Santa Paws: BBW Holiday Bear Shifter Romance (Christmas Bear Brothers Book 1) (8 page)

“Was she his mate too?” Declan asked.

“I think she was. We need to take him in for an interrogation. If we can find him.”

“What a Christmas,” Declan said, leaning back in his chair. Then a strange look of bliss came over his face. “She’s here.”

“Who’s here?” Dermot asked, and then the door of the sheriff’s office opened and a pretty woman came in, with a teenager behind her.

“Oh, we brought you breakfast,” the woman said, then saw the baguettes. “I see you’ve already eaten.”

“We were starving, and still are. Bears have huge appetites,” Dermot said, getting up and giving Declan’s mate a warm hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Maria, this is my youngest brother, Dermot. Dermot, Maria. And this young man is Jason.”

“Hello, Jason,” Dermot said and a flash of pain crossed his face; he remembered the car accident only too well. It was the same accident that had claimed the life of Sorcha’s father and left her so terribly injured. But this wasn’t the time to bring up thoughts of the past. They were all looking to the future now. So instead, he grinned. “I think we are all going to be one great big family.”

“Dermot met his mate too.” Declan had finished his first baguette and was eyeballing more food. Dermot wondered what he had been doing to work up such an appetite.

“She’s one of Santa’s reindeer,” Dermot said proudly.

“That’s crap. Santa isn’t real,” Jason protested.

If only you knew
, thought Dermot. And then he had another idea. “Oh yes, he is. In fact, if you come with me now, I will show you. Vicky said she would be back around ten. Come on. Maria and Declan can meet us on the North Slope when they are ready.” Dermot hooked his arm around Jason’s shoulders and guided him out of the door. He turned to wink at Declan. “Have fun, bro’.”

It didn’t take much to realise Declan wanted some alone time with Maria. Dermot was willing to do anything to help Declan and his new family find their way to happiness.

As they left, Jason turned to him and said, “All that stuff about Santa is a lie.”

Dermot saw the pain in Jason’s eyes, and wanted to make it right for him. But he knew that only time could do that. And this was no time for lectures, or a buddy talk.

“You know, I would have agreed with you. Until I went on this crazy adventure to the North Pole. I fought with a polar bear, and got this,” he said, pointing to his eye.

“I think you spent too long in the bar last night and got into a brawl.” Jason accused.

“I promise you, it’s real. And once you see Vicky, you will believe it too.” As they walked a car pulled up beside them, and Dermot bent down to see whom it was. “Trent. Hi there.”

“I might have known you were responsible for this,” Trent said, a twinkle in his eyes. “You look like you went ten rounds with a bear.”

“Polar bear.” He grinned at Trent. “It’s OK, Jason is one of us.”

“So is this for real? Because half the town is heading out to the North Slope.”

“It certainly is. I’m just hoping someone went and picked Sorcha and her mom up.”

“Pretty sure I saw Dr. Ben heading that way in a pickup. Like I said, would hate to be you if we don’t get to see a flying reindeer.”

“She’ll be here,” Dermot said confidently, and Trent drove off waving.

“When was the last time there was a lynching in Bear Bluff?” Jason asked.

“She’ll be here,” Dermot repeated and looked to the skies, but there was no sign of her yet.

Vicky looked down as she headed over Bear Bluff, shocked at the small crowd of people who were waiting to greet her. This had never happened before; she normally had to keep herself hidden away, landing outside of town and then walking back home while other people were snug in their houses opening their gifts with their families.

She circled around one more time and then Dermot caught her eye, standing with another man, and a young woman. There was a teenager with them, too; he was looking up, watching for her. He reminded her so much of herself, like he needed something to believe in, something to give him hope.

Vicky came lower, her feet touching down on the lower slope of the mountain, her step light as she drew closer to the people who stood in awe of her. She was now the worst kept secret in Bear Bluff, amongst shifters anyway. And that was the thing: she blended in just right. All the people here had a secret, or kept their loved one’s secret.

Suddenly shy, she stopped, waiting for Dermot to come to her. She rubbed her head against him affectionately, and then changed into her human form.

“Did you tell the whole town?” she asked reproachfully.

“Just one or two, and then it kind of spread,” Dermot answered. “Do you know, I never noticed in the dark, but your hair is the same colour as your reindeer coat.”

“You can’t get out of it by changing the subject,” she said crossly.

“How about with a kiss,” he said, drawing her into his arms and pressing his lips to hers.

“I guess that might do it,” she said, leaning on his chest briefly. “You had better introduce your family to me. I can’t wait to meet them.”

“And they can’t wait to meet you,” Dermot said, pulling her close as they walked.

The boy waved at them, and Dermot waved back. As they reached them, the boy blurted out, “Dermot says Rudolph is real too.”

They all laughed, and Vicky said, “He certainly is. And it’s thanks to him that we are together, and you had Christmas.”

“Well, one day I hope to thank him,” said Declan, “because I think we all got the best Christmas ever.”

“I think we all did,” said Maria.

“And not a
bear humbug
in sight,” Dermot laughed.

“And not a bear humbug in sight,” Declan repeated, pulling Jason and Maria into his arms. “More of a ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas.”

Vicky looked around at all the people who she hoped would be her friends. She had decided there was no better place to live than Bear Bluff, and then she saw Marla, standing next to Sorcha in her wheelchair.

