Free A Very Merry Iona Christmas by M. L. Briers

time.” Carly chuckled.
    “But he does the voice
and everything, mummy. He does it way better than you.” Hope informed her and
Carly saw Doug’s chest inflate with pride. He turned towards Carly and gave her
a victory grin.
    “You people really are
competitive.” She chuckled.
    ‘ You’d better
believe it.’ Iona chuckled too.
    “I do it better than
you.” Doug teased and Carly rolled her eyes.
    “Now if you could only
give birth I’d be impressed.” Carly offered back and Doug roared with laughter.
Mason felt the pang of jealousy shoot through him. That was his job to sooth
his mate, to make her laugh, and he wanted to rip Doug’s head off for taking
his place.
    “Easy, Alpha. It takes
a pack to raise a child, remember?” Annie put her hand on Mason’s shoulder as
she whispered her words. Mason felt a little of the tension release in his
body, but he’d still like to put his fist in Doug’s face.
    “It’s nap time for
you.” Carly thought Doug needed saving. The man had been a patient orator for
the last couple of hours, and he could probably do with some time off.
    “But…?” Hope’s
eyebrows raised up high in expectation, but Carly shook her head.
    “Nap.” Carly chastised
her and Hope sighed.
    “Well ok, but can he
read to me at bedtime too?” Hope bargained and Doug chuckled as he turned back
towards Carly.
    “I do it better than
you.” Doug offered her another grin and Carly chuckled again.
    “Fine. Now sleep. You
too Bo.” The boy was already yawning throughout the last story. He nodded and
closed his eyes. He didn’t need to be told twice. He’d had quite a day of it so
far.
    As the children
drifted off the room cleared, leaving Carly to push up from her seat at the end
of the sofa, and Mason still standing by the door where he’d been since the
children had been wrapped up in front of the fire. Carly took a slow walk
towards him as she pushed her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Mason
resisted the urge to reach out and pull her into his arms.
    “You gonna stand guard
there while they sleep?” Carly asked.
    “I thought I might.”
Mason offered back and Carly’s faced showed the surprise.
    “I was joking.” She
chuckled.
    “I wasn’t.” Mason’s
voice held the slightest of growls.
    “Mason…?”
    “I failed Hope and I
failed you. I said I would protect her- that she would be safe here, and she
wasn’t. I didn’t do my job or keep my word.” Mason looked as serious as a heart
attack and Carly frowned.
    “You mean that, don’t
you?”
    “Yes.” Mason could see
the surprise on her face and he didn’t understand it. He thought she would be
the first one to condemn him for his lack of forethought, and his failings…
    “Wow. It’s lucky you
have such wide shoulders, Alpha, because you seem to want to take on the weight
of the world.”
    “It’s my job, Carly.”
Mason frowned back.
    “Things happen, Mason.
You didn’t send Hope off with Bo. They’re kids. They do stupid stuff.” Carly
couldn’t understand why he was beating himself up over it.
    “And I’m the one that
should be there to stop them.”
    “You can’t be with
them every minute of every day…” Carly didn’t believe that she was arguing that
point with him. He was like a parent berating himself for not having their eyes
glued to their kids behind when something went wrong. “And hindsight is a
wonderful thing…”
    “That’s not the
point.” Mason shook his head from side to side on a scowl.
    “T’is too.” Carly
reminded herself of Hope just then.
    ‘ T’is too? What the
hell kind of logical adult argument is that?’
    I’m… winging it.
    ‘Obviously.’
    Shut u…
    ‘Up, Iona. Yeah, I
heard that before.’
    “T’is too?” Mason
repeated and Carly winced. Then she saw the corners of his mouth bow upwards in
the start of a smile and she chuckled a little.
    “I know. But you are
being so pig headed.” Carly shrugged.
    “I’m being the alpha.”
Mason offered