Bah Humbug Mate by Delta James - Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza

A Mateto Remember

AMystic River Shifters  FlashFiction

By USA Today Bestselling Author  DELTAJAMES

Christmas Day

Seattle, Washington

There were times being the leader of the ShadowSisters, righting wrongs, protectinginnocents and just generally being a badass for good wasn’t all it was crackedup to be. Today was one of those times. The man she knew to be her fated mateslept in the large Victorian brass bed, completely sated, supremely confident,and about to be utterly destroyed.

That she was the architect ofthat destruction was something she had accepted a long time ago. It wasn’t thatshe had set out to destroy him; it was just that she couldn’t indulge herdeepest romantic fantasies until her work was done—and she was a long way frombeing done. Colby would survive, but he was not going to be happy to find hergone.

In a world where humans reignedsupreme, it was tough enough being a female Canadian lynx shifter. Therejuvenation of the Shadow League, a group of assassins controlled by theRuling Council and used for their own nefarious purposes, meant that theircounterpart, the Shadow Sisters, had been restored as well. Aubry Hawthorne, orBrie as she was known to those closest to her, had been chosen to lead thegroup of female shifters who were often referred to as ‘rogue.’

Right now, Brie’s most vexingproblem was her belief—which grew stronger each day—that the League had a fardarker purpose than anyone imagined and answered to a master no one even knewexisted for sure. That wasn’t true. There were those who knew; they justcouldn’t prove it yet.

One of those people was ColbyReynolds, the alpha of the Windsong clowder, her fated mate, and the man thatshe would never see again.

***

Christmas Eve

Seattle,Washington

Brie stood at the edge of theOlympic National Park where the tree line met the sea. Her home, if one couldcall it that, was a primitive cave deep within the Olympic Mountainsthemselves. Right now, she doubted anyone could make out that she was there watching.The spotted pattern of her coat ensured she was well-camouflaged in thisenvironment. She still wasn’t convinced this was a good idea, but she wascertain it needed to be done. Meeting in person with the enigmatic alpha of theWindsong Clowder might be necessary in order to have his continued support, butshe had long ago decided a meeting would be problematic to say the least.

Brie turned away from thestunning view and began to make her way through the forest to the place she’dhidden her clothes so she could shift into her human form, board the ferry toSeattle, and meet this evening with Colby. Somehow, he had managed to secure anentire boutique hotel for their clandestine meeting. The hotel would be closed,and they would be alone. Anyone trying to secretly observe them or overheartheir conversation would have a degree of difficulty that would proveinsurmountable.

Reaching her hidden stash ofclothes, Brie bade her lynx to retreat as the whirling mist of color,lightning, and thunder swirled all around her until the only thing left wasBrie, standing naked in the cold Pacific Northwest winter, pulling on herclothing and boots in order to take the ferry to Seattle.

Sunset and the followingdarkness came early in the Pacific Northwest. By the time she reached thesmall, elegant hotel in the heart of the city, it would be full-on dark. HowColby had arranged for them to meet there was beyond her knowing, but shedidn’t doubt his ability to do anything he wanted to do past him. The tentaclesof his power seemed to have an endless and infinite reach.

Brie knew that many people, ifnot most, preferred daylight to darkness. She was not among them. She hadalways found the night to be the most comforting of shrouds. There were thingsshe could accomplish between dusk and dawn that would have been far moredifficult if not downright impossible.

As she reached her destination,a liveried doorman rushed down the steps to open the door to the limo that hadbeen waiting for her at the dock. The man had style; she had to give him that.

“Ms. Hawthorne, the alpha iswaiting for you in the dining room. Dinner has been laid out and no one willdisturb you. We have a small, but more than adequate security team to ensureyour safety and privacy.”

Brie shook her head. “You doknow this is a bit much, right? We could easily have met somewhere close to thedock or even at the Space Needle.”

“The alpha wanted to ensure youhad the privacy and safety he felt a lady of your importance to the causedeserved.”

Brie snorted a very unladylikelaugh. “No. Your boss is trying to impress me with his wealth and power. Icould care less about either. What I do care about are his intentions and thathe understands the Shadow Sisters will not become one more asset in hiscriminal and espionage circles.”

“I can assure you the alpha…”

“Save it. I’m going to go in,meet with the man and leave. Any deviation or hindrance to my plan will be metwith deadly force. Got it? You might want to let the rest of your team knowthat.”

