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

  “If you tried to elope, your dad would have strung True up by his thumbs,” her mom said.

  “That’s a good point,” Sugar said. “Dad would’ve been mad if he hadn’t been able to walk you down the aisle.”

  Rai wrinkled her nose. “You just wait until you meet your mate, Sugar. Then you’ll know what torture it is to be away from him for even half a day.”

  Sugar rolled her eyes but smiled at her sister anyway. It was her wedding day. She was allowed to be a nut.

  “Oh, I have a surprise for you!” Rai said, clapping her hands. “It’s on the table in the pink bag.”

  Sugar walked to the table in the corner of the dressing room and lifted the pink bag with the curling ribbon spirals on the handle and walked over to her sister. She reached into the bag and lifted out a crystal and pearl headband.

  “See? It matches the clip for my veil,” Rai said, lifting the long veil that she held in her lap. Rhinestone flowers with pearl accents adorned the lovely, ornate headband.

  Sugar leaned over and kissed Rai on the cheek. “It’s beautiful. I love it.”

  She turned to a long mirror and slid it onto her head. It looked lovely buried in her long, dark brown tresses that had been painstakingly curled by the stylist.

  Her mom came to stand next to her, resting her hands on Sugar’s shoulders. “I don’t want to make you cry, sweetie, but you’re so beautiful. I know your parents are looking down from heaven with big smiles on their faces.”

  “I thought you weren’t trying to make me cry,” Sugar said, blinking rapidly to dispel the sudden tears.

  Penny chuckled as she dabbed at her own eyes with a handkerchief after handing one to Sugar. Rai joined them, and Penny hugged both girls close. “My sweet girls. I love you both dearly.”

  There was a soft knock on the door of the dressing room, and Penny hurried to open it. “They’re ready to start,” Fell said.

  Sugar lifted two bouquets from the table. Rai had chosen a Christmas theme for the wedding, and the bouquets had been arranged to coordinate with the holiday. Nestled among the snow-white roses were bright red poinsettias. Sugar’s bouquet was a smaller version of Rai’s. Sugar’s knee-length, lacy gown was the same crimson shade of the poinsettias.

  Sugar left Rai in the hallway with their dad, walking with her mom to where the pack and pride had gathered in one of the large banquet rooms before the ceremony. The doors to the room were closed, and two males, who were part of the pride Rai would be joining, stood outside of the doors wearing red vests and ties beneath black suits.

  Soft strains of music filtered through the doors, and Sugar’s cat rolled inside her, purring loudly and making Sugar startle.

  “Are you okay?” Penny asked.

  “Yeah,” Sugar said, shaking her head and trying to push away her cat. She felt like she could shift at any moment, as if her cat was right under her skin, ready to spring forth. “I feel weird.”

  “Now is not the time,” Penny said.

  Sweat beaded on Sugar’s forehead, and her ears buzzed. Her vision tunneled as she gripped the bouquet so hard that the stems cracked. She glanced at her mom and realized she’d missed her leaving the foyer to walk down the aisle with one of the ushers. The doors had shut, and Sugar was alone with the lion males.

  “What the hell?” she whispered to herself.

  Her cat went silent for a long moment, and Sugar breathed deeply in relief. And then her cat went nuts; the whole world narrowed down to a male striding down the hallway toward her. He was gorgeous. He was alpha powerful. And he was hers.

  Chapter 3

  Maddox decided the stupidest decision he’d ever made was to ask his uncle to bring a few unmated lionesses to the wedding. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t already feeling some pressure to choose a mate from the pride, but now he was surrounded by three mate-seeking, aggressive lionesses who weren’t interested in anything but getting his pants off and becoming alpha female.

  His uncle had shown up last night with the females in tow, and they’d taken one look at Maddox and politeness went out the window. They didn’t care about him personally; they cared that he was single and alpha. The three females were pretty, and they were powerful lionesses, but once more he found his beast not so much as casting a glance in their direction. This attempt to find a lioness to make his lion happy had failed, and he’d spent the night fending off the lionesses.

