A Polar Bear Christmas

by Emilia Hartley

  What he could do, was give her what little he had. He plucked the ring from his pocket and slipped it over her finger.

  ***

  Holly looked down, and her stomach dropped through the floor at the sight of her hand. The ring on her finger was one she’d never once thought she would hold, let alone wear. The white gold band glittered with tiny diamonds. In the center was a flawless cushion-cut diamond.

  Prepared to shake her head and give it back to him, her hand curled into a fist of its own accord. As much as she wanted to be mad at him for keeping their bond a secret, she couldn’t hold onto the anger. Not like she could hold onto the ring.

  The ring he most likely stole. There was no way her mother would have let him talk her into handing it over. Holly was careful to keep her hand beneath the table. If she revealed what Claus had given her, she feared her mother might clamber on top of the table just to get it back.

  Her family cast strange looks in her direction, but she put her hand on Claus’s lap as if she were inappropriately touching him. They all shook their heads and went back to what they were doing. Holly thought she was safe for the rest of the evening.

  The Carters had gotten their fill of poking the human in the room. Now, with her stomach settling, she thought she might be able to actually enjoy the food before her. Then, Robbie turned his attention on her. She felt it like a smothering blanket.

  “So, what’s it like to fuck a murderer?” Robbie’s smile was vicious as he spoke.

  Holly’s lips parted. She wanted to argue, but all she found inside her was shock. Robbie was lying. He only wanted to ruin what little happiness she’d found by wedging a divide between her and Claus.

  “Did you not know he killed a man the night you showed up? Because I knew. It was a friend of mine.”

  Holly turned to Claus. She wanted to find annoyance on his face, something she could use to fight the growing suspicion that Robbie wasn’t lying.

  “What did Zach do?” Robbie asked Claus. “How did he piss off your beloved boss? Or, did you not stop to ask what Zach might have done? I bet that you just followed orders. What’s another life taken by your hands?”

  Holly could feel her chest tightening. It felt different than the panic she’d felt in the coffee shop. It was different than anything else she’d felt. In the moment, she couldn’t dissect it to see what it would reveal. All she could focus on was the revulsion. She looked at the hands that had touched her, in intimate ways, and imagined them wrapped around someone’s throat.

  “I know what Zach did,” Claus growled. “If you knew, you wouldn’t be defending your so-called friend.”

  Robbie held a hand to his ear. “What was that? I can’t hear your murderous confession.”

  All eyes were on them now. Many of them looked at Holly with accusations. How dare she bring a murderer to the table, as if many of them had never hurt a soul in their lives. It seemed the only person at the table who had never hurt someone was Holly. Though, she was far from innocent.

  Claus gave her hand a quick squeeze. It made her look at him. Something about the touch felt less like a greeting and more like a goodbye. She didn’t know how she knew, but the thought snaked around her mind and filled it with panicked anticipation.

  They were mates. He couldn’t leave her.

  Yet, she knew when she watched him wipe his mouth with a napkin and push back his chair that their arrangement was over. She felt the threads of it cut and found her mind flopping uselessly. No thoughts formed, not even a sound left her lips, as she watched Claus vault his massive body over the table.

  Gravy and buttered corn flew through the air. Carters shouted in outrage and covered their heads from the falling food. Through it all, she watched Claus grab ahold of Robbie’s collar. The man scrambled to get away from Claus, but it was fruitless. He could never escape Claus’s grip.

  Her mate grinned and saluted the room. She waited for him to look at her, for his goodbye, but it never came, as if he couldn’t even bring himself to acknowledge what he was leaving. Only then did Holly cry out. She shot up from her seat and raced after them.

  The night Claus refused to come to the manor with her, he’d killed someone. One of Robbie’s friends. Holly turned the thought over in her mind. Just as she reached the front door, moments before she could make a decision on Claus’s past, she watched his Challenger speed down the winding driveway.

  She cursed under her breath.

