The Alpha's Christmas Mate (Uncontrollable Shift Book One) Read online

  The Alpha’s Christmas Mate

  (Uncontrollable Shift Book One)

  By R. E. Butler

  Copyright 2017 R. E. Butler

  The Alpha’s Christmas Mate (Uncontrollable Shift Book One)

  By R. E. Butler

  License Notes

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-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’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  Cover by CT Cover Designs

  This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.

  Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.

  * * *

  Editing by Jennifer Moorman

  * * *

  Heartfelt thanks to:

  Joyce for reading & being the best bestie ever

  Gwen Knight for hooking me up with an amazing set of authors in the Once Upon a Midnight Solstice boxed set

  and my Aunt BL and my husband, BB, who I adore.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Contact the Author

  Other Works by R. E. Butler

  The Alpha’s Christmas Mate (Uncontrollable Shift Book One)

  By R. E. Butler

  When Sugar Pierce is asked to be her adopted sister’s Maid of Honor for her Christmas Eve wedding, she gladly steps into the role. As the only snow leopard in the wolf pack, she’d do anything for her adopted family.

  Alpha lion Maddox Hayes is happy to stand up as Best Man for his only sibling’s marriage to a she-wolf. As alpha, he’s bound by pride laws to mate a lion female, but he’s never met one who makes his beast purr. When he enters the foyer to walk the Maid of Honor down the aisle, he comes face-to-face with the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen in his life. When she promptly shifts into a snow leopard, he knows that he’s in the presence of his true mate. Her uncontrollable shift is proof of that.

  Maddox is eager to make Sugar his mate, even if it means relinquishing his position and power as alpha. As he prepares to step down as alpha, usurpers disregard the pride laws and attempt to take control, forcing Maddox to defend his people and his mate. Will the new couple get to spend their first Christmas together, or will their mating be over before it starts?

  Chapter 1

  Maddox nursed a beer and half-listened to his pride males as they joked about how different life was going to be for his brother, True, in two days. Lions normally didn’t get married. Mating was enough to make their beasts happy, and it was damn permanent. You could toss a wedding ring. You couldn’t toss out a mating scar. But wolves were different than lions, and True’s little she-wolf was very insistent that they get married according to human standards so she could have his last name.

  “If I didn’t say it before,” True said to Maddox, “thanks for standing up with me.”

  “I think it’s my job, being your only brother and all.”

  “I would’ve been happy to be the Best Man,” Vario said. “Rai’s sister is gorgeous. I think when you’re Best Man, you automatically get to fuck the Maid of Honor. It’s like a law or something.”

  Maddox rolled his eyes. Vario spent most of his life thinking with his dick. It was hard not to want to punch him square in the face every time he spouted off one of his insane thoughts.

  “As if her pack would let your mangy ass near her,” True said.

  “She’s not a wolf, though,” Vario said.

  Maddox let out a growl to silence the chatter and stood. He raised his beer bottle. “It’s my brother’s bachelor party. Let’s not forget that this male here,” he said, clapping his brother on the shoulder, “was once such a pussy that he cried at a haunted house.”

  True’s cheeks flamed scarlet. “They had real chainsaws! And I was seven, you dick.”

  “That’s Alpha Dick to you, little brother,” Maddox said.

  True subtly tilted his head and exposed his neck in submission, but he also extended his middle finger, which just made Maddox chuckle. Only his brother, who he loved dearly, could get away with that kind of half-assed respect.

  Vario stood, and the others around the table joined in, lifting their drinks. When True stood, his beer raised high, Maddox touched his beast and roared loudly. The others joined in swiftly; the sound of their combined roars shook the whole bar.

  “Congrats,” Maddox said, clicking the neck of his bottle against True’s.

  The bar was empty, which was one of the perks of owning the place. Mane was a shifter-only bar, one of the few in the area. The pride worked at the bar, and Maddox spent most of his nights dealing with either bar business or pride business, which encompassed his whole life, and that was fine with him. He wasn’t mated, because among the other laws of their kind was a little known one – the alpha was required to mate a lioness, or abdicate his position.

  Someone turned up the music louder, and a few of the males attempted to hustle one another at the pool tables.

  “Was this the bachelor party you pictured?” he asked True.

  “Yeah, actually. I know the guys were pushing for a strip club or something, but I don’t want to look at anyone naked but Rai. It feels disrespectful. Plus, my lion is totally bored with other females. We just want her, all the time.”

  “You don’t have to go into details,” Maddox said.

  “I wasn’t trying to, sorry.”

  “No worries.”

  Silence settled around them for a few moments. Maddox scanned the bar, happy that the males were enjoying themselves, and more importantly, that True was having a good time.

  “I actually thought you’d be married before me,” True said.

  “Marriage is for humans.”

