Copyright © 2023 by L Eveland

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art by: Delaney Rain

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact leveland@grimcatpress.com

  The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred.

  AI RESTRICTION: L Eveland expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for the purposes of training artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text, including, without limitation, technologies that are capable of generating works in the same style or genre as Rebel Without a Claus. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

  TYPO REPORTING:

  This book has been professionally edited and proofread multiple times. No matter how many times a book is proofed, however, some errors always seem to slip through. If you find one, please report it to the author using this form. Please DO NOT report errors using your Kindle app. I am unable to see those reports and multiple reports can result in banned books.

  Contents

  Special Thanks

  Welcome to the Culinary Creatures Universe

  1. One

  2. Two

  3. Three

  4. Four

  5. Five

  6. Six

  7. Seven

  8. Eight

  9. Nine

  10. Ten

  11. Eleven

  12. Twelve

  13. Thirteen

  14. Fourteen

  15. Fifteen

  16. Sixteen

  From the Author

  The Tinsel And Tentacles Series

  Also By L Eveland

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  Layla, Summer Duncan, Chrissy Lead, Natalie Graiff, Devon Beach, Alexa Norn, Nery Poff, Jocelyn Adams, Jolie, Catherine Hale, Kim Franke, Charee Beatty, Taylor Kennedy, Sarah Rukhsana, D.R. Perry, S. Leigh Sparks, Lacey Sutton, and Kyleen Valleaux.

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  Dear Readers,

  Rebel Without a Claus takes place inside the same universe as my Culinary Creatures series. You do not have to read the books in the Culinary Creatures series to understand what’s going on, but if you enjoy this book, you’ll probably like all four of those, which you can find here.

  The books in this universe take place on an alternate earth in which monsters evolved alongside humans. Humans make up only a small subset of Earth’s population and have since the beginning of time.

  Other than small differences, such as the founding fathers being mostly minotaurs, werewolves, and tentacle monsters, and a brief disaster involving that time NASA experimented with sending werewolves to the moon, their world history is relatively similar to our own, albeit slightly more idealized.

  This is an MM sports rivals to lovers romance between a sweet, Christmas loving tentacle monster and a human grinch. While the story is relatively low angst, Rebel is somewhat mean to Vic at the beginning. I promise, he comes around.

  “What do you mean my flight’s been canceled?” I gripped my overpriced coffee tighter and tried not to panic. It wasn’t the minotaur flight attendant’s fault the airline had decided my flight from Toronto to Orlando should be canceled.

  Her fingers moved over the screen, gold rings gleaming in her ears. “I’m sorry, sir. It’s because of the weather. There’s a blizzard coming in, you know.”

  I frowned and glanced past her to where the large windows overlooked the tarmac. There were a few flurries and some wind, but it certainly didn’t look like a blizzard. With a frustrated sigh, I shifted the carry-on bag over my shoulder. “Can you book me on a different flight, maybe? I’ll take anything. If I’m not home for Christmas, my grandma will be all alone.”

  “I can try,” she said, shaking her head, “but there’ve been a lot of cancelations in the last twenty-four hours. Let me see what I can do.”

  While the employee sorted through the information on her screen, another Christmas carol started playing over the speakers. I bit my tongue to keep from complaining out loud. It wouldn’t do any good. Most people were in love with the winter holidays, but not me. When I looked around, all I saw were the red flags of toxic relationships. Repetitive songs demanded people be full of cheer for no reason while folks packed into tight spaces like sardines and spread around germs. That was to say nothing of the strange fascination with cold weather and ugly sweaters. And who could forget about the social pressure to buy the perfect gift for everyone?

  Christmas was the one day of the year I hated most. I only endured it because of Gran. The last thing I wanted was for my sweet ninety-year-old granny to have to spend her favorite holiday all alone. There had to be another flight. It wasn’t like every flight in Toronto could be grounded over a few snowflakes, right?

  A commotion off to my right had me turning my head. I spotted the small crowd gathering around a tall young kraken that I recognized as Victor Amares. His skin glistened in the light, a deep green-blue. Like all krakens, he was bald, two tentacles extending from where a human’s shoulders would’ve been and four more replacing his legs. He wore a black T-shirt and a pair of comfortable looking sweats, and damn if he didn’t look good in it. Too good.

  My lips pulled back into an involuntary scowl that only deepened when I spotted the trio of medals he sported proudly on his chest, prizes from the Toronto Holiday Invitational. He’d taken gold in both the Men’s Snowboard Superpipe and the Big Air competition, and silver in downhill skiing, besting me at all three events just barely.

  That’s how it always was with him, though. I’d been chasing his tail ever since he’d come onto the scene a few years ago. Well, metaphorically, as I was pretty sure krakens didn’t have tails. They did have tentacles, though. Six long, beautiful aquamarine tentacles with pretty little blue suckers on the undersides…

  Not that I’d been looking or anything.

