ChoosingHisChristmasMiracle by Charlie Richards

pajamas bunched up around a wolf’s tail, hips, and shoulders was not a good look.
    Sean likened it to sleep walking. His baser instincts took over and he went to where his psyche was calmest. After two nights like that, he slept in Raul’s bed with no incident. Sean acquiesced to his wolf and planned to stay there.
    He was getting ready for bed on the fifth night after his mate’s leaving— but really, Sean wasn’t counting —when the phone call came. It was Declan himself, and when the alpha calls with a grave tone in his voice, the news was never good. Even before hearing more than his name, Sean’s wolf was cowering in his mind. As he sat down on the bed, he told his beast to buck up. Their mate may need them, and he asked the alpha what he could do for him.
    Declan’s next words would have made his knees buckle if Sean wasn’t already sitting down. “I’m sorry, Sean. Raul’s been shot. He’s been taken to a hospital near Springville and I’ve just received word that he’s in critical condition.” The alpha’s voice turned soothing. “He is listed as stable right now, Sean.”
    Sean had to swallow twice to clear the lump in his throat. “Can I—can I go see him?” he asked tentatively.
    “Normally I’d say, yes, Sean, but they’re already making plans to airlift him to Colin City Memorial.”
    Sean frowned. “Where—”
    When he couldn’t seem to manage to finish the question, Declan said, “That’s about forty-five minutes from your house. As soon as I know when he’ll be landing, I’ll send someone with a car. Don’t worry about Lily,” he soothed. “I’ll send someone to watch her, as well.”
    “Th-thank you,” he stuttered.
    “Don’t thank me yet, Sean,” Declan replied, revealing his own worry. “Raul’s not out of the woods, yet.”
    A whimper escaped Sean as fear ripped through him. After all this time, after fighting for his life, for Lily’s life, for the chance, the hope, of seeing, of being with his mate, would life be so cruel as to take Raul away without giving them a chance together?
    “Breathe, Sean, breathe. Long, slow, deep breathes. In through your nose, out through your mouth.” The faint voice of Declan’s human mate, Lark, came through the line. “You’ve got to calm down. Concentrate on three words. Raul…is… alive. He needs you to be strong. Be strong for Raul. Be strong for Lily. Your family needs you.”
    Sean obeyed, concentrating on the alpha-mate’s words. Finally, his heart rate returned to something resembling normal, and he could speak again. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Please let me know when I can see him.”
    After he hung up, Sean sat in a daze for the longest time. Lily’s fussing, the noise coming through the baby monitor, finally brought him out of his stupor. Sean walked into the other room. He saw that her face was scrunched up in irritation and she waved her fists impudently.
    “Hey, sweetie,” he crooned. Reaching into the crib, he gently rubbed her back, hoping she’d just drift back to sleep. “What has you so upset, hmm?”
    For a heat beat, Lily stopped fussing and froze. Sean grimaced, knowing what was coming. Lily proved him right as she let out a loud wail. He picked her up and laid her on the changing table, asking, “Are you wet, little girl? Hmm? Did you make a stinky?”
    She did .
    While Sean cleaned her up, Lily’s cries quickly diminished and turned into coos and burbles. She laughed at Sean’s silly faces. Once he was done and had her in a clean outfit, he then picked her up and headed to the kitchen. “One of these days, you’ll sleep all the way through the night, won’t you?”
    He kept up the inane chatter as he heated her bottle. Then he settled in the glider and fed her, staring into the empty fireplace, wondering if he’d ever get the chance of enjoying the view with his mate.
    Mentally shoving the useless, not to mention depressing, thoughts away, Sean finished feeding and burping Lily.