Snow and Mistletoe

Chapter 1“Who are we stalking?” I didn’t jump, but it was only because I was too well trained. Being the best tracker in the pack required discipline and I had it in spades. But I hadn’t heard Ryan’s approach, hadn’t heard the door to his shop open, and that was strange. Because I really was that good, and the fact that I hadn’t heard a damn thing was testament to the power of what held my focus. Or rather who. Ryan poked me, trying to get my attention, and I spared him a glance and a glare, before returning my gaze to the gorgeous man. He was just stunning and I had the deep-seated urge to go to him. Smell and touch and hear him. Taste him. The realization was startling, because it could only mean one thing. But that one thing seemed impossible. “Seriously, Ads. What’s up with you?” Ryan’s voice turned worried, probably because I didn’t growl or correct him about the nickname. I preferred Adam. Ryan was the only one who called me anything other than my full name, and he got away with it only because of who he was. Or rather, who he was to my alpha. Even if Mac had never, and seemed would never, admit what Ryan was to him. I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t just announce it to the world. Especially now, when I was drawn to a beautiful man, laughing in the sunlight, and wanting nothing more than to grab him and keep him with me forever. Ryan stepped in front of me, and he was nowhere tall enough to block my view, but he did finally grab my full awareness. I looked down at him, and it would have been just a glance, but the concern in his eyes gave me pause. He was probably only five eight to my six four, so I took a step back so he wouldn’t have to crane his neck to look me in the eye. “Adam?” I cleared my throat, trying to get my brain back online. I prided myself on my self-discipline, and even still, I couldn’t help letting my gaze stray back to the man. He laughed again at what his companion said, and though I couldn’t see her because her back was to me, I had a moment of irrational hate toward her. Because she was making him laugh, had his undivided attention, and I wanted it on me. I needed it on me. Ryan seemed to realize what was going on. He turned, and I could tell the moment he figured it out. His shoulders slumped, and he let out the tiniest sound, just a whisper of “oh.” He spun back around and gave me a gentle shove, trying to get me to move toward the door. But I didn’t want to go in, because if I did, I would lose sight of the man. Lose the possibility of catching a hint of his scent if the wind happened to shift. Lose the opportunity to walk right up to him, pull him into my arms, and make him mine. “Do not make me call Mac,” he warned, voice low. My alpha’s name shocked me enough to make me focus on Ryan again. “We have to talk. Please get inside.” His tone made me tense, everything going on alert. “What’s wrong?” “Get inside.” I scowled. “I need—” “I know.” He sighed, then pursed his lips. After a moment’s contemplation, he plucked a flower from the basket hanging by his door. He set the petunia blossom in his palm, whispered words in a foreign language, then blew on it gently. With a spark of raw magic, it floated off his palm, then whisked off toward the beautiful man. I watched its progress with sharp eyes, and then it floated gracefully to land in front of the woman my man was sitting with. She picked it up, and I couldn’t see what happened, but she suddenly turned. It was then that I recognized her, now that I could see her face. Kateri was the mayor’s daughter, and like her mother Carys, she was a powerful witch. Ryan wouldn’t be able to see Kateri’s face from this distance, but I could. It made a complicated series of expressions, then she nodded and lifted her hand, a spark of red magic drifting from her fingertips. “All right,” Ryan said, voice low, as he turned back to me. “They were going to come here after snacks at Witch’s Brew anyway, but they’ll hurry it up. Please come inside, Adam.” How many times had he said that by now? I couldn’t remember. And that was so very not like me it finally got me moving. Just the sight of the pretty man, with the dark hair that shone red and gold in the sunlight, with the sharp nose and pointed features, with the laughing dark eyes, had me so befuddled that my entire existence had shifted. I wouldn’t know for sure if he could be my mate until I experienced him with all of my senses, but just the fact that he’d captivated me so completely was a pretty good indication he could. And I wanted him. But Ryan’s worry and concern was enough to get me moving, and with Ryan’s promise that Kateri would bring him here once they were done, I allowed myself to be shunted inside. Ryan got away with more than he should. And normally, I’d poke him—gently—about that. But now was not the time. Smith’s Apothecary was a cozy sort of shop. Ryan had worked hard when he’d taken it over to make it more than just shelves lined with jars and bottles. Those were still there, the product of his trade, but there was also a comfortable sitting area where he could speak with his clients, put them at ease, and find exactly whatever tea or tincture, salve or balm, potion or poison they needed. Ryan was a mage of considerable talent, and he plied his skill with care and concern. He steered me to one of the seats now, and once I was sitting, he reached for a small tin next to the electric kettle. He opened it, and I was assailed with the scent of lemon balm and chamomile. Just that had me stiffening and crossing my arms over my chest. “No.” I had to be firm with him, because otherwise his position in our pack—unofficial though it was—meant he could do whatever he wanted. “Just