  “And wolves, and probably some other shifter groups. Just because lions traditionally don’t get married doesn’t mean that it’s strange. Family names are important to the pack. Think about it – when you mate a lioness, you’ll have different names. So your cubs will have your last name but not hers. She’ll be like a stranger in her own family.”

  “I don’t think lionesses care.”

  “Maybe they don’t, but maybe no one ever told them it could be different.”

  “Being around wolves is giving you strange thoughts.”

  True chuckled. “I guess so. Saturday afternoon I get to marry my best girl. She’ll be mine legally and everything, and it’s pretty damn cool. I hope you get that someday.”

  True left the table and joined one of the games of pool, and Maddox leaned back in his chair and settled into his thoughts. He’d actually thought he’d be mated by now, too. He was twenty-six. By the time his parents were his age, they’d already had two cubs. When he’d turned sixteen and shifted for the first time, he’d thought that perhaps his beast would want to choose a mate from the eligible females. The cantankerous beast hadn’t so much as twitched a whisker in interest toward any of them. Later, when he’d fought for alpha at twenty-three, he’d wondered if one of them would appeal
to him at that point, but none had. If it weren’t for the alpha female law, Maddox would have looked elsewhere for a mate.

  He was envious of his brother and of the life that he was making with Rai. He’d never seen True as happy as he was with his mate.

  “What are you looking so serious about?” his dad asked, sitting heavily in the chair across from Maddox.

  “Mating.”

  “Being around newly mated couples always makes unmated males and females think about the future.”

  “Maybe.”

  “If you’re ready to settle down, you know you only have one choice unless you want to step down as alpha.”

  There were five unmated females in the pride. Maddox had fucked all of them at one time or another since he’d taken over as alpha. That’s what unmated alphas did – they were expected to keep the unmated females happy, and eventually choose one of them to mate with permanently. Some alphas kept a harem of sorts, never intending to choose one over the others, and have cubs with all of them. But Maddox wasn’t an asshole, and he didn’t want to have cubs with different females, bouncing from bed to bed forever.

  “I don’t want to step down.”

  “Your Uncle Clay’s pride has some eligible females. You could ask if he’d be willing to bring them along to the wedding, to give you a chance to see if any of them make your lion purr.”

  He liked that idea about as much as he liked picking one of the females from his own pride, but maybe his dad was right.

  “I’ll give him a call. Couldn’t hurt.”

  “And you might meet your mate at your brother’s wedding.”

  If that happened, True would never let him live it down.

  Chapter 2

  Sugar Pierce fiddled with the edge of her napkin as she listened to the conversation that flowed back and forth during the rehearsal dinner. Her adopted sister, Rai, was marrying a lion male named True. Sugar hadn’t been sure she’d ever meet a male good enough for her sister, but True was wonderful. He was not only a powerful lion shifter but he was also a gentleman at heart and very sweet with her sister. Rai, who had claimed at age twelve that she’d never marry a gross boy, was head over heels for the lion.

  Sugar was so happy for her sister but also a little jealous. She wished she had someone special in her life. Although she’d dated over the years, no males had ever made her beast purr, and that was a must for her. She believed that the moment she laid eyes on the male meant for her, both she and her cat would be in total agreement. It wouldn’t hurt if he was sex on a stick, too. And a cat like her.

  Not that she’d ever met any other snow leopards. As far as she knew, she was the only one in the states. After her family had been killed by a human hunting party when she was three, she’d been alone in the world. A social worker had taken her to Fell and Penny, who were alpha wolves. Penny had taken her in immediately, called her the daughter of her heart, and given her everything they’d given to their born daughter, Rai.

  “You should make a toast,” Penny whispered, slipping an arm over Sugar’s shoulders. “Rai would love it.”

  “Okay,” Sugar said. She pushed her chair out a bit and stood, tapping her fork on the side of her wine glass. The small crowd quieted, focusing their eyes on her. “I wanted to officially welcome True to the family. Tomorrow afternoon you get to make my sister your wife, and that’s pretty darn awesome. She’s amazing, and I know you’ll have a wonderful life together. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing what a strong mating looks like because of Fell and Penny’s example – so love each other above all else, never go to bed mad, and sometimes let your mate have the kill, even if you tracked it for days.”

  Penny and Fell both chuckled, and so did Rai.

  “To my sister and her mate. I wish you all the happiness in the world.”

  She lifted her glass in the air, and Rai smiled at her with tear-filled eyes. Rai mouthed I love you, and Sugar repeated the silent words. The rest of the long table, filled with members of the pride and pack, lifted their glasses in toast to the couple. Sugar sat down, and her mom patted her hand with a smile.

  Hours later, when the clock was nearing midnight and Sugar was waiting by the passenger door of her SUV, she tried not to hear the noisy goodbye kisses between Rai and True that had been going on for a while. The restaurant parking lot was nearly empty. Fell and Penny waited in their vehicle for Sugar and Rai to get on their way, and one of True’s pride members was waiting in his truck.

