title: Shadows of the Past
author: Balik, Shea
description: He didn't deserve a happily ever after.Hudson Martin watched as each of his best friends had found their mates, knowing he would never find his own. He didn't deserve to. He'd done too many terrible things in his life to ever hope to receive the gift of a mate. On Christmas Day, seeing his friends gathered around with the one person meant for them had been bittersweet. He was happy for his friends, but it felt like salt being rubbed into an open wound. It hurt.Please, just let me die.Kassian had only one wish in life, to join his sister and parents in death. He should have died with them instead of surviving that terrifying night. This year, he was determined not to let anything stop him, or in this case, anyone. His sister, although dead, had stuck around, hindering him in some of the most frustrating ways possible, not allowing him to join his family in death. This year may be her best attempt, for as he lay on the floor waiting to die, the visions of the past holding him in their grip, he gets yanked back to the present by the most intoxicating scent he's ever scented from a man. A man who gives him something he hasn't had in over seventy years. Peace.There may be hope for them both.Hudson and Kassian discover this little town was aptly named, because it had taken a Miracle to bring them together. More importantly, it will take that Miracle for them to find their way to each other, and to chase away the Shadows of the Past.