  Glory, Vanna, and Autumn were nothing but rank-chasing females, looking to be alpha female and nothing more.

  “I don’t know why you’re so pissed,” True said as he looked in the long mirror hanging on the wall of the dressing room and adjusted his tie for the tenth time.

  “I’m not.”

  With a snort, True said, “You’ve been growling since Uncle Clay showed up with the females. He did what you asked, and you’re mad.”

  “I shouldn’t have asked. They’re no different than the females in our pride.”

  “So why did you ask?”

  True turned to face him. Maddox ran his finger inside his own collar. The tie made him feel like he was slowly being choked to death. “Because I’m an idiot. Didn’t I say that already?”

  “Yeah. But you’re alpha. No one would tell you to your face that you’re an idiot.” True folded his arms. “Can I be honest with you?”

  “Sure.”

  “No, I mean like brother-to-brother, not alpha-to-pride-male.”

  His hackles rose for a brief moment, but he hushed his lion. True was his blood. He could be honest, and Maddox would take it. Even though he suspected he wouldn’t appreciate a word his younger brother said.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I think you aren’t finding your mate because your lion isn’t meant to be with a lioness.”

  “I have to be.”

  “Yeah, only if you want to retain your place as alpha. I can’t imagine making a choice like that. You’re talking about tying yourself to a female you don’t feel any kind of connection to, simply because she happens to be the same kind of shifter you are. Rai is amazing. I wouldn’t trade one of her smiles for all the lioness pussy in the world. Or the highest rank in any group.”

  Maddox opened his mouth to snap at his brother, to tell him that he didn’t understand the pressures of being alpha, but he didn’t voice his thoughts. True wasn’t wrong. Maddox had asked his uncle to bring unmated females to the wedding because he’d hoped his lion might like one of them. Even when his beast hadn’t so much as blinked an eye at them, he was still toying with the idea of mating one.

  True leveled a long look at Maddox. “If you choose duty over love, then you only have yourself to blame for whatever loveless mating you end up in. Maybe you’ll grow to love the female you choose, but the three that showed up last night are only interested in you as long as you’re alpha. What happens if you’re not alpha anymore? Then you’re tied forever to a female who only cares about what you are, not who you are.”

  Maddox wanted to snarl at True, but his beast was doing a lot of that’s the truth in his mind, so he didn’t.

  Cracking his neck, Maddox said, “I’m not making any decisions today. Whether I decide to choose a lioness or not, it’s your wedding day and you shouldn’t be worrying about my future.”

  “Can’t help it. We’re family.”

  “Rai is really lucky.”

  “I’m the lucky one. And I don’t let myself forget that. She loves me in spite of my flaws. Plus, she lets me see her naked.”

  There was a knock on the door, and when Maddox opened it, he found Jamie, one of the pride males, in the hallway. “Your parents are walking down the aisle now. They’re ready for you guys to take your places.”

  “That’s my cue,” True said.

  Maddox walked with True down the hallway toward the banquet hall where the ceremony was taking place. They parted ways at the door that would lead True to the front of the banquet hall, and Maddox continued down the hallway toward the foyer from where he would be esc
orting Rai’s sister, Sugar. He had yet to meet her. The few times that both families were together, he’d had pride business. This was his future sister-in-law’s sister. He should have made more of an effort to meet her and get to know her, but there was no time for that now.

  As he neared the banquet hall, he could hear the strains of classical music, and smell the freshly cut pine trees that the couple had chosen for decorations. Maddox had been part of the crew that helped cut down the trees two days earlier. The banquet room where the ceremony was taking place, and the room where the reception was going to occur later, were decked out with trees that True and Rai had decorated with strings of white lights and clusters of red and white flowers.

  As he neared the doors, he saw a woman in a red dress and assumed it was Sugar. Her long, dark hair was like a silky curtain down to the middle of her back. His lion sat up in his mind, making curious noises that rumbled in his chest. He scented the air as he strode toward her and found the scent of a cat he didn’t recognize. She wasn’t lion, but she was something intriguing. His heart began to pound, and his ears buzzed. His fingertips ached as his lion pushed at him, anxious to close the distance between him and the female.