  “I know I’m a bitch,” Elise’s voice startled her. When she turned, she found Elise standing behind her in the foyer. “You have no reason to listen to me, but I knew Robbie’s friend. He…” Elise’s hands tightened into fists at her sides. “Zach needed to die. I doubt it was Claus’s boss that asked him to kill that man. It was most likely another woman.”

  They stood, staring at each other. Then, Elise raised a hand and waved away whatever friendliness that might have passed between them.

  “Do what you will with that information. If you come back with that ring on your hand, I’m going to take the finger with it.”

  Holly shook her head at Elise’s comment before lifting the hem of her dress and running toward her car. The thing hadn’t been started in days, but she prayed it would turn over for her now. She needed it if she was going to find Claus.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Claus felt his heart, or what was now an empty space that echoed with a hollow ache. He’d left it behind with Holly. Not that she would love him anymore. Holly knew the truth about Claus. He’d always been the strong arm for his boss, the man unafraid of getting dirty. So, when Risa asked him to take care of a man who’d hurt her and many others, he hadn’t thought twice about it.

  It seemed Risa had landed them both in a pile of trouble, both him and Robbie. He sighed, wondering how Robbie could defend the man that had hurt Risa while trying to help her escape. It was just proof that no one was perfect, but some people were more trash than gold.

  Like both of them.

  There was muffled screaming from the trunk. It sounded like Robbie was flailing. He was a shifter. All the man would need to do was punch the trunk hood and he’d be free. Yet, his panic rendered him useless. It trapped him in the trunk.

  Claus reached for his phone and dialed his boss’s number. He would have to change the contact ID to something else later. The man was no longer his boss, but his jailer.

  “I have your man. Returning to you as we speak.”

  His boss laughed. Claus couldn’t decipher the sound. He’d been away for too long, or he’d never heard such a sound from the man. Either way, it left an unsettled feeling in the pit of Claus’s stomach.

  He dropped the Challenger into a lower gear, slowing down to coast along the back roads of Cartersburg. He couldn’t tell if his reluctance to leave was because of his bond with Holly or something else. All he knew was that he didn’t feel right about this. Instincts screamed in alarm, and the beast rose. It peered out the window into the darkness, all senses on high alert.

  Ahead, in the road, was a red flare. It sparked and sputtered in the night. Another was placed beside it. As he came around the corner, he realized it was a road block. He could see nothing beyond it, no spinning lights of police cars or officials redirecting traffic.

  He slowed to a stop. His beast growled.

  There was movement to his left. He ducked just as the glass of his window shattered and rained inside the car. He let out a soft curse. A hand closed around his shirt and yanked him forward. Claus’s head hit the steering wheel. The car horn let out a squeal.

  When he wrenched himself away from the hand and looked out the front windshield, he saw several forms step into the light of the flares. One was all too familiar. His boss grinned at him. It was not the kind of smile that welcomed an old friend home, but one that promised vengeance. Claus knew it wasn’t aimed at Robbie, either.

  Claus thought the threat of hurting Holly had been enough, but it seemed his boss was not willing to work with a man that didn�
�t trust him any longer. Claus looked to each of the shifters standing beside the boss. They’d once been his comrades.

  He wished they saw that it could have been any one of them in his place. Should any of them meet their mates and wish for a new life, their boss would turn on them, too. It wasn’t like he could let Claus go. Claus knew too much about their business.

  Letting him live would be a liability.

  Ignoring the glass in his lap, Claus reached for the gearshift. He wrenched the steering wheel and punched the gas to speed away. He couldn’t escape them for long. The howls of shifters letting their beasts free filled the air behind him, louder than the roar of his engine. They would hunt him down.

  “Looks like it’s your unlucky day, Robbie.”

  He waited until he’d gained a distance advantage before pulling over and yanking Robbie from the truck. He dusted off the man’s shoulders and patted his cheeks.