Brie pushed past him and enteredthe lobby of the beautiful and sophisticated hotel. The overwhelming bout ofdizziness and nausea felt like a blow to the gut and made her falter. She mightactually have been driven to her knees had it not been for the strong, steadyinghand of the man into whose eyes she looked up and found herself mesmerized.

“I wondered if that might not bethe case,” Colby Reynolds purred. “I’ve felt your presence off and on since youleft the ferry. You should know you’ll never be able to completely shut downthe link.”

“You don’t know that for afact,” she said, withdrawing her hand from his.

“I do, but I sense a strongstreak of willfulness in you. Not to worry. I like a good challenge.”

Choosing to ignore what theyboth knew to be true; Brie chose to get their discussion steered back to thereason for this meeting. “I rarely worry about things that don’t matter to me.What does matter to me is your increasing presence in the work of the ShadowSisters.”

Colby smiled and gestured to adarkened dining room lit only by candles, stepping back so she could precedehim. Brie had to hand it to him; he was smooth, polished, had impeccablemanners, and was sexy as hell. She’d never been as instantly and wildlyattracted to a man as she was to Colby Reynolds.

But she guessed that’s whathappened with fated mates.

They spent the next severalhours discussing the Shadow League and their mutual belief that neither theCouncil nor the League itself was the ultimate power behind what was happeningwithin the shifter community at large. Well, at least that was what Brie wasdiscussing. What Colby was discussing was on a whole other level, and Brie didher best to avoid it.

When she felt she’d gotten outof him all that she could, Brie stood, looking down for the brief moment beforehe too got to his feet. “This has been enlightening. It’s good to know we haveyour support—financial and otherwise—if we need it. But for now, the ShadowSisters will continue as we are.”

Colby shook his head. “Thatmakes no sense, Brie. Your network has grown large and unwieldy. You need acentralized headquarters where you can set up an intelligence gathering andanalyzing group. You need far better weapons, computers, and networking thanyou currently have. All of that exists at Windsong and your operatives, as wellas those women needing sanctuary until you can find them a permanent place,could have a safe home from where they could come and go as they please.”

“Here’s the thing, Reynolds, theone question you never answered regardless of how many times or ways I askedit. What’s in it for you?”

“We have the same goals. We wantthe same things. We both hide in different ways, but I am not the enemy of theShadow Sisters. It’s time we banded together to bring down the Shadow Leagueand whoever is truly behind them.” He reached up to tuck a stray lock of hercopper-colored hair behind her ear. “I am not your enemy, either. In fact, weboth know we are so much more to each other.”

“I know no such thing.”

Colby chuckled. All evening,he’d made it clear that he knew why she’d stumbled. He purred to her, foundways to touch her, and she’d been unwilling to put him off. The arousal thathad started swirling in her nether region from the moment she had entered thehotel had been steadily increasing. It now surged through her blood like awildfire out of control—heat, passion, and need churning together into anintoxicating cocktail.

“But you do. It may not be whatyou think you want, but we both know need is riding you hard. The scent of yourarousal calls to me as does everything about you. Would it be so wrong for youto find peace and some kind of solace in this world while you fight the goodfight? Would not we both be stronger if we had the other to lean on?”

Brie thought about going for herknife. She told herself she didn’t as it would mean fighting her way out of thehotel, but she knew that wasn’t the real reason she didn’t jerk her hand awayor offer him any resistance as he led her toward the vintage, two-personelevator and drew her inside, inserting a special key card that would take themto the top floor. She’d seen similar security features in other exclusivehotels.

“Colby,” she said as the doorsopened into a gorgeous room that seemed to take up the entire top floor. A topfloor that had a commanding view of the Seattle skyline and the water below.

She gasped as she walked towardthe windows. “It’s beautiful. It almost feels like we’re hanging in the airwith the stars.”

“I agree. I bought this hotel,refurbished it and created this sanctuary for myself for when I need to be inSeattle. Mystic River is a quiet place of refuge, but my work often requires meto be here. If I cannot persuade you to return to Windsong at my side, perhapswe could find a way to use this hotel to suit our needs.”

She turned, leaning back againstthe window, and smiled at him. She hadn’t realized he’d followed so closelybehind her, but she found his stealth oddly comforting. “Look, Colby, I’m goingto be honest with you. I accepted a long time ago that I was destined to livemy life alone.”

