plik

A Very Tate Christmas:

Tommy Wilkins has always loved Christmas. Not just

because he loves to dress up as a very naughty elf,

but because it

seemed as if Christmas was the time of year when everyone was
happy and went out of their way to make others happy. So with
that thought in mind, Tommy sets out to make this Christmas,
the best Christmas that the Tate pack has ever had.

But it seems as if one thing after another goes wrong. First,

there’s no Santa Clause in the decorations and Tommy has
to…bribe…Ton into agreeing to play Santa. Then Richard sprains
his ankle practicing a dance for the big Christmas show.
Michael’s fingers are broken when he goes to help Richard and
now he can’t sign the words to the Christmas carols. And Alex
loses his voice and won’t be able to sing. Tommy really wanted to
give the Tate triplets a fabulous first Christmas, but it seems like
all the forces of the Earth are plotting against him

and he’s just

about to throw in the fabulous bejeweled rainbow towel when
Calvin, one of the cowboy pack members, shows up with his
mate. His much abused, very skittish, very deprived mate,
Maurice.

Now Tommy has to make sure that Christmas happens for

the pack because Maurice needs to learn how truly loving and
accepting, the Tate pack family really is.

part of this book may be copied or reproduced unless permission is

granted in writing by the publisher.

Dedicated To:

My new family who have all been so completely supportive, from

my Dad Aleks, my moms Stephani, Norma, and Pati, to my older

brothers Damon and Sid, all of my sisters Tay-Tay, Cherie, MJ,

Piper, Katharina, Heidi, Xara, mc and LC, my younger brothers

Thorny (his husband Jazz who is like my Civil War buddy), Matt

and Brad, my younger sister Lucy, my HYA aunts Anne, Poppy,

and Embry, my Nieceling, Nephrews, besties Adara and Patty,

and of course the love of my life and my future husband, Daniel.

You all have shown me through your support, your

encouragement, your words of love and your actions what love

and family really and truly is and for that I know that I will never

be able to thank you enough.

To the Smexiest posse in the world, you guys totally rock my

Christmas socks off!

And to those beautiful friends who send me Christmas and

Hanukkah love from above. Thank you.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

The Vickster

Christmas is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.

Dale Evans

Chapter One

Richard

“…Ten lords a’ leaping. Nine ladies dancing. Eight maids a milking.

Seven swans a swimming. Six geese a-laying. FIVE GOLDEN RINGS! Four
calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtledoves and a partridge in a pear
tree!” Tommy and Richard finished the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song
with a flourish. Richard executing a beautiful pirouette and Tommy flipping
his luxurious black waves over his shoulder and tossing his hands up in the
air, much to the delight of the triplets who watched the two men perform for
them. It was Christmas time on Tate Ranch, although, seeing all of the
Christmas lights and decorations that filled up and covered all of the homes
and buildings, one would think that a Christmas store had exploded all over
the grounds.

Much to the consternation of all of the mated cowboys, their other

halves had taken it upon themselves to make sure that Christmas was
celebrated to its fullest capacity. This of course to a dancer and a performer
like Richard and Tommy, meant that Christmas carols had to be sung…all
day long. They sang at breakfast. They sang at lunch. They sang at dinner.
They sang to the horses. They sang to the cowboys. They sang to the triplets.
And they sang…to their mates.

Their very annoyed, very growly mates.

Richard looked over at Tommy with a frown on his face, minutes

after the triplets had settled down to play with their wooden blocks on the
floor. He was so happy that Tommy and Ton lived so close by; it was great
to have his best friend only a few hundred yards away from his own home.

Though both men had lived in New York for years, Richard spent so much
time on the road touring, that their friendship had consisted mostly of emails,
Facebook, Twitter, Skype and text messaging. And trying to buy the right
outfit in a store in Milan without your best friend was just too difficult.
Richard was glad that he didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

Though he would miss shopping in Milan.

“You know,” Tommy’s voice cut into Richard’s thoughts, the other

man’s voice melodic and soothing, Vet had told Richard once before that if
Tommy had been a shifter he would have been an Omega, since his voice
and his presence seemed to soothe everyone around him. Richard had merely
smiled and nodded. No way was he going to tell his mate that he had no idea
what an Omega was. And although he tried doing some research of his own
on Google and reading different books and even watching the animated
movie “Alpha and Omega”, he was pretty sure that he still didn’t have a firm
grasp of what or who an omega actually was.

Unless Vet really was saying that Tommy was a lovable, amusing,

playful person…well, he’d be right about that, if he was.

“…the only way to really have a good Christmas, you know?”

Tommy said with a smile on his face.

Richard blinked. What the holy hell had he missed? He stared at

Tommy for a moment, very aware that if he told Tommy that he’d spaced
out that the other man would pout for days and never let him forget it. He
was also aware that Tommy did not always have the best ideas. Why Richard
would never forget the time he’d agreed to some plan of Tommy’s and had
ended up in Santa Barbara, engaged to be married to some lesbian from a
foreign country. He still didn’t know how that happened.

He wondered how Vilania was doing. He’d have to send her and her

partner, Opal, a Christmas card. Thank the gods that Opal had been walking
by when the ceremony started or he’d be married to a lesbian right now.

Richard shuddered and returned his focus back to Tommy, who, it

seemed, was still talking. Man, Richard couldn’t understand how Tommy did
it, he seemed to be able to hold an entire conversation all by himself. No

wonder he was a performer. Richard nodded and then realized that he had no
idea what he was nodding in agreement with.

Dammit! When the hell was he going to get out of his own head and

pay attention?!

“…I really think that the triplets will love it and I know that our

mates will love it and Michael and Alex have already agreed. Calvin was
going to do it, but he left suddenly. He said something about Vet sending
him off on a rescue trip. Whatever that means,” Tommy said with a frown of
confusion.

Richard nodded he knew exactly where Calvin was. They had

received word that a young man in their area was being sold as a sex slave to
some of the neighboring packs in the area. Vet had decided to get Calvin to
pose as a patron and instead have the cowboy rescue the young man. Richard
hoped that it went well.

“It’s a pretty serious trip. Hopefully, when Calvin returns, though,

he’ll have someone with him. Someone that we can help heal and take care
of,” Richard spoke for the first time in long minutes.

Tommy nodded and Richard watched as the other young man’s eyes

sparkled as he grinned broadly. “So you’re in right? I mean it’d be kind of
weird for everyone to be involved except you and Vet and the triplets you
know? Especially since it’s sort of for them,” Tommy pointed out.

Realizing that he’d have to actually answer this time and knowing

that he may just end up regretting it later, Richard smiled and nodded, “Yep,
count me in. Not quite unlike the day I told you to count me out,” he
snickered, referring to the moment that he and Tommy had changed their
Facebook profiles to reflect them being out and proud gay men on National
Coming Out Day. That had certainly been a fun day. Especially when no one
was actually shocked when they did it.

“Great! I’ll get you the costumes and the music later on today! Oh

and they’ll be here around four tomorrow, so you should probably make sure
that you’re ready by then okay?” Richard watched as Tommy stood to his
feet quickly and gracefully, his skirt swirling around his thin, waxed legs. He

remembered asking Tommy once why he didn’t want to transition into a
woman.

“And lose my cock, balls and prostate? Are you kidding me? Honey,

I’m still all man. I’m just a man with decoration,” Tommy had explained
before turning with a flounce and practically floating out of the room in his
heels.

