Page 40 of Falling for her Guardian

Once they were outside, Storm stayed by her side as they walked. She realized they were heading to the Entrance when she saw bright lights in the distance.

A group of elves were working on repairing the Entrance, where some large chunks of bone had broken off. They stopped a few yards away and she stared at the scorched earth.

She didn’t see her suitcase, which told her it was probably back in Ohio at the side of the road. Her clothes were mostly burned remnants, the duffel a charred lump of canvas by the blood-soaked ground.

She shivered and Storm bumped against her. She put her hand on his shoulder and sank her fingers into his thick fur. “I’d rather have you than my things.”

He nuzzled her stomach with a gruff rumble, and she scratched his ears.

“We both could have died tonight,” she said as they made their way toward the barracks. “I’m thankful we’re safe. I’ll thank you properly when you’re out of your shift.”

When he was out of his shift and fully healed a few hours later, Storm told Santa what he remembered of the bombing, including seeing Valeth throw it through the portal. No one knew how the evil elf had shown up in Ohio, of all places, with a bomb. Since Frost had put some sort of anti-healing chemical into the bomb, it was a good bet that he’d planned for them to be hurt or killed and also possibly to damage the Entrance. Fortunately, Frost had failed.

Willow had gotten clear and hadn’t been hurt at all, and Storm and Seren were alive and well. The Entrance had been repaired by elves and healed with Santa’s magic.

When he and Seren made it back to his apartment, they’d made love and she’d asked him to mark her so they could be mates in truth. He’d gladly complied, loving the way it sounded when she told him she loved him.

It was new love, the sort of love that came from finding the one right person in the world, but it would grow and deepen as time passed.

For now, he loved her with the passion of a thousand suns, and it would only get better from this point on.

“Water’s ready,” Seren called from the bathroom.

He hefted himself off the bed after sending a message to his brothers that he and Seren were mated and going to take a few days off to celebrate.

He found his sweetheart in the shower, hair wet and skin dewy with steam.

“You look good enough to eat,” he said with a growl.

“You already did that,” she said with a laugh.

He pulled her close as he stepped under the spray, kissing her as water poured over them. Then he kissed his way down the center of her body, nibbling and licking until he was on his knees.

He leaned forward and kissed her navel, spreading his fingers over her hips.

His finger brushed something cold, and he leaned over to look at what it was.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” He brushed his fingers over a cold spot on her hip. As he moved his head to look at it, he saw something glittery.

“Shit. Shit.”

“What?” she asked, her voice going high with worry.

He slapped the faucet off. “Get dressed, baby, we have to see Santa.”

Seren stood in front of Santa, who’d come to the gathering room of the apartments.

She pushed down the waistband of her leggings to expose the cold spot on her skin. It was the strangest thing. She didn’t remember feeling it before and she had no idea what it was, butif she tilted a certain direction in the light, it almost looked like a snowflake.

Santa used a flashlight and leaned over. He huffed. “That son of a bitch.”

“I was right?” Storm asked.

“Yes. It’s a tracker. Frost embedded a magical tracker in her skin.”

Storm growled. “That’s how he knew where we were so he could send the bomb through.”

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