“Drink up,” said Santana. “It’ll calm your nerves.”

“Why?” asked Pandora, holding up her mug of cocoa. “Is this spiked?”

“No, but it’s hot chocolate, which has sugar and caffeine,” said Santana. “You’re going to need that energy tonight. That’s why there’s a thermos full of the stuff in your SUV. It’s magic, like the bag. It’ll automatically refill as you need more.”

“Yeah…well, can we make it fill up with some magical energy?” asked Pandora. “I tried riding my sleigh earlier today. Without the power of your reindeer, I can’t fly it, and I can’t borrow the reindeer from you. You have your own deliveries to do.”

“Did you ask Boreas about the penguins?” asked Santana. “They’re shifters. I’ve got eight of them pulling my sleigh.”

“All the other ice elementals are all hard at work, preparing the gifts,” said Pandora. “Every last person counts. After all, Befana and her girl gang are going to be delivering books too. I’ll just have to transport back to The North Pole to recharge the sleigh over and over. I’ll be slow, but, I’ll help with deliveries.”

“Forget the penguins,” said Santana. “After all, they can’t really hold that much magical energy on their own. They’re too wee! That’s why they need the powers of the reindeer.”

“Okay, well, I need something to help pull my sleigh,” said Pandora. “How about the Yuletide Lads? They can act as my magical batteries.”

“You need shifters,” said Santana. “The Yuletide Lads…they’re a rowdy bunch, hard to control. You need shifters trained for this job.”

Just as Santana finished his sentence, a booming voice rang out.

“Did somebody order some shifters?” asked Krampus. He opened the door to Santana’s office and in streamed eight familiar faces.

Sean Jackson. Bad boy pro athlete, the professional runner had learned to stop running from Fate and finally found his fated mate, Joy McLedon, back in 2007. He’d been the first Clan Marron bad boy in his generation to get sent to The Wreath. He’d been inhabited by the spirit of Dasher, a reindeer that liked to run just as much as Sean. Dasher taught Sean that sometimes, he had to stop running from things and start running toward the person he’d fallen for.

Ryan Rex. The Bear Buns stripper had fallen for his fated mate, Angelica Smith, in 2008. Ryan had been paired with Dancer, one of Santana’s most mischievous reindeer.

Ethan McLean. The billionaire bad boy had never valued love, until he met Carol Carter, his fated mate, in 2009. The reindeer Prancer had taught Ethan that he had to use his heart, not his wallet, to win his fated mate.

Cain Pellichero. A romance novel model, notorious bad boy, and playboy, he’d come to The Wreath in 2010. That’s how he’d met his mate, Candy Cassis. Together, they were Candy and Cain, a sweet and fated pair, and it was all thanks to Vixen, the reindeer spirit that had encouraged Cain to try a sweeter approach to win his mate — sparing the ‘cane,’ as it were.

Connor Brian. The pilot knew how to talk to air traffic controllers, but he didn’t exactly know how to talk to his curvy mate Noel, which is why both assumed the other was in a harem — when in reality, they each had seven older siblings, who of course, paired up. His seven sisters and her seven brothers found love on The Wreath too, making 2011 a very special year.

Rowan Hooligan. A matchmaker, he didn’t find a match of his own until 2012, when he met his mate, Holly, a curvy baker that taught him that if you follow your heart, true love can be more than just a fairy tale. The pair had been inseparable since.

Kevin Murphy. Forest ranger. He’d gotten off of The Naughty List when he met his mate, Stella Schumacher on December 1st, 2013, but he didn’t make that meeting his last. He did whatever he could to keep getting put back on The Naughty List so he could get sent back to The Wreath so he could protect her from the evil intentions of Nivek — the man that the baker, a secret heiress, was arranged to marry.

Eamonn Costello. A football player, he’d broken the tradition of lumberjacks falling for bakers when he fell for Hope Bingley — a professor of Regency literature — when they both ended up on The Wreath together. During the town’s Regency Christmas celebrations, he showed Hope that some things — like love — transcended time, in 2014.

“Well, speak of the Devil, and he shall come,” said Santana, shaking his head. “Where’d you wrangle up this lot? And how?”

“Let’s just say there’s been a method to my madness,” said Krampus slyly.

“Or…let’s say he gave each of us a magical talking pickle ornament after The Ride,” said Sean, folding his arms.

“And, he decided to use it as a giant PA system to get our attention,” said Connor.

“And, when he told us that The North Pole was in a ‘pickle’…” started Eamonn.

“Well, we just knew we had to help,” finished Rowan.

“Pickle ornaments? I don’t remember authorizing that,” said Santana, furrowing his brow.

“Yeah, well, I did — order submitted and approved by me, Krampus,” said Krampus. “You need eight shifters that can pull a sleigh. Well, these eight have done it before, and they can do it again.”

