Read Online Wonder: A Soul Savers Collection of Holiday Short Stories & Recipes by Kristie Cook - Free Book Online Page A

initial glint brightened into a twinkle as he watched her stare at him and he returned the favor.
    I have to get out of here . As though the reminder were a prod in the ass, Rissa sprang to her feet to run. But more pain jolted through her leg, all the way to her hip. Her ankle immediately gave out, and she fell to her hands and knees, giving the stranger quite an eyeful. With a frustrated cry, she collapsed to her side again and returned to her ball shape. Every profane word she knew flew through her mind.
    “Looks like it’s broken,” the stranger said.
    “It’s fine,” Rissa said through clenched teeth, her human voice rough. “I’ll be fine. Just leave me alone. Please.”
    The guy chuckled, the sound laced with disbelief. “You’re a young woman alone in the woods, severely injured, and naked at that. No way can I just leave you here.”
    “I said I’ll be fine,” Rissa snapped. “Just go!”
    The man rose to his feet, took one stride over to her, and knelt beside her again. Too quick for her to react, he scooped his arms underneath her and lifted her as he stood.
    “Not a chance, sweetheart,” he said.
    Rissa struggled but only for a short moment, because the movement only increased the pain in her foot. She considered changing back to her wolf form, but he held her so closely against his chest, she wasn’t sure she could. On the other hand, the transformation would surely surprise him, giving her an opportunity to escape. Yet, something kept her from doing so, kept her in his arms as he headed for the house with the smoke rising from the chimney.
    “The holiday season’s coming, you know,” he said as he walked up the front steps. “ I won’t exactly be making brownie points with Santa if I leave you out there, unable to walk, and no place to go for miles. Let’s get you inside and warmed up, then I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
    Rissa held back a snort. The holidays . Was it that late in the year already? She didn’t really care. She didn’t have a home. No family to go back to. The holidays were a part of her old life. Now she had nothing to be grateful for, no comfort or joy in her life.
    As the stranger carried her inside his home, laid her on the couch, and covered her with a heavy blanket, she looked up into his kind eyes, and for the first time since she’d been bitten six years ago, she wondered if there was something left in her to live for. To be thankful for.

Chapter 2

    “What’s your name?” the guy asked as he stood over her.
    Rissa’s nose twitched—something here smelled strange, but she couldn’t pinpoint the faint odor—but she kept her mouth shut. He didn’t need to know her name. He didn’t need to know anything about her. She needed to get the hell out of here before this went any further.
    He continued staring at her expectantly, and when she didn’t answer, his dark eyes twinkled. “Well, then. I guess I’ll start. I’m Gray.”
    Rissa’s brows pushed together. Gray? What kind of name was that? Was it even a name? The stranger must have seen the curiosity killing her because he grinned widely. Dimples punctuated his smile, and Rissa’s thighs quivered in response.
    “That’s what everyone calls me, for many reasons. Maybe I’ll tell you one if you tell me your name.”
    Her eyes cut away from him and his fabulous smile, and she scowled at the blanket. After another long moment pregnant with expectation, Gray must have given up on her. He rose to his feet and strode away, and Rissa watched him through her lashes. He had wide shoulders, a narrow waist, and a confident stride that screamed, “Hot sex here.” Rissa swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Once Gray’s perfect ass disappeared through a doorway, she came to her senses and seized the opportunity.
    She bolted to her feet and quickly gathered the blanket around her. Once she was outside in the dark night and far enough away, she wouldn’t need it. She could change and stay warm in her