It was well past dusk when the red tour bus rolled quietly down the familiar streets of Edmond, tires crunching softly against the cold pavement. The windows had fogged slightly from the heater inside, and the wolves were half-asleep in their seats, lulled into silence by the long road home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel was curled up on one of the benches in a sweater that said “Caffeinated & Feral.”<\/em> Emily was leaning against Maya, headphones in, watching holiday lights flicker past the windows with growing confusion. Mark, still clutching his road atlas even though no one used it but him, was staring out the windshield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Does that house have three<\/em> inflatable reindeer?\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie blinked and sat up straighter. \u201cWait. Is that a sleigh made of Christmas lights?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They rounded the corner onto their street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the world exploded<\/em> into color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every house\u2014every single one<\/em>\u2014was lit up like a holiday postcard. Twinkling white lights, rainbow bulbs wrapped around porch rails, glowing wreaths, ribbons on mailboxes. Trees sparkled in windows. Driveways shimmered. Even the fire hydrants had little red bows on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then the bus pulled up to the driveway of the den.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone went dead silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The house\u2014their<\/em> house\u2014looked like something straight out of a Norman Rockwell dream. Every eave was perfectly outlined in soft golden lights. The porch railings were wrapped in pine garland and red ribbon. A pair of lit-up lanterns glowed on either side of the front door. A gentle dusting of snow lay across the lawn, untrampled and perfect. There was even a wooden sled leaning against the wall beside the door with a \u201cWelcome Home\u201d sign painted in pine green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel\u2019s jaw dropped. \u201cWhat the actual holly-jolly\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diesel blinked and killed the engine. \u201cI\u2026 I think we missed something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane stood slowly, still staring. \u201cGuys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico opened the weather app on his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie leaned over his shoulder and whispered, \u201cToday\u2019s December 25th.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emily gasped. \u201cIt\u2019s Christmas.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The door to the den creaked open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was warm inside. Warm.<\/em> Not just temperature\u2014atmosphere<\/em>. Soft light glowed from the corners of the living room. The fireplace was going. Music played faintly in the background\u2014classic instrumental carols, nothing flashy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And standing in the corner, under the big window, was a Christmas tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A perfect<\/em> Christmas tree. Towering. Symmetrical. Adorned with gold and red ornaments, tiny snowflake lights, and hand-tied bows. Beneath it sat a spread of presents\u2014real<\/em>, wrapped, tagged gifts\u2014stacked in neat clusters, one for each member of the pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark stepped forward first, slowly kneeling beside the tree, fingers trailing over a box marked with his name in looping green handwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel let out a stunned breath. \u201cOkay, who did this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t us,\u201d Maya said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been on the road for weeks. We never told anyone when we were getting back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane scanned the room with sharp, thoughtful eyes\u2014and spotted a small envelope taped to the mantle above the fireplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He pulled it free and flipped it open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside, on simple cream cardstock, was a handwritten note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the Feral Eclipse Pack\u2014<\/strong> \u2013 Mayor McIntyre Thane read it twice, then passed it around the room without saying a word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time Gabriel got it, his ears were drooping and his tail was wagging like a metronome. \u201cI\u2019m gonna cry and eat a candy cane at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou always<\/em> cry at Christmas,\u201d Cassie said, voice thick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah flopped dramatically onto the rug and stared at the tree. \u201cI didn\u2019t even realize<\/em> it was Christmas. We were so busy. I missed the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane crouched beside him, smiling softly. \u201cThen I guess they saved it for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pack sat together on the floor, slowly opening gifts one by one\u2014laughter, jokes, hugs, a few happy tears. The presents were thoughtful. Personalized. A new tool set for Mark. A rare vinyl pressing for Rico. A sketchbook for Emily. An entire basket of gourmet coffee for Gabriel with a note that said \u201cWe understand this is your personality now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There were matching hoodies with the town crest on them. A framed thank-you letter from the local police chief. A small photo album labeled \u201cEdmond Loves Feral Eclipse\u201d<\/em> filled with Polaroids from block parties, shows, even their chaotic Halloween night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They stayed there for hours\u2014just wolves and warmth and the quiet sound of belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And as the night wore on, snow began to fall gently outside the window, sparkling in the golden glow of the house that had, without question, become their home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was well past dusk when the red tour bus rolled quietly down the familiar streets of Edmond, tires crunching softly against the cold pavement. The windows had fogged slightly from the heater inside, and the wolves were half-asleep in their seats, lulled into silence by the long road home. Gabriel was curled up on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2952,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006\/revisions\/2952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Welcome home, and Merry Christmas.
Thank you for everything you\u2019ve done for this town, for this year, and for the people who believe in you more than you\u2019ll ever know.
We thought it was time someone<\/em> gave something back.
The decorations are courtesy of every neighbor on this street.
The tree and gifts? That\u2019s from City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEnjoy the presents!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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