Chapter 7
Rhys glanced at the clock, aware that dawn was fast approaching. He knew he couldn’t simply keep her in his room until it was too late for her to leave NPC. It was imperative that they both speak with SC about her situation. He had no doubt that SC would be happy for them, as would Mrs. C, since she’d orchestrated their meeting in the first place, but there were rules in NPC for a reason, and even the lead reindeer couldn’t just do whatever he pleased.
Stroking his hand through her hair, he kissed the top of her head and decided she could rest a little while. He loved how she felt on top of him, totally relaxed and smelling of their combined arousal. Overhead, the orb was still spinning, but at a slower rate. He had no idea how long it would last, but he suspected it would fade at dawn and disappear as magically as it had appeared.
Humming, he wondered what to do about the situation with Merri and her family. It had been easier with Arian and his human mate, Charli, because Arian had left NPC and moved into her home in the human world. Months later Charli decided she wanted to move to NPC because she preferred for their children to be raised with their own kind in the safety of the North Pole. Charli had one sister, but the rest of her family was gone. Charli and her sister saw each other only on Christmas Eve, which was what Merri would be doing with her parents from now on. He’d been willing to walk away from NPC for her, even though he felt he would have difficulty adjusting to the human world. But Merri’s happiness was everything to him now.
Too keyed up to sleep, he let her rest for a half hour, watching as the minute hand swung around the clock.
“Sugarplum?” he murmured, hugging her firmly and rubbing her back. “It’s four a.m.”
She made a soft, almost growling sound and snuggled against him. “No.”
He snorted. “No? I wasn’t aware that was an option.”
“Sleepy.”
“I know, but NPC is going to close in two hours, and I want you to meet SC.”
She stiffened and raised her head slowly, blinking at him a few times as if clearing her vision. “You want me to meet Santa?”
“He’s the boss. It wouldn’t be right if I just assumed things were fine instead of speaking to him personally. Plus, my friends were concerned earlier, and I want them to know that it all worked out perfectly.”
“I’m not sure if I’d call the start of the evening perfect, but it sure did end up that way.”
“It certainly did.”
She trailed her fingers along his bicep and asked, “Is this tattoo special?”
The tattoo on his right arm was one that all quads received when they turned eighteen. It was a solid black design with complicated swirls and arcs. “Only the quads have it. The design was chosen by the original Dasher, who found the pattern made of snowflakes on his window one Christmas Eve morning. He thought it would be a good idea for all of the quads to have a matching tattoo and Santa agreed.”
“It’s neat,” she said, moving her fingertip so lightly on his skin he barely felt her touch.
“You never wanted a tattoo?”
“I guess I never found something that I liked well enough to put it on my skin forever. But now if I were to pick one, I think I’d get a reindeer.”
He grinned. “Or a sugarplum?”
She chuckled. “Do we really have to leave right now? You’re very warm.”
She wiggled on him slightly, and his body sprang to life. Groaning, he lifted his head and kissed her. “Yes, we do. But at the earliest possible moment, we’ll be right back here, warming each other up.”
“Now that sounds like a plan.”
“You can borrow my clothes again, and after we meet with everyone, I’m sure that we’ll be able to find you some clothes that fit.”
She slid off him and sat up, stretching with a squeak.
“Will Santa be mad?”
“Why would he be mad?”
She shrugged. “We didn’t go talk to him right away.”
“I’m sure that Mrs. C explained everything. After all, she did put her own tracker on you so that you’d be taken instead of her.”
He climbed off the bed, ignoring his beasts’ loud protests that they stay in bed with their mate, and handed Merri the clothes she’d been wearing.
“Why does she have a tracker anyway? Does she disappear a lot?”
“It’s a security measure. All residents of NPC have a tracker in their outerwear. Weather can take a turn very swiftly up here, and whiteouts aren’t uncommon. Even for shifters who spend a lot of time exploring the land, it can be easy to get disoriented.”
They dressed and he grabbed their coats, holding his breath as he unlocked the door. He was certain that his friends would be outside in the hall, but a glance either direction showed it was empty.
“Wait, I need to pee,” she said, her cheeks turning pink with blush.
“Right, sorry. I’m a little distracted.”
“Did a sexy reindeer interrupt your nap?” she asked, her brows lifting.
“No, but my beasts are banging around in my head, wanting to take you back into the bedroom and never come out.”
She hummed. “Sounds good, but I still need to pee.”
He laughed and shook his head, turning toward the shared bathroom. He hung up their coats on a hook while she used the facilities, and then he swiped toothpaste that someone had left on the counter and used his finger to brush his teeth.
She washed her hands and then scrubbed her teeth. “Do you guys make everything that you use or do you order things?”
“Most things are made here. We have tailors, soap makers, cooks, bakers, furniture makers, gardeners…pretty much any item that you might want could be made here. It’s not as if we could order something on a website and have it shipped up here.”
“I suppose not.” She sighed and frowned.
“What’s the matter?”
“What’s going to happen back at home? In two hours, the…portal – or whatever it is – to my world is going to be shut for a year. I won’t be able to go to my apartment to get my clothes, quit my job, or say goodbye to my parents or my friends in person. It will be like I dropped off the face of the earth.”
