BearyMerryChristmas (7 page)

“Dinnae just stand there, lass, come help old Maggie get things ready for the woman tae arrive.”

“Okay.” Lara looked around the room and bit her lip. A few women bustled around, getting clean cloths and linens while others made themselves busy by wiping down the already clean surface with disinfectant. After a minute, she gave up and turned back to Duncan’s mother. “Okay, I give up. Who’s Maggie?”

The older woman laughed again and, for a small woman, gave Lara a hug that almost squeezed the air from her lungs. “I’m glad they chose ye, lass. Ye make me laugh.” She put a hand to the center of her chest. “I’m Maggie. I thought ye ken.” She shook her head. “I ken I taught those boys better than that.”

“I don’t think they even thought about it, Ma’am.”

“I do like the sound of that, daughter.” Maggie smiled as they readied the room for patients.

There was no doubt that the teacher would need care, but the children may need it as well. Who, other than the three men who carried them back, would know what condition they were in?

“We’ll be ready when they get here, Maggie.” An older man stepped into the room. He smiled at Duncan’s mother. It was obvious he was attracted to her, though Maggie seemed not to notice.

“Thank you, Donnal.” Maggie busied herself in setting out more clean sheets, then placed a dozen blankets in a warmer. No doubt to help bring up the body temperature of the people the three men carried in.

Lara heard the distant sound of sleigh bells and knew the men were close. She smiled as she thought of the way they looked all soft and cuddly wearing those red ribbons, like some sort of holiday commercial. She moved to the window and looked out.

The snow fell thick. She couldn’t see very far into the grounds beyond. The sound of the bells grew louder as she peered out into the storm. The large white flakes blew sideways, arcing up as the wind propelled the white powder in spinning spirals.

Through the storm, Lara thought she saw a flash of red, then another. Suddenly, a giant polar bear loomed up carrying several children of varying ages on its back. She frowned when she noticed a strange dark blue light that surrounded the children. A second bear followed the first with a man on its back. Lara figured that must be Jamie and Duncan carrying the teacher in much the same way as they had carried her the night before.

Lara followed the rest of the men and women as they hurried to the door to let them in. They opened the double doors wide and the bears trotted in amidst a cold wind and blowing snow, their sleigh bells ringing merrily. The children, sitting from smallest to oldest on the first bear’s back, all slid to the floor after the bear carrying them lowered his massive body to the stone tile. The second bear, she had seen
was
Jamie. He stood still as death, his shorter from legs bent slightly so the others could remove the unconscious woman from his back. Duncan sat unmoving as he cradled a silent infant in his arms.

He looked at Maggie. “The children are all witches, Mother.”

Maggie didn’t even bat an eyelash amidst the collective gasp. “Of course they are and they needed our help.” She gave her people an unreadable look. “We’ve waited lifetimes tae end our feud and this is our chance.”

“The girls say they no longer need our body parts for spells.”

The oldest girl stepped forward. “We havnea needed your parts for generations.” She wrinkled her nose. “We dinnae kill things at all anymore,” she paused, then found interest in the floor, “unless ye want tae count plants. We do kill a plant from time tae time.”

Maggie reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. “Then use this tae call your people as soon as ye get a signal.” She cast her gaze around the large group. “The trust has tae start somewhere.”

The girl smiled and pulled out her own device. “I planned tae if we got a signal here. We dinnae where the bus turned over.”

Smiling, Maggie turned to Duncan and slapped him on the arm. “Give the babe over, ye big bear. He needs his mam, even if she
is
unconscious.”

Duncan carefully handed the sleeping baby to his mother.

“I hae a bone tae pick with ye and Jamie, Duncan Robert William Wallace.” Maggie turned to glare at Jamie who was still in his polar bear form, complete with his and Duncan’s large, red ribbons wrapped around his neck. “Why did ye not at least tell the girl my name?” Cuddling the infant, she tapped her foot as she glared at them. “Are ye ashamed of me then?”