  “It’s nearly midnight,” Sugar said loudly. For the third time.

  “I heard you,” Rai murmured between noisy kisses.

  “Okay, it’s just that you said that all the traditions were important, and that means you’ve got a hundred years of bad luck coming if you’re still pawing each other at twelve oh one.”

  Rai squeaked in alarm. “It’s not a hundred years.”

  “Tempt fate, see if I care. It’s not my marriage that’s going to be cursed with bad luck.”

  “You’re so mean,” Rai said. She kissed True again and then sighed loudly. “I better go. Don’t want the fates against us.”

  “I’ll be waiting for you at the altar, love,” True said.

  “Can’t wait. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives,” Rai said.

  They kissed. Again. And then said their mushy sentiments. Rai sat down in the passenger seat, and Sugar shut the door. With a wave at True and his friend and at her parents, she climbed behind the wheel and buckled her seat belt.

  “He’s the sexiest lion ever,” Rai said as she waved out the window at True.

  “If you say so.” Sugar put the SUV in gear and followed their parents out of the parking lot. Tonight, she and Rai were staying at their parents’ house in their old bedroom, a kind of last hurrah for their childhood.

  “Don’t you have a single romantic bone in your body? You used to read romance novels by the truckload.”

  “I’m plenty romantic, but I’m not peeping at your man. The minute you told me he was the one, he became a sexless creature in my mind, only alive to make you happy.”

  Rai snorted. “He’s definitely not sexless.”

  Sugar groaned. She and Rai shared an apartment in a pack-owned apartment complex. Sugar had great hearing thanks to her shifter genetics and even though the apartment was spacious, she heard pretty much everything that went on inside it. Which was why she’d invested in a two-hundred-dollar pair of noise canceling headphones.

  Switching topics, Sugar asked, “What happened to True’s Best Man?”

  “Maddox is the alpha, and there was a problem with a couple in the pride. True didn’t want to go into details, but the gist is that they weren’t mated, sort of just dating, and she’s pregnant and found him with another lioness. Maddox was handling the fall out.”

  “Are lions like that?”

  “Like what?”

  “Cheaters?”

  “Not at all. True said he hadn’t heard of a lion straying like that in his whole life. The female was a little older, like over thirty, and she wanted to have a cub. I don’t understand it all, because True was aggravated on Maddox’s behalf, but it sounded like the male was going along with things until another female showed interest in him. Lions who are mated are just like wolves who are mated – there’s no cheating. I think the guy in question was just an asshole and the female chose poorly.”

  “That’s too bad. But I’m glad that lions don’t cheat. You and True are already mated. I’d hate to have to kill him if he even looked at anyone else.”

  “You’d be in line behind me, mom, and dad if he did.”

  “You chose well. He loves you. It’s sickening.”

  Rai squeezed Sugar’s forearm gently. “It’s only sickening when you’re alone. You’ll find your mate when the time is right. And maybe he’ll be a cat.”

  “I don’t care what he shifts into, or if he even does at all, as long as he’s a good guy. Remember when we were eight and at the pack wedding for Ralph and Debbie? We ta
lked about what our future husbands were going to be like?”

  Rai laughed. “I wanted my future mate to be an alpha like Dad.”

  “And I wanted mine to be a snow leopard so I wouldn’t be the only one.”

  “Dad said he’d help you find other leopards. Why didn’t you ever take him up on it?”

  “I don’t know. It just never seemed like the path my life should take. If I met a snow leopard, I wanted it to happen naturally, not me chasing after a group just because we happened to be the same type of shifter.”

  She parked behind their parents’ car and turned off the engine.

  “Whoever he is, he’s a lucky guy. I just hope that he doesn’t mind living close so we can still hang out. I plan for our kids to be best friends.”

  Rai was leaving the wolf pack to join the lion pride. The pride’s territory was thirty minutes away from pack land.

  “I hope our kids can be close, too. You’re the best sister I could have ever hoped for.”

  “Aw,” Rai said, leaning over and hugging Sugar. “You’re going to make me cry.”

  “Not trying to. Just love you.” Her own eyes were stinging with tears. So much was changing. In twelve hours, her sister was marrying a man and starting a new life with him. The apartment wasn’t going to be the same without her.

  * * *

  The next morning, Sugar took a small sip of champagne and watched as a stylist worked on Rai’s hair. In less than an hour, so much was going to change for Rai. She wouldn’t be Rai Pierce any longer; she’d be Mrs. Rai Hayes.

  “Are you ready to get married?” Sugar asked.

  “So freaking ready. I wish we’d eloped. Then I wouldn’t have had to spend last night without True.”