Monday, December 18, 2023

Bah Humbug Mate by Delta James - Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza



A Mate to Remember

A Mystic River Shifters Flash Fiction

By USA Today Bestselling Author DELTA JAMES

Christmas Day

Seattle, Washington

There were times being the leader of the Shadow Sisters, righting wrongs, protecting innocents and just generally being a badass for good wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Today was one of those times. The man she knew to be her fated mate slept in the large Victorian brass bed, completely sated, supremely confident, and about to be utterly destroyed.

That she was the architect of that destruction was something she had accepted a long time ago. It wasn’t that she had set out to destroy him; it was just that she couldn’t indulge her deepest romantic fantasies until her work was done—and she was a long way from being done. Colby would survive, but he was not going to be happy to find her gone.

In a world where humans reigned supreme, it was tough enough being a female Canadian lynx shifter. The rejuvenation of the Shadow League, a group of assassins controlled by the Ruling Council and used for their own nefarious purposes, meant that their counterpart, the Shadow Sisters, had been restored as well. Aubry Hawthorne, or Brie as she was known to those closest to her, had been chosen to lead the group of female shifters who were often referred to as ‘rogue.’

Right now, Brie’s most vexing problem was her belief—which grew stronger each day—that the League had a far darker purpose than anyone imagined and answered to a master no one even knew existed for sure. That wasn’t true. There were those who knew; they just couldn’t prove it yet.

One of those people was Colby Reynolds, the alpha of the Windsong clowder, her fated mate, and the man that she would never see again.

***

Christmas Eve

Seattle, Washington

Brie stood at the edge of the Olympic National Park where the tree line met the sea. Her home, if one could call it that, was a primitive cave deep within the Olympic Mountains themselves. Right now, she doubted anyone could make out that she was there watching. The spotted pattern of her coat ensured she was well-camouflaged in this environment. She still wasn’t convinced this was a good idea, but she was certain it needed to be done. Meeting in person with the enigmatic alpha of the Windsong Clowder might be necessary in order to have his continued support, but she had long ago decided a meeting would be problematic to say the least.

Brie turned away from the stunning view and began to make her way through the forest to the place she’d hidden her clothes so she could shift into her human form, board the ferry to Seattle, and meet this evening with Colby. Somehow, he had managed to secure an entire boutique hotel for their clandestine meeting. The hotel would be closed, and they would be alone. Anyone trying to secretly observe them or overhear their conversation would have a degree of difficulty that would prove insurmountable.

Reaching her hidden stash of clothes, Brie bade her lynx to retreat as the whirling mist of color, lightning, and thunder swirled all around her until the only thing left was Brie, standing naked in the cold Pacific Northwest winter, pulling on her clothing and boots in order to take the ferry to Seattle.

Sunset and the following darkness came early in the Pacific Northwest. By the time she reached the small, elegant hotel in the heart of the city, it would be full-on dark. How Colby had arranged for them to meet there was beyond her knowing, but she didn’t doubt his ability to do anything he wanted to do past him. The tentacles of his power seemed to have an endless and infinite reach.

Brie knew that many people, if not most, preferred daylight to darkness. She was not among them. She had always found the night to be the most comforting of shrouds. There were things she could accomplish between dusk and dawn that would have been far more difficult if not downright impossible.

As she reached her destination, a liveried doorman rushed down the steps to open the door to the limo that had been waiting for her at the dock. The man had style; she had to give him that.

“Ms. Hawthorne, the alpha is waiting for you in the dining room. Dinner has been laid out and no one will disturb you. We have a small, but more than adequate security team to ensure your safety and privacy.”

Brie shook her head. “You do know this is a bit much, right? We could easily have met somewhere close to the dock or even at the Space Needle.”

“The alpha wanted to ensure you had the privacy and safety he felt a lady of your importance to the cause deserved.”

Brie snorted a very unladylike laugh. “No. Your boss is trying to impress me with his wealth and power. I could care less about either. What I do care about are his intentions and that he understands the Shadow Sisters will not become one more asset in his criminal and espionage circles.”

“I can assure you the alpha…”

“Save it. I’m going to go in, meet with the man and leave. Any deviation or hindrance to my plan will be met with deadly force. Got it? You might want to let the rest of your team know that.”

