Chapter 13
Hunter hadn’t expected to tell Pixie he loved her in the family room of their home, but the timing had been perfect. And then they’d tumbled into bed, and he’d never felt more connected to a person in his life.
That was the way it was with truemates, he supposed.
Everything moved at lightning speed but was ultimately exactly at the pace it should be.
After some pillow talk about the future, they fell asleep in each other’s arms. As tempting as it was to stay up and visit with his family, she had to work that night and he didn’t want her to be exhausted.
They dressed for dinner at Storm and Seren’s, where the whole family would be gathered for a big meal and then they’d do their traditional family shift and hunt. He was excited to walk around the woods with Pixie until she had to leave to gather teeth.
She put on her coat, and he watched as she tucked her silver-lavender hair behind her ears. She caught him gawking at her and smiled.
“See something you like?” she asked with an arched brow.
“My sexy mate.”
“No detouring to the bed, we’ve got dinner plans.”
“Spoilsport.”
“Is it gift time yet?” she asked.
“We’re going to pop back here after dinner.”
“Sounds good.”
They walked through the crisp winter evening to Storm and Seren’s house hand in hand.
The entire family was already there, laughter and conversation filling the air.
The delicious scents of roasted meat, fresh baked bread, and cider made Hunter’s stomach rumble.
The family greeted them happily, treating Pixie as if she’d been a member of the family for years, and he loved seeing how happy she was to be with his family and clan.
The long wooden table in the big kitchen was packed with family and food.
Hunter sat with Pixie while she held baby Hale, who snoozed in her arms with a little smile on his face.
His heart clenched at the sweet scene. They’d talked about having kids and decided it would happen when it happened, but neither of them could wait to welcome their first bundle of joy.
A mix of both of them.
A half polar bear, half fairy.
How freaking cool would that be?
While they ate the family holiday favorites, Pixie charmed them with stories of gathering teeth from children all over the world.
When the meal was over and the family was ready to head out to hunt and shift, he and Pixie walked back to their home to exchange gifts.
“What did you think?” he asked as they approached the home.
“I had such a great time. I wish I didn’t have to leave.”
“The kids need you though.”
“I know. Maybe next Christmas I can put in for a night off and get someone to cover for me.”
“That would be great. You like the house, right?” he asked, suddenly nervous. They hadn’t really talked about it because he’d been too busy sexing her up and then sleeping with her in his arms.
“I do! I can’t wait to decorate it with you. And the apartment too.”
“You don’t like the way I decorated the apartment?”
“You mean the very masculine vibes?”
He laughed. “We can totally redecorate both places.”
“And the island too,” she said. “I know my place is pretty girly.”
“You’ve got a great view of the ocean though.”
“It’s pretty neat,” she said. “With all our places to live and family to spend time with, you and I are blessed.”
“We really are.”
He took her hand and led her to the couch. Taking her hand, he said, “I love you.” He stopped, clearing his throat as emotion rose in him. “You literally fell into my life and every moment since then has been wonderful, exciting, a little scary too, but so amazing.”
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
He took a deep breath and pulled out a small velvet box that he’d tucked behind the pillow before they left for dinner. Inside was a delicate silver band with an ice-blue gemstone in the center, cut in a way that made it shimmer like the frozen lake in Northernmost.
She gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth.
“Pixie Starling, will you marry me?”
She threw herself at him so fast they nearly toppled off the couch. “Yes! Oh, Hunter! Yes!”
He laughed and pulled her close, giving her a swift kiss before slipping the ring onto her finger.
She held her hand up to look at it. “I love it, it’s so beautiful.”
“So are you, sweetheart.”
He kissed her, pouring every ounce of love he had in his heart for her into it, his bear rumbling in happiness that they’d finally found their other half.
No more lonely nights and cold beds.
When the kiss ended, Pixie smiled, her cheeks pink with excitement. “My turn!”
She hopped up from the couch and went into the bedroom, returning with a small box topped with a red bow.
He opened the box and found a bracelet inside.
“This is cool,” he said, lifting it out of the box.
The wide bracelet looked like it was made of a complicated braid of thin strips of leather that shimmered in the light with amber, silver, and copper striations. It felt like it hummed as he held it, and he looked at her curiously.
“I made it,” she said, biting the corner of her bottom lip.
“I worked on it every day after I dropped off the teeth at the fairy garden on the island before I went back to Northernmost. It’s made from a magically imbued fairy flower called hydropsia that fairies use in protection spells.
The flower itself only grows on Evermere Island and it’s ancient, as in millennia years old.
The dried vines of the flower look and feel like leather and I had it enchanted for protection.
Whenever you wear it, it’ll give you an extra sense of the aura of others around you and when danger is near. ”
He swallowed hard at the beautiful gesture.
He slid the bracelet on his wrist, where it fit perfectly. “Pixie, it’s incredible.”
“You like it?”
“I love it. And I love you.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. He couldn’t believe she’d made him such a thoughtful gift.
He was the luckiest male on the planet.
They talked for a bit longer about the night ahead, and then they walked to his parents’ where the family had gathered for the shift and hunt.
