Hot for Xmas

  Hot for Xmas Copyright © 2016 by Trinity Blacio

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  For more information contact:

  Riverdale Avenue Books

  5676 Riverdale Avenue

  Riverdale, NY 10471

  www.riverdaleavebooks.com

  Design by www.formatting4U.com

  Cover by Scott Carpenter

  Digital ISBN 978-1-62601-323-0

  Originally published as by Ravenous Romance as Yuletide Passion, 2012

  Second edition, December 2016

  Chapter One

  Emily gulped down the last of her cold coffee and cringed as she stared at the file in front of her. God, how she hated to work the month of December. There was always that one family that reminded her too much of her own life and, sure enough, this year was no exception.

  Emily Garland was 33 years old. For the past four years, each year the situations seemed to get worse and worse. Last week, the first week in December, she had been handed a special case. A family needed her special skills as a social worker and this one was right on cue.

  The pictures of Mrs. Vango not only sent a shiver down her spine, but also made the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Bruises marred her pretty face. The pictures of her children were horrible; all three children looked as if they had been starved.

  She nibbled at the inside of her cheek. Emily knew the family was in “Their” territory, so why weren’t they stepping up to help this woman? Wasn’t she part of their pack? Why hadn’t she healed, if she was a shifter? Did that mean she was human? Too many questions, but one thing was for sure, she would not let anyone, not even a shifter family, go without or suffer.

  Nothing made her more furious than to see children abused. It most likely had to be because of her background, being abused by her father for more than six years. Yes, she knew what it was like personally and they had only survived because of a caseworker like herself who had stepped in and helped her mother.

  She looked at the picture of herself and her mother that she kept on her desk. Emily had been 13 in the picture. It was two years after their escape and freedom, but sadly enough her mother had died three years later from cancer.

  Alone at the age of 16, Emily had disappeared. Living on the streets, she had refused to go back to her father. Who knew what waited for her there? Not even that great lady could have saved her from her fate, so she had taken off right after her mom’s funeral and never looked back.

  It was time to go. She closed the file and stuffed it into her briefcase and logged off the computer. She wouldn’t be returning to the office after her visit to the family. She planned to head home and soak in a hot bath.

  Her car was packed with groceries, which had stayed nice and cold since it was only 20 degrees outside, one of the curses of living in upper Michigan. Emily even had a 20 pound turkey in the truck and large ham for New Years, along with a key to a local motel room, just in case of an emergency.

  Out of her own money, she had reserved a double room for Mrs. Vango and her family, just in case the asshole husband came home. She had already sent for a locksmith and had deadbolts installed on their doors.

  “Heading out, I see?” Her boss Rose Ann asked as she peeked out of her office.

  “Yes, it’s time I made an appearance. I won’t be back until Monday morning. I’ll going straight home afterword.” She zipped up her heavy-duty coat and pulled on her gloves.

  “Be careful. Mrs. Vango just called to thank you for the deadbolts, seems the husband tried to come back last night, but the cops were there. So she was real grateful for the extra protection. You know you don’t have to do that, use your own money. Make sure you call me when you get home.”

  She shrugged. “It’s not like I have much use for all that money. My mom made sure I was well taken care of, even if I didn’t get it until I turned 21. I’ll call when I get home. See you later.” Emily was thankful her boss worried for her. The FBI still couldn’t find any trace of the last three men she had dated and everyone was worried.

  She waved and pushed open the door, the cold wind blew inside as she dashed out into the parking lot and clicked the key to the unlock her Ford Escape. Her Browning Buckmark pistol was in the center console. Emily made sure to go to the shooting range at least once a week and she carried a special permit to carry her pistol anywhere.

  All the way to Amy Vango’s home she worked out in her head how to explain all the things she had bought for the family. Her boss hadn’t known, but she had also had three bricks of wood delivered yesterday, just to make sure the family would have some for heat.

  Was the alpha of the local pack even aware of what was happening to this family? She had heard that four alpha males ran the pack. They were supposed to be very wise businessmen, but if that was the case, then how had they allowed this happen?

  Shifters and other paranormals hadn’t been introduced into the general public yet, but slowly the government officials had let certain groups work with them. Emily had trained for an extra two years on how to handle pack and clan issues. Now her training would be put to use. She only hoped she didn’t blow it.

  Her car hit a large pothole, drawing her out of her straying thoughts. She pulled onto the hidden drive and cringed. The large home before her had one window with wood covering it, gutters hanging loose, swinging in the air, just waiting for enough wind to send them falling.

  She parked her car behind a rusted out truck. A tall thin boy was trying to build a snowman in front of the house with no gloves. That must be Travis, age 12.

  The boy stopped what he was doing the minute she had turned the car off, and ran up the stairs. The front door now stood open. Amy Vango was taller than Emily, and her grip on her son’s shoulder indicated her nervousness.

