Miss Claus Under The Mistletoe (A Shifter Christmas Romance Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Miss Claus Under The Mistletoe

  A Shifter Christmas Romance

  Book 2

  J.L. Hendricks

  This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Copyright (c) 2017 J.L. Hendricks

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy.

  Cover Design by Roz Marshall of Alba Covers

  Edited by Jen McDonnell of Bird’s Eye Books

  First Edition December, 2017

  All rights reserved. Copyright © 2017 J.L. Hendricks

  Other Books by J.L. Hendricks

  The Voodoo Dolls

  Ø Book 0 – The Voodoo That You Do

  Ø Book 0 – Magic’s Not Real

  Ø Book 1 –New Orleans Magic

  Ø Book 2 – Hurricane of Magic

  Ø Book 3 – Council of Magic

  Alpha Alien Abduction Tales Series

  Ø Book 0: Worlds Revealed (join my Newsletter to get this exclusive freebie)

  Ø Book 1: Worlds Away

  Ø Book 2: Worlds Collide

  Ø Book 2.5: Worlds Explode

  Ø Book 3: Worlds Entwined

  A Shifter Christmas Romance Series

  Ø Book 0: Santa Meets Mrs. Claus

  Ø Book 1: Miss Claus and the Secret Santa

  Ø Book 2: Miss Claus under the Mistletoe

  Ø Book 3: Miss Claus and the Christmas Wedding (Christmas 2018)

  The FBI Dragon Chronicles

  Ø Book 1: A Ritual Of Fire

  Ø Book 2: Coming soon!

  The Original Eclipse Series

  Ø Book 0 – Eclipse of the Beginning

  Ø Book 1 –Eclipse of the Warrior

  Ø Book 2– Eclipse of Power (coming soon)

  Ø Book 3 –Eclipse of the Heart (coming soon)

  Origins of the Eclipse Series – set in the Eclipse Universe but is freestanding

  Ø Book 1 – The Eclipse of Time

  Anthologies

  Ø The Expanding Universe 2

  Ø Glimpse (An original short story set in the Eclipse Universe)

  See these titles and more at https://www.jlhendricksauthor.com/

  Table of Contents

  Other Books by J.L. Hendricks

  Newsletter Sign-up

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

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  By signing up for my newsletter, you will get a free copy of Santa Meets Mrs. Claus, a 13K word prequel story.

  Chapter 1

  “Who. The. Heck. Are. You?” I asked as I flipped an attacker over my shoulder after he pulled me into the alley we were in. He grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth with his hand.

  He grunted but did not answer me.

  It was fall in Seattle and I was heading back to my apartment after going out for dinner with some friends.

  The stranger in faded blue jeans, a gray hoodie, and black beanie continued his attempts to hit me. Too bad for him, I just happened to be one of the most highly trained girls in Seattle. My entire life I was trained in various forms of martial arts, including Jiu Jitsu and Kick Boxing.

  He had no clue who he was messing with.

  “You won’t get my purse, or whatever it is you’re after, so you should just give up now before I hurt you.” I had been holding back, he didn’t know it, yet.

  “Never.” He said through clenched teeth. His stormy grey eyes locked on my face.

  “Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I countered when I blocked a punch aimed for my nose.

  My roundhouse kick was known to knock out a few of the male wolves from my pack. I wondered how it would affect a human. Although, he was strong and resilient, his smell was not quite human. He didn’t smell like a wolf shifter, he was something…different.

  When my foot hit his head halfway through my roundhouse, he dropped to the ground in a puddle. At least he wasn’t strong enough to beat my best move. The guy wasn’t moving but I needed to get him tied up, and fast.

  The alley we were in had trash and empty boxes strewn about. The smell of garbage and decay was fairly strong. My nose burned at the intense putrid stench.

  Ignoring the offending odors, I looked for some rope to tie the guy up with before he came to. He should be out for at least five minutes.

  He was only out for a minute, maybe less, and he got back up and stalked toward me. I sensed him more than heard him. The guy was putting off an air of fury and I knew he had been holding back as well when he pulled me by my shirt collar and threw me against the wall.

  “Listen up, girl! You are coming with me, either nicely or by force.” His hands fisted at his side as he came closer to me.

  There was no way I was going to let some punk beat me up and kidnap me from an alley. I was the daughter of a Santa Claus for Pete’s sake! Most males couldn’t stand up to me.

  “Sorry, but no one takes me against my will.” I mentally threw off my gloves and stood in a fighting stance with my feet shoulder width apart and put my fists up, ready to fight like I have never fought before. There would be no mercy for this rat!

