I stalked toward the youngest sister-in-law to my prince and put my hand on her arm to stop her. “Wait, I have some questions for you.”
One of her brows shot up, and her mouth quirked. “You think I know anything about what happened?”
“I think you know more than what you’re letting on. What happened last night?”
Bella looked around before pulling me into the kitchen. “I don’t know what happened. I was here in the house when Boris came running in to tell Santa what happened.”
“Alright, but what about last night? Something frightened you. I wasn’t going to push, but since Jax has been attacked, I need to know what happened. Did someone try to hurt you?” I stared down at her, willing her to answer me.
Beth came up next to Bella and said, “You might as well tell him. Maybe it wasn’t Palo they were talking about. Maybe it was Jax?”
“Tell me what?” I demanded.
“Fine.” Bella sighed. “Last night I overheard someone talking about taking out Santa. At least, I thought they were talking about Palo. I’m not really sure. I told Palo all about it this morning, and he called in Rock and the Enforcers. Most of them were here when Jax was attacked.”
Beth interjected, “I can’t believe anyone was stupid enough to attack Jax when so many Enforcers were so close.” She sighed and hopped up on the kitchen counter right next to her sister.
“Who was it? Did they see you?” I asked as I moved in closer to the twins.
If she overheard a group of wolves planning to attack the prince, she would be in danger. I bristled at the thought of someone wanting to hurt her or her sister.
Bella bit her lip, and something inside of me stirred. Her action brought my attention to her lips, and suddenly, I wondered what it would be like to … no. I reminded myself how young she was and that I was here to protect her sister, the princess. I wasn’t here to find myself a mate. Besides, Bella had made her opinions about dragons very clear the first day I met her.
Bella looked at her sister and then at me. “Yes. Well, I know two of the wolves. Arkin and Brandr were meeting with two other wolves I didn’t know. At least, I think it was only four of them. I didn’t see them. I just overheard them.”
When she bit her lower lip again, I almost groaned. Why did she have to be so alluring? Didn’t girls know what it does to men to watch them lick, or in this case bite, their lips? Surely, she wasn’t trying to get me to look at her mouth, was she?
I looked out the kitchen window in an effort to get myself back into the conversation at hand. “Where did this conversation take place?”
“I think it was in the bunkhouse they’re staying in, but I’m not sure if it was theirs or not. I did see Arkin walk inside without knocking, so I assumed it was his.” Instead of biting her lip this time, she gave me a half smile.
I could feel the frown developing on my face as I realized I might need her to show me exactly where this bunkhouse was.
“I have a favor to ask, but I promise we will protect you.” I was already thinking about who I could get to go with me and when the best time would be to do this. If I put Bella and her twin in harm’s way, I would never forgive myself.
“Of course, anything to help,” she answered without pause.
“I need you to show me where the bunkhouse is located. I’ll get Ian to go with us and even a few of Rock’s team, just to make sure you are safe.” As I was thinking of a good reason for us to be in that area, she spoke up.
“Actually, we should only need a few guards to go with us. There’s a little fish shop one block over from the bunkhouse. If a group of us went there for dinner, no one would think anything of us being in the area. Plus, if we keep the size down, we won’t attract as much attention.” Bella beamed.
I had to admit to myself, she was cunning. Her plan would most likely work, as long as we didn’t slow down at all when we walked past the bunkhouse. Then Ian and I could do a fly over later to check it out better.
“It’s all settled. At dinner time, you can play tour guide and show us the best place to get fried fish.” Without waiting for a response, I turned and set out to find Ian. I wanted to run this idea past him and start working on who else would go with us.
I stopped and turned around. “One last question. Why would Santa be happy to have Elves protecting him and the house?”
Bella and Beth both laughed before Bella answered, “You’ve never seen an elf mad, have you?”
I blinked a few times. “No, this is only my third time here and I can’t remember ever interacting with the elves. In fact, other than Boris, I don’t think I’ve even seen them before.”
