A Christmas Home Read online

  “Open it,” he said when she stood there holding the tiny box. “And then come on over here so I don’t have to figure out how to make it all the way over there.”

  She did just that, pulling the ring out and feeling her hands shake as she held it. She was watching him as she approached and she grinned as well. “I will,” she said simply. “Because I need you in my life for the rest of time. I love you, Jagger Morris.”

  “You do realize it’s customary to wait for the question, right?” When her cheeks warmed he gave a laugh and took the ring from her hands. Taking her left one, he slipped it into place, then pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Let’s do this official for the record. Will you marry me, Ophelia Lambros?”

  “Yes, Jagger. Yes,” she repeated and hugged him close. “Tomorrow we will celebrate with loving. Tonight we’ll sleep and heal.” She looked down at her hand. “God you are amazing. How in the world could you possibly find this for me?”

  Pushing up to sit on the bed again, he pulled her down onto his knee, the uninjured leg, she made sure. “A man has to have some secrets. A bit of a task when his mate can see the future. But I made it work with the assistance of the pack, some covert discussions, and a late-night shopping trip.”

  “You totally surprised me. I never dreamed you would do this and I love it. Even in my vision I didn’t see this. Just us on the hill looking over the town and you with a hand on my belly while your front was to my back.”

  “Like I said, a bit of a task.” He kissed her cheek and she could feel his huge smile. “Help me get this shirt off if you would, love. Then we need to get some sleep. Don’t want my mate, and soon-to-be wife, feeling tired. She’s going to need reservoirs of energy stored up if we’re going to make that vision come true.”

  She snickered and began to help him with his shirt. She felt badly, at least a little. “I’ll sleep with my back to your front tonight so that we won’t hurt your back any more than it already is.”

  “Yes, dear,” he said with amusement clear in his voice. Once she’d helped him get the shirt off he stood to get rid of his jeans. Naked except for the variety of bandages, he sat back down on the bed and wiggled his way under the sheets. “Get your gorgeous ass in bed, Ophelia. It’s long past your bedtime.”

  She looked at his injuries but did as he had instructed and got onto the bed. “Tomorrow we’ll have a proper engagement but for tonight, this is exactly what is needed.” She lifted his hand and kissed it gently before putting it back over her belly.

  His lips were warm against her neck where he nuzzled at her skin. “Tomorrow we are going to stay at home and in our pajamas all day if at all possible. I’ll have to run out to check on the wounded a couple times, but other than that I plan to cuddle with my mate and relax. I think we both deserve it after tonight.” He pressed a kiss behind her ear, then hugged her tight for a second. “Sleep well, little mate.”

  “And you as well, my bear mate,” Ophelia said and with a smile drifted off to sleep knowing that from this moment out life would never be the same. She was going to make Shifter Falls her home and she was going to see to it that those around her were happy, too. That was to figure out another day, though. For now she was happy being held by her mate and feeling sleep take her over.

  Epilogue

  Fourteen months later…

  Ophelia had sat at her desk in the office of Jagger’s shop and tapped her pen on the desk. She was blissfully happy, more than she had a right to be but she wasn’t going to ever let her mate go. Especially not now that she was carrying the next generation. She rubbed her belly and grinned. “I know what to do,” she told the cub she carried inside, then turned back to the computer. While it wasn’t a widely known fact that shifters roamed the world, it wasn’t exactly a huge secret either. After all, the name of the town was Shifter Falls and the humans that were in the town did know that they lived among others.

  “Your daddy’s friends need to find the same kind of love that I have found with your daddy so let’s do something about that, shall we?” Maybe it was because they had just gone through Valentine’s Day and she had seen so many of the men sad and sulking around the bar that they all liked to gather at, or maybe it was just because she was so deliriously happy but she knew it had to be done. These men needed women in their lives.