Much as he was doing now. Richard watched as the other man

floated out of the room and shook his head with a grin, the sound of the
triplets laughing, causing him to turn his head in their direction. Moments
before he realized that he’d agreed to Tommy’s plan.

“Dear god, what did I do?” he groaned, collapsing to the floor, much

to the amusement of his children.

The only blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his

heart.

Helen Keller

Chapter Two

Tommy

There was no way that he was going to tell anyone that he’d fucked

up…again. Tommy nervously bit his lip and looked around the barn that was
filled with all manner of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas
decorations…not one of them was a Santa Clause though.

“Well, shit,” he muttered. How the hell did they send the reindeer but

not Santa? Who the hell was supposed to fly the damn sleigh. He sighed and
placed his hands on his hips, trying desperately hard not to stomp his foot in
frustration, his right leg quivering with the effort. He had to find a Santa and
he had to find one…like now.

“Hey Baby, what are you up to?” he heard his mate’s voice behind

him and he breathed a sigh of relief. Of course! How could he have forgotten
about his own personal Santa Clause. With a devious grin Tommy turned to
face Ton, the handsome cowboy that the fates had saw fit to mate him to. He
watched as Ton strode towards him with a broad smile on his face and
Tommy hissed in pain as he felt himself growing hard behind the fabric of
his skirt. He rolled his eyes when he saw Ton’s grin widen at his current
predicament. Ton loved the way he looked and loved it even more that
Tommy was so responsive to him. He especially loved it when Tommy got
so turned on that he had to go and un-tuck beneath his clothes. Tommy loved
it when he could bring Ton to his knees before him…literally.

“Nothing,” Tommy said, making his voice husky and breathless. It

was a dirty trick but he needed a Santa and Ton would agree to anything
when he was turned on and about to orgasm. Tommy walked seductively

towards his mate, snickering when he saw the bigger man’s eyes following
his every movement. Sometimes Ton just made it too easy. He placed his
hands on Ton’s chest and slid them up around the other man’s shoulders,
lifting up on his toes before the big cowboy. “I was just thinking about how
scandalous it would be to make love right out here in the barn in front of all
of these holiday decorations,” Tommy admitted, mentally crossing his
fingers for the deception and hoping that Ton wouldn’t be able to smell the
lie on him.

“Hmmmm,” Ton breathed before sliding his hands underneath

Tommy’s skirt and gliding his large, square fingertips up along the smooth,
bare skin of Tommy’s legs up to his ass and expertly un-tucking the smaller
man’s cock from where it was restrained between the globes of his ass.
Tommy shuddered. This was probably his favorite part, the moment when
Ton was “warming him up” and getting him even more aroused than he
already was. The moment when it stopped being about him seducing the big
cowboy and became about the big cowboy possessing him.

“How are your legs?” Ton asked as he slowly nibbled his way down

Tommy’s neck. Eight months before Tommy had been shot and then
kidnapped and beaten by his crazy, abusive ex-boyfriend. The doctors had
told him that he would never walk again.

The doctors hadn’t known about the healing powers of a wolf

shifter’s bite to their mate.

Each time that Ton had claimed Tommy, the smaller man had felt

himself healing and his legs getting stronger. And even though he’d been
walking around, dancing and having fun for months now, Ton was always
asking him if his legs were okay. Tommy would find it annoying, if he didn’t
love the big cowboy so much.

“My legs are fine Ant. So fine in fact-“ Tommy gave Ton a saucy

grin before jumping onto the larger man, wrapping his legs around the
shifter’s waist. Both men groaned when Tommy rocked his hips against
Ton’s hardened erection. Tommy moaned as Ton lowered his head and
began sucking and biting all over his slim neck, adding love bites to the ones
that were already there from earlier that morning.

By this point Tommy had forgotten all about asking Ton to play

Santa, he’d forgotten that he was going to use his sensuality to bring his mate
to his knees before him. He forgot about a lot of things. All he knew in that
moment, in that second, was that he wanted Ton to fuck him. Right then.
And so, that’s exactly what he told the older man.

“Fuck me,” he moaned against Ton’s mouth, groaning when he felt

his mate’s fingers gently caress around his puckered entrance. Tommy’s
body gave a full body shiver when Ton pressed the tip of his finger into
Tommy’s ass hole. No one could work his body over like Ton could and his
ass practically quivered in excitement at the prospect of having Ton’s cock
pounding into it.

Tommy was only distantly aware of the sound of Ton’s unfastened

and unbelted Wranglers falling to the floor beneath him. All his mind had
latched onto was one thing and one thing only: Ton’s cock is out and about
to be buried inside of me. Tommy wasn’t the most articulate person at the
best of times, but when the prospect of being fucked by his gorgeous mate
was in effect, his average IQ dropped considerably…like he was high.

Which was sort of right. He was high on Anton Forrester. Totally and

completely floating in the clouds, head in a purple haze. His eyes glazed over
and his mouth dry. He had no intention of ever kicking his “Ton Habit.” He
was well and truly addicted to the other man.

And he liked it.

Tommy felt his body bounce slightly as Ton lifted him up for a

moment in order to see where he was walking. Seeing a chance at being in
his favorite position, legs wrapped around Ton’s waist, no hard surfaces
around, just purely moving on the strength of his mate’s big strong arms and
solid legs, pass him by, Tommy whimpered softly and felt Ton stop in the
middle of the aisle to look down at him.

“Don’t worry Beautiful. I’m just grabbing some lube. I’m going to

give you exactly what you want,” Ton promised and continued his short
measured shuffling to the red and black saddlebag that hung over one of the
empty stalls. The stall was affectionately called “The Rodeo Stall” because
of the fact that the mated couples all seemed to continuously find themselves

in that particular stall…riding their bucking stallions. Due to the amount of
activity that particular stall took Vet had taken to always stocking the
saddlebag that hung over it, full of lube and baby wipes. Tommy had teased
the Alpha about it at first, asking him how much time he and Richard would
have in order to actually have sex, what with them being parents and
everything. He’d been told that shifter infants were remarkably well behaved
and that Vet and Richard would get more than their fair share of lovemaking
on any given day.

He’d also pointed out that it was actually Tommy and Ton who spent

the most time “working” in the barn. Tommy had scoffed at the Alpha at
first. But goddammit, the older man had been right. He and Ton used most of
the “sundries” left behind by the thoughtful Alpha.

Tommy had never been so thankful for the know-it-all Alpha than he

was in that moment. Tommy hissed when he felt the cold lubed fingers of his
mate circle around the clenched pucker of his ass before breaching it. Two
fingers pushed firmly into the tight channel and he moaned. He shuddered at
the incredible feeling of Ton’s fingers being buried in his ass time and again
and bit his lower lip. He hissed in pleasure when he felt his mate’s teeth
lightly scraping over the skin of his throat. Gods he loved it when Ton made
love to him, but he loved it even more when the other man seized control
from an obvious seduction and fucked him into the nearest hard surface.
Tommy moaned Ton’s name when he felt the shifter press in another finger
and thought that he might come unglued. He knew that there was something
that he was supposed to be focused on but with his mate’s fingers buried in
his ass he couldn’t think of it.

Feeling Ton jerk his fingers from his ass, Tommy whimpered with

want, his hole clenching tightly in an effort to keep Ton’s fingers inside of
him. He panted with happiness only seconds later when he felt Ton place the
head of his cock at his tight entrance. He knew that his lover had seen the
image that he’d unintentionally projected of being fucked hard and fast
against the wall when he felt the full body shiver that raced over his body
and heard the other man’s low moan.

