“Jax is out for a flight right now. This is Salvador and Ian, my protection team.” Mandy pointed to me and then to my partner.
“Good, good. Stay close to them.” The man wiggled a finger, begging her to come closer.
When the princess moved close enough that the man could touch her, I bristled and moved in right behind her, ready to jump in if he tried anything.
“Dear, I think things this summer are going to be dangerous for you. I have heard young wolves, barely past the pup phase, talking. They aren’t happy about the dragons or your wee babe.” The man pointed to Mandy’s stomach but didn’t touch her.
“Really? You think there’s going to be trouble?” she asked softly.
“Isn’t there always trouble when all of the packs are here? Add in the tension of the dragons and your pregnancy … well … let’s just say I’ll be happy to stick close to home this summer. I recommend you do the same.” The old man shook his head and looked at the ground with what I took as disgust on his face. Maybe this old man had Mandy’s best interests at heart, but scaring a pregnant woman wasn’t the smartest thing to do.
The princess put her hand on the old man’s shoulder. “Thank you, Mr. Forster. I will take your recommendation to heart, and I am very happy to hear that you will be sticking close to home as well.” She waved and called out, “Have a nice day.”
When we were a few feet away from the man and his flower cart, the princess looked to Ian and me. “Where’s my mate? Do you know if he’s safe?”
“Do you think the old man knows something? Should we come back here after we take you home and question him some more?” Ian asked.
“No, I think if he knew something he would have said it. He’s only going off his gut feeling and town gossip. But Mr. Forster used to be an Enforcer back in the day. Even my dad always listened to what he had to say.” Mandy tapped her finger to her lower lip. “No, I think we need to be done for the day and get back. I don’t like Jax being alone. For the rest of the time here, Jax needs to have you two with him. I’ll get Rock to give me some of his Enforcers, or maybe my uncle from the Barrow pack will help if our guys are spread too thin. Come on.”
The regal look of a future queen came over Mandy’s features as she stood taller, moved with purpose, and didn’t stop until we were back at her childhood home.
When we arrived, the place was swarming with wolves, and I noticed a few medical personnel because they wore white shirts with the large red cross on their backs. Someone was injured. Magic help anyone who messed with my prince.
Chapter 10
Bella
I stuffed the rest of my burrito into my face and followed Rock as he and his Enforcers made their way to Palo in his office.
“Son of a Nutcracker! What’s wrong, Santa?” Rock asked in a loud and deep voice.
Palo put his hand up. “Calm down everyone. Rock, please take a seat. I have some important news to share, and then we will need to organize a search party.”
“Who’s injured?” Mikey Jr. asked.
Mikey was another one of the betas in my pack. He flew the jet that picked us up from college, but he was a tough wolf. He helped to lead the Enforcers. I doubted anyone wanted to go up against his six-foot-seven body. Especially when you looked at his muscles. He had gotten larger since I was last home. His biceps had their own zip code they were so large. If he didn’t have to turn sideways to enter a room, I would have been surprised.
Since there were so many people here, Palo couldn’t shut the door. I looked around at all the faces. There were fourteen Enforcers here, including Rock. Every one of them I knew and trusted with my life. I had grown up with them always around. Sometimes they even protected Beth and me.
Back when Alexandru had abducted Mandy, several of the Enforcers here now were part of our protection detail. I felt confident that they would keep Palo safe and find the wolves who dared to threaten my family’s safety.
Beth and I hung out in the back of the group. I wanted to know what was going on, and I also wanted to be here in case they had any questions of me.
Mark, the Enforcer in front of me, turned around and said, “You might want to go back to the kitchen or somewhere else. It looks like we are going to have an impromptu security meeting.”
I shook my head. “He’s going to tell you about me and what I heard last night. I should stay.”
The wolf’s eyebrows arched in shock, but he didn’t say any more. Instead, he turned his attention back to Santa.
When Palo was finished telling them about everything that happened, Mark turned back around to me.
“Do you need to be anywhere right now? If so, I will escort you.” Mark had always been nice and helpful. He was a few years older than us, but I got the feeling he had a crush on Beth. Or was it me? While we were identical in looks, we were polar opposites in personality. We did tend to attract different guys, which was a good thing.
Beth and I shook our heads, then Beth answered, “Nope. I plan on staying here today. I think Lizzie might need some help baking bread today.”
“Oh, I love it when she makes homemade bread. The house smells so good. Mix the yeasty scent of bread with the peppermint scent that always seems to permeate the house, and I’m in heaven. I’ll stay home, too,” I piped up.
“Good. If you think of anything else, be sure to tell me or any of the guys. And please don’t go anywhere without a guard with you, even if you two are together. I know your family would feel a lot better if you had one of us along with you,” Mark offered.
“Thanks, Mark. I’ll keep that in mind,” Beth said and then pulled my hand and led me back to the kitchen.
“What was that about? I thought we were going to find out what Palo and Rock were planning?” I asked as I rubbed my wrist. Beth really grabbed hold of it hard.
“Didn’t you notice how we were distracting the guys?” Beth shook her head.
