by Ruby Shae
Fuck!
“You got it,” she smiled back at everyone except him. “I’ll be back soon.”
“What’s going on there?” Wade asked once she was out of earshot.
“Nothing,” he barked, scooting his chair away from the table. If he didn’t leave now, he’d say or do something he’d regret later. “Look, I have to go. Text me about practice next week.”
“Will do,” Jim said.
He was already halfway to the door when he heard Jim’s response, but he didn’t care. After five weeks of pretending everything was fine, he didn’t want to see Mindy again. Her rejection had cut deep, and he wanted to avoid her as much as possible.
He pushed through the door of the club and welcomed the blast of cool air on his face. He stomped through the center square and made a beeline for the secret tunnel leading in and out of their home. Santa’s Village was protected by an invisible barrier to shield them from the outside world, but they were in the middle of the North Pole, so the Village was cold and snow always covered the ground.
The center square was more like a large rectangle spanning the length of four football fields with the width of two. Lots of shops surrounded the square, which acted as their Main Street, including several bakeries.
Behind the cute, festive shops, buildings and houses were placed in rings around the square to block out the angry tundra outside. Residents could see through both sides of the dome, but to everyone else, their home was nothing more than the vast, snowy landscape of the Pole with no end in sight.
When he reached the opening, he entered the long service tunnel and shifted into his bear form. The magic allowed them to remain fully clothed while shifting, and he liked the fact that he didn’t have to find somewhere to store his personal belongings.
He raced out of the tunnel and welcomed the frozen pellets that pounded his fur as his paws ate up the icy ground below. Running in his bear form had always helped keep his emotions at bay, especially as a cub when he’d been alone and had nowhere to turn for help.
Those lonely years were long gone.
At least, they were supposed to be.
He’d been living in Santa’s Village for the last sixteen years, and he had a modest home, a good job, a few close friends…and yet something was still missing.
What exactly what that something was had been a mystery until the day Mindy arrived.
She’d appeared on Christmas day, and for the first time ever, he’d understood every shifter’s need for a mate. It had only taken one look, and in his next breath everything clicked into place.
Mindy felt like home.
***
Mindy frowned as she watched Joel leave the club.
Santa had been right all those months ago. She did have a great job, caring coworkers, and wonderful friends. She resided in a cozy apartment, and no one could ask for a better community to live in.
Holidays were celebrated in center square, and almost everyone in the Village attended the joyous festivities. New Year’s Eve had been intimidating, especially after she’d only been in town a week, but by the time Halloween had rolled around she’d been used to the huge gatherings.
The only thing missing was someone to share her private life with.
Santa hadn’t promised love, but she’d still hoped.
Especially after seeing Joel for the first time.
They’d made eye contact on her first day, during her tour with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and as she casually admired his appearance, something inside her shifted. She’d never been drawn to a man the way she’d been to him, and he’d seemed impressed with her, too. For the first time in her life, she’d felt hopeful someone could love her unconditionally; the same way her parents had.
Unfortunately, she’d been wrong.
After months and months of waiting, he’d only asked her out because of a dare.
Five weeks ago, she’d arrived at the Halloween party dressed as her favorite wizard—the boy who lived—and had been thrilled when she’d spotted Joel dressed in the same costume. She’d intended to approach him with some teasing about them being twins, but her friends had had other plans.
The group of girls pulled her onto the dance floor, through the buffet line, and then they’d all taken a walk down Treat Street. A short time later, they each had a clear plastic bag filled with candy, and she’d never giggled so much in her entire life.
As the evening wore on, the crowd thinned, and about an hour and a half later, most of her friends had either gone home, paired off, or joined other groups.
She’d started to approach Joel again, even though he’d been with his friends, but that had been a mistake.
At five-feet, nine-inches tall, she could never be considered short…except when hidden in a sea of muscled polar bear shifters who all stood over six-feet tall. Their hulking bodies allowed her to reach the group undetected, and it was how she’d heard Jim and Trey daring Joel to ask her out.
She’d turned and tried to blend into the crowd as disappointment flooded her, but it didn’t take him long to track her down. When he finally asked the question, she’d swiftly declined.
As much as she wanted him, she couldn’t date someone who didn’t want her back, or who needed his friends’ approval to make decisions.
At the time, she’d felt confident in her decision, but as the days turned into weeks, she wasn’t so sure.
Joel didn’t seem like the type who needed approval from anyone to make his choices, especially his friends, and she knew he’d been keeping his distance from her.
She used to find him in the club, in her section, nearly every day. Sometimes he would order food, or a beer, but often he spent the time nursing a glass of soda or water, and then he’d leave her a generous tip and disappear.
Now, his visits to the club were limited to practices and performances, and during those times, he barely acknowledged her existence. Even though they hadn’t moved past small talk before, she’d always felt connected to him, and the blatant way he currently ignored her hurt more than she wanted to admit.