“Oh, so my pretty man wants it hard and fast today huh?” Ton

grinned wolfishly. Tommy could only nod, the power of coherent thought

having left him and only the words Fuck me Ton, playing in a repetitive
playlist in his head. “I can totally do that for you baby.”

Tommy had little time to prepare himself for the onslaught that he

knew Ton was about to give him, before he felt Ton grab his hips and slam
his cock deep into Tommy’s ass. Tommy growled loudly. The sound not
nearly as impressive as Ton’s own growl which echoed his own moments
later, but conveying his bliss at his mate taking him hard against the stall
wall that he somehow, now found himself pressed firmly against.

Well, when the hell had that happened?

Tommy had no opportunity to think further on that matter because at

that very moment, after giving Tommy’s body time to adjust to his invasion
of it, Ton’s hips snapped forward and up and Tommy felt the head of his
mate’s very large cock press against his prostate. Tossing back his head,
Tommy was distantly aware of the fact that he’d just slammed his head into
the wall that he was being fucked against. He didn’t care though, his every
thought, cell, breath and heartbeat was locked onto his mate. Feeling Ton’s
breath on his neck, Tommy knew exactly what the cowboy wanted and tilted
his head to the side, shivering as he felt the swipe of Ton’s tongue over the
mating mark that already existed there.

“Please Ton. Please, claim me again,” Tommy begged, his arms

wrapped around Ton’s neck tightly as he attempted to ride his mate’s cock.

“You got it baby,” Ton responded seconds before sinking his fangs

into Tommy’s neck. Tommy’s mouth dropped open and let forth a keening
wail, his seed shooting straight up and staining both of their clothes.

He heard Ton’s howl and felt the pressure from the larger man’s firm

grip on his hips tighten moments before he felt the other man’s release fill
his ass and he sighed. There was nothing like a serving of his mate’s seed to
make the day brighter.

Remembering the initial purpose of his seducing said mate Tommy

gasped softly, his arms clenching around Ton’s neck for a moment before he
forced himself to relax. He ran his fingers through the soft hair at his mate’s

neck and opened his mouth to ask Ton about playing the part of Santa when
the older man cut him off.

“Hell no Tommy,” he heard Ton growl, gently pulling his softening

cock from Tommy’s ass and setting Tommy down on his feet.

Tommy huffed and stomped his left foot delicately down on the hay

and dirt covered ground, his hands flying up to his hips as he stared at his
mate in an affronted manner. “I didn’t even say anything!” he whined. How
the hell did he know what Tommy had been about to ask him?

He heard Ton chuckle as he attempted to set his clothes to rights.

Tommy could have told him that it was futile, his eyes zeroing in on the wet
stain on the other man’s shirt. Tommy nibbled his lower lip. He had pretty
much jumped his mate in the barn…when the other man was supposed to be
working…so it was probably his fault that his mate would be teased by the
other ranch hands and shifters on the grounds today…oops.

“You keep forgetting about that mating link don’t you?” Ton gently

reminded him and Tommy groaned in frustrated disgust, pretty sure that he’d
just used said link not even thirty minutes ago when he’d let Ton know how
he wanted to be fucked, without using any words. That he and Ton had a
mental and emotional link that they could use to talk to each other privately
and project images to each other was something that he constantly forgot and
subsequently remembered at the most inopportune times. Regardless of what
other mated couples and romance novels said, one didn’t use their mental
link that much…unless they were Howell and Michael. But Michael was
deaf so they had a reason to do so.

Well shit. How the hell was he going to get out of this? And how the

hell was he going to get Ton to agree to be Santa Clause if the man already
knew what he was up to?

“I’m not playing Santa Clause in whatever harebrained scheme

you’ve cooked up this time Tommy Wilkins, so forget it,” Ton state firmly
and Tommy felt his bod shake, his cock twitching and stirring behind his
skirt again at the dominant sound of Ton’s voice in that moment.

And what was up with him? Over the last few weeks he’d become so

extremely and constantly horny that he was beginning to wonder if maybe
the salt that he used to cook with, wasn’t actually crushed Viagra.

“During the winter, shifter mates get a lot more…aroused than

usual,” Ton’s voice broke into his musings a slight chuckle still evident in
his voice, “It’s because it gets so cold outside and wolves only hunt when
they have to, otherwise we stay inside where it’s warm and when in close
proximity for extended periods of time, shifters and their mates tend to spend
a lot of that time making love. It’s why there are so few shifters born during
the winter, because we spend a lot of the spring and summer months working
and running and hunting, but why there are so many of us born during the
spring and the summer.”

Tommy nodded understanding and relieved that his body was

apparently just having a natural shifter mate reaction, even if it didn’t totally
take away his feeling like he was a major sex addict. Returning his thoughts
back to the task at hand he opened his mouth only to have Ton shake his
head before even giving Tommy a chance to speak.

“No Tommy,” Ton stated.

“But Ant...baby, I need a Santa Clause. Please? I’ll make it worth

your while,” Tommy bribed and saw his mate’s eyes light up. Yep, just as
he’d thought, his mate would do anything for some good loving.

“I’ll think about it, but if I do, you have to come with me to the rodeo

this summer and stay the whole way through,” Ton negotiated.

Tommy felt his eyes widen. It wasn’t that he hated the rodeo, it was

that he was pretty sure that if he showed up at the rodeo dressing as he did,
that there would be some redneck cowboys who would try to kill him. He
heard Ton’s growl and looked up.

“Don’t you think that I can protect you? You’re mine and I always

protect what’s mine Tommy. No one will fuck with you if we go,” Ton
promised and Tommy nodded. He’d forgotten for a moment who he was
mated to. He had nothing to fear. Ton had almost killed for him before, he

was sure that the man would have no problem protecting him at the rodeo if
he went.

Tommy nodded. “Deal, I’ll go to the rodeo with you and you’ll play

Santa Clause for the big program that the other mates and I are putting
together here on the ranch,” he said with a smile. He watched Ton shake his
head.

“Oh no. Tommy, you didn’t say that I’d be playing Santa in front of

the pack. Are you crazy?” Ton turned to walk away. “Fuck no! Not doing
it!”

Tommy stood in shocked silence for only a moment before with a

squeak he took off after Ton.

“Hey! We made a deal. You get back here Anton Forrester and you

be my Santa!” he yelled as he chased his mate out of the barn.

He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a

tree.

Charlotte Carpenter

Chapter Three

Michael

Michael and Howell stepped into the barn from Howell’s office, both

men smiling and Howell chuckling as they watched Tommy chase after Ton.
Michael turned to his mate and began speaking to tall man almost
immediately afterwards.

Poor Tommy. He’s only trying to do something nice and everyone

keeps fighting him about it. Michael grinned when he saw Howell’s body
shudder.

He can be nice all he wants to be, but there’s no way that I would

ever consider putting on a fat suit and dressing up as Santa Clause either,
Howell responded before wrapping his large arms around Michael’s body.
Michael pressed himself closer to his mate, reaching his slim hand up
towards Michael’s hair and wrapping a few of the dreadlocks around his
fingers and pulling on them delicately. He smiled when Michael groaned,
knowing how much the bigger man loved it when he took a more aggressive
position in their relationship.

