Page 65 of A Pack of Mistletoe
“Which is why,” Harlan continues, taking both my hands and pressing my knuckles to his lips, “we wanted to talk to you about bonding.”
The whole room stills. My pulse roars in my ears.
“You—you want to bond?” I whisper.
Kai pulls my chair gently so I’m facing them all. Every alpha moves closer, their presence wrapping around me like warmth itself.
“Yes, Rosie. Of course we do,” Kai says. “You’re our mate—our everything. The question is, what doyouwant?”
My voice trembles. “I want you.”
Every alpha exhales at once, like they’ve been holding their breath for days.
“Then when your heat comes, whenever that is, we’ll bond,” Harlan promises. “We just needed to know, in case it happens sooner than later like the doctor suggested.”
My insides twist tight. “What if it doesn’t come? What if the drugs broke it? I’ve never had a full heat before and it seems impossible.”
“Nothing about you is broken, Jingles,” Logan says firmly. His words strike straight to my chest. “If your heat doesn’t come, it doesn’t come. We’ll wait.We’ll see. It’s safer during your heat, sure. But if not, we can make a deadline and bond anyway.”
A thread of doubt tugs at me. If they truly wanted to bond, why wait? Why notnow?
Kai sees it immediately. Of course he does. “Christmas,” he says, quiet but sure.
My eyes fly to him.
“If you don’t go into heat by Christmas,” he says, voice steady and warm, “we’ll bond then. I swear it.”
Christmas is in less than two weeks. The room blurs as tears spill freely, joy burning through my chest like sunlight after a long winter.
Purring fills the air—low, melodic, surrounding me.
And for the first time in my life, I feel completely, irrevocably chosen.
Logan
I don’t know how to fucking shop for gifts.
We’re out as a pack without Rose—she’s off shopping with her friends—and apparently, today’s mission is to find her Christmas presents. The problem? I don’t have the faintest fucking idea what to buy.
Thankfully, I’m not the only idiot wandering this mall like a lost tourist. We’ve been circling for almost an hour, and not one of us has picked up a damn thing.
“What about jewelry?” I suggest, already knowing it’s weak.
Kai rolls his eyes. “Have you ever seen Rosie wear jewelry?”
I actually stop and think about it. Damn. He’s right. I’ve never noticed before, probably because she doesn’t need it. Rose has that kind of beauty that doesn’t need help—it’s all soft eyes and messy curls and the way she laughs with her whole body.
“We could get her new stuff for the kitchen,” Wyatt offers.
I snort. “That’s a Wyatt gift, not a Rose gift.”
“Alright, genius,” he fires back, smirking. “What’s a Logan gift?”
“Apparently not jewelry,” I mutter, which earns me a few chuckles.
“Kai, you’ve known her the longest,” Evander says, ever the peacemaker. “What do you think?”
Kai sighs. “I haven’t been in her life for years—since I left to gain a career and a pack, basically. I’ve got about as much insight as you do.”
