Shifters of Silver Peak: A Very Shifty Christmas Read online

  A Very Shifty Christmas

  Copyright 2015 by Georgette St. Clair

  This book is intended for readers 18 and older only, due to adult content. It is a work of fiction. All characters and locations in this book are products of the imagination of the author. No shifters were harmed during the creation of this book.

  License Statement

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Thanks so much for buying A Very Shifty Christmas! If you’d like to be notified of future releases, freebies, contests and more, please sign up for my newsletter:

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  This book can be read as a stand-alone, but if you would like to read the first two books in the Shifters of Silver Peak series, they are:

  http://www.amazon.com/Mate-Marked-Shifters-Silver-Peak-ebook/dp/B016G14KMU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450459897&sr=8-2&keywords=Shifters+of+Silver+Peak

  and

  http://www.amazon.com/Shifters-Silver-Peak-Mate-Month-ebook/dp/B01845NQS0/ref=pd_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51YXFK7vgKL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_UX300_PJku-sticker-v3%2CTopRight%2C0%2C-44_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=1C6R5NC5J89PXE1JKVJS

  Chapter One

  “Valerie, is there a human cub hiding in this office?” Morgan Rosemont growled, standing in the doorway and glaring at his secretary. There was a dusting of snow on his thick, dark hair and on the broad shoulders of his wool overcoat.

  A chill wind whipped past him. He stepped inside, followed by his construction foreman and packmate, Arthur Handley, and slammed the door shut with a bang.

  Valerie looked up from her desk and batted big, innocent eyes at her boss. The cold had made her thick, round glasses fog, which ruined the effect a bit. “Whatever do you mean, Mr. Rosemont?”

  He looked around impatiently. “You heard me. A human cub. Somebody distracting you from working.”

  She pulled her black sweater tighter around her generous figure and maintained her wide-eyed expression of denial. “First of all, I am not working right now because my lunch hour just started. Secondly, we humans refer to cubs as ‘children’. And why would there be a child in your office? I don’t have any children. Or any life whatsoever, but that’s a different story,” Valerie said. “Anyway, you got some messages while you were out, and I put them on your desk. Some of them look rather urgent. You should go check.”

  “Where is it?” Morgan demanded, stamping the snow off his feet.

  She met his gaze unblinkingly. “Where is what?”

  Morgan let out an angry, frustrated breath and walked over to Valerie’s desk. He stared down at her, all six foot three inches of him. “You know how I know you’re lying to me, Valerie?”

  “You’re psychic?” Valerie suggested. She knew he wasn’t, of course.

  There were some strains of shifter that were psychic. Thank God Morgan wasn’t one of them, because if he could read his human secretary’s thoughts, she’d have been bounced out of the office on her very well-padded rear long ago.

  “I know because, number one, you’re answering my questions with questions, and number two, I’m a wolf shifter. I have an amazing sense of smell. You smell it, don’t you, Arthur?”

  Arthur maintained an expression of polite interest. “If you say so, sir.”

  “Get that child-cub thing and remove it at once,” Morgan said to Valerie. “This is an office, not a daycare.”

  The coat closet door banged open, and a small, dirty-faced child dashed out, ran over, and bit Morgan on the ankle.

  “Valerie! What the hell?” Morgan yelled, shaking his leg in an attempt to dislodge the child.

  “Morgan! Watch your language! Don’t hurt her!” Valerie ran over and knelt down next to them. “Teddy, come on.”

  “Me don’t hurt her? She’s the one who’s biting me!”

  “Oh, don’t be such a baby.” She pulled Teddy off him and set her on her feet.

  Teddy was eight, but small for her age, and for a human she was awfully feral in her behavior – like her tendency to bite when she was annoyed. She had long, uncombed, dirty-blonde hair, her face was always grubby, and her clothes were faded and two sizes too big for her. The hem of her moth-eaten wool overcoat brushed the floor.

  She glared up at Morgan ferociously through a curtain of filthy hair that covered her face.

  “You’re a bad wolf,” she informed him.