“We both know that destiny hasbrought you to your fated mate.”

Brie nodded. “That might betrue, but I chose a different path early on. There will be no happily everafter for me. I will not rest until I see my sisters free.”

“What makes you think I wouldtry and keep you from your goal, as it is the same one I seek?”

Brie snorted.

“How can you doubt me? Untilrecently my second-in-command was a female snow leopard-shifter. Time andagain, I have lent my support to the Shadow Sisters, asking nothing in return.I don’t doubt your strength, courage, or tenacity, but I sense the part of youthat you keep hidden from the world, maybe even from yourself. You need a matewho can offer you his loving support and passion.”

“And what do you need, Colby?”

“In a word, you. I need to beneeded—not by my clowder or the world at large, but by one woman who wants mefor myself and not for the wealth and power I bring to the table. I long forsomeone with whom I can share all my secrets.”

She got the feeling that therewas so much more to what he was saying than just the words themselves. She knewit couldn’t work, but would it be so wrong just to indulge herself in hispassionate embrace? To know for once and all time what it felt to be loved byher fated mate?

Bah Humbug MateMystic River Shifters Book  SevenDelta James
Genre:  Paranormal RomanceDate of Publication:  11/22/23:ASIN:  B0CGY63Z4KCover Artist: Wicked Smart Designs
Book Description: 
Will a charade under the mistletoe lead to a real love story?
Dash Samuels, a grumpy reindeer shifter, is faced with an ultimatum: marry by Christmas Day or lose his cherished family inheritance. The holidays are his least favorite time of the year and now he needs to find a mate? Panicked, he devises a plan to hire a woman to play his fake fiancée, until the inheritance is secured. But what he never anticipated was the whirlwind of emotions that would follow.
Noel Brooks, a spirited dreamer struggling to make ends meet, agrees to Dash's unconventional proposition out of necessity. The holidays are her favorite time of the year. As they embark on a charade filled with misunderstandings, holiday traditions, and undeniable chemistry, their carefully constructed façade begins to crumble, revealing the cracks in their hearts.
Dash needs to get from a grumpy humbug to a believer if he is going to catch his fated mate before it is too late.
Bah Humbug Mate is an enchanting story that reminds us that sometimes, the greatest gifts come wrapped in unexpected packages – and that true love is the ultimate holiday miracle.
Amazon

Bah Humbug Mate ExcerptA Mystic River Shifters Holiday Novella

“Whatdo you mean I need to be mated by the winter holiday? Are you kidding me?” Dashsaid as he paced back and forth in the attorney’s office.

“Look,Dash, I didn’t write the damn will. Well, I guess technically I did, but yourgrandmother was very particular. She was very angry you left the herd. So, ifyou want to inherit what I agree is rightfully yours, you need to be married bythe holiday deadline.”

“Whichis?”

“December24.”

“Youaren’t serious.”

“I’mafraid I am. Your grandmother took these kinds of things seriously.”

“Forheaven’s sake, Blitz, where the hell am I supposed to find a comely, femalereindeer-shifter in the next…” he glanced at the calendar on the wall“twenty-three days?”

“Honestly,I don’t know, and there are provisions that will have you tied to this girl forat least ten years.”

Dashplopped down in the chair. “A decade? I have to spend a decade with some girl Idon’t even know?”

“Youknow lots of girls,” said Blitzen.

“Andnone of them I’d want to marry.”

“Dude,for that kind of fortune, I’d marry Godzilla.”

“Doyou have her number?”

About the Author:
Delta James is a USA Today bestselling paranormal and contemporary romantic suspense author, whose goal is to captivate readers with stories about complex, curvy heroines and the dominant alpha males who adore them. For Delta, romance is more than just a love story; it’s a journey with challenges and thrills along the way. 
After creating a second chapter for herself that was dramatically different than the first, Delta now resides in Florida where she relaxes on warm summer evenings with her loveable pack of basset hounds as they watch the birds, squirrels and lizards. When not crafting fast-paced tales, she enjoys horseback riding, walks on the beach, and white-water rafting. 
Her readers mean the world to her, and Delta tries to interact personally to as many messages as she can. If you’d like to chat or discuss books, you can find Delta on Instagram, Facebook, and in her private reader group 
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