  “Can I help you with something?” she asked, as Emily stepped out of the car. Immediately, she noticed four snowmobiles parked around the side of the house.

  “Well, if that is Travis, I sure could use his help to bring in the things I have for you. My name is Emily Garland, we talked earlier?”

  The woman relaxed her hold on her son and nodded to him. Travis carefully moved to the back of Emily’s car, and she smiled at the boy.

  She pushed a latch and popped the back hatch. Emily pointed to the Macy’s bad on the left. “That bag is yours, this one is your sisters’, and the other one there is your little brother’s.” She handed him.

  “I’m afraid we’ll have to make several trips. I don’t want your mom lifting anything. I have your mom’s bags in the back seat, I’ll grab those.” She opened the side door and took the bags meant for Amy along with a bag of groceries.

  Travis still stood there and stared at her. He’d opened his bag. His hand gripped tight on the new winter coat he’d found in it.

  “I hope it fits you. The lady at the story told me all the boys around here were wearing them, and that it would keep a body warm enough for our winters here.”

  He nodded as they moved up to the house. “All my friends have this coat, thank you.”

  Emily almost ran into Travis’s back when he stopped in front of her. Her gaze jumped to the front door and she yanked Travis behind her.

  She took two steps forward and glared at the tall, black, muscled man. He wore long dreads that hung past his massive shoulders, but what was totally out of place was the black dress pants and dress shir
t he wore. That, and his blue eyes. His gaze traveled down her body, then back to her face. He fit the description she’d heard about of one of the alphas, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

  This was not the husband, that was certain, but she didn’t know if he was related to the father and if he was here to hassle this family. Emily was not taking any chances.

  “Who are you? I’m warning you, if you’re here to hurt this family, I’ll have your ass thrown in jail.”

  Her next sentence stopped dead, unheard in her suddenly dry mouth. Three others slid in behind the man before her, the Alphas. All of them looked like they belonged on a football team or in the marines, they were so big.

  For some reason she couldn’t understand, her body suddenly came alive. Her nipples hardened, and her pussy grew damp, but she ignored those things as fear skated down her spine. She had come here for a purpose, now she only hoped all her training didn’t disappear on her.

  She fumbled with her phone in her pocket, as she got ready to call the cops, in case they were not the Alphas. A small whimper slipped out, when her phone slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground.

  The one dressed in black dress pants and the white shirt smiled and she snapped. “Are you the Alphas? Because if you’re not, don’t think I’ll back down. I don’t care how big you or your friends are.”

  Travis laid his hand on her arm, drawing her attention, and she could have sworn one of the men had growled.

  “They are not related to my Dad. These men are here to help, like you are.” Travis pushed his way past the men into the house and she followed.

  “Are there more bags in the car?” one of the men asked and Travis nodded.

  “It looks like she bought out the grocery store. There is even a big turkey and a ham.” Travis greeted his mom when both of them came into the living room.

  “And she brought winter clothes for all of us.” Travis handed his younger brother Duke and sister Rain their bags.

  “If something does not fit, please let me know. I can take them back. Here, these are for you.” She handed Amy her bags, only to see tears roll down the woman’s face.

  “I don’t know how I can thank you. You’re the one who sent us the wood too, didn’t you?”

  The one with the dreads stopped in the living room and stared at her with bags in his arms. “Why are you doing this? You want something?”

  She reined in her anger, it wouldn’t do any good going off on any of the Alphas, but God she wanted to… “Excuse me? What business is it of yours what I do with my money? I don’t see you doing anything,” she snapped, once more her anger controlled her.

  “Please Baas, Emily has only helped.” Amy pleaded with the man.

  “Mrs. Vango, Sir, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at him, it just this brings back so many memories.” She smiled as she placed her hand on the woman’s arm, but she flinched stepping back.

  “They only came here to see what we needed. They just found out what had happened to us. My husband kept us pretty secluded here.”

  “You see, we take care of our friends and neighbors.” One of the other men said, coming into the room carrying the turkey and ham. “My name is Abe, the one being a supreme alpha dickhead is Baas. Thank you for all you have done for our friends. I don’t know how, but you thought of everything.” He grinned at her right before he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

  She reached up and touched where he had kissed her, before she shook her head. “I don’t mind…” Emily turned to Amy. “In a lot of ways we have many things in common. I have one more thing for you.” She sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her.

  Keeping her gaze on the men, she tried hard to not let that small kiss affect her. Every hormone in her body had to be doing the Scooby Dance.

  Amy sat done next to her and she grinned. She hated having an audience, but Emily would not hesitate to make sure this woman had a backup plan.

  Chapter Two

  Baas leaned against the doorframe and listened to the social worker. The brothers of his heart were behind him, putting the groceries away. She was special. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

  “A long time ago my mother and I were in the same boat you are in, but in that time we had to leave. We had no place to go, no money, nothing. My father was very abusive to my mother and then eventually to me.” She reached into her purse and took out a large envelope.

