Chapter 9

When Winterlyn asked Declan if she could be outside to watch Santa return to Northernmost at dawn, he’d been tempted to say no because there was always a danger that Frost would strike at some point when Santa returned. But Christmas Day was also when the security was the highest of any point in the year, and his post was far enough away from the barn that it was unlikely she’d be in any actual danger.

So he’d agreed in the end because he really didn’t want to be away from her anyway. His wolf hadn’t wanted to get out of bed at four a.m. to get ready to watch the perimeter for danger. Winterlyn was a sweet temptation.

They dressed for the cold weather and checked in at the security office.

It was all-hands-on-deck for Christmas morning, so he wasn’t surprised to see the other Guardians there, including Ivy and Seren.

Winterlyn hugged the females with a grin. “You wanted to see him come back too?”

“Well, it’s my last Christmas here,” Ivy said. “Knox and I are moving to the leap later today, and I didn’t want to miss watching Santa come in.”

“And it’s my first time here,” Seren said. “I absolutely didn’t want to miss it.”

Winterlyn smiled at Declan, and he said, “I guess you all had the same idea. Just remember that we have to work to keep Santa and the Well safe.”

Winterlyn gave him a quick kiss. “It’ll be fine. Maybe Frost won’t try anything. You said more protections were in place this year than any other Christmas.”

“We never let our guard down on Christmas Day,” Knox said. “He’s a tricky male who takes every opportunity to come at Santa.”

“Why doesn’t he just save up his resources and attack on Christmas Day?” Winterlyn asked.

“What do you mean?” Declan asked.

“Well, he attacked a few times this month. Like when he took Seren thinking she was an elf, or when he tracked Ivy through the portal and took her. Why doesn’t he just wait until Christmas Day and mount one big attack?”

Declan shrugged. “It’s just the way he is. Every year he tries new things, new magic and assault tactics. Partly, he’s looking for magical people to steal so he can harvest their magic for himself, but he’s also looking for weaknesses he can exploit.”

“I think he’s just so clouded by anger at losing control of the Well to Santa in the first place that he thinks of nothing but revenge,” Storm said. “He’s obsessed, and obsessed people don’t always think clearly.”

“It’s always a relief when Santa gets back to the Well and replenishes his magic,” Ivy said. “There’s a hiatus and Frost doesn’t mess with the Well for a while. But it’s disconcerting that he’s always there in the darkness, planning.”

Winterlyn shivered and Declan hugged her. He kissed the top of her head and said, “Let’s get our females outside in a safe place so they can watch him return, and we can get to our stations.”

Their group headed outside.

“Oof, it’s freaking cold,” Winterlyn said as the wind hit them with an icy, unforgiving hand.

“I’d say you get used to it, but that’s just not true,” Declan said. “Every time I walk outside, I think it’s damn cold.”

They walked with their small group—the three males and their mates—leaving the other Guardians and elf security team to get to their stations, mainly focusing on the Well and Entrance, although Frost and those with dark magic, like his followers, weren’t able to use the portal or cross the perimeter.

From their vantage point between the barn and the barracks, he could see the Well and the golden glow of magic that pulsed from within.

“Have you ever touched the magic in the Well?” Winterlyn asked. Her head was tipped to the sky, her gaze on the Northern Lights.

“Yeah, when I was first brought up here to work. The elf who trained me had me touch it because the word in the shifter world at the time was that it was dangerous for our kind to be too close to it.” It had been like a living thing, even though it was just a glowing mass inside an infinitely deep well. Touching it had been like putting his hand in warm water. It felt nice, maybe even tingled a bit, but otherwise it didn’t do anything.

Winterlyn turned to face him and smiled, her eyes glittering with happiness. “It’s so magical here, but even if there weren’t Northern Lights and the Well and a portal that could go anywhere in the world, I’d still think it was magical because of you.”

He pulled her close for a quick hug and kissed her. “Sweetheart, you’re the most magical thing in my life.”

He released his hold on her and turned his attention to the perimeter. The inky blackness was filled with the darker shapes of the few trees that could survive the harsh temperatures. Beyond the darkness high in the sky were the swirling Northern Lights and the stars.

A star streaked in the sky.

Winterlyn gasped. “Is that Santa?”

“It’s a falling star,” he said. “When Santa comes back, it’s more like an explosion of stars than a single falling star.”