  “Get ready to run. And, no. I’m not going to untie your wrists.”

  Robbie called after him. He ran after the Challenger, for a little while before giving up. The boss and his team would come across Robbie before they found Claus. All Claus needed to do now was steer clear of the Carter manor. There was no way he was going to bring them anywhere near Holly.

  She was safe.

  She wouldn’t be drawn into this.

  Claus only got a few miles before a massive form collided with the front of his Challenger. He jerked forward, the seatbelt straining against his chest. Outside the windshield, a bear roared. The front of the Challenger was smashed, crumpled like ribbon instead of metal. A massive wolf prowled out of the darkness, followed by a gorilla.

  He kicked his door open and roused his beast for a fight. They might bring him down, but he wasn’t going out without taking one of them with him. His beast surged toward the surface. Before he could shift, wolf teeth sunk into his thigh. He hissed in pain. His beast fell back, chased away by the pain. It clawed its way back toward the surface.

  Claus staggered and swung toward the wolf. His clenched fist connected with the wolf’s skull. It whimpered but sank its teeth in deeper. The bear and gorilla inched closer. He needed to shift soon or else he would be screwed. His beast was bigger than them all. It was stronger, too.

  His beast felt too far away. The pain in his thigh was forcing it back. His head swam with it, body becoming cold. Soon, shock would set in. It would give him a small window to shift. His body would feel nothing, but that would also mean his energy would be limited. There was now a time limit on this fight.

  If he ran past it, all was over.

  Claus let loose a roar, summoning the last of his strength. It filled his limbs. He brought his hands together and slammed them onto the wolf. This time, the beast crumpled at his feet. While it attempted to stagger back to its feet, Claus turned toward the bear and gorilla.

  Once upon a time, they’d been his friends. They’d drunk together. They’d worked together. Then, the command had fallen that Claus was to be eliminated. Everything Claus thought he’d had with these shifters had been tossed aside. It made him wonder what the boss had told them. Did he tell the others that he’d had a hand in helping Risa?

  Damn, he hoped Risa was as far away as possible by now. Just as a bear paw hit his cheek, he imagined Risa lounging on a beach in some far away country. She was in love and finally free.

  Holly would never have that.

  The thought rallied him. The ground rushed up to greet him, but he caught himself in time. He heard the growl of the gorilla just as it pounced. He had enough time to roll away. The gorilla slapped the road where Claus had been.

  His beast returned. It pushed toward the surface, ripping free of his body with a vicious sound.

  ***

  Holly took the back roads, searching the darkness for the familiar muscle car. Hope was slowly sinking. She thought he’d managed to escape Cartersburg without her. She would never see him again, even though he was her fated mate.

  She punched the steering wheel, but her frustration didn’t fade. Tears started to burn her eyes. A mate was not something she’d ever thought she’d have. By chance, she’d found him in a bar outside of town. In the blink of an eye, she’d lost him to the machinations of her family.

  Outside, there was a row of flares blocking the road, but no one was around. She slowed to a stop and stepped out. There was no debris on the road, no sign of an accident. Her head snapped up. Was it her imagination or did she hear the crackle of brush in the woods?

  The darkness suddenly seemed infinite. Her human eyes could not pierce it. A pack of wolves could have been waiting to devour her and she would not have seen them coming. Holly rubbed her bare arms and jogged back to her car, locking the door behind her as if that would stop a shifter.

  The woods shook with the force of a roar. Holly froze. That had to be Claus. She knew it in her bones.

  Quickly, she bent and reached for the glove compartment and pulled a out her last defense. She never really thought she needed it, but in that moment, she was glad to have it. The fight she was about to rush toward was not Claus vs Robbie. She had no doubt that if the two had fought, it would have ended quickly and with Claus on top.

  Whatever was happening was far more dangerous. She recalled the phone call Claus had received in the middle of the night, after they first made love. She’d noticed the sudden change in his behavior, how he attempted to pull back on his jokes and flirtations. While Holly didn’t know what that meant, she knew it had something to do with her.