  She turned suddenly with a gasp, and her gaze fixed on his. Everything inside him quieted for a profound moment, and he knew in that one instant that he was in the presence of his mate. Not simply a female he had chosen to mate, but the one female on the planet who was perfect for him. All the conjecture concerning his choice for his mate disappeared. It didn’t matter what kind of shifter this beauty was; it only mattered that she was his and he was hers.

  She let out a whimper, and then her shift exploded from her. The dress shredded around her as she transformed into a snow leopard. Her bouquet landed on the floor, and a sparkling headband clattered next to it.

  The two lions at the door – Jamie and Paul – snarled in surprise, and Maddox rushed to her, sliding to his knees to separate her from the unmated males. She blinked slowly and swayed, and he rested his hands on her shoulders, running his fingers through her thick, snow white fur. Black and dark gray open rosettes marked her fur, and her beautiful crystal blue eyes sparkled as she began to purr.

  “Alpha?” Jamie asked.

  Before Maddox could say anything, Rai rushed into the foyer and screeched in dismay. “What the hell, Sugar?”

  Sugar looked over her shoulder at Rai and hissed.

  “Don’t make that face at me,” Rai said, stomping her foot. “How can you be my Maid of Honor if you’re in your shift?”

  “Rai,” Maddox said. “It wasn’t her fault.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because she’s my mate. She couldn’t stop her shift.”

  Fell, Rai’s father and the alpha of their pack, came into the foyer and frowned at the scene. “Why is Sugar in her shift?”

  “Because Maddox says she’s his mate. But why would she shift?”

  Sugar was snarling softly. She turned around and settled against Maddox, facing her family. Her claws dug into the hardwood as her body vibrated with a snarl.

  “No one’s taking you from me, sweetheart,” he murmured, stroking her throat. “I promise.”

  “I’ve never actually seen this before. I need to talk to Penny,” Fell said.

  Paul said, “I’ll go get her.”

  He slipped into the ceremony room and returned a brief moment later with Penny.

  “Oh my!” Penny said when she saw Sugar.

  Fell pulled Penny to the side and whispered in her ear. The two turned, and Fell smiled. “It’s what I thought – uncontrollable shift.”

  Rai waved her bouquet at her father. “What? What happened? Why is my Maid of Honor in her fur and not her dress?”

  “Calm down, honey,” Penny said. “There’s a phenomenon that happens when a male and female are born for each other. It’s called uncontrollable shift. It can be either of the shifters, sometimes it’s both, but one of the couple won’t be able to control their shift. It’s sweet.”

  Rai lifted her big skirt and squatted down to eye level with Sugar. “Oh babe! You found your mate at my wedding, and he’s my future brother-in-law. We’re like double-sisters!”

  Sugar purred and Maddox chuckled.

  Females.

  “Okay, so we can still do this,” Rai said. She lifted the sparkling headband from the floor and set it on Sugar’s head, in front of her ears.

  Sugar yowled, and it sounded a lot like no.

  Maddox scratched her head, and she gave him a disgruntled look. In a low voice, he said, “We’ll duck out after the ceremony is over.”

  “No, you won’t,” Rai said as she rose to her feet. “Mom, tell them they can’t leave until after dinner at least.”

  “It would be nice if you would stay,” Penny said.

  “As soon as Sugar can shift back to herself, I’ll take her to her room so she can change and get dressed, and then we’ll come back. I promise.”

  “Okay. Don’t lie to me about coming back. It’s bad luck to lie to the bride on her wedding day.”

  Maddox chuckled. He stood and said to his future sister-in-law, “I’ll walk Sugar down the aisle. I’m sure True is wondering what’s up.”

  “I’m surprised he didn’t come find out,” Rai said.

  “He wouldn’t ruin the tradition of not seeing you until you walk down the aisle,” Maddox said.

