Free A True Alpha Christmas by Alisa Woods

She peeked past them to find Lev and then grinned: he was busy kissing Rebecca, something far more important than any congratulations he might have for her and Lucas. Mia beamed at Lucas, and he just shook his head. But there was a smile underneath.
    One by one, the rest of the packs came up to shake hands and cheek-kiss Lucas and Mia. The warmest hug came from the elder Mr. Sparks, which made Mia blush, but Lucas’s smile was more than compensation for it. Jeeter and Colin were up next. If her ex-roomie smiled any wider, she would be nothing but teeth.
    “You know, you could have told me,” Mia said to her.
    “Well, yeah… if I wanted to be your ex best-friend.” Jeeter gave her a huge hug that lifted Mia off her feet and nearly spilled her fur coat open. Which would have been horrific, especially with Colin standing there. But even he seemed genuinely happy for her.
    When he bent down to give Mia a kiss on the cheek, he whispered, “Love well, Queen of Wolves.”
    That alone would have made tears jump to her eyes, if she wasn’t slowly leaking tears all along. When the last of them came and went, there was one figure standing a short ways away, watching all the bustle.
    Her mother.
    Mia gasped and looked to Lucas. Had she been there the whole time? Lucas smiled and nodded to Samuel standing nearby. He hustled over and escorted her mother toward them. Mia fought for words, drowning in the fact that her mother was here. Mia had shifted, had submitted to her alpha, and now was dressed in nothing but a fur coat in the middle of the forest… all in front of her mother. Her mind was still spinning when her mom reached them. Mia was especially confused by the smile on her face.
    “Mia, honey,” was all her mother said before reaching out to hug Mia. More tears gushed out of her. She didn’t know why or how, but her mom was here, hugging her, and that was all she really needed to know. Everything was going to be all right now—in fact, everything was so right in this moment that no matter what happened going forward, her life would forever be anchored in this moment of love.
    But she still wanted to know what had happened.
    When her mom pulled back, she had to ask, “Why are you here?”
    Her mother glanced at Lucas, and the smile she gave him flat-out stunned Mia.
    “Lucas came back after you left. He wanted to make things right, and I…” She looked sheepish for a moment. “I almost threw him out again. But he told me about his plans here tonight, and said he loved you, but that he wouldn’t move forward without my blessing… because he knew it would mean the world to you.” Her mom was tearing up, but Mia was outright crying again. “What more could I want for my baby girl?”
    Mia hugged her hard after that, and long. Eventually Mr. Sparks, Lucas’s father, came and escorted her away. Mia watched them head back through the forest, toward the cars, and only then did she realize that most of the party was dissipating. Only not everyone was tromping through the forest in the direction of the parking lot. Couples were peeling off and disappearing into the shadows. Mia glimpsed Lev in his fur coat and Rebecca in her regular one right before they slipped into the darkness.
    “Where are they going?” she asked Lucas.
    His grin was filled with the kind of heat that made her body tingle under the warm blanket of fur. “There’s one last part of this ceremony. It’s an after party. Of sorts.”
    He took her hand and led her across the meadow toward the trees on the far side.

“Is everyone doing this?” Mia asked as Lucas led her into the forest.
    He kept marching as he spoke. “Only the couples. Mostly the mated ones, but I’m sure a few of the non-shifter dates are having a very furry Christmas.”
    Mia giggled and yet still felt strangely nervous. They were outside. Wouldn’t the others hear them? Or maybe see? Then again, she expected they were all thinking the same thing… and preoccupied at the