  “Valerie?” Morgan raised an eyebrow at her, his ice-blue wolf’s eyes glimmering with annoyance.

  “Her mother is at the mineral springs today and she doesn’t have anyone to watch her,” Valerie said to Morgan.

  The mineral springs had amazing healing properties for humans with dementia and a number of other ailments. Before an earthquake created the springs, the shifter town of Silver Peak, and the nearby human town of Juniper, had been dwindling in population, with shuttered businesses and empty stores. But since word about the springs had gotten out, both towns were bursting at the seams with people desperate for their curative powers.

  “And this is my problem why? I have a business to run.”

  “Fine,” she muttered. “You weren’t even supposed to be here today. I thought you’d be on site until this evening.”

  Morgan’s company, Rosemont Resorts, was expanding its newly built resort hotel and spa, and also building luxury condominiums, due to overwhelming demand. Morgan was planning on working right up through Christmas Eve. Just bubbling over with Christmas spirit, he was.

  Before Morgan could answer, the front door banged open again, letting in more wind and snow. She breathed a sigh of relief as two of her friends barreled in and quickly shut the door behind them. They’d help her with Teddy.

  “Hey, Valerie! Who’s your little friend?” It was Eileen, a wolf shifter friend of Valerie’s. She was accompanied by their friend Erika, who belonged to the same pack as Eileen.

  The little girl looked at the women, then looked at Morgan with a scowl. “I’m Teddy, and he’s the Big Bad Wolf,” she said of Morgan.

  “And don’t you forget it,” Morgan said, returning the scowl with one of his own.

  The girl walked over to Eileen and Erika and looked up at them. “You’re a wolf, and you’re a wolf.” She jabbed a dirty little finger at both of them. “And I’m a human. Are you in a pack? Did you know that some wolves can’t turn into people? Where do those wolves live? Where do you live?” The fact that she was firing off a volley of questions at them meant she liked them. It was preferable to her alternative mode of communication – ankle-biting.

  “Erika, I need a favor,” Valerie said. “Can you take Teddy here back to Juniper? She’s staying in the shanty town at 372 Winthrop Drive. Her mother is at the mineral springs, and she’ll be back around five. There should be some church volunteers at the rec center there today who can watch her until her mother gets home. If not…” Valerie’s face puckered in concern, and she glanced at Morgan, who shook his head decisively.

  “Motherffff…” Erika glared after Morgan, then glanced at Teddy and stopped herself. “Mother of pearl is my favorite jewelry,” she finished. “I got this,” she said to Valerie. “Hey, Teddy, want to go to the town square, make a snow-fort and throw snowballs at people?”

  “Erika!” Valerie protested, scandalized.

  “What?” Erika flashed a wi
cked grin. “Basic self-defense skills should be learned at a young age. We can also practice making swords out of icicles.”

  “No swords!” Valerie said.

  “Okay, icicle spears. We’ll go to the coffee shop and get some hot chocolate first,” Erika said to Teddy. “We need fuel if we’re going to go start a frozen-water war.” Erika was a tomboy and an infamous mischief-maker. Great. So Valerie’s choices were leaving the child by herself, sending her off to stab someone, or…well, those were her choices today.

  Erika led the happy child out, and Eileen sat on Valerie’s desk. “Other than the fact that your boss is an ass-face, isn’t it a beautiful day?” she said, gesturing at the window, which faced Main Street.

  It was December 10th, and the village of Silver Peak, Montana, was a winter wonderland.

  Freshly fallen snow blanketed the streets and parked cars and fire hydrants in sparkling white. Christmas garlands twined around the lamp posts, and every store window was framed with twinkling red-and-green lights. A pack of Christmas carolers was strolling through the streets, singing. They were led by their parents. Several of them were in cub form, trotting through the snow wagging their tails and wearing wreaths as collars. They howled in tune to the singing.

  “Breathtaking,” Valerie said.

  “Stunning.” Eileen nodded contentedly.

  “I really hate Christmas,” Morgan growled.

