“This isn’t cool! I don’t want to be Santa!”
“Son, you will do your duty to this family and to the world! You are a Kringle. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that you could one day be called on to become the next Santa. Will you let the little kids down? What about the elves? If you don’t take over, we will have to open it up so that any wolf can challenge me for the position. Are you ready to lose me too? What about your mom?” Santa looked sternly at his son and scowled.
“Can’t you just give me some time to adjust?”
“I am sorry son, I can’t. The best I can do is let you plan your wedding for June. This Christmas I will run the sleigh and you will assist me. Then next year you will run it while I assist you. That is the way it must be.” Santa rubbed his son’s back.
Christian took a deep sigh. “Alright, I will meet the she-wolves. But on one condition.”
“What is that?”
“No more ties. I want to be comfortable if I have to meet all of these wolves.”
Santa laughed, “Alright. I think we can arrange that. But your wedding will be a formal affair. No getting out of a tux.”
“Deal.” Christian stuck his hand out to shake on the deal.
That night Christian went to the head elf, Boris. “Please don’t make an ice sculpture of me. After what happened to Kris, I can’t do that.”
“Of course, sir. I understand. I hope you know how much everyone misses your brother. We all know you will make a most excellent Santa, but your brother will be missed.” Boris lowered his head in respect.
“Thank you, Boris. That means a lot to me.” Christian walked out to find the next girl on his list to meet. He had already dismissed Nicolette. She was a nice girl, but he knew he wasn’t attracted to her. Every time he met a girl, he compared her to Isabella. That wasn’t fair to the other girls. He decided to stop doing that and rate them on their own merits.
The next meeting was with four girls from various regions. One was from Europe, although she wasn’t from the pack that killed his brother. That pack should be obliterated by now. Everyone who was here and part of that pack had already been dealt with. Santa sent a team of wolves from his pack as well as the Barrow pack and some from two other North American packs almost a week ago.
6
One Week Later:
Once the captured wolves woke up, they spoke freely. They knew that they had a choice, die quickly, or via a long and painful process. Santa never wanted to be the one who dealt with that, but he did make an exception this time and no one blamed him. They did conspire to murder his son in front of everyone. So he cut the throat of the highest ranking wolf in attendance from that pack. They were Russians, but had never been very involved with the rest of the Arctic packs.
One of those captured admitted that they wanted to kill Christmas. Monty addressed the group of Alphas who had gathered after the information had been gathered. “I for one will not stand by while an entire pack is planning the destruction of our leadership and Christmas! If they succeed, not only will we lose our entire race’s reason for existence, we will lose Christmas Magic.”
Monty stood at attention and turned to Santa. “Sir, may I lead a team to Russia and exterminate that pack? We can’t allow them to regroup and gain more rogues to their calling. We may have eliminated a large portion of their pack, but who knows how many single wolves they have gathered while they planned this attack. Those who tried to kill Kris the day before his murder were singles who had been swayed by a European pack. Maybe it was this exact one?”
“Monty, Russia is not Europe. Those rogues were most likely not the sharpest tools in the shed, but even they had to know that Russia isn’t part of Europe.” Santa hadn’t forgotten what he learned less than 24 hours before his oldest son was murdered.
“So what do we do?”
“You may go to Russia and take care of the problem. You’re right. We can’t allow them to regroup and find another way to destroy Christmas. That would cause such chaos in the rest of the world if Santa disappeared.” Santa shook his head and took a drink of his hot cocoa.
Santa turned his attention to his Beta. “Nickolas, I know you want to go with Monty, but I need you here to help protect Christian. I can’t lose another son, another heir.” The mood in the room changed as everyone considered what might happen if Christian didn’t succeed his father. Everyone’s mouths turned down and many brows furrowed as various scenarios played out in their heads.
7
Christian had just finished up with four she-wolves and his stomach was growling. “Boris, can I get a few minutes alone to grab something to eat before I meet the next girls?” Boris was keeping an eye on Christian in addition to the ten Omegas while the Alphas and several of the Betas were also in a meeting with Santa. The team had returned from Russia and were in the process of reporting the events to Santa.
“Of course. Go to your father’s study and I will bring you some milk and cookies. Lunch will be served in two hours. I have requested your favorite, Caribou! I hope that will cheer you up a little bit.” Boris turned to walk away, then turned back to Christian.
He pursed his lips as he considered his next words carefully. “Chris, I know that you haven’t been given enough time to mourn your brother, but this is really important. If you don’t choose the right she-wolf for the next Mrs. Claus, then the magic won’t choose her either. In the history of the Kringle family, there has only been one Mrs. Claus who did not receive the magic. Those were some dark days. Can you imagine when that was?”
Christian smirked. “Yes, I learned this in school. It was the Dark Ages. But the next Mrs. Claus received a double helping if I remember correctly.”
Boris chuckled. “Yes, but everyone agrees that we should never allow that to happen again. Within two generations we moved here because of the sadness that still enveloped the known world at that time. It took several generations to bring us out of those dark days.” He shook his head and walked to the kitchen.
