The Wolf of Christmas Past

“Attention passengers: due to snow in the area, flight 3478 to Granger Falls, Idaho has been delayed. We will update you as soon as we have a new departure time.” 

The chances of me making it to Sawtooth Forest tonight were getting slimmer with each falling snowflake. The forecast had been dire, and this announcement wasn’t unexpected.

My big surprise? I was actually disappointed that I might not get there after all. 

I slowed my pace, no need to run to the terminal anymore. I hadn’t dressed for a brisk jog through the airport with my carry-ons in tow. My boobs had bounced out of my bra, and I’d come close to twisting my ankle more than once in these boots. 

I hadn’t been back to my hometown since the day after I graduated high school. That was as long as my parents could hold off signing a contract promising me to another wolf in the pack. I was lucky—they didn’t need the money so many of my she-wolf friends’ parents needed. So instead of selling me off to a wolf that wasn’t my true mate, I went straight to performing arts school. 

Once I graduated, I hired the best agent I could, and as much as he wanted to take credit for my success, being a shifter is what gave me the ability to morph into any character I played. Job offers rolled in. Having so many choices when my fellow she-wolves had practically none felt like an embarrassment of riches, especially when I landed a starring role on The Wolf’s Moon, playing opposite the biggest shifter actor in the world, Logan Mathis. 

I thought I’d left Granger Falls in the dust for good.

But when Logan had to leave the show unexpectedly due to some technical shifter difficulties—I’m not sure what my NDA will let me say about the situation—my life fell apart too.

 “No one wants to take a chance on a shifter right now, after what happened with The Wolf’s Moon,” my new manager said almost every day in our text messages.

 I should’ve welcomed the break. I’d been working nonstop for twelve years. 

But I didn’t know who I was anymore. And it scared the hell out of me. 

Not to mention my old manager, who’d taken so much credit for my career, had helped himself to most of my money. He’d been slick, and I’d been stupid, mixing my personal life with my professional, and giving him access to all of it. I’d love nothing more than to sue his balls off, but lawyers liked money, and mine was gone. 

Also gone? The support team that kept me functioning as an adult, my house in the Hollywood Hills, the body that used to grace the covers of fitness magazines, and my hope for the future.

So here I was, sitting blissfully unnoticed in the airport as I shoved my boobs back into my bra cups, thinking home had never sounded so good. Or seemed further away than it was right now.

“Are you Amelia Barrett?” A middle-aged woman with a teenager who looked just like her smiled at me hopefully.

“Yes.” I managed the brightest smile I could after a day of travel. When we filmed The Wolf’s Moon, I used to pay to fly my family to me in California. Today, I was traveling coach.

I’d only booked a one-way flight because Mom was right. I did need a total reboot. 

The younger woman frowned at me. I’d been on all the gossip sites lately, and some people thought I was the reason that The Wolf’s Moon was no more. 

“Traveling for the holiday?” I asked before I lost them.

“Yes!” the mom exclaimed. “We know you must be exhausted from all these delays, but can we get a picture with you?” 

I nodded and stood, wondering if I looked like the hot mess I felt like…

How could anyone look good when they were traveling coach? 

Never thought I’d be going home to start my life over, but at this point, it was the only thing I hadn’t tried.

“Can’t wait to see you in your next project!” the younger woman said before walking away. 

Do you even want to be an actress anymore? my she-wolf asked. She’d been questioning everything lately. As much as I wanted to see my family, I was going home for her. Sawtooth she-wolves had gained their freedom, and she wanted to know what that looked like.

But of course I’d act again. This dry spell would clear as soon as something more exciting than the implosion of The Wolf’s Moon took place, but Hollywood had selective memory.

I didn’t want to think about it now. Instead, I pulled up the latest Molly Clarke book on e-reader and settled in to read the dirty shifter romance until the flight started boarding.

I’d never actually been in a relationship with a shifter.

Someone stood beside my chair. Judging from the body heat, they weren’t human, but I didn’t look up from my book.