Beth smirked. “That’s because they can make themselves invisible. It’s kind of hard to fight something you can’t see. But, they are also extremely strong. Never assume you are stronger, or a better fighter, than an elf. If they think Santa, or one of his family members, are in danger, stay clear of an elf. They can turn into a bit of a devil when their anger is stirred.”
“I heard when my Uncle Kris was attacked, a couple of the elves went ballistic and we lost a building.” The frightened look on Bella’s face told me she wasn’t joking. “They may appear jolly and sweet, but they were the original Enforcers before our pack was large enough to protect itself. The elves are the ones who used to teach our wolves how to defend our pack.”
Beth continued, “Now, they prefer to build toys and help make Christmas special. Plus, they have magic we can’t understand. Rumor has it that they were created from Christmas Magic and therefore have some innate magical abilities.”
“Did they create the protective dome surrounding Polaris?” I never knew how the dome was erected, but if Elves had magic, I’d bet money it was them who did it.
Bella shrugged. “No one knows for sure, but it’s what we all assume. If they did it, they are keeping quiet about it.”
I nodded my thanks and left. As I walked away, I thought about it and realized it did make sense. As far as we knew, elves weren’t located anywhere outside of Santa’s village. They could very well be a physical manifestation of the Christmas Magic surround the village, and Santa himself.
Chapter 12
Bella
“Last night was a bust.” I told my twin sister when we woke up this morning. I moved into her room yesterday in preparation for my grandparents coming to town today.
“Why didn’t you wake me when you got home?” Beth asked.
“If anything interesting had happened, I would have.” I shrugged. “We walked past the bunkhouse, where I saw Arkin the night before, but we didn’t even slow down. Ian said they would check it out later. I was kinda bummed I didn’t get to see them in action.”
Beth laughed. “You mean you’re bummed you didn’t get to see Salvador show off his muscles?”
I threw my pillow at her. “Stop it. I’m not interested in him.”
“Sure, you aren’t. I’ve seen the way you check him out.” Beth smirked. “And I’ve seen the way he looks at you when you aren’t paying attention. I think someone has a dragon admirer. I wish Ian would look at me the way Salvador looks at you.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What do you mean? Salvador doesn’t check me out.” I shook my head. “You’re crazy if you think he likes me. I was so rude to them when we first met.”
“Dear, sweet sister. Don’t you know all guys, no matter what species, like a good chase? Or I guess in this case, would it be a flight?” Beth shook her head and waved her hand in the air. “It doesn’t matter what the right word is for it. All men like a woman who doesn’t seem that interested in the beginning. Remember, they are alpha animals. They have to protect their women, but they also have to be the ones to chase them down and make them submit to their romantic ways.” Beth suggestively raised her eyebrows, and I gasped.
“No way. There is no way I’m going to submit to a dragon. I don’t care how nice his biceps are. It’s not happening.” Just thinking about it almost made me gag.
I pointed to my sister. “And you, missy, better not go messing up our pact to finish college and get a real job before settling down with anyone, dragon or wolf.”
Beth held her hands in the air to stop me from going any further. “I’m not looking for a mate. I just want a summer fling. Can’t a girl have a little fun around here? Geesh.”
“Don’t worry. After today, there should be plenty of wolves looking to have a fling with you.”
“What if I want a dragon? Did you ever think I might want to fly a little?” Beth pouted, and I knew she was messing with me.
“Fine, fly with a dragon. I don’t really care. Just as long as you don’t get too close to any male within mating age. We are so close to realizing our dreams. If you bail on me, you know Lizzie and Mom will find an excuse to keep me from finishing college as well.” The only reason I was able to go away to college was because Beth went with me.
The first year we lived in the dorms. Then this past school year we were able to rent an apartment close to the university. Next year, we’re going to stay in the same place. I always felt safe there. We only had two years left, and next summer we were going to try and get a summer job at one of the summer resorts that specialized in hiking and backpacking trips around the greater Seattle and Puget Sound area.