Cupping her face, he kissed her. “We can go right now. There’s time.”
“No, there’s not! I can’t pack for the rest of my life in two hours! I don’t think I could even pack enough if I had two weeks to get things together.”
He helped her put on his oversized coat and then grabbed his, wrapping his hand around her wrist and heading for the door. “I’ve got friends who can help. Trust me, sugarplum.”
She jogged to keep up with him as they moved through the barracks. They hit the door and were outside in the frigid temperatures within minutes, heading straight for SC’s house. His home was on the other side of the toy factory. The Clauses lived in a white cottage with candles glowing in the windows and potted pine trees on the front porch decorated with strings of cranberries and popcorn. The front door swung open as they reached the first step, and SC filled the doorway.
Merri gasped in shock, and Rhys wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “We came to talk.”
SC cleared his throat. “I see. You thought you’d wait a few hours before you did so?”
Rhys opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it. SC already knew everything; that much was clear. Mrs. C would have told him about giving Merri the tracker, and he would have known that Rhys kept his soulmate to himself.
“Holy crap,” Merri said, her voice high as she giggled. “You’re freaking Santa!”
SC’s eyes twinkled as he chuckled. “That I am, Merri.”
“Oh, you know my name?”
He touched his temple. “I know everything. I’m Santa.”
Rhys rolled his eyes. “May we come inside? Merri’s not used to the cold.”
“Of course,” he said, stepping aside and gesturing to the interior.
It didn’t surprise Rhys that the entire sleigh team was there, and also Arian’s fated mate, Charli, and their daughter, Hope, along with Rhys’s parents. Mrs. C walked out of the kitchen with a tray of steaming mugs and a large bowl of mini marshmallows, which she set on the coffee table in front of the couch. She straightened and said, “Hello, Merri. I told you that everything happens for a reason, didn’t I?”
Rhys looked at Merri. “She did?”
“Uh, yeah, right before the security goons shoved me into an alley and sent me hurtling through space.”
Rhys’s parents joined them, and he said, “Mom, Dad, this is Merri Blevins, my fated mate. Merri, these are my parents, Flora and Dare.”
His mom hugged Merri tightly and said, “Welcome to the family.”
His dad kissed her cheek. “I think finding a fated mate on Christmas Eve is a special sort of magic. Congratulations to you both.”
Rhys hugged both his parents and then said, “Mom, I took Merri into the toy factory and she saw a bear like you used to make and said she had one when she was a child.”
“Oh! Maybe it was one that I made. That is so sweet.”
“I loved it so much. It was my favorite. Unfortunately, when I moved out of the house, my parents packed up my things and put them in the basement. Then there was a flood, and it was ruined. I felt so bad.”
Flora winked. “I’ll make you another one.”
Merri looked up at Rhys with a big smile on her face, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. He kissed her, so happy to have his family’s acceptance.
His parents stepped to the side as the sleigh team stood as a group and moved toward them in a line, their gazes intense. They stopped a few feet away, and all seven of them dropped to one knee and pressed their fists over their hearts.
“As the fated mate of the lead reindeer, we welcome you, Merri Blevins, to NPC. We vow to protect you and your young as we would protect our own,” Declan said.
Humbled, Rhys swallowed hard and glanced at SC and Mrs. C, seeing their approval evident in their broad smiles.
“Thank you,” Merri said. “It’s an honor to be here.”
The males stood as one, and each member introduced himself to Merri, shaking her hand briefly and then clapping Rhys on the shoulder.
Charli, with Hope in her arms, came last, offering a one-armed hug of welcome. “It will be so nice not to be the only human around here!”
SC clapped his hands together. “I think you have something you want to ask?”
Rhys nodded. “Merri needs to make arrangements for her move before dawn. We could use some help.”
“As if you have to ask,” Sullivan said.
SC said, “Be mindful of the time. I don’t want you all being stuck in the human world for the next year.”
Rhys looked at his watch. They were down to ninety-seven minutes. It would be enough. It had to be.
Rhys, Merri, and the team left the warmth of the house, hustled out into the cold, and gathered in a circle. Merri was at his side, sandwiched between him and Declan.
“You’re leading us, Merri,” Rhys said. “Think of your apartment, and we’ll be there in a heartbeat.”
She took in a shaky breath and then said, “Okay.”
Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she gripped his hand. Rhys saw her apartment in his mind as clearly as if he were inside it. She let out a squeak of alarm and gripped his hand tighter as the magic took over and swept them away. Between one breath and the next they were inside an apartment. Merri wobbled and Rhys pulled her against him so she didn’t fall.
“You okay, sugarplum?”
She blinked slightly unfocused eyes at him. “Does that ever get easier?”
“You’ll get used to it,” he promised.
She straightened and said, “How much can I bring?”
He glanced at the team. “Four bags at the most.”
“Only cold stuff, right? No bikinis.”
He winked. “There’s a hot spring.”
“Oh,” she said with a sultry tone.
“None of that,” Jack said. “There’s time for playing after.”
