by R. E. Butler
Vixen’s Fated Mate
Arctic Shifters Book Four
By R. E. Butler
Copyright 2017
Vixen’s Fated Mate (Arctic Shifters Book Four)
By R. E. Butler
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Cover by CT Cover Creations
This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.
Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.
* * *
Editing by Jennifer Moorman
* * *
Thanks to Shelley for beta reading
Best Christmas Wishes and SC Kisses to my bestie, Joyce.
For BB and BL - I love you both.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Coming Next from R. E. Butler
Contact the Author
Other Works by R. E .Butler
Cupid’s Fated Mate Coming December 3, 2017
Vixen’s Fated Mate (Arctic Shifters Book Four)
By R. E. Butler
Mire, the Vixen position on the sleigh team, has watched three of his friends and fellow shifters find their fated mates. He holds out hope that he’ll find his fated mate soon, but since he’s able to leave North Pole City for only twenty-four hours every year, he’s not sure when he’ll meet his one and only.
When a non-quad shifter survives a near-fatal accident two days before Christmas Eve, they discover he had an affair with a human woman and had a child with her. Mire is tasked with bringing the daughter to NPC to meet with Santa Claus. What Mire doesn’t count on is that she’s his fated mate.
Noelle Jackson has known her whole life that she wasn’t entirely normal. Born with pointed ears, that her mother had altered with plastic surgery, she’s always felt out of place. When a dark-haired, gorgeous man shows up at her apartment and tells her that he can take her to visit her injured father, she jumps at the chance. She feels connected to the mysterious Mire, whose eyes flash from brown to gold whenever he looks at her.
When Noelle is magically whisked away to the North Pole, she feels right at home for the first time in her life. In a place where the magic is real, can Santa Claus grant Noelle and Mire their Christmas wish to spend the rest of their lives together, or will her father’s deceit mean NPC is closed to her forever?
Chapter 1
Mire twisted lazily in the desk chair behind the station, glancing periodically at the clock on the wall. The bank of monitors in front of him showed various places around North Pole City where he lived and worked. Because he was a special type of shifter known as a quad – able to transform into a polar bear, snowy owl, arctic fox, and reindeer – Mire was not only part of the NPC security force but he was also one of the reindeer who helped pull Santa’s sleigh. Mire was the Vixen position, the fourth reindeer.
The door behind him creaked open, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Vaughn, the Comet position on the sleigh team, standing in the doorway.
“All quiet?” Vaughn asked.
“Yep.”
NPC was a hidden city at the top of the world. Santa Claus’s magic kept it hidden and protected. Only SC, Santa’s nickname to the locals, was magically powerful enough to leave the North Pole any day of the year. Everyone else, including Mrs. Claus, could leave for only twenty-four hours beginning at dawn on Christmas Eve. Mire normally didn’t mind being stuck in NPC all year long, but over the last few years, he’d watched three of his best friends and fellow sleigh team members find their fated mates.
Fated mates, as they were known, were the one true mates for the supernatural creatures who called NPC home. Fated mates were rare, and up until Arian, the Blitzen position, who had found his fated mate in a human named Charli, no one had found a fated mate in years.
Mire turned his body to face Vaughn. “Do you ever think about asking Mrs. C to mate-match you?”
Mate-matching was something that Mrs. C’s magic accomplished. Through her magic, she could match up couples who were meant to be together. Mire’s parents, like many couples in NPC, had been mate-matched.
Vaughn shrugged. “I might have thought about it more if the team wasn’t finding their fated mates. I don’t mind waiting for the right female.”
Mire knew that the mate-matches were perfect, but they weren’t fated mates, which were revered by their people. Fated mates had a connection that mate-matched couples didn’t.
“Are you thinking about it?”
Mire growled out a sigh. “Not really. I mean, I think about how nice it would be to have a mate, and I don’t want to rush the process, but damn, if I wouldn’t like to meet her sooner rather than later.”
“I think most of us are feeling that way, too. Before Arian met Charli, I didn’t think fated mates were even something that could happen again. It had been so many years since they’d happened. I guess I feel like if Mrs. C mate-matched me, then I’d be doing a disservice to my fated mate.”
“How so?”
“Well, if there’s a fated mate out there for everyone, then there’s one for me, and I’m hers, too. If I take myself out of the running to be an eligible mate, what happens to her? Would she be unmated for her whole life, or thinking that something’s missing forever?”
That jarring thought never crossed Mire’s mind. “Maybe if fated mates get matched up to others, the connection disappears and both can move on.”
“Maybe. But I wouldn’t want to chance it. Would you?”
“No, of course not. Still. It would be nice if fate would hurry up a bit.”
Vaughn snorted. “I hear that.”
Mire turned back to the monitors and logged off the system so Vaughn could take over for the next shift. Then he stood and stretched, before moving out of the way.
