A Grey Wolves Howliday (The Grey Wolves #14) - Quinn Loftis Page 0,3

that have happened while the crap was literally falling on our heads.”

“I’m proud of you for saying crap and not the other word,” he teased as he nuzzled her hair. He treasured the moments when she let herself be vulnerable. They were few and far between, and when they happened, like now, Decebel soaked them up like they were the first rays of sunshine in months.

She snorted. “Yeah, well, turns out mini-me likes potty words as much as her momma. For some reason, she never repeats things I say like ‘that’s adorable’, but”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“if I slip up and say, ‘life’s a bitch,’ she’s suddenly all miss vocabulary and throwing that shit around like it’s confetti.”

Decebel had to agree. It was as though Thia specifically listened for words she knew she wasn’t supposed to say and then latched onto them like her favorite toy. “Maybe we should tell her not to say a regular word, and then she’d want to say it all the time instead of her current favorites.”

“Reverse psychology?” Jen narrowed her eyes and looked over at their daughter, who was currently holding up a circular piece of cereal and staring at them through the middle of it. “I don’t know. I think she’s too smart for that. And she’s creeping me out with the non-blinking stare. Thia, blink your eyes, child. You’re being weird.”

Thia seemed to think this was hilarious. She laughed and said, “Momma weird.”

“You’re not wrong, mini-me, you’re not wrong.” Jen shook her head at their mischievous girl.

“So,” Decebel said carefully, “about this celebration. Is a committee—”

“Yes, B, it’s necessary. It’s a big freaking house, we’re inviting the whole freaking pack, and if nothing is planned, then we’ll run out of food, have rooms that aren’t festive, and it will be a Christmas dud party. I don’t do duds.”

“Well, obviously, you mated me.” He couldn’t help himself. She’d walked into that one.

“Ha, ha,” she deadpanned.

He could see his mate had good intentions, even if she tended to go a little overboard on some things. He paused. Okay, a lot overboard. But he also thought this was part of her grieving process. It was as if she needed to do Alina’s memory justice by making this first “holiday” as special as their former alpha female had been. Decebel wouldn’t rob her of that if it was what she needed. He’d lay the world at her feet if he knew it would help her heal. “Okay, baby, you just tell me what to do and it’s done.”

Her plump lips turned up into a smile that lit up her face. That alone was enough to make him drag in fifty Christmas trees and put a thousand ornaments on every single one. Anything to make her smile at him like that.

“As soon as everyone is here, I’ll assign each person to their squad. Then we can lock and load,” she said with the pep back in her step.

“Squad?”

“Or we could call them teams.” She tapped the pen against her lips. “Or crews. Ohh, brigades.” She nodded with a grin. “Like the elf brigade, the wolf sleigh brigade, the tree brigade, the—”

“Wait. Did you say wolf sleigh brigade?”

She nodded again, this time even more enthusiastically. “Yes, and the tree brigade. Come on, babe, you’re going to have to keep up if you want to be a brigade leader.”

“Uh…” He decided to pick one battle at a time. “Or we could just say groups.”

She scrunched her nose up. “‘Groups’ is boring. ‘Groups’ is for duds. We aren’t a group of duds. We’re a pack of badass, Christmas celebrating, lights shining, ornament hanging, sleigh pulling, boughs of holly dancing, holiday furball cheer. Does that sound dud-like to you?”

“I like the sound of that.” Zara sauntered into the kitchen, tapped Thia on the nose, and then turned to Jen and Decebel. “And no, it definitely doesn’t sound dud-like. It sounds like the Christmas of the century.”

“I knew from the minute I saw you, you would be my new favorite.” Jen smiled at Zara like a proud parent.

Zara shrugged. “It is hard not to love me.”

“Damn straight.” Wadim walked in behind his mate and patted her on her rear.

“Language,” Decebel growled.

Wadim laughed. “Beta, that ship has sailed, crossed the ocean twice, and been lost in a storm.”

“Damn hell!” Thia yelled as she tossed her cereal in the air.

“See?” The historian chuckled.

Decebel reminded himself that the pack needed Wadim since he was the pack historian, and it would hurt Zara’s feelings