I spent three years working at a dingy bar where my boss greeted me every shift with, “You’re a piece of crap, Emma. ” And I’d just shrug and say, “I know, right? ”
Rejection never bothered me. It was acceptance that terrified me.
Because when people accepted you, they started expecting things from you. And I’d spent my whole life learning that I was unlovable. My own parents kicked me out when I was fifteen. Why would anyone else want me around?
Then I met Harry. And somehow, impossibly, he loved me. That was when the real trouble started. Because Harry wasn’t just some regular guy.
He was an alpha werewolf, basically a leader, someone his entire pack looked up to and revered. And I was the girl no one expected anything from, suddenly thrown into a world where everyone was watching me, measuring me, comparing me to Vivien. Vivien, his best friend’s wife. Beautiful, composed, perfect.
The woman everyone assumed Harry would end up with. There was no universe where I could compare to her, and everyone knew it. They were all waiting for me to fail. I was about to find out if I could prove them wrong.
The family cottage turned out to be a sprawling mountain mansion with actual turrets. I stared up at it, jaw hanging open. “Chloe, you said cottage,” I muttered. “This is not a cottage.
”
My best friend had the decency to look sheepish. “Well, that’s what everyone calls it. ”
Damen, Chloe’s vampire boyfriend, chimed in from behind us. “It’s very quaint.
”
I turned to stare at him. “When you call a property this size quaint, you’re just reminding everyone you were raised in an enormous amount of wealth. ”
His pale cheeks colored slightly. I pulled out my phone, hoping for a message from Harry.
Nothing. The hope in my chest died. Here’s the thing about fated mates nobody tells you. Sure, the universe decides you’re perfect for each other, but it doesn’t guarantee you’ll actually get to see each other.
Harry was three hundred miles away hunting a psychotic vampire-shifter hybrid. He’d promised to be back before Christmas. That had been six weeks ago. I hadn’t seen him in two months.
We walked inside, and I stopped dead. People were rushing around with boxes and garland and clipboards, setting up what looked like a small wedding. “What’s all this? ” I asked.
“The staff,” Chloe said, like it was obvious. “What staff? Why do we need staff for Christmas? ”
Before she could answer, a woman I vaguely recognized made a beeline for us.
“There you are, Luna. Thank goodness you’re here. ”
“My name is Emma,” I said automatically. The woman blinked at me.
Chloe made that face she makes when she’s trying very hard not to laugh. “Luna is a title,” Chloe explained carefully. “You’re Harry’s mate. Harry’s the alpha.
”
“Hadn’t noticed,” I said flatly. “He’s only constantly busy with pack business, has people trailing after him at all hours, and carries the weight of everyone’s problems on his shoulders. ”
Another guy with an actual clipboard appeared. “Luna, quick question about the dinner schedule.
Are we doing the gift exchange before or after? ”
Panic rose in my chest. “Chloe, they expect me to organize this. ”
“It’s going to be okay.
”
“No, it’s not. Last year, I spent Christmas dressed as a damn elf at the bar I worked at for tips. And now I’m supposed to run some big family event? ”
“The pack’s your family too,” Chloe said gently.
“Well, she’s kind of alone, though,” Damen added. “Her boyfriend’s not even here. ”
Chloe sent him a glare that could melt steel. I thought back to the last time I’d seen Harry.
He’d cupped my face in his hands, his gray eyes serious. “I’ll be back before Christmas,” he’d promised. “I’ll be back before you know it. ”
“You’d better be,” I’d said, trying to sound sarcastic but landing somewhere closer to desperate.
“Because if you leave me alone for the holidays, I’m going to tell everyone embarrassing stories about you. ”
He’d smiled, that rare soft smile he only ever gave me. “I don’t have embarrassing stories. ”
“You drool in your sleep.
”
“I do not. ”
“You totally do. Sometimes you also mumble about interesting facts you’ve read about. It’s adorable and embarrassing in equal measure.
”
He’d kissed me then, slow and thorough. “I love you,” he’d said quietly. “This will be over soon. I promise.