“That’s pretty dang awesome. I can’t wait to see it.”

He, Storm, and Knox left the females to talk quietly while they scouted the area, focusing on the perimeter and the Well. One year, Frost had tossed bombs over the Entrance, hoping to take out Santa. Another year, he’d sent a herd of stampeding moose through the perimeter and had caused a ton of damage. He’d done other things over the years but had thankfully never been successful.

But his ingenuity when it came to trying to kill his brother made it challenging to guess what he would try, so they simply had to be ready for anything.

The minutes ticked by as he stood guard with the others. The air was thick with tension as it drew close to the time when Santa would return.

Once his boss had replenished his magic, they could breathe a little easier but until then? It was stressful as hell. Even though he wasn’t magical, he didn’t want anything to happen to the world’s magic. If Frost got control of the Well, it would spell disaster for the world, for magical and non-magical people alike.

He turned his gaze upward once more to search for Santa and the sleigh. He saw a streak of stars and knew he was close.

“What’s that?” Winterlyn asked.

He didn’t drop his gaze. “Santa.”

“No, I mean that .”

He dropped his head and looked at her. She was pointing straight ahead into the darkness. He didn’t see anything, but his hackles rose.

Was Frost out there?

Winterlyn wondered if she’d been staring without blinking for too long or if the lack of sleep had gotten to her and she was seeing things.

But no, she knew she wasn’t. She saw something in the darkness outside the perimeter that protected the town. A shadow that moved slowly, drawing closer. And the glint of something. Maybe metal or stone.

She might not be able to shift, but she had a keen sense of smell and sight. She touched the part of her that felt like a shifter and focused her senses. She could hear a scraping sound like something dragging over the snow-covered ice. The glint happened again, the tiniest of golden flashes.

“There!” she said, moving toward the spot.

Declan grabbed her back. “Hold on, let me look.”

“Do you see it?” she asked, looking at Seren and Ivy.

They shook their heads.

“Wait. There!” Winterlyn said.

The shadow moved again as a shower of stars erupted in the sky over them, and the sleigh appeared. The descent slowed as it approached the magical perimeter that Declan had told her was like a dome across the town.

She suddenly knew what she was seeing.

A knife, like the one that Annette had brought to harm Santa. Her gaze dropped to the shadow, lifted to Santa, and then back again. He wasn’t within the perimeter yet. He was vulnerable!

With a guttural growl from her fox, she raced forward, passing through the perimeter and knocking into the shadow.

She heard Declan shout her name, and then she was on the ground, and the shadowy figure hovered over her, a golden, glinting blade poised at her heart.

Shit.

One minute, his mate was at his side and the next, she was plowing full tilt into the strange shadow he’d only just noticed. He howled and charged after her, snarling as he saw the shadow, who appeared to be cloaked in something that made them look like the night sky, lift a blade to strike his mate. Barreling into the figure, he knocked him off Winterlyn and rolled away from her.

“Get to safety, Winterlyn!” he shouted.

Fangs and claws ready, he slashed at the cloaked figure, knocking the blade from his hand. As the cloak shredded around him, and Declan fought with all his might, he knew he was fighting one of Frost’s followers.

He slammed his head against the male’s, stunning him for a moment, then grasping his throat and squeezing tightly.

He heard the sounds of fighting, and in of his peripheral vision, he saw the Guardians fighting followers, a battle raging outside the safety of the perimeter. Winterlyn was inside the perimeter with the other females, elves around them for protection.

Someone knocked him away from the follower, and he leaped to his feet with a snarl, tossing off the follower who’d tackled him. The male he’d tackled reached for the blade and aimed for Santa, who was almost through the perimeter’s protective bubble.

Declan ignored the male trying to hold him back and jumped at the male with the blade, knocking him down once more. This time, he snatched the knife from his hand and pushed it down into his chest. Hot blood, black like the dark magic Frost used, flowed over Declan’s hand. The blade fractured and split apart, but the damage was done.

Declan rose to his feet with a triumphant howl, watching as Santa descended entirely through the perimeter, protected once more from those outside of it.

“Frost, you cowardly asshole!” Declan declared. “Your follower is dead, your plan in ruins. Eat a dick.”

The followers raced away as if they’d received a message to abandon the battle and return to Frost’s lair, and maybe they had. No one really knew what Frost was capable of when it came to his people.

“That’s Valeth,” Storm said as he looked down at him. “That’s Frost’s number two.”

