A Grey Wolves Howliday (The Grey Wolves #14) by Quinn Loftis

Jen looked back at the others. “Main living room in twenty minutes. Babe, can you take the boxes there?”

Decebel narrowed his eyes on her. “Why did you have us carry them in here?”

“To peak everyone’s curiosity. Half the fun is watching them sweat.”

Jacque knew that by “them,” she meant Costin and Fane. But after counting the boxes, she knew her BFF was about to torture more than just her and Sally’s mates.

Decebel growled but then grabbed up three of the boxes again. Gavril and Sorin followed suit, then strode out of the room.

“The kids' clothes are in my suite,” Jen told Sally and Jacque.

Jacque gave her a thumbs-up, scooping another spoonful of food into Slate’s mouth.

Twenty minutes later, they were all gathered in the main living area. Thia proved to be in full mini-Jen mode. Jacque would like to be able to say that she tried to help corral the little hellion, but really she, Sally, and Titus just laughed while Thia ran around holding the dress in the air while singing “Jingle Hells.” It was awesome.

When she finally caught her daughter, Jen wrestled the dress onto the girl and then proceeded to tell her how beautiful she was, which caused Thia to preen and spin in circles, making the dress fan out around her. This went on for so long it started to make Jacque nauseous. Thankfully, Thia finally ran out of steam and plopped down to examine one of the boxes.

“Now that the kids are ready,” Jen said, “I need the males to get dressed as well. Your clothes are in these boxes. Each of you, please take a box and go put on your outfits.”

The men all turned to stare at the boxes she indicated. Every single male’s eyebrows rose as their gazes bounced from Jen to the boxes.

“If these are speedos, I’m totally going to rock them with this bod.” Wadim grinned, rubbing his hands together and bouncing on the balls of his feet. Dude needs help.

“Sorry to disappoint, but they’re not speedos,” Jen said. The other males let out a collective sigh.

Each one grabbed a box and headed out of the room.

“If you don’t put them on, I’ll just have Peri do it for you,” Jen called out to them as the males filed out, muttering and cursing under their breath.

“This is going to be hilarious, isn’t it?” Elle asked.

Jen nodded. “It is. It really is.”

Fifteen minutes later, Jen was tapping her toe and no doubt mentally fighting with her mate.

“I’m not wearing this.” Fane’s voice filled Jacque’s mind.

“That bad?”

“Ridiculous.”

“You did dye her kid blue,” she reminded him.

“Maybe it was for a good reason. Maybe we did it to save Thia’s life.”

Jacque snorted. “Sure you did. Just come down and get it over with.”

“She plans on taking pictures. There will be no ‘getting this over with’ because it will be immortalized in photographic form for all time.”

“Wow, wolf-man, you are being seriously dramatic.”

A minute later, her mate walked into the room. The pissed-off face he wore only made the whole thing even more hilarious. Jen had gotten the males reindeer outfits, complete with antlers, hooves, and a harness covered in bells. The eight other males followed a few seconds later, bells jingling as they walked. It was not a happy jingle sound, more like the procession of a Christmas elf funeral.

Jacque tried hard, she really did, but there was just no holding in the laughter that bubbled up out of her like a shaken Coke. The outfits were beyond outrageous, but it was the pissed-off faces of the males that made it complete.

“Perfect!” Jen clapped her hands together, and Thia joined her, also stomping her feet in excitement.

“Woodolf,” Thia giggled as she pointed at her daddy.

Decebel wasn’t holding a red nose in his hand. It was Fane. Jacque hadn’t noticed because he’d been clenching and unclenching his fists.

“You guys look, um, well…” Zara stumbled as she tried to compose herself, but it was useless. All of the females were coughing and trying to keep it together, well, except Bethany. Her big, pregnant belly was shaking as she laughed and pointed at her mate. He did not seem nearly as amused.

“Okay, let’s head out to the sleigh and we’ll get you guys harnessed up,” Jen said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to have your mate dress up as a reindeer and get hooked up to a sleigh.

“Harnessed up?” Gavril growled.

“It’s for the kids,” Rachel told him, her voice sweet and her eyes doe-eyed and pleading. Gavril huffed but didn’t say anything else.

“I want it to be known that I highly object to this, and I’m only doing it because it’s easier than arguing,” Lucian grumbled.

“And you know your mate would just snap her little fingers and make whatever she put on you even more hilarious.” Adam chuckled. He seemed less bothered than the other males, then again, he’d be able to change his clothes with just a thought as soon as Jen was done torturing them.

After a pissing contest—not a literal one, thank the Great Luna—and many threats from Peri, simply because she was enjoying this even more than Jen, all the males were on all fours in rows of two. Except for Fane, who got to be at the front of the pack, with his shiny red nose in place. Peri helped things along by magicking on the harnesses they each held and then attaching them to one another. Jacque was pretty sure the high fae also used some sort of spell that kept them from being able to crawl away, though they could move their bodies, just not from that spot.