A Serengeti Christmas by Vivi Andrews

 
     
    A Serengeti Christmas
     
    Three Rocks Pride, Christmas Eve, Two Years Ago
     
    “ Santa Baby, just slip a sable under the
tree…”
    Music blared through the speakers in the
dining hall. Christmas songs should never be played at that
decibel, but by this point in the evening most of the party-goers
were so hammered on eggnog they either didn‘t notice or didn‘t
care.
    Shana Delray leaned against the wall and
watched the drunken revelers stumbling around in an excess of
Christmas cheer. She twirled one red curl around her finger, bored
and not even mildly interested in joining the bacchanal in
progress. Most of the partiers had already discarded their
clothing—which wasn‘t unusual among the shape-shifters in the
pride, where nudity was as natural as fur, but it did contribute to
the general air of debauchery.
    A Santa wearing a red tasseled hat and
nothing else paused at her side with a hopeful leer. “Hey there,
princess. Wanna ssssit on Sssssanta‘s lap n‘ tell me what a bad
girl you‘ve been this year?” he slurred wetly in her ear.
    Shana leveled a steady, unblinking stare in
his direction and slowly raised one eyebrow. “Go shag Rudolph,
Ari.”
    Even three sheets to the wind, Ari knew
better than to push his luck. “Ooookay, Shana-girl don‘t wanna
play.” He bobbed his head and lurched off in search of a more
willing piece of ass.
    Shana dropped her head back against the wall
again, the tension in her shoulders refusing to relax.
    A whoop from across the room called Shana‘s
attention to where her mother swayed on top of a table. She whipped
a tasseled red scarf above her head like a propeller, evidently
preparing for the latest in her ongoing series of drunken
stripteases. The once-great queen of the Three Rocks Pride reduced
to a cheap table-dancer with the assistance of Jack D., Jim B.
& Jose C.
    Shana closed her eyes and tried to block out
the sounds of the room around her, focusing on the lyrics of the
song.
    A yacht, a ring, a platinum mine… I want, I
want, I want . Shana liked the singer‘s style. A woman who knew
what she wanted and wasn‘t afraid to ask for it. Definitely her
kind of song.
    Shana wanted things too. She was a writhing
mass of want.
    She wanted Leonus deposed as Alpha. She
wanted to be the new Alpha‘s mate and rule the pride. She wanted
all the power she deserved.
    Though at the moment, she mostly wanted to be
anywhere but here.
    A familiar hum thrummed at the base of her
spine. Her skin tingled and she could practically feel the blood
rushing hot through her veins.
    Her heat was coming. She‘d felt it bearing
down on her all day.
    Shana knew she needed to pick a man and drag
him out of here to satisfy her before the hormones her body was
giving off sent every male in the room into a frenzy. Any man would
do. Her body didn‘t care.
    Maybe she shouldn‘t have told Ari to fuck
off…
    Shana opened her eyes and wet her lips.
    There wasn‘t a man in the room who would say
no to her. The members of the pride with mates and cubs—the family
men—had long since abandoned the party in favor of hanging up
stockings and setting out cookies and milk. Those that remained
were the few young single men the Alpha thought were too weak to be
a threat…and the ones the big bad Alpha was secretly afraid of. The
ones like Caleb.
    A tendril of heat streaked down Shana‘s spine
at just the thought of his name.
    Where was Caleb, anyway? She scanned the
room, but didn‘t see those big, broad shoulders anywhere. He‘d
probably slipped out as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
Caleb had never cared much for parties, especially the raucous
kind.
    Almost before the conscious decision was
made, Shana had snagged a sprig of mistletoe off a garland and
slipped outside.
    The cool night air felt delicious on the
exposed skin of her arms and shoulders, kissing every overheated
inch. There was no snow on the ground—west Texas winters didn‘t
often include frosty mornings and