A Siberian Werewolf Christmas (5 page)

“Thanks, Vi. I’m kind of
tired.”

“Poor, baby. Long trip?”

“Well, fourteen hours in
the air, two hours in customs, and then the trip in from Yakutsk.
Yeah, it’s been a long day. I didn’t sleep well for a couple of
nights before, worrying. Then I had a vision about a possible fire
at my apartment. I think jet lag might be a big part of my problem.
I did sleep on Dmitry’s private jet.”
Snuggled down on Slava’s lap
.

“The guys were good to you?” Violet
opened the door to a lovely room. A double bed covered with a green
and blue comforter sat on the inside wall. In the corner near the
window stood a wood stove and embers glowed through the glass in
the opening.

She followed Violet into the room.
“Oh, yes, very charming.” Should she tell Violet about Slava’s
kiss?

“Good. I feared Slava might hassle you
a little. He wasn’t happy about us bringing an American into the
village.” Violet moved across the room to two chairs placed next to
the wood stove. Maggie joined her. A kerosene lantern rested on a
table, and another sat next to the bed, a box of matches by its
side. Both lanterns filled the room with a warm glow.

“Why not, what’s wrong with an
American?” That kiss had melted her.

“We live sheltered lives out here on
purpose. He’s afraid you’re going to tell the world about us. Okay,
there are extra blankets in that dresser.” Violet waved a hand at a
tall chest of drawers across from the bed. “Someone will come in to
start the fire in the morning, so you shouldn’t have to worry about
it. Through that door is a bathroom. I have to warn you hot water
is limited in the winter because the solar panels can’t get enough
light to recharge much. So use it sparingly.”

“Tell the world—why would I do that?
You’re my best friend. You know I wouldn’t betray you.” Did Slava
really think that little of her? Did Violet?

“I know, honey. It’s not you. The men
around here can be downright exasperating. They are so
overprotective sometimes I want to scream.”

“You do scream, every time I make love
to you,” Dmitry said from the door, two of Maggie’s suitcases in
his hands. “Here you are, Maggie.” He put the suitcases inside the
room.

“I don’t scream, at least not every
time. See what I mean? Men,” Violet said.

“Is that a
challenge,
lyubov moya
? If it is, you know I will win, and you will enjoy every
minute of it.”

Maggie’s face flushed from the teasing
and obvious love her friends felt for each other.

“Oh, stop, you’ll get me all excited.
Now, let me talk to Maggie.”

“Thank you so much for having me, both
of you. I really look forward to seeing how you live out here in
the winter,” Maggie said.

“Well, one of the first
things you do is find someone to keep you warm.” Dmitry winked at
her. “Violet, it’s late,
lyubov
moya
. Let your friend go to bed. She will
be here in the morning, whereas I have to go out and check on the
elders and make sure they have plenty of firewood.”

Maggie’s first thought went to Slava
and how he could warm her all over with a look. She glanced at her
friend.

Violet looked at her watch. “It is
late, Maggie. Get settled in and we’ll talk in the
morning.”

Violet rose from her chair and Maggie
joined her. They both hugged each other and then Violet went to the
door and into her husband’s arms.

Kolya put his head in the door. Maggie
remembered him from Violet’s wedding. “Here’s the other suitcase.
Maggie, what have you got in here?” he asked, making a show of
pulling the case into the room.

“Christmas presents, of
course.”

“Oh, well that’s okay then,” Kolya
replied.

They all laughed and then walked out
into the hall. Maggie chuckled as she closed the door after her
friends. She wandered over to the window and looked out. The cut in
the snow from the snowmobiles ran next to the building and around
to the front.

Why hadn’t Slava come in? Was he so
glad to be rid of the American, he couldn’t wait to get her off his
hands? Except, that couldn’t be right. He’d said to call and he
would escort her around the village. Then there was that kiss.
Fireworks had gone off in her head. He had to have some good
feelings toward her. Didn’t he?

Chapter Five

Maggie woke with a start. The room was
dark except for a few burning embers in the wood stove. The
stillness was deafening. The only noise she could hear was the wind
moving through the trees and an occasional pop and hiss from the
stove. “What time is it?”

She rolled over and reached for her
watch that sat on the nightstand. “Nine-thirty. Why is it still so
dark?”

Lying there, Maggie thought about her
trip and Slava. That kiss on the snowmobile had been incredible,
despite Kolya’s interruption. Why hadn’t Slava come into the lodge?
It had been late. Perhaps he didn’t want to intrude. She smirked,
and then she frowned. He didn’t strike her as someone who worried
too much about that kind of stuff. If he wanted to, he would have
followed her inside.

She rolled off the bed and headed for
the bathroom, grabbing some clothes on the way. What was it about
that man that drew her in?

She dressed quickly and pulled on her
boots. Time to find Violet. Maybe she could get some information
about Slava from her best friend. The trick was not to let on how
much it meant to her. If Violet suspected anything, there would be
questions Maggie didn’t want to answer.

Opening the door, she looked up and
down the hall. Several lights were on, so at least she wasn’t
wandering around in the dark.

As she neared the stairs, she began to
hear voices. She followed the sounds downstairs and around to the
kitchen at the back of the house.

“Maggie, there you are. Did you sleep
well?” Violet smiled at her from the kitchen table. She sat between
two highchairs that held the most adorable twin girls.

“Are these my goddaughters? Heavens,
they are prettier than in the pictures you sent me.”

“This one with the outgoing
personality is Katya, and this shy little one is Karina. They
finished their breakfast, and we were playing and talking about
going for a walk. Have a seat. I’m sure there’s still food on the
stove. Let me get you something to eat.”

