“Thanks for coming to my rescue.” Calla still couldn’t believe Baird would do something as stupid as this. She was trying to move on and wished he would too. It was one thing to come to her house and try to convince her to renew their friendship, but quite another to confront her in the MacNeill wolves’ territory.

“Aye, lass, which is all the more reason we need to have a bodyguard detail watch over you,” Ian said.

She’d objected earlier, not thinking bodyguards were necessary and assuming Baird would realize sooner or later that things were over between them. He was proving to be much too stubborn for that. Still, she had hoped they could remain—well, maybe not friends, but not enemies, either.

Most of all, she loved how she felt so secure among the MacNeill wolves, though hating Baird for making her feel unsafe without them.

“Thanks for carrying my bag, Guthrie. Sorry it weighed so much.” Calla realized as soon as she spoke the words that she might have offended his masculinity.

Especially when his brothers chuckled. Men.

“It was no trouble.” The sparkle in Guthrie’s green eyes dispelled the idea that anything would be too heavy for him.

When the men left to get her personal items out of the car, Julia sat down on one of the chairs by the fireplace. “I’m so sorry that Cearnach and I didn’t get your messages right away. I was in your room getting it ready and had left my phone charging in the kitchen. And then I came down to supervise where the men would set up the Christmas tree. Cearnach was helping bring it into the castle. With the bad weather, we thought you would have changed your mind and waited.”

“Nay, I’d promised. I really did think I would arrive long before it got that bad, though.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here now. You will help us to decorate the tree, won’t you?”

“I’d love to.” Calla loved how Julia had taken her in like she was part of their family. Calla had already helped decorate her own family’s tree, as well as hers, even though she hadn’t planned to be home to enjoy it. Still, before she left, she had wanted to feel the Christmas spirit.

“We’ll have dinner tonight and decorate it tomorrow. I have to show it to you first.”

Julia led Calla into the great hall where she stared at the tree in awe. Not a cut tree, but a beautiful Nordmann fir—a deep, rich green, bristling with full, rounded needles, and redolent with the luscious scent of citrus. Divine. Best of all, it was living.

“You’re going to plant it after Christmas?” Calla asked, excited. She would love to return and see the pack members plant it. Help, even, if she could.

“Yes. Isn’t it beautiful? You know that Duncan’s mate, Shelley, is a botanist. She had the brilliant idea of buying a tree that we could plant after the holidays. Just think, over the years, we could have a whole new forest.”

Calla took in a breath of the Christmas scent. “It’s the most beautiful Christmas tree I’ve ever seen.” She reached out and touched the soft needles. She’d never known anyone personally who had a living Christmas tree in their home for the holidays.

Julia smiled, but then her expression turned serious. “Calla, I have to ask you. Is there anything more to Baird’s wanting you to return to him so badly? Something more than what we assume it’s all about?”

“Other than him being a jerk and an alpha who doesn’t like to lose? Nay.”

Julia glanced at the doorway, but she and Calla were the only two people in the great hall at the moment. A lot of chatter and laughter were coming from the kitchen, however, while the dinner was being prepared.

“One other thing, are you…going to be able to manage Guthrie?” Julia asked.

Calla wasn’t sure what Julia was asking. About the Christmas party expenditures? That was Julia’s job. But yeah, Calla assumed he’d be all negative about the cost of the party.

“Concerning what?” Calla asked.

“A courtship.” Julia smiled broadly.

Chapter 3

Guthrie wasn’t sure how to take Calla Stewart, party planner entrepreneur. He still couldn’t get over how she’d stolen his shorts and hung them on the pirate’s flagpole the ladies had put up during the hen party a couple of weeks ago. Many in the pack had teased him mercilessly about how Calla had the hots for him. And they wanted to know what he was going to do about it.

What he’d like to do was one thing. Her real intentions were another.

He and nearly everyone else in the pack had thought Calla and Cearnach would be mated wolves someday, especially when she’d moved back into the area a year ago. But both his brother and Calla had insisted they were just friends. Cearnach mating Elaine had finally assured the pack of that.

Guthrie had just come off a roller-coaster ride with a she-wolf he’d seriously intended to mate—if not for her previous boyfriend and her subsequent change in attitude. At first, Tenell had adored Guthrie. What alpha male wolf could resist a woman who worshipped him?

But a month into their relationship, Tenell began to compare Guthrie to her former beau, and not in a good way. That got old quickly. Then Guthrie learned her old boyfriend had cheated on her—which was the reason for their breakup. When she saw her ex-boyfriend while out shopping alone one day, she went back to him and told Guthrie it was over between them.

Maybe Calla would be over Baird for good in another six months to a year. No chance of rebound by then, hopefully. Then Guthrie would consider dating the lass. If she was ready. If she was still available. And if they were both interested.