With a saucy grin, Michael drifted his hand down the front of

Howell’s buttoned down, green-checkered shirt to his belt buckle where he
caressed the wolf that was there. So are you saying that if I asked you nicely,
that you wouldn’t even consider dressing up as Santa for the program?
Leaning forward he licked at Howell’s Adam’s apple and mentally grinned
when he felt the other man shudder, his hands squeezing Michael’s ass.

I’m saying that I’m not Ton. I don’t think I’d make a very good Santa,

Howell responded, tilting his head back and giving Michael more room to
play.

Michael snickered in his head. He and Howell had dressed up in

many different costumes over the last few months of them being mated but
they hadn’t done Santa Clause and his naughty elf just yet. Michael would
have to rectify that and soon.

I think that Tommy’s trying to do a good thing, Michael told Howell,

kissing the black man’s jaw, He’s trying to give the triplets a great first
Christmas. I think that’s a very good thing. And not even that, I agreed to
help him out with the program, he admitted.

He felt Howell stiffen in his arms and he stepped back to look at the

other man. Howell’s light brown eyes, which had darkened with arousal,
were slowly lightening as he looked down at Michael. Michael bit his lower
lip nervously and gave Howell a hesitant smile before dropping his arms
from around his mate’s shoulders and reaching up to twirl a strand of his
blonde hair around his fingers. He saw Howell’s eyes turn and focus on his
fingers and his hair, before returning to his face.

You did what? Howell asked and even though his tone didn’t seem

angry to Michael through their mating link, Michael couldn’t be positive that
the cowboy wasn’t a little upset. Howell had told him that he wanted him to
be involved on the ranch and in town. He had told Michael that he wanted
him to have friends and Howell even encouraged him to spend time with the
other mates whenever he was going to be busy with work, but maybe Howell
didn’t celebrate Christmas or maybe he didn’t want Michael to do anything
that would put him in the spotlight. Michael wasn’t sure and while he knew
that Howell would never hurt him, the wolf was extremely still just watching
him and not moving and it was a little disconcerting to him.

I’m not mad baby. I’m just…processing. I didn’t think you would

volunteer for a Christmas program where you would be performing in front
of others, Howell explained. You made it a point of always telling me,
repeatedly I might add, that you don’t like performing in front of people. I
just didn’t think that you would ever do that.

Michael nodded. He could understand that. He did hate performing in

front of crowds of people, but this was different. This was for the triplets and
the triplets were special. Very special and they deserved the very best that
life had to offer and Michael would do his best to contribute to their
happiness. Even if it meant conquering his stage fright to do so.

He sighed deeply. That was so easy to say and so hard to do. The

good thing was that he wasn’t performing really, he was just doing the sign
language for Alex who was going to be singing “Chestnuts Roasting Over
An Open Fire,” “Silent Night,” and “White Christmas.” Alex was really the
true performer of the whole thing, he was just the lovely assistant. He just
wish that his nerves believed that, they seemed to get more and more rattled
as it got closer and closer to the day of the program.

Michael looked down at his feet and then up into his mate’s eyes. He

knew that Howell was understanding and wouldn’t judge him. He hadn’t
judged him when he’d found out that he was transgender, he didn’t judge
him when Michael later realized that he was gender fluid and he’d been
nothing but supportive with the whole deaf wolf mate thing. He knew that he
could try and explain it to Howell and that the other man would understand,
the thing was, he’d have to understand it himself first.

I don’t like to perform in front of people, he began explaining slowly,

his hands gripping Howell’s biceps as he struggled to find his emotional
center and some peace, You remember how gripped with fear I was whenever
it came to my ASL classes. I was petrified. And in those classes the people
there were either deaf or knew someone who was and so for that reason
knew a lot of the sign language already. Michael paused here, his mind
drifting back over meeting his mate in the coffee shop and then the moment,
days after, when Howell had shown up in his classroom in order to learn sign
language. But this? We’re putting on this Christmas program for cowboys
who freak out over the prospect of dressing up and singing and shopping and
some triplets, who are too tiny to even really remember anything. It seems
silly and if it was I wouldn’t have any problem telling Tommy no, but he
brought up a very good point. Michael sighed and then wrapped his arms
around Howell’s neck before pressing close to the other man, cuddling into
his chest. He needed to feel his mate’s heartbeat against his cheek as he
explained this last part. Needed to be reminded of why he was doing this. His

real motive behind accepting Tommy’s invitation to perform in front of
anyone outside of his immediate family. He said that over this past year, all
of our lives have changed. We’ve become mated, started families, a lot of us
have moved, but more than that, we’ve all taken our individual families and
made one big family and we need to celebrate that. Not just for the triplets,
but for us as well.

When Howell didn’t respond, Michael felt a strong sense of

disappointment wash through him. He thought that of all people, his mate
would understand. He knew that Michael had been disowned and kicked out
of his pack for being a “freak” and being “gay” and wearing women’s
clothes. He knew that while Katharina, his sister, had joined him when he’d
left the pack lands, that his parents had stayed behind and had disowned
them both. Howell knew that family was really important to Michael, any
type of family, so Michael couldn’t understand why Michael couldn’t
understand this.

I understand baby, Howell’s voice came through, sounding odd to

him, even thru their mating link. Lifting his head Michael looked at his mate
and was shocked to see his big, strong, tough mate’s eyes filled with unshed
tears. We’re a family now, Howell agreed, all of us are. And because of that,
we should have a big celebration and Christmas is the perfect time to do so.

Michael grinned up at his mate and nodded in excitement. He knew

that Howell would understand. Standing up on the tips of his toes, he pressed
a kiss to his mate’s full lips in happiness. He knew that he had so much to be
thankful for this Christmas. Not just his mate, not just his sister and his new
job. Not just the home that he shared with the both of them, but the new
family that he had as well. He was really very lucky.

He allowed both hands to trail down Howell’s arms to his wrists and

pulled both arms behind the bigger man’s back and held them firmly at the
small of the cowboy’s back. He smiled at Howell’s moan and nibbled on the
man’s lower lip. He knew that no one knew that his bigger mate liked to be
restrained and dominated. It was something very private and very special
between the both of them. He would never give away his mate’s secret, but
he reveled in it as well. He grunted when his erection pressed against the
front of his jeans and tilted his hips forward to rub his hard cock against

Howell’s which looked as if it were about to make a break from his jeans and
come after Michael’s ass so that it could plunder it.

Michael pulled his mouth away from his mate’s and laughed,

Howell’s deep chuckle vibrating against his chest seconds later. He’d asked
Howell once before how his laugh sounded and had been told that it was
beautiful. He knew that his mate was biased when it came to him, but he
chose to believe him.

Really? My cock is a pirate now? Howell asked him with a chuckle.

Michael smiled with delight and nodded, The one-eyed pirate.

Both men looked at each other for a moment before Michael released

Howell’s wrists and they both collapsed against each other laughing and
clutching each other in amusement.

They were still laughing when Ross and Alex walked into the barn

looking for them. Seeing the two men looking at them in confusion only sent
the two of them into a further fit of giggles. Michael knew that the other men
were surprised to see Howell laughing or maybe they were surprised to hear
Michael laugh, since it was something that he consciously tried not to do in
front of others. All he knew was that seeing their comical looks of surprise
and amusement caused him to snort in amusement and froze everyone in
their tracks, before all four of them laughed.

