Falling For Her Guardian (Yuletide Shifters #1)

Chapter 11

Seren walked through a dreamy snowscape with falling stars and twinkling lights all around her. Then the dreamy, warm feeling morphed to freezing cold, the twinkling lights faded until all she saw were two glowing eyes in the distance and heard someone calling her.

She sat up with a gasp, her body halfway between fight or flight, the covers tangled around her legs.

“Hey, sweetheart, are you okay?” Storm asked, rubbing his eyes. “You were thrashing in your sleep.”

She fell back to the pillow with a sigh. “I had a weird dream.”

He put his hand on her hip and pulled her a little closer to him. She snuggled into his warmth. “Want to talk about it?”

“I’m not sure if there’s anything to really talk about,” she said, relaying what she remembered of the strange dream. She shivered thinking about those eyes that she vaguely remembered and wondered if they belonged to Jack Frost.

“Your mind may be trying to work through what you can’t remember after leaving the building. You’re safe now, though.”

“I know.” She wiggled a little closer. “You’re so warm.”

“Part of being a shifter,” he said. “We tend to run a little hotter than humans.”

She hummed and closed her eyes, thinking how deliciously worn out she was. She said what had been on her mind since they made love. “You didn’t mark me.”

She was staring at his chest and saw his muscles tense just a little before he let out a soft, growling purr. He tilted her chin until she was looking at him and smiled, his eyes glittering in the darkness of the room.

“I didn’t mark you because you and I just met and I know you still have some wariness about being with a shifter.”

She wanted to protest that she wasn’t worried anymore, but the truth was that she did feel like she needed time to get to know him better and love him too. He was sexy enough, sweet and protective enough, that she knew it wouldn’t be long before she gave him her heart entirely, though.

He paused and searched her face, then said, “Were you worried about it? You could have told me, and I would have talked it through with you.”

“I don’t know if I was worried so much as I wondered if there was a reason behind it.”

He brushed his fingertips up her jaw and slid them into her hair, pulling her close for a kiss. “I want your heart before we mate. I want to give you mine and for you to give me yours. Sometimes polar bears don’t wait for the emotional stuff when they meet their mates they just go forward and know that the feelings will develop in time, but I’ve always wanted to be in love with my mate before I marked her.”

His gaze lowered to her neck, where she had a feeling he’d be sinking his bear’s fangs into her neck.

“Tell me about the mating.”

They settled on the pillows, facing each other, snuggled close, and he explained that once they were both ready, they’d make love and he’d let his bear out enough for his fangs to appear, then he’d sink them into her neck.

“They’ll scar and then everyone will know you’re mine,” he said.

“Sounds painful.”

“I promise you’ll feel really good first.” He wiggled his brows and she grinned.

“Only the girl wears a mark?”

“Yep, even if both are shifters, the males don’t wear marks.”

“So how will people know you’re mine?”

He narrowed his gaze and let out a harrumph. “Because you and I will smell like each other, and aside from that, I would never stray from our mating bed. You’re it for me, Seren. You’re the only one that me and my bear want in our bed and our lives.”

She placed her hand over his heart, feeling the steady beat under her palm.

He was so sweet.

“What happens after the marking?”

“Then I’ll take you home to my clan and they’ll throw us a party, where the alpha will preside over our official mating, joining us together and bringing you into the clan as my mate. We can also get married if you’d like. It’s not something that bears do all the time, but it’s not unheard of.”

“My parents would definitely appreciate us getting married. They’re pretty traditional.”

“They can come to the mating ceremony too.”

“Where in Pennsylvania is your clan?”

“Northern Pennsylvania, a town called Arctic Springs.”

“It wouldn’t be too far of a drive from central Ohio. My family could drive there.”

He kissed her sweetly, then said, “We should clean up and go talk to Santa about what happened to you. After breakfast, we can go through the Entrance to see your family.”

“Who will take us through the portal?”

“We’ll have one of the elves come with us,” he said. “I’ll put in a request, and I’ll order a car to meet us where yours broke down so we can get a lift to your parents’ place.”

“Sounds good to me.”

She rolled away from him and stretched, and then rose onto her elbows.

“I have an idea,” she said.

He arched a brow at her, looking deliciously sexy and worn out in the rumpled bed. “A sexy one? Because you smell good enough to eat, sweetheart.”

“A very sexy idea.”

She slipped from the bed and crooked her finger at him as she backed up toward the bathroom. “Let’s get clean and dirty.”

“You have the best ideas, my mate.”

“I’m just getting started,” she promised.

Seren’s clean clothes had been delivered to the outer area at some point in the night, and she was glad she had her own things to wear, especially panties, even though Storm didn’t think she needed them.

“I can’t meet Santa going commando,” she said, slipping on her warm sweater and leggings.

“He’s not going to know, but I will. It’s very sexy.”

“Stop waggling your eyebrows at me,” she chided him with a laugh. “And I’m not meeting the most powerful warlock in the world without panties. It’s too weird.”

