Falling For Her Guardian (Yuletide Shifters #1)

Chapter 13

Because it was so late after their date, they’d sent Noelle home and taken a car service to the rendezvous spot. Storm told the driver to pull over when they were close to where the portal would open in a few minutes.

“There’s nothing here. Are you sure?” he asked, glancing at him in the rearview.

“Yep, we’re getting picked up by another person.”

“I can wait if you’d like. It’s cold and it might start snowing.”

“Thanks for the offer, but we’ll be fine. If you could pop the trunk, I’ll grab the bags and you can be on your way.”

“You got it.”

Storm got out of the car and helped Seren, then she moved off to the side of the road while he grabbed her things. He used the app to pay and tip and waved at the man after he shut the trunk.

“It is cold,” Seren said when he joined her on the snowy stretch of grass between the road and the woods.

“I’ll keep you warm.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

“Dinner was great, did you like it?” she asked.

“Hell yes, a steak as big as my head and a beautiful date. What more could a male ask for?”

She giggled and looked up at him, her eyes filled with sexy promises.

“Did you have fun?” he asked, his voice going deeper as her sweet scent wrapped around him.

“I did.”

They’d talked about everything . He didn’t think he’d ever had so much conversation in one meal as he did with Seren over steak and loaded potatoes and cheesecake for dessert, but they’d managed to hit every topic they needed to. They were going to stay in Northernmost through Christmas in his apartment, and then they would decide whether they wanted to move to Pennsylvania and live with his clan and family or Ohio to be near hers. He would be happy anywhere she was, whether it was Pennsylvania or Ohio, and he was leaving the decision up to her.

They’d also decided not to have kids until after they were mated and married, and so she was going to stay on birth control. He was thankful she was on birth control to start with, because he’d been so caught up in the moment the first time they made love that it hadn’t occurred to him to use anything. Hell, he didn’t even have anything, because he never brought anyone to his place. He was happy to say that Seren was the first female in his bed in the barracks and the only one he ever wanted there.

He heard the hum of a portal being opened and he stopped hugging Seren long enough to look at the glittering place where the air was being split open.

“Do you ever wish you had magic?” she asked.

“Sometimes. I think it would be pretty cool, but if I was magical, I wouldn’t have my bear, and that would suck.”

“Can I see him sometime?” she asked.

“Absolutely. I’ll shift for you when we go to meet my family.”

Her eyes went wide. “Meet your family?”

“I had to meet yours,” he said. “Did you think I wouldn’t want to take you home?”

“Will they even like me? I’m human!”

“Of course they will,” he promised. He knew his parents were already very happy for him and excited to meet her because he’d called and talked to them about it. “They don’t care you’re human. They care that you and I are mates.”

“Oh man, I hope so. I want them to like me.”

“I like you.”

Her eyes softened and she gave him the sweetest smile. “I like you too.”

The portal crackled as it opened entirely and Willow stepped through. “Hi, guys! I was still free, so I came to get you! How was your trip?”

“It was really wonderful. Thanks for coming to get us,” Seren said.

Storm kissed Seren and bent to pick up the bags. She had one large rolling suitcase, which wouldn’t work on the grass, a duffel bag big enough to hold at least one body, and a backpack. She put the backpack on and gave Willow a quick hug while Storm strapped the duffel across his chest and lifted the suitcase off the ground.

“Ready when you are, Willow,” Storm said.

“Let’s get home, then.”

They followed Willow, who moved through the portal first, then Seren. As Storm was about to step through, the hairs on the back of his neck tingled and his bear grumbled in warning.

A dark blur rushed from the side, and he let out his claws to defend Seren. Something was thrown through the portal, and he had only a heartbeat to see Frost’s right-hand man, Valeth, before he disappeared in a flash of light.

He caught the scent of sulfur.

A bomb!

He dropped her suitcase and dove through the portal, wrapping himself around Seren and calling for Willow to run from the bomb.

As the bomb exploded, everything went first bright white and then terrifyingly dark.

Seren was tackled from behind by Storm, who carried her a few feet with his momentum before they both tumbled to the ground. He shouted for Willow to run and said there was a bomb.

A bomb?

And then it went off. Storm was wrapped around her, and he growled loudly and then went quiet.