  Look, it wasn’t just me. Everyone thought Vic was hot stuff, and they weren’t wrong. From his gravity defying moves, to the easy way he charmed the cameras, to those stupid little dimples, he was a fan favorite the moment he stepped onto the scene, which meant I was old news.

  And that really grated on my nerves. There were magazines and sports casters all over the place wondering if it was time for Rebel Rhail to retire from the Xtreme Sportz League, and maybe they were right. At thirty-one, I was an old face in the games, competing against younger, more flexible opponents, most of whom had tails or extra appendages.

  That had never bothered me. As a human, I’d known I was the underdog from the beginning, and I’d used that to my advantage. The cameras loved an underdog story, and I sold it like nobody’s business.

  Until Vic came along. Now, the spotlight was on him and I was always second best.

  Vic put a tentacle around a fan and posed for a selfie, flashing those annoyingly perfect dimples of his. As he shook hands with the fan, his eyes fell on me and I immediately looked away, hoping he hadn’t spotted me. The last thing I needed was for him to come over and brag about his stupid medals.

  I turned back to the airline employee, hoping she’d come up with something, but she was on the phone, muttering a lot of, “Yes, sirs” to whoever was on the other end.

  “Hey, Rebel! I thought that was you!”

  I stiffened as Vic came up behind me, the little hairs on the back of my neck standing up in response to his smooth as hot chocolate voice.

  He rolled his luggage to a stop next to me. “Did they cancel your flight, too?”

  “Yeah,” I grunted, hoping he’d get the message.

  He didn’t.

  “Man, that’s a bummer. They canceled mine about ten minutes ago,” he continued. “I was supposed to be flying back to Miami for Krakenmas, but they said there was a huge storm coming this way.”

  My reply was a non-committal grunt as I tried to stare down the airline employee who was supposed to be helping me. Come on. Get me a flight. I’ll literally sell the beard off my face for the last seat to anywhere but here.

  “Yeah,” Vic said when I didn’t say anything more. “They said we might all be stranded for a spell, so I wound up booking this place just outside of town to ride out the storm. It wasn’t the Ritz if you catch my drift, but hey, any port in a storm, right?” He elbowed me with one of his tentacles.

  Was elbowing the right word? Did krakens even have elbows?

  I didn’t know and focused on rubbing the spot he’d touched. “Tough luck, but I’m sure you’ll make do.”

  “What’re your plans, man?” He smiled at me and tipped his head to one side, clearly expecting an answer. When I didn’t give him one, he frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to ride it out at the airport? You ever been stranded at an airport over the holidays for days? That’s a special kind of hell.” He patted my shoulder hard enough that I jerked forward. “You could always s tay with me. The little cabin I booked isn’t much, but it’s got two beds.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks,” I said shortly. “I’m getting on the next flight out of here.”

  “Oh,” he said, shrinking back slightly. “Well, um, if you change your mind before my ride gets here, just let me know.”

  His footsteps retreated slowly, though I didn’t turn around to watch him go. I felt a little bad for being so short with him, but it wasn’t like we were pals. When he first joined the league, I’d tried to talk to him a number of times, but he was always shrugging me off to go chat with someone else. When he started unseating me at every event, I let it go. I couldn’t win them all, right? Nature of the game. But when he started breaking my records, and stealing my sponsors? I had to draw the line somewhere.

  There was being friendly, and then there was…Whatever we were. Mostly, I just wanted to forget Vic existed, but that wasn’t easy when he was everywhere. It was starting to make me hate the games altogether.

  Maybe it was time for me to think about retiring.

  “Attention, passengers,” came a voice over the loudspeaker. “Due to inclement weather, all flights out of Toronto Pearson International Airport are grounded until further notice. We apologize for the delay. Please see your airline’s concierge for more information.”

  A collective groan of disappointment went up from the gathered passengers.

  In a panic, I whipped out my phone and pulled up an app, hoping to score a hotel room, but even a quick scroll revealed they were already sold out. It was the same with my room share app, and even the high-end rental app. There was literally nothing left in Toronto, not a single room anywhere.

  Except for the one Vic had offered me.

  I lowered the phone with a wince. Was I really considering taking him up on his offer?

  How bad could it be? Worst-case scenario, we crash in the same rental house and ignore each other for a day or two. We don’t even have to speak the whole time. I can pretend he’s not even there.

  My only other option was to wait it out at the airport, but Vic was right. Being stranded at the airport over the holiday was a special kind of hell. If I had to hear one more Christmas song play over the speakers, I was going to lose my damn mind.

  I stood up straighter to see over the crowd and spotted Vic walking toward the concourse exit. “Hey, Vic!” I shifted the carry-on bag over my shoulder and jogged after him. “Wait up!”

  “I swear the site said there were two beds.” I frowned and lowered my phone.

  The image of the cabin in front of me did not match the one that had been posted online. On the website, the cabin had looked roomy and welcoming, like a home away from home. Instead, the front room was…I winced and reached for a positive. Cozy, maybe? Intimate?

