Naughty Elf: Twinkle (Santa’s Naughty Elf Mates)

4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Monty

As much as Twinkle wanted to meet my bear, I wasn’t sold that he was prepared to see my naked ass in the process. Clarity, communication, and holding my temper in check would be the key to winning him over and keeping him from freaking out. Not gonna lie, when I read that letter from Santa aloud and learned he was my mate my heart skipped several beats. Had the way I‘d viewed Twinkle up until then changed? Yes, and without my forcing it to.

Winning him over. Who was I and what happened to grouchy Monty?

Freaking Santa. I didn’t know whether to hug or punch him.

Twinkle’s head bobbed up and down. “Yes, I’m good with that. Can I touch you when you’re a bear? Can you talk? Can you understand me when I talk to you?”

I’d never smiled more in my life than I had today. His rapid-fire questions were like a breath of fresh air or in his case, fired off in a single burst of air. “Yes you can touch me. No, I can’t speak human words. I can only communicate with other bears telepathically. Yes I can understand you. Did I miss anything?”

I wondered if I could communicate with my mate through a mental connection as I did with other bears.

“Nope, nope.” Twinkle popped up and grabbed my hand and tried to pull me along. “Let’s go. I wanna play with Monty bear.”

“Monty bear?”

“Yes, my Monty bear.”

His Monty bear . I was definitely on the path to being just that. How fast was too fast when you knew it was your mate ?

“We need to go outside, or I’ll wreck the house.” Controlling paws and claws was a hell of a lot harder than hands and feet were while tucked into small spaces.

Just inside the door, I removed my clothes and glanced up at Twinkle. His curious gaze was glued to me as he took in my entire…package. It was one of those moments where your ego puffed up and you couldn’t stop yourself from drawing it out and turning it into a bit of a show. In bear years, I was in my prime and between being a shifter and working manual labor I was in damn good shape.

By the time I was gloriously naked, a red-faced Twinkle stood before me with his hands covering his crotch.

“You alright there, Twinkle?” A little flirting was in order, at least I felt it was. Hell, I stood before my mate fully naked and rock hard myself. To shift in this state would not be wise so thoughts of less arousing scenarios were required.

“Does it, does it hurt when you shift?” He stuttered as we stepped outside.

I shrugged. “In the beginning more so than it does now. When you’re young you’re excited for the first one until the bones pop out of place. Then you turn into a screaming banshee. Once you learn to control the shift rather than having it control you the faster and less painful it becomes. Well, mostly painless but tolerable. It’s worth it to have the freedom I feel while in my bear form. My soul is more settled and there’s a sense of freedom that comes along with it.”

“Sounds scary. You don’t have to do it, forget I asked.”

His adorable reply, oh my Goddess, did I really just think the word adorable? That stopped me dead from taking his hands in mine. Instead, I did something else equally as uncharacteristic of me, unless I was playing with the little ones, and shifted a single ear. Twinkle’s eyes widened as it returned to human form, so I shifted to the other. Back and forth I went. His eyes bounced along with the changes and his smile widened which made the ridiculous game more than worth it.

“That is so neat!” He clapped and cheered. “More!”

Before his eyes, Monty the bear appeared in full form. Twinkle jumped and squealed and clapped some more. Had anyone ever been this excited to see my bear?

That was easy to answer–no.

“Monty, you’re beautiful! Can I touch you?” I dropped to the ground and lowered my head, so it was within reach. “You are so soft. You’re like a big furry rug I want to roll all over.”

A rug? I huffed.

“Don’t you huff at me.” Twinkle shook a scolding finger .

Back to that word adorable as the tiny human believed he was in charge.

“Have you ever had a fuzzy, super soft rug before? It’s like getting a stocking stuffed full of all your favorite things. Squishy under your feet and body when you roll around on it.”

I swear, the little guy purred.

“I wonder if Santa knew what he was doing?”

I cocked my head and wondered what he was getting at.

“I never had a bear stuffie of my own and now he brought me a real one.”

Did you hear that crack?

Might’ve been a stress fracture in the brick wall I hid my heart behind.

“Okay, Mr. Bear, show me what you can do.”

What could I do? Not much other than forage for berries and sleep. Oh, and protect the ones I loved though battles were few and far between, thankfully. Scared off a few wolves here and there trying to get into my brother Seth’s chicken coop. Not a fan of fighting, personally, but I’d do whatever it took to protect those I loved.

