The Reindeer's Easter Family Read online

  She briefly thought of Jack, of the way things had been when they first met. He was fun and exciting and wild, and she was just a nerd. He chased after her until he caught her – she never could run very fast. Then she got pregnant, and everything changed.

  She looked at her girls, struggling with their spaghetti. She hadn’t told them about Jack’s death. The twins wouldn’t remember their dad at all – she was still pregnant when she left. As for her eldest, Penny, she couldn’t be sure. Little Penny sometimes displayed knowledge and traits far beyond her eight years.

  Maybe all Marcus wanted was a quick peek at the girls and then he’d be gone. She hoped so anyway. Perhaps he was just mourning his son, and his need to see his grandkids was driven out of grief. He’d never wanted to see them before. When Jack first took her and baby Penny back to his pack, Marcus took one look at the baby and called her a mongrel. Bastard.

  “What’s wrong, Mommy?” asked Penny.

  Her eldest gave her a concerned, searching look that surely was too old for a girl twice her age.

  “Nothing, honey, eat up,” said Marion. She smiled as if to confirm everything was fine.

  “We met a giant today,” trilled Izzy, by far her most boisterous twin who would wear nothing but pink.

  Sophie, her quiet twin, nodded in agreement and plucked a meatball off her plate.

  “Did you, that’s nice,” murmured Marion, only half-listening.

  Every day Izzy told her about some wonderful and fantastic creature she had met. Yesterday, it had been a unicorn and the day before a fairy.

  “He wasn’t a giant,” scolded Penny.

  “He was too,” insisted Izzy petulantly.

  “He was,” agreed Sophie in a small voice.

  “He wasn’t.”

  “Don’t argue, girls,” said Marion mildly.

  “He was,” whispered Izzy.

  “He wasn’t!” hissed Penny.

  “He was!”

  “He was just a reindeer shifter,” grumbled Penny. She turned to Marion. “We met a reindeer shifter, Mommy.”

  “Oh, that’s nice, honey,” she said automatically.

  Though, before she could really let that sink in, she nearly jumped out of her skin at the knock on the door.

  Marion chewed her bottom lip. She knew who that was. She’d prefer it was her landlady demanding rent. Hell, she’d prefer some aggressive squirrel scouts trying to sell her cookies at that moment – seriously, those girls were militant about selling those damn cookies. They would not leave your door until you bought a box. But no, she knew who it was. Fate wouldn’t allow her off the hook – it never did.

  “Someone’s at the door,” said Sophie.

  “Yes,” agreed Marion.

  With a due sense of dread, she shuffled to the door, wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans. Taking a deep breath, she opened it, and sure enough, there was Marcus.

  He grunted at her.

  “Marcus, I really don’t think this is a good idea…”

  Marcus put a meaty hand on the door and pushed it open. He strode past her, pushing her out of the way.

  “What are you doing?” Marion scuttled after him as he immediately made his way to the kitchen.

  “Girls, my girls,” he rumbled.

  All three girls stared at him.

  Penny got to her feet and pulled the twins off their seats; she was holding their hands, and making sure the table was between them and the intruder.

  Marion scooted around Marcus and firmly planted herself between them and him.

  “Okay, you’ve seen them, you should go,” she said, trying to drum up some confidence.

  He sniffed and then smiled. “They’re wolves. All three of them. Unbelievable.”

  “So what?”

  There was always a fifty percent chance they would be human, but all three girls were going to be shifters. She’d figured that out pretty quickly. Especially given that they actually howled at the full moon every month.

  Marcus peered over her at the girls. “So, they belong with their pack.”

  That’s not what he said before. Before, he didn’t want her or her kids anywhere near his pack, diluting their gene pool with their weak human blood.

  “No, they belong with their mother.”

  Marcus grunted. “I came to take them home with me, and I won’t leave without them.”

  Marion let out a sound of disbelief. She glanced over her shoulder. “Girls, run upstairs, quickly now.”

