And so, the age-old tradition had been set up. Santa Claus sent his gifts, and Krampus behaved.
Until today. Until she’d crashed the sleigh and lost the Christmas Magic meant for Krampus.
As if he knew she was thinking, Bas turned his head and looked at her, and if a bear could smile, he was smiling, and she was certain he winked at her. Or maybe it was the wind stinging his eyes too.
Wiping her own tears away, she concentrated on what lay before them. Krampus lived in a small town in the Alps. She didn’t need GPS to get there, Dan knew the way. He’d made this same journey for the last ten years. The last ten successful years, with her father at the helm. Pepper was sure Dan wished her father was here now, he would know what to do.
No! He would never have let this happen.
The sleigh tipped, and she reached out to grab hold of the metal bar that ran the width of the sleigh. An image of them tumbling out of the sky gripped her mind, and she felt a moment of terror. Then she relaxed, she couldn’t let that one experience ruin her joy of riding the sleigh. This maneuver was completely normal; Dan was beginning their descent.
Pepper held on to the reins, but let the reindeer do his thing. She trusted him, and he trusted her. They had a good working relationship. Another thing her father disapproved of. Elves were above the reindeer in the hierarchy surrounding Santa. Her father told her to never forget that, or she would be out of a job. It was Pepper’s duty to make her presence known and to be invaluable to Santa. If not, then she might be the last of a long line of Pepper Minstixes to serve Santa.
Make yourself indispensable.
Well, she’d blown that. After this fiasco, she’d made herself very dispensable.
Refusing to let her father ruin the beauty that was unfolding below, she pushed his voice out of her head. There was still time to save the mission, and complete the task she’d been set. All they had to do was persuade Krampus to wait. How difficult could that be?
They descended over the Alps, the snow-white peaks and soft green valleys tinged with the setting sun. Another hour or so and the world would be covered in darkness. Dan made the most of this, zigzagging down, keeping them hidden from view. The sleigh might be cloaked, but after the trials of yesterday, he was making sure that if anything happened they had the best chance of being unseen.
Pepper smiled. Her father would be mortified if he knew his daughter, and heir to the secrets of Santa, was letting a mere reindeer guide their way. One day she and her father were going to have to accept they were different, and the sooner that happened, the better for both of them.
As her eyes rested on Bas, she figured that the conversation was going to be sooner rather than later. Whether she liked it or not. Once her father found out she’d let a bear pull the precious sleigh, she suspected she would be out of a job, with no chance of an appeal.
And he would find out. Not because she or Bas, or Dan or Dash would ever tell, but because Krampus probably would. Dan might have done a magnificent job of keeping them out of sight, but Krampus must have the same innate sense as Pepper herself. He’d sensed the sleigh coming. Either that, or he had been waiting for them, leaning against a gate, his expression grim and his fingers drumming on the wood as he watched the sleigh, not blinking, his gaze unwavering.
“You’re late,” he said, as they landed with a bump. The difference in leg length between Bas and Dan had not been apparent until they both tried to hit the ground at the same time. The sleigh lurched, but Dan used all his experience to keep it upright, while Bas’s shorter legs waggled in the air, searching for the ground, for first contact with the green grass of the alpines.
“We had an accident,” Pepper said, deciding to use honesty to disarm Krampus.
“Not my problem,” Krampus said. “Have you got everything?” He eyed the sleigh. Was it possible he could sense the lack of Christmas Magic? Seeing how Dan and Dash, and then later Bas was affected by the dust, she figured Krampus might be able to sense it like a drug.
“When we crashed, everything fell out,” Pepper said casually.
“The question is, did everything get put back in?” he asked, pushing off from the gatepost and coming towards the sleigh. Only he didn’t go to Pepper, who was just disembarking; instead, he made straight for Bas. “What the hell do you call this? Seasonal cutbacks?”
“No. Bas said he’d help, since Dash had to return to the North Pole.” She was skirting around the truth, but as Krampus lifted his head and sniffed the air, she knew she would have to tell the truth. But she was half-afraid, not for herself, but of what he might do to Dan, or Bas.
