Cougar's First Christmas
Cougar’s First Christmas
A Cascade Shifters Novella
By Jessie Donovan
Chapter One
Sean Fisher was putting the last few sprinkles on his slightly burnt
,
reindeer-shaped sugar cookies when his cell phone went off. He looked at the screen, saw it was his older sister, Danika, and clicked receive. “Hey, kitty cat, what’s up?”
His sister growled over the line. “I’ll make sure to call you kitten every chance I get if you ever let me meet your human girlfriend.”
Sean glanced at the clock. “Introducing Lauren to a group of cougar-shifters is bad enough. Introducing her to you is like a nightmare.”
“Hey, if she can’t stand up to me, she doesn’t deserve my baby brother. The Fisher family protects its own.”
Despite having heard his sister say that sentence ten thousand times before, he still smiled. “Is there a reason you’re calling? I have special plans for my female tonight, and you’re kind of taking away time from my awesome preparations.”
“I’m calling because I just heard through the grapevine about you meeting the human’s parents tomorrow. Are you sure that’s a smart idea? If this isn’t serious, Sean, then don’t risk both yourself and this Lauren woman, especially since Human Purity is looking for targets in the Seattle area.”
Of course his sister had heard about his plans. Danika Fisher kept the pulse of the clan to such a degree he wouldn’t be surprised if she knew everyone’s darkest secrets.
Still, her concerns about Human Purity were valid. They were a group of religious and secular protesters who believed humans and shifters should be segregated. “Look, Dani, I’m twenty-five years old and I can take care of myself. You’re the one who trained me as a teenager, after all. So unless you doubt your own skills, trust me for once.”
“It’s not a matter of trusting you, Sean. They’re starting to kidnap shifters and make videos showing their torture and killings. One cougar-shifter doesn’t stand a chance against a gang from Purity armed with tranquilizers.”
“Of course I know that, Dani, but meeting her family tomorrow is important. I love Lauren Spencer with every cell in my body, and I want her to be my mate.”
He hadn’t meant for that secret to come out, but there it was.
The line went silent for a few seconds. Then Dani said, “Matings and marriages between shifters and humans are illegal, little brother.”
He turned away from the sugar cookies on the kitchen counter and clenched his free hand. “I don’t care. She’s mine, and if I have to wait ten years for the law to change in order to make it official, then so be it.”
“If that’s what you want, then go for it. Just don’t expect me to be all sugary nice when I first meet her. If she runs from me, then she’s not worth the trouble or possible jail time, Sean.”
While he was ninety-eight percent sure Lauren would do just fine with his sister and his clan, he wasn’t about to let his sister know there was any doubt at all. “We’ll see if you don’t end up running from her. After all, she knows the correct dosages to knock a shifter unconscious before she pulls out all your teeth.”
His sister snorted. “Only you could make being a dental student sound scary.”
Smiling, Sean glanced to the clock. “I really need to go, Dani. Lauren will be here any minute. I’ll call you after the Winter Celebration.”
“Just be extra careful, Sean. And give a growl in greeting to your female.”
He gave his sister a growl. “I threw it back at you instead. Bye, Dani.”
He tossed the phone aside. His sister’s warnings were valid, but Lauren’s parents only lived about an hour from Seattle, in a city called Lakewood. Since they would be on I-5, the major freeway, almost the entire time, they would be fine.
Pushing his sister’s worries aside, he took one last look around his small apartment to make sure everything was ready. Presents were wrapped under his very first, and somewhat lopsided, Christmas tree. Lauren’s fuzzy, red and white stocking, which held his most important gift, was atop the coffee table since he didn’t have a fireplace. Lights danced around the ceiling, reflecting off the glass snowflakes he’d found today at the last minute. And finally, his sugar cookies, made from a box mix, were decorated and waiting.
To him, it looked more like a Christmas bomb had exploded inside his apartment, but Lauren would like it.
Over the last six months, his female had done so much to accept his shifter ways, such as accepting him in cat-form and allowing him to scent-mark her apartment. So this was his way of trying to accept her human traditions. After all, shifters didn’t celebrate Christmas, but rather held a winter celebration instead.
Since he fully intended to have Lauren as his mate, he needed to prove to her that he could make her happy. Giving her a great Christmas, her favorite holiday, was only the start.
Meeting her family tomorrow was just as important since it would allow her to see what she was getting into. Lauren was close to her family, and it would tear her apart if they didn’t accept him.
His inner cougar growled at his uncertainty.
It will be fine. She is ours. She is strong.
Pacing the living room, he realized his cougar was right. Over the last six months, they’d faced death threats and censure everywhere they went. Hell, just being his girlfriend and spending the night at his apartment could get her arrested.
Lauren wasn’t a weak human. No, she had a hidden strength that both man and cougar admired.
Still, he was nervous. If tomorrow didn’t go well and her family rejected him, she might leave him.
Stop it, asshole.
Everything would be fine. His little human loved him, and damn it, he would try his best to ensure they had a future together.
~~~
Lauren Spencer pulled into the parking lot of Sean’s apartment building and turned off the ignition. Glancing at the rearview mirror, she waited to see if the blue sedan that had been tailing her from the university would pull in after her. She counted to sixty, but no other cars pulled into the lot. She brushed off the car as coincidence.