Or she’d gone deaf. She couldn’t really tell.

There was a humming quiet in the darkness as she lay gasping for breath in Storm’s arms, protected by his big body and cushioned on the ground by her backpack that had gotten caught under her when she’d fallen.

She heard the echoing sound of people yelling, and she blinked a few times to clear the haze from her vision. Then, she had to squint as bright flashlights caught her.

“Ow, shit,” she said, lifting a hand to shield her eyes.

“You okay?” a man said, his voice sounding far away even though he was close to her.

“My ears aren’t working right,” she said, shaking her head. “Storm?”

She swiveled to look at him, but he wasn’t moving. His eyes were closed, and she could smell the coppery tang of blood.

“Storm!”

People moved around them, and she leaned over to see that his back had been ripped to shreds by the bomb. He was bleeding profusely, the white snow turning dark red underneath him.

“No! Shit, Storm! Help him!”

Someone pulled her to her feet and her vision tunneled.

“I’ve got you, Seren.” She looked up and found Storm’s brother, Hunter, holding her.

“Storm,” she said.

“We’ll get him to help, but you need help too.”

She wanted to argue that Storm needed more help than she did, but everything went suddenly sideways, and she barfed up the entire dinner and dessert, then passed out.

“Ow, ow,” Seren said, pressing her hand to her forehead. Everything was ringing in her head. Bells on top of bells.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

“Melody?” she asked, thinking she recognized the voice of one of the elf healers.

“Yes, it’s me. Hunter brought you in with Storm. You two have been spending a lot of time in the infirmary.”

“Is he okay?”

She sat up slowly, Melody helping her. Her vision was a little blurry but cleared, and she realized her hearing was back to normal.

“He’s…still unconscious. I gave you some healing medication to speed up your natural healing abilities.”

“What about Storm?” She turned on the hospital bed and looked down at herself. She was in a gown and alone in the room with the healing elf.

“He’s very injured, Seren. Santa has tried to heal him, but he won’t wake up.”

“I need to see him.”

“Hold on, you’re still healing from a serious concussion. Let me—Seren!”

Seren tried to jump off the bed but ended up sliding off and nearly taking a header on the floor. She braced herself and pushed to a stand, then grimaced as vertigo hit.

“You need to stay in bed. Let me get Trouble to help.”

“I need Storm right now. Let me see him!”

He’d saved her life. Again. But this time, he might have lost his own by putting himself between her and the blast.

“Okay, okay, you humans sure can be stubborn.” Melody put her arm around Seren’s waist and walked with her toward the door.

“Just when it comes to our mates.”

They walked a short way down the hall and entered another room. Hunter and Winter were near the bed with Santa, Storm on his stomach, a sheet draped from his hips to his toes. His back was covered with bandages that were seeping blood. It didn’t even look like he was breathing.

She nearly dropped to her knees seeing him like that.

Muffling the cry of alarm with her hand, she let go of Melody and made it to his bed, clutching the rail.

“He’s going to be okay,” she said. It sounded like a statement, but in her heart she was really asking the question.

Hunter and Winter wouldn’t meet her gaze. She turned it to Santa.

“You can heal him,” she said.

“I tried,” Santa said.

She gingerly lifted the edge of one of the bandages and inhaled sharply. “It’s not healed at all, is it?”

He shook his head. “I believe the bomb was sent by Frost, but I don’t know how he knew where the portal was going to open. There was something in the bomb that’s preventing him from healing. It’s dark magic, Seren. It’s different than mine, and I can’t counteract it.”

“So he’s just… what? Tell me!” Panic was clawing at her. She couldn’t lose Storm.

She wouldn’t.

“I don’t know,” Santa said. “If he could shift, he could maybe heal, but he’s not responding to me or his brothers. The healers have tried their own magic, and nothing is working. I’m sorry, Seren. We’re just going to have to wait and see if he heals on his own.”

She let out a little growl.

Hunter’s brows winged up. He folded his big arms over his chest. “You got something to say, little sister?”

“Yes.” She stared at Storm and put her hand over his. “I don’t accept this wait-and-see business. Storm is going to shift into his polar bear and heal himself, because I don’t really think there’s anything more powerful than love. And we may have only known each other for two days, but I know he loves me. Him and his bear.” Her voice wavered a little as understanding filled her. He really wasn’t like anyone she’d ever known.