  He looked at the carolers. “It’s one p.m. Don’t they have somewhere to be? Why are they walking around singing like that?”

  Eileen and Valerie exchanged amused looks with each other, and Eileen stifled a snicker behind her hand.

  “What?” Morgan snapped.

  “I, for one, am shocked,” Eileen said. “I mean you could knock me over with a feather. A season that’s all about togetherness and happiness and love, and you hate it?”

  Morgan stared at her. “You don’t work here anymore. And yet you’re here.” He glanced over at Arthur. “She’s still here.”

  “Yep, she is.” Arthur, a tall, lean wolf shifter in his fifties, nodded placidly. His method of getting along with Morgan was to agree with whatever Morgan said without really paying much attention to it.

  “I miss you too,” Eileen said drily to Morgan. She plucked a crumpled-up ball of paper from the garbage and threw it at him, and it bounced off his head and fell on the floor. “Oh, look. I don’t actually miss you. I’m right on target.” She and Valerie exchanged high-fives.

  “Valerie?” Morgan’s tone said that he was losing patience.

  “She’s my friend. She came to visit me on my lunch break. Drive her away, and you can answer your own calls for the rest of the day. And deal with the carolers.” Valerie met his glower with a challenging stare and raised an eyebrow at him.

  Eileen looked away, trying not to laugh. Morgan threatened to fire Valerie on a daily basis, but he’d never go through with it. She was the first secretary he’d had who’d lasted more than a month. It was surprising, because she was a human, and if anyone could be expected to put up with Morgan’s rudeness and temper tantrums, it would be a shifter.

  She’d put up with him for the last three years, though. She’d moved around the country with his company, to different areas where they developed and built new luxury condominiums and resort hotels. They’d been in Silver Peak for about six months now. More than just his secretary, she acted as his brand ambassador, smoothing over disputes and soothing hurt feelings.

  Apparently, though, she’d finally had it with him. She’d told Eileen that this was going to be her last Christmas with him. He just didn’t know it yet.

  “So, about that shanty-town Christmas Village…” Valerie said to Morgan.

  “As long as it’s after hours and on your own time, do what you want.” Morgan caught her look and shook his head. “No, I’m not coming to help out. And I sure as hell am not going to be Santa.”

  “Fine.” Valerie bit the word off a little too sharply.

  “Come on, Valerie, it’s really for the best,” Eileen said.

  “Thank you.” Morgan’s tone was laced with annoyance.

  “I mean, this is Morgan,” Eileen said. “He’d tell the kids that if they wanted presents, they shouldn’t have had poor parents, or he’d give them lumps of coal. Morgan doesn’t belong in a Santa suit. Isn’t that right, Arthur?”

  “Yep, I expect so.” Arthur stood there placidly, holding a cardboard tube of construction plans.

  Morgan, not the least bit offended that Eileen had just identified him as Ebenezer Scrooge, looked out the window.

  “What’s everyone so damn happy about?” he asked, scowling.

  Valerie gave a contented sigh. “Well, most people can actually afford Christmas this year, thanks to the mineral springs, and they have jobs, and they don’t have to hunt their food, and everyone loves the new Alpha, and—”

  “That was pretty much a rhetorical question,” Morgan interrupted her. “Wait, are those carolers coming our way?” That came out in a growl of dismay.

  “Oh no,” Valerie said in a bored tone. “Happy singing children. And cubs. Run away, run away. By the way, Chelsea might stop by later. With her cubs.”

  “Omigod, they are so adorable,” Eileen rhapsodized. “With their little matching twin outfits? You should hear their little howls.”

  Chelsea, the mate of the Kincaid Pack Alpha, had recently given birth to twin boys, Jesse and James. Her mate, Roman, was a former outlaw, and still nothing to mess with – but now that he was a father he’d turned into a big pussycat as far as his cubs were concerned. He even carried them in a baby sling – and heaven help anyone who even looked at him funny for it.