She disappeared into her room, and Rhys turned to face his friends. These were the six males he would walk through fire for. They were his extended family, each as precious to him as a true brother.
“Thank you.”
“When we find our fated mates, you’ll return the favor, I’m sure,” Roi said.
“You bet.”
“What’s she going to tell her family and friends about why she’s leaving?” Mire asked, picking up on a framed photo from an end table.
“Her parents are on a cruise right now, so she can only leave them a message. She’s going to tell them that she was offered a job opportunity in Canada through her company, and that they want her to start right away. For her job, she’s going to tell them that there’s been a family emergency, and she won’t be back to work.”
Sullivan turned from where he was communicating through his wristwatch with NPC. “The computer team’s closing up her utility accounts as we speak, and when she’s ready, they’ll close her bank accounts. Her cell number will be patched into our network so it will still appear that it’s working.”
“Great, thanks.”
“I’m ready,” Merri called.
Rhys led the way to her bedroom and found her dressed in tight jeans and a thick sweater, standing in front of her bed with open bags on the comforter.
“We’ll pack, so you go make your calls,” he said, pulling her gently from the room.
“Wait, I’m not sure I want your friends packing my undies,” she said, protesting as he tugged her into the hallway.
“I wasn’t planning to pack them anyway,” he said, kissing her swiftly.
“I’m serious, Rhys. If I get up to NPC and I have no undies, I’m going to be really ticked.”
“I’ll be good,” he said with a wink.
“I’m double-checking the bags,” she muttered under her breath as she turned to walk into the kitchen.
“She’s a sweetheart,” Vaughn said, pulling sweaters from hangers in the closet and handing them to Jack, who was placing them in a suitcase.
“I can’t believe how crazy this night was,” Rhys said, moving to the dresser and pulling open the top drawer. Dropping a handful of socks into a bag, he moved on to the second drawer and found undergarments. He paused, tempted to forget them but then opted not to piss her off when they’d only been together for less than a day.
“Chicken,” Roi said.
“Not chicken. Smart,” Arian said, returning from the bathroom with a half-filled bag of bath products. “Pissing off a mate is a sure way to make your life really miserable.”
Rhys said. “I want her to be happy, even if I really, really like the idea of her being naked under her clothes all the time.”
The males all groaned, and he laughed, emptying the entire drawer into her bag. By the time she returned from making her calls, the closet was empty of all the winter clothes, and the drawers were empty as well.
She sniffled, and he moved to her quickly, wrapping his arms around her. “Are you okay?”
“Even though I was only leaving voicemails, it just made me sad to say goodbye to my boss and friends.”
“I’m sorry you had to make that choice.”
She blinked tear-filled eyes at him. “I wanted to make the right choice, and that’s you. I know that being with you is what I want for the rest of my life. It’s not every day a human finds her fated mate.”
“Or a reindeer,” he said with a smile.
“I’m ready to go home, Rhys.”
He kissed her and brushed the tears from her cheeks.
“Don’t you want to check the bags?” Declan asked.
She laughed. “I trust you.”
Rhys grinned. “It’s because I’m totally trustworthy.”
“And you’re afraid to make her mad,” Sullivan said.
“See? Smart,” Arian said.
They walked into the family room, and she opened the front door and placed a key and an envelope under the mat. Then she locked the door. After securing her family photos in one of the bags, along with her laptop, she bundled up in her warmest coat and joined them.
“All set?” he asked, glancing at his watch and seeing they had ten minutes to spare.
“Yep. I left a message with my landlord and put the key and a check to cover the last month’s rent under the mat. I’m on a month-to-month lease, so it’s not an issue. The place came furnished anyway. My car is up in New York, but it’s paid off, so I suspect it will just get towed to an impound lot and eventually sold, which is no problem since I don’t plan to have use for one again anyway. I just don’t have my cell phone, though. I dropped it when I was grabbed.”
“We’ve got a tech team who will handle that. Plus, you can Skype with your parents whenever you want.”
“And come to visit them on Christmas Eve?”
“Exactly.”
“I’m ready then. For the first day of the rest of our lives.”
They joined the circle, and within moments they were heading straight for NPC and their home. He couldn’t believe that what had started out as an ordinary Christmas Eve had turned out to be so life changing. If Merri hadn’t gotten stuck with a Mrs. Claus costume and hadn’t been in New York City at the same time as Mrs. C., then Rhys would never have met her. He couldn’t fathom his life without her in it. They’d only been together for a short while, but already she was the center of his world. He wanted to be the best mate to her, and, eventually, to be the best father he could be.
When they landed outside of the barracks, his friends helped them carry in her bags. Rhys and Merri thanked each one of them for their help, and then he shut the door and turned toward his mate with a soft growl.
“Got something on your mind, sexy?” she asked, shrugging out of her coat.
“You. Naked.”
“I like the way you think.”
Lifting her into his arms, he kissed her slowly, wanting to take his time and get to know everything about her body. He wanted to map her body with his fingers and tongue until he knew every inch of her.
“It’s dawn,” she said.
He glanced over his shoulder at the clock and saw it was six a.m. “You’re definitely stuck with me.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, with anyone else.”
“Me neither.”