“Good,” Declan said. “But I couldn’t have gotten him if it wasn’t for Winterlyn noticing the blade flashing in the darkness.”

Suddenly, his knees went out as he realized he could have lost her.

Storm grabbed him. “Whoa, you okay, man?”

“I…shit. My mate’s impulsive.”

Storm laughed and gave him a shoulder to lean on as they made their way back through the perimeter. Santa was at the Well, touching the glowing magic and replenishing himself.

Winterlyn raced to Declan. Storm let go of him just as she hugged him fiercely, the air scenting of the saltwater of her tears.

“I’m so sorry I almost got you killed!” she whispered with a rough voice. “I saw the blade and I didn’t think.”

He tilted her face to his. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t faster. You could have died.”

“You saved me,” she said.

“You both saved me,” Santa said, his voice deep and strong as his magic replenished fully. “You all did. The Guardians and the security team took out a dozen of Frost’s followers, including that asshole Valeth, who’s been a thorn in our backside for a long, long time.” He rose to his feet. “I believe he was aiming that blade for me. It was probably laced with magic to reach me, but Winterlyn’s intervention, followed by Declan’s fight with Valeth, saved me, saved the Well, and saved the magical people. Without the Guardians, the elves, and the mates—today might have been the worst day in magical history. But we can rejoice because Frost lost the fight today.”

Everyone cheered, and Declan grabbed his mate in a tight hug and lifted her off the ground. “Let’s promise not to go rushing off into danger.”

“You’re talking about me,” she said, burying her face in his neck with a laugh. “I raced off into danger. You raced after me .”

“Let’s not do that again.”

“I promise,” she said. She lifted her head and kissed him, then pressed her forehead against his. “That was so scary. I don’t ever want to tempt fate again.”

He was damn glad for that.

Setting her on her feet, he let her go so she could hug her friends, and then they followed Santa into the security building for their annual debrief. While the threat to Santa and the Well was over for today, now that the sun was up and he was safely within the perimeter of Northernmost, it didn’t mean they could rest easy.

Security team members patrolled the town as the Guardians sat around a large conference room table. Santa allowed the mates to join them for this debrief, where they reviewed the events of the night, from Santa’s trip to the battle that everyone had expected to happen, but no one had known what it might entail.

Even now, Declan was surprised that Frost had found yet another blade to try to take out Santa and that Valeth had been cloaked in a way that made him blend in with the darkness and shadows.

“He’s getting trickier,” Declan said after Winterlyn had gone over what she’d seen and her reaction. “He used a lot more magic this time than before, with the cloak and the blade, whatever kind it was.”

“Pyrite,” Santa said. “Dark magic pyrite, to be exact, which my brother bespelled to kill me. It broke apart when you used it to take out Valeth because he wasn’t the target, and his blood broke the spell.”

They spoke for a little while longer, and then Santa thanked them again and wished them well on their time off. The Guardians, who handled the lion’s share of patrol duties in December, always took the week off between Christmas and New Year’s.

Outside of the conference room, they said goodbye to Ivy and Knox.

“It was so nice to meet you,” Ivy said, giving Winterlyn a hug. “Good luck with the toy makers. It’s a great job and lots of fun.”

“It was nice to meet you too,” Winterlyn said. “Good luck being alpha female.”

Ivy grinned. “I’ve got a lot to learn about shifters, but I’ve got a great teacher.”

Knox wiggled his brows. “Indeed.”

They parted ways, heading to their separate apartments.

“We’re going to Winterlyn’s family first,” Declan said to Sebastian and Gabriel in the main area outside their apartments. “We’ll be down to Howling Creek tomorrow.”

“We’re heading home tonight,” Sebastian said. “Safe travels and see you guys tomorrow.”

After grabbing their bags, they headed to the Entrance, where two elves were waiting to escort them to her home so she could spend the day with her family.

“I’m so freaking tired,” she said as she yawned.

The males disappeared through the portal to look for danger. Declan hugged her. “We’ll find time to rest today.”

“Promise?”

“You bet.”

“You know we didn’t get each other anything for Christmas.”

“We’ve only been together for a week. Plus, I did give you the ring.”

She looked at her finger and smiled. “Okay, then I guess I didn’t give you anything.”

“You’re my gift, sweetheart.”

“I love the ring, and I love you. You’re the best gift I could get.”