Page 19 of Falling for her Guardian

If only that would have happened instead of her freezing to death in his hellhole.

Would her family ever know the truth, or would they always wonder what happened to her?

She faintly heard a bear roaring but was too exhausted to move or even open her eyes.

This was how her life ended. Frozen on a cot in an evil man’s underground fortress. Alone.

They found stairs and headed down. On the third flight, he felt his connection to Seren strengthen, and he knew she had to be close.

“This floor,” he whispered.

“Anyone else think it’s bad that we haven’t come across any followers except the guards outside?” Hunter whispered.

Stormdidthink it was bad, but all he cared about was finding his mate and getting her back to Northernmost.

He pulled the door open, and when he leaned out to look, someone grabbed him by the collar and jerked him out of the stairwell. He let out a shout, but recovered quickly, his brothers joining him to fight a large group of evil followers who’d been waiting for them.

Valeth wasn’t among the males, which was too bad because Storm would like to kick that male’s ass for all the trouble he’d caused over the years. But these males would do.

He and his brothers fought as one, extending their deadly claws and slashing at the elves.

He heard a soft voice, so low he couldn’t make out what was being said. But his heart clenched, and he knew it was Seren.

Letting out a deep, bellowing roar, he slashed his claws through the throat of the nearest elf, then raced toward the voice he’d heard. He was in some kind of prison, with cells on either side of a tile walkway. The cells were all empty, save for one.

Seren was huddled on a cot, not moving.

Her wrapped his hands around the bar. “Seren!”

She didn’t move or answer him.

The door of her cell was locked, the iron bars unmoving as he gripped them. Panic clawed at him. “Hunter! Winter! I need you!”

His brothers’ pounding footsteps echoed around him, and they appeared.

“Found this,” Hunter said, handing a key to Storm. “One of the elves had it around his neck.”

The key slid into the lock and opened it with a click. Storm shoved the door open and rushed in, pressing his fingers to her throat.

She let out a moan through blue lips. Her pulse was weak, but at least she was alive. Slipping his coat around her, he picked her up and said, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

His brothers led the way out of the cell area, past the dead or unconscious bodies of the elves, and back into the stairwell.

While he was skeptical that they hadn’t run into more obstacles than the couple dozen elves who’d tried to stop them, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if Jack Frost had underestimated them.

They hit the door leading outside and Storm took off at a run, as fast as he could go. He held Seren against him, aware that the rushing wind would make her even colder, but he had to get her to the security building and back to safety.

Santa was waiting for them at the perimeter as their group made it back safely to Northernmost.

At least he hoped that Seren was safe.

“Take her to the infirmary,” Santa said. “She’ll need help to combat the chill.”

Sebastian grabbed the door and said, “Why does it sound likethechillmeans something other than cold?”

“Because it does,” Santa said. “Jack controls the winter elements. She’s covered in permafrost, but it’s magic. Jack wanted her close to death but not dead to lure you there.”

Santa followed Storm as he carried Seren to the infirmary, where healer elves were available to help anyone in need.

---