I still couldn’t be bothered to care though. The cool of whatever body of water we were in felt good on my skin. I was moderately impressed I had skin at this point. I was pretty sure it should’ve burned away. I was lost to myself. The things Xander did to me during that time… were amazing… but it was like I couldn’t process it. Maybe he could.
Or maybe with our bond my mate was as frantic as I was. He was certainly inspiring. Freya linked me, “I have to take over to end our heat.” I urged, “Go ahead.” My wolf came out and purred, “Come out and play, Oden.” Oden came forward and they had their time.
I tried to stay awake, but exhaustion hit me hard. Oden and Freya deserved their privacy anyway. Besides, at this point sleep would be nice. I missed sleep. Gosh… how long had we been here? This felt longer than normal for a heat… but I factored in the Hackura realm as the likely location for Xander to bring me to… so it was probably ok.
When I woke up, I was starving. Xander was lying next to me asleep. Both of us reeked of sweat and sex. I would normally care about that, but I hadn’t eaten. Freya was grumbling in my head, “If you try to shower before getting some food, I will take over for food. I’ll do it.” I believed my wolf.
Considering she really was the hangry type. I walked out the door. There were stairs…. and the odds were that the kitchen was on the main level. I turned out to be correct. I looked around me. It was a beautiful house that I didn’t have schematics for… which meant we were definitely in the Hackura realm.
We were on the ocean. I whispered, “Wow.” I could dive off into the water from the balcony. There was a pool and a hot tub. I quickly made myself a bunch of sandwiches. I finished several before I made some for Xander.
I didn’t know if he managed to eat anything either during this hectic heat of mine. I ate an entire loaf of bread with the ingredients to make a sandwich. I ate all the turkey, pepperoni, and provolone cheese in the fridge. I’d put a serious dent in the mayonnaise too.
I carried the ham sandwiches I’d made for Xander and left them on the nightstand beside the bed. I walked into the shower and turned it on. I spent a long time using most of the soapon my skin. There was shampoo and conditioner in there too. Thank goodness.
I knew without looking that my hair was a rat's nest. I stepped out of the shower and found a hairbrush. It took fifteen minutes to tame the mess my hair had become with the brush. I guess that is what happens when you have sex for… I faltered, realizing I had no idea how long we’d been here.
I quietly walked out with my wet hair and looked for a phone. Xander’s was on his bedside. I tapped the screen and blinked several times. No… that date couldn’t be right…. It just couldn’t be.
Tears filled my eyes. I set the phone down and went outside to the deck. I paced. Ok… his phone could update to the Hackura realm. I tapped my watch and went to the earthly calendar, and the tears began to fall. I needed to run.
I walked back inside and went out the front door. I had no idea where we were in the Hackura realm, but I was about to find out. I took off running along the road. Tears coursed down my face because I missed my first Christmas back with my family.
My first Christmas with my mate. It was my favorite holiday. I’d actually made all my friends celebrate it in Black Path. I stayed at my apartment for three days avoiding pack leadership so I would be able to celebrate.
Christmas was my mom’s favorite holiday too. I even made all my friends come with me to a tree lot to pick out a real tree. We usually had to wait until Christmas Eve. We’d spend the night drinking and decorating the tree. I couldn’t help but think about those days.
Flashback
Melanie was excited. Caine groaned, “Do we have to go get a tree again?” I answered, “Uhh yes… it’s literally part of the magic of Christmas. It’s Christmas Eve and there is magic in theair. The fact you’ve never had one growing up… is quite literally blasphemy.”
“I actually think if you emailed Former Beta Dylan… he’d call your dad a heretic and bug the Supernatural Council until they demanded everyone have a tree and presents. If anyone could ever get anything done about that… it would be him.”
Dax snorted, “What?” I explained, “Well… he actually has a protocol for Christmas and how it has to happen. It’s like his favorite holiday… which we have in common… it was one of the possible topics to discuss with him I had… if we met… which we did not.”
Sierra told me, “You will one day.” Yeah… no… now he would definitely hate me. Before, it was just a chance… because I’m weird. Caine growled, “You’re not weird and if Dylan Frost is anything like you think he is, he will like you because he’s smart.” UGH! Inside thoughts.
Valentina shimmered in with Angelique, Virgil, Kingsley, Olivia and Anastasia. I squealed, “YAY! Now we can go.” Kingsley teased, “You know I don’t do holidays.” I replied, “Ok….but this is just getting a tree… and then drinking while we decorate it… and you got the star… so on some level… you want to celebrate.”
Angelique chimed in, “She got you there, roomie.” Kingsley snorted and Valentina shimmered us to the Christmas tree farm. Caine said, “I still thought they’d be bigger.” I replied, “Well… like I told you, these are what’s left… they are usually bigger… but we don’t get here in time… the schedules don’t match up for us all…. We are busy people.”
Caine chuckled, “Alright. Let’s pick the tree I’ll cut down for us this year.” I beamed at him, and we skipped around. They pretended like they weren’t just as into this as I was, but they were. Everyone loved it. Addison stopped in front of a tree.
I put my arm around her asking, “Is this the one?” Addison chuckled, “Yeah, I think it is.” I called, “CAINE! We got it.” The worker said, “We’ve told you guys, we’ll cut it down for you.” I replied, “I know…. I also know I told you… that it’s part of the fun… cutting down the tree.” The guy smirked, “We look for you kids every dang year now. You’re such fun.”
I allowed myself the memories of going with my family to cut down trees. We went earlier and got a bigger tree… but this tree was our friend group’s thing. I looked to my right and felt like I could see my family together.
Tristan was laughing while I ran around in the snow laughing and looking at trees. Jason was teasing me while my parents held hands smiling at all of us. If I could have them back, and we could somehow have another moment like that… I’d never take it for granted. It’s all I ever wanted.
Sierra nudged me and linked, “You and your Xander will have Christmas together someday.” I whispered, “Maybe.” Sierra insisted “You will. He’s a smart man and he will see the amazing person that you are. I know in that head of yours, you have all these plans for your first Christmas back.” I did I just didn’t know if they’d ever happen.
Flashback Ends
The memory faded. All those plans were just cruelly taken from me. Sharing getting a tree together with my friends and Xander… and figuring out our own traditions to start… were just gone. Along with my time with my friends… on our special evening.
My family would’ve come with us… to get our tree. I’d planned to invite them… it was going to be something normal for us… and it was just gone. I dropped to my knees because my lungs were burning. It was complicated to cry and run.
I screamed in anger and felt the ground vibrate. Selene sucked. I screamed at the sky, “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LET ME HAVE SOMETHING?! ONE THING? WHY DO YOU HATE ME?!” Freya apologized, “I’m so sorry, Melanie.” I told her, “It’s not your fault. It’s me she hates.”
