It’s never easy dealing with relatives during the holidays, but when you mix a feline coalition with a wolf pack, things get downright hairy. And that’s before adding the two missing Eagle brothers, a Lion trying to run away from home and a Hawk crankier than Scrooge or the Grinch. But coalition leader Mitchell is determined to have the best Christmas ever—even if he has to kill everybody to make them cooperate. Oh, and where is Shane and why did he leave his favorite gun behind?
Warning: this book contains a maimed tree, lots of sappiness and way too much holiday spirit.
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Fangs, Fur and Snowballs
Copyright © 2011 Stephani Hecht
ISBN: 978-1-77111-054-9
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by eXtasy Books
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Fangs, Fur and Snowballs
Lost Shifter 15
By
Stephani Hecht
Dedicated to all those who realized they needed help and were brave enough to admit it.
Author’s note: First off, I want to wish all my readers a very happy holidays. I appreciate you all so much, which is why I decided to write this extra Christmas Lost Shifter book. In it, we will get to revisit all of our favorite characters and get closer to some of the newer ones. Secondly, I will give you a warning, this book is full of sappiness. Why you ask? Well, because even badass shifters should have their own magical holiday. So, please excuse the love this time and know that I promise lots of blood and guts in the next book.
Hug and kisses,
Stephani
Chapter One
Oh, no! This wouldn’t do! This wouldn’t do at all!
Keegan twisted his hands together so hard that a couple of knuckles cracked as he surveyed all the activity going on around the feline coalition’s headquarters. Actually, the better term would be major cluster fuck and his sorry ass was the one responsible for getting everything in order.
It was akin to having to herd up a million kittens and yes, he knew it was a pun, but given his current predicament, he figured he was due one. Even if it was lame and way overused.
Why, oh why had he agreed to run the Holiday party? And now of all times? Things were usually tricky to begin with during a normal gathering, since they already had a group of Hawks attending. Not to mention the small smattering of other shifter breeds.
But this year was going to be even more tumultuous than ever because Wolves would be there. Not just a few either, but two packs. And while they usually got along okay, the old adage of cats fighting and hating dogs fit more often than not when it came to the two shifter breeds.
Never mind the fact that coalition leader and Keegan’s brother Mitchell was mated to a Wolf. Or even that his sister Cassie was mated to the Alpha of one of the Wolf packs attending. Keegan just knew that there would be trouble because there always was at these events and when it did, they would look at him for somebody to blame.
Did Mitchell care about that though? Nooooo. He just ordered Keegan to make sure that everything was perfect and everybody was happy. Keegan let out a snort. Yeah, right. The only way to guarantee that happened was to slip a shifter form of Special K into the punch. Somehow he knew if he tried that his brother wouldn’t be too happy. Or at least Mitchell wouldn’t be once he came down from his high.
“Hey, Cub. Why the long face?” Carson said as he came up from behind and wrapped his arms around Keegan.
Tilting his head up, Keegan gazed into the face of his mate. A Cheetah who lived to be unconventional, Carson had his eyeliner on and his dark hair sported blue streaks. His right eyebrow was pierced with a special gold ring that Keegan bought for him on their last anniversary.
Keegan, on the other hand, couldn’t be more conventional. While his hair was a speckled brown, that was only due to the fact that he was a Jaguar. Not because he was trying to be a rebel. He also favored jeans and plain t-shirts, as opposed to the all-black and chains that Carson wore.
How they ended up mates was a mystery to most of the coalition. Yet, from the moment Keegan laid eyes on his mate, he’d been a goner and he’d never wanted another man.
“I’m freaking out over this whole party,” Keegan admitted.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll be perfect. Just hire a couple go-go boys and have them dance on the bar and nobody will care about anything else.”
Keegan let out a short laugh. “What about the guys who prefer women?”
“I didn’t think we had any of those here.”
“We better or else the felines will die out.”
“I thought Owen was working on a way to artificially inseminate the females.”
“He is and he claims to be pretty close to a breakthrough. That still doesn’t change the fact that some feline men prefer woman.”
When Carson scrunched his face in disgust, Keegan had to hold back his laughter. God, how he loved the way his mate always teased and played around. Or at least, most of the time Keegan did. The other times it annoyed the hell out of him. But that still didn’t mean he didn’t adore and live just for his mate.
“I don’t think do,” Carson argued. “I’ve been with a good number of the guys here and I can tell you they all know their way around a dick.”
Fury and a strong bite of jealousy hit Keegan and he tried to pull away from his mate’s grip. Carson, jackass that he could be, just tightened his hold. Then he had the frigging audacity to laugh before pressing a kiss to the top of Keegan’s head.
“Relax, Cub. That was way before your time. Now there’s only one guy for me and it’s you.”
Sagging in Carson’s hold, Keegan let out a soft sigh. “I know. It still doesn’t mean that I’m not bothered by it.”
Spinning Keegan around so they were looking at each other, Carson gently cupped Keegan’s face. “Would it make you feel better to know that not one of them could even come close to comparing to you?”
“Maybe,” Keegan pouted, only partly mollified.
Sharing a soft kiss that was brief but still made Keegan’s head spin, Carson whispered, “I love you.”
“I know.”
“And you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I know that, too.”
Looking deep into Keegan’s eyes, Carson said, “This is the part where you tell me that you love me, too.”
“Okay, I love you, even if you are a reformed man-whore.”
Leaning in, Carson began to nibble on Keegan’s neck. Damn that Cheetah, he knew that always made Keegan turn to putty.
“How about if I promise to take you out to dinner tonight to make up for it?” Carson suggested, never moving his lips away from Keegan’s neck.
“Last time you said that, we ended up at Taco Bell and I had to order from the dollar menu,” Keegan groused, even as shivers of pleasure danced over his spine.
“I promise to take you somewhere really nice. How about the Holly Hotel? They have the comedy club tonight and then we can go stay the night at the bed and breakfast across the street.”
Oh, wow. That was so damn tempting, but Keegan had way too much work to run away and play at the moment. Letting out a groan of frustration he gestured to the mass chaos reigning around them. “I can’t. I told Mitchell I would make this year’s party perfect.”
“Why don’t you put them in charge while you leave?” Carson suggested as he pointed to the right.
When Keegan saw he was talking about the Eagle twins, Xavier and Riley, Keegan gave his mate an are-you-taking-crazy-pills glare. “Is that supposed to funny?”
“No, it was an actual suggestion.”
Keegan glanced over at the Eagles, who were sucking air from a helium tank and saying dirty phrases in high-pitched voices.
“I love Riley and Xavier like brothers, but I wouldn’t put them in charge of a lemonade stand. And no, it’s not because Riley is bi-polar. It’s because trouble follows them like the paparazzi follow Brad and Angelina. Do you know last week that they tricked Dexal into getting a haircut and the poor Puma ended up with a bright green and red Mohawk? It took Jacyn three hours to calm the poor guy down enough so he wouldn’t kick the twins’s asses. When Mitchell asked them why they did it, Riley and Xavier claimed it was so everybody could get into the Christmas spirit. “
Even as he said all that, Keegan’s mind was going through the lists in his head of things to do. Gifted with a photographic memory, every detail was ingrained in his mind and they were all nagging him that they needed to be completed. Almost to the point that they seemed like a screaming pack of toddlers demanding Santa’s attention. Damn it, but sometimes his ability really sucked.