My kidnappers still smelled of sulfur and evil.
“I grew up playing with them. They’re part of my clan… well, a related clan. They have been disavowed by all Alphas. No one wants anything to do with them. I hope you understand that we aren’t all bad. Most dragons are peace-loving. We just want to survive and enjoy our time with our families.”
“Why are you in here with me? Shouldn’t they have put you into a different cell?”
It made no sense to have someone else in here who might actually be able to help me break out. He was a dragon after all. He could probably shift and burn the wall down.
Jax laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“They locked me in here with you knowing I wouldn’t shift. The room is too small. If I shift, I could hurt you, so I will have to stay in my human form. These guys have always been dumb, but this time, I think they finally came up with a good plan. Too bad we’re the ones losing here.”
“I don’t know about that. I think you might be able to shift in here. Granted, I don’t know how big your dragon form is, but there should be enough space, based on what I’ve seen.”
The dragon who brought me here could have fit in this room. It would be tight, but if I could get on Jax’s back, then he could burn his way through the wooden wall.
“My dragon is larger than any you have seen so far. If I shift, your best bet is to stay behind me and then climb on my back once I’ve shifted. It’s the only safe place around a ticked off dragon. But…I don’t know if there will be enough room for you to climb up.” Jax looked up to the ceiling and around at the four walls.
“There is a very good chance you would be hurt, no matter where you stood, once I shift. It’s too tight in here. While your human form would work best, your wolf form is tougher and could handle the tight squeeze it’s sure to be. Could your wolf climb on my back and hold on?”
“If I did, I would scratch you up something awful. I think staying in my human form is best so I can grab ahold and be as small as possible.” I wished I could shift to a field mouse instead, but I wasn’t a shapeshifter.
“Why are you helping me?”
Jax looked at the ground and sighed, “I’m helping you because forcing a female to mate with us isn’t our way. I could have stopped this before it got out of hand and I didn’t.”
“How?”
“There were games designed to choose the strongest dragon for you. Had I competed, I would have won, and I would have gone about this all very differently.”
“Why didn’t you compete?” Not that I wanted him vying for my affection, I just couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t want to mate with the female who would help to extend their family line.
“I didn’t want to fight for the right to keep you. It’s barbaric.” He lifted his gaze from his feet to meet my eyes. “If you have to mate with someone, you should get a say in who that is.”
“Thank you for realizing I should get a say in this. You are the first dragon I’ve come across who feels this way.” I couldn’t help but smile up at him. His declaration convinced me he was very different from the other dragons I’d encountered.
“I’m not the only one who believes this way. There were others who didn’t compete. Maybe we all should have, I don’t know. The one thing I do know is you don’t deserve Alexandru. He’s a monster, and no female deserves that.”
If there are others who didn’t participate in the games, then maybe some dragons are decent beings.
Meeting Jax had opened my eyes and helped me to realize I was biased judgmental. “I’m sorry. Truly I am. This deal the original Santa made was lost to us. I have no idea why the tale wasn’t handed down from generation to generation. Maybe, if I had grown up knowing what was expected of me, I might have had a different opinion.”
If I knew since I was a child that I was expected to mate with a dragon, I probably would have been open to someone like Jax.
Rock entered my thoughts, and my heart skipped a few beats. Would I have still fallen for Rock if I knew my future was with a dragon?
“Thank you. My king should have reached out to your father when you were just a girl. I believe he was waiting to see if Santa produced any male offspring. We know the magic of St. Nick passes from father to son. Even though Lizzie was the firstborn, she would not be able to take on the gift of Santa Claus, which meant she would have to mate with the male whom the magic chose. But if your parents produced a male heir, then Lizzie would have been expected to mate with a dragon. Until we knew for sure, there was no reason to say anything.”
“We kept an eye on what has happening with your family as it grew. Some in our clan urged the King to approach your Alpha and at least introduce us to your family, hoping it would help to ease the shock of what you or Lizzie would be expected to do. Others wanted to continue keeping our distance from you and your family. We don’t interact with other shifter races very often.”
“Really? Do you ever go to college or buy anything from the humans? What about the tales of dragons and their loot? Do you really hoard treasures?” I had heard so many different things about dragons, but the one thing all the stories seemed to have in common was treasure.
Jax laughed and shook his head. “The stories are just that; stories. We do have some treasures, but we don’t hoard caves full of jewels along with gold and silver. It’s nothing like the dragon in Tolkien’s books. Although, the dragon in The Hobbit does look similar to our king, only larger.”
“Really? Your king is just a smaller version of what I saw on screen?”
In college, I watched so many movies that I had never heard of before leaving the North Pole. My favorites were the super hero ones. I had a huge crush on the God of Thunder!
“Yes, we do move about the human world sometimes. There are things we need to buy on occasion. Also, we don’t have electricity in our caves, so the only way we can watch movies is when we come to town. My clan does have a very large library. We are all very versed in classic books, and some even read the newer fiction novels.”
