WOLF

What a shitty day.

Whoever thought playing Christmas music in November was a good idea should have been shot.

Every damn store he walked into that day for supplies had been playing some kind of holly jolly tunes

that made Wolf want to stick a damn screwdriver through his ears.

It certainly didn’t help that heavy snow was in the damn forecast. It was Seattle! In November!

When had heavy snow ever been in the forecast in Seattle in freaking November?

Uh, never. That’s when.

Granted, it was the end of November, but still. And it made everyone get all Christmas crazy as

they started their hustling and bustling. It was always this time of year when Wolf realized why the

Grinch hid away in his cave. Yeah, he could relate to the furry green guy.

Pulling his truck into his driveway, he killed the engine and sighed. Knox, Ash, and Beau already

had Christmas lights strung up on their houses. Something he was sure was done at the insistence of

the three Little girls that his brothers were dating. He had a feeling those three little brats would con

him into stringing lights on his house at some point, too.

Damn cute little monsters.

“Wolfie!” Kylie called out from across the street as he stepped out of his truck.

He grinned. That was something he would never get tired of: being greeted with such enthusiasm

and love.

“Hey, little miss. What are you doing?” he asked as he crossed the street.

Kylie wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him, making that familiar ache inside him

spring to life.

“I was just checking the mail. Daddy is still at work.”

Wolf nodded and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “What would your Daddy say about you

being out here without a coat? It’s barely in the mid-thirties out here.”

Kylie glared up at him. “You know, Wolfie, if you’re gonna get me in trouble, I’m not gonna come

out and check the mail when I see your truck pulling up so I can say hi to you anymore.”

Oh, his heart. Kylie was a handful, but she was the sweetest Little girl when she wanted to be.

“Okay, I won’t tell your Daddy this time, but if I catch you out here without a coat on again, you’re

busted. Got it?”

She flashed him a wide grin. “You’re such a big softie, Wolfie. You need to get lights on your

house soon so the whole block can look like the North Pole. Addie, Emma, and I are going shopping

for decorations so we can put them up in all of your yards. I’ll get you some, too.”

Shit. Like he would be able to say no to them. Especially something that would be a fun and Little

activity for them to do together. But dammit, he hated Christmas and everything that came along with

it.

“Get inside where it’s warm, Kylie. I’ll see you later,” he said.

She eyed him warily for a moment before she skipped up the driveway and into her house.

His brothers knew how he felt about the holidays. They even knew the reasons why. But the

Littles didn’t, and he wasn’t about to tell them and ruin their fun.

Once he was inside his own house, Wolf kicked off his heavy boots in the entryway and dropped

his lunchbox on the counter in the kitchen. He needed a drink. A really fucking stiff drink.

Because of the forecasted snow, he wouldn’t be working for the next few days. The building they

were working on didn’t have a roof yet so they couldn’t work on anything since it would all be

covered in white powder.

After pouring a bit of whiskey into a glass, Wolf headed upstairs to take a shower. Turning on the

hot water, he waited until it was steaming hot before he stripped off his clothes and stepped under the

spray, letting it pound on his back.

Soaping up his body, he worked to clean himself as his mind wandered all over the place. He was

tired and in a bad mood, and he was glad at that moment that he lived alone so his mood wouldn’t

ruin anyone else’s day. But he also knew that part of his sour mood was because he was sick and tired

of coming home to an empty house.

He loved his brothers’ Little girls. They were sweet and fun, and each of them had a naughty side

that kept all the men on their toes. But ultimately, none of those women belonged to him. And he didn’t

want them to because they were the perfect Littles for his brothers. It was just that being around the

women regularly made the void in his life seem all that much larger.

Once he was out of the shower and dressed in a pair of clean jeans and a T-shirt, Wolf went down

to the kitchen to find something to eat. Since he wouldn’t be able to work on the job site for the next

few days, he would stay home and work on building plans for some of his upcoming jobs. It was one

of those things that was always hard to find the time to do, so it was the perfect opportunity to get

ahead.

Grabbing a package of chicken from his fridge, he dumped it into his InstaPot along with some

chicken broth and seasonings and then spent some time chopping up carrots, onions, potatoes, and

celery. It was the perfect weather for a thick and creamy soup, and he would have enough to last for

several days.

Dumping the rest of the ingredients into the pot, he turned it on before heading back out to his

truck to grab his laptop and the power tools that would need to be charged.

