Christmas Catastrophe: BBW Holiday Bear Shifter Romance (Christmas Bear Brothers Book 2) by Harmony Raines Page B

your mom sees you she will go nuts.” Zara began circling the tree, watching as Robbie moved higher and higher, slowing now as the tree began to wobble.
    “She won’t notice; she’s too busy watching the weather forecast to see if it’s going to stop snowing,” Robbie called down.
    “Is that what this is about, because you think your dad won’t get home in time for Christmas?” she asked. “I don’t get it, what does climbing a tree have to do with that?”
    Robbie stopped, pausing for breath, and then looked up. “The star. Dad always told me it was special, magic . It’s been in Cougar Ridge, on top of the same tree for a hundred years. So I am going to make a wish on it.”
    “Robbie,” she began, but didn’t know what to say. How do you explain to a child of six that the star was just a piece of metal, painted gold; it had no power to get his dad home in time for Christmas. But it might just get Robbie killed. “You need to come down and we can talk about it.”
    “I am so close,” Robbie said, looking down at Zara. She could see his face, the lights from the tree reflecting off his pale skin, giving him an ethereal glow.
    “Don’t go any higher. It’s not safe, the tree gets thinner, and it will wobble or even break under your weight.”
    “Craig climbed the tree when he put the star on,” Robbie insisted.
    “I know. But he didn’t have to come down, at least not as a boy. He could come down as a cougar, and you are too young for that.” Craig had just hit puberty, and his name had been drawn from all the other children who had hit the change this year. It was a prize the children loved. They climbed up in their human form and then climbed down as a cougar. If they fell, which sometimes they did, they were expected to land on their feet, because everyone knew a cat could right itself in mid-air.
    The kids spent ages practicing, jumping from the low branches of trees, then making their way higher as they perfected the move. But Robbie had years to go until he would learn that; he had no cougar to call to his aid if he fell.
    “Just look away if you want to. I’ll be down before you know it,” Robbie said, beginning to climb again.
    “No. Get down now,” Zara said, her voice rising to make her words a command, not a request.
    “Nearly.” Robbie reached out his hand and touched the star, his whoop of joy so loud, she figured everyone in Cougar Ridge would have heard it. “See! I told you I could do it.”
    “OK. Now come down before someone sees you,” Zara said anxiously.
    “Coming.” But Robbie turned and looked down, his feet flailing in the air. He gripped the tree again and clung to it, making it waver in the darkening night. “I can’t see where to put my feet.”
    “Damn it,” Zara said under her breath. There was nothing for it; she would have to go up there and get him. “Stay still. Don’t move.”
    But just as she started up the tree, Mrs. Rodgers arrived in the courtyard, all wrapped up against the cold. “It’s all right, Zara, I’ve called the fire department in Bear Bluff. They are on their way.”
    “You didn’t have to,” Zara said, trying to hide her annoyance. “I can get him down.”
    This was going to escalate very quickly. Soon the whole of the town would know what Robbie had done, including Zara’s father, who was the leader of Cougar Ridge. He’d probably cancel Christmas for Robbie, and that would make it even more miserable for the boy.
    “I knew he would get stuck. You shouldn’t have let him climb the tree,” Mrs. Rodgers said reproachfully.
    “I … oh, what does it matter,” Zara said as she climbed higher, feeling the pine needles prickling her arms as she threaded her way up the tree. Ignoring the discomfort, she kept going; she had to get Robbie down safely.
    Above her head, she could hear him crying now and calling her name softly. She wanted to tell him she was coming and not to worry, but the tree was already beginning to sway