  I was prepared to fight to the death if need be.

  I fight better in my Arctic Wolf form, and it would really scare the guy,
but, we had a hard and fast rule: no shifting anywhere near humans. Even though this guy wasn’t fully human, he may not know about shifters. I couldn’t break the rules. This fight would take longer, but I still would kick his butt to kingdom come.

  The stranger didn’t have a chance to get close enough for me to hit him. Something swooped down and snatched him up into the air. It was dark and cloudy, but it looked like someone was flying in a large kite. Or was it a small hang glider? How did it fit in the alley?

  The thing that swooped down was all black and had a tail like a kite with wings similar to a hang glider. The tail swooshed into the brick building causing several bricks to fall into the alley.

  Whatever it is, it isn’t a hang glider.

  Shock caused me to stand stock-still for a few moments before my senses kicked in and I realized a mythical creature had just plucked my attacker away from me.

  Was he saving me or helping the assailant get away?

  “Son of a nutcracker!” I said as I blinked away the image before my eyes.

  I ran out of the alley, looking to the sky, and almost missed the guy on the sidewalk. Abruptly, I stopped short of running into him. “Oh! Sorry! I didn’t see you.”

  “It’s alright. Are you okay?” The guy on the sidewalk put his hands on my shoulders to steady me.

  I felt a spark of recognition but ignored it thinking he was just someone from class. I had just graduated a few months earlier from the University of Washington.

  “I’m fine. Are you alright?” I questioned, hoping I hadn’t stepped on his toes or something else just as embarrassing.

  He smiled before answering, “I’m just fine. Don’t worry about me. It’s pretty late. Shouldn’t you be at home or have someone escorting you? The streets in this neighborhood aren’t a safe place at this time of night for a beautiful girl.”

  My cheeks burned and I hoped he couldn’t see me blush. “I live a few blocks from here. I’m fine. But thank you.”

  Funny he should mention my safety right after I fended off an attacker. Then I realized I had been distracted and lost any possibility of finding the idiot who tried to hurt me, or the thing who grabbed him out of the alley.

  I stood up straighter and tried to straighten out my shirt. It was probably ripped from when the guy threw me against the wall. And I was positive I smelled like a dirty alley.

  “May I walk you home? Just to make sure no one tries anything funny with you?” He asked politely.

  “Um, I don’t know you. How do I know you won’t try something funny?” I arched an eyebrow and looked him in the eye.

  He chuckled, “Where are my manners? I’m Jax Caspian. Nice to meet you…?”

  “I’m Mandy, Mandy Kringle.” I put my hand out to shake his extended one.

  “Any relation to Kris Kringle?” Jax smiled as he teased me.

  It wasn’t like I hadn’t heard all of the Santa jokes since I started college. Thankfully, growing up I was schooled with my pack, so everyone knew the truth and no one dared to tease me back home. Well, I was never bullied. Boys did tease me. Momma said it was because they liked me, and were too afraid to ask me out.

  “Yes. I’m actually his sister.” I smiled and waited for him to laugh as most did when I responded with the line.

  I wondered how he would react if he knew I really was sister-in-law to the current Santa Claus. The Santa line runs through my family. Palo, the current Santa, mated into it.

  “Nice. Do you know if I’m on the naughty or nice list this year?” Jax’s mouth formed a straight, tight line in an effort to hide his mirth from me.

  “Ha ha. You know as well as I do that only Santa and the head elf get to see the naughty and nice list.” I got the feeling Jax wasn’t human.

  A niggling feeling at the back of my head made me think for just a second he was involved with my attacker. The timing was suspect. I decided to let him walk me home so I could ascertain if he was a stalker or just a nice guy who was in the wrong place at the right time.

  The longer we walked together, the more comfortable he became with me. The more comfortable he became, the faster his guard went down, and the more I could scent his shifter blood. He wasn’t an arctic wolf like I was. He was something I hadn’t smelled before.

  Jax’s scent was old. While it smelled like pine mixed with a forest fire, and sulfur, it was actually quite intoxicating. Somewhere I also scented something sweet, like berry. If possible, I hoped to see him again.

  I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. I hoped he wasn’t a criminal. He showed up at just the right time. I’d lived in Seattle for four years and had only come across a handful of shifters. There was a pack of bear shifters not too far from here, but they were cool and never bothered me.

  Looking into the sky for any sign of the creature who stole my prey, I sensed Jax walking very closely to my right side. Like a gentleman would, he chose the side closest to the street. There was a time when a man would always stand between a woman and the street in an effort to protect her. Having him next to me gave me a sense of safety.

