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Chapter 8
Ren
“Doyou think this is enough wood?” I asked Kylie, cocking my head as I studied the heap in the courtyard of the canine shifter estate. A pungent pine scent rose off the chopped logs.
My best friend laughed. “Ren, it’s almost as tall as I am. Unless you’re planning on roasting a giant on that thing, I think we’re good. And maybe even then.”
I mock-glowered at her. “I am going for epic here.”
“Somehow I don’t think West is going to appreciate it if you burn down his estate in the meantime.”
“Not going to happen,” Felix said easily, coming up beside Kylie and slinging his arm around her shoulders. “This place has seen lots of fire, most of it thanks to our dragon shifter here, and we all came out okay.” He grinned at me.
I had to smile back at the fox shifter, but at the same time a twinge ran through my chest. Noteveryonehad come out okay. Shifters had died during our battles with the vampires and the rogues. Entire villages had been razed to the ground. Nate had almost died just a short drive from where we were standing right now. If we ever faced another war like that…
I shoved those thoughts aside and spun on my heel. “We should get the tokens and the pencils ready—Felix, do you know where those ended up?”
“I saw the boxes over in the storage shed,” he said. “We can get ‘em for you.”
He gave Kylie a little tug, and she offered me a thumbs up before ambling off with him, tipping her head toward his shoulder. Funny to think that when she’d first shown up here, Felix had been skeptical of the idea of even having a human on the premises. Now I was sure he’d have been baring his teeth at anyone who suggested similar. I’d bet he’d gotten a bit of hassling from some of his kin over his choice in girlfriend, but I’d never seen him show the slightest doubt in that choice.
Which was good. I’d pulled Kylie into this dangerous world of supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic accidentally, and she didn’t have dragon fire or claws to protect herself with. The rogues had already nearly killedheronce. Even if I still felt a jab of worry every time we had to part ways, it was a relief knowing she had at least one shifter by her side most of the time.
I checked that everything else we needed for the bonfire was in place, tugging my coat tighter around me against the wind. The air had a touch of ice to it now, but there wasn’t any sign of real snow yet. It’d be nice to get at least one properly white Christmas. The one I’d manufactured on Marco’s estate didn’t really count by my standards.
The smell of roasting meat and vegetables was starting to carry from the estate house. I hurried inside, following that smell to the kitchen and poking my head inside. The staff were bustling around, pots clattering and dishes clinking. The head chef caught sight of me and dipped into a quick bow.
“Dragon shifter. Did you need something?”
“No, I just wanted to make sure—we’re on track to have dinner ready at six?”
She smiled. “Everything is on schedule. No one will go hungry, I can promise you that.”
“Okay, great. Thank you.” My own stomach rumbled, my mouth watering at the smells. How long had it been since I’d eaten lunch?HadI even eaten lunch? Suddenly I couldn’t remember. I’d had too many other things on my mind since we’d touched down here.
Well, it’d be dinnertime soon anyway. I hustled from the kitchen to the dining room with its stone-lined walls and crackling fireplace.
West’s home was the least posh of the estate houses, but I’d always found it comfortingly cozy. Most of my childhood memories came from the modest two-bedroom apartment my mother and I had shared in Manhattan, not the sprawling dragon shifter estate amid the mountains where I’d spent my first five years. Sometimes, even now, the fancy mansions that belonged to the alphas made me feel a little overwhelmed.
It might have been nice to drop into a chair by the fire and soak up that wafting heat for a few minutes. But our guests would be here soon, and I wasn’t going to slack off on this final celebration. The canine kin deserved as great a party as much as the other kin groups had gotten.
The thick wooden tables were already set, but I’d known that, because I’d been here helping make that happen an hour ago. I bit my lip as I scanned the room. Was there anything I was missing? I couldn’t ignore the itch nagging at me that there had to be something else I needed to get done.
“There you are.” The canine alpha stalked into the room, slowing as he reached me. West wrapped his arms around me from behind and tucked his head close to mine. “It’s getting hard for even a wolf to track you down, the way you’re running all over this estate.”
I made a face at my mate. “I just need to get everything ready. It’s almost time for people to start coming in.”
“I’m pretty sure everything is as ready as it can be, Sparks.”
My pulse hiccupped as a sudden thought occurred to me. “Aaron and some of the staff set up the lights in the trees, but I didn’t check to make sure they’re working.”
I started to pull out of West’s arms, but he tightened them around me, holding me in place. “Hey,” he said, his throaty voice as gentle as I’d ever heard it. “I can get one of my attendants to check. You don’t need to do everything.”
“It’s not everything,” I protested. “The celebrations were my idea—it’s my responsibility if anything goes wrong.”
“And what would be so horrifically wrong about a few lights not turning on?”
When I couldn’t think of a good answer to that right away, he shook his head at me. “You know, I do enjoy a good meal and holiday cheer in the air, but I’m starting to be glad Christmas will be over soon.”