He almost seemed hurt that she’d rejected him.
Another thing she didn’t understand? His friends acted as if nothing had happened. In fact, the other men treated her exactly as they had before. Joel was the only one behaving differently.
None of it made any sense.
Unless…
Had she misheard? Instead of daring him to ask her out for some kind prank, could his friends have been providing moral support?
Could Joel be…shy?
She shook her head and silently chastised herself. Joel might be quiet and more reserved than the other shifters, but he was definitely an alpha. All the polar bears were, and an alpha didn’t take almost a year to claim his mate.
Mark did.
No, that was different.
Her friend Tracey had told her about the couple’s long courtship, but they were an exception, not the rule. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made the right decision.
Plus, so what if she wasn’t his mate?
There was no rule that said they weren’t allowed to have some fun before he found the one. Hell, unless she ventured out of Santa’s Village—which she rarely did—she’d probably never find anyone to share her life with. Shouldn’t she enjoy what little time she could have with the only man she’d been thinking about for almost a year?
She closed her hand around her medallion, and rubbed her thumb across the snow globe etched on the back of the quarter-sized pendant. The gold necklace had been a gift from Santa upon her decision to stay in the North Pole, and every resident owned one of the magical charms. They made it possible for everyone to travel safely between their home and the human world.
After the devastating loss of her parents, her life had been difficult and lonely until the night of her would-be death, and she didn’t miss much about the human world. Santa’s Village was a much better place to live…even if she had to live in it romance free.
One day, J
oel would find his mate, either at the pole or in the human world, and the issue of whether or not he asked her out because of a dare would be obsolete.
Suddenly, she no longer cared.
Chapter Three
Joel lumbered to his doorstep, shifted out of his bear form, and entered his dark home without turning on the light. He didn’t need it. He’d been running since he left the club, and his eyes had already adjusted to the darkest part of the night.
His sore muscles were solid evidence to the hours he’d spent running in the cold tundra, and fatigue settled over him like a warm blanket. After a warm shower, he planned on sleeping for a day.
Anything to stop thinking about his mate. And her rejection.
The run had helped, but it wasn’t enough, and he knew he couldn’t run six hours a day for the rest of his life.
However long that would be.
Santa’s magic expanded their lifespans by several years, and he was only thirty-two.
Shit!
He could be in this agony for another hundred years or more.
“I don’t think it will be quite that long, son.”
The statement was followed by a deep, jolly belly laugh, and though he instantly recognized the voice, he flipped on the closest light switch.
Santa sat on his couch dressed in a matching set of plain, red flannel pajamas. White piping trimmed all the edges of the set, and black fuzzy slippers covered his feet. The clothing had a whimsical appearance that matched the man, but Joel wasn’t in the mood for whimsical.
“Nice pajamas,” he said, deadpan.
He was irritated by Santa’s intrusion into both his head and his home.
“Thank you,” Santa laughed. “I would have come dressed in something else, but it’s nearly three in the morning. I had to set an alarm to make sure I beat you here. There’s a pressing matter we have to discuss.”
Alarm shot through him, and his hands clenched into fists. It had to be bad news. Nothing but bad news warranted a visit at three o’clock in the morning.
“Why have you been moping around for the past five weeks?”
Moping around?
Rage swamped him as he thought about Santa’s words. Had the man really come to scold him about his attitude? Like he was some moody teenager?
“I thought you knew everything,” Joel bit out. “In case you missed it, here’s a refresher: I asked my mate out, and she rejected me. I’m sorry, but it has kind of put a damper on my mood.”
“I didn’t miss it,” Santa said, “but I’m wondering why you gave up so easily? Don’t you wonder why she said no?”
“Obviously, it’s because I’m not good enough,” he barked.
“Or maybe she thinks she’s not good enough for you,” Santa said, gently. “That girl doesn’t care about your past any more than I do, but she does know a bit about shifters and mates, and you took ten months to ask her out.”
“So?”
“So, maybe you’re going to have to fight for her a little bit.”
“Fight for her?” he questioned.
“Yeah, you know…woo her,” Santa smiled.
“Woo her? I—”
“Son,” Santa interrupted. “What in your life has ever been easy?”
“Not a damn thing,” Joel cursed.
He plopped down in the chair across from Santa, and swore. His life had always been hard, even after Santa rescued him all those years ago, and he was reminded of how different he was every time he looked in the mirror.
“I’m not telling you this to make you sad,” Santa said. “I’m telling you this so you can finally be happy. Mindy is your mate, and yes, she did reject you, but so what? I’ve never known you to give up anything without a fight, so why start now?”
Santa was right.
He never would have survived in the woods all those years alone without some kind of will to live, and later, when he felt like an outcast next to all of the other shifters—natives born in Santa’s Village—it had only made him train harder.