If Beth left to mate with someone, I knew no one would want me to stay in Seattle all alone.
“I told you already, I’m not looking for a mate. I just want to have fun. What’s wrong with that? You used to like to flirt with the males and have fun. What happened to you?” The accusing tone in Beth’s voice stopped me short.
“I … I like to have fun,” I stuttered.
Sure, I hadn’t flirted with one single wolf since we arrived, outside of Arkin, but it’s only been a couple of days and I was flirting with a wolf. He just happened to be a bad guy. Or at least he appeared to be a bad buy. Not for the first time, I wondered if maybe I misunderstood, and he wasn’t talking about hurting Santa, Jax, or any of the rest of us. Maybe he knew of someone who was trying to hurt them, and they were planning on taking out the real bad guy.
“You were out for hours last night with a group of handsome and muscle-bound males. Did you flirt with any of them?” Beth stood up and crossed her arms over her chest.
I thought about it for a few seconds. “No, I guess I didn’t. But last night wasn’t about fun. It was all about finding out who hurt Jax.”
“Okay, then, what else did you do? If you were gone for hours, what took so long?” my sister inquired.
“Well, Salvador, Ian, Luke, and Tom all wanted to stay in the area for a while to see if anyone else went inside of the bunkhouse. The Candy Cane Coffee Shop had a good view of the bunkhouse, so we sat inside by the front window and the guys took turns looking at the house while we sat around listening to the poetry readings. Let me tell you, Arctic Wolf shifters don’t know how to write poetry. I don’t care what language they speak it in, it’s all rubbish.” I shook my head and chuckled, thinking about some of the really bad attempts at poetry I heard last night.
“I could have told you that. Why were you listening to poetry?” My sister scrunched her nose. When she did that, she kind of reminded me of a snarling wolf. Her white teeth where prominent, and her eyes squinted. It was cute.
“I guess with so many wolves in town, the owner thought it would be fun to do something different. A way to get the wolves from all over the world together and see what they could do. Personally” - I put my hand over my chest - “I would prefer to see an archery competition or a game of soccer. I guess since the Round Up is all about physical games, the shop owner came up with something different.”
“What’s next? Karaoke?” Beth chuckled.
“Now that is something I would like to watch. I bet there are at least a handful of wolves who can sing or at least carry a tune.” I knew I wasn’t one of them, and neither was my sister, but it was still fun to sing along with the radio.
“When we got home, I was so tired from the boredom that I couldn’t wake you to tell you about it.” I almost fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
“Why did they keep you with them? I would have thought they wouldn’t want you around if those guys showed up?” Beth asked.
“I asked them the same question. They said it would look weird if any of them took me back home and then they went back to the coffee shop. None of them wanted to leave in case they missed seeing someone go into the room. Salvador thinks they just used it as a meeting point and that none of them were staying there.” I thought it was because they didn’t want to break up the group protecting me.
My twin scratched her eyebrow. “Huh, that would make sense. Are they going to keep an eye on the place today? With so many people arriving in the next few hours, there is bound to be a group assigned to that bunkhouse. I heard Palo say the place was going to be jam-packed and that some packs might have to share a smaller cabin.”
“Yeah, I did mention that to them, but they said they would still keep an eye on it, just in case someone did go back there. Luke said he was going to ask Erika, who’s managing the bunkhouse assignments, who was staying there the past two days. And if Arkin wasn’t assigned that spot, Luke’s going to find out where they were assigned to stay.” I knew Erika had a crush on Mikey, Jr. so I had suggested they get him to ask her, but since it was an official investigation, they knew Erika would have no problem telling them anything they needed.
“Well, it sounds like they have it all in hand. What are we supposed to do today?” My sister went over to the mirror above her dresser and began applying some light eye make-up.
