugh. He squeezed my hand and nodded gravely to the young wolf. "Yes, Henry, Santa will be coming Christmas Eve for certain. I spoke with his elves myself. But before he arrives, my mother is coming to visit as well."

  "Oh." The kid looked a little disappointed and I had to hide my face against Logan's shoulder to keep from laughing. Henry frowned as he reached for another cookie.

  When I was almost certain I could keep a straight face, I cleared my throat and addressed the rest of the family once more. "So, we have to be prepared for Mama Chase as well as Santa, and right now, this house is not Christmas-y at all. I have a lot of chores that have to be completed. Isobel has the list as well, so don't claim you forgot and couldn't find me to ask."

  Edgar snorted and gently gripped Isobel's shoulder. "I hope you got us some easy ones."

  She shot him a sideways look and pointed toward the kitchen. "You're supervising the contractors, who damn well better have that kitchen in better order by the time we have to cook Christmas Eve dinner."

  Before the security chief could complain, I started around the table. "Benedict, you and Carter will put up the Christmas tree in the formal living room and decorate it. We need the garlands on the staircase as well. Atticus, get the decorations from storage and help them. Isobel is sending the shopping lists to the grocers and wrapping presents. Sophia, help with the wrapping and then baking cookies for Santa tomorrow. Logan, you and I will pick your mother up from the airport on Christmas Eve. There's more, but I'm tired and I'm going to go put my feet up."

  Down the table, Eloise grinned and elbowed Benedict. I leveled my business stare at her. "Not so fast, Ms. Deacon. You're supposed to be at the soup kitchen right now, and will be every waking minute between now and New Year's Day, otherwise you're violating your parole. I do not think Santa will visit you in jail, smarty-pants, so get your ass to the soup kitchen."

  Henry's eyes got round at the bad word. And Eloise scowled, stuffing half a dozen cookies in a napkin to take with her as she kissed Benedict and headed for the door. I pushed to my feet, wincing at the pain in my back, and waved away Logan's concern. I held out my hand to Henry. "I want to go watch cartoons and eat cookies. What do you say?"

  He bounced up and headed down the hall toward the cozy living room where he'd spent most of his time, and Isobel helped gather up the two sleeping puppies so the family stayed together. She made sure we were set up near the fire with blankets and cookies and a good movie about a lost fish, then retreated. I heard her barking orders, the wolverine close to the surface as she motivated the Chase men to get to work.

  I tried to watch the movie but my thoughts kept drifting when I caught sight of Henry's dark head and the antics of his siblings. I desperately hoped we found their parents. Just the possibility that we might not made my eyes sting. Being a mother for the first time was scary enough without adding four-year-old triplets into the mix. My stomach tightened and I pressed against my side, trying to relieve the pressure. It was probably just gas.

  The fire crackled as the logs settled, and Henry giggled at something in the movie. My eyes drifted closed as exhaustion caught me, and I settled lower on the comfortable couch. Thank God for Isobel and Logan. Between the two of them, they would get everything done. I could take a short nap, then get up and help put together a perfect holiday. Our first Christmas together as a family would be absolutely perfect.

  Part II

  Eloise & Benedict

  Chapter 8

  Eloise

  I scowled as I headed out of the house and into the cold. I didn't mind working at the soup kitchen, except for the uncomfortable moments when I recognized someone from my past, but I would have rather helped decorate a Christmas tree than drive half an hour into the city to put on a hairnet and stand over a steamy pot of whatever. Remembering to be grateful for what I had and how far I'd come worked better after the heat in the car started to work. At least the roads were mostly empty, though a touch of traffic slowed me down on the way into the city.

  I worried about Natalia, particularly as the baby got bigger and bigger and Nat looked ready to burst. So instead of complaining or begging off the community service I'd long since completed, I went along with it. None of them knew it except Benedict, but I'd completed the mandatory hours within the first month and a half of being on the clock. It gave me a reason to get back to the city, see old friends, and keep an eye on everything else going on out there. The Chase family was almost entirely above-board, except for maybe Atticus when he went to the underground fights the coyotes ran, and I knew they missed a lot of plots against them from the less savory members of the shifter community. Not everyone in the magical
parts of the city liked what Logan started with the Alphas Council, and the marginalized were starting to feel backed into a corner. And cornered animals bit.