“Does that happen often? You get recognized in public and have to take pictures with complete strangers?” That voice was all too familiar, even after all these years, and I gasped when I saw who was beside me…

The wolf who knew me better than anyone. At least, he used to.

“Drew Channing.” Emotion rushed through me as I stood on shaky knees. Drew had been my best friend growing up. 

He was also a wolf I thought I could never have because his family didn’t have enough money to buy my mate contract. 

He looked amazing, with shaggy dark hair and tan skin, his body obviously muscular under his cold weather clothes. Even in his human form, his wolf radiated vitality, virility, strength. And something that made the muscles low in my belly do cartwheels. 

The smile that had nearly done me in so many times when I was a teenager hadn’t changed a bit. Those full lips I’d only allowed myself to taste once because I knew I could never have what that kiss promised….

My wolf was standing at attention. He’s your—

Nope! I had no room in my life for inflated expectations or any more disappointments. So whatever warm and fuzzies she was feeling about this unexpected reunion needed to be treated as what it was. A fantasy.

A fantasy I’ve enjoyed many times over the last twelve years…

Drew’s smile faded as the seconds ticked by with my silence. Since the show had ended, I’d learned I wasn’t so good at peopling without a script. I was probably even worse at being a wolf now too.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. Ugh. There was only one thing he could be doing here.

“If I was a betting wolf, I’d say the same thing you are.” He glanced at the lady who’d been sitting next to me, and she slid into the next seat. He took advantage of the opening and sat beside me. “Although, I don’t know if you’ve seen any of the weather reports. We’re about to get walloped from here to Granger Falls. I’d be shocked if we got out tonight.”

“Our flight doesn’t have a departure sign anymore. Everything crossed we actually make it out before the storm hits.” Because I had no room on my credit card for a hotel room. 

“A flight to Granger Falls is most likely staffed by stubborn beasts who won’t admit weather is an obstacle.” He shook his head with an amused smirk. “A lot’s changed there in the last few years. Looking forward to getting back. Did you hear about the big Christmas party at The Redheaded Stepchild? Maybe it’s in honor of the return of our biggest star.”

“Don’t know about that.” I blushed. I was used to being recognized, but it was different with Drew. “Wait. You don’t live in Granger Falls anymore?”

In high school, I would’ve voted Drew Channing least likely to leave the Sawtooth pack. Last I knew, he’d taken a job with search and rescue in Sawtooth Forest. A complete stranger was sitting beside me, and I kicked myself for not keeping up with him. Drifting away from my childhood friends was normal, I’d told myself too many times. I had a busy life, and he did too. 

But it didn’t mean I ever stopped thinking about him…

You did a lot more than that, my wolf sniffed. 

“I got an offer for a search and rescue job in the Canadian Rockies I couldn’t refuse. I get to lead my own team, and the change of scenery is nice. You get tired of the same old wolves, the same old shit year after year. At least things have finally changed at home.”

“When was the last time you were back?” 

“It’s been a few years. Not since my cousin became alpha and changed everything.” His blue eyes were fixed on me, and all the other travelers around us faded away. Twelve years of distance vanished, and now it was just me and Drew again. Like we were sitting under the moonlight, about to make promises we couldn’t keep to each other all over again. “You know those bullshit contracts are null and void now. Wolves are finally free to take their true mates.”

“I heard,” I gulped. Heat radiated off his body. Was his wolf going as crazy inside him as mine was?

Maybe he can finally be yours, my wolf suggested. 

No! He just said he lived in Canada. I’d be going back home, booking another job—

There’s nothing stopping you from finding out how those strong, rough hands would feel like against your skin. If his lips still taste as sweet as they did when you were teenagers. What that body looks like under his winter jacket…

The announcement system crackled, jolting me back to reality, which was probably a blessing, because my she-wolf was insisting on getting me into hot water. 

“May I have your attention please. I’m sorry to announce that due to dangerous weather conditions, flight 3478 to Granger Falls, Idaho, has been canceled.”