“Do we just go touch the globes over there or what?” asked Kevin, pointing his thumb at the snow globes laid out on Santana’s mantle.

“No, for two reasons,” said Santana. “Number one — the reindeer are pulling my sleigh this year, wielded by ice elementals. Number two — those aren’t the reindeer snow globes. Those are just regular snow globes, and by ‘regular,’ I mean that they’re priceless antiques and if you drop one, you’ll be on The Naughty List for life.”

Cain put down the snow globe he’d picked up and walked back to the crowd awkwardly.

“Now, the eight of you are here to pull Pandora’s sleigh,” said Santana. “Long story short — there’s a bunch of special deliveries to make this year, and while I’m handling the regular deliveries, she’ll be helping to handle these…special deliveries.”

“Drone strikes?” asked Connor.

“Babies?” asked Rowan.

“No, books and chocolates,” said Pandora. “It’s to save the ice elementals. Their magic, it’s, well, it’s getting weak, because people don’t believe in them. We’re putting some books out there, into the world, romance novels, and hopefully, well, the readers will really believe in Christmas magic, in true love, and in all kinds of magic — like ice magic.”

“And why are you doing this?” asked Cain, arms folded.

“Because her boyfriend’s an ice elemental!” hissed Ryan.

“Is that icy bad boy her boyfriend?” asked Kevin. “I thought they were just friends.”

“Yeah, he’s my boyfriend,” said Pandora, blushing. “And…ice magic is what keeps him alive. It’s a long story. He’s a construct — like a golem or a robot, he’s alive, but only kept alive by magic, by ice magic. If the ice magic fades…well, then he’s gone, for good.”

“So we have to do a great job,” said Sean. “Bad boys of Nuthusk — you ready for one last Ride?”

“One Hell of a ride,” agreed Ryan. All the reformed bad boys put their hands in a circle. They didn’t do a cheer. They looked at Pandora.

“Well?” asked Cain.

“You too,” said Connor.

Pandora put her hand in the center.

“Operation Save Christmas — “ started Sean.

“Well, we’re not really saving Christmas,” said Santana.

“Okay, Operation Save Jack Frost is a go on three,” said Sean. “One…two…three!”

Everyone yelled the numbers out loud and put their hands in the air on three.

“Alright, now, let’s get the eight of you outfitted,” said Krampus.

“You mean ‘the nine of us,’ right?” asked Santana.

“What do you mean?” asked Krampus.

“Who do you think will be leading the group?” asked Santana with a grin. “As your boss…I order you to lead Pandora’s pack of werebears.”

“I don’t remember authorizing this,” said Krampus.

“Oh, you didn’t,” said Santana. “The order was submitted and approved by me — Santa Claus.”

“And by us!” said a voice.

Everyone turned. Avery was standing in the entrance with Befana and Ginny…but there were eight other women with them, all outfitted in bright red and green catsuits – plus size, of course. They were holding brooms in coordinating colors and in the very front of the group was none other than Sean’s wife, Joy.

“Joy?” asked Pandora. “Is that you?”

“It’s all of us,” said Joy, motioning around.

“Krampus used his pickle – typical man – but I used something more civilized,” said Avery. “I have everyone’s number. I called them up, and they agreed to help with The Ride. They’ll be doing deliveries with us.”

“That’s right,” Angelica.

“You think we’d let the boys have all the fun?” asked Carol.

“We’re ready to break some rules – even if it gets us on The Naughty List,” said Candy.

“Where are the kids?” asked Connor.

“With the Christmas elves,” said Befana.

“Doing what?” asked Santana.

“Helping,” said Avery.

“Helping what?” asked Santana.

“Just…helping,” said Befana. “You know – packaging, stuff like that.”

“I guess ‘tis the season for child labor!” cackled Krampus.

“Come on – every kid wants to spend Christmas at The North Pole,” said Noel.

“Plus, they all know each other from all the Nuthusk Thanksgivings,” said Holly.

“To be fair, if that’s supposed to make me wish I had kids already…” started Hope. “I’ve seen how those little monsters act.”

“You know where they get it from,” said Stella.

“Our bad boys?” asked Hope.

“From us,” said Joy. “So. The family’s all here. We’re all helping save the ice elementals, Pandora – because whether or not we’ve said it before, we’re all family here. Not just us ladies who found a new home in Nuthusk, but you, and your dad, and Avery, and of course, Krampus, and that means Jack and Boreas are part of the family too. Family helps family.”

“That’s just how we do it in Nuthusk,” agreed Sean. “This might be different than needing someone to coach track and field at the middle school, but, well, in our time at The Wreath, we learned about how to do things differently, didn’t we?”

“Then what are we all waiting for?” asked Pandora. “We’ve got a Ride to ride.”