  Street parking left me a block away from the well-lit and warm interior of the soup kitchen, much expanded and decked out since Logan got involved, but I didn't mind the hustle. I felt comfortable enough even in the worst parts of the city, which came from a lifetime of having people fear me based on nothing more than a feeling, a shiver on the back of their neck when I looked at them. The gorgon blood did the trick and scared everyone off, which made life tough as a kid and a teenager but saved my life a couple of times. I paused, hands stuffed in the pockets of my jacket, and peered into the alley behind the kitchen, near the volunteer and employee entrance. Dark shadows collected near the dumpster, but didn't move once I got closer. They looked almost like dogs, maybe strays picking through the garbage, and I made a mental note to leave some of the soup bones out later that night. Even the dogs had to eat.

  Inside, I greeted some of the regulars and handed over some of the cookies I'd stolen from the house, trying to bribe some of the kids into laughing. It broke my heart to see the little ones there at night, knowing their parents needed to spend as long as possible in the warmth before they headed for a shelter or a van or maybe just a bench. And there were a lot more people there with the holidays creeping up. For once, I didn't mind the bandanna and hairnet I wore, if only because it prevented the Medusa hair I'd inherited from my mother from rearing up around my head in anger at the unfairness of life. Shellacking it down with gel and hairspray never worked well enough.

  By around ten o'clock, we'd closed the dining room and I worked in the kitchen to prepare for the next day's meals. Washing produce and chopping shit and making stock and all kinds of other stuff that Nat found relaxing but I found time-consuming and usually an impediment. I didn't mind flambéing anything in the kitchen, because at least that was exciting, but there were only so many ways to slice an onion.

  The two volunteers finished loading the massive dishwasher, set it, and waved good-bye as they headed out. Not even ten minutes after being alone in the building, I heard noises in the alley again. Bottles breaking, trash rustling, the squeal of the dumpster moving. Scowling, I held the chef's knife Natalia gave me for my birthday — a beautiful seven-inch knife, sharper than anything I'd never used before — reversed in my hand, and eased to the door that led to the alley. Flipping on the floodlights and jumping onto the loading dock startled the three teenagers who crouched in and around the bags of trash I'd dug out earlier. They froze, guilt written across their expressions, and looked around to run.

  I took in their ratty clothes, the layers intended to keep off the chill when none of them had good jackets, and the gaunt look about the youngest, and took a deep breath. They were at least slightly familiar from the days I'd spent running 'errands' for the former hyena queen, when I spent enough time at the soup kitchen and local shelters to be considered a regular as well. I lowered the knife and tilted my head toward the kitchen. "Hungry? We have leftovers. Come inside where it's warm."

  They traded glances, then the guy helped the two girls out of the dumpster. He looked maybe sixteen but still tried to be fierce. "We can't pay."

  "If I don't give it away, it'll spoil. So you might as well eat it." I propped the door open and retreated to the kitchen. It was only a small lie. I put the cooling pot of chili back on the stove and turned up the heat, pretending not to notice as the trio shuffled into the kitchen. I tossed a bag of cornbread onto the counter and pointed toward the metal shelves along the wall. "Bowls and plates and spoons are over there. It'll be a minute until it's warmed up. Feel like chopping stuff?"

  The youngest girl obediently went to the sink and started washing her hands, though the older two still watched me like I might stab them any moment. I didn't blame them. I cleared my throat as I opened the door to the small pantry along the back wall. It used to contain dry goods, until Natalia redesigned the kitchen. Then it held coats and boots and good clothes, fresh socks and toiletries and hairbrushes. I didn't try to make eye contact as I left the door open and returned to my onion-chopping station. "And help yourself to whatever you need in there. We get a ton of donations this time of year, so we don't have enough room for what we've got. Clean it out."

  The older girl edged closer to the closet. "Who are you?"

  "My name's Eloise," I said, and winked at the younger girl as she stood next to me and studied the onions. She was maybe twelve, and far too young to be on her own. "Have you chopped before? Here, hold the knife like this." I demonstrated one of the tricks Nat showed me so I wouldn't lose my fingers or maim someone else by accident.

  The older kids filled shopping bags with clothes and other necessities as I helped the little girl move on to carrots and celery and everything else we would need for something Natalia called a mirepoix but was really just chopped vegetables. You almost couldn't have a conversation with Nat unless it was half in French. I hummed as I tossed the veggies into a giant bowl and snapped on the lid, putting it into the fridge. My hair seethed under the bandanna, disliking the restrictions, but I didn't sense that these kids were anything but human, so loosing my gorgon locks would only freak them out more. And they were jumpy enough already.

