chapter 1

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.”

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