“Speaking of Jax, how is he?” I asked between bites of eggs.
“It’s the strangest thing. His cut is fully closed, and if it wasn’t for his headache, you would never know he was attacked so brutally yesterday.” The look of excitement on Lizzie’s face didn’t match the confusion coming from her voice.
“But I thought all shifters had excellent healing. Did he heal too fast or too slow for your liking?” Beth inquired.
“I think it was really fast. We don’t see too many bad injuries around here. When I first met Palo, we went to Europe to deal with the wolves who killed off his entire pack. There were some injuries similar to Jax’s, and they took at least two days to heal. And that was with me using my powers to help them along.” Mrs. Claus had the power to heal wolves, but healing other shifters wasn’t something she had tested out before.
My sister’s power used to hurt an injured wolf, so it took her a while to get it down. Sometimes the pain of her using her ability on them was worse than the pain from the injury.
“Did you use your gift on Jax?” I couldn’t help asking. I should have asked these questions yesterday, but since we were told to stay clear of Jax while he was healing, I didn’t see Lizzie the rest of the day.
“Yes, a little bit. I wasn’t sure if I could heal a dragon. All I was able to do was help his headache a little bit. Basically, I took enough pain away that he was able to wake up and not be too uncomfortable.” My sister rocked the medical treatments.
Even though she thought she only helped take away a bit of his headache, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her power that caused his quick healing.
“Well, either way, I’m just glad it wasn’t worse. I take it this means he’ll be up and around by tomorrow?” Beth inquired.
“Yes, he should. Which is really good. When his father arrives later today, I hope he’s doing even better. I wouldn’t want to be here if the king arrived and his only son was still down for the count. I doubt some of our buildings would survive his fire,” Lizzie joked, but I had to agree.
The dragon king was formidable. I wouldn’t want to be around when he finds whoever did this to his heir.
Chapter 13
Salvador
“I heard Santa’s little sisters are planning on going to the gathering tonight. Who’s scheduled to escort them?” I asked Ian.
All the dragons had arrived, and it was chaos trying to get them all settled and make sure guards were assigned to protect the royal family twenty-four seven. Plus, I was worried about Bella and Beth. It seemed like they should have been kept inside or sent away somewhere safe until the dregs were captured. Who knew what was going to happen tonight or anytime this summer. As long as the prince’s attackers were still loose, no one was safe, especially the young ladies in Santa’s family.
“I don’t know.” Ian shook his head. “As I understand it, we are tasked with protecting the dragon royal family, not Santa’s family.” He arched an eyebrow and glanced at me with a knowing look.
Running a hand through my hair, I sighed and looked out the window. We were in a small shack that we had been assigned to use as the Dragon’s base of operations. “I know, but I’m worried that Bella overheard the wolves planning their attack on the prince and now she might be in danger.” Even though everyone originally thought the attack was planned against Santa, it was Jax who had been attacked the very next day.
“Could we have two different groups on our hands?” Ian wondered aloud.
“Son of a Nutcracker! Why didn’t I think of that?” I tried not to swear, it wasn’t professional, but sometimes my temper got the better of me. I stood and paced back and forth across the small floor. The shack was only ten feet by ten feet. I would need to take a long flight before going to bed tonight. I had too much pent-up frustration over everything going on to go to sleep.
My partner stood up and paced to the window. “I think we need to treat this as a hostile situation. I know the concept behind this summer is to make friends, strengthen the alliance, but I think until the wolves learn they can trust us, it won’t happen. I really wish the king would go home where it’s safer and easier to protect him.”
“Trust me, I’ve made that argument a million times already. Since the prince and his very pregnant mate will only be here for a few weeks, the king felt it was important that he stay the entire summer. It’s all politics. You know how I hate politics.” Technically, I was part of the royal family. I was a distant cousin to Jax, but I never wanted anything to do with court politics, so I left to start my own business.
The other dragon in the room chuckled. “Yes, I know very well how much you hate court life. I don’t disagree with you. Once the new prince is born, you’ll be what, eighth in line for the throne? That should help to keep you away even more.”
Ian walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Rock has plenty of guards assigned to the twins.” He winked at me, and I knew he had the wrong idea.
“Ian, I’m not worried about their safety for any reason other than what it might do to our alliance and how the princess might react if something happened to her sisters. It’s been so long since a Kringle mated into the line that we have no idea how her pregnancy is going to go. What if she miscarries?” My greatest fear was that this summer would be too much on the young wolf and our future heir wouldn’t make it. That would kill the royal family, not to mention what it could do to Mandy herself.
Ian’s lips tightened and growled. “I’ll personally rip apart anyone who hurts the princess or her unborn baby. Don’t worry. We will keep her safe.”
“We will also keep an eye on the twins. I want to have a couple of dragons keeping a safe distance from the girls the entire time. See if Rock will give you their schedule. I’ll tell him we want to coordinate so we know where other guards are in case we need to call in help for any reason.” I didn’t care if the wolf enforcer thought we were weak for wanting to be able to call in their help. I only wanted to make sure the two families were kept safe.