Isabella hadn’t been invited to spend time with Christian yet, and she was worried. She stood outside his house wondering if she should seek out Mrs. Claus for advice. While she was busy wringing her hands and pacing, Christian approached and startled her. “Oh, Christian! I didn’t hear you approach.”
“Hi, Isabella. How have you been? I haven’t seen you around lately.” Christian put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.
“I haven’t been asked to join you for the meetings yet.” She looked down at the ground and moved a pebble around with the tip of her right boot.
“Yes, father thinks I need to meet at least half of the others before inviting you to a meeting or a date. But I am glad you are here. What are you doing here?” He tilted his head and scrunched his brows. “Not that I am unhappy to see you. I am very happy to see you. Did you come here for someone else?”
“No… I mean yes. I was trying to find a way to see your mom. I hoped she could tell me about you. For close to a week we spent almost all day together and I haven’t seen you for almost two days. I guess I just missed you.” She shrugged her shoulders and folded her hands in front of her.
“I missed you too. Why don’t you come inside and join me for a snack. Boris is bringing me milk and cookies.” Christian rubbed his hands together and licked his lips.
Isabella chuckled, “I hate to break it to you, but most wolves don’t like milk and cookies. It must be a Santa thing.” She furrowed her brow and asked, “Have you always liked them?”
“Well, yes. As far back as I can remember we always had milk and cookies for our snack. Most of my pack likes cookies too. Maybe it is Santa’s influence. Is that something you might one day enjoy?” He held his breath as he waited for her to answer.
“I don’t know. Maybe? I guess I would need to try different kinds of cookies and see which ones I like. I have only tried a couple. I hated the oatmeal raisin cookies. But I think the snickerdoodles were alright.” She giggled.
“Well, I
think I know what type of activity I want to invite you on.”
“What kind?” She asked.
“Oh, it’s a secret! Just wait. I hope to be allowed to ask you out by tomorrow. It looks like after tonight I will have met at least half of the girls.”
“I can’t wait.”
8
The next day, true to his word, Christian invited Isabella and two other she-wolves to come over after his breakfast dates. He set up a special date to test the women and see if they could handle milk and cookies, his favorite snack.
“Do any of you have a favorite type of cookie?” He smiled as he asked them and looked at Isabella last.
Sheridan spoke up, “I love a good chocolate chip cookie. What is your favorite?”
Christian handed her a chocolate chip cookie. “I love them all, but I would have to say my mom’s special oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. That is my all-time favorite. Although, I have never turned down a cookie before.” He winked at Sheridan who giggled and took a bite of her cookie.
“Is this your mom’s recipe?” She held up the cookie he gave her.
“No, all of these were made by the elves.”
Becky looked at Christian and moved around in her seat before letting him know that she liked gingerbread cookies.
“Great, here is one. Let me know what you think of these.” Christian handed her the cookie and she ended up drinking most of her milk to wash it down. She really didn’t like cookies at all, but was too afraid to tell him.
“Christian, I don’t know what I like. Can I try them all?” Isabella knew she didn’t usually like sugar. It was such a grainy feeling on her tongue when found in cookies. However, she hadn’t tried anyone’s cookies after her mother ruined them for her as a young girl. Isabella’s mom wasn’t known for her cooking.
Christian handed her a cookie. “Try this. It’s a chocolate chip cookie. Very basic. Most kids will leave out these or sugar cookies all decorated.”
They spent the next hour sampling the cookies and Christian could tell Becky hated cookies. She was a real trooper though; she tried everything he gave her and didn’t complain once. She just drank a lot of milk. Sheridan liked some of the cookies, but complained that it was too much sugar and she would have to run it all off as soon as they were done.
Isabella was the only one that enjoyed them. “Christian, I gotta say, I’m surprised at how good these are. I guess my mom really doesn’t know how to bake. My dad always teased her about that while I was growing up, but I didn’t know any better.” She reached out for another sugar cookie, one decorated like a Santa Claus. She bit the head off and smiled as she chewed.
Christian grabbed his neck and joked with her. “Wait! You can’t bite my head off!” The rest of the date was almost as though the other two girls weren’t even there. When it was over, he notified his father that he wasn’t interested in Sheridan or Becky.
“Son, have you decided on Isabella? If you have, we can end this now. I only said you have to meet half the girls.” Santa motioned for Christian to sit so they could talk.
“Father, I do prefer Isabella to anyone I have ever met. But, marriage? She also told me when we first met that she didn’t want to meet Kris because she had no desire to be Mrs. Claus. I can’t make her.” Christian rested his arms on his knees as he stared into the fireplace.
“I think she might have changed her mind by now. If she still felt the same, she wouldn’t have been waiting for you here yesterday.”
“Maybe. I guess I need to ask her about that before we move forward.”
“I will set up a dinner date for just you two tonight. If she is willing then I will let everyone know you have chosen. Isabella will make a wonderful Mrs. Claus. I see the magic swirling around her. It wants to claim her.”