  Rai and her father moved away from the door so they wouldn’t be seen. Penny walked back into the ceremony room after she picked up Sugar’s dress and shoes and tucked them into an alcove, escorted by Jamie, and then Maddox and Sugar took their place in front of the double doors. He held her bouquet. He wished she was in her human form so they could talk, but if she were in her human form, there wasn’t any nicely worded request from her parents that would get him to stick around, wedding or not. He wanted to claim her as soon as possible.

  As the idea floated through his mind, he realized that claiming Sugar meant he would have to step down as alpha. Just minutes earlier, he’d been talking to True about this very thing, but instead of feeling like he was giving up everything to be with his mate, he felt as if he was getting so much more in return. How could he do anything but claim his mate when she was made for him?

  The doors swung open, and he pushed claiming and alpha thoughts aside as he walked down the aisle with Sugar at his side. The crowd murmured in curiosity, and the look on True’s face was priceless. He looked utterly baffled, as did the minister. Sugar took her place to the left, and Maddox placed her bouquet on the floor in front of her, and then he joined True.

  “What the hell happened?” True whispered.

  “She’s my mate.” Maddox couldn’t take his eyes off his gorgeous mate. Her fur was so pure white it was almost glowing. Her whiskers twitched as she gazed back at him; her long tail curled around her paws.

  “Sugar?” True asked.

  Maddox cast a side glance at his brother. “Her parents said it’s called uncontrollable shift. It happens when a couple is destined to be together.”

  True frowned. He opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it with a click as the music switched to the “Wedding March,” and the double doors swung open. Maddox watched Sugar, who was watching him, utterly ignoring the ceremony that continued on around them. A million questions rolled through his mind, chief among them was how long she’d be in her shift and how quick he could get her to her room so they could talk.

  His lion didn’t want to talk, unless talk was code for claiming.

  Which Maddox really wanted it to be.

  But maybe Sugar wasn’t interested in immediate claiming, and maybe she would want to get to know him first. She’d been raised in a wolf pack, and they had a lot of traditions when it came to mating. Even though True and Rai were mates, they hadn’t officially marked each other, which was something that was supposed to be reserved for their wedding night according to their people.

  He wondered how fast a wedding could
be put together.

  His lion grumbled.

  After handing the wedding bands to True, Maddox returned his attention to his mate. When the minister announced that True and Rai were officially husband and wife, he clapped with the crowd and then picked up Sugar’s bouquet and carried it down the aisle as she padded along beside him. Her tail curled around his knee, which made him smile.

  When he joined his brother and new sister-in-law in the receiving line, True said, “What a strange twist of fate.”

  “Strange but good,” Maddox said.

  Sugar bumped his knee, rubbing her muzzle against the fabric as she purred. He scratched her head, rubbing her soft ears between his finger and thumb. The pack was first through the receiving line, and although they all seemed curious as to why Sugar was in her shift, no one asked any questions. Maybe wolves were used to strange things like seeing a snow leopard wearing a sparkly headband in a receiving line. Or maybe they were just being polite.

  When the pride entered the receiving line, Maddox’s parents were the first through, and he shook his dad’s hand and then said with a low voice, “This is Sugar.”

  “Her mother told us what happened,” Maddox’s mom said, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I’m so happy for both of my sons.”

  “Are you staying for the reception?” his dad asked.

  Maddox nodded. “Rai insisted. When Sugar can shift, I’ll take her to get dressed, and then we’ll come back so she can join in the festivities.”

  His dad smiled and looked down at Sugar, whose whiskers were twitching. “Welcome to the family.”

  The pride continued to move through the line, and like the wolves, no one said anything to him about the cat next to him. When his uncle shook his hand, he didn’t even look at Sugar, but said, “I guess you didn’t need my help.”

  Maddox opened his mouth to reply, but his uncle moved on and spoke to Maddox’s parents. The three females who had come with his uncle never walked through the receiving line. He hoped that meant they’d left, since word had spread swiftly through the crowd that he’d found his mate.