“Rock did say he wanted a wolf to be with the princess at all times, as well. I think he’ll have no problem giving us their schedule. We’ll have to do the same, but coordinating the guards is a smart move.” Ian went to the laptop on the desk and began typing.
After a few moments, the clicking of the keys stopped and Ian turned his head. “Any news yet about Jax’s attacker? Did the Enforcers get anything from those wolves they questioned?”
“Nothing yet. Turned out no one actually saw the attack. One said he thought he saw a shadow, but he wasn’t sure, and he couldn’t make out the person or creature who attacked our prince.” I shook my head and sighed. Our investigation was going nowhere, and I needed to find out who attacked Jax before he could go and attack anyone else.
“Anyone see Arkin or Brandr around lately?” Ian asked.
I shook my head and pursed my lips. Something wasn’t right. If a wolf attacked Jax, you’d think someone would have heard about it by now. These wolves loved to gossip, and so far, nothing. No one is laying claim to the attack, and no one has heard or seen anything either. It was extremely frustrating to not be able to find even one clue. I had to get out of here before my dragon became too frustrated to let me stay in my human form.
“I’m heading out to check out the arena they’re using tonight for the gathering. I want to see if there are any blind spots to our plan.” I didn’t wait for Ian to answer. Instead, I left the little shack and took off.
Once I shifted and was in the air, I began to relax as the air currents whipped under and over my wings. Flying always helped to clear my thoughts. The tight spot in my chest began to unravel, and I enjoyed my short flight to the arena on the outskirts of the dome.
Not all the events would be held inside the dome. There just wasn’t enough room for them. Some events were held a ways away, too, like the mountain climbing contests. I knew the twins had signed up for that one. I was going to have to make sure we had a large c
ontingency of dragons participating and watching that event just to make sure everyone was safe.
As I flew over the small village, I noted that there were already a large number of wolves heading to the arena. I didn’t think the event was scheduled to start for at least another hour. I was going to have to hurry up if I wanted to check the area out for any signs of danger before it got too crowded to see anything.
After flying low over most of the arena, I landed and shifted back to my human form. There were two spots that seemed like a great place to hide. The guards walking around wouldn’t be able to see if anyone was hiding in there. I would have my guards always check these spots when they fly over as well as when they are within walking distance.
Once I had, in fact, determined they were true blind spots, I shifted back to my dragon form and headed back to the guard shack. Ian was still there coordinating all the shifts for the night. With the king attending tonight’s event, we needed to ensure he would be safe while still leaving enough protection back at Santa’s house for the prince and his mate. They were staying in for the night, at the insistence of the king.
“Good, you’re back.” Ian greeted when I arrived. “I heard from Rock about the schedule. He sent it over. Of course, the twins aren’t really into plans, so other than the events they have signed up for, we don’t really know their movements,”
“Well, that’s a start. Will their team send us updates as they get them?” I was used to constant changes in schedules. Humans were no different. They would often set a schedule and then at the last minute make changes.
My partner nodded and then held up a hand. “Looks like the twins are leaving Santa’s house now. Who do you want to have follow them?”
I pulled the notebook to see who was already assigned and who had the night off. “Looks like we don’t have any extra bodies tonight. Have all dragons been informed to keep an eye out for the twins?” I paged through the notes and decided we would have to make a few changes. I knew we needed a couple of dragons on-call at all times.
“Yes, Malcom informed everyone to keep an eye on Santa and his family and to be sure to help them if anything happens. They all understand how important this is to our alliance. None of them want any more issues between us and the wolves.” Ian was proving to be the best choice for my partner on this assignment. I only wished he would come work for me. I could use his attention to detail on my team.
Once the summer was over, I would be going back to my security business and Ian would be going back to the dragon courts to keep watch on the royal family. If I couldn’t have him on my team, I was glad he was keeping an eye on the courts.
“I think I’ll take another flight and find the twins myself. I know we have three dragons flying over the arena, but they’re keeping an eye on the king and his entourage. I want to keep an eye on the twins and the rest of their family.” I thought I needed more flying time before I would be relaxed enough to sleep anyway. Spending the next few hours in the sky would be perfect.
Ian laughed. “Alright. Just remember, the girls like to chat. Don’t go breathing fire on every male wolf who gets near them.”
I shook my head. When was he going to learn I had no interest in the young she-wolves?
Chapter 14
Bella
This was so exciting. We hadn’t had this many wolves visit since Lizzie’s wedding. I was just a pup then, so I didn’t really get to enjoy all the activities or flirt with so many handsome wolves.
Even though there were a lot of dragons here, I was still excited and couldn’t wait to meet everyone. Beth was right, flirting was fun. As long as none of them got any ideas about something more permanent, I was going to enjoy myself this summer.
As we neared the arena, I picked up so many different scents. I could smell barbeque meat and something sweet that I couldn’t quite seem to figure out. All the various types of meat were easy to identify - beef, goat, boar, pork, caribou, and venison. All the normal meats. I only hoped they had bacon-wrapped caribou pops. Those were the best.
The sweet scent was getting stronger, and I wondered what it was. I could sense sugar and cinnamon and knew it wasn’t cookies. It was a much stronger scent. Was that butter, too?