  The twins pouted, but Penny understood. She dragged her sisters away, moving around the edge of the kitchen, as far away as possible from Marcus. Marion couldn’t tell whether Penny remembered her grandfather or not, but either way, she knew she should be scared of him.

  Marcus let them go. She was thankful he didn’t try to stop them.

  “Why? Why now?” she breathed.

  “Jack’s dead,” he replied curtly.

  She shook her head. “But…”

  “He was my only kid. His bitch failed to give him any more cubs.”

  “Oh.”

  That was news to her. Jack had replaced her while they were still technically mated. She was sure his new, much younger, wolf shifter mate would have popped out half a dozen cubs by now. But apparently not.

  His eyes wandered to the stairs. “They’re my only heirs.”

  Cheese and crackers. That was why he was there. He was happy to let them go when he thought that he would get more full-blooded wolf grandchildren, but now that there was no possibility of that, he wanted them back, to continue his family line.

  “You said you didn’t want them because of their weak human blood,” she muttered.

  Marcus shrugged and gave her a cold smile. “Looks like I was wrong about them being mongrels. They’ll make fine wolves.”

  Marion gulped as panic really started setting in. “You can’t be serious. You can’t just take them! They’re my kids.”

  He gave her a long look. “Not just them. They’ll need their mother. I’ll need you to take care of them.”

  “There’s no way – you can’t force us. That’s kidnapping!”

  She moved back towards the counter, feeling behind her for some kind of weapon. Not that it would do much good. The guy could shapeshift into a giant wolf – what hope did a smaller than average woman have against him?

  Marcus’ cheek twitched. “They’re my blood – they’re wolves. They belong to me. You better run upstairs and pack anything you want to take because we’re leaving.”

  Her hand curled around a makeshift weapon. “We’re not going anywhere with you.”

  Five

  Tank roared as he crashed into the house. He found the large wolf shifter advancing on the petite woman who was brandishing a spatula at him. He didn’t know what she was going to do with the spatula, but unless the wolf was throwing burgers at her that needed flipping, he doubted it would be much help to her.

  The wolf halted and glowered at Tank. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Who are you?” snarled Tank in return.

  “Actually, yes, who are you?” asked the female, frowning at Tank.

  Tank ignored her for the moment. He honked at the wolf. “Get out.”

  Wolf shifters tended to be aggressive and lashed out with very little provocation. Whether this wolf was the father or not, Tank wanted him as far away from the female and her young as possible.

  The male sneered and inhaled deeply. “Prey,” he hissed, baring his fangs.

  Tank huffed. Sure, wolves preyed on reindeer, but they were pack hunters, and this wolf had come here alone.

  Tank puffed out his chest, and the wolf flickered uncertainly. The wolf was a big guy, but once he shifted, he would be a relatively small animal. Small compared to a reindeer that weighed over five hundred pounds and had antlers over fifty inches long.

  The wolf took a step back and gave him a wary look. “This doesn’t concern you, reindeer.”

  Tank looked at the woman, who, while mildly
confused at his presence, was definitely terrified of the wolf. Then he saw the kids, staring at him from their perch at the top of the stairs. Their mother probably sent them up there, away from the argument she was having with the wolf. But they were listening – of course they were, he wouldn’t expect anything less.

  “Yeah, it does.”

  The wolf growled. “Who is this guy?” he demanded.

  The female hunched her shoulders, utterly confused.

  “Leave,” grunted Tank.

  “Yes, you should go,” she murmured in agreement, her eyes never leaving Tank.

  She was staring at him, but he certainly didn’t see any fear there. Uncertainty maybe, but did he also sense a little trust in her look? She automatically knew she could trust him and it warmed him to his very boots.

  “They’re my family – they’re coming with me,” ground out the wolf.

  Was this really her mate? Tank looked at the older, large male, and snapped back to the scared female. He actually wasn’t getting that kind of vibe from them.

  Tank slanted his head at her. “You want to go with him?”

  “No!” she replied immediately and emphatically.