That night Christian waited for her in the small dining room. When she entered the room, he couldn’t breathe. In that moment, he knew she was the one. He stood up when the door opened. In walked the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. She was in a pure white, long dress that had a small train behind it. The sleeves were just off her shoulder, and the bodice hugged her and showed off just the right amount of skin. Not too much, but just enough to leave something to his imagination.
Christian walked over to her and took her hand. He then leaned over and kissed it. Once he stood up he said, “You look so beautiful, when the door opened you literally took my breath away.”
She checked him out in his black tuxedo. His father and mother both had to work hard to convince him to wear it. “You are very handsome in that tux. I hope to see you wearing them more often.” She smiled and gave him a hug.
Christian took a deep breath and inhaled peppermint and a light pine scent. His two favorite scents. He thought it must be her natural scent. He couldn’t help himself, his lips moved of their own accord and before either realized it, they were kissing.
When he pulled back, they both took a deep breath. “Wow! That was unbelievable. Did you see fireworks?” Isabella asked.
He looked into her eyes. “Yes, I did.” Just then they could hear fireworks outside the house. Christian took her by the hand and walked them to the window. He pulled the curtain to one side and outside was a beautiful fireworks display. “This reminds me of our family trip to Disneyland a few years ago. Every night they did a huge fireworks show. How exciting! I had no clue we were going to do fireworks tonight.” Christian put his arm around Isabella and they stood there watching the show in silence.
When it was over both were filled with joy and awe. They walked hand in hand to the dinner table that was all set for them. It was Caribou stew, one of Christian’s favorite meals. “Do you like Caribou?”
“I love it! My dad makes a really great stew. I always have second helpings when he makes it.” Isabella responded.
The door opened and they both looked as Santa and Mrs. Claus entered. “Oh sweetie, I am so excited you are the one! How exciting is this? Did you tell her yet?” Mrs. Claus was gesturing with her arms as she quickly walked to the table and told them how wonderful this was.
“Mom, what are you talking about? We just barely started to eat.”
“The Christmas magic, it chose her. You saw those fireworks didn’t you?” Mrs. Claus took her son’s hand in hers and squeezed it.
“Yes, I didn’t know you planned a fireworks display. That was pretty cool.” Christian pointed to the window as he smiled up at his mom.
“Honey, we didn’t do that. It was the magic. Don’t you remember from your studies? When the heir’s heart has chosen his mate and she accepts, the magic goes off in the form of fireworks. The longer and bigger the display, the stronger she will be with the magic.” She looked to Isabella. “You, my dear, are going to be very strong with Christmas Magic. I think your fireworks were longer than mine! And that is saying a lot! Isn’t it Santa?” She turned to see Santa smiling wide at his son.
“Yes, I do believe she has given you a run for your money in the magic department. But, only time will tell.” He kissed his wife on her cheek.
Isabella stood up. “Wait, you mean to tell me it’s all decided? I don’t get a say in the matter?” She put her hands on her hips and looked between Christian and his parents with her mouth open wide.
Santa laughed and said, “Well, you could say no. However, I doubt you want to say no.”
She stood there thinking about it for a minute, then looked at Christian. “What do you think about all of this? Did you know this could happen?”
“No, I had forgotten about this part. Since I never dreamed I would be in this position, I didn’t pay attention to this part of the Magic Lore class. Did you?”
“We didn’t get a class that talked about this.”
“Father, what now?”
“Now, you finish your dinner and talk about it all. I need you both to be prepared to tell everyone you are ready for this and that you have chosen each other.”
Christian interrupted. “Can we still wait until th
e summer to marry?”
“Yes, if you want to wait you can. But Isabella,” Santa looked her in the eyes, “You will need to move here right away so that you can begin your training with Christian’s mom. And that is another thing, we will need to start calling you Chris, with a “CH” or “K”, it is up to you son.” Santa put his hand on Christian’s shoulder.
“I have thought about it, and I want to be C-H-R-I-S. My brother was Kris with a ‘K’.” He nodded his head and pursed his lips.
“Alright, I will let Boris know so he can get the paperwork together. Your mother and I will leave you two alone. As soon as you have had time to discuss, come and tell us when you plan to marry.” Santa hugged both of the young adults before he walked his wife out of the dining room.
Isabella and Christian both sat back down and looked at each other. “What now?” Isabella asked.
“Whatever you want. We can marry anytime between now and June… Forgive me. This is not going as it should.” He got up and went to her side and then knelt down next to her and took her hand. “I don’t have a ring on me, but I assure you I will have one tomorrow. Isabella, from the first moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew there was something special about you. I had never met anyone that attracted me the way you did. It hasn’t been long, but I have fallen in love with you. I can’t imagine anyone else as the future Mrs. Claus. Will you marry me and spend the rest of your life helping to make sure that the deserving young boys and girls of this world have a special present just for them on Christmas morning? And be my wife for as long as we both shall live?”
Tears were streaming down Isabella’s face, and Christian thought he had upset her somehow. “Oh, no. What’s wrong? Did I do it wrong?” Christian started to get up off his knee, but Isabella put a hand on his shoulder.
Magic & Mistletoe: 15 Paranormal Stories for the Holidays Page 11