Page 24 of Awakened By Her Guardian

“Lead the way, sweetheart,” he said with a growl.

Beneath Northernmost, inside the apartment that would be her home for the foreseeable future, Ana and Gabriel fell into bed together in a flurry of hastily removed clothes and deep kisses.

When they were tangled together under the covers and coming down from the heavens, she rested her head on his chest, listened to his heartbeat, and said, “Today was a lot.”

“That’s an understatement,” he said with a chuckle, his fingers tracing aimless patterns on her shoulder.

“You know what? I love your wolf.”

“Yeah? He loves you too.”

She smiled. “I realized something, though.”

“What’s that?”

“I didn’t get to see you shift.”

“I can fix that.”

“Yeah? I’d love to see it.”

“How about tomorrow night? After we spend the day together and have an incredible date.”

“Incredible, you say?” she asked, tilting her face to smile at him.

“Only the best for my mate.”

They lay in sweet silence for a while, then eventually made their way to the shower for another quickie before bed.

She didn’t know what would come from Nightmare joining forces with Frost, but she knew she could count on Gabriel, and that meant she wasn’t standing alone.

She had her sexy wolf by her side. They’d handle whatever happened, together.

The following morning, Gabriel and Ana ate breakfast in the cafeteria with his cousins and their mates. Ana hadn’t spent much time with shifters before and didn’t know much about being a shifter’s mate, so he was glad she had Winterlyn and Emberlin to talk to.

Gabriel nursed his second cup of coffee while his cousins talked about being stuck in Northernmost during December and not getting to go home for the full moon, something they’d been able to do in years past. Santa had closed the Portal into Northernmost to everyone except for emergencies, like the one that had brought his sweet mate to him.

“At least we’re stuck with our mates,” Gabriel said.

“Good point,” Declan said. “My mom’s not happy about the full moon, but I think it’s more that she really loves Winterlyn and wants to spend more time with her during the holidays.”

Sebastian nodded. “It’s too bad you can’t take Ana home before Christmas Day.”

Gabriel nodded. “My parents aren’t thrilled, but they understand the commitment I made. Ana wants to see me shift because she didn’t get to see it during the fight with Nightmare and his followers. I was thinking tonight, after I plan an epic date.”

“Epic?” Declan asked with a chuckle.

“Hopefully,” Gabriel said. “Would you guys like to hang out with us? The girls can chat while we run around in the snow.”

“I’m on shift tonight, but I’ll ask someone to cover for me,” Sebastian said.

“Awesome. I’ll text you both when we’re done with our date.”

While his cousins swapped stories about the best dates they’d planned with their mates, Gabriel half-listened, his attention fixed on Ana. She glanced at him as he was gawking at her, and smiled brightly. She was so freaking beautiful. He felt like the luckiest wolf in the world.

“We should get going,” he said to her. “Santa wants to see us.”

“We’ll see you all later tonight,” she said as she pushed back the chair and stood.