“Thanks, Dee. Merry Christmas. Oh, and can you keep this a secret? We want to call Papa and Dad over video and tell them.”
“Sure thing. Now, go find your omega.”
As soon as I walk back inside, I find Hayden by the door. “You ready to go?” I ask.
He nods, holding up a few shopping bags. “Who was that on the phone?”
“My brother, Dimitri. I told him that I’d finally found you again. He knows how sad I’ve been these past six years, but he only recently found out how serious I felt about you.”
Hayden pauses, looking torn. I instantly feel bad. My poor mate has been harboring so much guilt about that night. He looks up at me with pleading eyes. “I went back for you,” he whispers. “That night, after I left, I kept having this horrible thought thatI needed to turn around. I wandered the city, walking aimlessly. Somehow, I ended up in front of the wishing tree. That’s when I found your wish on the ground.”
“Mywish?”
“Your wish.” He nods. “Crazy, right? As soon as I read it, I ran all the way back to the hotel. But by the time I made it back to your room, you had already checked out. You were gone.”
What were the fucking chances? I kiss Hayden’s temple. “See, it sounds like Fate had her own plans. Maybe we weren’t supposed to be together just yet. She has made it very clear that we were supposed to wait for each other.”
We exit the shop and see snowflakes gently falling all around us. “Back then, during our date, what made you realize there might be something more to us?” Hayden asks.
I think back to that night. “I think it was when we were in line waiting to hang our wishes on the wishing tree. Snowflakes were falling all around us, just like they are now. I kept watching the way they landed in your hair.”
Hayden nods. “I loved the way the snowflakes landed on your skin before melting. It somehow made the night feel magical.”
“Why were you wearing scent blockers that night?” I blurt. “It took until we were reunited to figure it out, but there was something off about your scent back then.”
“I was getting ready to go into heat. I didn’t want to distract my date with my pheromones. I always seem to go into heat around this time. But goddess, that night I enjoyed your company so much I was almost upset that I didn’t. I’m so embarrassed to say this, but I wanted to go into heat with you there,” he admits.
“And to think that we reunited during the winter season. Maybe we were always meant to be bound in heat and snow.” I grin, amused at such a romantic thought.
“Bound in heat and snow.” Hayden nods, lacing our gloved fingers together. “I like it, Alpha mine.”
“Me too, sweet omega.”
Twenty minutes later, we are in front of our cabin making out like teenagers sneaking around for the first time. As we kiss, we giggle and point out all the different types of snowflakes that land on our skin before melting against our heat. When it gets just a little too cold, we rush inside and cuddle under the covers while watching our favorite Christmas movies.
Christmas really is my favorite time of the year.
Chapter twelve
Hayden
On Christmas morning, I wake to the sight of snow drifting to the ground just outside our window. The sight is stunning, but what makes it even better is the warmth of Thorne pressed against my back. After the night we made out in the snow, we agreed to enjoy the sight of the magical white fluff from inside.
“Merry Christmas, my beautiful mate,” Thorne says, pressing a kiss to the back of my neck.
“Mmm. Merry Christmas, Alpha mine.”
Thorne chuckles. “I love it when you call me that.”
I smirk, even though he can’t see it. “I know.”
“Why, you little brat,” he laughs. “You like to rile me up on purpose, don’t you?”
Before I can answer, Thorne’s fingers are darting under my arms and across my ribcage.
High-pitch squealing—that Iswearhas never left my throat before—erupts from my mouth.
“Oh, lookie here. My mate is very,very, ticklish.” He punctuates each word by tickling random spots. I burst into laughter, kicking and squealing, unable to stop my wayward limbs. Shoving Thorne away, I scramble to get out of bed, only to have him drag me back under the covers. While he’s maneuvering me to face him, I take advantage of the situation by pulling him into a filthy kiss while my hand reaches down and grasps his half-hard cock.
