Page 84 of Ignited

Then Thanatos held out his hand and she let go of the empty sphere. It floated to him and attached itself to the entire Orb, making that whole as well.

It was over,

They were okay, they were going home, and nobody but the bad guy died today.

That was about all you could ask for out of life, wasn’t it?

Chapter 36

The Outlaw Ridge pack ended up putting off Christmas for three more days. Most of the pack was working to clear out Maximilian’s lair—all his magic items, his books and notes, everything they could find. It all disappeared into the Big House for Thanatos to sort through.

He didn’t tell anyone in the pack what important information he’d hoped to learn from Maximilian—what he still hoped to learn from the sorcerer’s notes and journals. Although Boomer had a feeling DB had cut a deal with him—to help him look, in exchange for access to the books.

That kid loved to learn about magic, almost as much as Boomer loved to learn about explosives.

Boomer still couldn’t believe that Thanatos had sacrificed his mission to save Karisma. Maybe the old troll did have a heart, after all.

Karisma was happy because the delay in celebrations gave her even more time to shop. It seemed like she was on her laptop every time he turned around, hiding the screen from him so he couldn’t see what she was buying. She even talked Switch into flying her to Lake Placid in his helicopter to pick up her express packages, since stuff took too long to get all the way out to the Ridge.

Bro was quieter than ever. His bullet wounds had healed up okay, and his wolf didn’t seem so crazy. Despite the fact that it was colder than a witch’s titty and snowed almost every day, he spent half his time in the hammock on the front porch, staring out at the mountains.

Whatever was going on with him, it wasn’t over. Maybe it would never be.

But Boomer was grateful for what Bro had done for Karisma. And more grateful still that they hadn’t lost him.

It didn’t matter that Boomer had a mate now—his bond with his brother would never be broken.

The morning of Makeup Christmas, Boomer woke to find a ridiculous number of presents under the tree. Among other things, Karisma had gotten him a cookbook, a huge set of fancy cookware and a book on the chemistry of cooking, which was cool as fuck.

He was also informed that he had to teach Karisma how to cook. “We’ll learn together,” he said, wrapping his arm around her neck and kissing her tiger hair.

He fucking loved being mated. He loved waking up with Karisma every morning. He loved when she was grumpy, or annoying, or happy.

He loved going wolf and playing in the snow with her tiger.

And he loved that she loved him. It made him feel like a different person. A better one. Who could cherish and protect her, and also buy her a ton of presents both stupid and useful, including her own Sig Sauer, a fancy throwing knife, sexy underwear, and a pink sparkly t-shirt that said, “Bad Kitty.” He had her grenade launcher on order.

RoomBubba got a new bow tie for the holiday, and a Christmas ribbon for his dick, which was out pretty much all the time now.

And Karisma had bought presents for Bro, too. A pillow for the hammock. Werewolf sheets and comforter for his mattress in the workroom. And she got both him and Boomer shirts with Fiona Glenanne quotes from the show Burn Notice.

Boomer’s said, “If you blow something up correctly, you have nothing left to fix.”

And his brother’s said, “If something seems too good to be true, it’s best to shoot it. Just in case.”

“Do you like it?” she said uncertainly, when he opened it.

He gazed at her, his face its usual stony mask. “I’m smiling on the inside.”

Karisma squealed and threw herself on Bro, hugging him. He didn’t shove her away, so that was progress.

After that, they went to the Christmas party at the rec hall, where the whole pack got their presents. It was a madhouse, everyone was drunk, and three separate brawls broke out.

Everyone agreed. Best. Christmas. Ever.

Late that night, in the dark silent foyer of the Big House, a slash of green sparkling light appeared. It was twelve feet tall, and widened into a shimmering doorway over six feet wide.

There was the sound of feet shuffling and some swearing, and then a ten-foot-tall Christmas tree, fully decorated with a stand, floated through the doorway.