Brie pushed past him and entered the lobby of the beautiful and sophisticated hotel. The overwhelming bout of dizziness and nausea felt like a blow to the gut and made her falter. She might actually have been driven to her knees had it not been for the strong, steadying hand of the man into whose eyes she looked up and found herself mesmerized.

“I wondered if that might not be the case,” Colby Reynolds purred. “I’ve felt your presence off and on since you left the ferry. You should know you’ll never be able to completely shut down the link.”

“You don’t know that for a fact,” she said, withdrawing her hand from his.

“I do, but I sense a strong streak of willfulness in you. Not to worry. I like a good challenge.”

Choosing to ignore what they both knew to be true; Brie chose to get their discussion steered back to the reason for this meeting. “I rarely worry about things that don’t matter to me. What does matter to me is your increasing presence in the work of the Shadow Sisters.”

Colby smiled and gestured to a darkened dining room lit only by candles, stepping back so she could precede him. Brie had to hand it to him; he was smooth, polished, had impeccable manners, and was sexy as hell. She’d never been as instantly and wildly attracted to a man as she was to Colby Reynolds.

But she guessed that’s what happened with fated mates.

They spent the next several hours discussing the Shadow League and their mutual belief that neither the Council nor the League itself was the ultimate power behind what was happening within the shifter community at large. Well, at least that was what Brie was discussing. What Colby was discussing was on a whole other level, and Brie did her best to avoid it.

When she felt she’d gotten out of him all that she could, Brie stood, looking down for the brief moment before he too got to his feet. “This has been enlightening. It’s good to know we have your support—financial and otherwise—if we need it. But for now, the Shadow Sisters will continue as we are.”

Colby shook his head. “That makes no sense, Brie. Your network has grown large and unwieldy. You need a centralized headquarters where you can set up an intelligence gathering and analyzing group. You need far better weapons, computers, and networking than you currently have. All of that exists at Windsong and your operatives, as well as those women needing sanctuary until you can find them a permanent place, could have a safe home from where they could come and go as they please.”

“Here’s the thing, Reynolds, the one question you never answered regardless of how many times or ways I asked it. What’s in it for you?”

“We have the same goals. We want the same things. We both hide in different ways, but I am not the enemy of the Shadow Sisters. It’s time we banded together to bring down the Shadow League and whoever is truly behind them.” He reached up to tuck a stray lock of her copper-colored hair behind her ear. “I am not your enemy, either. In fact, we both know we are so much more to each other.”

“I know no such thing.”

Colby chuckled. All evening, he’d made it clear that he knew why she’d stumbled. He purred to her, found ways to touch her, and she’d been unwilling to put him off. The arousal that had started swirling in her nether region from the moment she had entered the hotel had been steadily increasing. It now surged through her blood like a wildfire out of control—heat, passion, and need churning together into an intoxicating cocktail.

“But you do. It may not be what you think you want, but we both know need is riding you hard. The scent of your arousal calls to me as does everything about you. Would it be so wrong for you to find peace and some kind of solace in this world while you fight the good fight? Would not we both be stronger if we had the other to lean on?”

Brie thought about going for her knife. She told herself she didn’t as it would mean fighting her way out of the hotel, but she knew that wasn’t the real reason she didn’t jerk her hand away or offer him any resistance as he led her toward the vintage, two-person elevator and drew her inside, inserting a special key card that would take them to the top floor. She’d seen similar security features in other exclusive hotels.

“Colby,” she said as the doors opened into a gorgeous room that seemed to take up the entire top floor. A top floor that had a commanding view of the Seattle skyline and the water below.

She gasped as she walked toward the windows. “It’s beautiful. It almost feels like we’re hanging in the air with the stars.”

“I agree. I bought this hotel, refurbished it and created this sanctuary for myself for when I need to be in Seattle. Mystic River is a quiet place of refuge, but my work often requires me to be here. If I cannot persuade you to return to Windsong at my side, perhaps we could find a way to use this hotel to suit our needs.”

She turned, leaning back against the window, and smiled at him. She hadn’t realized he’d followed so closely behind her, but she found his stealth oddly comforting. “Look, Colby, I’m going to be honest with you. I accepted a long time ago that I was destined to live my life alone.”

