Page 18 of Falling for her Guardian

“Frost definitely knows we’re coming for her,” Winter said with a low voice.

“There are ten males,” Sebastian whispered. “Let’s clear the way so Santa can unlock the door, then Storm can find his mate.”

“We have to assume there are more guards inside,” Declan said. “So no one goes anywhere alone.”

Hunter clapped Storm on the back. “I’m with you, brother.”

“Thanks.”

“Take them out, gentlemen,” Santa said, his voice laden with power.

They were still protected by the magic, but once they breached the lair, the magic would be gone, so they used it while they could. The ten of Frost’s followers were taken out swiftly in a nearly silent battle, their bodies left to freeze in the snow. Santa approached the security door and took off his gloves, rubbing his hands together for a few moments.

They began to glow a warm gold, and Storm could feel the magic as it pulsed in the air.

Santa laid his hands over the door lock. The door shuddered and flashed red as the magic Jack had used to keep the door locked was shattered by Santa’s more powerful magic. The door opened with a soft creak and the hallway appeared to be empty.

“I’ll be waiting at our perimeter,” Santa said. “Find her and get home quickly. We’ll speak when things are settled between you two.”

Storm nodded. “Thank you.”

The males quickly divvied up duties, Declan and Sebastian stood guard outside, Gabriel headed back to the territory with Santa, and Storm’s brothers joined him inside.

The roar of the wind quieted once they were inside.

He just didn’t know where the hell to go.

Focusing on the part of him that felt connected to Seren already, he closed his eyes and let his bear out.

“I feel her,” he said. “It’s faint, though. And down.”

“Down? Like below us?” Winter whispered.

“I think so.”

“There are scuff marks, like someone was dragged,” Hunter said.

There were black marks on the floor leading away from the door. Storm bent and pressed his nose to the marks, picking up the faintest whiff of her sweet scent. His bear chuffed in his head.

“It’s her. Let’s go,” he said.

Seren couldn’t keep her eyes open. She kept drifting off and then startling awake with a gasp. Every part of her hurt from the cold, and she didn’t think she was going to last much longer.

She’d called for help a few times, called for Jack Frost, but no one had shown up. The cell seemed to be getting colder by the minute.

Then she felt something.

Tilting her head to rest against the cold stone, she blinked a few times and tried to figure out what she was feeling.

It was a warmth that wasn’t anything like what she’d lost when she’d wandered from the safety of the security building into Jack Frost’s clutches. This warmth felt like…home.

She inhaled shakily and tried to get up from the cot, but everything felt frozen. She tried to take in a deep breath so she could call for help, but her voice was a strangled squeak, the cold sinking deep into her bones.

“Storm,” she whispered, her vision dimming, her teeth clacking together as she shook from the cold. “I’m sorry.”

If she could go back, she would have stayed put in the breakroom and waited for Storm to come back. Then she would have told him everything she was scared of because of her past relationship with a shifter. She’d felt connected to him on a level she hadn’t experienced before, and she’d run instead of exploring it.

She smiled a little, thinking about how fun it would have been to explorehim.

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