Maddox, his brother, pulled into his driveway next to Wolf’s and nodded to him as he got out of

his car.

“Hey, man,” Wolf greeted.

“Hey. It’s damn cold out here,” Maddox said, looking up toward the muted gray clouds hanging

over them.

Nodding his head, Wolf opened his truck to grab his laptop, frowning when it wasn’t on the

passenger seat where he normally set it when leaving a job.

Looking back at Maddox, he nodded. “Yeah. The forecast is calling for six inches of snow by

midnight tonight and another foot or more tomorrow.”

Maddox looked across the street at Knox and Ash’s houses. “I see the girls are already on

Christmas patrol.”

Swallowing a groan, Wolf nodded. “Yep, and they plan to decorate all our yards apparently.”

His brother chuckled and shook his head. “They’re lucky they’re cute. How do you feel about

that?”

Shrugging his shoulders, he forced himself not to scowl. “You know how I feel about it. Fucking

hate it. But I’m not going to ruin it for them.”

Maddox nodded as he looked down at the ground. It was one of those conversations that Wolf

hated having and he knew his brothers worried about him around this time of the year.

“I know you have some really dark shit inside you when it comes to the holidays, but maybe now

with the Littles around, you could try to create some new and better memories. At least then it might

become a bit less painful each year,” Maddox said.

Yeah, he had thought about that, too. But Wolf was pretty sure the memories from his past would

always haunt him.

Turning back to his truck, he checked the back seat for his laptop and then the floor, frowning

when he came up empty.

“What are you looking for?” Maddox asked.

“My laptop. I must have forgotten it on-site. Shit. I probably need to go get it before it’s covered

in snow and I have to have Colt build me a new one.”

Looking up toward the darkening sky, his brother nodded. “Yeah. Might want to do that quick. It’s

going to be dark soon and I’m pretty sure it’s going to start snowing any minute.”

Wolf grunted. “You going to work at the club tonight?”

“No. I closed early today. Don’t want my employees to be out and about in this weather.”

“Good plan. I need to go grab a jacket and my keys and make sure the InstaPot is done cooking

before I go. I’ll catch you later.”

Maddox lifted his chin and smiled. “Just think about trying to enjoy the season this year. The

Littles will definitely want their favorite uncle Wolfie to be a part of everything.”

Turning back toward Maddox, Wolf grinned. “I’m the favorite?”

Chuckling, Maddox flipped him off. “Only because you look like Jason Momoa and you’re a big

teddy bear when it comes to them.”

It was Wolf’s turn to flip his brother off, though he found himself chuckling as he walked back

inside.

Shit, it was freezing out. The snow had already begun falling by the time he had left his house. The

large fluffy flakes were coming down thick and fast, and the sky had turned from gray to black. Even

with his windshield wipers going on high, it was still difficult to see.

The building he’d been working on was mostly just beams and concrete floors. It was going to

become an office building near downtown Seattle. He preferred building houses since that was

something he could put some of his own style into, but he couldn’t deny the money that came with

building corporate businesses. It was often hard to turn down one of those corporate jobs.

Leaving his truck running with the heat on, Wolf jumped out and went into the building, knowing

exactly where his laptop should be. Using the flashlight on his phone, he walked toward the back

corner where he had a table set up to hold their blueprints and computers.

As he stepped closer to the table, he heard a sharp intake of breath. Looking around, he narrowed his eyes as he moved his flashlight in every direction. It wasn’t uncommon for homeless people to

find abandoned buildings or houses to sleep in at night. Since this building didn’t even have a roof on

yet, he didn’t think anyone would want to stay there. Maybe it was an animal of some kind.

When he didn’t see anything, he turned toward the table again and walked closer, seeing his

laptop sitting where he’d left it earlier in the day. Just as he grabbed the device, he heard a soft

meowing noise come from under the table.

Stepping back, he leaned down with his flashlight and saw a kitten curled up in the arms of a

woman with the biggest set of brown eyes he’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry! Please don’t call the cops!” she whimpered, backing herself farther into the corner.

As she moved, his flashlight shone on her face, revealing several dark bruises on her cheeks.

Rage filled him at the sight, and he let out a string of curse words.

“What happened to your face?” he demanded.

Her eyes widened even more as she tried to curl into a tiny ball in the corner.

Realizing he was scaring her and she probably wouldn’t talk to him or let him help if he didn’t

ease up, Wolf squatted down, hoping if he appeared a bit smaller than his normal six foot five build

that she might talk to him.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Shit, you don’t have a jacket. It’s fucking freezing out here, little girl.