In fact, he’d been so desperate to fit in, and prove himself an equal, that Santa had gifted him his first guitar and forced him to channel all of his excess energy into something else. Eventually, he became friends with Jim, Trey and Wade, and The Flurry was born…along with three solid friendships.
It took some time, but once he understood he and the other polar bears were on the same team, it made things easier. Sixteen years later, he was an integral part of the elite team of Enforcers that guarded Santa and his Village, and he got along well with the other shifters, especially his teammates.
His mate was the only thing missing from his life. She was the one thing he wanted the most, and the only thing he’d ever given up on.
“What the hell am I doing?” he asked, jumping up from the chair. “I have to find her, and… And what?”
“And prove your love!” Santa replied, jumping up, too.
“And prove my… Love,” Joel hesitated at first, but the words seemed right.
Even though their conversations had been short and sweet up until now, he did love Mindy, and up until a few weeks ago, he’d thought she might love him back.
Hell, if what Santa said was true, then he’d been right all along.
But then why did she reject him?
“You’ll have to figure that out for yourself,” Santa said, smiling. “It wouldn’t be any fun if I told you everything.”
“Stop that!”
Joel growled low in his chest, but the playful sound lacked any real warning. Not that it would matter. There was a reason Santa knew everything
“You know I only do it when it’s absolutely necessary,” Santa laughed, “and this seemed like one of those times.”
“Right.”
Joel rolled his eyes, and shook his head, but then he hugged the man.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“You’re welcome, son,” Santa said, as the two parted. “Do you have a plan?”
“I think so,” he said. “It means making myself vulnerable again, but by Christmas Eve, she’ll know how much I love her.”
“Perfect!”
***
“Don’t look now, but lover boy just sat in your section.”
Mindy ignored the advice of her friend and coworker, Angela, and immediately glanced to her section. As if he’d been waiting for her to look up, she found Joel watching her, and she glanced away before she did something stupid like smile at him.
She wanted to, though.
More than that, she wanted him to smile back at her.
After six weeks of basically ignoring her, he was back in her section, and she wanted to rush to his table before he disappeared.
She didn’t though.
Instead, she finished inputting the order she’d been working on, and then her hands were shaking so much that she wasted a few more seconds double and triple checking the details. When she was satisfied, she took a deep breath, grabbed her pen and pad, and slowly started walking toward his table.
Her hands hadn’t stopped trembling, so she slid the tools into the pouch on her apron, and shoved her hands into her back pockets. Joel rarely asked for anything beyond a soda, and though she sought comfort in the notepad, she didn’t need it to remember his order.
Joel kept his aquamarine eyes on her the entire time, and she suddenly felt like prey. The urge to run out of the club was strong, and liquid heat dampened her panties when she understood he would probably chase her.
Unlike most of the other polar bear shifters, Joel was quiet and reserved, but if anything, that made him even more sexy in her eyes. At six-foot, three-inches tall, he hovered six inches over her already tall frame, and to her that was perfect. He was heavily muscled, and she doubted there was a soft spot anywhere on his hard, sinewy body.
His hair, though, was what made him really stand out from the rest.
All of the arctic shifters had platinum blond, almost white hair, and all of the Enforcers had some shade of b
lue eyes. Joel had the blue eyes, but his hair was darker than any other shifter living in Santa’s Village.
Rather than resembling fresh fallen snow, his hair had a hint of silver that reminded her of her favorite glittering Christmas ribbons, and she wanted to wrap her fingers around the short, spikey strands. Preferably while he licked and sucked on her clit.
Damn it! So much for acting casual!
By the time she reached his table, heat flamed her cheeks, her throat was dry, and her pussy throbbed uncontrollably. She usually did a better job of reining in her reactions toward him, especially the ones that made her pussy wet, but apparently today wasn’t one of those days.
“Hey Joel,” she said, clearing her throat. “What can I get you?”
The words came out barely above a whisper, and Mindy silently cursed.
Why couldn’t she remain indifferent?
“Actually,” he smiled. “I just wanted to ask you a question.”
A question?
Mindy stiffened, and glanced around the room.
It was before dinner on a Monday night, their slowest time of the week, and except for Joel and a couple of families, the place was empty. She knew what she wanted him to ask, but she refused to get excited until he said the words.
“Sure,” she said, her words a little stronger than before. “What’s up?”
“Would you like to go out to dinner with me? On Friday night?”
“Okay,” she nodded.
“Great,” he said, standing. “How about Italian? Can I pick you up at six?”
“Six is perfect,” she said, “and Italian is my favorite.”
“I know, sweetheart,” he laughed, gently. “I have to go now, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Sweetheart? Tomorrow? What?
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah, the band has practice at twelve.”
“Practice,” she nodded. “Yes, of course. See you then.”
“Bye, sweetheart.”
Joel walked past her, and left the club without another word.
He’d called her sweetheart twice, and his use of the endearment left her both shocked and elated. For several seconds, she felt as if her feet where glued to the floor, and she only moved when Angela approached her.
