Chapter 3

It didn't take long for Knox to unpack and settle into the apartment he'd been given in the Guardians' barracks. Three two-bedroom apartments shared a common area called a gathering room with comfortable couches and a large flat-screen. The other males in the leopard wing were from his leap—Maverick who was twenty-four and Chase who was twenty-three. They'd both joined up at eighteen the same way that Knox had, excited to be chosen to join the ranks of those who protected the magic of the world from Jack Frost and his evil followers.

Guardians had been around as long as there was a Well, the jobs created to keep it and the magical people safe as they journeyed to the North Pole. Jack Frost and Santa had been battling over control of the Well for a handful of decades, but before that, there were always evil-minded people who wanted to control the magic and the Well, which meant there always needed to be guards.

He'd been honored to be chosen even though he'd only served for two years before returning to his leap and taking over as alpha. He was the youngest alpha in the leap's history, and he loved it. But the time spent up here this month would be a good break too.

Someone knocked on his door.

"It's open."

"Hey," Maverick said as he walked into the apartment along with Chase. "Have you heard how Asher's grandma is doing?"

"Not great," he said. "She's pretty frail. The leap healer doesn't think she'll be around for more than a few weeks at most, likely less. I'm here until Christmas, and then if he's not ready to come back, I'll assign someone from the leap to come for training and take over in the interim."

"What if he doesn't want to come back?" Chase asked, leaning against the closed door.

Knox shrugged. "I'll find someone to replace him permanently. He likes being a Guardian, so I suspect he'll want to get back to it after he's had time to deal with things. But if not, it'll be okay. Worried you'll be stuck with me?"

"Nah," Chase asked with a chuckle. "It's cool to have you here."

"We came to walk with you to security since your visitor badge won't get you anywhere."

Knox glanced at the coffee table where the visitor ID was hanging from a lanyard decorated with holly and Christmas bells. "Cool. I'm ready to hit the ground running."

"We've got a quick orientation for you about the new security system, but otherwise, they're the same protocols as they were when you were here," Chase said.

"Well, it's mostly the same, except Santa called in more elves to work security around the perimeter of Northernmost," Maverick said. "But the Guardians are still the main security for the Well itself."

He followed the two out of his apartment and through the gathering room, where they turned down the hall to make their way to the security station.

"Why are there more elves handling security?" he asked.

"You didn't hear about what Jack Frost did?" Chase asked.

"No, what did he try this time?" The male was a warlock and powerful in his own right, but he was evil, which meant he was a little crazy too. And definitely obsessed with taking over the Well.

They told him about Storm, the polar bear Guardian whose human mate came to Northernmost accidentally and then was lured from the security building by Frost and taken to his lair.

"After she was rescued, Storm took her to her home down in the States to pack her things and meet her parents, and when the portal was opened for them to come back here, Valeth appeared and tossed a bomb through the Entrance."

"Holy shit. Did everyone survive?"

"Yeah," Maverick said. He swiped his keycard to access the security building's elevator to take them from the underground barracks to the surface. When they were inside the elevator, he said, "Storm took the brunt of the blast to protect his mate Seren, and it was touch and go for a while. Frost had put some kind of magic in the bomb that kept him from healing."

"Damn. But he's good now?"

"Yep. Storm is back to work today. They're going to take off after Christmas, so she's working in the offices, I think," Maverick said. "I don't think he's ever tried bombing the Entrance before."

"It's bold and pretty early in the season too." It was only the beginning of the second week of December. Christmas Day was nineteen days away.

"He must be tired of not making any headway," Chase said.

They reached the security office, where all the Guardians were waiting to greet him.

"Nice to see you again," Sebastian, one of the wolves, said, giving him a back-slapping hug. They'd worked together before Knox returned to his leap.

"You too," he said.

"These are the other wolves up here from my pack—Declan and Gabriel." He shook the males' hands, then was introduced to the three polar bears who were also brothers—Storm, Hunter, and Winter.

"Congratulations on your mating," he said to Storm.

"Thanks," the big male said with a grin.

Maverick sat at one of the desks and flipped on the computer, then he turned around and handed a new ID to Knox. "This gets you in everywhere, just like before," he said. "We're on first shift. Does that work for you?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm not picky."

The wolves had third shift and the polar bears second, but everyone was flexible and switched shifts when needed.

The group spent an hour going over the new security protocols, which amounted to no one going anywhere outside of any building in Northernmost alone because no one knew what Frost might do next to go after the Well and Santa.

Hunter handed Knox a utility belt and a walkie, which he strapped on.

"We get called to escort elves from building to building," Hunter said. "Santa is okay with only one of us escorting someone, but he would prefer two. When someone calls for an escort, hop on the channel if you're available, and we'll go from there."

"What about escorting people down to the States or from the States up here?" he asked.