Being paranoid sucked big-time, but her choice of boyfriend made her the target of some very dangerous people, such as Human Purity. And Purity had a hatred of shifters unlike anything since the Nazi’s hatred of the Jews in World War II.
Not that she would trade Sean for anything. Just thinking about her boyfriend in his beautiful tan-furred and blue-eyed cougar form as she stroked his back, or the way he loved to nuzzle her neck while in human form before he kissed her, warmed Lauren’s heart. How her blabbing during his emergency visit to her dental school six months ago, and asking to see his feline teeth no less, had led to this point in her life, she didn’t know. But she had no regrets, and tomorrow she looked forward to finally introducing Sean to her parents and brother.
Realizing tomorrow was Christmas Eve, Lauren’s thoughts about Human Purity vanished, and she felt a rush of giddiness. Ever since she’d been a child, Lauren had loved Christmas. Not because of receiving presents or stuffing her face at Christmas dinner, but because of the gathering of the family and all of their crazy traditions. No doubt her mother would have the same fifteen different types of cookies she made every year stashed in the freezer, off limits to everyone until Christmas Day. Not even her shifter boyfriend would be able to sneak one past her mother’s careful watch.
She only hoped her mother liked Sean. If he were human, she’d be fine with it even though Sean was white and she was black, but shifters were a whole other group. Not everyone approved of their animal sides and believed them little better than beasts to be tamed.
Stop it, Lauren. Mom will love him like you do.
Holding that thought close, Lauren exited the car with her duffel bag in hand, ascended the stairs to Sean’s third floor apartment, and knocked.
A small part of her wished she had a key, but a key to a shifter’s apartment could land her in jail. After all, they weren’t legally supposed to live together. Some cops would look the other way, but Sean hadn’t wanted to risk it. As such, they only spent the night together on special occasions, like tonight.
And she intended to make it count.
The lock clicked and Sean’s head poked through the opening. Instead of inviting her in, he grinned at her, and she instantly grew suspicious. “Okay, what are you hiding?”
His look turned to one of mock innocence. “Who says I’m hiding anything?”
She poked his nose with her forefinger. “I know you, Sean Fisher, and you’re hiding something. If you don’t let me in, I’ll just find somewhere else to sleep tonight and you’ll miss out on my two Christmas presents for you.”
“Presents?”
She couldn’t help but smile as his cougar’s curiosity shined out of his eyes. “Yep, both are one of a kind and are Lauren Spencer originals.”
He started to open the door but then stopped as he shook his head. “No, I want to give you my surprise first since it’s all set up. The instant you come inside, the surprise will be ruined. Close your eyes and I’ll guide you. Then you can give me yours afterward.”
Her heart skipped a few beats. She teased Sean for loving surprises, but she was no different.
Still, she knew her cougar-shifter well enough to clarify a few things. “This surprise doesn’t involve a white coat, handcuffs, and a vibrator does it?”
Laughing, he held out a hand to her. “No, not this time. Now, give me your hand, baby. It’s killing me to have you here and not show you my surprise.”
Placing her hand in his, she grinned. “Well, someone has to keep your silly-ass antics in check.”
Sean squeezed her hand and his touch sent a little thrill through her body. His hands were large and warm, and could be very naughty when the man put his mind to it.
Just last night, those fingers had made her come twice before he’d even thrust his cock inside her.
A whistle shattered her memory of last night’s steamy sex. The instant she met his gaze again, Sean’s eyes flashed cougar blue. His voice was low and husky when he said, “Whatever you’re thinking about, stop it. If you become any wetter, I won’t be able to focus long enough to do this properly.”
Of course. She should know by now that Sean could scent when she was aroused. Although, she wasn’t quite sure she’d call it a drawback...
She banished the images of Sean and his thick, naughty fingers and closed her eyes. “Okay, I’m ready. The sooner you give me my surprise, the sooner I can give you yours.”
She heard a grunt, and then felt Sean tug her forward as he placed a hand on her lower back. After taking a few awkward steps, Sean moved his hand from her back to her neck and squeezed lightly. “Open your eyes, Lauren.”
As soon as she opened her eyes, Lauren gasped. Sean’s entire apartment was decked out for Christmas.
On the far side of the room, the lopsided Christmas tree was adorable, as was the haphazard way he’d hung the ornaments and the garland. Lights lined the ceiling, flashing in some kind of pattern that sparkled off the glass snowflakes hanging nearby. There were even two giant, red stockings laying on the coffee table next to a stuffed Christmas bear. The plate of slightly burnt cookies in the shape of reindeers made her heart squeeze; Sean didn’t cook often, but he’d attempted to make cookies for her.
Sean’s voice filled her ears. “Well? How did I do?”
Turning back toward him, she said, “Oh, Sean. It’s amazing.”
Happiness flashed in his eyes and she couldn’t resist putting her arms up to rest on either side of his neck. His arms instantly went around her waist, and his warmth and male scent surrounded her in that sense of comfort, safety, and love she always felt when her cougar held her close.