“Does he hear himself talking?”my bear asked.
A familiar calm settled over me as Venereal Disease’s words sank into my brain. He called Andy an it. He was willing to let his own offspring be sacrificed to appease a psychotic mother. Yeah. This conversation was over. He reached for his gun and that was the end of his story. At least for now. The ice escaped me, forming a protective shield around me, and then surging for him. He opened his mouth, but it muffled his scream, suffocating the word in his throat. He tugged on the cold metal of his weapon, but the ice spread capturing the motion. I swung my foot back ready to kick him, but a hand found my shoulder. I turned on my heels, ready to freeze the newcomer but an elf who looked way too much like Preston and Mori smirked at me.
“I’m gonna say, I didn’t see that. You’re gonna say that when I came to see where you were that we went to check on Preston and Mori’s Yuletide tree. They’ve dug up the same one for years. We’re going to bury him in the snow until we find a better place to get rid of him. That’s what we’re going to do and then we’ll go on with life. You’ll have a happy sire-in-law and every once in a while I’ll call you my favorite son-in-law.”
For a long moment, neither I nor the elf said anything. We stared at the shocked, terrified look on Venereal Disease’s face, reveling in our shared hate. Then I tipped the ice statue over between two trees and we set to burying him in the snow. We piled up the good, white stuff to look as if the wind had just created another big pile. We packed in the bottom most layers around him so that the wind wouldn’t blow it away and leak our secret to the world.
“I never liked the son of a bitch,” the elf said. “I get not wanting to be a dad but I don’t get playing along with a psychopath. I put my own brother out of everyone’s misery. So he has no damn excuse.”
“My baby now, huh?” I asked the buried ice statue, ruffling the top of the snow to make it look undisturbed.
The elf started walking off into the trees and jerked his head for me to follow him. I followed behind him, grateful that Preston and I hadn’t exchanged the claiming vows yet. He didn’t need to know what his sire and I got up to in the woods.
“I’m Barry,” he said once we were deep within the trees.
“Wess,” I said, preparing not to roll my eyes when he started in on the ‘break my son’s heart and I’ll break your neck’ speech. Only Barry didn’t take the conversation that way.
“Preston can take care of himself most of the time. He can fight his own battles,” Barry said.
“But he shouldn’t have to,” I shrugged. “I mean, Venereal Disease is---”
“Don’t start that,” Barry shook his head. “Venal is an ass. If I have my way no one from his family will ever be around Baby Andy but that’s still his sire. He shares blood with that asshole. Sure, calling him an STI is a good way to blow off some steam and it’s funny as shit. At least it is until Andy hears it and is old enough to understand what you’re saying. Then it gives him a complex or hurts his feelings. Then I have to kick your ass for upsetting my grandson and I don’t want to do that. I want to keep liking you as much as I do now. Makes the holidays, birthdays, and feast days easier if I don’t want to kick your ass.And yes, Venal is his sire but he has no right to drag him off to his psychotic mother.”
Barry stopped in front of a tree that barely came up to the points of his ears. It was a vibrant evergreen that looked as if it had been well cared for during the off-holiday seasons.
“This is their tree. It’s been their tree since the first Yule they had outside of our house. When they didn’t live together they took turns on who had it. Let’s get it dug up so that they’re not out here in the blizzard tomorrow trying to get it out of the ground. They’re capable but---”
“They don’t have to live hard lives while we’re around,” I said. “I get it. I didn’t come here to make your son’s life harder. I came here because Rune of Hemlock Mountain gave away where I lived by accident.”
“I’ve heard. We spoke on the phone. I was the one who offered to pick you up at the station,” he said.
“Thanks for that. It wasn’t too bad of a walk though. Mori dragged me through the trees. Made it shorter,” I shrugged and set to work brushing away the snow from the base of the tree.
The roots began to wiggle under the cold, frozen soil. Barry had more magic to him than it first appeared. Should’ve known he had something up his sleeve when he didn’t freak out about me turning Venal into an ice statue. Maybe Barry could keep him in his backyard as a decoration or something. A little souvenir for all the trouble he caused his family.
“Just so we’re clear,” Barry said as we lifted up the Yuletide tree now free from its hole in the ground. “Venal was never here. We don’t even tell the twins. That’s part of the deal. They can justthink he kept to his keeping away. It’ll be easier for everyone that way.”
“Fair enough,” I nodded. “I didn’t do it for glory. I did it because if you’re part of a plot to sacrifice your own baby you sort of don’t deserve to walk around the world with the rest of us.”
We fell into a comfortable silence as we carried the tree back to the house. It was a day earlier than Preston had wanted but it was as good of a coverup for what really happened as anything else would’ve been. We arrived back to the front yard with the tree on our shoulders. Baby Andy was still playing in his snow pile while his carrier and uncle watched on. He’d dug in under the snow and shifted. Now only his fluffy butt and wiggling bear tail showed above the beautiful cold stuff.
“I wondered where you two got off to,” Preston said, pushing himself upright out of the snow and dusting off his butt and legs. “Was starting to think Dad strung you up.”
“Has he done that before?” I quirked an eyebrow.
“Not to any of my siblings’ mates but…” Preston said and Mori shot him a warning look.
Barry laughed and told one of them to come shake the rest of the snow out of the tree’s needles. The twins worked together to rid the tree of the tiny snowflakes clinging to it for dear life and Baby Andy burrowed through the snow. He growled as he made a little tunnel and popped his head out next to Barry’s brown winter boot. He bit the toe of the shoe and ducked back down. Then he popped up to bite it again. Barry showed his teeth and the baby bear clambered out and snarled, hopping around and pouncing on his grandsire’s leg before falling on his back in thesnow and rolling around. He ambled up the porch steps once he managed to escape playing turtle and we all went up not long after him. We kept the tree and the baby company on the porch while the omegas ran around inside preparing all the little things the tree would need to survive the rest of the winter inside.
“Where are the bite marks?” Barry asked.
Out of instinct I glanced to my shoulder. Preston and I hadn’t exchanged our claiming vows yet and he knew it. I wasn’t on the Hemlock Wolf Pack link or on the one that belonged to the Nightshade Bears. Once our vows were completed, I’d be on both because Preston was. I’d also be on the family link with the rest of them.
“Between you and me that’s the cleanest I’ve seen the living room since the baby was born. We’ve offered to help. So, how many times did he bite you while you cleaned up?”
“Oh, yeah. He wasn’t keen on the idea but I’m persistent,” I shrugged. “I’m a polar bear and we know how to cop an attitude right back when someone throws it at us. I even sewed up the baby’s pillow. I live on my own. Lived on my own,” I corrected. “I know how to do it all. It’s not like I’m going to walk into a city and find a job. So, I know all the life skills. That’s what Rune called them anyway. This is…. Well, this is the first time I’ve been in a village. I never bothered on Hemlock Mountain. I just stayed where I was born. It was my mountain. Is my mountain.” I corrected again.
“Hey, money isn’t something my kids have to worry about and you’ve already earned your spot here. You responded to my kid. One of my oldest and smartest, if I’m honest. He didn’t send you packing and you didn’t pull a jackass move. You’re family. It’s not that complicated for us. I don’t even have to say don’tbreak his heart because if you managed to, he’ll cut it out while Mori holds you down,” Barry shrugged. “Welcome to spending the rest of your life surrounded by bears.”
