Coming Home For Christmas Novels & Stories

Before I could figure out what was going on, a tall and slender woman approached Dylan and me. She locked arms with Dylan and shot me an irritated look, asking, "Who's this?" Dylan answered before I could even say a word, speaking in a tone that made it seem like we had coincidentally run into each other. "She's Blake's girlfriend. She came to look for him." The woman immediately dropped her guard and curiously gave me a once-over. She smiled sweetly and introduced herself as Trixie Ashford. She was Dylan's girlfriend, and she had returned to the country specifically to celebrate Christmas with him.

"Why did you come outside? It's cold. Get back in the car. We'll be done soon, and then I'll take you home to rest." Looking at Evan's gentle expression, something inside me fluttered. His tenderness used to be just for me. Then, the pain hit my head again, sharp and clear. Shane's howls echoed in my ears, but I was glad. The magic potion I had taken was working. Evan could not tell how much I was hurting. I could feel my wolf spirit getting weaker. The pain snapped me back to reality. I had no more chances to bargain with Evan. All I could do was obey.

“His girlfriend is visiting her parents in Vancouver. He’d like to spend Christmas here. With us.” I looked at him. “Here.” “He doesn’t have anywhere else. My father’s house has been sold.” He said this without inflection, the way you’d say the store is closed. “He usually spends it at mine, but this year — “ A pause. “He wants to see us. Together. Christmas is — specific, for families.” “Yes,” I said. “He should come.” He nodded. Something in his shoulders settled. “I’ll tell him.” I picked up my mug. “Is Christmas usually hard for you?”

Dark Lands: Homecoming Authors Note: This story is a side note to The Charmer, meant for those of you who wanted to know Wiley’s story. It’s not meant to stand alone, so if you don’t already know how her story ends, you’ll have to read TC. She hated parties. Parties were full of happy, smiling people. Wiley James had never fit into that crowd, so she ditched her boss’s birthday bash and ran off to the hills. Literally. Sometimes a girl had to go AWOL.

Maybe soon, I can tell him the truth about the baby. “Here, drink this.” I was sitting on the couch when Pierce appeared beside me carrying a mug of hot chocolate. I accepted it without hesitation and he sat beside me, putting a blanket on my legs. We’re in the living area, watching a movie. Christmas is coming in three days and the weather is cold but because of him, I feel so warm and comforted. “Aren’t you going home for Christmas?” I asked curiously while his eyes were on the television. “This is my home, Kels.”

**Homecoming** The familiar scent of home—the faint aroma of Claire’s lavender candles, the comforting smell of old wood, and the lingering hint of last night’s rain—filled the air as the Hayes family finally stepped through their front door. Despite the exhaustion from the relentless chase and the constant threat looming over them, the warmth of their home brought a fleeting sense of safety. For the first time in what felt like ages, they were back where they belonged. But the sanctuary of their home was tempered by the reality of the battles still ahead.

“I need to see her, I need to—” “You will, doll.” He holds me closer to his chest, wanting to calm me down. I do calm down, because he's here and nothing can harm me. “But for now, let Daddy take you home, baby.” He whispers close to my lips and I can't help but just kiss him. I thought I'd never see him again, but I guess we've been given one more chance. And it's the best Christmas eve present ever. ~~~~ It's still dark when we return to the house—Jaxon’s home. I'm anxious to see my Snowie but Jaxon tells me to be patient and have a bath first.

Bare hand in bare hand, in the frost-edged December garden. They walked back toward the house in the last of the afternoon light, and the house received them as it always did — without remark, without ceremony, simply open — and inside it was warm and smelled of the Christmas dinner they had eaten and the fire they had lit and the specific warmth of a place that had been properly inhabited. They were home. Without armour. Without the management or the distance or the cost of maintaining anything that was not simply — this. Christmas without armour. It was the best one he could remember.

“No, they’re away on a business trip. My dad retired a few years ago, so he goes with Mom whenever she travels. My brother and his family went to the Bahamas for Christmas. I’m not sure what I’m going to do.” Memory stared at him for a minute, thinking it would be just awful to spend Christmas alone. “Will you go back to Chicago?” “Maybe. I have some friends who’ve invited me over. Jen and Chet said I could come to their house for Christmas dinner if I want to. I don’t know.” He shrugged and toed the snow with his boot. “Do you have a big family Christmas?”

"When do you need me there?" "The auction is on Christmas Eve, which is tomorrow evening," she said. "So come home early. We'll get you settled, go over everything you need to know, and make sure you're comfortable. And Eva? I'm really glad you're coming home for Christmas. It's been too long."