Krampus stood upright, looking almost goat-like: hooves, hair, horns, but then his face shattered that image. He had the face of a demon, big bloodshot eyes, and teeth made for tearing flesh from bones; he was a terrifying sight.
To keep him calm, she had to tell the truth, and tell it now. “He’s gone to get another pouch of Christmas Magic.”
Krampus rounded on her and in her peripheral vision, she saw Bas trying to turn, but the harness was stopping him. Slipping past Krampus, she went to stand by the side of her bear, digging her hands deep into his soft fur, while Dan stood by with a lazy expression in his eye. He looked too relaxed, as if he’d played this game before.
“You dare come here empty-handed?” Krampus said, his voice low, menacing, and harsh, the undercurrent of a bleating goat in every syllable.
“We’re not empty-handed, we’ve brought the rest of what you asked for,” Pepper said. “And the magic is on its way.”
Krampus came towards her, one eye on Bas, who was tense, ready to pounce and knock this devil to the ground. She pressed her hand deeper into his fur, massaging his skin. “It’s OK,” she soothed.
“Is it?” Krampus asked, raising a demon eyebrow. “Because from where I’m standing it’s anything but OK. We had a deal, and that deal is broken. Instead of Pepper Minstix, they send a girl. A girl who lost the most important item on the sleigh. You think I care about birch branches and socks? The magic is what I need.” His voice grated wickedly as he added, “Tonight is Krampus Night, and I’m going to go through the town beating children, and if I find a particularly naughty child, I may grind his bones to make my bread.”
He cocked his head. It was a challenge. One she was going to rise to, only Bas decided he’d rise to it first.
Chapter Thirteen – Bas
Bas pulled away from Pepper, dragging the sleigh, and Dan, with him. There was no way this creature was going to speak to his mate in such a way. Instead of bargaining with the Krampus, it was time for this bear to grind some bones of his own.
Only Pepper got in his way.
As he lunged forward, she moved to quickly intercept him, and he crashed into her, knocking her onto her back. Bas was mortified; he’d hurt his mate. But she didn’t seem fazed; instead, she leapt to her feet and grabbed him, her two hands either side of his face as she looked into his eyes.
“That’s not how we’re going to solve this,” she said.
“Then how are we going to solve this, little girl?” Krampus stood, a smirk on his terrible face. “I might have to have a word with your papa. Yes, I know who you are. I’ve known about you your whole life. The question is, why would he send you, when he knows how important this job is?”
She turned to face Krampus, trusting Bas not to do anything stupid; he didn’t move, he would support her. He’d been stupid to act, he’d seen this type of goading enough times in courtrooms to know that he’d failed at Bluff 101. “He didn’t send me. Mrs. Claus did.”
“Ahh, so your papa doesn’t trust you. And now we have to decide who is right, your Papa or Mrs. Claus.”
“I can do this, I can handle it,” Pepper said, hating the thought of Mrs. Claus getting in trouble, when all she’d done was believe in Pepper. “We’re going to take the gifts we have wherever you want them. And then you are going to wait patiently for Dash to return with the Christmas Magic.”
“Are you
telling Krampus what to do?” Krampus asked, with mock offense in his voice.
Bas relaxed. Whatever this beast had in mind, he wasn’t going to act on it yet. Bas guessed there was some reason why Krampus did a deal with Santa, and he wasn’t ready to break their pact just yet.
“Shall we begin unloading the rest of the goods?” Pepper suggested, her voice firm, confident, and Bas felt a surge of pride. His mate was rising to the challenge presented to her, rather than quaking in the presence of a goat-like demon.
“Follow me,” Krampus said.
He struck off across the rolling hill, his strides long, and Pepper had to hop aboard the sleigh, and let Bas and Dan jog after the creature to keep up. They followed him for about a mile, Krampus whistling a tune as he went; it made the whole situation even more surreal. Never in his wildest dreams, yet alone real life, would Bas have expected to follow the Krampus across an Alpine hill, while he whistled Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.