“Are you going out for a drink?” Vaughn asked as he entered in his name and password to start his shift.
“Maybe. I should probably go clean my harness. Christmas Eve is just two days away.”
Mire said goodbye to Vaughn, grabbed his coat, and turned to walk out of the room. As he passed over the threshold, there was a crashing sound outside, and alarms went off on the monitors.
“What the hell was that?” Mire demanded, returning to the monitors.
“Shit!” Vaughn picked up the console phone. “All emergency personnel report to barn three immediately! The roof has caved in!”
“I’m on my way,” Mire said, sprinting from the room while tugging on his coat. Slamming his hands against the security bar of the door, he pushed it open and ran toward the third barn.
As he closed the distance to the barn, he saw Declan, one of the quads. Mire stopped beside him just outside of the building. The roof creaked.
“Let’s go,” Declan said, handing a flashlight to Mire.
Other quads and shifters joined them inside the barn, looking for survivors. Mire found a male trapped under a heavy, wooden beam, and he called for Sullivan, who helped him lift it off. The male’s l
egs were broken, and he’d fallen unconscious, so Mire lifted him as gently as he could and hurried from the barn, laying him on a waiting stretcher.
Mire turned back toward the barn, and Declan came out with a male slung over his shoulder. The male bled from a deep gash on the side of his head.
“Anyone else in there?” Mire asked.
“Not that I could scent,” Declan answered as he laid the male on another stretcher.
“Noel,” Tobias, the injured male rasped as his eyes fluttered open.
“What?” Declan asked.
Tobias lost consciousness, and Mire shrugged when Declan gave him a curious look.
“He said noel, so maybe he’s worried about Christmas?” Mire offered.
“There wasn’t anything but building supplies in this barn, though. It wouldn’t affect the sleigh team or gifts for the kids.”
Two elves appeared and lifted the stretcher between them, hurrying off to the medical building.
Mire, Declan, and Sullivan returned to the building to ensure there were no others trapped and found none. Half of the roof had collapsed, and Mire felt confident the rest would come down soon. Building supplies filled the barn, so any houses being constructed would have to wait until the city opened on Christmas Eve.
“What happened?” Mire asked as he flashed his light around the ceiling. There was a big gap now, where he could see starlight and dark night sky.
“There were five males in here when it happened. Three were fast enough to get out when the roof started to collapse, but Tobias and Roderick got trapped. They said that they were stacking wood planks in a wagon, and apparently, the load was uneven at the back, and the whole thing tipped, sending the planks into one of the support beams,” Declan said.
“At least no one was killed,” Sullivan said.
“Hopefully, Tobias and Roderick will heal quickly,” Mire said.
They left the barn, and Declan walked over to a group of builders who were moving supplies out of the collapsing barn. Declan instructed them to raze the building when they were finished.
Mire rubbed his hands together and blew on them. As a shifter, he didn’t get as cold as a human would, but he still felt the cold, nonetheless. And it was freaking cold.
“I’m going for a drink,” Declan said. “You guys in?”
“Kerri’s waiting for me,” Sullivan said with a smile. The third member of their sleigh team to find his fated mate had met the human at a wedding for the lead reindeer, Rhys, and his fated mate, Merri.
“I’m in,” Mire said. “That was a pretty damn exciting end to the shift.”
Declan snorted. “I’m just glad we don’t get a lot of excitement like that around here.”
“Me too,” he answered as they headed toward the tavern. Although he wouldn’t mind some excitement of the finding-his-fated-mate sort.
Someday.
Hopefully, soon.
Chapter 2
Noelle Jackson scanned the items on the conveyor and smiled at the little boy in the cart as his mother loaded more things onto the belt.
“Are you ready for Santa?” Noelle asked, sliding a can of tuna over the scanner and placing it in a bag.
“Yeah,” the boy said, his eyes lighting up as he smiled. “I’m good.”
“I’ll bet you are,” she said.
His mother snorted. “Well, at least now since it’s so close to Christmas.”
“Little ones are always good this time of year.”
When she finished ringing up the woman’s purchases and waited for the credit card transaction to process, Noelle gave the boy a sticker with a reindeer on it. He put it on his jacket and grinned, showing her he was missing two front teeth.
“Merry Christmas,” the woman said as the boy waved.
“Thank you, Merry Christmas to you, too.”
“It’s break time, Noelle,” her shift manager, Darlene, said. “You’ve got thirty, and then I’m going to have you work returns for the rest of the shift.”
Noelle turned off the light for her lane and said, “Did you get Christmas Eve off?”
Darlene shook her head. She was middle-aged, twice divorced, and was helping to raise her two young grandkids. “I need the hours, and it’s hard to pass up the holiday pay. I saw you’re off. Do you want me to try to get you on?”
“No. My dad’s coming in for a visit. It’s the only time of year he can get away.”
