CHAPTER 1: The Broken Woman and the Beast

December in Louisiana is supposed to smell like cinnamon and pine. Supposed to feel like warmth curling around your shoulders, laughter spilling from porches strung with lights that blink red and green against the evening sky. Supposed to sound like carols drifting through neighborhoods where families gather, where love still means something.A season built for warmth had become a month she’d learned to survive instead of celebrate.Mystic Valley smells like dust and dying things.Ivy Dalton drags her suitcase, the navy blue one with the broken wheel that squeaks like a wounded animal across cracked asphalt that stretches endlessly before her. The sun beats down with cruelty that makes you wonder if God's paying attention. Her left heel snapped twenty minutes ago. Maybe thirty. Time loses meaning when every step sends pain shooting up your calf, when the limp becomes your new rhythm.Click-drag. Click-drag. Click-drag.Sweat pools beneath her collar. Her cream blouse, the one she'd ir

Last Updated : 2025-11-21

CHAPTER 2: The Cottage.

The power drain slams into Ivy like a freight train. Her legs barely hold as she stumbles through the doorway of the Moonstone Inn, fingers gripping the frame for support. The place is dead, not closed, dead. Cobwebs covers every corner like abandoned hammocks. Dust particles float through shafts of moonlight, thick enough to see.A single brass key sits on the counter.Waiting.As if someone has placed it there seconds before she arrives.Her pulse kicks up. “Hello?” Her voice echoes back, empty and alone.Nothing.She grabs the key, its metal cold against her palm, and moves deeper into the inn. Each step stirs decades of neglect. The floorboards groan. The air tastes stale, forgotten.Then the lights flicker.Not random. Patterns. Three short bursts. Pause. Two long ones.“Okay, that’s...that’s just old wiring.” Her voice quivers on the lie.The mirror at the end of the hallway catches her reflection. Except the glass is fogging over, moisture spreading from the center like breath

Last Updated : 2025-11-22

CHAPTER 3: Bad Idea.

The cottage door clicks shut behind her, and Ivy stands there, staring at the bare walls like they've personally offended her. The place smells like dust and old wood. One room. A sagging couch. A bed that's seen better decades. But it's shelter. And beggars can't be choosers.She drops onto the couch, and that's when it hits her."No. No, no, no—" Her hands fly to her sides, patting down pockets that hold nothing. Her suitcase. Her suitcase. Still sitting at that cursed Moonstone Inn with every piece of clothing she owns, her chargers, her toiletries, everything."Dammit!" She slams her fist into the couch cushion. Dust explodes into the air. "Are you kidding me right now?"The frustration burns through her chest. She needs those clothes. Needs to change out of this outfit that's been plastered to her skin since Louisiana. Needs her phone charger so she can let her family know she's not dead in a ditch somewhere.She forces herself up, does a quick sweep of the cottage. Kitchen area

Last Updated : 2025-11-23

CHAPTER 4: Who are you?

Ivy's legs pump harder. Branches claw at her face, her arms, anywhere they can reach. The wolves are everywhere, circling, herding, closing in.She veers left, crashes through undergrowth, and stumbles into a small clearing.Dead end.A massive gray wolf blocks the only exit. Lips curled back. Saliva dripping from fangs that could tear through bone. It looks pleased. Like it's been waiting for this moment.Something inside Ivy changes.Not breaks, changes.The terror doesn't disappear. It transforms into something else. Something primal that hums beneath her skin like electricity searching for ground. Her breathing steadies. Her spine straightens.The fear is still there, but she's done running.The wolf advances, muscles coiling to spring.Ivy doesn't move. Doesn't flinch. Her body repositions itself, feet planted, weight balanced, hand rising almost of its own accord. Like her bones remember a stance she's never learned.Her eyes flash. Just for a second. Amber light bleeding throug

Last Updated : 2025-11-24

All Chapters of THE ALPHA'S NAUGHTY LITTLE CHRISTMAS GIFT.: Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 1: The Broken Woman and the Beast

CHAPTER 2: The Cottage.

CHAPTER 3: Bad Idea.

CHAPTER 4: Who are you?