Lycan Christmas, S. Yule [best book club books of all time TXT] 📗

his eyes widened, an eerie glow flashing in their depths for a split second before disappearing. She assumed it had been the firelight reflected at an odd angle.

“How long have you lived here, Lorent?”

“This will be my second Christmas.”

She looked around at the trees outlining the path she and Rose had taken to the campfire, the one that continued on from where they had stopped and curved around out of sight. There were already a fair amount of lights twinkling in the trees on the path, and she smiled. She loved Christmas.

Everyone was kinder around Christmas, more giving, more . . . not nasty.

She’d met a lot of nice people, but she’d met a lot of not-so-nice people too.

The magic of Christmas tended to create an air of amicability.

“The lights are pretty. Did you help put them up?”

Lorent nodded.

Okay, so he wasn’t going to be a forthcoming font of information, but she didn’t mind. She’d never been one to back down from a challenge. She’d just have to work on him, and hope that he would eventually open up to her.

She’d always had a way with people, and she wanted him to be comfortable around her.

“I’d love to put a tree up in my cabin. Maybe you could help me pick one out and decorate it.”

“Lorent doesn’t do decorations, do you, hon?”

26

Lycan Christmas

S. K. Yule

Melony turned to find a girl standing behind them, a gorgeous girl who could grace the cover of any magazine. Wavy brown hair framed an elegant face, and blue eyes and dark skin were evident even by firelight. Her tall, fine-boned figure didn’t sport an ounce of extra fat on a lithe frame. Melony’s stomach curled with a tinge of jealousy that suddenly turned to guilt. Melony considered herself pretty in her own way, just not . . . beautiful. She smiled.

She wasn’t an envious person by nature, and looks weren’t everything in life.

“I’m Melony.”

“Shannon.” She sat on the other side of Lorent.

Melony didn’t miss the way Lorent stiffened when Shannon scooted close until their thighs almost touched. Hmm. Were they an item? The girl eyed her up and down as if she were competition, but seemed to quickly dismiss the notion. That kind of irked Melony, but it wasn’t the first time she’d been shot down as competition by tall, gorgeous girls. She supposed most didn’t take her as a serious threat simply for her fashion choices and pink hair.

Her pink hair and fashion weren’t bad, just different. However, she wasn’t so naive as to not know that her trend appealed to a certain kind of man. Was Lorent that kind of man? She eyed him. He was, no doubt, a beefcake. His ruffled black hair had that sleep-tousled look, and his eyes were a clear, alluring hazel framed by dark lashes. She wished she had lashes that thick. His nose was straight and just the right size for his face. His jaw was squared out, but held a hint of youthfulness that belied the recentness of his transition from boy to man.

He was tall, much taller than she was—most people were—and the slight cleft in his chin gave her a strange urge to run her tongue over it. His stubble lent an edge of sexiness to his rugged looks, and the dark T-shirt he wore perfectly sculpted his broad chest and wide shoulders. She didn’t even want to think about how delectable his backside had looked in his snug jeans. She frowned. What was wrong with her? She had no qualms about appreciating a fine-looking man, but she’d appreciated him with more tenacity than just a passing admiration of a fine male specimen.

27

Lycan Christmas

S. K. Yule

She felt like telling Shannon that there was no competition with Lorent anyway, that he’d looked as if he were pained when Knox had informed him he’d be acting as her teacher. He’d barely spoken to her at all, and it was obvious he had no interest in her. When Shannon scooted even closer to Lorent, brushing her leg against his, he tensed and shifted until there was some space separating them once again. Hmm. Maybe he wasn’t interested in Shannon either, but Shannon didn’t take the hint as she breached the distance between them again.

“I already asked Lorent to help me decorate earlier, so if he helps anyone, it will be me. Besides, I’m sure you’ll be busy for the next couple weeks settling in.” Shannon put a fat marshmallow on the end of a stick and held it over the fire.

“Actually, Lorent is going to be my teacher for the next several weeks.

We start our lessons tomorrow.” Damn. Why was she goading this girl?

Shannon froze for a moment and treated Melony with a scalding glare that sent chills down her spine. But when Lorent turned to look at Shannon, her face instantly transformed into a bright smile.

“Well. Won’t that be nice?” Shannon stood and let the stick with the speared marshmallow drop to the ground. The marshmallow plopping into the dirt made a gooey, sticky mess. “Lorent, will you walk me home, please?”

Sherry strolled up behind the girl right before she’d asked Lorent for the escort. “Shannon, I can see your cabin from here. If you want to go home, we’ll watch you until you get inside. I’m sure no big bad wolves will get you.”

Shannon turned as if she’d give Sherry a good tongue-lashing, but then seemed to think better of it. She huffed, “Good night, all.”

“Sheesh. When will she get the hint that you aren’t interested in her, Lorent? You aren’t, are you?” Sherry teased Lorent with a mischievous smile.

Lorent’s cheeks flamed redder than the hot bits of wood on the bottom of the fire, and he shook his head.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong. Shannon is a good person underneath all of her puffed-out exterior. She just has some ideas that she should forget.”

Sherry didn’t sugarcoat her words, and Melony found that refreshing.

28

Lycan