“There is someone we need to speak to,” Vicky said, taking Dermot’s hand. They all followed her across the slope to where Sorcha sat, looking dazed but happy.

“I never knew. I never knew reindeers were real. Not
really
real.”

“We thought you should know about the magic of Christmas, Sorcha,” Dermot said, touching Marla comfortingly on the arm. “I wanted you to both know that good things can still happen.”

“Thank you,” Marla said tearfully. “And thank you, Vicky, for the doll. It was the exact one Sorcha wanted.”

“Oh. That wasn’t me,” Vicky said. “That was Santa himself.”

“Well, next time you see him, say thanks from us.”

“I will.” She smiled and hugged Dermot. “You know, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble finding my Christmas spirit next year.”

“Good. Because I have had enough excitement to last a lifetime. Now, we need to organise Christmas lunch.”

“There’s plenty at our cabin. You are all welcome,” Marla said.

“That is so kind of you, Marla. Although part of me thinks as the sheriff on duty, I should be organising a search party for Damon,” Declan said.

“He’s big enough to take care of himself,” Dermot said. “Right now, food is the only thing I can think of.”

“Except me.” Vicky prodded him in the stomach.

“Except you,” he said, and held her close, taking her breath away with his kiss, but not her Christmas spirit, which was full to overflowing.

“Here we are again. Another Christmas is here and we are all still bachelors.” Declan looked at his two brothers. They were having their traditional family get-together before they all took off to work their Christmas shifts. It was three solid days of duty for which they always volunteered, because the Holidays were a time for being with mates and cubs. Something none of them had.

“Come on, it’s not that bad. You get to spend the Holidays with other sad, lonely people,” Damon said, taking a sip of his beer.

“Speak for yourselves—I love Christmas at work. Between calls, I get to spend time with all the people stuck on the wards. The nurses work hard to make it special, particularly for the kids who are in over the Holidays.” Dermot grinned. “I bet I could rustle up some lonely nurses for a bit of fun.”

“I might take you up on that. I’m stuck with my crew at the fire station. And although there are the delightfully curvy figures of Kirsty and Sonia to gaze at, they are firmly off-limits. Work and relationships don’t mix,” Damon stated.

“Unless you are bonded,” Declan said evenly.

“Which we’re not.” Damon had that far off-look in his eyes, and Declan wondered how much his brother longed for a mate. A lot. Both his brothers did. While Declan, on the other hand, wasn’t interested ... oh, who was he kidding? He longed to have a woman in his bed and a cub running around. Sometimes he even dreamed of what it would be like. Getting up at stupid o’clock on Christmas morning with an overexcited child. To Declan it was the perfect dream. How sad was that?

He was longing for something unattainable. Waiting for his bonded mate to come along was taking more patience than he possibly possessed. It was why Christmas was particularly difficult for him, usually turning him into a bear with a sore head. God help anyone who decided to break the law over this Holiday period. They would feel the very strong arm of the law. Or at least get one hell of a tongue-lashing from the Declan, who was the sheriff of Bear Bluff.

“Let’s face it, we hate Christmas,” Declan announced. The other two rounded on him. But he insisted. “What? We do. It reminds us of everything we haven’t got, everything that we long for.”

For a man who kept his feelings under very tight control, this was an outburst that came from… where? His heart? Yes, it did. A heart that longed to be filled with love and happiness. Damn it, he was a sap. And he could only blame the Holiday season for making these feelings surface.

“OK. So let’s make a toast. Or a pact. By this time next year, we will all be looking forward to our first Christmas at home with our families. It will be some other lonely bachelor’s job to keep things rolling, while we eat too much food and make love to our mates.” Dermot raised his glass.

“Sure, why not,” Damon said.

“I’m in.” Declan raised his glass, but then added, “But I still think it’s pointless. After all, we can’t change our fates just because we promise to.”

“Damn it, Declan. Lighten up. You never know what’s round the corner,” Dermot said, slapping his brother good-naturedly on the back. And, if you haven’t found your mate by mid-summer, I’ll put your bad-tempered bear face on one of those dating websites. I heard Marjorie in Bear Creek was thinking of starting one.”

“If you do that, I will disown you,” Declan growled. “I don’t need help finding a woman.”

Dermot and Damon collapsed into fits of laughter. “Right, because your social diary is full of dates with women.”

“That’s through choice. I’ve gotten to an age where it seems shallow to date a woman, when you know you are never going to settle down with her because she isn’t your mate.”

“See, you are a romantic at heart, and there was us thinking you were a miserable bear.”

“Listen, it’s hysterical to sit around and shoot the breeze with you guys,” Declan said sarcastically. “But some of us have got more important things to do than have their social life pulled apart.”

“Hey, just because you’ve hit a dry spell,” Dermot laughed.

“I have not hit a dry spell,” Declan ground out. “It is my choice not to date. The same as it is my choice to work at Christmas.”

“It’s also your choice to be miserable at Christmas,” Damon said.

“I am not miserable.”

“Come on, any minute now the words bah humbug! are going to come out of your mouth as you tell some kid off for being too cheerful in front of you.”

“Bear humbug,” Dermot said in his deep, growly voice, making Damon collapse with laughter.

Declan came back towards them, placing one hand on the back of each of their chairs.

“Thank you for the beer. I am so glad that no matter how miserable I am feeling, I can always count on you two to cheer me up.” Then, with a broad grin, he ruffled both his younger brothers’ hair and growled “Bah humbug” as he left the bar.