My Alpha Mate's Christmas Gift

(semi final)

One last game (final fight of the year)

[Friday, 24th Of December]

Christmas Eve, a time of merry sounds and joyous laughter! Usually, none of that was seen in the Rockwood Pack. It was just a normal day for them. They had never celebrated such a season and didn't consider it necessary to do... That was before Roxanne came.

It was ironic, how after not celebrating such a season during times of peace, they indulged in it during a time of grief. But, no one could deny the beauty of it.

Everyone was busy doing one thing or the other, preparing for the big event called Christmas. They were late in their preparation, but Roxanne had everything covered.

She took control of the event, as a true leader and made everything to be in order. She assigned roles to everyone, ensuring proper distribution of work and division of labour.

The men were sent to perform the more rigorous tasks, such as cutting down giant trees and gathering the right materials needed for the event.

The women weaved thin lines of wood and fibre, as a makeshift object that was necessary for Christmas. The young ones assisted in activities and decorations. Since they didn't live near modern times, and it would take too long to go to procure the materials they needed, they had to improvise. However, Roxanne wasn't deterred by this at all.

Rather, she was even more excited. This would be the strangest, weirdest Christmas of her life, but...

"It's going to be the best!" She smiled to herself.

After she had addressed them the previous day, even though they all agreed, they didn't know the first thing about preparing for Christmas or what it entailed. But, that wasn't an issue for Roxanne, she had that covered.

"We only have today and tomorrow for preparation. We need to move quickly!" She had said.

There was so much they needed. Lights, decorations, music... Food, lots of good food! Roxanne used her head to look for options they could adopt and she finally found it.

"Rita, how did you make your cottages in the middle of the woods?" Roxanne asked.

"Oh? We have expert builders here. Our equipment are also functional. All we need are wood, nails, and time... why are you asking?" Rita replied curiously.

"Perfect! There are no trees that can properly serve as a Christmas tree... So we're going to make our own! We'll build it!" Roxanne declared.

The builders were divided into groups. Some procured the necessary materials, tree stems, and branches to serve as the body, while also making use of twigs for attachment. They peeled off barks and painted them to serve the purpose of leaves.

The women were in charge of weaving decorations and extensions where the lights would be placed. The question which many asked was...

"What light?"

There was no electricity this far away from civilization, and the wolves didn't have any stable source of light other than the moon's illumination. They had lanterns, but they hardly used them, after all, they could all see clearly in the dark. However, a Christmas tree had no meaning without lights!

"No, there has to be something!" Roxanne muttered.

Suddenly, she remembered when she first gained consciousness in the cave, and her first time in the village. The first things she noticed while she was there were the fireflies that lit up the room. "We can use that!" Roxanne declared.

The pack members gave her a look of awe, meaning at her ingenuity.

Rita and a select few went into the game to procure the fireflies and obtain their assistance for the glow only they could give.

Fortunately, the pack had little glass containers which they used to store extracts of nectar from the trees during spring. They placed one or two fireflies within each container, making little holes within them to grant the tiny critters access to air.

With the issue of light solved, another challenge was music... Or so Roxanne thought, but that was no problem.

The pack had machinations of their own making. While it wasn't fancy, neither did it rely on modern technology that human civilization was known for, it was plenty enough.

They brought out their traditional drums and flutes, usually only used for their ancient rites and ceremonies, but this was also important.

As for food, the pack had no problem with that. Roxanne bore witness to this, after all, since the moment she arrived all she had ever tasted was good food.

The pack had a hidden shed where

they kept their livestock, alive and fresh. Among them were the victims of the Christmas celebration. Roxanne knew their species quite well, but this was the first time age had seen anyone up close. Very large creature of huge mass. Bulls, huge and fat ones. Roxanne knew just one would be enough to feed everyone... But since it was a feast, they would go with three of them.

There were enough grains and roots to make meals, and the feast was guaranteed to be rich. They broke open the storehouse and brought out some of the nectar they had saved since spring. Of course, it had fermented now and made good wine.

"Well, I am 19..." Roxanne smiled to herself, technically an adult... Though she had never tasted alcohol before.

There was a first time for everything, after all.

It was a busy day

The first day passed, and even on Christmas eve, preparations continued. The weaving was done, so they hung them around their respective homes, putting the little firefly containers around them. It created beautiful lighting, though it wasn't evident just yet. After all, it

was not yet dark.

A massive campfire was made at the centre of the village. Since they would be celebrating it till night, the weather was bound to be cold. So, to make sure everyone participated equally, even the little ones who had very real resistance to cold, the fireplace would warm everyone up.

Roxanne even saw Lenard as the preparations continued. He was diligently chopping wood for the fire that would be set up in the night. But this time he wasn't alone. Severa others were with him, chopping the wood together. Roxanne knew it was only due to the season that this was happening, after it was over he would return to chopping wood alone, but she didn't feel bad for him.

This was the oath he chose, and since he was happy with it, so was she. It did bring her joy to see him with company, laughing and enjoying himself. She didn't know if the rest of them were Omegas like him, but that didn't matter.

Ranks, Roles, Talents... None of those mattered in this preparation. It was just a combined effort involving the whole pack.

Even Asher joined in the preparation. With his freakish strength and insane vitality, he helped them with the heavy lifting.

The final preparations were being made, the most important object of all and the symbol of their celebration... The Christmas tree. It stood majestically as the builders worked on the finishing touches. While this was going on, Roxanne's thoughts wandered to her mother, Melissa. She would most likely be spending Christmas with Linda. Even though she wouldn't be spending it with them, Roxanne knew that their hearts were connected by the same spirit of the season.

As she thought of her family, her mind went to the family of someone else, someone she knew very well and had grown to love.

"John? What about him?" Rita responded as Roxanne asked her about him.

"He hardly ever leaves his house right? I was thinking of inviting him over..." Roxanne said.

"Are you crazy? I already told you how Asher feels about him!" Rita protested.

It took some time to do so, but Roxanne finally convinced Rita.

"Well, I'm busy with the final preparations so I can't go with you..." Rita muttered, hoping Roxanne would change her mind.

But Roxanne didn't need an escort this time.

"I know the way... I'll go myself." She smiled.