”
I sighed, pulling myself back to the present. “How many people are coming to this thing? ” I asked, trying to sound calm. Chloe brightened.
“Oh, it’s not even the whole pack. Just the really close members. You’ll see, it’s going to be fun. ”
“Okay, that sounds manageable.
How many? ”
“Only fifty. ”
“Fifteen? ” I exclaimed.
“Fifty,” Damen corrected, earning himself death glares from both me and Chloe. Fifty. I didn’t even know fifty people from this pack. The front door opened with a gust of cold air and raised voices.
Harry’s adoptive parents had just walked in. I’d met Ronan and Kila Harrow exactly once, three months ago. It had consisted mostly of them looking at me like I was a stain on their expensive furniture. “Emma,” Ronin said, not quite cold but not warm either.
“I see you’ve arrived. ”
“Yep. Here I am. ”
Kila’s eyes swept over me, taking in my Nirvana t-shirt.
“We thought something had happened,” she said delicately. “You arriving so late when there’s so much to be done. ”
The implication was clear. I should have been here earlier.
“Traffic,” I said, which was a lie. They turned away, and two seconds later Kila’s face transformed into a genuinely warm smile as she exclaimed, “There you are, my darling. ”
I turned to see a beautiful redhead entering through a side door, one hand on her very pregnant belly. Of course.
Vivien. Everything Vivien did was perfect. She was essentially perfect. Kila rushed over to embrace her carefully, mindful of the baby, while Ronin’s stern expression softened into something approaching fondness.
“Everything’s fine,” Vivien assured them with a warm smile. Her light green eyes flicked briefly to me. “Don’t worry about a thing. I know this is Emma’s first time organizing a pack Christmas, so I’ve made sure everything is under control.
”
I paused. Wait, what? “Oh, that’s wonderful,” Kila said, relief obvious in her voice. “We knew we could count on you.
”
I rolled my eyes. Of course they loved Vivien. Everyone loved Vivien. Vivien approached me, and something about her expression was off.
She looked anxious, which was weird because Vivien never looked anxious. “Are you okay? ” she asked, her voice nervous. “Why wouldn’t I be?
” I lied. “I only just got here and learned complete strangers were counting on me to run an event the size of a small wedding. ”
Vivien smiled placatingly. “I can help.
I’ll handle it, okay? All of it. You won’t have to lift a finger. ”
I blinked at her.
This was worse than I thought. “Okay, you don’t have to be that worried, Vivien. I’m not a total disaster. ”
“Of course you can,” Vivien exclaimed, even more nervously.
“I just thought, you know, you haven’t seen Harry in a while. You’ll probably be happy to relax and spend time with him instead of worrying about all this. ”
That was actually kind of thoughtful. Too thoughtful, actually, and very unlike Vivien.
“Well, Harry’s not here yet,” I attempted slowly. “So, you just relax, sit back. I’ve got you,” Vivien assured me, smiling a smile that was way too wide. It didn’t reach her eyes.
Now I was really suspicious. “Vivien, if I let you, the heavily pregnant woman, do all the work instead of me, I’m going to look like the world’s most incompetent fool at best, or a total bitch at worst. ”
I paused, studying her face. “Though perhaps that’s what you want.
”
Vivien’s face crumpled. Her eyes went wide and hurt. “Not at all, Emma,” she said, her voice cracking. “I just want to help.
I wouldn’t sabotage you like that. ”
She looked so genuinely devastated that I immediately felt terrible. “Okay, sorry. It’s just that from the moment Harry and I got together, you’ve made it abundantly clear I was nowhere near good enough for him.
”
She had. Every time he touched me in public, she stiffened. Though, come to think of it, she hadn’t really done that since she got pregnant. She’d mellowed somehow.
“We can work together, I guess,” I offered. Vivien’s entire face lit up. “Oh, that’s perfect. Okay, so I’ll handle the seating arrangements and the food coordination and the decorations and the schedule,” she said, counting on her fingers.
“And making sure the staff knows what to do and coordinating with the caterers. And, oh, Emma, you can be in charge of making sure there are enough napkins. ”
I blinked. “Napkins?
