“Why is there a tree in here?” I asked, unable to make sense of what I was seeing. Trees grew outside, not indoors.
Zane dropped down onto the sofa and dragged me onto his lap. His cool fingers stroked the soft skin of my belly, sending a shiver down my spine. I’d like to say it was the cold, but truly, it was him.
When he touched me, sparks zapped my skin. It made me wonder what might happen if Alaric had that effect on females. I knew he was a storm mage and could summon lightning, so did that translate into electric shocks?
Part of me found the idea intriguing, but none of me wanted to ask him. Besides, he’d ignored me ever since the bedroom magic incident, so talking was not in the cards.
“It’s Winter Solstice Day, pet.”
I swiveled my head to look at him. “And?”
“Didn’t you celebrate it as a kid?”
“No, did you?”
“No,” he admitted. “But lots of magicals do. My mother’s pack usually had a party.” He scowled for a moment before smiling. “I figured it would be nice to celebrate, so I got a tree for you.”
The tree listed to one side and a bunch of needles fell off, making a mess on the floor.
“It’s…lovely.”
Kenji stretched from his cushion on the ratty armchair by the window. He hopped down and trotted over to the tree.
“I wanted to decorate it for you, but there wasn’t anything to use.”
My heart melted. The big, scary incubus had a marshmallow center. Who knew? I doubted anyone had seen this side of him before.
“Thank you; that’s so sweet.” I leaned in to kiss him. Just as my lips brushed his, I heard the sound of liquid splashing on the floor followed by the pungent aroma of ammonia.
My head snapped around to see Kenji peeing all over the tree with a smirk on his face.
“What? It’s cold outside.”
“That fucking—” All traces of sweet, romantic Zane vanished in an instant. His aura turned pitch black as he focused on my familiar. I tried to defuse the situation, but he pushed me away and glared at Kenji with murderous intent.
“Kenji, how could you!” I yelled, furious with the kitsune for ruining Zane’s surprise.
The little shit flicked his two tails and showed us his ass before blinking out of sight.
Zane stormed over to the tree and dragged it across the floor toward the door. Before I could stop him, he tossed it outside into the snow. Sadly it didn’t get rid of the stink of pee, but I decided not to comment on that. Instead, I wrinkled my nose and prayed Alaric knew some good cleaning spells.
“What’s that awful smell?” The mage appeared from the kitchen wearing a cute little apron. He waved the spatula while holding his nose. “Has the bear been scent marking again?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Maverick said, walking into the living room, his hair wet from the shower. He threw a glare in Zane’s direction, but the incubus was too busy seething to notice.
“Someone’s peed in the living room.” Alaric grimaced in disgust. “Figured it was you asserting your alpha status.”
Ignoring Maverick’s enraged growl, I reached out to calm Zane down, but he jerked away. His rejection hurt, but I gritted my teeth and refused to back down. My incubus had tried really hard to do something nice for me, and Kenji had ruined it withhis antics. I’d deal with the kitsune in a bit, but for now, Zane needed me.
He tensed when I slid my arms around his waist, but this time, he didn’t stop me.
“I love that you did something so sweet for me,” I told him. “It means the world to me that you wanted to make this a special day, even though you don’t usually celebrate it.”
Zane huffed, but some of the tension left him as he stared at the empty bucket and noxious puddle.
“I saw how the pack kids loved Winter Solstice Day. They’d spend hours decorating a tree the betas cut down from the forest, covering it with painted pinecones and glittery shit. It always looked fun.”
“Didn’t you join in?”
