A Cajun Werewolf Christmas Read online

  A Cajun Werewolf Christmas

  By Selena Blake

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2011 Selena Blake

  Dear Reader,

  This is it! The answer to your Stormy Weather questions. While this isn’t a traditional romance by any stretch, I prefer to think of it as a glimpse of happily ever after or how my Cajun werewolves spend their first Christmas as a pack.

  There aren’t really words to express how much your support has meant to me over the years. That’s an odd place for a writer to be…wordless. So let me just say thank you for taking this journey with me and I truly look forward to sharing more stories with you in the future.

  If you’d like to keep in touch, I encourage your join me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorSelenaBlake or Twitter: http://twitter.com/selenablake.

  As always, I’d love to hear what you think. I can be reached at [email protected] or via my website http://www.selena-blake.com. Sign up for my free newsletter and you’ll gain access to my Free Reads archive.

  Stay sexy,

  Selena

  Dedication

  To Jean, Reagan, Jackie, Ella, Kimberly for your invaluable help and ideas.

  And to all the readers who’ve followed the Deveraux men on their journey. Happy Endings are possible. Dreams do come true. I know this because you’ve helped make my dreams come true. Enjoy!

  Other Books by Selena Blake

  Series: Stormy Weather

  The Cajun’s Captive

  Bitten in the Bayou

  Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf (previously titled Bound & Determined)

  Mated to a Cajun Werewolf

  Stranded with a Cajun Werewolf

  Surprising Darcy

  Just a Little Taste (previously titled The Wine Tasting)

  Series: Deep Space Encounters

  Reclaiming Isis

  Rescuing Natacha

  Azula’s Rebellion

  “Last one to the bottom buys dinner,” Burke Deveraux shouted as he started down the ski slope.

  Showoff. Jules shoved his sunglasses into place and accepted his cousin’s challenge despite his head start. Everyone knew Burke was the best skier in the family, but he wasn’t perfect. Jules had won a challenge last week and he was still patting himself on the back about it.

  With the girls already safely at the bottom, he bent his knees slightly and gave himself over to the speed. Somewhere behind him on the mountain he heard André and Laurent laughing. No doubt his eldest brother wasn’t far behind. The five of them had always been competitive. And the slopes were just one more area where they battled for bragging rights.

  Biting cold hit him square in the face as he raced past a grove of trees. With Burke firmly in his sights, he leaned forward and gave a battle cry.

  “Yer goin’ down,” he called. His cousin didn’t respond. Instead, he wove his big body through a maze of trees and disappeared.

  What the --?

  “Move it, Jules!” Laurent said, almost passing him on the left.

  Their shoulders bumped. “Yer gonna get us killed,” Jules growled, using his elbow to push Laurent away. Wind whistled by his ears and his skis clanked together. Wobbling atop the snow-slicked toothpicks, his stomach knotted. He was going down.

  Summoning his innate grace he straightened and rebalanced. Laurent laughed. No sooner had they separated than André zoomed between them like a rocket on skis.

  “Not cool, mon frère!” Jules called, dodging a rock the size of a Porsche. Out of nowhere, Burke appeared overhead, soaring through the air. Snow rained down. Chuckling, he landed on Jules’ left and kept pace.

  “Show off.”

  Jules banked right toward a straight section and let gravity do the work. Adrenaline rushing, he dared a quick look over his shoulder. Burke was gone again. No doubt barreling through the woods like a crazy backwoodsman.

  “Woohoo!” That sounded like Laurent’s voice, but Jules didn’t dare turn around again. He had André in his sights. But the landing was coming quick.

  At least he wouldn’t be buying dinner. Not that he minded, but he didn’t like to lose. Ever. The row of buildings came into view as he rounded a grove of trees. Burke shot through them and darted in front. Five figures waved up at them. Even from one hundred yards away he could pick out his fiancé. Happy, golden haired, drop-dead gorgeous.

  With his focus on Angelica he didn’t hear Laurent approach until it was too late. His cousin gave him a playful push. Completely off balance, his skis, poles, arms and legs tangled and he cartwheeled across the snow. Even over the impact, the thud of his body making contact with the earth and the clank of ski-against-ski, he heard Angelica’s cry of alarm.

  “Typical,” he muttered, as he pushed himself up. No damage done, except to his pride of course. Being the youngest, he was used to getting picked on. The fact that he stood shoulder to shoulder with everyone but Burke hadn’t made a difference in the pranks.

  But Jules was nothing if not good natured about it. Heaven knew he’d played plenty of tricks on Laurent in the past. But that didn’t stop him from giving Laurent a ‘payback’s a bitch’ look.

  By the time Jules pulled up in front of the Pack, André already had Juliette in his arms. They kissed like they’d been apart for years, rather than minutes.

  “Get a room,” he called before bending over to remove his skis.

  At the whooshing sound, he turned to see Sebastian coming in dead last. Not because of any lack of ski ability. No. The Alpha thought it his place to buy dinner.

  “You big brute,” Angel ground out.

  Before Jules could react she’d whacked Laurent in the nose. Given the size difference, she couldn’t have done much damage but Jules pulled her close anyway. Mouthwateringly sexy in a knee length sweater dress, he let his hand roam over her curves before settling an arm around her waist.