”
“It’s very important. We need cloth napkins, obviously, not paper, and they need to match the table settings. I’ll make sure you have a list of exactly how many we need and where to put them. ”
She squeezed my hands and bustled off, calling out instructions about table placement.
Napkins. She was going to run the entire thing, and I needed to look after napkins. “Chloe? ” I said, not taking my eyes off Vivien’s retreating form.
“I know what you’re going to say. People change, and it’s Christmas, and maybe Vivien just wants to be nice. ”
“But I think—” Chloe said. “Oh no,” Chloe said, shaking her head.
“That was weird as hell. Something’s up with her. ”
I turned to stare at my best friend. Chloe, who always saw the best in people.
If even Chloe thought something was wrong, then something was definitely seriously wrong. “What do you think it is? ”
Chloe just shook her head, watching Vivien direct staff members with manic energy. “I have no idea.
But whatever it is, it’s big. ”
“Great,” I groaned. “Just great. ”
The first time I saw Jake that day, he was covered in flour.
The kitchen looked like a war zone. There were two small fires on the stove. Eggs were smashed on the floor. Something that might have once been vegetables was scattered across the counter.
“Jake, what is happening? ”
Chloe grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed white foam over the flames. “I don’t know! ” Jake said, gesturing wildly at a piece of paper covered in complicated instructions.
“The catering staff left me this list. They said I just needed to do these simple things. Then Vivien came in and gave me additional instructions that were different. And I tried to do both, and then everything started burning at once.
”
Chloe checked the ovens. “Your roasts have been carbonized. All of them. ”
Jake’s face crumbled.
“We have fifty people coming in less than two hours, and we have nothing to feed them. Vivien is going to kill me. ”
Somehow, we salvaged what we could. I directed everyone.
Jake plated the appetizers. Chloe helped me rescue the vegetables. Damen made cocktails, with Rose keeping him from tasting anything. We had a plan.
It wasn’t a good plan, but it was something. By the time I went to find Vivien, the main course was gone. I needed to tell her. But first, I had to get through the crowd.
Everyone kept stopping me with questions. Where should the gifts go? Where should the children’s activities be? And always the same question.
Where’s Harry? I don’t know. Maybe he was stuck in traffic. Maybe he was fighting a vampire-shifter hybrid.
Maybe he’d decided to become a hermit and live in the woods. Then there was the woman with the too-tight bun who cornered me to ask what I was getting Harry for Christmas. She mentioned she’d dated him once. I stood there, trying to picture it.
My brain refused. “I know what my mate likes,” I said, and turned away. Then came the cracking sound from outside. The enormous Christmas tree that someone had spent all afternoon decorating had fallen over.
Ornaments scattered across the driveway like a glitter bomb. “Harry would have checked the stand,” someone muttered. I rolled my eyes. Honestly, did these people need Harry to tell them when to go to the toilet too?
Then all the lights went out. The entire house plunged into darkness. Someone screamed. “Calm down,” I shouted.
“It’s probably just a blown fuse. ”
“The backup’s not kicking in! ” someone yelled from deeper in the house. “Of course it’s not,” I muttered.
“Does anyone have a flashlight? ”
Small lights started appearing. Phone flashlights created little pools of illumination. Candles appeared.
Soon, the house was glowing with warm flickering light, casting dancing shadows on the walls. It actually looked kind of beautiful. Maybe I was some kind of event planning genius instead of someone frantically improvising. Who knew?
I found Jake upstairs, away from the main party. But before I could reach him, I heard voices through a slightly ajar door. Vivien’s voice. High-pitched.
Hysterical. “I can’t do it anymore, Jake. I can’t keep this to myself. I have to tell them.
”
Jake’s voice, lower, urgent. “You do not have to tell them. ”
“I can’t keep lying to Harry. I’m telling him I purposely broke him off with Emma in the alternate timeline and that I nearly killed her.
”
My hand froze at the door. I stood there, frozen in the hallway, my heart hammering so hard I could hear it in my ears. Vivien nearly killed me in an alternate timeline.
What the hell does that mean?
