Chapter 11

11

Digging through the snow,

A polar escapade.

Down through ice they go,

Smashing all the way.

Nanook miscalculated. A stress fracture in the roof of the hidden chamber suddenly cracked and spread too rapidly for him to warn. It all came down, a whoosh that dumped him, Kira, and Arnie in a rubble of ice.

Nanook emerged unscathed, as did the other bears, but the glimpse of a tufted tail buried under the cold debris put him in a panic.

Dani!

She didn’t appear to be moving. Nanook began grabbing and flinging the chunks in his way, tossing them out of the hole as he made his way to her.

Being as gentle as he could be, Nanook plucked Dani from the wreck. Her head lolled limply, but she breathed. He hugged her to his chest and rocked her.

Sorry. So sorry. He should have had her standing much farther back.

His sister, who’d swapped into her human form, cleared her throat. “If you keep squeezing her, you’ll crush something.”

He replied with a bear glare.

“She’s fine,” Kira insisted. “Just knocked out for the moment.”

Just? He growled.

The body in his arms shifted from reindeer to human and stirred. Dani uttered a slurred, “Did I crash again?”

He nosed her, and she giggled. “That’s cold.” Her lashes fluttered. “Hello, Nookie. Thanks for coming to my rescue again.”

Grawr.

“Yes, you are a handsome hero,” she murmured. Her lips curved. “Although, right now, I can’t help but think we look like that Bugs Bunny cartoon.”

When his nose scrunched in confusion, Kira sang, “I will hug her and pet her and squeeze her…”

“Just don’t call me George,” Dani said with a laugh. “You can put me down now.”

He held on to her instead.

Kira rummaged in the pack on his back and removed two blankets. She handed one to Dancer. “Let’s try and not freeze off our tits while we take a poke around.”

Dancer wrapped it around herself, but her bare feet concerned Nanook. He went on his four paws and wiggled.

“What’s he doing?” Dancer asked.

Kira understood. “He’s telling you to get on his back.” She then cast a look at her husband. “Because someone is a gentleman who doesn’t want his woman’s feet to get cold.”

Arnie chuffed.

“Did you just call me too fat to sit on your back?” Kira asked with an arched brow.

Her husband lay down in front of her in invitation, but Kira patted him. “Thanks for offering, but we both know I’d totally mess with your sciatica.”

Dancer hugged Nanook’s bulky body as he gingerly stepped through the wreckage. A wreckage that lacked something.

“I don’t see any weapons,” she stated.

“I noticed the same thing.” Kira bent and craned for a peek under a large, slanted slab of ice. “The shelves are all empty.”

“Krampus must have raided it when he took over the village. We came here for nothing.” Dani sounded disappointed.

However, Nanook gave a little shake. Dani grabbed the fur at his neck and exclaimed, “Whoa, big fellow.”

“I think my brother is trying to convey something.”

“What?”

Kira frowned. “I’m not sure.”

Nanook stepped over the debris and made his way across the chamber open to the sky. It took nosing a few fallen pieces of ice for his sister to clue in.

“He’s looking for the tunnel.”

“The one that leads into the village,” Dancer exclaimed. “We could totally use it to enter undetected. Only, won’t it be guarded at the other end?”

He nodded then gave a ferocious growl.

“Yes, you could eat them, but you’d have to do so quickly and quietly so they don’t give warning we’ve infiltrated,” Dani stated.

“A diversion might help in that respect,” Kira mused aloud. “Rook and Weaver could perhaps cause some trouble on the perimeter. Add in Leroy as well and a slight commotion inside might not be noticed.”

“The tunnel exits into the barracks. If Krampus has its troops stationed in there, we’ll be hard-pressed to get past them.”

“Wolverines inside a building? Seems unlikely.” Kira sounded skeptical. “A walrus, however…”

“Would have a tough time fitting through the door,” Dancer stated. “While they can accommodate a human, a walrus is much wider.”

Nanook huffed, and Kira snickered. “I think he just said his ass is just as big.”

He bared his teeth, but his sister laughed.

“Even if we assume the interior has only minimal threat, getting to Gingerbread Hall means crossing Holiday Square. The Yeti will spot us.”

“Assuming Krampus is in the hall,” Kira reminded. “Seems more likely to me that a despot would want the luxury of Santa’s house to rule from.”

“Leroy did say the birds were perched on its roof,” Dani murmured. “Santa’s house might make the better option. Not only is it closer to the barracks, but I know for a fact he’s got his own set of tunnels, including one that goes right to Gingerbread Hall.”

“Guess that settles it then. We’re going to visit Santa,” Kira chirped.

“Even though it’s close, we still have to expose ourselves getting from the barracks to it.”

“Which is where a diversion would come in handy. Something to draw the enemy out of the area, giving us an opening to sneak to our objective.”

“I’m a little skeptical at how well a polar bear can sneak,” Dani’s dry reply.

“Ask my kids. I can be stealthy as heck. One of my joys of motherhood is scaring the piss out of them.” Kira grinned.

“Who’s going to tell Rook, Weaver, and Leroy about the plan?”

Benedict had to be briefed too. While Nanook cleared space in the passage, she told him the plan. The snow owl hung his head. Most likely feeling left out since he couldn’t fly.

But Dani had an idea for him. “The armory isn’t the only place we had weapons stored. While not as deadly, the barracks will have some hot cocoa guns and candy cane slingers.”

The owl blinked at her.

“I know they’re not as efficient as a rifle, but better than nothing, right?”

Benedict gave her a nod.

Maybe they could still make this work. Nanook had his doubts. He’d really counted on them being able to sharpshoot the biggest threats. A Yeti was no easy thing to fight. And a pair of them? Things would get ugly.

For the Yeti and anyone else in his path.

Losing wasn’t an option. His girls needed their Dada to save them.

The tunnel appeared empty, but he still scented those who’d had passed through. Elves. And only elves.

He could see only two reasons for that. Either they were mounting a counterattack or they were in cahoots with Krampus.

If the latter, no one would say shit when he ate them.

He just hoped they didn’t all taste like peppermint. Couldn’t stand the smell or taste since that fateful day. He did, however, like the sweet flavor of Dani’s lips. The kiss had been impromptu, but he didn’t regret it. Humans might take weeks, months, years to know what they wanted in a mate. Nanook, however, tended to be more decisive. And he’d decided in the last few hours he wanted Dani.

All the more reason to be successful.

With the tunnel cleared, time to act. Arnie had found and briefed Weaver and Rook. In a slight change, the three polar bears would work as a team to provide the distraction, along with Leroy. Kira and Benedict would stay with Nanook and Dani.

They set off, Nanook taking the lead, with Benedict perched on his back. Dani shifted and trotted behind, while Kira brought up the tail.

The tunnel proved eerily silent, the usual music that played in the village absent, but their path remained lit by globes inset in the walls. They encountered no guards during their trek, which he found odd. Then again, would this Krampus have expected them to literally burrow their way in?

The end of the tunnel ended in stairs and still no guard. As they climbed the icy steps to the hatch, everyone kept very quiet. Nanook pressed his head against the closed hatch to listen. Heard nothing. He used his shoulders and back to shove, flinging it open quickly and then popping out, ready to attack.

Only to find himself surrounded, hot cocoa guns pointed at his head and a squeaky voice saying, “Halt or we’ll shoot.”