Chapter 3
Sullivan looked at himself in the mirror hanging over the dresser in his room. It was nearly dawn, and he had to be outside of the barracks in less than ten minutes so he, Declan, and Mire could check the woods surrounding the cabin. It wasn’t that they thought there would be anything bad in the woods, but a large group was following thirty minutes later, and it wouldn’t do to have a human wandering around in the woods when they arrived. Although supernatural occurrences went mostly unseen by humans, there were people who were more sensitive to the supernatural and might see them. It was best not to take chances.
After adjusting his tie, he slipped on his suit jacket and tugged down his cuffs. There was a knock at the door, and he opened it.
“Ready?” Declan asked.
“Yep.”
Sullivan shut his bedroom door and walked down the hall with Declan. All the unmated males lived in a large dormitory that they referred to as the barracks. The sleigh team lived on one floor and shared a bathroom. Now there were only six of them who were unmated. Arian and Rhys both had private cabins in NPC.
Mire was waiting for them at a door that led outside. “Two minutes,” he said, glancing at his watch.
Sullivan yawned.
“Tired, man?” Declan asked.
“I didn’t sleep well last night. I kept feeling like I needed to be somewhere, and my beasts were going crazy in my head.”
“That’s weird,” Mire said.
“I always feel a little keyed up the night before the Christmas Eve run,” Declan said.
Sullivan could recall many years where he would have said the same thing; sometimes he’d even taken a run in his shift to let out some nervous energy, but he just didn’t feel as though this situation was the same.
Mire’s watch beeped, and the three stepped out into the frigid arctic air. The magic of NPC was only opened for an all-too-brief twenty-four hours. Once dawn on Christmas Day had passed, no one could leave or return to NPC except Santa, who was the only one whose magic was strong enough to bring him home at any time.
The three males pressed their shoulders together as they stood in a tight circle, and they thought about the cabin in the woods. In a heartbeat – as brief as a flash of light – they were hurtling through space, leaving the North Pole and landing in the front yard of Charli’s home. All supernatural creatures in NPC had the ability to teleport, but only SC and Mrs. C could do it alone; everyone else needed to travel in groups of three or more.
“Why did Charli keep this place?” Mire asked.
“She and Arian come here on Christmas Eve because it’s convenient for her sister to visit. They said they moved to Canada, and they didn’t want to have to buy a place up there for her to visit,” Declan said.
“It must be hard for the humans to only be able to see their loved ones once a year, and only for a day,” Sullivan said.
“At least Charli only has her sister, Kerri. Merri has to keep the secret from both her parents,” Declan said.
A strange feeling passed over Sullivan. He looked toward the cabin, where a glow flickered from inside.
“Is someone here?” he asked, dropping his voice low.
“That’s weird. Charli said that her sister wouldn’t be here until about seven this morning, and Merri’s parents were coming after that,” Declan said.
Declan headed to the cabin, walking swiftly but silently. An overwhelming urge to shift came over Sullivan. He pulled off his suit jacket and handed it to Mire.
“What the ever-loving stars are you doing?” Mire asked.
“Shifting. There’s something in the woods, I think.”
His brows lifted. “Danger? I don’t sense anything.”
Removing his dress shirt, Sullivan handed it to Mire and then undid his trousers. “I don’t know. I just feel like I need to go into the woods.”
“Naked?”
“In my shift.”
Mire’s gaze darted around the area. The sun barely rose over the horizon, leaving most of the woods in darkness.
Declan joined them. “If there’s someone in the house, they’re in a back room. It’s all lit up but empty in the family room. Why are you naked?”
“I’m going to shift and check out the woods,” Sullivan said.
Before they could ask any other questions, he reached for his polar bear and changed. One moment he stood on two legs, and the next, his big white paws were curling into the snow as he shook out his body.
“Don’t be long,” Mire said, glancing at his watch. “The sister will be here in about forty-five minutes, and we don’t need SC having to erase memories because someone sees your furry ass.”
Chuffing a sound of agreement, Sullivan butted his head into his friends’ sides and then hurried into the woods. Dense woods surrounded the cabin, and the scents of cold earth and small animals filled his nose. Moving a few yards into the woods, he closed his eyes and lifted his snout, inhaling and sorting through the various odors. He couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, and he wasn’t sure what had made him feel like he needed to shift in the first place. He hadn’t been overcome by an urge to shift since he’d first learned how to shift as a teenager and had to work to stay in control when he was emotional.