  “So, what do you do for a living?” I wondered aloud.

  “Rescue damsels in distress.” Jax looked at me and smiled.

  My eyes turned to his as a small smile tried to appear on my face. “Really? Do you get many opportunities here in Seattle?”

  I could play along.

  If he was a shifter, he had to sense my blood as well. Did he know exactly who I was? Or was he just doing a good deed for a fellow shifter?

  “You’d be surprised at how busy I stay. Even on my nights off, like tonight, I can usually find a woman who needs my help.” He winked at me.

  His eyes were such a light blue they were practically silver in the low lighting. A shiver went up my spine as I stared into his tantalizing face.

  “Hmm. Well. I didn’t really need your help. I’m only a couple of blocks from home, and the only thing I was in danger of was falling into you.” I tilted my head and smirked before crossing the street.

  I could usually sense when someone had bad intentions. Jax didn’t give off those kinds of vibes. If anything, he seemed interested in me. He kept looking into my eyes and smiling.

  This handsome stranger’s timing was strange, though.

  Jax was cute. I couldn’t really tell his age, but he appeared to be in his early twenties. He had on a nice pair of black jeans, thankfully not skinny jeans. I really hated a guy who wore girl’s jeans. His black leather jacket covered up most of his maroon shirt, but the collar showed just above the top of the zipper. His black leather boots were something one might wear hiking.

  “I thought I heard some commotion in the alley before you came out. Was there someone, or something, in there with you?” He turned his head back the way we came and stared.

  “It was nothing, just an animal. I can handle myself. Thank you for your concern.” We had just come to my building and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention.

  Someone was watching us.

  Chapter 2

  “Are you sure it was just an animal?” Jax looked around as though he sensed the same thing I did and was looking for whoever was stupid enough to spy on the two of us.

  I turned around to where I felt the strongest sense of peeping eyes and could have sworn someone was in the shadows staring me down. “Look, there!” I pointed to the side street across from my apartment complex.

  “Go inside and lock your doors, I’ll see who it is.” Jax ran off, leaving me alone in front of my building.

  I ignored his order and continued to wait outside.

  It was times like these when I wished I had my sister Lizzie’s powers, and could make anyone stop their aggression and crave peace instead of violence. Only Mrs. Claus could do that, though and I never had any desire to be married to Santa Claus, no matter who he may have been.

  Although, I might have considered it if Rock had been the one the Christmas Magic had settled on. I have been in love with
him since I was twelve years old.

  Rock is our pack’s Beta and was almost Alpha. Lizzie was supposed to marry him- not that she wanted to. She had always been good friends with Rock, and had never been the slightest bit interested in being more than a friend.

  In our society, an Alpha and his mate ruled the pack together. The Beta was second in charge. In any other pack, the Beta could challenge the Alpha for his role, but in our pack, no one was allowed to challenge Santa. Christmas Magic chose who Santa would be.

  Most packs had only a couple of Betas to help run things. We were one of the largest packs in the world so we had more Betas than most packs had members. Rock ruled the Betas. He was number one, next to Santa. Anyone in our pack who didn’t recognize Rock as the lead Beta was usually taught a very painful lesson.

  My family, while technically part of the pack, was left out of the pack standing, except for Santa and Mrs. Claus. My sisters and I would be treated like Betas instead of Omegas, but we never did anything to help run the pack. Our jobs were to help with Christmas preparations or mate outside the pack to help strengthen political ties. At least that was what tradition stated.

  I never planned to mate anyone unless he was my one true fated mate. My family knew this and understood. My younger twin sisters, well…they still had no clue what they wanted.

  Thank goodness Christmas wanted someone else to be its Santa.

  Normally, the next Santa was the current Santa’s oldest son. However, my dad didn’t have any boys- he had four girls! Lizzie was the oldest and had been groomed from early on to be Mrs. Claus. Whoever she married would be the next Santa.

  A cat hissed and brought me back to my current situation. Jax was running to catch the guy who had been spying on us.

  Standing where Jax left me and wringing my hands in worry, I heard some trash cans fall over, and the metal lids clang against the pavement. Not wanting the poor guy to get hurt, I ran across the street, hoping I could help him in some way.

  “Jax? Is everything alright?” I called out.

  I couldn’t see him or the guy he chased. That nagging voice in the back of my head was telling me to get out of here. I usually followed it, so I went back to stand in front of my apartment and decided to wait a few minutes to see if Jax returned or not.