§

Violet pushed the stroller over the
snow-covered pathways like a pro. Someone had recently cleared the
path because snow lay piled on each side, boxing them in. The sun
shone down, bouncing off all the white, making Maggie squint. She
shook her head and smiled as the twin girls giggled and looked
around, both of them wearing pink snowsuits. Katya seemed to take
everything in, pointing and naming everything first in Russian and
then in English while Karina cuddled her stuffed wolf, occasionally
rubbing her face with the soft fur.

“It amazes me how the girls are
bilingual,” Maggie said. “Did you play language tapes to them when
they were in the womb?”

“No, all of the people in the village
speak more than one language. I think Dmitry speaks at least six.
I’m sure they inherited the ability from their Daddy.”

“How do you stay warm? Even with both
a snowsuit and my down coat, I feel the cold. You don’t even have a
heavy coat on. I’m afraid I look like a snowman.”

“You do kind of look like a snowman,
Maggie.”

“Hey, don’t agree with me. I know I
look ridiculous, but you’re my friend. You’re supposed to deny
it.”

“Oh, sorry. I have to tell you that I
heard Illarion and his friends wondering if you would pop if they
stuck you with a pin while we got ready for our walk.”

Maggie had met the youngsters at
breakfast. Yelena, Violet’s mother in law, encouraged the four
little boys to stay and join them. Illarion, seemed particularly
attached to Katya, and she laughed and ran to him when he came in
the door.

“The little monsters. They better not
stick me with a pin.” The thought of it made Maggie grin, and then
she laughed out loud. “I guess we all would have a surprise if they
tried. How do you keep up with all the little ones?”

“It’s not that hard. There are four
boys around Illarion’s age. The girls and their cousin Aleksandr
are the only babies. Alena will probably join us for dinner, and
you can meet her little one. Illarion’s mom is expecting a baby in
the spring. We all hope it will be a girl.”

“Why? Does it matter?”

“Haven’t you noticed that we have a
surplus of men in the village? There are no single women
here.”

“You are pretty isolated. So they have
to leave home to find a wife?”

“Yes. Although it’s hard for them to
leave everything they know.”

“I get it,” Maggie said. It was
probably hard to get a woman to come out to the wilderness to live
too.

Suddenly a grunt sounded in the woods
and twigs cracked as if something large ran through the bushes.
Maggie swung around, searching for what had made the sounds. They’d
traveled deep into the woods, and she hadn’t paid attention to
where they were going.

Violet handed one of the girls to
Maggie. “I think that might be a wild boar,” Violet whispered, her
eyes wide. “If it comes at us, I’ll try to telepathically freeze it
in place. You take the girls and run back to the lodge. Don’t
worry, Maggie. I’ve called for help.”

Maggie shook her head and reached for
the other twin. She was too afraid to speak. This wasn’t a
television show, this was real. Violet had frozen a lioness in
Africa when she was on assignment taking pictures. They all laughed
about it—Ellen, Violet, and Maggie. But there was nothing funny
about this.

Another grunt came from the woods on
their right. Violet motioned for Maggie to back up the path. Then a
thrashing sound heralded the wild boar’s emergence from the trees.
The boar looked at them and pawed at the ground.

They looked at the boar and his curled
tusks.

“Now, Maggie. Run!”

§

Slava started down the path and into
the woods. How was he supposed to protect Maggie and keep her out
of trouble when the woman wouldn’t stay put? She knew not to leave
the Alpha Lodge without him. Hadn’t he made that clear to
her?

Of course, kissing her might have
caused him to forget to tell her that last instruction. He had
found it hard to think after that. Maybe he should give her the
benefit of the doubt. He smiled thinking about it. It was good they
both felt the overwhelming attraction. Now if only the mating bond
would snap into place.

HELP, BOAR. ON NORTH PATH.

Slava grabbed the sides of
his face as a blinding pain slammed into him with the psychic
message from the Alpha female. Agony sliced into his brain. He
squeezed his eyes shut and pushed the pain back.
“
Govno!”
Shit.
Maggie and Violet were in trouble.

Slava sprang into action, running down
the path at lycan speed. His eyesight wavered as a migraine
headache pounded in his head. Several wolves ran past from the
right. The large black one was easily recognizable as Dmitry. In
their wolf form, they weren’t stuck with using the cleared path and
could run across the snow.

This was a disaster in the making. If
Maggie saw the wolves attack the boar, there would be questions.
Slava put on a burst of speed and rounded a curve in the trail. His
view of the path was blocked by the piled snow.

Suddenly, he slammed into a pillar of
white with two pink bundles one under each arm. It was Maggie in
her ridiculous get up. He fell back, grabbing the squishy material
at what he thought was the waist to keep her and her precious cargo
from being injured. He hit the frozen ground and grunted when his
head bounced off the hard surface. He lay there, flat on his back.
This woman would be the death of him.

“Oh, God. I am so sorry. We need to
get help. Violet is trying to freeze the wild boar.” Maggie sat up
and shifted the girls to rest on Slava’s chest before inspecting
them for injuries. Both of the twins stared down at him and
giggled. Karina bopped him in the face with her stuffed wolf. His
body reacted to Maggie’s warm weight against his groin, and he
groaned.

A telepathic signal of all clear
slammed into his head and tears actually came to his eyes. Violet
was safe and the boar was contained. He blinked the tears away.
Little Karina patted him on the cheek and suddenly the migraine
disappeared. Karina smiled down at him, looking wise and
mysterious.

“Fun, run, again,” Katya demanded,
patting him on the chest. She continued to pat him as every few
seconds she asked, “Again?”

Slava looked from the twins to the
woman still sitting uncomfortably close to his growing need. He had
to say something, anything.

“You know Violet can freeze people by
taking over their minds?” Slava asked. Why did he ask that when he
was trying to keep her in the dark about their
abilities?