  “Hey, hey. Let me fight my own battles, mon amour.” He brushed as chaste a kiss as he could manage across her lips. She smelled like vanilla and tasted like strawberries.

  She had tears in her eyes but she didn’t let them fall. He didn’t blame her for being protective of him. After all, he felt the same way.

  “Ouch.” Laurent grasped his nose, but Jules could see he was playing up his injuries. His deep brown eyes sparkled over at Jules.

  Though it seemed like ages ago, in reality only five months had passed since he’d been shot by her ex-boyfriend. Bastard. His gentle, artistic Angelica had witnessed the violence first hand. Sometimes he still saw her gaze cloud over and knew she was thinking about that moment and then the scary hours afterward.

  “Serves you right,” Violet said, her brilliant blue eyes glowing beneath dark, perfectly arched brows.

  “You’re gonna take his side?” Laurent teased, his breath coming out in a crystalline cloud. He pulled the vampire into his arms, not bothering to rid himself of his gear.

  “Of course,” Violet said, grasping the front of Laurent’s ski suit, she tugged him forward and kissed his nose.

  “Aww, he’s not hurt. Don’t reward him, Vi,” Jules said. Violet flashed him a grin.

  “So how was it?” Angel asked.

  He frowned, searching his memory for a clue to what she was referring. “How was what?”

  She grinned and as usual, he felt like the sun was shining on him. “Your last trip down the slopes as a single man.”

  He tugged a few of her gorgeous golden locks so that she couldn’t escape his gaze. “Belle, I haven’t been single since the day I met ya.”

  He’d accepted that fact months ago. And nothing had changed in that department. Sure, their Pack had grown, Amanda was going to make him an uncle, Burke had gotten married. André and Laurent had been reunited with their mates.

  But when Jules looked at Angel he saw his future. Five years. Ten. Two hundred and beyond…thanks to his mother’s gift.

  “Oh, he’s good,” Kendall murmured and the others laughed.

  Not normally the type to be overcome by emotion, he couldn’t get over the fact that Angel would never grow old and waste away. He would not lose her.

  Closing his eyes, he hugged her close and sent up silent thanks.

  “Je t’aime,” she whispered.

  She’d been studying French for months. But those were the only words he really cared to teach her. They were words he whispered daily.

  “Come on you two. You’re making a scene,” Sebastian called. “And I’ve got a bet to settle.”

  Angel sighed as Jules pulled back. “Propriety sucks,” he whispered and brushed a kiss across her forehead.

  “You guys should run along. You’re going to need a head start,” Jules called to them, unable to resist throwing down a new bet.

  Laurent and André wheeled back. “What for?”

  “There’s no way you’re going to beat the gift I got the baby,” he replied with a shrug. Angel laughed and squeezed his waist.

  “Baby gift?” Laurent questioned. He gave André a curious glance. Behind them Sebastian laughed, shook his head, and whisked Amanda off.

  Leaving their mates behind, they advanced on Jules.

  “Baby gift?” André parroted.

  “Oui. It is customary to give a new mother gifts for her bébé, is it not?” He glanced down at Angel and she gave a smile and a nod.

  “Well what did you get?” Laurent asked.

  “Ugh uh, cousin…You must find your own gift.” Arm around Angel’s waist, he side stepped his brother
and cousin. “Good luck.” He gave Laurent a pat on the shoulder, chuckling as he strode away.

  Sebastian draped his arm over the back of Amanda’s chair and glanced across the table at his youngest brother. Jules was glowing. So was Angelica. Being a bride suited her.

  Laurent and André were busy on their cell phones. Tracking down a baby gift, he presumed. Jules had thrown down the gauntlet and the others couldn’t resist a challenge. Sebastian might throw his hat into the ring as well so long as Amanda was judging.

  The others kept up a steady stream of chatter as they dined on steak and la bûche de Noël. Amanda smiled up at him and a silent message passed between them. Exactement. This was how it was supposed to be. And now if his bébé would make his entrance, everything would be complete.

  She smiled as he slid his palm over her belly. How a baby could make her so round, he didn’t know. But she looked perfect, plump with his son.

  Manda shook her head. You still think it’s a boy, you arrogant wolf.

  Just betting on the potency of my swimmers, love.

  She sighed, exasperated as usual, and shook her head before glancing over at his brother and cousin.

  “Are you two playing a game?” she asked.

  Laurent and André snapped to attention.

  “Non, Luna. They’re losing a bet,” Jules said with a smirk. He tossed back the rest of his beer and then raised an eyebrow at André.

  “What bet?” Manda sat up as straight as she could, given her condition.

  “Who can buy the baby the best present.” Jules shot André another look of victory over-top Angel’s head.

  “And what did you get him?” Manda asked.

  “I’m not telling, but it should be delivered tomorrow,” Jules replied coyly.

  “I’d rather deliver this baby tomorrow,” she said with a grimace. Sebastian couldn’t help but feel protective over her but she didn’t like him ‘making a fuss.’ It wasn’t his fault that she was a tiny little thing and that she looked ready to pop.