As he jogged along next to Dan, who seemed chill about the whole thing, he let his senses turn to Pepper. He couldn’t read her fully, but he could sense her unease. Did she think this was a trap, an ambush by Krampus? Or was she more concerned as to whether Dash would get back in time? He figured the latter, since she kept turning her attention to the sky, as it grew dimmer and the stars began to shine, brighter than any he had ever seen.
Of course, they were high up in the Alps; there was little light pollution, even compared to Mistletoe Mountain. As they traveled, he couldn’t help dreaming of taking Pepper by the hand, leading her out into the wilderness, laying her down on the green grass, and making sweet love to her.
“Here.” Krampus had stopped outside a small cave. It was tucked away behind a small thicket of trees, almost invisible, unless you knew what you were looking for.
Bas and Dan stopped, and Pepper got out of the sleigh to stand next to the half-beast. She was trying to look relaxed and in control, but her arms were folded across her chest, and she seemed ready to spring back into the sleigh any moment.
“You want everything in here?” she asked.
“Yes. I’ll check it’s all there. Then you can stow it in here, and we can go to town and wait.”
“You go into town?” Pepper asked, horrified.
Krampus laughed. “What, do you think I live in a cave? Or in a hole in the ground?”
“I…” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I just assumed that because you are…”
“Ugly?” Krampus said.
“No. Because you are Krampus and you like to beat naughty children, I assumed you don’t like people.”
Krampus laughed. “You are a judgy little Miss Pepper, aren’t you?”
“Do you blame me?” Pepper asked, dropping her arms and placing her hands on her hips.
“You have your father’s eyes, and, I expect, your father’s temperament, so it’s not a big leap to think you will be as judgmental as all the Minstixes that have come before you.” He walked to the sleigh, and said. “Come along. Let me see what you’ve brought me.”
Pepper unharnessed Bas and Dan, and they shifted into the human forms, much to the amusement of Krampus. “Are all Santa’s shifters so pretty?”
“Not all of them,” Pepper answered, sending Bas a warning look.
“It’s OK,” Bas said. “I won’t let him get the better of me.”
“Aren’t we the hero?” Krampus teased, and came up right up to Bas, sniffing him. “I can smell her on you. She’s your mate? Oh, maybe I could get the better of you. What if, when young Dashing Dasher fails to get back here in time, I make a little Christmas Magic of my own with your delightful Pepper? Yes, I may start adding that to my Christmas list if you are going to be my delivery girl from now on.”
“Bas,” Pepper warned, putting her hand on his chest. He let her touch soothe him. “I’m a one-man kind of a girl, and Santa would never allow it. He’s stirring the pot.”
Krampus laughed. “I like you, little Pepper Pot. I like you a lot.”
“Enough to be reasonable about putting things right?” she asked, hope in her voice.
“What would your papa say if you failed at this?” Krampus asked.
“I expect I’d be looking for a new job,” she said honestly.
“Then I will give you some time.” Krampus didn’t say any more, but went and stood apart from them, while they unloaded the gifts and placed them in the cave.
“That went well,” Bas said to Pepper, as he passed her the branches. She set them down on top of the pile and looked up at him, her face flushed.
“I’m out of my depth,” Pepper said, tears shining bright in her eyes.
“No, you are not. This is all new to you. If the sleigh hadn’t have crashed, then you would have come here, handed over this stuff with no trouble, and be back in Santa Land, or wherever it is you live, and everyone would be happy. Just because that didn’t happen, does not mean you are out of your depth. You’ve used your negotiating skills to buy us the time we need.”
“My father would never have crashed in the first place,” Pepper said. “The mess I’m trying to sort out is of my own making.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it.” Bas put his hands on her upper arms and squeezed them lightly. “You are doing great. Dash will get back with the magic, although why Krampus needs it, I have no idea. But he’ll get what he wants and then we all go home.”