Maverick turned from the computer. "It's still the same process. We get the alert that someone is coming, and we meet them, but like Hunter said, the preference is for two people to meet and escort, and we check out where they are coming from before they come through. The same goes for when someone is going down to the States: two Guardians go along for escort, and we check out the exterior before they come through and ensure no one is hanging around like Valeth or one of Frost's other assholes."

"Got it," Knox said. He turned the walkie to the right channel and hooked it on the belt. "It's our shift, am I at the Well or around the buildings?"

"Well," Maverick said. "We'll switch every hour."

Everyone dispersed, the day sleepers returning to their apartments to rest and the others going about their day. Elves appeared to take their shift at the monitor stations to watch the perimeter of Northernmost.

Knox opened a closet and pulled out heavy boots, a thick coat, and a stocking cap and gloves. As his friends dressed alongside him, he marveled at how little had actually changed in the last decade. He'd been a wide-eyed young male when he'd come to Northernmost at eighteen, excited for the opportunity to spend time with magical people and see a part of the world that most shifters never got to see.

In the end, while the job was pretty cool, it was also quite boring, a lot of walking on patrol and looking for danger but rarely finding anything, and the occasional moments of sheer terror when Frost would attack, and everyone had to think on their feet.

He'd been in a few December battles and gone toe-to-toe with elves turned to the darkest part of dark magic. He hoped that the new protocols allowed the town to stay safe and that Frost would not be successful in getting close to the Well.

Because if he succeeded and Santa died and the Well became dark, then the whole world was in grave danger.

Jack Frost carefully sifted the ancient powder through the smallest sieve, mixing it gently with the ash of a dying star. He'd used a good bit of magic to get the ash, and he was exhausted. He'd planned to feed from the female he'd lured from Northernmost, but she'd been a human. So he needed to trap someone else he could feed from, which meant elves, fairies, warlocks, or witches. He had an arrangement with Grim and never abducted Reapers to siphon their magic to replenish his own. They were neutral anyway, so their magic wasn't quite as nourishing to him as magic from a good source like an elf.

Mainly he liked to take elves and turn them into one of his followers to fuck with his brother, the smug bastard.

It had been a few days since he'd had his right-hand male Valeth send a bomb through the portal into Northernmost to try to take out one of the guardians and damage the portal itself. He wanted a distraction, but it hadn't worked as he thought it would. The Guardian had survived, and the Entrance had been fixed nearly immediately by the elves and his damn brother.

He'd never thrown explosives into Northernmost before, but he wasn't entirely disappointed with the results. There were more elves out on patrol now, which meant he should be able to lure one of them through the magical perimeter he couldn't cross and take their magic. But in the interim, he was going to try something new.

He straightened and lifted the jar with the sifted ash and powder. He had magic that he could use to track anyone, anywhere. But the magic left a mark—a tiny cold spot that looked like frost. It was how he was able to pinpoint where the Guardian and his human mate were in the States and send his male there to wait for them with the explosive. His brother had removed the tracker after the bombing, so Jack had to find a new way to track people.

On the winter solstice, he had to use nearly every ounce of magic he possessed to bring about winter across the world. To do that, he had to be fully replenished ahead of time and also have magical people he could siphon from once he returned. He was at his weakest on the solstice, the same as his brother was the weakest on Christmas Day at dawn.

There was a knock on his door, and he called, "Enter."

His number three male strode in, his black eyes glittering with curiosity at why Jack had called for him, not Valeth. Azure was the only warlock that Jack had ever turned evil. He was a warlock himself and didn't care to turn them evil, he preferred to go after the elves and other good magic users. Warlocks could be good, evil, or neutral, like Grim and his Reapers or Nightmare and his dark Dream Walkers.

"You called for me," Azure said. He stood in front of the desk, arms crossed and feet planted.

"Yes, I have a job for you."

"Me, and not Valeth?" he arched a dark brow.

Mentally, Jack rolled his eyes. The two constantly fought and bickered over which one should be above the other. They didn't like each other, which Jack didn't care about, but he didn't want them getting distracted by their feud.

"He just did a job for me, and my brother is watching for him. I'm going to magically cloak you so you'll be invisible, and you're going to throw this powder on the portal."

He screwed the lid on the powder and handed it over. Azure looked at it. "What's in it?"

"Something that cost me a lot of magic."

He hummed. "How close do I have to get?"

"Close enough to throw it without crossing the perimeter and setting off the alarm. It's too fine to be detected by the alarms, but you can't cross. You'll have to throw it hard by the handful. Do not get caught, I won't come to your aid."

Azure tucked the jar into his pocket. "I won't fail."

"See that you don't. Check in with Thale to find out the timing schedule for the Guardians so you can be there between shifts, I'd suggest between third shift and first shift."

"Will do."

The male spun on his heels and marched away. Frost moved to the table that had a 3D model of Northernmost and the Well. He touched the Well and smiled to himself.

He would take control of the Well this Christmas, come hell or high water. It was high time the rightful guardian of the Earth's magic was in control.

"Your days are numbered, brother."