tell me. I don’t have to calm down.” Ryan let out a large sigh, and he gave me a side eye that made me think he didn’t believe me. But there was something strange going on here, and I didn’t appreciate it one bit. He continued making the tea, but only for one cup. Perhaps he needed it for himself. After another long few minutes, when the tea was steeping, he finally sat across from me. He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees, letting his hands dangle between them. A few more beats of silence, and he met my gaze. “I know what your look meant, Ads. I’ve seen it before.” A wry sort of smile graced his lips for a second before it disappeared again. “But maybe Colby isn’t the one for you.” Colby. It fit the man, somehow. He looked like a Colby. The name seared into my brain, settling there with the vision of his face. And made me even more determined to meet him, to find out for sure if he was meant to be mine. “Yeah, no.” I sat back, relaxing into the high back of the chair. “Fate doesn’t make mistakes.” Ryan’s expression turned sad. I realized my error after I said it, but before I could backtrack or apologize, he waved a hand to dismiss whatever I would say. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. But seriously. Listen to me now. Are you listening?” I shot him a look that made him snort a small laugh, then sighed. “I’m listening.” “Fate doesn’t make mistakes. But neither does she make only one mate for each shifter. It’s the possibility of a mate and you know that.” I didn’t need him explaining to me how mates worked. It was ingrained in our culture, in our upbringing, the choice to wait to find someone Fate puts in our path, or take a chance on falling in love the human way. I’d never cared one way or the other, letting the chips fall where they may. Which was probably why I was thirty-eight years old without a partner to call my own. But now he was here, someone possibly made for me, and he was a block away at an outdoor table at the café. “Hey,” Ryan said, drawing my focus back to him. “Just because Colby could be a mate, doesn’t mean you should pursue it.” My wolf vehemently reacted to that, ready to rip his throat out, and even though I was never one to react without thought, it took all my restraint to keep from snapping at Ryan. I made myself take a breath, and I consciously shoved down the wolf part of me, the part that ran purely on instinct and viscerally reacted to the thought of not finding out if Colby was truly meant to be mine. “Why?” Because I knew Ryan well enough to know there was a reason behind his statement. He might not have been officially claimed by my alpha, but he cared about the members of the pack as if he had been. He wouldn’t just say that if he didn’t have a valid concern. But I also knew there was no way Colby was somehow a bad person. The fact that the wards of the town allowed him in was proof of that. They would have kept him from entering if he’d had malicious intent. And that he was with Kateri was further proof. Her mother Carys’s ancestors were one of the founding families. Not only that, Kateri’s other mother was the town’s healing witch, and literally one of the most wonderful people on the planet. Everyone was protective of Belen, Kateri in particular, and she would have never brought anyone to this town that couldn’t be trusted. Ryan sighed, weighing his words, before he spoke. “It’s not my place to say.” And then before I could growl, he held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it the way I did. But I want you to be cautious, and really think, before you jump headlong into anything with Colby. And, you know, listen to him.” “I always listen.” He coughed out a laugh, maybe trying to cover it, but his posture relaxed. “Yeah, okay. I will say you’re better than some of your, uh, counterparts at listening. You don’t do that whole I am alpha, hear me roar thing so many of your kind are fond of doing.” He was talking about Mac, and we both knew it. But Ryan also knew that I wasn’t the Alpha and had no desire to be. I was midpack on purpose, because that’s how I liked it and where I was meant to be. Unlike some wolves, or shifters in general, I wasn’t interested in trying for a place above my station. Other than the Alpha and Beta, there wasn’t a strict hierarchy within a pack. We all sort of jockeyed for position, which shifted around, sometimes day to day. There were certainly some wolves who were submissive in nature, and stayed near the bottom, but most of us danced around in the middle. Suddenly, Ryan straightened and glanced toward the door. I couldn’t sense anything, but he was a mage, and I knew he had other methods for detecting rather than using his senses. He had to. As a shifter, my natural senses were far more advanced than a human, a gift from the animal side of me. Ryan had set wards around his shop to signal him of people approaching. And then I heard it, too, right before the door creaked open, the soft footfall of two people, and the low murmur of voices. Then they were in the shop—Colby with wide eyes and Kateri with a soft, though concerned smile. Kateri didn’t look around. Growing up, she’d been in here too many times to count, and even though it was different now that Ryan had taken over, she’d visited enough since then not to be shocked or surprised by anything inside. Colby, on the other hand, looked like he’d never seen anything so intriguing in his life. His gaze bounced from one thing to the next, eyes going even wider, like it gave him a happy surprise as he took it all in. Then he turned and his eyes met mine, just as I inhaled deeply enough to sort out his scent from everything else and my world rocked to a screeching halt.