Here, take this and wrap yourself up,” he said, setting down the laptop and removing his jacket.

He held it out for her to grab, but she stared at the material as though it might burn her if she

touched it.

“Please take it. You’re going to get hypothermia,” he told her.

“I’m sorry,” she said through trembling lips.

When he realized she wasn’t going to take the jacket from him, he let out a steady breath to calm

himself. He needed to get her somewhere warm.

“I’m not going to hurt you but I’m not going to let you stay here. You’ll freeze to death. My truck is

out front, and I have the heater running. Come out of there,” he said as firmly as he could without

sounding scary.

Her lips already had a tinge of blue to them that made him wonder how long she’d been in the

building. Was she homeless? Where had the bruises come from?

Figure all of that out later. For now, get her somewhere warm and safe.

“If you don’t come out, I’m going to have to crawl under there and get you, and that will be a

challenge for a guy my size.”

Her dark eyes studied him, scanning over every inch of his face before meting his gaze again.

“You won’t hurt me?” she asked.

“I promise, I won’t hurt you. My name’s Wolf. Which is probably not helping you feel safe but I’m

a nice Wolf. I promise. I’m not the kind of Wolf that will hide in your grandma’s bed,” he joked,

hoping to ease her fear a bit with some humor.

A small smile pulled at her lips. Looking down at the tiny kitten in her arms, she stroked its head

with one of her thin fingers.

“Can I bring the kitty? It was crying in a dumpster and I got it out. I don’t want to leave it,” she

said in a small voice.

Wolf nodded. “You can bring the kitty. Come on.”

He held out his hand for her and smiled when she gave him the cat instead of taking his hand. Ever

so slowly, she crawled out from under the table.

Even though she was bruised and partially blue, something about the woman made everything inside of Wolf feel alive. The top of her head barely came to his chest. She was just a slight little

thing, but her big round eyes and raven-colored hair made it impossible to miss her.

Grabbing his laptop from the table, he walked slowly with the kitten held close to his chest. The

woman didn’t have anything with her, which bothered him. What the hell was she doing out here? He

had so many questions. While he wasn’t a very patient man when he wanted answers, he sensed he

would need to figure out how to slow down and go at her pace because she was obviously terrified.

She followed him out to his truck and he hurried to open the passenger side door for her. Setting

the cat on the seat, he turned and picked the woman up without so much as a word and deposited her

into the warm cab. She looked at him with a shocked expression as he closed the door behind her.

Calm down. Don’t be so rough. She doesn’t know that she’s safe with you yet.

Walking around the truck, he climbed into the driver’s side and tapped several buttons on the dash

to get the heater blasting and the seat warmers turned on.

When he finally looked over at her, he sucked in a breath. Her bruises were much worse than he’d

originally thought. There was also a large cut on her chin.

“You need to go to a hospital. You might need stitches.”

“No! No hospital! No!” she yelled out, scooting closer to the door.

Lifting his hands, Wolf nodded. “Okay, okay. Calm down. No hospital. I won’t take you to a

hospital.”

She studied him for a moment, her eyes big and scared. “Promise?”

Jesus, fuck. Why the hell did Littles always have to ask that? If he promised, he’d have to figure

out some other way to get her medical care.

She’s not a Little, dipshit.

He wasn’t so sure about that. But he couldn’t just assume.

“I promise. What’s your name?”

“Lucy,” she said in a small voice.

Shit. He was so fucked, and yet he knew nothing about this woman.

You know all you need to know.

LUCY

What was she going to do? Why had she agreed to follow the enormous man to his truck? He’d

promised he wouldn’t hurt her and despite how scary he looked, his eyes didn’t match the gruff

exterior.

But now what? What if he took her to the hospital? She could not let that happen. She would jump

out of his moving truck if she had to. Until everything got cleared up, she had to stay off the radar. She

was pretty sure the police were looking for her, but she didn’t know if going to them was a smart

decision or not. She had never dealt with anything like this before. But she had to figure out some way

to get the situation cleared up, because living on the streets wasn’t something she was cut out for.

But how would everything get cleared up? It was his word against hers. And somehow, despite

how shady he was, he had connections and friends who would help him while she had no one. Not

one single person. How freaking sad was that? The thought of it made her throat tighten, and she had

to force the thought away so she didn’t start crying.