I frowned. “No, I didn’t notice that. Maybe Mark was distracted, but he’s had a crush on you for ages now.” I giggled.
“No, I mean the rest of the guys. They kept looking back and forth at us and then at Palo and Rock. I mean, we are at the age of mating now. The single ones might be thinking we need a mate to protect us. Do you want any of them making a move this summer?” She scrunched her nose like something didn’t smell right.
I thought about it for a minute. I did love the attention the guys always gave us, but I wasn’t in any place to deal with a mate or a wolf who wanted to make his intentions known. I still had two years of college left before I could get serious with anyone.
“Huh, I guess we’re going to have to start dodging these guys, aren’t we?” I wasn’t too sure how smart that would be. Maybe we could get the two female Enforcers to be our guards. That is if they weren’t competing in the games this summer.
Beth sighed. “We are just going to have to be very careful we don’t give any of them a reason to want us. You know how wolves get when females are in danger. The guys who would most likely have waited for us to finish college are now going to be coming around to make sure we are safe. They might even go so far as to get permission to court us or some such nonsense, just in an effort to protect us.” Beth paced the kitchen and wrung her hands.
“We need to keep talking about college and the fact that we want to experience life outside of the pack for a while. Can you do that?” When my sister looked at me, her eyes focused on mine, and her expression turned serious.
I laughed. “Beth, you’re the flirt, not me. I may look at the man candy, but I don’t say things like you do. I think you’re the one who’s going to have to be very careful about what she says and does with our guards.”
My sister wasn’t as boy crazy as she once was, but she was still a flirt.
Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Beth and I looked at each other and just knew something was wrong.
Boris, the head elf since before I was born, came running through and calling for Santa.
�
��What’s wrong, Boris?” Palo asked.
“It’s Mr. Jax. Someone attacked him. He’s out cold down the street. The medics have been called, but you need to get there and secure the scene, make sure no one else hurts him,” Boris said with more emotion in his voice than I could remember hearing. His voice broke when he mentioned Jax.
Beth and I didn’t say a word as we ran through the house and made our way down the street to the site of a large crowd. I had forgotten we were supposed to always have a guard with us until I was a few paces away from the house. Since everyone else was right behind us, I didn’t think it really mattered.
I saw a crowd of wolves, mostly from my own pack, surrounding someone on the ground.
“Make way, Santa’s coming!” I called as I pushed people aside. I knew I would be sent home once Rock caught up to us, so I had to make sure I got my chance to see what was going on before I was sent away for safety.
I stopped short right in front of the still body on the ground. The snow surrounding his head was all red with blood. I knelt and felt for a pulse and let loose the breath I was holding once I found a faint one. He was alive. However, he had lost a lot of blood.
Head wounds bled - a lot. It was common knowledge, but I hadn’t ever seen this much blood.
Palo knelt on the other side of Jax, and I watched as he used his hands to check for a neck injury. He was careful not to touch Jax’s head, Palo only ran his fingers down his neck and over his shoulders.
Someone pulled me up from behind. When I stood and turned, it was a medic. She moved me to the side without a word and dropped to her knees. I hoped she was there in time to save Jax. I had no idea what an injury like that would do to a dragon.
Rock pulled me back out of the crowd, which was beginning to disperse. Mikey Jr. told everyone to go home, unless they were witnesses. If they saw or heard anything, then they needed to step to the side and wait to be questioned.
“Bella, you and Beth need to go back home. I’m going to assign Mark to your detail for today. Don’t go anywhere without him. I would prefer it if you stayed in the house, though. It’s not safe right now for any of your family to be outside,” Rock stated as he walked me over to where Mark was standing next to Beth.
“Alright. But, Rock, is Jax going to be alright?” I could feel the prick of tears in the back of my eyes. I didn’t want to cry, not in front of everyone. I knew I would appear weak. We all needed to be strong, not only for Jax, but in case the perpetrators were watching. We couldn’t give them the satisfaction of hurting anyone else, physically or otherwise.
“Bella,” Rock put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Jax is going to be fine. He’s a very strong dragon. The injury might look bad now, but just wait a few hours. He’s going to bounce back in no time. I wouldn’t worry about him.”
Sighing, I looked into his face to see if he was telling me the truth. I couldn’t see any signs of deceit. His eyes stared right into mine, and I saw compassion reflecting back at me. I knew Rock would do whatever it took to find who did this to Mandy’s mate, my brother-in-law.
I stopped short when I realized I had just thought of Jax as my brother. They’ve been mated for almost four years and not once did I think of him like I did Palo. Did that mean I was finally accepting dragons? Or was it just because Jax was injured?
All I knew was that if Arkin and his friends were behind this, nothing would stop Rock from getting to the bottom of why and how. An attack never should have happened within the dome. I still couldn’t believe Christmas Magic allowed it.
“Alright, Beth and I will stay inside today. But don’t forget, tomorrow is the start of the Round Up. Wolves and dragons from all over will be here. We’ve even signed up for a few events. It would look really bad if we backed out now. We have to maintain a united front, even if that means your Enforcers join the same events as Beth and me.”
I was not going to chicken out of the Round Up. Whoever had attacked Jax would be found, and all would be right again. I had complete faith in my pack.