“I have no idea why we’re laughing, but I can’t stop,” Michael saw

Alex’s mouth form the words and he shook his head in further amusement,
knowing that the other two men wouldn’t understand what had initially
started the laughter. He lifted his hands to get their attention and was just
about to sign what had happened when Vet walked into the barn, holding RJ
in his arms and pushing Curt in a stroller. Richard walked in behind him
holding Amy in his arms, the little girl happily slapping her hands against the
former dancer’s cheeks as she chattered away in baby talk. Michael ignored
the pang that shot through his chest as he thought of his parents and the child
that he and Howell had tried to adopt. Blinking away the tears that leapt to
his eyes, he swallowed the lump in his throat and pressed himself against
Howell’s side when he felt the other man wrap his arm around him.

“What is going on in here?” Vet asked. Michael grinned at the Alpha

before lifting his hands to sign.

“Howell and I were talking and I said something amusing and we

started laughing. That’s when Ross and Alex came in and they looked so
confused that we laughed harder. Then I snorted and we all started laughing
and then you came in,” he signed to the Alpha, grateful that the other man
had required everyone that worked on the ranch to learn American Sign
Language in order to be able to talk with Michael. Michael had thought it
unnecessary at first, he was always with Howell or Katharina and they could
easily sign for him, if need be. That was before Vet had offered him his new
position and he realized that he needed to be able to talk to almost everyone
on the ranch. It also made it easier and didn’t make him seem as if he were
weak in the eyes of the rest of the pack.

“Got it,” Vet nodded to him with a grin. Shaking his head the Alpha

continued through the barn towards the pen where the sheep were kept,
Richard walking next to him, the two men smiling at each other and talking.

Michael looked up Howell, knowing that the other man could feel the

yearning just as much as he could. He accepted the kiss that Howell placed
against his temple and turned towards Ross and Alex to see the two men
sharing the same tender gesture. Michael had to fight against the clawing
need to know exactly what was going on with them. It was none of his
business. None at all.

But he still wanted to know. Giving a mental shrug, he and Alex were

close and he knew that eventually the other mate would tell him if he needed
to know, Michael turned back to Howell and gestured back towards the
office. It was time for him and his mate to discuss Christmas, the program
and the one subject that was sure to cause them both to get emotional.

Mariah and Cody, he heard Howell’s voice through their mental link

and he nodded as he led the other man away.

Christmas is for children. But it is for grown-ups too. Even if it is a

headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of

chill and hide-bound hearts.

Lenora Mattingly Weber

Chapter Four

Alex

To Alex it seemed as if this holiday season was going to be filled

with nothing but memories of the family that he didn’t have any longer.
When he’d woken up that morning in Ross’s arms, he’d been extremely
happy and no sooner had he rolled over to kiss his way down his mate’s
chest than he heard the sound of the triplets laughter coming from his phone
meaning that Richard was calling him. He’d had to clench his fists tightly to
stop himself from slamming them against Ross’s chest. The man had known
and wisely had kept silent and instead had gathered him into his arms and
kissed his forehead.

“We’re going to find them and bring them here to live with us. Don’t

worry love,” Ross had tried to reassure him. Alex had nodded in
understanding and with a deep sigh had rolled over to answer the phone.
He’d had to sit through fifteen minutes of Richard gushing and bragging
about how smart and talented the triplets were, the whole time he’d gritted
his teeth against words of anger and bitterness and blinked back the tears that
threatened to spill for the little ones that he should be talking and bragging
about. When Richard had finally gotten around to the purpose of his call,
trying to figure out what exactly Tommy had planned and why in the world
he’d been asked to perform a section of “The Nutcracker,” Alex had been on
the verge of screaming out at the Alpha mate. Ross had discerned his
emotional state and had taken the phone from his hand and finished the
conversation with the other man.

It meant of course that Ross had learned a lot of what the other mates

were up to, but he’d agreed to keep quiet about it. When he’d hung up the
phone, Alex could do nothing more than fling off all of the covers on the

bed, strip out of his clothes and shift into his wolf. At that moment he’d
needed to run. Without a word Ross had led him to the back yard, opened the
sliding glass door and let him out.

Alex had taken off like a shot, running as hard and as fast as he

could. His paws had pounded the forest floor, the wind stroking through his
fur, the smell of nature permeating his nostrils and his every cell. He could
hear the sound of his breath panting from his muzzle as he ran faster and
pushed through the bushes and ran past the trees, faster and faster, no
destination in mind just running until he couldn’t run anymore. When he
finally stopped, he found himself at the edge of their property. He looked
around to get his bearings and throwing back his head let forth a loud and
long, mournful howl to the heavens. He knew that he should turn around and
go back home but at the time he just couldn’t do it. He stretched out on the
ground and lay his head down on his paws. All of the anger and pain and
guilt had escaped him in that moment and he knew that he couldn’t move in
that moment and go anywhere or do anything.

Moments later he felt himself being lifted up in someone’s arms and

opened his eyes to see Ross’s face. Looking down he’d seen that he’d
somehow shifted back into his human form in his sleep. He’d closed his eyes
and wrapped his arms around his mate’s neck and clung to him tightly. He
felt like such a wimp. How in the world did he think he’d be seen as being fit
enough for them if he continued to shift and cry without control? The pack
elders that he’d been living with would never allow it to happen.

“Just hold on for me, love. I promised you when I claimed you that

I’d do everything in my power to make sure that you got them back right? I
haven’t done everything yet. I’ve still got some tricks up under my sleeve.
Just don’t give up on me okay?” Ross had pleaded, his deep voice digging
deeply into the cold places inside of Alex and warming him from the inside
out. Just like always.

Gods, he loved his mate.

“I love you,” he’d rasped out.

He felt more than heard Ross’s chuckle, “I love you too Babushka.

So I’m guessing that’s a yes that you won’t give up on me?”

Alex had lifted his head and kissed Ross passionately, his hands

gripping the bigger man’s brown hair firmly as he poured his heart and soul
into the kiss. He felt Ross stop walking as he accepted the kiss, moaning low
in his throat before kneeling slowly down onto the grass and laying Alex
down on the ground.

Alex moaned. He loved making love outside and he knew that Ross

did as well. He spread his legs almost immediately, making room for his
larger mate. He stretched his arms up towards Ross, pulling the other man
down by the front of his black cotton tee in order to kiss him. Their tongues
dueled for dominance from one another, their hands moving frantically over
each other’s bodies until Ross was as naked and as hard and leaking as Alex.

Alex’s hands landed with a loud slap to the ground and he began

pulling out patches of grass as Ross took first one and then the other of
Alex’s balls into his mouth. Alex planted his feet on the ground and thrust
his hips upward with a whimper.

“Please Ross. Please,” he begged.

“Please what?” Ross asked; his voice low and growly. Alex knew

that his mate’s wolf was just at the surface, and was pulling at Ross’s self-
control to get out. Usually in the face of Ross’s wolf, clamoring for the right
to claim him, Alex’s own wolf, by far the more submissive of the two, would
bare his neck almost immediately. However, this time was different. This
time Alex needed to exert his power over…something. He needed control of
a situation. He didn’t have control in everything, some things happened to
him and people he loved, people were taken away from him without his
permission, their care turned over to someone else, and in those situations he
had not authority, no power, no control. In this, however, he could assert
himself. He could show that he was not helpless and weak.