“Aw. You only see your dad once a year? What the heck does he do for a living, work for the CIA or something?”
Noelle laughed. “No, he works for a toy company in Northern Canada. They keep him busy.”
“That’s sad. I would hate it if I didn’t get to see my dad anytime I wanted.”
Her dad’s limited vacation time made Noelle sad, too. “Yeah, well the upside as a kid was that I always had really awesome toys. I’m pretty sure he’ll be bringing me a stuffed animal again this year.”
“A stuffed animal? Even though you’re an adult?”
“I think I’m perpetually ten years old to him.”
“Dads are like that. Have a good break. Call me if you need anything.”
Noelle hurried back to the break room to clock out, and then she pulled her lunch from the fridge. She joined her co-workers at one of the large tables and unzipped her bag, pulling out the contents.
“Would you like to come to the zoo with us?” Jessie asked as she stirred a spoon in a tub of yogurt.
“The zoo? At Christmas?” she asked, raising a brow.
“They have a really cute thing they do at night,” Yana said. “Lights everywhere, sleigh rides, hot chocolate. We’re starting a new tradition this year to go on Christmas Eve. None of us are working.”
“Sorry, my dad’s coming into town, and it’s the only time I get to see him.”
“Oh, right,” Jessie said. “I think your dad is Santa.”
Noelle grinned. Her friends had teased her for a long time about her dad’s annual visits, which happened to coincide with Christmas. “He does bring me toys, but he’s not Santa, you nut.”
“Call him and ask him to bring me something sparkly, like diamond earrings,” Yana said.
“He’s not Santa,” Noelle said.
“Annual Gift Man, then,” Jessie said, her voice dropping dramatically low as she spoke.
Noelle shook her head and then took a bite of her sandwich. “Thanks for the invite to the zoo. I’m sure you’ll have fun.”
“We’ll send you pics,” Yana said.
Noelle tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, wishing her dad could stay long enough so they could do something fun, like go to the zoo. But he was only able to spend Christmas Eve with her, and that was as long as he’d ever been able to stay.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Jessie said.
Noelle’s brows rose. “Sure. Just not my PIN or social security number.”
“Nothing like that. I was just wondering about your ears. Were you injured or in an accident?”
Noelle didn’t like the blush that heated her cheeks, and she fought the urge to pull her hair back over her ear again. She’d been distracted by the conversation and done something she rarely did – expose her ear in public.
“You embarrassed her. I told you not to ask,” Yana whispered loudly.
“No, it’s okay.” Noelle put down the sandwich and said, “My ears were deformed when I was born. My mom paid a plastic surgeon to correct them before I started school.”
“That’s so sad,” Jessie said.
Noelle resisted the urge to rub the tops of her ears. She didn’t remember what her ears looked like before they were fixed, and pictures from that time had been lost in a house fire when she was in elementary school. Her mom had said they were oddly shaped, pointed at the top like a cartoon elf. They looked fine now, but they weren’t perfect. Her mom’s insurance hadn’t been willing to pay for the cosmetic surgery, so she’d had to find a surgeon she could afford, and as a result of settling for a less e
xpensive surgeon, Noelle’s ears didn’t look quite right. They were a little oddly shaped at the top, and made her self conscious, so she’d gotten in the habit of keeping her hair long to cover them. She’d never told anyone, but she’d always felt like getting her ears fixed had been a mistake.
“I’m good now, though,” Noelle said.
“Thanks for letting me get personal,” Jessie said. “You can ask me something if it will even things out.”
“No, that’s fine.”
Yana leaned forward and looked at Jessie. “Oh! What happened when you went out with the bottled water delivery guy last month? You never said.”
Jessie glared. “I said Noelle could ask me something, not you.”
“Sounds like someone got a special delivery of her own,” Yana said with a giggle.
Jessie groaned. “This is why no one tells you anything.”
Noelle laughed as her friends bantered back and forth, threatening to tell secrets and cause trouble for each other. With the topic of her ears forgotten, she finished her lunch and clocked in when her half hour was up. A very long line of waiting customers in the returns department took over her thoughts and made the rest of the day pass by quickly.
After work when Noelle walked into her apartment, her feet ached and her stomach growled, but she sat down at the computer first to check her inbox. She and her dad kept in touch by email, and once a month they used a video call program to chat live. He was her only family. Her mother passed away two years earlier from complications that arose after gallbladder surgery. Noelle had felt like she’d been all alone, then. Her dad hadn’t been able to leave work for the funeral, and for a little while, his absence during such a difficult time had strained their relationship.
But when he visited her that Christmas Eve, he took her to the cemetery and told her how he’d met her mother and how much he’d cared for her. It had never been enough for him to leave his job and stay with them, or bring her and her mom up to see him, which she’d never understood. But her mom had been happy with the relationship, and she’d only ever wanted Noelle to stay close with her dad, no matter how much distance separated them.