“We both know that destiny has brought you to your fated mate.”

Brie nodded. “That might be true, but I chose a different path early on. There will be no happily ever after for me. I will not rest until I see my sisters free.”

“What makes you think I would try and keep you from your goal, as it is the same one I seek?”

Brie snorted.

“How can you doubt me? Until recently my second-in-command was a female snow leopard-shifter. Time and again, I have lent my support to the Shadow Sisters, asking nothing in return. I don’t doubt your strength, courage, or tenacity, but I sense the part of you that you keep hidden from the world, maybe even from yourself. You need a mate who can offer you his loving support and passion.”

“And what do you need, Colby?”

“In a word, you. I need to be needed—not by my clowder or the world at large, but by one woman who wants me for myself and not for the wealth and power I bring to the table. I long for someone with whom I can share all my secrets.”

She got the feeling that there was so much more to what he was saying than just the words themselves. She knew it couldn’t work, but would it be so wrong just to indulge herself in his passionate embrace? To know for once and all time what it felt to be loved by her fated mate?

Bah Humbug Mate
Mystic River Shifters 
Book  Seven
Delta James

Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Date of Publication:  11/22/23:
ASIN:  B0CGY63Z4K
Cover Artist: Wicked Smart Designs

Book Description: 

Will a charade under the mistletoe lead to a real love story?

Dash Samuels, a grumpy reindeer shifter, is faced with an ultimatum: marry by Christmas Day or lose his cherished family inheritance. The holidays are his least favorite time of the year and now he needs to find a mate? Panicked, he devises a plan to hire a woman to play his fake fiancée, until the inheritance is secured. But what he never anticipated was the whirlwind of emotions that would follow.

Noel Brooks, a spirited dreamer struggling to make ends meet, agrees to Dash's unconventional proposition out of necessity. The holidays are her favorite time of the year. As they embark on a charade filled with misunderstandings, holiday traditions, and undeniable chemistry, their carefully constructed façade begins to crumble, revealing the cracks in their hearts.

Dash needs to get from a grumpy humbug to a believer if he is going to catch his fated mate before it is too late.

Bah Humbug Mate is an enchanting story that reminds us that sometimes, the greatest gifts come wrapped in unexpected packages – and that true love is the ultimate holiday miracle.


Bah Humbug Mate Excerpt
A Mystic River Shifters Holiday Novella

“What do you mean I need to be mated by the winter holiday? Are you kidding me?” Dash said as he paced back and forth in the attorney’s office.

“Look, Dash, I didn’t write the damn will. Well, I guess technically I did, but your grandmother was very particular. She was very angry you left the herd. So, if you want to inherit what I agree is rightfully yours, you need to be married by the holiday deadline.”

“Which is?”

“December 24.”

“You aren’t serious.”

“I’m afraid I am. Your grandmother took these kinds of things seriously.”

“For heaven’s sake, Blitz, where the hell am I supposed to find a comely, female reindeer-shifter in the next…” he glanced at the calendar on the wall “twenty-three days?”

“Honestly, I don’t know, and there are provisions that will have you tied to this girl for at least ten years.”

Dash plopped down in the chair. “A decade? I have to spend a decade with some girl I don’t even know?”

“You know lots of girls,” said Blitzen.

“And none of them I’d want to marry.”

“Dude, for that kind of fortune, I’d marry Godzilla.”

“Do you have her number?”


About the Author:

Delta James is a USA Today bestselling paranormal and contemporary romantic suspense author, whose goal is to captivate readers with stories about complex, curvy heroines and the dominant alpha males who adore them. For Delta, romance is more than just a love story; it’s a journey with challenges and thrills along the way. 

After creating a second chapter for herself that was dramatically different than the first, Delta now resides in Florida where she relaxes on warm summer evenings with her loveable pack of basset hounds as they watch the birds, squirrels and lizards. When not crafting fast-paced tales, she enjoys horseback riding, walks on the beach, and white-water rafting. 

Her readers mean the world to her, and Delta tries to interact personally to as many messages as she can. If you’d like to chat or discuss books, you can find Delta on Instagram, Facebook, and in her private reader group 
















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