His dad said, “First, we welcome baby Hale to his first shift and hunt with the family, and second, we welcome Pixie to her first shift and hunt. As has been our family’s tradition for generations, we spend Christmas night in the woods, communing with each other and nature. Be safe and have fun.”
It started snowing while he spoke, quickly dusting the already snowy ground with another layer of fluffy flakes.
“Ready, love?” Hunter asked, pulling her behind a large tree so they had some privacy while he stripped and shifted.
“I can’t wait to watch you shift. You were already a bear when I saw you before.”
“I’m excited too,” he said. “I’ll be at our house waiting for you to be finished collecting teeth so we can go to the island together.”
“It’ll be nice to spend some time in the sunshine, but I do like the snow. Must be because my mate is a polar bear.”
He grinned and kissed her, then stripped and shifted into a polar bear.
Pixie ran her fingers through his thick fur and gave his ear a little tug. “Best looking bear out there, Hunter. I’m a lucky fairy.”
He chuffed at her, nudging her side with his nose.
He was lucky too.
They walked around the territory, passing his family along the way, including Seren, who had little Hale in a carrier, bundled up against the cold.
Hunter stayed close as Pixie walked beside him. She talked about her hopes for the future, for the kids that would someday run through these same woods, would perhaps be Guardians or tooth fairies.
Anything was possible.
Eventually it was time for her to leave to collect teeth.
They stood in the backyard of their new home, snow falling around them.
“I hate that I have to go,” she murmured, pulling off her thick coat and letting her wings free as they slipped through the slits at the back of her tunic. “But the time will fly.”
He grumbled in agreement.
She kissed him on the nose and smiled sweetly. “Merry Christmas, sweet bear. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
She looked at her ledger, opened a portal, and disappeared into the night, her wings carrying her to the first house on her list.
He went to catch up with his family and wait out the rest of his shift until she returned. He was so happy to share his family’s holiday traditions with her and he was excited to share hers as well.
Then they’d make their own traditions when they had kids, a wonderful blend of the two of them.
The polar bear and the tooth fairy.
What a crazy Christmas it turned out to be.
* * *
Jack Frost threw the cut crystal tumbler against the wall of his office just because he could. And because he was pissed as hell.
Another Christmas was over, and his brother was not dead.
The audacity!
He exhaled sharply and ran a hand through his silver hair, his jaw tight with fury.
His gaze caught the map of Northernmost and his fury increased. The damn magical perimeter, his brother’s magic supplemented by a phoenix witch and Mother Nature herself, was still intact. Untouched and unbroken.
He should have been celebrating inside Northernmost on Christmas Day. Everything had been in place, a perfect plan from every angle. His army of turned-to-evil followers, Azure, the Frostfang blade.
Yet here he was in his lair.
And across the frozen vastness of the North Pole, his brother still breathed.
Flicking open his cigarette case, he slid one between his lips and lit it, the tip flaring as he inhaled. Blowing out the smoke, he rolled his neck and growled.
From the corner of the room, Thale cleared his throat. “We have options.” The turned elf with black eyes and gray skin sounded nervous. And he should be. Jack prided himself on being unpredictable. “I can rally the remnants of the army. We could—”
Jack cut him off, blowing out another billow of smoke.
“No. I’m done wasting time on cannon fodder.
” He unbuttoned his suit coat and sat in the desk chair, drumming his fingers on the desk.
He’d wasted a lot of magic turning various magical people evil to create an army, but it had been for nothing.
They’d lost countless in the battle on Christmas morning, the security for Northernmost aided by tooth fairies, of all people.
Thale thought he was the perfect replacement for his former number two, who had lost his life at the paws of a polar bear shifter. But Jack knew better than to pin all his hopes on an evil minion with delusions of grandeur.
Waving a dismissive hand at Thale, he waited until the door was closed and reached for the phone on his desk, tapping out a number he hadn’t dialed in years.
The line rang twice before it was answered.
“You must really be desperate if you’re reaching out to me, Jack Frost.”
Jack smirked, taking another drag of his cigarette. “I’m not desperate, I’m determined.”
There was a beat of silence, and then a dark and cruel chuckle sounded. “If you say so.”
“In that regard, I do need your help, Nightmare.”
“Finally figured out that fear is more powerful than ice?”
Jack bit back the snarl. Nothing was more powerful than ice.
But ice alone wasn’t going to do the job.
And unfortunately, Nightmare, the most powerful evil dream walker in the world, was the last person Jack could reach out to for help to take over the Well of Magic.
Nightmare and his followers lived on fear, replenishing their tarnished brand of magic by siphoning the fear from the children and adults they tormented while they slept.
“I need your particular brand of evil to help me accomplish the greatest feat of all time—taking out Santa and turning the Well to darkness.”
“I’ll help,” Nightmare said, his voice a dark drawl. “We’ll make them scream. All of them.”
The line went dead. Jack exhaled a final time and stabbed the butt into the ashtray, his lips twisting into a grin.
Time was running out for his brother and the good magic users of the world.
This time next year, he’d be the one controlling the Well of Magic, and everyone would tremble before him.
Everyone.
* * *
Thank You for Reading Caught By Her Guardian!
I hope you loved Pixie and Hunter’s story!