A SEAL Wolf Christmas

needed a daytime nap.

She nodded and closed her eyes.

He took a quick, cold shower, then grabbed a pair of fresh boxers, noting that Anna was tucked under the covers and sound asleep. She looked beautiful, her hair tousled and spread out across the white pillowcases, her face angelic in sleep. His undercover operative. His sexy she-wolf.

He finished dressing and headed for the kitchen to get a cup of hot coffee.

Nathan had laid strings of lights all over the couches, getting them ready to put up outside. Bjornolf smiled at him, glad the kid was ready to help. He noticed Nathan had already had eggnog for breakfast, the filmy glass sitting in the kitchen sink. Bjornolf eyed it for a second.

“I didn’t drink any rum in it. Honest,” Nathan said. “You would have smelled it. That’s the problem with living with wolf chaperones.”

“You’re right.” Bjornolf noticed the coffee percolating, but Nathan hadn’t had any. “You having some?”

Nathan shook his head.

“Thanks for fixing it.” Bjornolf poured himself a mug, then said, “Who called? Hunter?”

Nathan’s face turned a light shade of red. “Uh, yeah. You… heard?”

“Yep. Another disadvantage of having wolf chaperones.”

Nathan nodded. “Or teen wolves who can hear all the noise being made down the hall.”

Bjornolf fought a grin. “We were sparring.”

Nathan’s face fell, then the smile returned. “Yeah, right.” When Bjornolf didn’t confirm Nathan’s suspicions one way or another, he asked pointedly, “You’re mated, right?”

Normally, Bjornolf wouldn’t have said. But this wasn’t a normal situation.

“Yeah, we’re hitched, wolf-style.” Meaning mated, no marriage necessary. It was a done deal for life.

Nathan nodded, trying to look serious, but he couldn’t hide a full-fledged grin.

That worried Bjornolf a bit. He hadn’t considered living with Nathan beyond this mission.

“Okay,” Bjornolf said, not willing to ponder the situation further. “Let me talk to Hunter, and then let’s get those lights up. Open house is tomorrow, and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

Bjornolf walked outside into the crisp, cold winter day. He had the phone to his ear as he carried several strands of lights draped over his arm. Nathan had already brought out several more and a ladder, plus plastic hooks to hang the lights to the gutters.

Bjornolf was impressed.

“Is this the right way?” Nathan asked. “I’ve never hung lights up on a house before.”

“That’s it.” Bjornolf heard Hunter’s voice and said, “Bjornolf here. You called?”

“Yeah, you first.”

Bjornolf was watching Nathan as he hung the lights meticulously, making sure the hooks were evenly spaced. The kid was doing a good job, and Bjornolf couldn’t help but be proud of him. His father must have been just as pleased with him.

“I don’t know anything new on the case,” Bjornolf told Hunter.

Nathan looked down at him, all ears.

“That’s not what I meant,” Hunter said.

Bjornolf frowned. “Anna?” he guessed.

“Yeah. Well, what of it?” Hunter sounded growly and protective of his teammate.

Nathan looked like he might be in trouble for having said anything about hearing Anna and Bjornolf last night. Bjornolf raised his brows at Nathan and smiled, reassuring him that he was fine with what Nathan had said to Hunter.

“Sparring practice,” Bjornolf told Hunter.

Nathan grinned and continued hanging more lights.

“Sparring practice,” Hunter said. He didn’t say anything more for a moment.

Bjornolf stepped forward to hand Nathan a new strand of lights. “Yeah.”

“Who won this time?” Hunter finally asked.

“Depends on who’s telling the story.”

Hunter laughed. “I can believe that. How’s Nathan doing?”

“Nathan’s great. He made us coffee. Didn’t drink rum in his eggnog, and he’s hanging Christmas lights on the house. Couldn’t ask for a better kid.”

Nathan’s ears tinged red, but he smiled, and Bjornolf was glad that Nathan heard him praise him. Especially after what had occurred yesterday over the running-to-Portland situation.

“What about the two of you? Can you handle it?”

“He might have to stay at your house at night if he wants to get some sleep,” Bjornolf said.

Nathan quickly shook his head, frowning.

“Forget it. He says no. We’ll get him some earplugs.”

Hunter laughed. Then he got serious again. “Finn discovered that both of the dead men had been working with the DEA. I’m wondering if these agents were investigating someone at the tree farm. What if they learned that the guy was dealing, but before they could report it, the agents were murdered?”

“Or,” Bjornolf said, not liking a different scenario, “what if they couldn’t report it?”

“Meaning the drug dealers were wolves?”

“Yeah. Only they didn’t know you had a pack here and could have helped them out.”

“Sounds like a possibility. It’s not like there’s a map of where lupus garou settlements exist in the States and beyond.”

“What about the Wentworths? Any lead on them?”

“They’ve returned home. Rourke’s headed to their one-and-a-half-million-dollar estate located next to Forest Park in Portland to do an interview on their harrowing adventure. We’re hoping he might learn something.”

“Wentworth?” Nathan asked, climbing down the ladder to move it again.

Bjornolf looked up at him as he climbed back up the ladder. “You know a Wentworth?”

“Everton, the guy who owns the tree farm, has a half brother named William Wentworth.”

“He wouldn’t happen to be ‘the Third,’ would he?” Bjornolf asked.

“Uh, yeah. Everton says it in a sarcastic way as if the dude thinks he’s really cool cuz he’s the Third. I don’t think he likes his half brother at all. Not that I’m really surprised. When Everton was off delivering some trees to customers a couple of days ago, William dropped by to see Jessica’s mom, Dottie. He acted really friendly. Gave her a big hug and kissed her.

“They didn’t realize I was in the back of the shop hanging some fresh Christmas wreaths. When he saw me, he quickly moved away from her and gave me a look that could kill. I just figured the guy was being nice to her because they were related—by marriage. But after the look he gave me, I wondered if something more was going on.”

Bjornolf relayed the message to Hunter.

“We’ll check into it,” Hunter said. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, one other thing struck me as odd. When Anna and I were out investigating the tree farm the night before last, a man named Everton caught us and asked for our ID. I just thought it strange that anyone would be on guard duty watching over a tree farm late at night.”

“Everton?” Nathan asked, pausing to hook up the next section of lights.

Bjornolf was getting a bad feeling about this as he studied Nathan’s frown.

Nathan said, “He never guards the place. At night, he’s always watching sports on TV in the basement. I know because I’ve sneaked in to see Jessica and her dad never knew it.”

Chapter 15

What was Everton doing wandering around the tree farm at night if he didn’t normally do so?

“So what happened at the tree farm, exactly?” Nathan asked, sounding alarmed.