They both hung their heads. It was a sight to see. Maggie couldn’t have been more than five foot two and there she stood, dressing down a man who stood around six and a half feet tall and a polar bear, and the two males looked totally cowed. Lara wanted to laugh.

“Ye know I would never be ashamed of ye, Mam.” Duncan wrapped his arm around his mother and drew her to his side as he led her to the medical room. “You’re right though. The babe does need his mother. We should take him in tae her. If she’s awake, she may be worried without her babe with her.”

Lara grinned. He was a smooth talker, but she wasn’t sure his mother was going to let him off that easy. However, she would never know.

Jamie caught her attention. She stared at him for a moment before dragging the large blanket off his back. Lara gasped when it suddenly disappeared from her hands.

I dinnae mean tae startle ye, lass. I only meant tae relieve ye of your burden. I know the blanket was heavy. I carried it several miles.

“That’s okay.” She wiped the palms of her hands on her skirt. They weren’t wet or sweaty. She was just nervous.

Would ye like tae go outside for a few minutes and see the snow from our point of view?

Lara glanced behind him toward the door. The still-open door showed her a storm so rough, she was certain she would get lost.

“Uh, no thanks.” She gestured toward the windows. “It’s looking rather scary out there.”

Jamie moved closer and rubbed his long snout against her leg, then looked up at her.
It’s nae scary out there, lass. It’s fun if ye can find the courage tae enjoy yourself.
He looked up at her with those beautiful green eyes of his.
Will ye go outside and play with me, lass, or has being human limited your ability tae be lighthearted?

“Well,” she paused to lean close, her breath brushing his ear, proving, at least to him, that the woman was no coward. “What do we do now? It seems that everyone else is quite busy.”

Jamie swiped her cheek with his tongue and she jumped. It was one thing to talk to him, it was something totally different when he started tasting her.
I suppose we could help the others, but I hae found that there is much tae the saying that there are too many cooks in the kitchen. I dinnae want tae get in the way. Perhaps we should find something else tae do instead.

“What did you have in mind?” she had an idea, but she wasn’t sure how Duncan would feel about being left out while he helped his mother in the hospital room.

Hop on my back, lass, and I’ll show ye.

Lara had no idea what he planned until he turned and ran out through the still-open front doors. So taken with Jamie’s other form, she had barely noticed the snow blowing in, the cold wind whipping at her skirts or the puddles forming on the floor. Why had they left the door open, letting all of the precious heat out of the castle? And why wasn’t she cold? She should be, she wasn’t wearing a coat.

Polar bears overheat easily, lass. They left the door open for me so I wouldn’t get sick from my body temperature growing so high after such a long run
. Jamie carried her quickly through the snow. It was amazing that she wasn’t cold. Heat seemed to flow from Jamie’s every pore as they ran through the woods.

She screamed with joy when he took a giant leap over the side of a small cliff only to fall to his belly and slide the rest of the way down a steep incline. He ran through the woods and snow as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him. Come to think of it, it probably was.

We love tae run and play in the snow. It helps cool us off. We love the winter, because it is the only time we can bring about the change without having tae worry overmuch about someone seeing us and thinking we’re wild animals or escaped from some zoo. The snow is our friend, it cools us, the melted snow gives us water and the white of the snow hides us from those who would hunt us for sport.

That made sense. Lara gasped as Jamie took another flying leap over a small stream, his large feet spreading his weight so evenly that even when he fell short of the bank on the other side, he didn’t break through the ice.

She stared down at his feet, her mouth agape. “Your feet are the size of large dinner plates.”

Of course they are, lass. The better tae keep our footing in the snow and disperse our weight. The pads of our feet are also designed tae help keep us from slipping as well as cool us off when we get too hot. We dinnae run much, because we tend tae overheat, but sometimes, we just like tae play. Nights like tonight are perfect for playing.

“Yeah, because it’s freezing out here.” Lara’s teeth began to chatter. She was freezing. At first, she didn’t feel the cold. Maybe it was because Jamie had been so hot, but now that he was cooling off, so was she.