With that thought in mind Alex growled low in his chest, his own

wolf chomping at the bit for his own need for dominance and submission,
and shoved at Ross’s shoulders, pushing the larger man onto his back in the
grass. Alex sniffed and licked all over his mate’s neck, biting and kissing,
sucking all over every expanse of skin that he could get to with his mouth.
Coming down to the pebbled brown nubs of Ross’s nipples, Alex grinned

wolfishly and bit down on each nipple sucking hard and stretching them until
he heard Ross grunt from the pain. Feeling the rush of power pulsing through
his body and leaking out through the head of his cock, Alex moaned and
trailed his tongue down through the corrugated planes of his lover’s abs to
the tight brown curls of his groin. Hearing Ross’s heart speed up at the
prospect of having Alex take his cock in his mouth, Alex opened his mouth
wide and sucked his way down Ross’s hard erection.

Alex had never seen Ross so turned on before and wondered if he

should maybe take the more aggressive role more often. Pushing that thought
to the back of his mind to muddle over later, Alex hollowed out his cheeks as
he sucked his mate’s cock in his mouth deeper. Lifting his hand, Alex
pushed his fingers in Ross’s mouth for the other man to suck on. Alex
groaned as he watched Ross liberally coat his fingers with saliva.

“Damn, that’s hot,” he said as he lifted his mouth off of the other

man’s cock and trailed his tongue down to the other man’s puckered
entrance.

“Oh gods,” he heard Ross moan seconds before Alex stuck his tongue

deep inside of Ross’s ass. Alex moaned as the taste of his mate exploded on
his tongue. Why had he never done this before? Ross’s ass tasted almost as
good as his cock. Ross’s cock was the best thing that Alex had ever had in
his mouth and Ross’s come was the best thing that he’d ever had on his
tongue. Pulling his fingers free of his mate’s mouth, Alex pushed in first one
finger and then two, quickly, but thoroughly, stretching out his partner for
his cock. His dick was actually bigger than Ross’s so he knew that he’d need
to spend a little more time stretching out his mate, so with that thought in
mind, Alex pulled his tongue free of Ross’s ass and took his cock back into
his mouth, pressing three fingers into the other man’s hole quickly.

“Now, Alex. Fuck me now,” Ross begged and while Alex wanted to

take a little more time to stretch his mate out, he couldn’t wait either.

With a pop, Alex lifted his lips from his mate’s cock and replaced his

fingers with his cock. With a quick thrust forward, Alex pushed the head of
his cock into his mate’s ass. A little surprised that he’d slipped in so quickly,
Alex looked down at his mate who moaned loudly and then grinned at him

sheepishly. Making a mental note to talk with Ross later, Alex pushed the
rest of his cock into his mate’s ass until he bottomed out.

Both men exhaled on a moan simultaneously and Alex waited for

Ross to signal that he could move before he began to fuck his mate, slowly at
first but then picking up the pace and the strength of his thrust. He was
almost certain that Ross would have burns and wounds on his back and the
skin of his ass from being fucked on the ground. It didn’t matter to either
man, however, so lost in the throes of passion that neither of them noticed
the car pulling up into the driveway.

Alex fucked Ross harder and harder into the ground, pushing the

bigger man’s knees to his chest and going deeper, changing the angle until he
pegged Ross’s prostate and he knew he had too when Ross yelled out in bliss
and his come splattered his chest. Seeing Ross’s orgasm and feeling the older
man’s muscles grip his ass propelled Alex headlong into his own orgasm and
he moaned out Ross’s name in bliss as he came deep in his mate’s ass.

Slumping forward on top of Ross’s chest, Alex was uncaring of the

wet, sticky evidence of his mate’s orgasm that he lay in. All he wanted in
that moment was for Ross to hold him, and hold him Ross did. He held him
through the shaking sobs that he experienced moments later. He held him
when they found the note from the social worker wanting to set up an
appointment with them for a home visit. He held him when they saw Vet and
Richard and the triplets and he held him when they walked back to the house
and he began to practice obsessively for the Christmas program.

Their appointment was scheduled for two days after Christmas and

hopefully, they’d get a Christmas miracle and truly be the family that they
were meant to be.

Christmas gift suggestions: to your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent,

tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity.

To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

Oren Arnold

Chapter Five

Maurice

He screamed. His legs and arms flailing around in an attempt to be

free. He had to get free. He couldn’t take any more. He fought against the
hands holding him down, ignored the harsh words that he was sure that he’d
hear. They wouldn’t use him anymore. His body was not theirs, his body was
his.

Renewing his efforts to be free, his mind suddenly processed the

voice and the words of his guard.

“Maurice! Wake up! It’s me! Calvin! I’m not going to hurt you!

Please doll-baby. Wake up for me. Please. Please Maurice,” the stranger’s
voice called to something deep inside of him. Something that he’d thought
had long been destroyed with every single violation of his body. This
person’s voice touched the only part of his heart that still existed and still
remained intact.

Opening his unusual golden eyes, Maurice found himself looking into

the bright blue eyes of the man leaning over him. He gasped. He
remembered this man. He was the one who’d rescued him. Who’d come into
the building as a wolf and had freed him from his restraints. This was his
hero…and his mate. With a cry of despair, he launched himself into Calvin’s
arms and wrapped his hands in the other man’s short black hair and pressed
his face in Calvin’s neck, his shoulders shaking as he sobbed out tears of
relief.

“Ssshhhh Doll-baby. I’m right here,” Calvin soothed him. “I’m not

going anywhere. I’m going to take care of you. You’re mine now. No one
else will ever hurt you again.”

Maurice nodded as Calvin repeated the same words that he’d said to

him when he rescued him. He clutched Calvin tighter, trying to burrow his
way inside of the other man, straddling the other man’s waist and pulling on

him tighter and harder. He knew better. Someone always said that they were
helping him and then they just ended up using him the same way as others
had, but he felt as if Calvin was different. Then again, what did he know?
He’d been wrong before.

He started to pull away and felt Calvin’s arms tighten around him.

“Nuh-uh, Doll-baby. I’m not like the other ones. You know that. I’m your
mate, I’m wired to take care of you forever. To protect you and love you and
to never want to see anyone else hurt you or lay with you. Your body is
mine. Your mind is mine. Everything, from the crown of your head to the
soles of your feet belongs to me and I will protect it until I take my last
breath.”

Maurice’s entire body shuddered as he heard the possessive and

protective growl in Calvin’s voice. He knew that the other man meant what
he’d said and it filled him with warmth, with peace…with hope.

“What’s today?” he questioned, his voice soft and lilting.

“December 24th,” Calvin responded.

“Christmas Eve,” Maurice pointed out.

“That’s right,” Calvin kissed his forehead and Maurice felt himself

smile for the first time in 17 years. The muscles in his face shook from
having not been used and turned up that way in a long time. It was Christmas
Eve and he was free. He’d made a promise to be out by Christmas. For the
first time it seemed as if Santa had made one of his Christmas wishes come
true.

Now the only thing left was for the last one to come true. To have a

family by Christmas night.

Hours later, he stood at the back of the large barn and watched as

four men all stumbled around the large stage. One man had his leg in a cast,
another man…woman…man, had both of his wrists in a cast, another man
had his neck wrapped in a large gray scarf and another man, the shortest one
of them all stood off to the side shaking his head as if he were angry with the

entire universe. Maurice had seen that look before. Trevor and Jimmy always
wore those looks on their faces whenever Alfred was angry with them
because of something Maurice had done. It usually meant that Trevor and
Jimmy were going to come after him, but it was always worth it.

Maurice’s stomach filled with fear when he saw the smaller man turn

and point at him.

“Hey you! Aren’t you Calvin’s mate, Maurice?” the smaller man

called out. Maurice nodded quickly, wondering how in the world the other
man had known that.