  By the time the chili bubbled and the cornbread browned in the oven, the kids were all scrubbed up, dressed in clean layers and jackets, and looked half asleep to boot. I dished up the chili and cornbread and left them to eat, shoveling it into their mouths so fast I doubted they even tasted it. And because I knew what it was like to worry about the next meal and something hot, I filled three containers with more of the chili and set it aside to cool as I dug through the fridge for fruit, milk, snacks, and anything else they could take with them.

  The boy sat back from the counter where they ate, looking dazed as he tried to catch his breath, and studied the empty bowls. "Thank you. You didn't have to—"

  "I've been where you are," I said, not looking at them. I finished sealing up the chili and the rest of the food and put it all in another shopping bag. "I know what it's like."

  He flushed, concentrating on the table in plates in front of him. "I'm too young to get a job, otherwise I'd—"

  "Tell you what." I dug through my purse and came up with a couple of business cards, the address for Natalia's restaurant scribbled on one and the address for Ruby's bar on the other. "I know the people who own these places, they're good people. They usually need help. What are you doing tomorrow?"

  He blinked, looking at the older girl as he tried to formulate a thought. She was a little quicker on her feet. "We can meet you there."

  "Good." I handed her the cards and put Ruby's on top. "Meet me here first at nine, okay? Do you have some place to stay tonight?"

  Whatever trust might have been in her expression evaporated and she pocketed the cards. "Of course."

  "Liar." I shook my head and pulled a stack of cash from my purse. I'd saved it up to buy Benedict something nice, but the kids needed it more. "I'd offer you a place to stay but I know you wouldn't take it. So take this, find yourself a hotel room near the bar, and wash up."

  She refused to take the money. "We don't need —"

  "It's supposed to snow again tonight," I said. "And the temperature is dropping. Take your sister some place warm so you can get a good night's sleep."

  And still the older kids didn't move. So I crouched next to the little one and shook my head in exasperation. "Your sister and brother are stubborn, you know? You take this." I tucked the money into her hand despite the protests of the other two. "And then you can get a hotel room all to yourself. Jump on the bed, too, will you?"

  She smiled, a bright spark of joy in an otherwise dreary place, and bounced to her feet to give me a hug. "You're my favorite, Eloise."

  "I'm glad. You're my favorite, too." I hugged her back, straightened, and gave the other two a look. "Tomorrow morning at nine, at O'Shea's. Deal?"

  "D
eal," the older girl said, her mind made up. She even shook my hand before gathering up all their bags.

  I looked away for half a second and when I turned back, they were gone.

  "That was really sweet of you," someone said from the dining room, and I jumped a foot in the air, brandishing my chef's knife.

  Benedict stood in the doorway, eyebrows raised, and I scowled at him. The hairnet and bandanna lifted off my head and tossed across the kitchen as my hair flung itself out. He always got us riled up. I put the knife down and gave him a sideways look as I started to put everything away again. "What are you doing here?"

  "You didn't answer your phone and it's almost midnight, so I got worried." He wandered into the kitchen, absently eating a stray carrot, then leaned against the counter as he watched me.

  "Liar," I said. "You probably just got tired of untangling Christmas lights."

  He made a face, but caught my arm as I brushed past and pulled me tight to his chest as a purr rumbled in the air. "I like seeing you all domestic."

  I arched an eyebrow but leaned against him. "Don't get used to it. I smell like onions and frying oil."

  "You smell delicious," he said, mostly grumble, and I laughed. He even leaned to inhale from my hair as it tangled and stroked his face, and his hands slid down my back to squeeze my butt. "I could eat you right here."

  Desire sparked low in my stomach as I looked up at him and the wicked gleam in his eyes. Damned if that lion didn't like getting it on in every damn place. I bit my lower lip as I tugged at his belt. "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do that in a kitchen."

  "Do I look like I care, woman?"

  He wrenched at the button on my jeans and shoved them down my hips, down my legs, and I kicked off my tennis shoes to lose the pants and underwear completely. Benedict growled and unbuttoned his pants, backing me up until I pressed against the wall next to the fridge. He grabbed my waist and lifted me, pinned me there as I locked my arms around his neck. I moaned, my head falling back as he plunged into me in one deep stroke. My legs locked around his waist, trying to keep him close as Ben gripped my thighs and tried to fuck me through the wall. I gripped his hair and held on for dear life.