Page 5 of Rescued By Her Guardian

“It runs in the family.”

It didn’t take long for Knox to unpack and settle into the apartment he’d been given in the Guardians’ barracks. Three two-bedroom apartments shared a common area called a gathering room with comfortable couches and a large flat-screen. The other males in the leopard wing were from his leap—Maverick who was twenty-four and Chase who was twenty-three. They’d both joined up at eighteen the same way that Knox had, excited to be chosen to join the ranks of those who protected the magic of the world from Jack Frost and his evil followers.

Guardians had been around as long as there was a Well, the jobs created to keep it and the magical people safe as they journeyed to the North Pole. Jack Frost and Santa had been battling over control of the Well for a handful of decades, but before that, there were always evil-minded people who wanted to control the magic and the Well, which meant there always needed to be guards.

He'd been honored to be chosen even though he’d only served for two years before returning to his leap and taking over as alpha. He was the youngest alpha in the leap’s history, and he loved it. But the time spent up here this month would be a good break too.

Someone knocked on his door.

“It’s open.”

“Hey,” Maverick said as he walked into the apartment along with Chase. “Have you heard how Asher’s grandma is doing?”

“Not great,” he said. “She’s pretty frail. The leap healer doesn’t think she’ll be around for more than a few weeks at most, likely less. I’m here until Christmas, and then if he’s not ready to come back, I’ll assign someone from the leap to come for training and take over in the interim.”

“What if he doesn’t want to come back?” Chase asked, leaning against the closed door.

Knox shrugged. “I’ll find someone to replace him permanently. He likes being a Guardian, so I suspect he’ll want to get back to it after he’s had time to deal with things. But if not, it’ll be okay. Worried you’ll be stuck with me?”

“Nah,” Chase asked with a chuckle. “It’s cool to have you here.”

“We came to walk with you to security since your visitor badge won’t get you anywhere.”

Knox glanced at the coffee table where the visitor ID was hanging from a lanyard decorated with holly and Christmas bells. “Cool. I’m ready to hit the ground running.”

“We’ve got a quick orientation for you about the new security system, but otherwise, they’re the same protocols as they were when you were here,” Chase said.

“Well, it’s mostly the same, except Santa called in more elves to work security around the perimeter of Northernmost,” Maverick said. “But the Guardians are still the main security for the Well itself.”

He followed the two out of his apartment and through the gathering room, where they turned down the hall to make their way to the security station.

“Why are there more elves handling security?” he asked.

“You didn’t hear about what Jack Frost did?” Chase asked.

“No, what did he try this time?” The male was a warlock and powerful in his own right, but he was evil, which meant he was a little crazy too. And definitely obsessed with taking over the Well.

They told him about Storm, the polar bear Guardian whose human mate came to Northernmost accidentally and then was lured from the security building by Frost and taken to his lair.

“After she was rescued, Storm took her to her home down in the States to pack her things and meet her parents, and when the portal was opened for them to come back here, Valeth appeared and tossed a bomb through the Entrance.”

“Holy shit. Did everyone survive?”

“Yeah,” Maverick said. He swiped his keycard to access the security building’s elevator to take them from the underground barracks to the surface. When they were inside the elevator, he said, “Storm took the brunt of the blast to protect his mate Seren, and it was touch and go for a while. Frost had put some kind of magic in the bomb that kept him from healing.”

“Damn. But he’s good now?”

“Yep. Storm is back to work today. They’re going to take off after Christmas, so she’s working in the offices, I think,” Maverick said. “I don’t think he’s ever tried bombing the Entrance before.”

“It’s bold and pretty early in the season too.” It was only the beginning of the second week of December. Christmas Day was nineteen days away.

“He must be tired of not making any headway,” Chase said.

They reached the security office, where all the Guardians were waiting to greet him.

“Nice to see you again,” Sebastian, one of the wolves, said, giving him a back-slapping hug. They’d worked together before Knox returned to his leap.

“You too,” he said.

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