Ssshhh, don’t let them know.

I wracked my brain for anything fun and exciting to show Twinkle but all I could come up with was to carry him and run around. I picked Twinkle up and finagled him into place like a backpack. He wrapped his arms around my neck and shouted, “Go Beary, go!”

I guess I was Beary now…

It was oddly satisfying as we traipsed through the snow. Twinkle’s giggles echoed around the forest filling the air with much needed laughter. Goddess, if anyone saw us like this I’d never hear the end of it but for the first time, I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Round and round we went, through the trees, around the fencing that contained my summer garden. I harvested many of the fruits and vegetables I ate year-round from it, beyond thankful for the fertile soil for which it was built it upon. Momma canned much of it to store for winter months and shared it amongst the family as my brothers and sisters did with their gardens and the eggs from their coops.

Blessed by the Goddess herself, I was. How had I never realized this before.

Too busy living inside your own damn head…

I bucked Twinkle off, and he landed in a nearby snow drift, giggling like mad. I pressed my muzzle to his belly, extracting more laughter, and continued playing with him. When he’d had enough he lay back against the snow, smiling up at me so sweetly it stole my breath. Twinkle truly was a vision and a beautiful one at that. In a sudden move, the minx lifted his head, pressed his lips to my snout and took off toward the house and left me…

Stunned. Confused. Breathless.

All of the above.

And also, tired. That was a hell of a workout.

I ran back toward the house and shifted just off the front porch. “Brr.” I shivered and hurriedly stepped inside. Twinkle was there waiting with my bathrobe. “Thank you.”

He twirled, something I’d learned he did when happy. “That was so much fun. Best day ever!”

Twinkle had no idea how that made me feel. Maybe one day when I was more comfortable with us, I’d tell him. “Is that food I smell?”

“Yes, I thought you might be hungry after all that exercise.” A yawn escaped right on queue. “And tired. Let’s get food into my Beary before he sleeps away the wintery days.”

His Beary.

Why did hearing that make my heart race? Hell, why had everything Twinkle-related do that?

“Do I have time for a quick shower?” I may no longer be shifted but I still smelled like I was.

“Absolutely. Shower away!” Twinkle spun again and stirred whatever was in the pot as I headed down the hall toward my room. Christmas music came on as I shut the door, and he sang along with it. Here it was January, and I wondered if these holly jolly tunes would become a year-round fixture in our home.

Our home.

How odd was it to think that? Numerous reality checks hit me today and yet none of them gave me the urge to run. Momentarily pause, yes, but running never once crossed my mind.

“Nap, Monty. You need food and a nap.” A long, long one at that. Time to recharge and clear my head. How far away was spring?

Hurriedly, I washed with the forethought of eating and going right to bed. But a cheerful Twinkle held my attention longer than anticipated throughout dinner as he chattered way.

“I had so much fun today. When can we do it again?” He wiggled his little butt in the chair. “Your bear is stunning!”

Gush-gush . “Well, Twinkle, I can promise you that we will but for now this old bear needs a nap.” His face dimmed, but a second later brightened. Was that a strong facade he put up for me by trying not to show he wasn’t ready for this day to come to an end? Would there ever come a time where I didn’t feel the need to nap as much as I did now? I sincerely hoped so.

“Thank you for dinner, Twinkle, you’re a wonderful cook.” I rose and grabbed the plates and he joined me in the kitchen for clean-up.

“Honestly, I found this in your freezer and heated it up. I couldn’t even tell you what it was let alone what was in it, but it was nummy.” His word choices cracked me up. He’d not uttered a single curse word thus far.

“Ah, probably something Momma put together and froze. Believe it or not, I can cook but she is so used to cooking for the entire family that even once we left the den she kept cooking enough for an army.”

Twinkle snickered.

“Once we all moved out of the house, she kept cooking enough to feed the pack. She gets bored, cooks then delivers it to each of us kids. I don’t mind, Momma’s a great cook and it’s like being home again.”

“Where do we get groceries? Is it like at the North Pole, we just place an order, and it appears a few minutes later?”

Wow, life where Twinkle came from was a hell of a lot simpler. “No, what we can’t grow we buy in town. The fencing you saw outside today,” he nodded, “that’s my garden. Come summer it’ll be packed full of berries and vegetables. Meats and such we hunt or buy.” His eyes widened and his face paled. “Are you okay, Twinkle?”