“What is that fantastic smell?” I asked to no one in particular.
We were part of a large group of wolves. Beth and I wanted to hang out, just the two of us, but when we told Mark where we were going, he ended up grabbing six more wolves to join us. So, the nine of us made our way to the party.
I watched Mark’s nose sniff, and he smiled. “Elephant ears. I haven’t had those in ages.”
My brows furrowed, and I looked to Beth. I mouthed the words, elephant ears, and stuck my tongue out.
Beth and I both shivered in disgust. I had never eaten elephant ears, but I still knew I wouldn’t want them.
Mikey, Jr. laughed. “Not real elephant ears. These are a very tasty pastry. Didn’t you ever go to the Puyallup Spring Fair while in college?”
I looked at my twin and shook my head.
She said, “No, we don’t have a car at school and didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
“Have you been?” I asked.
Mark nodded. “Of course. A group of us have been down there a few times and always get a stack of the cinnamon, gooey treat. You’re going to love it.”
I shrugged thinking I might as well try it. “What else is new here?”
Ash, who was new to the Enforcers, added, “I think they have a bunch of fried stuff this year, like fried pickles and other things you would find at a human carnival.”
I smiled at Beth and thought this was going to be fun.
When we made our way inside of the arena, Mikey Jr. spoke up, “Beth and Bella, I need to the two of you to swear you will stay by our sides the entire night. Even if you need to go to the little she-wolves room, you will take one of us with you.”
“Ewww, you are not trailing me into the bathroom.” I held up my hand and shook my head. No way was a guy going to watch me pee.
“No, we will clear the bathroom and wait outside for you. No one will be allowed in there until you come out. Rock’s orders.” Mikey Jr. shrugged.
“Great, now we are going to stand out even more. You know,” I put a hand to my hip. “If you don’t want us to stand out, then you might want to dial back the prison warden act. Just a bit.” I put my thumb and forefinger together to show a small space.
“I’m sorry, girls. Since Jax was attacked, we have to assume your entire family is a target as well. It probably is just the dragons who have to worry, but we can’t be too sure.” The smile on Mark’s face didn’t quite make it to his eyes.
I knew they all felt bad for us, but I also knew they took their jobs as our protectors very seriously. No one wanted to lose another Kringle, or Claus, to terrorists again. Since my Uncle Kris had been murdered, the protection details had become a regular thing when we were out in public. I was actually surprised Beth and I were allowed to go to college without having an entire squad follow us around.
I looked back at Ash and thought he looked familiar. He reminded me of a guy in one of my classes last semester. I reached out to Beth via our mind speaking connection, Do you think we have tails at college?
Since we are twins, Beth and I can speak telepathically in human form. It’s not something we do often, but it totally has it’s benefits.
Beth looked around and then back at me. Of course, we do. Did you really think Palo was going to let us move away and not have protection? I spotted Ash already. Yeah, he was in our Creative Writing class. I think there are at least five others as well.
Well, that just sucked. I thought Palo trusted us to take care of ourselves. Why didn’t you ever tell me?
Because I knew it would bother you too much. Besides, they stayed far enough away that we were able to do whatever we wanted. If they had interfered, I would have said something. My twin winked at me, and I sighed, realizing it was naïve of me to thin
k we were all alone in Seattle.
“I’m hungry. Anyone else interested in getting some food?” I stood from the seats we had up front. Tonight was really all about getting to know people, but there was supposed to be some sort of entertainment. We sat in my family’s section waiting for the show to begin.
“How about I send a couple of guys to grab food for everyone?” Mikey Jr. asked.
I slumped. “I was hoping to go walk around and see who I know. I don’t want to stay seated the entire time.”
Mikey Jr. pursed his lips. “Your brother will kill me if anything happens to either of you. How about we all go together? I’m sure everyone is ready for food anyway.”
“Sure, I want to scan the food booths and see what they have before I choose my dinner,” Beth piped up cheerily.
It was as though it didn’t bother Beth to be surrounded by so many guards. I didn’t understand it. I felt like they formed a wall around us, and I could barely breath with the way they were suffocating me.
I tried to take the lead, but every time I got out in front, two of them would overtake me and take the lead. We really were caged in with two in front, one on each side of us, and the rest behind us. I didn’t see how anyone could even get near us with all these overprotective wolves around.
How are you even going to get your flirt on with all of this testosterone surrounding us? I mentally asked my twin.
Beth took my arm and responded out loud. “Bella, look at all of the wolves checking us out. With the guards around us, we stand out more. Now, all those luscious beefcakes out there who don’t know us are going to wonder why we have such a fantastic entourage. The more alpha types are going to want us even more, and that will turn into a game for them.” She smiled and waved at two cute guys ogling us as we passed them.
“I don’t see how they are going to get past our guards.”
Beth’s laugh was light and flirty, the kind that always attracted the attention of males. “Please, haven’t you figured out the male species yet? When a woman is hard to get, they get all animalistic and find ways to get to her. With all our guards, the more aggressive males will come up with some very fascinating ways of getting to us. This is going to be fun.”
Miss Claus and the Christmas Wedding (A Shifter Christmas Romance Book 3) Page 8