This time, Keena didn’t argue.
She agreed.
Keena reached up and brushed a loose strand of Brice’s dark hair away from her eyes.
“I almost let my fear cost me the best thing that’s happened to me in five years,” she admitted.
“I’m glad you didn’t,” Brice said softly.
Keena smiled.
“Will you stay tonight?” Keena asked. She felt open and exposed asking. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel this way in years. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
“I’ll stay.” Brice answered without hesitation.
Relief washed over her. She closed the distance between them and captured Brice’slips in a slow, deep kiss that left both of them breathless. Brice smiled against her mouth once they parted.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Brice said.
“I like the sound of that.” Keena laughed. She slipped her arms beneath Brice’s knees and around her back. Brice squealed as Keena effortlessly lifted her from the couch and stood.
“Keena!” Brice laughed and wrapped her arms around Keena’s neck.
“What?”
“I can walk. Why are you carrying me?”
“Because I want to.” She entered the bedroom and carefully lowered Brice down onto the mattress. Her heart pounded against her chest at the sight of her mate on her bed. Fate hadn’t asked her to choose, it had simply made room for another love.
By the time Keena turned onto the road leading toward the White Pine Pack grounds, Brice had already decided that the last week had been the best of her life. She bit back a silly grin that had been plastered on her face since the day she had gone to Keena’s cabin.
She gazed out of the passenger window of Keena’s SUV. Snow fell softly around them and Evergreen Hollow glowed behind them. Every storefront on Main Street was wrapped in Christmas lights, old school Christmas music played low through the speakers, and Keena’s hand rested over Brice’s onthe center console. Their fingers were entwined like they had been doing it forever.
Brice glanced over at Keena. She looked different now. Not in a way strangers would notice immediately. She was still quiet, still watchful and still carried herself like the bad-ass enforcer she was. Her shoulders weren’t so tense. Her mouth curved more often into a smile. Sometimes Brice would say something ridiculous just to get a reaction from her and Keena would laugh.
Brice loved the sound of her laugh.
She loved the way Keena stopped by the shop in the mornings with the excuse that she was just “checking in on the shop, but somehow her visit ended with them sharing a kiss.
She loved the way Keena had fixed the wobbly shelf in the romance section without being asked, or the way Keena pretended not to like Brice’s cinnamon hot chocolate, but yet she always asked for another one.
She loved the way Keena kissed her. Her kisses were slow, deep, and protective as if each second of the kiss mattered. Brice’s chest warmed at the thought of the kiss they had shared when Keena had picked her up. Her knees were still shaking.
She hadn’t said those magical three words yet.
Neither had Keena.
But love was already there. It was evident by the way Keena would text her to make sure she got home safely when she was out and about, or the way she carried in the heavy boxes that were left outside the shop, or the way Keena looked at her when she thought Brice wasn’t looking.
It was there.
She felt it.
The pack grounds came into view through the trees and Brice’s breath caught.
The Christmas Eve festival was beautiful. Lanterns hung from white pine branches and they glowed gold against the snow. A massive bonfire crackled at the center of the clearing. It was surrounded by pack members bundled in their winter coats, scarves and boots. Children raced through the snow with small battery powered lanterns in their hands while the adults lingered near the tables.
Above it all stood the oldest white pine in Evergreen Hollow. Its branches were decorated for the holiday in ribbons and ornaments that shimmered beneath the night sky.