“I-I ate an animal? ”

“Yes, what did you think you were eating?”

“I didn’t know it was meat!” Twinkle burst into tears and all sense of keeping my distance fell away as I scooped the crying elf up and tucked him tightly against me.

“Oh, honey.” I carried him over to the couch and sat and cradled him on my lap. “I’m so sorry, I thought you knew.” I dared not tell him which animals he consumed, or I’d be investing in therapy for the poor guy based upon this reaction. “Are you Vegan or Vegetarian?”

“I, I, I don’t know.” He stumbled over his words. “I ate everything the chefs made, but we never had meat. Elves don’t kill.”

“What about fish and seafood?”

“Oh yes.” He popped up and faced me. “Shrimps are nummy-nummy.”

“Okay, that makes you a Pescatarian. I’ll have Momma start marking the containers she brings over and then we will know which is which. Have you ever been fishing?” I loved to fish though I didn’t use a pole. Nothing like trapping the floppy fish in your jowls.

“I’ve never been fishing but if you like it I’ll try it. Just please, don’t ever ask me to kill Bambi or Thumper. Or even Clarabelle and Clarence.”

I knew what animals the first two were and I was guessing the last two were cows but would confirm via Google later. “Absolutely, sweetie.” Ah, two pet names had made a break for it. Damn my lack of filter. “What can I do to make this better?”

“Just hold me,” Twinkle snuggled in, his head tucked against my shoulder. “This is nice.”

Yes, yes it was indeed.

Twinkle and I dozed off on the couch. His merry tunes lulled us into slumber though when I woke, Twinkle was nowhere to be found.

“Twinkle?” My back and neck popped as I stretched. I heard his sweet singing coming from his room and followed it there. In the center of the bed sat Twinkle, dressed in his new snowmen pajamas and singing carols to my old bear.

“There you are.” He smiled up at me. The creek of the door gave my stalking away. “You’ve been asleep forever.”

Such a drama major. “Forever huh?” But when I looked around I realized there wasn’t much for Twinkle to entertain himself with when I did sleep or was away at work. “What kinds of things do you like to do for fun, Twinkle?”

His face lit up like I’d asked the million-dollar question. “I like to make snow angels, build gingerbread houses, wrap presents. Well, when the gift wrap elves let me. Decorating the tree is the best fun ever!”

Alright, nothing I had on hand for sure .

“What about movies? Have you watched anything new on the streaming services I have?”

“No,” he sighed. “I’ve just never really been into TV unless it’s Christmas shows.”

“Okay, what about…” I wracked my brain for anything fun. “Do you like to color or paint? Maybe do puzzles.”

“Oh yes, all of those things.”

Now we were getting somewhere. “Why don’t we order you some, maybe a few other crafty goodies so you’re not bored while I sleep.”

“That would be so nice. I’m really looking forward to planting a garden. I’ve never seen one before. It snows at the North Pole year-round. Have you ever built a snowman? It’s so much fun.”

Why had I begun to believe elves were more childlike than I’d imagined. Or maybe only mine was.

“Come on, Twinkle, let’s get to ordering.”

Twinkle skipped down the hall behind me, whistling a catchy tune I couldn’t quite make out. Likely something jolly. I sat, laptop in place and he stood there staring at me. He wiggled his butt, grinned, picked up the laptop and replaced it with his bottom atop my lap and held the computer on his.

“My new seat.”

I kissed the top of his head, and his smile widened .

“Let’s get to it.”

Twinkle pointed to a variety of items, during which we lost track of time as he chatted away.

“Maybe if I’m good, Santa will bring me a stuffie this year that looks like Monty Beary.”

That shot straight to my heart and gave me an idea. As soon as I put my sleepy elf to bed, I’d order a variety of goodies to surprise him with.

“All right, sleepy head.” I must’ve slept longer than I thought if he was already tired.

Twinkle yawned again, “let’s get you tucked in.”

“Carry me.” Twinkle threw his arms around my neck. I swung him over my shoulder and carried him fireman style. He laughed and broke into a fit of giggles when I dropped him on the bed. “That was fun.”

Twinkle crawled under the blankets, and I tucked them in around him and pressed my lips to his forehead. “Goodnight Twinkle.”

“Goodnight, my bear.”