  She hummed as she began to code the site she created. She took special care to add in serious firewalls so that the shifters’ identities would be safe from prying eyes and curious lookie-loos. The people who wanted to sign up for the site would need to be vetted deeply to ensure that the men and women were looking for love and not out to harm the people she now called family.

  For weeks she did research and talked to matchmakers until finally she had everything just right. Letting out a breath of happiness, she set the site to go live, after gathering up a few eligible bachelors’ information, that was. After all, she knew for a fact that there were more than enough single men here to bring women clamoring from all corners of the world, but first she focused on Shifter Falls and the surrounding area. Maybe one day she would focus on growing the site into something bigger, but not yet. After all, she was the proverbial poster child for what a true love match could be and she wanted that for everyone.

  “We will go and find Daddy and eat after this. I’m starving.” Then again, she was carrying a cub so of course she was hungry. With that thought in mind, Ophelia began the foreword for the website, a truth from her to those that would go to the site to see if they were compatible with the shifters that were looking for their own perfect happily ever afters.

  The End

  My Shifter Falls Story & Site History

  Here is the simple truth. When I came to Shifter Falls, Wyoming, I was looking for some time to recover from not only the massive failure in my career but also in my love life. What I ended up finding here was much more than I could have ever hoped for.

  Shifter Falls is one of those rare and wild places where dreams really can come true. There is only one small thing “wrong” with Shifter Falls. And by “wrong” I mean out of place, a universal injustice if you will. Which is why I started the Shifter-Match.com site you see before you now.

  Shifter Falls is a place where you can come visit and there is always something to do. In winter, there is snowmobiling, skiing (downhill or cross country), and let’s not forget the Winter Festival they hold each year for everyone—residents and visitors. In spring, summer, and fall, anything you can dream up you pretty much can do here. The only thing I found out of place here was the inordinate number of huge, brooding, dark, and deliciously sexy shifters. Yep, you read that right. There are so many male shifters around these parts that you could quite literally throw a stone and your odds of not hitting one is higher than your odds of winning a lottery.

  Before you ask—THIS IS NOT A BAD THING!

  Trust me, this could well be a fabulously amazing thing … for the right woman.

  I mention this at this point because these males are all the alpha, brooding, and sexy as hell types. They all look like they stepped straight out of a fashion magazine and will make more than your heart melt. There is a downside like with everything. They all have their own quirks and foibles that will test your sanity enough you may give in to the urge to beat them. Been there, done that, and my own poor mate got a tree branch upside his head for being a smart ass at the wrong. Damn. TIME!

  He did apologize, I should mention, and I did as well. I do love my silly bear, even when he is a bit of a turd about things like my safety at times. These males are extremely protective and can be mildly to seriously overbearing at all hours.

  Sorry, getting a little off track. Back to the here and now…

  Please feel free to look through the site, but understand that the men and women on this site are all individuals who are looking for their own happily ever after. They each want to experience and live with the love that I have found with my mate, and as many others have found in Shifter Falls. Keep that
in mind when you are considering making contact with them. They have all done casual and are now seriously looking for more.

  The last thing before I let you get to it. I spent several weeks working with some other matchmakers and their site programmers to create the algorithms that run behind the scenes on this site. While they are by no means perfect and don’t take into account your own personal, visceral reactions to the individuals, they are here to help guide you to the best possible match you can find.

  I only mention this because I not only want to help each individual with a profile on the Shifters-Match.com site find their forever love, but also because I want you, the user, to be happy, too. Remember, contact them only if you truly want FOREVER, because for them there is no divorce, no separation, and no one other than the one who holds their heart.

  All my love,

  Ophelia Lambros-Morris

  Shifters-Match.com Founder

  http://shifters-match.com/

  www.april-zyon.com

  Other Books by April Zyon:

  www.evernightpublishing.com/april-zyon

  If you enjoyed this book, you may also like:

  Greatest Gift by Moira Callahan

  Blitzen’s Savior by Danica Avet

  Two Doms for Christmas by Kat Barrett

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com