Millennium Wolves - Christmas Special

SIENNA

“Do you want another?” The waitress asked me, motioning to my empty mimosa glass.

“No, thank you—”

“She’ll take another,” Selene said, interrupting me and smiling at the waitress.

I turned beside me to where Aiden was sitting, giving him an I’m-about-to-be-drunk-before-noon look.

He reached under the table and squeezed my knee, and as I watched the waitress refill my glass with more orange liquid, I told myself I had to stop worrying.

It might be the day before Christmas, and there may still be a million things I had to get done before the party—but it didn’t matter. What mattered is that I was at brunch with my mate and my best friend, and my best friend’s mate, and we were all happy and healthy.

And, oh yeah—it didn’t hurt that the mimosas were pretty damn good, either.

“To us,” Selene said, lifting her refilled glass into the air for a toast.

“To us,” Aiden, Jeremy, and I chorused back, clinking our glasses.

I wish I could take a snapshot of this moment in my mind, so I could remember it forever. I wanted to replay it every morning, right when I woke up, to remind myself just how good I had it.

“Hey, Aiden. Did you decide what you’re going to do about the Alpha of the Millennium?” Jeremy asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“The Alpha of the Millennium?” I repeated, glancing at Aiden. “What about him?”

I saw Aiden narrow his eyes at Jeremy, giving him a weird look. I was so confused—what was going on?

“Hello? Aiden?” I pressed.

Aiden sighed. “Yeah, Raphael’s coming to the Yule Ball. We just found out.”

“That’s amazing news!” I exclaimed.

It was always exciting when the Alpha of the Millennium came to town—not only was his reputation pretty spot-on, nailing just how interesting and cool a man he was, but he was also a friend of ours. Someone we liked seeing.

Only, Aiden’s face didn’t look happy at all. In fact, he looked kind of annoyed at the whole thing. “What aren’t you saying?” I asked him softly, leaning into him.

But before he could answer me, Jeremy bellowed from across the table. “You have a meeting with him before the Ball, right?”

The color drained from my face.

My smile slowly evaporated.

Before the Ball.

But our party was before the Ball.

The party that I’d been slaving away for, spending hours and hours each day to make perfect. The party that I’d been planning in my head ever since Aiden and I first mated—the party that was finally going to happen, after all this time.

I didn’t know if it was the surprise information or the mimosas, but my mind was spinning. A wave of nausea hit me—and I knew I had to leave the table. I had to go to the bathroom, I needed space. And maybe to vomit.

“Sienna—” Aiden reached out for me as I got up, but I waved him off and took off across the restaurant, heading for the bathroom at the end of the hall. When I got there safely, I exhaled, splashing cold water onto my face.

The door opened, and Selene appeared. “Oh, honey,” she said, understanding exactly what was going on in my head without me having to say a word. She wrapped her arms around me and smoothed my hair.

“What am I going to do?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. But right now, we’re going shopping.”

SELENE

When we stepped into our favorite boutique, I knew it was just the thing Sienna needed to cheer up. I’ve been her sister for long enough to know that when she wants something, she pours every single ounce of herself into getting it.

That means that this party? She’s been working for it every second of every day. Making sure every last detail is perfect. The last time I was over at her house, I found a notebook filled with 30 different variations of eggnog recipes.

The girl does not play when it comes to Christmas.

So we needed to get her mind onto something else, ASAP. When I was in the Christmas spirit, nothing gave me the same sense of purpose as helping out my sister, especially when it involved fashion.

I guided her towards the backroom, where shoes lined every wall. “Sit,” I instructed her, pointing to the plush purple armchair that felt more like a throne whenever you were on it.

Sienna sat, and I helped her take her massive jacket off. Then I crouched down in front of her, so our eyes were level, and stared right at her. “Wipe that self-pity off your face right this damn second, Sienna Mercer-Norwood.”

Surprise filled her face—and then she let out a chuckle.

“Good,” I approved. “Now, since the mimosas aren’t strong enough to get you out of this hole, we’re going to the next rung on the ladder. Shoes.” I swiveled my head around so I was looking at all of the beautiful shoes on display.

There were stilettos, booties, tall boots, pumps—hell, there were even sandals, despite it being December on the East Coast.