A light breeze blew, rustling the high, icy branches and making them clink together. Icicles broke off and fell to the hard-packed snow, shattering on impact. A sweet scent hit his senses, and everything within him quieted. Tilting his head, he opened his eyes and inhaled again. The scent was gone, and then it was back as he turned and faced the cabin. Overcome with the desire to find out the source of the scent, he lumbered as quickly as he could back to the yard. His friends were staring at him in confusion, but he ignored them, following the scent around the cabin and into a different section of the woods. The scent was sweet and spicy like the chocolate and peppermint candy canes his grandma made to put in kids’ stockings. They were his favorite treat. And now, whatever scented of chocolate and mint was going to be his new favorite treat.
He knocked into trees in his haste, shaking loose snow and ice, and zeroed in on the scent. The sun was rising, and he knew he should be back at the cabin, shifting and dressing before any humans saw him, but he was entirely overcome with the need to find the source of the scent.
He rushed past a huge tree, his claws scrabbling on the hard ground as he turned and stopped, finding himself staring at a gorgeous woman with her arms full of pine boughs.
Her eyes widened, and she made an alarmed, squeaking sound, as if the air had been pushed out of her lungs through a whistle. The boughs and a cutting tool slipped to the ground as her whole body shook with fear.
He inhaled and found her to be the source of the enticing scent, all hot cocoa and peppermint. Moving toward her, she squeaked again, her skin paling in fear, and he remembered he was still in his polar bear form. Embarrassed that he’d made such a mistake and frightened her, he shifted back to his human form. Standing straight as he returned to his human form, he felt a connection snap between them, and his heart clenched.
She was his fated mate.
And then she promptly passed out.
He lifted her from the cold ground, cursing at himself for causing her distress, and he hurried to the cabin. The ice and snow on the ground bit into his bare feet, but because he was an arctic shifter, he wasn’t bothered by the cold as much as a human would be. His candy cane-scented mate was human, though. Her dark hair accentuated her pallor. She looked as though all the blood had been leeched from her skin, and her heart beat rapidly even though she was unconscious.
“What the hell?” Mire asked as he opened the back door of the cabin when Sullivan approached.
Sullivan stopped, his grip tightening on the female, and snarled. “Mine.”
Declan joined Mire, giving Sullivan a raised brow. “What? Did you just say ‘mine’?”
Sullivan’s fangs lengthened, and he gnashed his teeth, glancing over his shoulder to the woods. He wanted to take her back into the woods and away from the unmated males until he was able to mate and mark her properly. Shaking his head, aware that he was being unreasonable, he gritted his teeth together and said the only word that was in the forefront of his mind. “Mine.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Mire said. “We’re not going to take her from you, but she’s human and you need to get her out of the cold. I’ll prop the door open, and you carry her into the bedroom.”
He knew his friends weren’t a threat to his mate, but his beasts weren’t happy. Now he understood how Arian and Rhys had felt when they’d been faced with unmated males – even their lifelong friends – being around their mates. He watched as Mire set an empty flower pot in front of the door to prop it open, and then he turned and pushed Declan down the hall. Now that they were gone, Sullivan could think more clearly. He wouldn’t apologize for wanting to keep his mate from others.
Carrying her into the cabin, he kicked the flower pot aside so the door would shut and walked through the laundry room and down a short hall. A door was open to a bedroom, and he could scent his mate strongly in the room and suspected she’d stayed there. He tugged off her long coat and tossed it onto a nearby chair, and then laid her on the bed, grabbing a blanket from the end of the bed and stretching it over her.
After removing her gloves and then her boots, which he set on the floor, he pressed his palm to her cheek and closed his eyes, exploring the feelings that coursed through him. He was definitely in the presence of his fated mate. She was suddenly the most important person in the world to him. The fact that his shift had caused her to panic and faint was a source of embarrassment, but he vowed to make it up to her.
Her skin was returning to a non-deathly pallor. The dark green dress she wore hugged her curves. Lowering his head to her throat, he inhaled silently and growled softly at the scent. She was definitely the chocolate and peppermint scent he’d followed in the woods. It amazed him that his fated mate smelled like his favorite candy.
There was a soft gasp at his ear, and cold hands grabbed his neck. He froze, worried he’d make her pass out again and not have a chance to find out her name at the very least. But instead of pushing him away or fainting, the cold fingers slid into his hair and angled his head until her cold lips pressed to his.
His beasts rejoiced, cartwheeling in his mind at the purely decadent taste of their fated mate. He’d gotten out of bed that morning thinking something interesting might happen that day, but he never truly expected to be kissing his fated mate in the human world.