  The car groaned as she forced it back into top speeds, chasing the sound of the fight. The cold wind that blew through her open window chilled her to the bone, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to hear anything otherwise. Not for the first time in her life, she wished she was one of them.

  If she’d been a shifter, she could have run into the fight with her own bodily weapons. She could have scented Claus’s trail and found him faster. There were a number of things that could have been easier. Her humanity would not hold her back, though. She would not stop until she found her mate.

  She took a narrow side road, just barely missing a pole that was placed too close. Moments later, her headlights washed over a frightening scene. Two massive beasts, a grizzly and a gorilla, surrounded a white bear. While the bear towered over the beasts, it was still outnumbered. They circled Claus. Holly hesitated inside the car.

  If she entered the fight, they could easily break her. She knew she would be a liability. It made her grip the gun in her lap. Her chest swelled, fear and nervousness making her fingertips tingle. She went through the motions, checking the magazine, when one of the beasts glanced back at her.

  The gorilla grinned, eyes flashing in her headlights. Before it could move toward her, Claus pounced. The massive white bear tackled the gorilla shifter to the ground. They tumbled, fur and claws flying. But, that left the grizzly unoccupied.

  Holly’s hands shook. She’d never shot anyone before. Shifter or not, she didn’t want to hurt him. The sight of the gun didn’t stop the grizzly. He didn’t even hesitate. He must have thought her fear meant she wouldn’t use it.

  But, if she could give Claus a chance to survive, she would not run away.

  The recoil ran up her arms and burned along her shoulders. The bear didn’t stop. Not at first. Then, just before it reached her, she fired again. The bear reeled back. When it looked down, a human expression crossed its face, highlighted by the garish light of her headlights.

  Regular bullets would barely stop a shifter, but silver rendered them useless. The bear’s form crumpled until a man dropped to the pavement. She didn’t stop to check on him. It was ruthless, and a bit of guilt surged inside her, but Claus was her priority.

  Stepping over the man, she slowly approached Claus and the gorilla. They way they moved, she couldn’t get a clear shot. She didn’t want to accidentally shoot Claus with silver. So, she was stuck, watching the fight ensue.

  The gorilla reached around th
e back of Claus’s head and gripped the back of his neck. The fur gathered in the gorilla’s hand kept Claus’s teeth from snapping around the gorilla’s head. But it didn’t stop Claus from raking his claws over the gorilla’s face. Holly cringed when blood sprayed in the air. Backlit by the headlights of her car, the scene was gory.

  It distracted her from the man behind her. He grabbed her and yanked her into his chest before she could move. In an instant, the gun was twisted from her hand. It skittered along the ground. She grimaced, waiting for it to go off.

  Thankfully, it didn’t.

  That was the only thing she had to be thankful for. The man holding her scented her hair, breath hissing in her ear. A slimy shiver crawled up her spine. She tried to shrug him off, to drop from his grip and scramble away, but he held her tight. His arm pressed into her rib, painfully so. Any tighter and she knew the rib would crack.

  Though she was careful not to make a sound, the gun against the pavement attracted Claus’s attention. The white bear looked from the gun to Holly and the man behind her. His lips peeled back from his teeth in a menacing growl.

  The gorilla reached to hit Claus again, but as if the sight of Holly captive was the last straw, Claus slammed the gorilla against the pavement one last time. The beast went limp beneath him. He climbed off the unconscious beast and stalked toward Holly.

  “So, this is what you wanted to leave me for? She’s human, Claus. Positively breakable.” As if to prove his point, the man tightened his arm around her.

  She couldn’t stop the groan that left her. Pain lanced through her ribs. She was seconds away from breaking.

  “I don’t want to end both of you tonight,” the man behind her said. “She’s in no real danger right now. You, Claus, have reached the end of the line.”