  “Does nobody understand the concept of a work day?” Morgan said. “Christmas is two weeks away. Oh God, the carolers are moving closer. If they come here, just give them money and make them go away without singing, won’t you?”

  He turned and stomped off to his office, hurrying down the long hallway. Arthur followed.

  “I know the drill!” Valerie yelled after them as Arthur shut the door.

  “So you haven’t told him yet?” Eileen asked.

  Valerie winced. “No, not yet. I know I need to give him a decent amount of notice, it’s just…” She sighed. “I don’t want to tell him right before Christmas. I know he pretends he hates the holidays, but still, telling him that I quit right now seems unnecessarily harsh. Also it would put him in a bad mood, and then he’d be a jerk to his employees all through the Christmas month.” At Eileen’s look she added, “More than usual.”

  “Okay. Trying to imagine him being more of a jerk.” Eileen frowned in concentration. “Failing.”

  When Eileen had first arrived in Silver Peak six months ago, Valerie had gotten her hired on as a marketing intern. Eileen had tried to put up with Morgan’s moodiness and irritability, mostly because she really liked Valerie, but she could only take it for so long.

  Her mate had come into an enormous amount of money, so she didn’t need the paycheck anymore, and Marcus needed her to be with him. She had a calming effect on him. She worked with him, helping him to promote and manage his hand-carved furniture business.

  “Also I was really hoping that I could convince him to be Santa at the Christmas Village,” Valerie said. “And if I tell him that I’ve quit, there’s no chance of that happening.”

  “You want him to do that even though you know he’d be terrible at it?” Eileen looked at her skeptically.

  “I think it would be good for him. He’s so wrapped up in work all the time, from the minute he wakes up in the morning until he leaves the office late at night, and then he usually sends me work emails or calls me about work stuff after he’s gone home. Before I leave, I’d like to show him that there’s more to life than work.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  “I feel badly,” Valerie mused. “He just told me to order my usual Christmas present for myself. Diamond jewelry, my choice. I didn’t order it, of course. S
ince I’m leaving.”

  “What I want to know is, how have you managed to hang in here this long?” Eileen asked.

  Valerie tucked a curl of brown hair back behind her ear. “He’s basically a good person, underneath it all. He cares a lot about his family. He’s very talented at what he does, and he pays his employees a very fair wage and good benefits, above what the law requires. And he donates to charity. I mean, I pick the charities, but he writes the checks.”

  Eileen made a face, and Valerie added quickly, “He’d do it himself if I wasn’t here. Or he would have someone do it for him.”

  “Uh-huh.” Eileen’s look said that she wasn’t convinced, but it wasn’t worth arguing about. She looked at Valerie for a long, silent moment, until Valerie finally said, “What?”

  “We’re friends, you know. Is something else bothering you besides having to tell Morgan that you quit?”

  Valerie managed a smile and gestured at the doorway Morgan had just stormed through. “Like that isn’t enough?” she said.

  “No. It’s not. What is it?”

  “Nothing. Everything’s fine.” Valerie shook her head.

  Eileen snorted. “Liar-face human.”

  “Nosy furry mutt.”

  “I am of excellent pedigree,” Eileen said placidly, unoffended. “I mean, my father is a royal dickhead who makes Morgan look sweet, soft and cuddly, but my pedigree is unimpeachable. What is the problem?”

  Valerie hesitated. “I can only tell you if you promise not to offer to lend me money.”

  “It’s a money problem?” Eileen looked at Valerie in confusion. “But, I mean, Marcus and I have butt-tons of money. We donate to charity, we go on vacations, we’ve built a big beautiful house, and we’re still swimming in money. If you have a problem, why wouldn’t I lend you money? Or give it to you, for that matter.”

  Valerie shook her head. “You’re a good friend. I mean, for a nosy buttinski, that is.”

  “Chelsea was a nosy buttinski when I first showed up in town. It’s probably why things worked out between me and Marcus. Sometimes friends don’t know what’s best for them and they need a little push.” Eileen grinned at Valerie. Then her face turned serious. “So spill it.”