He was special and unique.

He was her Storm.

She jerked the railing to the side so it lowered, then put her hand on the side of his head. Leaning over, she said, “Storm, I get it now. You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met, and that’s why fate brought us together. It wasn’t an accident. It was because you’re mine and I’m yours. You want me to give you my heart, well, I’m giving it to you. But you have to shift and accept it. I’m…dang it, Storm, I’m in love with you, okay? I love you and I want you to tell me that you love me too. But you have to shift. Please.”

He didn’t stir.

She wasn’t even sure he was breathing.

She choked on another sob, her eyes blurring with tears.

“Storm, damn it! Shift!” The words bellowed out of her mouth the way he bellowed after sex, all staking a claim and taking no prisoners.

His eyes opened and then his body began to contort. His brothers rushed to get him unhooked from the IVs and off the bed. She stood next to Santa and watched as her mate twitched and convulsed, blood pouring from the shredded remains of his back.

She didn’t want to watch because it was the most gruesome thing she’d ever seen, but she couldn’t turn away.

“I love you, Storm,” she whispered.

He bellowed.

And then he shifted entirely.

His skin was covered with snow white fur, and he morphed into a huge polar bear.

He let out an angry snarl and snapped his teeth, and then he listed to the side and took out one of the beeping machines.

Seren lunged for him, but Santa held her back.

“If he falls on you, he’ll squish you flat. Let the guys help him.”

Hunter and Winter helped Storm disentangle from the medical equipment.

Hunter smiled at her. “I knew you had it in you.”

“Had what?” she asked.

“The balls to take my brother as a mate.”

Winter nudged him. “Girls don’t have balls.”

“Lady balls.”

“Are you serious?” Santa asked.

“What?” Hunter asked. “Tell me what Seren did wasn’t just the most badass thing you’ve ever seen a mate do.”

The big man next to her hummed and then smiled. “Yeah, it was. So get him outside before he does any more damage to the equipment.”

“I need some clothes,” Seren said.

Melody appeared with a stack. “I’ve got a jacket so you can go out with him. We’ll leave you alone to dress and then the guys can take you outside with him.”

“After he shifts back, I want to know what you saw,” Santa said.

“I didn’t see anything,” she said. “Honestly? I followed Willow through the portal and Storm was right behind me. Then he yelled for Willow to run, that there was a bomb, and he tackled me and protected me. I think I was only out of it for a minute or two, but I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how there was a bomb. I didn’t see anything or anyone.”

“Hopefully Storm will remember,” Santa said, scratching his fingers across his jaw. “Something weird is going on.”

When she was alone with her big bear Storm, she put the clothes on a counter and ran to him. He pulled her against him with his huge paw and she cried into his fur. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I didn’t want to lose you.”

He murmured at her and hummed in a purring way. She hugged herself a little closer to him.

After resting in his furry embrace for a few minutes, she got dressed and borrowed Melody’s coat, which was a long wool coat with a thick lining and a hood. It was the prettiest purple color, and she wanted to get one for herself.

Storm bumped the door with his paw, sending it slamming against the wall.

“Shit, man, we’re right here,” Hunter said.

“Let’s go for a walk outside,” Winter said. “You can ask us anything about Storm and we’ll tell you, even embarrassing childhood stories.”

Storm swiped at Winter, who narrowly missed getting taken out by his big paw.

Once they were outside, Storm stayed by her side as they walked. She realized they were heading to the Entrance when she saw bright lights in the distance.

A group of elves were working on repairing the Entrance, where some large chunks of bone had broken off. They stopped a few yards away and she stared at the scorched earth.

She didn’t see her suitcase, which told her it was probably back in Ohio at the side of the road. Her clothes were mostly burned remnants, the duffel a charred lump of canvas by the blood-soaked ground.

She shivered and Storm bumped against her. She put her hand on his shoulder and sank her fingers into his thick fur. “I’d rather have you than my things.”

He nuzzled her stomach with a gruff rumble, and she scratched his ears.

“We both could have died tonight,” she said as they made their way toward the barracks. “I’m thankful we’re safe. I’ll thank you properly when you’re out of your shift.”