Neither of us were big into make-up. We both usually just put on moisturizer, a light foundation, eye-liner, and mascara. When we shifted to our wolf form with make-up on, none of it showed up on our wolfy faces. But, when we transformed back into our human bodies, the mascara and eye-liner was always messed up. So, we hardly ever wore it at home. It was used more for when we were out in human company, to help us fit in better.
“So, trying to look good for anyone in particular?” I raised my eyes and smiled at my sister. I knew she wanted to impress a certain dragon, but she would be happy if a few wolves flirted her way as well.
“Nope. I just want to look my best when we meet all the new wolves today.” Beth turned around and looked at me. “Aren’t you going to dress up a little bit? Put on some make-up? We are representing Santa, you know. A little bit of effort would be nice.”
I rolled my eyes and stood. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” I looked down at my nice blue jeans and embroidered vest over a powder blue button-up shirt and thought I looked cute. My hair could use a little bit of work. Maybe I would put it up in a French braid. But that was all I could see that needed improvement.
“Ugh,” Beth sighed in an overly dramatic fashion and flailed her arms. “Please tell me you are not going to wear that old vest? It’s been outdated since high school.”
I knew there was no arguing fashion with my sister. I was actually surprised she didn’t want to go into fashion design, or even modeling, with the way she always worried about the latest trends.
“I think it’s cute. Besides, no wolf, other than you, will care what I’m wearing. Seriously, Beth, why are you so worried about fashion?” I had only met a few humans who were as worried about clothing trends as my sister. She really had a problem.
We spent the next ten minutes arguing over this trend or that one. I really didn’t care. I just wanted to go to breakfast. So, after I admitted I had zero fashion sense, my sister relented and braided my hair for me.
“Ah, I see you decided to come to breakfast on time today,” Lizzie commented as she gestured to the huge spread laid out on the kitchen island. She looked like Vanna White on that game show we watched while growing up.
For a moment, I wondered if Vanna was still on. She was old when I was a teenager, and I couldn’t imagine she was still doing that job now. Didn’t humans age faster
than us wolves?
“Wow, are you expecting an army to come for breakfast?” Beth asked.
“Pretty much. With all the Enforcers hanging out here all day, I’m going to feel like I’m cooking for an army. I could use your help in the kitchen, if you don’t already have plans.” Lizzie rarely asked us to help with meals, so when she did, I always jumped in to help.
“I don’t think I have anything on my plate today. No pun intended. Except for maybe checking out the social later tonight. Most of the wolves should be here, and I wanted to meet the new ones and see if any of our friends are here before the games begin,” I said as I perused the options for breakfast.
I ended up going with cheesy scrambled eggs, six slices of bacon, two biscuits with sausage gravy, and a fruit cup. I was starving, and there was no way I was going to miss out on such a fantastic spread.
“Just be sure to stick close to Mark or whoever your guard is later today. I was thinking I should make up a bunch more breakfast burritos to put in the freezer, maybe even a few sausage biscuits. That way, there’s at least something for everyone to snack on,” Lizzie said before I sat down.
“Sounds good,” I tried to say around a mouth full of bacon.
“I have some large hoagies baking in the ovens over in the commercial kitchen. My plan was to have sub sandwiches with macaroni salad. I could use some help slicing the meats and cheeses this morning.” My sister always made her bread from scratch, so she must have been up very early, or super late last night, if she was making sub sandwich bread.
“Sure thing, Lizzie. Bella and I can help with whatever you need. I think the more time we spend here, the better. But I’m with Bella on this evening. I really want to see who all’s here.” Beth sat next to me with almost the same food. Only, she had chosen pancakes instead of biscuits and gravy.
“I think everyone was planning on heading to the gathering tonight, anyway. Well, everyone except for Jax and Mandy.” My oldest sister came over with a cup of coffee in her hand and sat down on my other side.
Miss Claus and the Christmas Wedding (A Shifter Christmas Romance Book 3) Page 7