  I glanced over at Rebel and tried to read his expression, but it was impossible. Most humans were difficult to read, considering their inefficient system for communicating non-verbally was limited. I was used to being around other krakens most of the time, and we found it much easier to communicate via subtle scents and gestures with our six tentacles. Much better for speaking underwater, where sound was unreliable at best.

  Rebel remained frustratingly stoic, as always, and replied with a grunt. He paced forward and dropped his black duffel bag on the sofa. “This’ll do.”

  I frowned. “You don’t even want to look at the bed?”

  He shrugged and started pulling off his puffy blue coat. “You paid for the place, so you get the bed. I’ve never met a couch I couldn’t sleep on. This will do just fine.”

  I sighed as he threw his coat over the back of the sofa and started fluffing the pillows like he was going to lie down for a nap. Maybe I shouldn’t have expected much from him. He was probably tired after the competition over the weekend, especially considering he’d competed in nearly every event. I admired Rebel’s dedication to the league, and his talent.

  In fact, Rebel was the reason I’d joined the Xtreme Sportz League to begin with. His underdog tale of persistence, hard work, and respect for the basics had inspired me, even when so many people laughed at my dream. Everyone knew krakens didn’t compete in winter sports. They dominated all the aquatic categories. Why would I ever want to ski and snowboard? But if a human like Rebel could do it, I thought I could do anything.

  Except get him to like me, I thought sadly and shuffled further into the cabin.

  I sighed and started opening doors until I found the bedroom, an even cozier wood paneled room with a single queen-sized bed and some rustic, woodsy décor. The handmade quilt on the bed looked worn, but clean, so I set my bag on it and began unpacking. From the sounds of it, the winter storm coming in was going to be a doozy, and there was no way to tell how long it would be before we were able to get on a flight home.

  Part of me secretly hoped it’d be at least a few days. Long enough for me to crack Rebel’s hard exterior and learn a little more about his personal life. He was notoriously secretive about his family, and about who—if anyone—he was dating. I should know. I’d asked around, and no one knew if he had a girlfriend…or boyfriend. A more pessimistic person might take that to mean he was unavailable, but I was a glass half full kind of kraken. I chose to believe that it meant—somewhere, someday—I had a chance with Rebel. Maybe if I kept reaching out, kept trying to form a connection, he’d talk back. Someday.

  After unpacking, I went back out to the main room to decide what to do. Rebel had found the remote control and was flipping through the channels with a frown. I could see why. The place didn’t have cable, just a few public access channels.

  He sighed and threw down the remote. “Two news channels and some soap operas. This place doesn’t even have Netflix. What the hell kind of place is this?”

  I winced. “The site said rustic. I just didn’t think they meant this rustic.”

  Rebel scowled.

  I cleared my throat and glanced around, searching for the silver lining. “Oh, look! A fireplace! That ought to warm it up in here. I’ll go see if they’ve got any firewood out back.”

  I ducked out the back door and immediately shivered. The sky had been spitting snow all day, but it was really starting to come down. The tiny, fenced-in backyard was covered in a fine powder, and I could barely see beyond the fence thanks to the snow. A frigid wind bit at my face and it felt like my tentacles were trying to freeze solid. I hurried to grab a few logs and rushed back inside.

  Rebel was still on the couch, punching one of the pillows like he was trying to soften it. He didn’t say anything to me as I brought the wood over and arranged it in the fireplace in a way I hoped made sense. Then I went about searching for matches. I had no idea what I was doing or how to start a fire. I lived in a beach house in Miami with my eight sisters, for goodness' sake. Hurricanes were a more common annoyance than a cold winter.

  When I couldn’t find any matches, I sighed and turned back to Rebel. “You wouldn’t happen to know how this thing works, would you?”

  He arched a bushy red eyebrow. “You don’t know how?”

  I felt my face flush. “I’ve never had to do it before. Could you show me? Just once. I promise I’m a fast learner.”

  Rebel sighed and got up from the couch. He came over and fiddled with a chain I hadn’t noticed before. Then he pulled out all the logs I’d put in before bending over a small container next to the fireplace to retrieve something else. I knew I should’ve been paying attention to what he was doing so I could replicate it when I lit the fireplace in the bedroom later, but the moment Rebel bent over in front of me, I got…distracted.

  Who could blame me when he was wearing tight jeans like that? The way they hugged his perfect ass made it impossible not to stare. I licked my lips, wondering about how it would feel to touch him. His skin looked so smooth, but humans were covered all over in fine hair, so maybe it was coarser. And his beard… Gods, I was jealous of that beard. Ever since I’d first seen it, I’d wanted to bury my face in all that human fur and just—

  “It’s that easy,” he said, standing back up and pulling me from my thoughts.

  I blinked rapidly, realizing I’d missed the entire demonstration. “Oh. That, um…That’s not as difficult as I was expecting. Thanks.”

 

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