Chapter 11
Salvador
“Jax!” the princess exclaimed. “What happened?”
Mandy dashed over to where Jax was laying in the living room. The medic had him on the couch, cleaning the head wound.
“Who did this?” I bellowed to the room.
Palo looked up at us, and he put his hands in the air in a placating manner.
My anger began to boil over, and I was breathing smoke. I knew this meant my body was about to transform into my dragon form. The house was too small to handle me as a dragon. I had to get a hold on myself and stop it from happening.
I took deep, calming breaths through my nose and out of my mouth. I could tell Jax was alive because I could see his chest rise and fall with his breaths, but that didn’t mean he was going to be alright.
“Mandy, he’s going to be fine.” Palo tried to wrap the princess in his arms to comfort her, but she pushed him away.
She walked over to the back of the couch and leaned over to touch Jax’s face. “Have you caught the perps?” she asked without looking up. Her hands stroked through the hair on side of the prince’s face.
Prince Jax was on his side, and the medic attempted to get Mandy to move her hands out of the way while she cleaned the wound.
I wasn’t sure if stitches would be needed or not. When I tried to get closer, someone pulled me back. I was about to push them off me when I noticed it was Santa.
“Tell me what happened,” I demanded.
“We’re actually not sure, yet. Rock is running the investigation and interviewing witnesses right now. All we know is that someone knocked Jax out. He’s alive but will most likely have a major concussion.” Palo looked back at my prince and grimaced.
“Why won’t he wake up? Is his advanced healing kicking in yet?” Mandy asked. A single tear ran down her cheeks and splashed onto Jax’s temple.
The medic looked up with a soft expression on her face. “Mandy, he’s going to be fine. I don’t even think I need to put in stitches. I can see his healing beginning to work already. But … he was hit really hard. I imagine he has a concussion and will be out of it for a few hours.”
“Is there anything you can do for him?” the princess asked.
“Not at this point. We have to wait and see what happens. His brain has most likely swollen from the blow, which is what’s keeping him unconscious. Normally, I would insist on bringing the patient to the clinic, but considering what happened, I think he should stay here. I’ll go and grab a portable X-ray machine and come back with some other supplies.” The medic stood and looked around.
“Don’t move him. If he wakes up before I return, make sure he stays right where he is. I don’t need him moving around and making anything worse. I should be back soon.” The medic turned her gaze on me. “Don’t start interrogating him until I say it’s alright. I know you want answers, but it’s also important to make sure he’s healing before making him try to use his brain after such an injury.”
I nodded my understanding. She was right to tell me to keep him down and not stress him out. I knew the prince well enough to know that the second he woke up, he would be trying to get up and go after whoever did this to him.
Mandy ran a hand over her face and said, “Don’t worry. He’s staying put. I will be sure to make him stay down. Can we move him to our bedroom? I think he would be more comfortable there. Plus, it will be quieter.”
The medic appeared to be thinking for a moment before she responded. “Let me get an X-ray first. If it comes back normal, then we can move him. Until I know what’s going on, it’s best to keep him where he is.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone touch him until you say it’s alright.” Mandy stood tall, and a feeling of power washed over the room. She was really starting to get into her role as a princess and future queen.
Jax chose well. I think she was the perfect match for him. I doubt any female dragon would have held up nearly as well or com
manded a room as well as she does.
“Alright, you heard the medic. Give my mate some space. If you aren’t needed in this room, please move along. I would much rather have you all working to find out who did this than to stand around here gawking.” Princess Mandy moved around the couch and took a seat on the coffee table across from Jax.
“You heard the princess, let’s give them some space,” I said as I ushered a few of Rock’s Enforcers out of the room. “I would appreciate it if a few of you stayed and kept watch over the house. I’m not sure what types of protections you have on Santa’s house, but the magical dome didn’t seem to work today.”
Palo scratched his chin. “Yes, I’m very surprised to see any violence take place here. I’m going to look into the dome issue. And I agree that we need extra security on the house. There are too many high-profile targets staying here right now.”
Boris, the elf, cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Santa, but I can have some of the elves keep an eye on the house if your Enforcers are needed elsewhere. In preparation for the summer’s events, we have been working overtime and are several weeks ahead of schedule.”
I raised an eyebrow, wondering what protection a five-foot elf could give if an attacker who towered over him wanted inside.
Palo’s face lit up, and he smiled at Boris. “Thank you for always thinking of everything, Boris. If some of the elves would like to help out, I know Rock would appreciate the extra manpower. I would also feel more comfortable knowing an elf was watching over us.”
I made a mental note to ask Santa why having elves watch over the house was such a good idea. They were scrawny little things. Cute with their rosy cheeks and red noses, but their child-like features didn’t elicit any sort of confidence in their fighting ability, especially since I couldn’t see any hint of muscles on them.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Bella and Beth moving away. I narrowed an eye on Bella and wondered if she had any idea what happened. I remembered how she seemed scared last night. Could this attack have anything to do with what happened to her?
Miss Claus and the Christmas Wedding (A Shifter Christmas Romance Book 3) Page 6
