Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Hearing her daughter giggle, Casey turned to see that Roni had balanced the little girl on her hip and was twirling in circles. But then Roni abruptly halted, and her eyes narrowed on the boy standing by Curtis. “What have you been eating, Cody?” she asked the eldest of her three sons.
The mini version of Marcus froze and then batted his eyelashes, all innocence. “Nothing.”
“So why do you have a chocolate mustache?” Roni challenged.
A loud gasp came from the kitchen. “Who opened the chocolate trifle?” demanded Kathy.
Roni groaned. “Oh, for heaven’s sake!”
Cody pointed at his youngest brother. “It was his idea!”
Dash scowled at him. “Snitch!” And then they were grappling with each other, which wasn’t an uncommon sight. Marcus quickly broke up the fight and tossed the youngest to Zander, who caught him easily, making Dash laugh like a loon.
Roni and Marcus’ middle child, Keane—who was an absolute genius like his mother—sighed and said, “This is why I don’t like children.”
Casey felt a tug on her pants and looked down to see Curtis holding up a gift-wrapped box.
“Can you guard it for me?” he asked.
She almost laughed at his word choice. “Guard it?”
He handed her the gift sack they’d brought along, which was now empty. “You can put it in that.”
“Aren’t you gonna open it?” asked Ally, crouched beside him as she dumped all the torn wrapping paper into a garbage bag.
“Later,” said Curtis. “For now, I want to enjoy time with my pack mates.”
Ally’s face went all soft. “Aw, that’s the sweetest damn thing I ever heard.”
It was Curtis’ problem with sharing, that was what it was. And so each time one of the pack handed him a gift, he politely thanked them and chucked it in the sack.
Derren shook his head. “At his age, I wouldn’t have been able to wait for even five minutes before opening—” He flinched. “Jesus Christ.” The Beta growled down at the margay cub that was chomping on his ankle.
Sighing at his son, Jesse lifted him by the scruff of his neck. “Dude, we’ve been over this, you can’t shift and—ow, dammit, that was my finger!”
Casey bit back a smile, and her mink twitched her tail in amusement. Unlike most breeds of shifter, margay cats could shift as children. Harley and Jesse had two gorgeous boys. The oldest was polite, placid, and as musical as his mother. The youngest was freaking nuts, and he spent a lot of time in his cat form.
“Cassidy’s here!” Caleb bellowed.
Striding into the room, Cassidy laughed as the kids swarmed her like ants. She’d been part of Cain’s pack since they mated six months ago, so people were still getting used to not having her constantly around. It hadn’t been an easy adjustment for Willow, since the two girls were so close.
Being mated hadn’t changed Cain, but he was different with Cassidy than he was with others. He took care of her and protected her fiercely. Even now, he stood infinitely close to her, as if he might shove her behind him at any moment to shield her from a threat.
He’d left The Movement, just as he’d sworn that he would, and now all his focus was on her. And he hadn’t complained about her wanting to spend Christmas dinner with the Mercury Pack every other year—Casey liked him for that alone.
Eli pulled his niece into a hug. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.” He and Casey exchanged nods with Cain.
“Right back atcha, Eli,” the she-wolf said, her smile bright.
“How’s life at your new pack?” asked Casey, rubbing her upper arm. “Are they being good to you?”
“Oh, yeah,” Cassidy assured her. “They like having a Seer, so they’ve been very welcoming. Although I think that’s partly because they fear that Cain will hang them by their own intestines if they’re not.”
Casey chuckled. “Good point.”
“Dinner’s ready!” Gwen sang, a hand resting on her pregnant belly.
The pack headed into the dining area and settled at the long table, disregarding Kathy’s seating plan like they always did. She hovered and fussed and poured drinks while everyone piled ridiculous amounts of food on their plates and whined at Marcus for hogging the gravy.
In between eating, drinking, and bantering, people snapped photos and pulled apart Christmas crackers. Kellen collected all the little jokes and read them aloud while the other kids traded the small toys. Kathy tried peer-pressuring everyone into donning the paper crowns. It didn’t work with Cain or little Keane, but the others obliged her.
Later, once the table had been cleared, Casey sank into her chair with a sigh. Dammit, she was bloated. And tipsy. Very, very tipsy. Most of the pack looked ready to fall into a food coma. Honestly, she didn’t think she had room for dessert, but she smiled when Kathy set it in front of her.
Shaya sighed at her daughter. “Willow, will you please get off your phone? It’s rude to use it at the dinner table.”