“Really? You actually live in caves? Why not find a forest near your mountain range so you can have an actual home?” The more I learned about the life of a dragon, the less I wanted to mate with one.
“It would be very hard to stay hidden if we lived far enough down the mountain to get electricity. We still need to shift into our dragon form and soar above the clouds. Our dragons get edgy if we don’t let them out once in a while.”
“If we lived close enough to civilization to get electricity, people would see us and then fear would take over and they would hunt us as they did long ago.” Jax sighed and leaned back against one of the walls.
“I see. I suppose I can understand your need for secrecy. Christmas Magic has created a protective dome over my home-town. No satellite can penetrate it.”
I hope it also keeps my family safe from dragons. If they kidnapped me, who’s to say they won’t kidnap Beth or Bella?
We sat silent for a few minutes.
“So…how long do I have to wait for you to shift and break us out of here?” I gave him a wry smile. Surely, he was going to shift and get us out of here.
Jax made his way to where I was sitting and sat down on the bed next to me.
“I was thinking it would be best to wait until everyone but the night guard has gone to sleep. There are about a dozen of them here. We would have a very difficult time fighting them all off if they caught us escaping.” He looked at me and returned my half smile.
Looking at my watch, I realized it was only two in the afternoon. We had a few hours to kill before we attempted to break out of here.
“I think I’ll let my Alpha know what we are going to do. Should we coordinate this? I know I can’t hear him, but maybe if he knows where we are, my pack can come in tonight right as we attempt to break out. In case a bunch of dragons wake up.” I knew if Palo was close by, he would be able to communicate with me.
“Tell him midnight
, if they can make it.” Jax whispered.
Chapter 10
Rock
“Come on, Palo! Where is she?” I paced the length of Santa’s office, worried about Mandy.
“Until someone calls in with some information, I don’t know, Rock. I’m just as upset and nervous as you are.” Palo answered. After a pause, he asked,
“Do you love my sister-in-law? Or is this anger something you would feel if any of our females were abducted?”
“I don’t know. When I look at her, I feel something. But love? I don’t know. However, I meant what I said; I would be honored to take her as my mate. Mandy is beautiful, strong, smart, and will definitely keep me on my toes.” I chuckled thinking about all of our arguments.
“You would make a great mate for her. Plus, Lizzie would be ecstatic if her sister stayed in our pack. I hope it works out for you both, but I doubt she will accept your proposal until we figure out how we are going to deal with the pledge to the dragons. Do you have any ideas?”
“Short of offering them either Beth or Bella? None.”
I wish there was another answer to this problem.
“Hold on…She’s reaching out to me again! Get the map,” my Alpha ordered.
I ran to the other room and grabbed the map that marked where all of our volunteers had gone to look for Mandy. Everyone had been given a section, and even dragons came to volunteer their time searching for her.
“What? Did someone find her? Please tell me she’s alright!” I put the map on his oak desk in front of me and grabbed ahold of the desk’s edge while I waited for him to tell me where Mandy was.
“Yes, Jax found her. But in the process he was caught and put into a cell with her. Where was Jax assigned? We need to get everyone to converge on assigned area.” Palo stood up and came around his desk to look at the map with me.
“Here, this mountainous region in the Canadian Rockies. He was supposed to be searching with another dragon, what was his name?” I had written down all of the teams, but the list was in the other room. I turned to leave and get it, but Palo stopped me.
“Darius. Jax was supposed to work with Darius. We need to see if we can get ahold of him. Mandy didn’t mention anyone else with her, just Jax. Have Mikey Sr. prepare the plane. We’re flying to the mountains. I want to get closer so I can communicate with Mandy.” Palo picked up the map and left the room.
“Mandy, if you can hear me, hold on. We’re coming to get you! I’m coming to get you!”
Chapter 11
Mandy
“Santa? Can you hear me? We have a plan for tonight. It’s a bit risky, but anything is better than sitting here and waiting for these animals to force me into something. Or worse, grab the twins! Please tell me they are under guard all the time!” I waited to hear if Palo replied, but he didn’t. Not yet.
“Midnight, I need you to be here with the cavalry by midnight. We’re going to break out. Jax said we are in the Canadian Rockies, he just doesn’t know exactly where. He did say it was a moderate peak. Nothing that stands out. I hope that helps. I’ll keep trying to hear you.”
When I was done with my attempted communication, I shifted back to my human form. With all of this shifting, Jax and I had a system down. He turned his back toward me until I told him I was done. There wasn’t a changing area inside the room and I had no plans to let him see me naked.
“Nothing yet. I’ve told him what we discussed. But I can’t hear him.” This plan isn’t going to work. My luck wasn’t good enough to get out of here, and stay safe.
When I sighed deeply and rubbed my face, Jax moved closer to me and rubbed my back. “Don’t worry, it’s all going to work out. We will get out of here, safely. You’ll see.”
The door opened, and in walked six males who reeked of sulfur…dragons.
“You won’t be getting out of here anytime soon. You might as well get comfortable. And Jax,” the speaker turned his darkened eyes to the male beside me. “Don’t touch my mate again. You had your chance and turned it down. She’s mine. By decree of the King.”