  Okay, so that last part was his fault.

  “It’s a good thing I don’t have to wait a whole nine months for this kid, because I can tell you right now, I wouldn’t make it,” she added, rubbing her belly.

  Sebastian still laughed when he remembered her expression after the doctor had told her that because her baby was half human, half werewolf that her gestation would be closer to six months than nine.

  Euphoric was an understatement.

  “You’d make it sweetheart. You’re a fighter.” He squeezed her shoulders and kissed her cheek.

  “Put the phones away, you don’t need to buy the baby anything.” She punctuated her statement with a grunt. Eight other sets of eyes turned her way. “It’s nothing. Little bugger just kicked--ouch--me.”

  “I think he wants presents,” Jules said with a trademark Deveraux grin.

  Sebastian glanced around the table at each of them still scarcely able to believe that his Pack of five had doubled in less than a year. A year ago he’d been wasting his time with models and celebritaunts. Now he’d all but disappeared from newspapers. The little firecracker who’d stolen his heart all those years ago was ready to burst with their first child.

  Jules would marry Angel in two days time. She suited him well. The frustration that had held both of his brothers in its grip for the last decade was long gone. Angelica let Jules be the man he was. She didn’t seem to care that he wasn’t a silent, serious type. He loved to laugh and always had a joke ready.

  She always laughed.

  Yes, she suited him perfectly. Her flare for the artistic was just what he needed.

  Laurent finally had his Violet back. That day back in August had transformed his youngest cousin. And though the beautiful, blue eyed vamp had given Sebastian a mild heart attack at first - she was a deadly assassin after all - he’d grown fond of her.

  She tried hard at everything she did. Amanda had completely turned over the biscuit baking to the tall, slender vamp and they’d invested in a large butcher block island that could withstand Violet’s strength.

  Violet still worked out every day and encouraged everyone else to do the same. Though her days as a hired gun were over and she was thoroughly ensconced in the Deveraux household, she kept her sword at the ready. He always felt more relaxed knowing that she was watching Amanda’s back, though he knew his brothers and cousins would fight to the death for his precious wife if need be.

  Knowing what she’d been through, what she’d endured so gracefully, Sebastian admired Violet’s vigilance and her love for Laurent.

  His gaze moved to André. His brother threw his head back and laughed at something Juliette had said. Her eyes sparkled up at him and he caught her hand, lifting it to his lips.

  Sebastian had never seen André this happy. Though still intense and sometimes guarded, he smiled often. And Juliette was never far from his side.

  Burke poured himself another cup of coffee and settled back into his chair, Kendall snuggled against his side.

  Sebastian was glad his cousin had worked out his issues with the past. He couldn’t imagine living with a loss like Burke’s for two years let alone two centuries.

  The murder of his beloved was one more reason Sebastian would never return to France, at least not as long as his father, grandfather and uncles were alive. There was the possibility that some of his cousins had turned out okay, but he really didn’t give a shit one way or the other about them.

  He had enough scars to last a lifetime. Hell, his whole pack did. All five of the men at the table had suffered at the hands of their extended family. He thanked his lucky stars that they’d been able to get away when they had, make a new life and never look back.

  Hand on Amanda’s burgeoning belly, he wondered when Burke and Kendall would be making an announcement of their own. True, they’d only been married and mated for a few weeks, but…

  “What are you thinking about so hard?” Manda asked, her small hand covering his.

  “Just how everything turned out.”

  “I couldn’t have planned it better,” she said. But he knew his darling wife. She’d always been a force of nature. As a little girl, she’d gotten her way more often than not. As a teen, she’d been hell on wheels. He’d missed her early twenties. But from the moment she’d settled in as the pack Luna, she’d been running the ship with an iron fist.

  If she’d had her way, none of the Deveraux men would have suffered loss or heartache for a day, much less a century. But fate was its own beast. The best he could hope for was to learn from his mistakes and earn Manda’s love for the rest of forever.

  Full from dinner, Laurent patted his belly before standing. Violet was getting better about blending in in public, ordering a meal and somehow managing to make it disappear. That of course meant he was eating twice as much.

  André and Juliette had left with Jules and Angel a few minutes ago. Burke and Sebastian were still sipping coffee but if he had any hope of winning Jules’ bet, he needed to get to the store pronto. Violet read his mind and stood.

  With a hand at the small of her back, he guided her to the front of the elegant restaurant and handed over his coat ticket. A moment later a woman returned with their things. He gave his mate a quick once over through lowered lashes, wishing he could skip the shopping and have his way with her in Burke’s sauna.

  You’re so naughty.

  You love me for it.

  You know I do. She gave him a secret smile.

  Laurent helped Violet into her coat and handed over her gloves. It didn’t look like they were headed back to the bayou any time soon so they were just going to have to accept the cold. Since she’d discovered cashmere mitten-gloves she didn’t seem quite as eager to head for warmer weather.

  His beautiful mate grabbed the ends of his scarf and pulled him down for a searing kiss. Cold did have its advantages. Long periods of indoor activity, quiet nights in front of the fire, the persistent need to share body heat.