Jamie stopped trotting through the snow and bent his front legs.
Move yourself up between my shoulders, lass. You’ll find it a bit warmer. I expel heat from there, my ears and snout and between my legs. I’ll stop sliding through the snow for a bit tae help ye warm up.

“No. I don’t want you to do anything that will harm you. I’ve enjoyed our time together. I loved the way you slid over the snow like some giant, furry toboggan. If you need to stay cool, stay cool, but it would be nice to go back to the castle and a nice warm fire.”

We’ll head back now, lass. I didnae mean tae freeze ye.

“Don’t be silly.” Lara leaned forward and rested her cheek against his neck. “I know that.”

Hold on, Lara. I’ll travel as fast as I can. I’ll hae ye back in front of a fire in no time.

Thank you for this, Jamie. I had a lot of fun. Maybe we can do this again sometime when I’m wearing something warmer.

Lara couldn’t believe that she let him carry her out into the snow wearing nothing more than the borrowed tartan skirt and blouse. It was strange how she hadn’t even felt the cold until now.

She snuggled closer and contemplated the strange twist her life had taken since stepping off the plane in this country. Despite the cold, Lara had had every intention of staying here and living out of her rental car a good portion of the time until she met these two men. Now, she had no idea what way life was taking her.

Who knew what lay in store for her next? One thing was certain—whatever it was could never hold a candle to this. She’d always loved polar bears. She had always wanted the chance to touch one, but though she had the courage to want to enter a pen at the zoo, she wasn’t
that
stupid. Polar bears were killers. At least the ones in the wild were. Perhaps
this
was why she had wanted to visit Scotland so badly. Perhaps Duncan and Jamie were her destiny.

Chapter Eight

Jamie carried Lara back to the castle as fast as he could. He couldn’t believe he’d done such a stupid, stupid thing. She’d almost frozen to death the night before and here he was dragging her out into the cold to finish the job nature had started last night. His only excuse was that he was so taken with the lass and so comfortable with her, that he had forgotten she wasn’t one of his clan. Well…not yet anyway.

He bound through the deep snow, sliding down hills only when he knew it was the fastest way to travel. He tried to hold his heat into his body to make himself overheat. He could feel her body losing warmth with every step they took. She shivered with the cold as he traveled faster and faster, willing himself to heat up to the point of danger.

It didn’t matter if he damaged himself. In time, he would heal. Nothing was more important than getting his mate to safety. He practically groaned with relief when he saw the castle looming before them. The large double doors were closed. He didn’t wait for anyone to open them. He merely hit the door with his shoulder, splintering the wood in his hurry to get her to the warmth and safety of her room.

Still in his bear form, he bound up the wide stairs to the third floor and down the broad hallway to her room. No one attempted to stop him. The few people he had seen merely stepped out of his way in a hurry. It was either that or get mowed down, because he wasn’t stopping for anything. As much as he overheated himself to get her to her room, his human body would feel like a raging inferno by the time they arrived.

Duncan, get tae Lara’s room. I’ve done something stupid.

A short time passed before Duncan answered.
Exactly what did you do that was so stupid?

I took Lara outside. I wanted tae show her what it would be like to be one of us, but I didn’t even think tae hae her bring her coat. She’s freezing and we have tae warm her. Fast. She hasn’t communicated with me in a while and I fear the worst.

I’ll be right there.

Jamie knew he could count on Duncan to help him warm their mate. Thankfully, someone had left the door to her room ajar. Jamie nosed the door open and moved to lie in front of the fire one of the others had set to warm her for the night. He stayed in front of the fire, his body overheating from exertion and from the close proximity to the flames. Closing his eyes, he prayed that she was all right and shifted back to his human form.

“You could have warned me, you know,” she whispered in his ear. “I would have climbed off you first.” Lara wriggled a bit before she rolled off him and stared at the fire. “I’m not used to finding myself lying on top of naked men, you know.” Lara shivered. “I’m still cold.” She turned to frown at him, “And you’re hot. It feels like you have a fever.”

She glanced back toward the fire before returning her attention to him. Her eyes widened. “You shouldn’t be this close to the fire, should you? Won’t you overheat?”