the land it’s sitting on is on a ninety-nine year lease, owned by Lennox. J.D., love, you could get in trouble if you try and chop down a tree.” Not to mention, the Lennoxes, were a family of dragons who would not take kindly to having their land defaced.
“That’s correct.” The corner of Damon’s mouth tugged up. “But you’re looking at the only person in the entire Blackstone town, possibly the world, who has special permission to cut down any tree in the mountains for her Christmas tree.”
“He means me,” J.D. said smugly.
“You? How?”
“Well,” J.D. began, cocking her hip, “back in senior year of high school, I was at this party, right? You know the story, some kid’s parents were away for the weekend, so they throw a party and there was stuff going on …”
“Stuff?” Cam asked, brows furrowing together. “What kind of stuff?”
“Booze. Boys. Going upstairs. You know, stuff teens do when their parents aren’t around.”
His polar bear didn’t like the sound of that. “And did you do some of this stuff?” He turned to Damon and Gabriel. “Where were you? Did you watch out for her?”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not the point of the story. Anyway, I show up late, and this house was like wall-to-wall with kids from school. Including Sybil Lennox. Ever hear of her?”
If she only knew. “You said there were lots of people there from your high school.”
“Yeah, well Sybil wasn’t even in high school then, I think. She had to be what, thirteen? Somehow, she wound up there and got stinking drunk. Like, I knew the alcohol would wear off quickly, but she just kept taking shot after shot like liquor was going out of style. None of her usual friends were there, so she was hanging out with these older girls. Anyway, I’m not sure what happened, but one thing led to another, and someone pushes her in the pool. All these kids started cheering. I think they were waiting for her to shift into her dragon form or something, but she doesn’t come up, so I jump in and fish her out.”
Anna Victoria gasped. “Oh Lord, was she okay?”
“Yeah. She was just disoriented, and she sobered up pretty quick. But she wasn’t feeling great, and so I offered to take her home. On the drive there, she told me that she had a huge blowup with her mom and dad. Something about her older brother, Luke. That’s why she was so upset and snuck into the party. Anyway, I’m pulling up to the front of the castle and guess who’s waiting there by the door? Her dad, the Blackstone Dragon himself. They make up and everything, and Sybil tells her dad what I did. So, Mr. Lennox is, like, super grateful, and he said I could have anything I wanted as a reward for helping his only daughter. And so yadda, yadda, yadda, Hank Lennox gives me permission to chop down any tree I want from the mountains every Christmas. In perpetuity.”
Cam gaped at her. “So, what you’re telling me is that a powerful billionaire dragon Alpha offered you anything for saving his daughter, and you ask to kill a tree from his property every year for the rest of your life?”
“If it makes you feel any better, that was my second choice.”
“Dare we ask what the first one was?”
“I asked if he could set Jenny Blake’s hair on fire as revenge for calling me a grease monkey,” she replied. “But he wasn’t too crazy about doing that.”
The absurdity of it all made his head throb. But this was his J.D. they were talking about.
“So,” she turned to Damon and Gabriel. “Are we going or what? I think I’d like a spruce or Douglas fir this year.”
“Aw, do we have to?” Gabriel grumbled. “It’s midnight and it’s dark outside. Plus, there’s trees and dirt and shit and …”
“Aw, what else is wrong, Russel? Does your vagina hurt?” With an exasperated breath, she turned to Damon. “Well?”
Damon looked at her sheepishly. “I was kind of hoping we could at least wait until tomorrow? Why don’t you stay over tonight, and we’ll go at first light. I don’t want to leave Anna Victoria alone tonight. At least she can join us in the morning.”
“Damon, it’s all right,” his mate said. “I’ll be fine. You should go.”
“It’s my bear. You know what it’s like, especially now in your condition. It doesn’t want to leave you behind.”