“As you said,” I answered, trying to carefully dance around the truth. “Mill is wrapped up in his new mate, and Caelum is…” I trailed off because we both knew what he was up to; it didn’t need to be spoken.
“You wanted to take me to the Yule party because of my brothers?” Both eyebrows raised this time, and she twisted her lips into a suspicious purse.
“What? No.” I scrambled to right the conversation. “I just…I don’t know. I just wanted to see you happy.”
She was about to ask me why, but the song changed, and one of the pups came up to our side and tugged on my shirt.
“Fen!” Jessi glanced up at me with big eyes and a huge smile. “Can I have a turn?”
They said it took a village to raise children, and in our pack, that adage rang true. While Jessi might technically belong to our enforcer’s sister, she was practically my niece.
“Of course.” I reluctantly stepped back from Wyn and scooped the little girl up, spinning her around while she laughed and dug her fingers into my shirt to hold on. “What’s a yule party without a dance with my best girl?”
Wyn graciously smiled and drifted to a corner to talk with Sol and Maeve while I held the kid on my hip and bounced around, doing anything I could to make her laugh. But only a few minutes in, she narrowed her tiny eyes at me and leaned in close to my ear.
“I saw you with Wyn,” she said. “Is she your mate?”
I shook my head. “No. Just a friend.”
I almost choked on the word.
“Hmm.” Jessi did not seem convinced. “You should bring her flowers and cookies and tell her how pretty she is.”
“Flowers and cookies, huh?”
“Yeah,” Jessi said. “That’s what Daddy does when Mommy’s mad at him. He says flowers mean he thought about her, and food is the way to every girl’s heart.”
I laughed. “You think that will do it, huh?”
Jessi eagerly nodded. “Wyn likes snickerdoodles the best.”
“How do you know?”
The little girl rolled her eyes. “She lets us pick out a cookie after we’re done with our check-ups. I always get chocolate chip, but she said the snickerdoodles are the best. Duh!”
“Stupid me, huh?” I tickled the little girl’s side while she kicked and squirmed away. I finished the song with her before she asked to be put down so she could run after her older brother. I waved to her parents as that decadent scent wafted over the space again. Citrus. Earthy. Female.
It caught my wolf’s notice, and I glanced over dancing bodies toward the corner where she’d been huddled with Maeve and Sol, only to find it empty. Where did she go?
Doesn’t matter.
My beast tracked her through the crowd, following the scent trail like a homing beacon out of the great room and into the hallway. She’d gone right toward the door leading outside. I went after her, instinct guiding me, telling me I needed to pay more attention. I needed to care for her. No one else could. No one else would.
I didn’t know why I needed to do it, only that my inner beast wouldn’t let me give up until I had her in my clutches, until I had her pressed against me again.
I should have questioned that natural direction and dug a little deeper. But just like I always did, I dove headfirst into the situation and paid no mind to how deep the water was.
CHAPTER 3
Morwyn
The room had suddenly become sweltering. Scents permeated the space, mixing and coalescing, building the pressure behind my eyes. I had to get out of there. Clutching my arms around my midsection, I walked down the corridor to get outside. The cool winter air rushed over me, kissing the beading sweat on my skin and sending a pleasant shiver down my spine. Snow fell around me, landing in delicate whispers against my cheeks.
Watching Fenris with Jessi struck a chord deep in my gut. I’d seen him with pups before, but tonight, with the warmth of the sparkling lights behind him and the hug of family surrounding us, a slight twinge of yearning hit my chest.
I’d always wanted children. I’d always wanted a little family of my own. But being a healer dominated so much of my time, I never considered how or when it might happen. I didn’t need a mate to have a family. I could visit a human sperm donation center and do it myself. But it was certainly easier, and perhaps more joyful, to have someone to share it with.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, focusing on the cool flakes dusting my face. The fading sounds of the party echoed behind me, but the soft tinkles of flurries hitting the ground drowned out the revelry. It was peaceful out here, the moonlight shining overhead and the world hibernating in quiet sleep, on this, the longest night of the year.
