Charlaine Harris - Wolfsbane and Mistletoe

“Besides, you have us now,” Ruby said, putting her hand on his arm. “We’re going to have the best Christmas ever!”

“Dam . . . Darned straight!” He wasn’t some loser on his own anymore—he had a home, and a pack to watch his back. The full moon was on the way, and with it, his first honest-to-God, away-from-school-grounds run. Knowing that had been making him antsy all day long—if he’d been in wolf form, his tail would have been whipping around like crazy.

Felicia, Ruby’s mother, came out from the kitchen with a well-filled plate. “Cookies!” she said brightly.

One whiff, and Jake was happy to put down the joystick. He reached for an iced gingerbread man and chomped on the head with even more gusto than he would have before finding out what he really was.

“Do you want to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with me, Jake?” Ruby asked around a mouth of crumbs.

“Yeah, as if I wanted to watch a prey species prancing around.” Reindeer were for eating.

Felicia didn’t have to speak, just gave him a look, and he saw Ruby was looking half-confused, half-troubled.

“I mean CLAY species,” he said. “You know, made of clay. That’s why they call it claymation.”

Ruby still wasn’t convinced, and Felicia said, “No time for Rudolph right now. We’re going to put out the manger scene. You can help, too, Jake.”

“Sure, if you want.” Not only did she make awesome cookies, but it was always a good idea to stay on the good side of the pack’s alpha female.

Brian came down the stairs from his trip to the attic, carrying a dusty cardboard box, and Jake was amazed once again that anybody could look so boring in human form, yet so freaking cool as a wolf. He was just this guy, in a college T-shirt and jeans.

“Are you ready for me?” Brian stopped at the archway into the living room, trying for casual.

“Mistletoe!” Ruby exclaimed and rushed over. He put down the box to pick her up and plant a kiss on her cheek.

Then Felicia joined Brian under the mistletoe, and after she’d been thoroughly kissed, she turned to look at Jake. He held up one hand and said, “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

Brian just grinned. Despite being pack leader, he was a pretty good guy. He’d been the one to track Jake down and spring him from the system to get him into Dogwarts, the boarding school where packs taught the young werewolves the ins and outs of their world. Of course the school had some innocuous formal name to throw humans off the scent, but none of the kids used it.

Jake had been seriously stoked when Brian invited him to join his family for the Christmas holiday. He was the only kid at Dogwarts who hadn’t been raised in a pack, and even though everybody was friendly enough, he hadn’t been around long enough to establish himself. He figured hanging with the pack leader and his family ought to earn him a few dozen coolness points.

Brian moved the box next to a long table along one wall that Felicia had cleared off that afternoon, and opened it to show a pile of bundles wrapped in newspaper.

“I want to help,” Ruby said.

“Gently now,” Felicia warned her.

“I know, they were Grandma’s. I’ll be careful.”

The way they slowly unwrapped each piece, Jake was expecting something extra cool, but all he saw was a bunch of decently painted ceramic figures of the usual suspects included in Nativity sets: Mary, Joseph, the kid, the Kings, some shepherds, and an assortment of camels, donkeys, sheep, and cows.

It looked as if they’d emptied the box when Ruby said, “Where’s the wolf?”

“Must be in here somewhere,” Felicia said, and rummaged around until she found one last wad of newspaper. “You do it, Jake.”

The three of them were looking at him like it was a big deal, so he took it and peeled off the newspaper to reveal another figure.

He looked at it, and then at their expectant faces. “It’s a dog.”

“It’s not a dog!” Ruby said. “It’s a wolf.”

“It looks like a dog,” Jake said. “Kind of mangy, if you ask me.”

“Jake doesn’t know the story,” Ruby said. “Tell him, Daddy!”

Brian cleared his throat. “In those days, Caesar Augustus sent word that all the world was to be taxed, and each—”

“Dude, I’ve seen A Charlie Brown Christmas three times this week. I know how it goes.”

Felicia frowned, but relented when Ruby giggled.

Brian said, “Then you know that an angel appeared to the shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem, who were keeping watch over their flocks. And of course, shepherds always had dogs with them.”

“Then it is a dog.”

“Not exactly. Even now, there isn’t that much difference between a dog and a wolf—”

“Yeah? So why doesn’t anybody in the pack turn into a Chihuahua and party with Paris Hilton?”

“Just listen!” Felicia said sharply.

“Whatever.”

Brian went on as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “Back then, the differences between types of canine were even less. So it turned out that these shepherds had a wolf to guard their sheep.”

Jake wanted to ask why the wolf didn’t just chow down on mutton one night, with shepherd’s pie for dessert, but from the look in Felicia’s eye, he figured he better not go there.

“When the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see the Christ child, the wolf went with them, and when they were struck with the glory of the Lord, so was the wolf. Being a wolf, he wanted to give praise the best way he knew how. So he howled.”

Jake blinked. He was pretty sure Linus hadn’t said anything to Charlie Brown about a howling wolf.

“Naturally, the other animals were afraid,” Brian continued, “and the shepherds were going to chase off the wolf. But the baby smiled at him, and waved His hand, and suddenly a man was standing there. And he bowed down with the others to praise the child. It was Jesus’ first miracle.”

“Turning a wolf into a naked guy?”

Felicia frowned again, but Ruby giggled and said, “Jake! They gave him something to wear.”

Brian nodded. “When the shepherds went back to their flocks, the wolf went with them, still in human form, and they welcomed him. He married one of their daughters, and was a man in every respect. Except that he was stronger and his senses were those of a wolf.”

“Like us,” Ruby put in. She was too young to change, but she had the other werewolf gifts.

“That’s right,” Brian said. “Since the werewolf had those superior senses, he was able to recognize the danger when Herod’s men came to Bethlehem to kill Jesus. It was the night of the first full moon after He was born.”

“Like tonight!” Ruby said. As if Jake needed to be reminded about the full moon.

“The wolf warned Mary and Joseph to take Jesus to Egypt, and he went along to keep Herod’s men from catching them. Once they were safe, an angel appeared to the wolf and offered him a reward. The wolf told him that while he was happy to be human, he still missed his old life. So the angel told him that every month, when the moon was full, he’d be able to return to his wolf form, and all his children would have the same gift.”

Brian took the figure from Jake and placed it into the Nativity scene. “This was the first werewolf.”

Jake stared at the statue, then at Brian, waiting for the punch line. Nada. But before he could say anything, the phone rang in the kitchen.

“I bet it’s Aunt Ronnie!” Ruby said, and skedaddled away, with Felicia following, laughing.

Brian looked at the Nativity scene again, and said, “You’re kidding, right? No offense, but Spider-Man has a way cooler origin story.”

“Offense taken,” Brian said, and just like that, the nice guy was gone and the alpha wolf was in charge. “I know you’re new to the pack, Jake, but this is our tradition, and I expect you to show respect.”