  “There you go,” said Tank simply. “I’ll escort you out.”

  The wolf looked between the two of them, deciding whether to argue or not. He opted not to, merely snarling at them both, and growling when Tank really did try to escort him out.

  The door was a little worse for wear – given that Tank had just about ripped it off its hinges, but he could board it up until he got it fixed. Tank managed to close it and waited to hear the wolf drive away.

  He turned back to the woman – Marion, she had to be Marion.

  Half-heartedly she raised her spatula. “Who are you?”

  “It’s the giant!” giggled the pink twin, running down the stairs and wrapping herself around one leg. Sure enough, the yellow twin followed and took over his other leg.

  “No, he’s the reindeer shifter,” grumbled the older sister stomping down after them.

  “You’re a reindeer shifter?” asked Marion.

  He looked her in the eye. “Yes, ma’am, yes I am.”

  Six

  Marion put down the phone and chewed on her lip as she looked at the giant man currently taking up about two-thirds of her living room. Izzy was right; he did look like a giant.

  She glanced down to where Izzy and Sophie were curled around his legs. He didn’t seem to mind, and they looked quite comfortable. Actually, he didn’t seem to mind anything. Izzy and to a lesser extent Sophie were hurling question after question at him, sometimes the same one over and over and yet he merely answered them with infinite patience. He was merely standing there, with his hands folded behind his back while twins - currently attached to his legs - fired a barrage of annoying questions at him. She was probably most surprised that he could answer their questions about kids’ TV shows. Marion was amazed to find that his favorite kids’ TV shows had been Hey Arnold and Duck Dodgers. She couldn’t deny they were some of her favorites too. He could also name some of the My Little Ponies. Who the hell was this guy?

  Penny was more distrustful than the twins. She was watching him with a guarded expression on her face.

  Apparently, his name was Tank, and he was a friend of Temp’s. Marion called Temp to confirm – he didn’t seem bothered that she needed to do it, that she didn’t believe him outright. He took it as a matter of course.

  Temp had been surprised by her call, but she confirmed she knew him. Marion didn’t bother to mention the reindeer thing – if Temp didn’t know about shifters that would be awkward, and it would also mean having to divulge the truth about her own kids. The secret of their shifter nature was closely guarded. The last thing she wanted was someone taking her kids away to poke and prod at them.

  But this guy… Marion didn’t know why, but she felt like she could trust him. Course, she knew she couldn’t trust her instincts where guys were concerned – not after Jack – which is why she called Temp, but there was something about him.

  Marion’s gaze roamed over his huge body – and it really was huge. He had to be nearly seven feet tall, and his body was unbelievably muscled. She seriously didn’t think she’d ever seen so many muscles all on one guy. Yet, with adorable twins hanging on him, he also looked cute somehow.

  She felt a surge of mushy affection for him and quickly tamped it down. Marion cleared her throat.

  “Okay, so you’re Temp’s friend, what are you doing here?”

  Temp had no idea what he was doing there either, though she was adamant that Marion could trust him.

  He paused as he looked at her, and she fidgeted under that impenetrable gaze.

  “Not important,” he said finally as Izzy bounced on his leg. “You should pack a bag for you and the kids.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “We need to leave.”

  “But, didn’t you just stop that from happening?”

  Until he turned up, she had visions of herself tied up and gagged in the back of Marcus’ truck. She really wouldn’t put it past him.

  “He’ll be back,” said Tank patiently. “Wolves are pack hunters. He’ll be back with more of his pack.”

  Her heart sank. He was right. If Marcus had sought her out in the first place and traveled all the way there, he wasn’t about to just turn around and say ‘oh, well’ after a reindeer shifter told him to bugger off.

  “Right, ummm,” Marion rubbed her hands over her jeans considering her very limited options, “I don’t know where I’m supposed to go.”

  “Just pack, I’ll figure it out,” he told her firmly.

  Marion gaped at him. “You will?”

  Who was this guy? Why was he so nice to her? In her experience, male shifters were not nice.