“Well then, you’re a mate. Get your ass up here!” the smaller man

called out, his voice echoing around the building causing the hairs on the
back of Maurice’s neck to stand on end and his every muscle to lock in
place.

He felt the air lock in his lungs, his skin covered with goosebumps as

the waves of the other man’s yell filtered out through the open barn doors.
He knew that the memories were returning and he tried to stop them, he
really did but it wasn’t too long before he was back there. Back in that place,
the sound of laughter and the feeling of pain washing over him again and
again and he opened his mouth and screamed, collapsing to his knees he
scrambled back as quickly as he could.

Not here…not again…

Chapter Six

Tommy

Tommy’s eyes filled with tears as he watched Maurice crawl away

from them, pressing his back against the far wall. The smaller man’s limbs
shook, his long black hair covered his face as he rocked back and forth
chanting Calvin’s name.

“So what do you think?” Alex asked, his voice hoarse and soft as all

four mates stood huddled together watching as Calvin rushed into the room
and lifted the trembling smaller man into his arms. Tommy sighed as he
watched the cowboy carefully walk away with his mate cradled against his
chest, the smaller man’s scream still echoing in his head.

“I think that no matter what we have to do, even if I have to sign,

Richard has to sing, Alex has to dance and Michael has to perform, we have
got to make sure that this Christmas show actually happens. Maurice needs
this almost as much if not more than the triplets. We have to show him that
he has a family here now. That he’s safe. It’s up to us to show him what
Christmas is all about,” Tommy stated emphatically. He watched as the other
mates blinked at him in surprise before each one slowly nodded their heads
and smiled.

“I agree,” Richard said with a grin.

“So do I,” Alex croaked out.

Michael nodded his head emphatically, touching both of his hands to

his chest, the casts making a soft clicking noise as they touched.

Tommy smiled at the other mates. They truly were his best friends

and one day, he’d add Maurice to that list of friends and family and all he
had to do…was pull off the impossible. He had to find a way to get their
cowboys in on this plan and bring back the Christmas show. It was time for
Santa to come back to town and this time he was bringing reinforcements.

Tommy looked around his ragtag, broken group of friends. They

were all broken in some way. Yesterday, Richard had been performing a
routine from “The Nutcracker” when he tripped over some of the wires that
were still strung on the stage. Michael had raced over to help him up when
both men tripped again and Richard had landed on Michael’s hands, who had
landed on top of the wooden boards that were still waiting to be nailed to the
Christmas set. The entire room had filled with the sounds of Michael’s
disjointed yell as the bones in both of his hands had broken. Tommy
shuddered as the memory of yesterday’s horrible events rushed across his
mind. Then of course, to add insult to injury, Richard’s leg had been broken
because of landing on the same wooden boards.

Tommy had felt so guilty and had cried for hours in Ton’s arms,

ensconced in the hospital waiting for his friends to be released. Ton had told
him that it wasn’t his fault but Tommy hadn’t believed him then and he still
didn’t believe him. He knew that all of this was his fault. He was the one that
had wanted the Christmas program. He was the one who had put the whole
thing together. Because of him, Richard’s leg was broken and he couldn’t
dance. Because of him, Michael’s hands were broken and he couldn’t sign.
Because of him, Alex had laryngitis from all of the practicing he’d done to
get ready for the program and now he couldn’t sing.

Tommy looked over towards the area of the barn where Maurice had

been only moments before and sighed in complete disappointment and
frustration. Because of him, Maurice had been so scared and traumatized that
Calvin had to carry him out. Because of him, the triplets may not get to have
the perfect Christmas that he’d envisioned for them.

Everything had been screwed up because of him and so it was up to

him to fix everything and that’s just what he planned to do.

Richard

“So what do you want me to do?” he asked Tommy. He knew that

look on the other man’s face. Tommy was up to something, but this time he

was determined to clean up the mess that he’d made. This time Richard was
behind him one hundred percent.

“I know that you hate to sing…”Tommy began and Richard cut him

off almost immediately.

“It’s not that I hate to sing, it’s that I can’t sing Tommy. You know

that. I sound like someone trying to drown a cat,” Richard pointed out,
ignoring the snickers from the rest of the mates. “Can’t I sign the songs
instead?”

Michael shaking his head no furiously and the sight of Alex and

Tommy laughing so hard that they almost collapsed, caused him to fold his
arms in anger.

“What the fuck is so funny?” Richard asked tapping his foot angrily

on the floor of the stage, his eyes taking in the sight of his mate walking in
with the triplets followed by the other mated cowboys…and Calvin, minus
Maurice.

“Richard, honey, the only thing worse than your singing, is your

signing,” Tommy said laughing.

Alex nodded laughing as well, his chuckle hoarse and raspy, before

turning to Michael and signing what Tommy had said to the deaf mate.
Michael nodded and pointed to Richard as he laughed in delight.

Richard huffed and rolled his eyes at his friends. They were so effing

immature sometimes.

“Fine!” He called out tossing up his hands in frustration. “I guess I’ll

sing then. Since that’s the only thing that I can do. Is that okay with you?”
The other mates laughed and nodded their heads. Michael’s nod was a little
late because of his needing Tommy or Alex to sign what he’d said.

Richard turned when he saw Vet, Ton, Howell, Ross and Calvin walk

up the stairs followed by four of the other cowboys from the pack. The
triplets were held by different men and Richard found himself more worried
about Maurice than about who was holding his children and why. Looking

up at Vet, he quirked an eyebrow and waited for him to speak about why
they’d walked up onto the stage.

Calvin was the one that spoke up however. “Maurice has been

through a lot for seventeen years. So no yelling at him or around him, no
sudden moves and no raising your hands to him or around him.”

“Where is he?” Alex asked, his voice though husky, still filled with

concern.

“At home in our bedroom. I had to give him a sleeping pill to get him

to sleep. Just-” Calvin stopped, sighing in frustration and running his fingers
through his thick black hair, “Just be patient with him. He really likes
Christmas though and he wants to see the program a lot. So don’t feel bad
okay. I think that it may actually help him.”

Richard noticed that all of the mates nodded at the same time that he

did. That was pretty much what they’d all thought as well.

“So what are you all doing here?” Richard asked.

Howell stepped forward, the tall black man’s white smile a stark

contrast to his milk chocolate skin. “We’re here to help.”

Chapter Seven

Maurice

His mate was up to something. Maurice knew it. Calvin had been

watching him out of the corner of his eye ever since they’d woken up that
moment. The other man had even gotten him a Christmas present. What was
up with that?

Noticing Calvin glancing at him again, Maurice sighed and looked at

Calvin.

“What?” he groaned in frustration. “I’m fine. I swear. Now I want to

see the program. When does it start?” he asked.

He watched as Calvin’s face turned bright red and found himself

extremely intrigued by the sight of it. Now he knew something was going on.
He watched as Calvin stood to his feet from the kitchen table and walked
into the bedroom without another word. Worried that he’d said something to
upset his mate, Maurice leapt to his feet and chased after the other man.
When he ran into the living room, he came to an abrupt halt. Standing in the
middle of their living room was eleven…no, twelve of the pack members,
dressed as toy drummers. As soon as he stepped in the room, they all began
to tap on their drums. Twelve drummers drumming? He thought questioned
himself.

Maurice stood in awe and then turned when he smelled his mate.