“Fine, but when I take you out on a date, you can feel free to skip them.”

She pulled her leggings up and fixed her sweater. “You’re going to take me out on a date?”

“Of course.” He turned to face her as he buttoned a black dress shirt. “Just because we’re mates doesn’t mean that I don’t want to treat you right or take anything for granted. I’ve never really dated before anyway.”

“You haven’t? But you’re so…”

“What?” he asked, arching a brow.

“Sexy.”

He flashed her a brilliant smile and walked to her, pulling her close until their bodies pressed together. “You’re very sexy too, sweetheart. I just never wanted to date casually.”

“I get that,” she said.

She leaned back and smiled at him. “I’m ready to meet Santa when you are. Or should I call him Saint?”

“We just call him Santa,” he said.

They finished getting ready and then went to grab their coats from the front closet. “We have to go out into the elements, so I’m giving you my better coat since yours is good but not good enough.”

She pulled her cat ears stocking cap on her head and put his heavy coat over hers. He buttoned it for her as she put her gloves on, and she said, “I feel like a marshmallow.”

“But you’ll be a very warm one,” he said, giving her nose a little tap.

They left his apartment and found two men sitting on the couch in the gathering room with plates in their laps.

“Hey, I was going to text you guys to see if you wanted to catch up for breakfast and meet my mate,” Storm said. “Sweetheart, these are my brothers, Hunter and Winter. Guys, this is my mate, Seren.”

They both set their plates on the coffee table and rose to their feet.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Winter said. “We’re glad you made it back here safely.”

“Thanks for helping Storm rescue me,” she said.

After shaking her hand, Hunter said, “Are you going to take her home? We can cover your shift if you need some time off.”

“Yes, I’m taking her home after we talk to Santa about what happened at Frost’s lair, but I haven’t given any thought to taking time off.”

“It’s probably a given that you’ll want to take a few days,” Winter said. “You just met, it’s good to celebrate it.”

Hunter nodded. “We’ve got you covered. Just let us know when you decide.”

“I will, thanks, guys.” He fist-bumped his brothers, then took her hand and led her out of the gathering room.

In the hall, he said, “We’re going to take the freight elevator up to a storage room and then head to Santa’s house. It’s the fastest way to get to his place.”

“Sounds good.”

They walked down the hall and he pressed the button to call the elevator, which rumbled and squeaked as it stopped on their floor. “How far underground are we?” she asked.

“Only about a dozen feet. Santa’s ancestors used to live underground, but eventually he wanted to be aboveground so he could keep an eye on the Entrance, especially with Frost trying to take it over.”

The elevator’s motor was loud, but it was spacious so she didn’t feel claustrophobic like she did in the one at her old job. When it shuddered to a stop, it opened into a huge storage room that had rows of wooden shelves stuffed full of toys.

Her mouth fell open and she couldn’t help but walk over to one shelf and touch the soft fur of a stuffed polar bear.

“The elves make the toys?” she asked. “I don’t know what’s fact and what’s fiction.”

“Yes, they do,” he said. “Santa delivers one toy to every good boy and girl in the world from sunset on Christmas Eve to dawn on Christmas Day. The toys are always no-tech items like stuffed animals, dolls, and wooden vehicles or play sets. He uses his magic to put all the toys in his bag, and then more magic to power the sleigh and reindeer, and even more magic to transport them faster than the eye can see as he moves from house to house.”

“So that’s why he’s never been caught delivering toys? Because he moves faster than a human can see?”

“Yep.”

They left the warmth of the storage building. As the harsh temperature made her want to run back into the building, she was thankful she had Storm’s heavy coat. It was snowing and windy, so she could hardly see anything.

“I’ll get us there,” Storm said. “Don’t let go of my hand.”

She gave his big hand a squeeze and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

Her toes were numb by the time they reached Santa’s house, a log cabin with a sprawling porch and pine trees lining the front walk decorated with tiny lights and red bows.

Storm knocked twice and then opened the door, pushing her through first and into the warmth of the cabin.

“Greetings,” Santa said. “You look frozen to the bone, Seren.”

He approached them as Storm was pulling off her gloves and hat because her fingers weren’t working quite right. Santa rubbed his hands together and they sparkled like snowflakes, then he cupped them around her freezing hands and warmth spread through her like a slow wave.

She breathed out a sigh of relief as the cold in her body was replaced with warmth.

“Yikes, it’s cold here,” she said. “Thank you so much for using your magic on me. And earlier with the permafrost. Storm told me you helped remove it.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he said. “Come have a seat. The elves brought breakfast fixings for us to share, so join me at the table and we’ll talk about what happened to you in Frost’s lair. I want to know everything you remember.”

“I’ll do my best.”

When they’d stripped from their coats, she and Storm sat at a large butcher block kitchen table that was laden with every kind of breakfast food she could think of, including cinnamon rolls topped with caramel and pecans, which were her favorite.

“So I got laid off from my job, and then my car broke down…”