Chapter 4

The following day, Ivy walked into Santa's office to drop off the completed Naughty List.

"A few changes," she said as she set the large scroll next to his empty mug of cocoa. "Would you like some more cocoa?"

He looked up from the Nice List that one of the other elves had completed. "More kids or less?"

"A bit of both," she said. She hated to add children to the Naughty List, but it happened. It filled her with joy when a child turned things around before Christmas, and she could remove their name. Santa always looked over the lists throughout the month of December, with a final once-over on Christmas Eve before he got on the sleigh. There would be changes again, she was sure, and she always kept her fingers crossed that there would be fewer children on the Naughty List and more on the Nice List.

He narrowed his gaze at her. "You didn't go to the Well."

She fidgeted under his gaze. "No."

He put down the list and leaned back in the chair, which creaked under his weight. He was a big male, broad shouldered with a barrel chest and a trim waist. He towered over her petite five-foot-three by a lot, but while he was the most powerful warlock on the side of good magic in the world, he never really intimidated her. At his core, he was kind and gracious and a good boss.

Except when she did dumb things like neglect herself.

She glanced at the grandfather clock against the wall. It was nearly dinnertime, so she'd gone another entire day without replenishing her magic.

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

He arched a white brow.

"Okay," she said to his unasked question. "It makes me nervous. My magic is always replenished in December, and it's the most dangerous time of year." How many elves had been lured away by Frost's magic and turned evil? It was bad enough that her dad and brother were part of the security team and dealing with that danger every day, let alone her skipping out of the safety of the office and walking to the Well, even with a Guardian escort.

He didn't say anything to her, but instead picked up the phone from his desk, moved his thumb around on the screen, then lifted it to his ear.

"Winter, I need an escort for Ivy from my office to the Well to replenish her magic. Yes, now, please. And I want more than one Guardian to escort her to ensure her safety." He listened for a moment as he stared at her while she continued to fidget like a wayward child, and then he said, "Thank you." He put his phone down and folded his hands on the desk. "They'll be here in a few minutes. Once you've replenished your magic, take the rest of the night off and enjoy yourself."

This time of year, she normally worked into the evening because there was always so much to do to get ready for their biggest night.

She opened her mouth to protest, but he put his hand up, and she closed her mouth with a click. He wasn't going to budge.

"Okay. Thank you."

He eased back in the chair and said, "Ivy, you're the best assistant I've ever had, and I love your dedication to the work we do. But you can't neglect your health for the job, and you shouldn't let fear keep you from taking care of your magic."

"I know."

He chuckled. "Go on, then, and have a nice night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Are you sure I can't get you a refill on your cocoa?"

He grunted. "Stop stalling and go."

"Fine." She turned and walked out of the office, then called over her shoulder, "Thank you."

He grunted in response, using his magic to shut the door.

She grabbed her coat and said goodnight to the elves who were going to be working late and headed to the door leading out into the hall.

She stepped out into the hall and put on her heavy coat. The bright red wool was soft and thick and lined with black satin. As she fastened the big black buttons, she looked down at her shoes and realized she was wearing flats and not boots. Hopefully it hadn't snowed, otherwise she was going to have some frosty toes by the time her magic replenished.

Something within her stirred.

It was the strangest feeling, like settling into an almost-too-hot bath or drinking a cup of tea and snuggling under a blanket.

Warm and safe, and blissfully content.

She lifted her head and saw three males walking toward her.

She recognized two of them: Chase and Maverick, snow leopard Guardians.

But she didn't recognize the third male.

And jingle bells, what a male he was.

Tall and thick with muscles, the navy blue uniform shirt gripped his muscles like it was one good flex away from shredding seam to seam. She could see a tattoo on his forearm since he'd rolled the long sleeves up to his elbows.

Holy tinsel, was there anything hotter than a guy who rolled the sleeves of a shirt up like that?

She didn't think so.

His hair was the color of dark chocolate, and she was pretty dang sure his eyes were a similar color, all warm brown and rimmed with thick lashes.

She was aware she was staring.

But she couldn't stop herself.

He had the most kissable lips she'd ever seen in her life.

The male locked his gaze with hers, and everything within her snapped to attention.

The warmth intensified, her body heating and tingling, her heart pounding.

He was her truemate.

But who the sleighbells was he?

"Thanks for staying late," Winter said as he slid behind the desk in the security office. "I overslept and it threw off my whole damn day."

"No worries," Knox said.

He and the other snow leopards had spent the shift outside for the most part, patrolling from the Well to the Entrance and around every building in Northernmost. A few witches had come through to use the Well earlier in the day. They'd been from Florida, and it had been nice to see some sunshine as they'd checked out the area before letting them through.

He didn't mind the snow and cold, though, especially when he was in his shift. His leopard was a sucker for fresh snow.

The phone on the desk rang and it was Santa's direct line.

"Hi, Santa," Winter said as he answered.

"Hey, want to grab dinner in the cafeteria?" Chase asked as he put his coat on.

"Sure," Knox said.

"You got it, I'll send Guardians right over." He set the phone on the cradle and spun in his chair. "You guys have a few minutes to run Santa's assistant to the Well to replenish her magic?"

"Yeah, sure," Chase said.

"Santa wants more than one escort of course, so why don't all three of you go?" Winter asked.

"That's fine," Knox said. "We'll escort her to the Well and then head to dinner."

"Thanks, guys. See you tomorrow." Winter spun in the desk chair and got to work reviewing the security tapes from the previous day's recordings. His brothers—Storm and Hunter—were nearby, dressing for the cold weather to begin their rounds.

Knox, Maverick, and Chase walked out of the security office and headed toward the offices where Santa and his assistants worked to prepare for Christmas Eve and the toy delivery. He hadn't been to the office since he'd arrived, but he'd meant to drop in and say hello to Santa since he hadn't seen him in a decade.

Everything still looked the same, though, down to the red carpet in the halls and the twinkling lights that were hung up to decorate the long stretch of hall between security and Santa's offices.

His snow leopard paced in his mind the closer they got to the offices. Sweat broke out on his brow and his fingertips tingled where his claws wanted to break free.

"You okay?" Chase asked, glancing at him.

"Yeah, I feel weird all of a sudden."

"Weird, how?"

A door creaked as it opened ahead of them, and a petite female stepped into the hall, swinging a red coat around her shoulders and slipping her arms into it. The motion of the coat moving sent a wave of her scent to him, and he nearly fell to his knees as a dawning awareness filled him.

He was in the presence of his truemate.

And she was fucking gorgeous.