“Lucy, it’s freezing out and the snow is going to keep coming down. I live about twenty minutes

from here and I have soup already made for dinner. How about if I take you to my house so I can clean

up your cut and see how bad it is? You can take a shower and eat, too, and then we’ll figure out what

to do next. Is that okay with you?”

His deep voice vibrated through her body, making her feel warm for the first time in days. He was

like honey and leather all wrapped in one. Tough and worn but gentle and sweet. It was a weird

combination, but it described him perfectly. Lucy suspected Wolf could be one scary man at times, but

he seemed to be trying really hard to be extra gentle around her. It was something she appreciated a

lot.

“I can’t go to the hospital and if you’re going to call the cops because I was sleeping there, I’ll

just leave now and promise that I’ll never step foot in that building again,” she said, studying his face

closely.

She didn’t know how old he was but based on the light flecks of silver at his temples, she knew

he was older than her. His dark beard didn’t look to have any silver in it though, so she guessed he

was in his late thirties.

Wolf reached his large hand across the bench seat and patted her hand. “I’m not going to call the

police and I won’t take you to the hospital. Okay? I promise. I won’t hurt you. Here, press call on my

phone. It will call my brother’s girlfriend, Addie. She will tell you I won’t hurt you.”

She eyed the screen of his phone as he held it out to her, seeing that the contact was pulled up to

‘Addie’. Should she call? Maybe he was bluffing and didn’t think she would call but offered so she would trust him. People could be sneaky. Unfortunately, she’d learned that the hard way.

Taking in a deep breath, she reached for the phone and pressed the call button. The ringing played

through the speaker of the truck.

After the second ring, a sweet, feminine voice picked up. “Hey, Wolfie!”

“Addie, it’s Wolf. A woman named Lucy is with me. She needs you to verify that I won’t hurt her

and that she’s safe with me,” Wolf said.

“Of course she’s safe with you. Any woman would be safe with you. Wait, what’s going on,

Wolf?” Addie asked.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. This Addie woman sounded completely genuine and seemed to trust

Wolf completely.

“It’s a long story. Hey, can you ask Knox to call Tate Gillespie and see if he can drive in this

weather? I might need him,” Wolf said.

Furrowing her eyebrows at Wolf, she wondered who he was talking about.

“He’s a doctor and can look at your cut without it being on any kind of record,” Wolf told her as

though he understood her silent question.

She bit her bottom lip, lowering her eyes to her lap. She hated doctors. They were always so cold

and sterile and liked to poke and prod. Even if she could go to the hospital, she wouldn’t want to

because of how much she hated them.

“Knox is calling him now,” Addie said.

“Thanks, Addie. I’ll call you back soon,” he said, ending the call.

Wolf studied her for a moment. “Do you feel safe coming home with me?”

Slowly nodding her head, she glanced over at him, meeting his eyes. He held her gaze for a long

moment, not breaking it until the kitten started meowing.

“I think he’s hungry,” she said in a small voice.

Shoot. She hated that she sounded so small right then. But she was cold and scared and hurt and

all she wanted to do was get into a pair of comfy pajamas and crawl into bed with all her stuffies.

Except your stuffies are all gone. Everything you had is gone.

Wolf shifted the truck into drive and slowly maneuvered out of the parking lot.

“I bet he is. I bet both you little kittens are hungry,” he said.

Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she studied him as he drove. It was silly, really, but

for some reason she pictured him as a Daddy. Maybe a more rough and tough type of Daddy, but

definitely a Daddy type. Something about him and the way he spoke to her gave her all the Little feels.

He’s not a Daddy. You’re so hungry and cold you’ve gone delusional.

A shiver ran through her body and she realized her teeth were chattering. She was really cold. It

seemed like no matter how high the heat was she just couldn’t get warm.

“Cover up with my jacket,” he said, handing it over to her.

She hesitantly took it from him, covering both herself and the cat with the material. That was a big

mistake because as soon as she took in a breath through her nose, she realized his scent was on the

jacket and it smelled so dang good. A mixture of citrus and the woods, which was fitting for him since

he looked like he could be a lumberjack. He was even wearing a flannel button down.

Huh. Did they have lumberjacks in Seattle?

Looking out the passenger side window as they drove, she smiled when they started passing

houses that were decorated with Christmas lights. With the snow falling onto the houses, it

illuminated the colorful lights even more.

“Wow, that’s so pretty,” she said quietly as they passed a large house that had blue icicle lights all around it.