“Bas is right. And you know I never think bears are right,” Dan said. “You need to understand something, Miss Pepper.”
“Which is?” Pepper prompted.
“That you weren’t the one who crashed the sleigh, that was down to me and Dash. You give us control, not like your father.”
“That makes it my fault, for not taking the reins and guiding you,” she said, with a shrug.
“Do you know Santa never guides us?” Dan said. “He trusts us. Or more specifically, he trusts Rudolph. But that’s beside the point. He lets us do what we do best. We fly, we know the air currents, we know how to read downdrafts. I can tell you that whoever was at the helm when the storm hit last night would not have gotten us out of there.”
“I know you are trying to make me feel better,” Pepper said.
“No. I’m not. I’m trying to make you see what a wonderful person you are.” Dan leaned in close so only the three of them would hear. “And you have him…” Dan inclined his head towards Krampus, “eating out of your hand.”
“More like he’s going to eat my hand,” Pepper said.
“You know what, Pepper? You need to erase your father’s voice from your head. He doesn’t know you the way we do. Dash and I, and all the reindeer, hell, everyone in Santa Land,” Dan smirked at Bas, “we would do anything for you.”
Bas watched his mate wipe tears from her eyes and said, “Parents don’t always know us as well as they think they do.”
“I think mine knows me too well. He knew I’d fail and he was right.”
“Ack. Stop listening to your father.” Dan said, putting the last of the stuff into the cave. “Just because you have his name, does not give him control over you. You know why we call you Miss Pepper?”
“So that you don’t get me and my father confused,” Pepper replied.
“And you never think why we don’t call you father Mr. Pepper? Because he would love that.” She shook her head. “Well, when you work it out, you might finally be free of his shadow.”
Chapter Fourteen – Pepper
“If you’ve finished jabbering, I’d like to get back to my nice warm fire,” Krampus said, clapping his hands as they approached.
“We just have to hitch the sleigh,” Pepper said.
“Leave it here, we can walk back to town.” It wasn’t a request, and so they all followed the half-goat, half-demon back across the hills. It was dark, and with no lights to show them which direction the village was in, they made sure they kept up with him. Although Bas and Dan managed to match his strides, Pepper had to develop a kind of ski
pping action to keep up. Bas wrapped her hand in his and pulled her along, which helped, but by the time the lights of a small village came into view, she was hot and breathless. Krampus neither cared nor commented.
The hills evened out, and the lights of the town grew brighter. When they were within a hundred meters, Pepper finally broke her silence, and asked, between gasps. “You can’t just walk in there.”
Krampus stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her. “Can’t I?”
“Do they know who you are?” she asked.
He sighed and looked over his shoulder, down at the small group of houses nestled together. “Not exactly. But they will if your Dasher doesn’t get back with my Christmas Magic.” He took a small box out of his pocket, the kind used for snuff in days gone by. With a delicate touch she would never have expected of a beast like this, he took a small amount of something between his finger and thumb, and then lifted his hand and sprinkled it on his head. “Happy?”
Pepper and Bas stood dumbstruck as the Krampus slowly morphed into an old man. Only Dan took it all in stride. “You knew?” Pepper accused.
“I’ve been doing this run with Dash for the last ten years. We see things. We know things. Some things more than other certain Peppers ever see.” He winked at Pepper and set off behind Krampus, who now walked like an old man, hunched over, with a beard covering his face, and long gray hair, which made him look like a wizard.
“Yep, and the weirdness never stops coming,” Bas said.
“I’m sorry you are involved in all this,” Pepper said.
“I’m not,” Bas said with a grin, which she only caught because the moon had risen high in the sky. “I could be sitting in my lonely cabin right now. Dozing with a good book. Instead, I’m living a fantasy. As a lawyer, I’ve heard people tell some stories as to why they have committed crimes. After tonight, I’m thinking I may have to reassess my level of belief in those stories.”
Sleighed: BBW Holiday Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Christmas Bears Book 1) Page 6