Calvin stepped out of their bedroom dressed as Santa Clause and walked up
to Maurice and handed him a gift. Maurice opened the beautifully wrapped
box and inside of it saw a yellow teddy bear, exactly like the one that had
been stolen from him when he was four. Maurice looked up at Calvin with a
watery smile as the man stepped forward and took his arm before leading
him out of their cabin. They stepped down the stairs to the grass where
Maurice then saw eleven of the cowboys dressed as pipers playing flutes as

ten of the pack cowboys leapt all around their front lawn dressed as British
lords. Maurice found himself laughing as some of the men collided with each
other causing a massive pile up of bodies and Calvin to growl underneath his
breath, “Fucking idiots. Don’t they know Tommy’s gonna kick their ass if
they fuck this up?”

Maurice looked up at Calvin in shock. Tommy had done this? The

short mate who had yelled at him the day before? Calvin looked down at him
with a small smile on his face then and nodded before leading him across the
yard and towards the barn. As they walked, they passed nine of the wives of
the cowboys all smiling and dancing and Maurice counted them off in his
head, nine ladies dancing.

Stepping into one side of the barn, Maurice counted eight of the

unmated women milking cows and found himself smiling wider. Eight maids
a milking, this is really cool, he thought to himself before stepping back and
closer to his mate when he saw one of the really huge wolf shifter cowboys
step towards him, also dressed as Santa Clause, and hand him a present.

Maurice looked up at Calvin in confusion and watched as Calvin

grinned at him before answering his unspoken question. “That’s Anton
Forrester. We all call him Ton. His mate is Tommy.”

Maurice’s mouth dropped open in shock at the thought of the massive

man having sex with the smaller man and suddenly wanted to ask if the other
man was okay with having to be with such a large man. Before he could
open his mouth to ask the question, however, he heard the sound of birds
squawking and hid behind Calvin when a very large kiddie pool was brought
out, filled with…seven geese?

“What’s wrong Doll-baby?” Calvin asked him as Maurice clenched

his fists in the back of his shirt.

Maurice muttered underneath his breath and knew from Calvin’s

chuckle that he’d heard him. Damn, shifter hearing, Maurice thought to
himself as he heard Calvin tell the four cowboys who were carrying the pool
that Maurice was afraid of birds. He watched as the swans were carried back
out and the six geese in the next stall were carried out with what Maurice
assumed were the eggs that they were “a-laying.”

Maurice laughed in delight at all the trouble that Tommy had gone

too and then saw as the man in question walked towards him with the same
three men from the stage, the day before. Each man held a ring box in their
hands, though Tommy held two. As they stepped up to him all of the ring
boxes were opened and each man’s mate walked up, all dressed as Santa
Clause, and took the ring box from their counterpart’s hand and put the gold
rings on the ring finger of their left hand. Maurice looked up at Calvin with
tears in his eyes and then turned to look at the other mates who were all
smiling at him.

“Welcome to the family Maurice,” the smallest man, Tommy, said,

his black hair a mass of curls, wearing an elf costume.

Thinking that everything was over and raising his hands to clap,

Maurice was interrupted by the appearance of a cowboy walking towards
him with a box of birds in them…fake birds, he breathed a sigh of relief, but
attached to the side of each Styrofoam bird’s head was a small, plastic, toy
phone. Maurice laughed aloud and said in an amused voice, “Four calling
birds!” This was probably the greatest day of his life. He absolutely couldn’t
believe what these people had done for him.

He looked up and saw three of the mates walking back towards him,

each one of them carrying a baby, all three dressed up as French hens and he
felt his eyes fill with tears. He felt completely overwhelmed by all of the
gifts that he was being given, by the affection that he was being shown.

When Calvin stepped away he turned to face his mate and watched as

the man brought over a covered birdcage. “This was before I knew you were
afraid of birds,” the large Texan explained before pulling off the covering
and showing him the two turtledoves that rested inside of it. Without any
further thought he leaned against Calvin’s chest and kissed his cheek,
surprised and flattered when the other man’s face turned bright red with a
very attractive blush on his face. Turning around to face all of the cowboys
and their mates and children that filled the barn and the surrounding field,
Maurice waited to see who would bring him the partridge in a pear tree.

When nothing came after a moment he turned to look at his mate in

confusion.

“Where’s the partridge in a pear tree?” he whispered to the taller

man.

“You’re the partridge in our pear tree, Doll-baby,” Calvin said with a

grin.

Not understanding exactly what the other man meant, Maurice turned

to look at Tommy and watched as the smaller man stepped forward.

“You’re one of a kind and you belong right here, in the middle of all

of us. Your brand new family,” the small man explained and Maurice felt his
eyes fill with tears.

“So this is my new family?” he questioned his mate. Calvin took him

in his arms and kissed the top of his head.

“That’s right baby, you’re stuck with us,” Calvin explained.

“It’s a very good thing to get stuck with,” Maurice pointed out and

then turned to smile at everyone. “Thank you all,” he said shyly. “This was
the greatest Christmas ever.”

And it was the greatest Christmas ever, because it was a very Tate

Christmas.

From Vicktor Alexander

I always put a little of myself into every character. Whether it’s my

passion for dance into Richard, my love for Lady Gaga, cooking and parties
into Tommy, my struggle to have my the outside match the inside like
Michael or my love for singing like Alex. Each of my characters has a very
special piece of “The Vic” inside of them. But Maurice is different. Maurice
unfortunately carries a lot of the pain, anger and hurt that I’ve experienced in
my life on his thin but very strong shoulders. Maurice’s story will not be an
easy one to tell and not an easy one for you, the reader to read
(Untouchable: Tate Pack Book Five), but I can guarantee you, as you’ve
seen here, Maurice, much like me, gets the family and the happy-ever-after
that he so deserves.

Something that I learned this year was that family is not always the

one that we are born into. Family is the sum total of the people who love and
support you, encourage you, chastise you in love to see you become a better
person. They are the ones who accept you flaws and all and never once ask
that you try to become their ideal of perfect, but that you only become the
perfect version of yourself.

In October of 2011 I began to find my family and even now in

December the list is still growing. They are the people who would fight for
me (any of my big sisters), who get more excited for the good things that
happen than I do (any of my younger brothers and younger sister). They are
the ones who are always so filled with love for me that it wraps around me
like a blanket (my moms), they are my cheerleaders (my besties), they are
the ones who look out for me (my older brothers), they are the ones who find
me so fascinating that it pushes me to want to do more and to do better (my
aunts), they are the ones who are always watching over me, always there to
step in if I need them and there to make sure that I let them know if I do need
them (my dad) and they are the ones who love and support me and give me a
reason to get out of bed every morning (my fiancé).

I encourage you, this holiday season and every season following, to

celebrate family, your real family and remember sometimes the greatest gift
that you can give someone is a connection, encouragement, support and most
definitely…love.

Hugz, Squeezes and Fist Bumpz,

Vicktor Alexander

Vicktor Alexander can be found at:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vicktoralexanderb

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/VVeeB

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/vicktoralexander

Website: http://www.vicktoralexander.com

Blog: http://vicktor-alexander.blogspot.com

Email: itsbostonredsoxthenbreathing@gmail.com

Coming Soon From Vicktor Alexander:

The Tate Pack Series

Unassumed

Impossible

Untouchable

Passion’s Hero

The Alpha King

The Beta Prince

The Epsilon Elder

Wooing Elijah

Daddy’s Boy

The Dom Series

Mark Me

The Cowboys of Mercy Ranch

The Cowboy’s Fireman

The Sacred Duets Series

Special Song