Lady Hereford caught her breath. “Do you—do you truly think that a non-shifter could do what you did?”
Doesn’t take claws or wings. Just determination, her wyvern commented. Its jaw dropped in a serpentine smile. And our mate didn’t get his stubbornness from his sire.
“My wyvern says you can do it,” Ivy told Hugh’s mother. “You can restore the Earl’s unicorn, Lady Hereford!”
Rose’s mouth twitched up. “This seems an excellent time to mention that there’s a guest room upstairs. With a bed. And a lock on the door.”
Lady Hereford blushed like a schoolgirl. Draining the rest of her wine in one swallow, she stood up. With a parting nod, she hastened through the crowd, heading for the back stairs.
Rose let out a deep, satisfied sigh. “I do love being able to set people on the right path.”
“I’m sorry about your mate, though,” Ivy said, feeling a twinge of pity. “Maybe there’s hope for you too, somehow.”
“Ah, well.” Rose went back to making drinks. “Not everyone gets the fairytale.”
“I’ve never believed in fairytales.” Ivy shrugged. “Still don’t. I think if you want a happy ending, you have to make it yourself.”
The swan shifter’s busy hands stilled. Her head raised, but it wasn’t to look at Ivy. Her thoughtful gaze was turned on the corner where Alpha Team still sat, deep in conversation.
“Yes,” Rose said softly, her eyes resting on Ash. “Maybe you’re right.”
Thank you for a Christmas miracle. Perhaps Hugh knows a good place to shift near the city?
Hugh, who was busy lighting the log fire in the grate, cast her an inquiring glance over his shoulder. “Good news?”
“Just a text from your mother,” Ivy said, trying to sound casual. “They’re looking forward to coming over later. And your father wants to go out for a run after dinner.”
Hugh’s eyebrows drew down. “My father hates jogging. Come to think of it, so do I. What the devil is he thinking? Some sort of ghastly father-son bonding experience?”
“Something like that.” It was hard to keep a straight face. “Come on, humor him. He’s trying to make up for lost time.”
Hugh snorted, going back to messing around with matches. “If he tries to drag me out fishing, I’m pushing him overboard. Come on, you bastard thing, light.”
“You’re not very good at that,” Hope observed cheerfully, from under her blanket of cats. Most of Hugh’s whole horde was piled onto her lap, squabbling over the last bits of buttery croissant from breakfast.
“I put out fires, not start them,” Hugh growled. “Where’s Ash when you need him?”
“Well, hurry up.” Scattering cats, Hope wheeled closer to the glittering Christmas tree dominating their lounge. “I want to do presents!”
“I thought you were seventeen, not seven.” Ivy slipped her phone back into her pocket. “But okay. You want to unwrap yours first?”
To her surprise, Hope shook her head. “Nope. I want to give you your one from me first.”
“Wait,” Hugh said. Abandoning his futile fire-making efforts, he rose, turning. “I don’t want to miss this. I did help you work on it, after all.”
That slightly eased Ivy’s fears of being presented with some Pinterest disaster. She knelt down next to the Christmas tree, reaching for the pile of wrapped presents. “Okay, which one is it?”
“Hang on.” Hope pushed Mr. Mittens off her lap, standing up. “I’ll get it for you.”
Hope did it so casually, it took Ivy a second to even register what her sister had just done. Ivy froze, staring in stunned disbelief at Hope’s bare toes, wiggling on the carpet. Slowly, her gaze tracked up, past her sister’s straight knees, up, up, to her wide, brilliant grin.
“You can walk,” Ivy whispered. She leaped to her own feet, an answering smile splitting her own face. “You can walk!”
She nearly threw her arms around her sister in pure joy—but jerked back at the last minute. Even though she could control her venom now, she still hadn’t dared to touch Hope. Her sister was still deathly sensitive to wyvern venom, after all. It wasn’t worth taking the risk.
She turned to hug Hugh instead, squeezing his torso tight. “You said you didn’t think you’d be able to reverse her paralysis, even after you neutralized the venom!”
“I kinda made him say that,” Hope said. She took a step forward with a dramatic flourish, like a magician revealing a trick. “I wanted to surprise you.”