Page 8 of Cherished By Her Guardian

He laughed as he followed the males through the portal, shivering at the drop in temperature.

“Thanks for the escort,” he said.

“Anytime,” Alder said.

Leaving the elves to their security duties, he headed to the barracks to get some sleep since he had to be up before dawn so he could be ready for his early shift.

He sent a text to Sebastian and Gabriel to let them know he was heading to bed. They had their own places in the barracks. There were three apartments attached to a gathering room for each of the Guardian shifter groups. The wolves’ apartments had two bedrooms and were fully furnished. He rarely cooked in the kitchen, usually taking his meals in the cafeteria with Sebastian and Gabriel. They generally worked the same shift, but he’d volunteered to take the early shift tomorrow to help out one of the other Guardians.

We’ll try to be quiet when we come in,Gabriel texted back.

Thanks, he texted back, very sure they were going to wake him up when they came in at some point after midnight.

How was dinner with the folks?Sebastian texted.

Good. They’d like me to pick a mate and start a family.

Wow,Gabriel said.Just like that?

Yep. I said I’d wait for my truemate, and they said they understood, but I don’t know if they do.

It’s that whole generation, Sebastion answered.They think waiting for truemates isn’t the right choice, but it is for us.

Hopefully our truemates show up sooner rather than later,Gabriel said.

Definitely. See you guys later.

He plugged his phone in, stripped, and climbed into bed. With a yawn, he turned off the small lamp on the nightstand, checked the alarm was set, and rolled to his side.

In no time, he drifted off to sleep, thoughts of truemates on his mind.

It was far,fartoo early for Winterlyn. Except for Christmas Day morning when she liked to get up super early and sit by the fireplace and watch the sunrise. But on this winter solstice morning, when it was the very coldest point of the year thanks to Jack Frost, and the sun hadn’t risen yet, it was definitely too early.

She made her way to Annette’s home, parking in front of her little cabin. The front door swung open as Winterlyn was about to knock.

It was clear that Annette had been crying.

“Are you okay?” Winterlyn asked.

Annette grabbed her coat and stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her. “Um, yeah. No. Well, yes. I’m good.” She put the coat on and tugged a hat down on her head. “Ready to go to the Well?”

“Isn’t it too early? Will someone even be there for me to talk to?”

“Oh sure,” she said. “I sent a request in advance that someone needed to speak urgently with Santa and explained we’d be there at dawn.”

“Santa?”

Winterlyn had never met the male. He was well known to be kind, but he was also the most powerful warlock in the world and the protector of the Well of Magic.

Annette stepped off the porch and trudged through the snow that blanketed the yard. Winterlyn hopped off the porch and followed her around the corner of the house.

The witch, who seemed angry and sad at the same time, stopped abruptly at the back of the house and turned to face her. “Yes, of course. You have a big problem and you need a big problem solver, and that’s Santa. I didn’t explain the situation because I didn’t want anyone to say no right off the bat since what you’re asking about is pretty unorthodox. I mean, the head of my coven told you it wasn’t worth the trouble, right?”

“Yes. She said the Well wasn’t meant to help shifters.”

“Hey, she’s not omnipotent,” Annette said with a shrug. She turned and used her magic to open a portal to Northernmost. As the portal grew in mid-air, lengthening and widening, Winterlyn was spellbound. She’d never seen a portal open before. It was freaking amazing. They were in Arctic Pines, New York, but through the growing portal, she could see the Northern Lights.

Annette fidgeted a bit, tugging her coat down and putting her right hand in her pocket. “If it works, it works. If not, then at least you tried. If I couldn’t access my magic, I’d definitely want to try everything before I just gave up.”

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