When I turned back to Sienna, she was still scanning the walls. Good. I gave her a few more seconds, and then I grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her an intense look. “Point,” I ordered her.

And she did.

She pointed at a pair of burgundy stilettos. Three inches high, with a classic strap and a softly pointed toe, they were classic and modern at the same time. They were hip and fun and elegant, and they were perfect for Christmas.

I grabbed it off the display and walked right up to the salesgirl. “I’ll take these in a size seven,” I told her, heading over to the cash register.

“You can’t buy them for me, Sele—”

“Shut up,” I cut Sienna off as she arrived beside me. “They’re your holiday present. Merry Christmas,” I smiled at her.

She pulled me into a hug. “Thank you!” She exclaimed into my ear. “They’re perfect. Even if everything else isn’t.”

“Screw everything else,” I reminded her. “All that matters is us. And the shoes.”

“To us,” She said, echoing my toast from earlier.

“To us.”

SIENNA

Our shopping trip hadn’t ended at the shoe store—far from it. We’d hit up half a dozen stores, until my outfit had changed from head to toe.

“Holy shit, Sienna,” Selene exclaimed from three feet in front of me. Her eyes were traveling up and down me, and her mouth was wide open.

I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks—being stared at like this always made me a little uncomfortable—but when she whistled to further her point, I had to laugh.

“Stop it, Selene.”

“I mean, god damn,” she continued, ignoring me. “You are a goddess. And I am a genius.”

I looked down at the dress. Selene really did know her fashion, and she’d picked out the perfect look, just for this year’s back-to-back Christmas Party/Yule Ball celebration.

It was black velvet, and it was a masterpiece. It was a form-fitting number with a halter neck that put my cleavage on full display, and it wrapped snugly around the rest of me, ending a couple inches above my knees.

“Come here. Look at yourself,” she instructed, and I walked over to where she was standing, looking in the full-length mirror across from us. I let out a gasp—I couldn’t help it.

The black velvet stood out against my pale skin, making me look luminous. And next to the black material, my luscious red locks popped.

I checked out my feet, secured in the new burgundy stilettos she had just bought me, and I couldn’t help but realize that everything looked…perfect.

It might look perfect, I reminded myself, ~but it’s not.~

Aiden won’t be there.

I sighed, and Selene immediately noticed the mood change. “What is it?”

I looked at my sister—knowing she always saw right through me. “I just wish Aiden could come to the party. I want my mate by my side.”

Selene nodded. “But you’ll see him at the Yule Ball, right?”

“I guess.”

Selene grabbed my hands. “Sister, I love you endlessly, you know that. But Christmas is about everyone that you love. The party will bring everyone together, and you’ll see Aiden a couple hours later. Don’t stress yourself out, okay? You look too damn sexy to be stressed out.”

I smiled at her, letting the wisdom of her words wash over me.

Maybe I was being dramatic. Maybe everything would work out just fine.

***

When I climbed into bed that night, Aiden still wasn’t home from the pack house. I guess he had a ton of last-minute Yule Ball preparations to finish before tomorrow.

And even though the last-minute change of plans wasn’t ideal, I couldn’t really blame him. He was just being a good Alpha.

I sighed, pulling the pillow he slept on closer to me. It smelled like him, and if I couldn’t be cuddling with the man I loved, cuddling with his pillow would be the next best thing.

Everything was set for tomorrow: I decorated the tree, finished the place cards, and arranged the furniture. The caterer was set and the bartenders were confirmed. The party would be perfect... well, no, it wouldn’t be perfect without Aiden.

But it would be pretty damn close.

As I drifted to sleep, I felt a smile gently fill my face. A smile I didn’t even have to think about.

Because on this night before Christmas, even in an empty house, in an empty bed, I knew I was surrounded by love.

Sex?

That was a different story—and it would be rewritten tomorrow, after the chaos of the Yule Ball was finished. Aiden and I would finally be together, uninterrupted by to-do lists or last-minute stressors.

Haze or no haze, we would burn the fires of our passion deep into the night.

But for now, love would have to do.

And the love, it was all here. Warming me from the inside out in this cold, snowy winter.