He laughed and turned his attention back to me.
My attacker was wearing a black t-shirt that said “Don’t Screw With Me” with black jeans. His hair was black. His eyes, once on me, turned from the black I noticed when he looked at Jax to a muddy brown. The guy wasn’t good looking. He was average height, could have been anyone I had passed on the street in Seattle and never once looked at.
“You may not remember, but we’ve met. We were in line at your favorite coffee shop, or so you called it. Peppermint mocha with a cinnamon scone, right?” He crossed his arms and grinned like the cat that ate the canary.
“What’s your name?” I didn’t remember him. He was totally forgettable.
“Alexandru. You can call me Alex since we’ll be spending the rest of your life together. Did you know dragons live much longer than most shifters?”
“I won’t be spending the rest of my life with you, no matter how long it is. You can just forget about it.” I never would have agreed to mate with this beast, even if I had grown up knowing about the agreement.
“If it’s not you, then it will be one of your younger sisters. I will have my Kringle bride.”
“You had better not touch my little sisters! I swear to all that is holy, I will kill you if you lay one hand on them!” I jumped up and made to attack Alexandru, but Jax held me back.
His smile was so devious I couldn’t help but shiver. He had to have practiced imitating the Grinch’s evil grin. “Such a spitfire, I love it! I’ll leave your sisters alone if you agree to be my mate. That’s all you have to do.” He knew he had me.
“It won’t matter anyway. No one will perform the mating ceremony for you. All of the Alpha’s have refused to help you.” I crossed my arms and smirked.
“All of the current ones, maybe. But it won’t be too long before I’m recognized as a new Alpha.”
“You can’t do that!” I turned to Jax. “He can’t do that, can he?”
“It takes at least ten dragons to join him and swear fealty to him. Within three months, as long as his dragons stay with him, he becomes an Alpha. Then he can perform the mating ceremony himself, or order his Beta to do it.” Jax spoke low, but it was loud enough that everyone in the room heard.
“Exactly. I have a dozen dragons who have already sworn fealty to me. They were tired of waiting for someone to take a Kringle mate. The day you turned eighteen you should have been mine. We would already have at least one hatchling if I had been allowed to take you as promised.”
“Mandy, once the bond is initiated you will be mine. No one can break it. And, you won’t want to leave, once I’m Alpha, you will become subservient to me.” Alexandru laughed, and his minions joined him.
“I will never be subservient to anyone!” I sat down next to Jax on the bed stewing in my anger.
“Alexandru, you know it doesn’t work that way. When an Alpha takes a mate, she’s just as powerful as he is. She won’t be subservient to you.” Jax shook his head.
There has to be a way to stop him.
If I got away, my sisters would always be in danger. All three of us would be stuck inside the protective barrier of our town. No way would anyone take a chance on our safety, at least until we were mated.
I might still have to mate with Rock. Not that it would be difficult, but a loveless match was not something I wanted. Living in the human world, I had seen it too many times over the past four years. Men and women who married without love, ended up divorced, or worse! They hated their lives, and their children usually paid for it.
The pack bond would keep me and Rock close, but it couldn’t make us love each other.
“Jax, don’t get comfortable in here,” Alexandru sneered. “We will have a new cell just for you shortly.”
“You can’t keep me here forever, the king won’t allow it. He will find me.” Jax spoke calmly.
How can he be calm in a time like this?
“Oh,
I know that. I’ll let you go after I’m mated to Mandy, and we have moved on to our next home.”
Alexandru seemed to have planned for the long term.
He must have realized that my family, my pack, wouldn’t just accept the mating ceremony and leave me in his hands.
“This will never work. Even if you force me to mate with you, the bond won’t take hold. Plus, you’ll never survive Rock once he finds you. And trust me, he will find you.”
Even if Rock wasn’t in love with me, he cared for me and wouldn’t allow this to happen. Once Rock and the Enforcers where done with this “pack,” the dragons wouldn’t know what hit them.
Alexandru snickered, “Oh, so Rock is mate? Really? A guy named after a boulder? How smart can this guy be?”
I didn’t bother responding to him. He was just trying to rile me up.
I turned my back and sat on the other side of the bed, confident we were going to make it out of here tonight. Once I knew exactly where we were, I could tell Palo, and he would send the Enforcers in to deal with this sorry lot.
“Don’t get too comfortable, princess. We will be moving soon and then you’ll be sleeping in my bed.” Alexandru’s declaration made my skin crawl.
After they slammed the door closed, Jax ran over to me and put his arms around me. “Don’t listen to him. I’m going to get you out of here. You have nothing to worry about.”
Chapter 12
Mandy
The dinner trays had been taken away and it was well past nine. I was getting nervous waiting for midnight to come. I tried contacting Palo again, and this time I heard a reply.
“Stay put. We are on our way. Don’t do anything dangerous. We know where you are, or at least the mountain range.” Palo ordered through the connection.
“Thank goodness! You must be close by, for me to hear you. How long before you get here?”
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