  “Girls,” he said, “go pack some clothes. You’re going on vacation.”

  “Vacation?” squealed Izzy as her little face lit up with glee. “Yay! Vacation! We’re going on vacation with a giant!”

  She disengaged from his leg with no prompting and fled upstairs with Sophie running after her. Penny frowned at him before turning to Marion. She nodded at her eldest daughter who followed the twins upstairs.

  “Don’t forget, you need your toothbrushes,” called Marion. “Ummm, I better go pack for them. They’ve never packed before, who knows what they’ll try and take with them.”

  Knowing Izzy, probably everything in her room including the lamp and fish tank. Yes, after requests for a pet, Marion had caved and allowed them a fish. Fluffy the fish – don’t ask about the name - caused very few problems and kept Izzy quiet for oh, about ten minutes when she first got him.

  “You should pack clothes for yourself too,” he said as his eyes roamed up and down her short frame.

  “Right,” she muttered, trying to pull her shirt down over her curvy behind. Giving birth to twins had not been kind on her butt.

  She gave him one last fleeting look before climbing the stairs, hoping he wasn’t looking at her retreating rear.

  Seven

  Tank paused on the doorstep and raised a finger to his lips. This may very well be the worst idea he ever had, but he really had no idea where else to take them. He could have dumped them at a hotel, put the bill on expenses, but that wouldn’t afford them any protection. The asshole wolf could just waltz in there and take them.

  No, he needed them close by, which unfortunately meant he had to bring them here. Tank disabled the alarm with his fob and carefully unlocked the door.

  The twins were rubbing their eyes and yawning. Marion was chewing on her lip worriedly, while Penny merely stared at him with wide, suspicious eyes.

  “Where are we?” asked Penny as he tried to herd them into the house.

  He was well aware that making a bunch of young girls do anything they didn’t want was an uphill struggle. Making them do it quietly with no complaining was akin to parting the Red Sea. But, well, he was going to try.

  “Shhh,” m
urmured Tank.

  “Whose house is this?”

  “Shhh.”

  “I’m tired,” whined Sophie.

  “I want to play with the giant,” whimpered Izzy.

  “He’s not a giant!”

  Tank inwardly groaned as he heard the squeak on the stairs. Yep, someone was now awake, which meant in a matter of seconds, all of them would be.

  “Who’s that?” called his eldest sister, Tamra. “I warn you; I’m armed!”

  “What are you going to do?” snickered his second sister, Teena, “throw your vibrator at them?”

  “Yeah,” added his third sister, Trini, “she should use yours – it’s so much bigger.”

  Tank rolled his eyes as they launched into an argument. When were they ever not arguing? He felt sorry if anyone ever did break into their house – they didn’t stand a chance against the three females – four including his mother.

  “What’s a vibrator?” asked Izzy.

  Her small voice hushed the arguing voices.

  “Who is that?” called his mom, “Is that you, Tank?”

  The lights flickered on, and four heads appeared over the top of the stairs, all sporting curious looks and varying degrees of bedhead.

  Crud. Marion looked at them apprehensively. The kids tried to crowd behind him and Marion for protection – he supposed that was mostly due to his sister Teena’s purple facemask.

  “Oh my goodness,” exclaimed his mom.

  “Tank, have you brought a girl home?” teased Tamra.

  “He has!” crowed Trini. “Be warned, he snores.”

  “And he sleeps with his socks on,” added Teena.

  “What’s going on?” asked his mom.

  Tank scowled at all of them. He loved them all dearly, but they were the biggest cockblockers ever born, and they drove him absolutely bonkers.

  “Mom… monsters, go back to bed,” he ordered, “we’ll talk in the morning.”

  “You brought me to your mother’s house?” whispered Marion

  “No, I brought you to my house.”

  She didn’t look any less alarmed to hear this. He didn’t know why – he would have thought the presence of other females would be reassuring. But then, his sisters were hardly angelic. No, they were definitely on the other end of the scale.