  “A woman came along and helped us. She gave my mom a place that would be open for a month, free of rent. This place is all paid up and there is over $4000 in here, all in traveler’s checks in your name.” She patted the envelope.

  Emily glanced up at them when they came into the room and she nodded. “I know you have their help now, but sometimes not even the authorities or people in high position can help. Believe me, I’m still dealing with that part.” She snorted and turned back to Amy.

  Why did the thought of someone hurting this woman have the wolf inside Baas growling, ready to hunt?

  “I can’t take this, it’s too much,” Amy glanced at him then back to Emily.

  Emily took Amy’s hands in her small ones. “Amy, my mom and I only had a few years together after we left my father, but those were the best years of my life. Even though my mother died when I was 16, I was safe and she was at peace, finally. Please let me help. In a way I know my mom would approve. It’s her money that allows me to do this.”

  Amy flung her arms around the woman’s neck, and Baas felt a growl rise. Amy continued, “You are always welcome in my home, thank you.”

  Emily looked around her, than leaned near Amy and whispered into her ear, but he heard everything.

  “At my house, I have Christmas gifts for you and the kids. Can’t have Santa not give everyone a gift, I’ve also have a tree if you need it. Can I bring everything by when the kids are at school?”

  “You know who she is don’t you?” Abe slid in next to Baas and nudged him as he cracked his neck. “I feel a hunt coming on very soon.”

  “She’s human.” He glanced over at Abe, but only for a minute. Baas could not stop staring at the small female. Somehow, she was theirs, but they would have to take it slow. She had a small scar under her left eye, her eyes were dark brown. Emily Garland may only stand as tall as his shoulder, but her body was curvy and full.

  “The signs are all there, Baas. She’s ours and I’m not giving her up.” Abe moved into the living room.

  “We aren’t. I just wanted to remind you that we must take it slow. We don’t know what she knows of us. She might know we are wolves, but does she know about the other?”

  Baas ruffled the Travis’s hair and knelt down next to him. “Here is a cell phone I bought for you and your mother. If anything goes wrong you are to call us immediately. I have programed our numbers in there for you. You are the man of the house now Travis.”

  The boy puffed out his chest and nodded. “I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t, but don’t let the heavy load make you forget your friends. You can still be man of the house and have fun.” He stood and smiled at the boy.

  “The father will be no problem. We have made sure that Amy and the children are protected. You might not see them, but we have men searching all around.” His gaze met Emily’s.

  “I haven’t seen you in town before? Are you new?”

  Emily shrugged. “I live in Iron Mountain, so I’m sure you wouldn’t have seen me.” She turned back to Amy. “I have to leave now. Its a little drive and I don’t like doing it at night. I have another load of wood coming tomorrow for you. It should be enough to last for the next month.” She stood and hugged Amy.

  “Let me walk you out,” Baas said, and held open the door, not giving her a chance to say no.

  “Thank you.” Emily frowned as he followed her to her car, his brothers stood off to the side, watching.

  “I would like to apologize for earlier. I was out of hand and had no right to accuse you of anything. I’m a
fraid you took us by surprise. We’re not used to others helping our kind.”

  She leaned against her car and looked up at him. “I’ll accept your apology, but I hope you are right and can protect her.”

  Emily looked down at her hands. “No woman should be afraid like that.”

  Her cellphone went off and she grabbed it sitting down in her car seat.

  “Hello.” She smiled up at him as he waited.

  One thing about being a werewolves his hearing was superb and he would be able to her everything that was said.

  “Ms. Garland, this is Agent Mathews. We need you down at the local police station please.”

  Emily stiffened. “What’s wrong?”

  His brothers moved closer, watching him more than her. Every instinct in him was telling him something was wrong.

  “I can’t really get into it over the phone, but we have found your missing friends and Ms. Garland. They are all dead.”

  Her face paled and tears rolled down her face. “You think I’m responsible?” She squealed. “Do I need to bring a lawyer?” Her lips went flat and she grabbed onto the steering wheel, her knuckles turned white.

  “For now we just need you down here, before the press gets hold of this.” The agent hung up the phone and she sat there stunned.

  “Abe, take the four wheelers home, you can leave mine here for the family in case of an emergency. Get the truck and meet us at the police station. Scoot over Emily, I’m going with you.” Baas took the keys out of her hand and stared down at her.

  She shook her head. “What, what are you talking about?” Emily frowned, but for only for a moment before her eyes got big and she stared up at him.

  “You heard everything, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, and I’m an attorney, now move over. You can fill me in on what is going on while I drive to the police station.” Baas didn’t give her a chance to think as he picked her up and moved her around the passenger side.

  Sam had the door open for him as he placed her in the seat and buckled her seat belt. He stalked back towards the driver’s side as Sam leaned in and kissed Emily on the cheek.