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“Hey, if you want to have kids at some point, I need to not freeze my biscuits off.”
She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Fine, fine. I wouldn’t want that.”
“Have you guys figured out your plans after Christmas Day?” Hunter asked.
“Her folks first, then mine,” Winter said. “We’re going to spend two days in North Dakota and then head to Pennsylvania and stay until New Year’s. After that, we plan to come back here.”
“Yeah? That’s awesome,” Hunter said. “Pixie will be happy about that.”
“I’m glad too, but I’d be happy anywhere as long as we were together,” Winter said. It was a simple truth, but it was truth all the same. As long as he got to fall asleep with her, they could live anywhere.
He watched her talk animatedly with the females and thought she truly belonged among them, up at the top of the world with shifters, elves, and other magical people. And she’d found her calling as a woodcarver with the toymakers. Santa had given her the job officially several days earlier, and they’d celebrated with strawberry swirl cheesecake and plenty of romance.
“Friends of Northernmost!” Santa’s voice boomed across the courtyard.
The chatter subsided as everyone turned toward the small platform where Santa stood with the now-quiet band.
“This month has been challenging because of my brother’s alliance with the god of nightmares, but along with the storms and wintry chaos, we’ve gained new friendships, romances, and alliances of our own.” His gaze swept over the crowd as he smiled. He lifted a mug of steaming cider. “Tonight we celebrate something new, the first annual Winter Solstice Festival.” Cheers erupted across the courtyard. When they settled, Santa said, “Tomorrow we get back to saving the world from my brother, but tonight? We party!”
Laughter and applause exploded around them.
True leaned over and kissed Winter before clinking her mug of cider against his.
They spent an hour eating their fill before hitting the dance floor and then making the rounds of the dessert tables and playing a few rounds of an elf-inspired Skee-Ball game.
Eventually the music slowed, and Winter tugged on True’s hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”
She followed him away from the crowd and back inside the main building, all the way to Santa’s office, which was dark except for the fire crackling in the fireplace.
“It’s so beautiful in here,” she said, looking out the picture window at the Well.
“You are,” he said.
She turned with a smile. “I meant the view.”
“So did I.”
“Sexy male,” she whispered. “What are we doing here?”
He joined her at the window. Although it was snowing, the Well was visible, glowing with the source of all good magic. Above it, the Northern Lights danced in green and blue ribbons across the dark sky.
He took her hand, his heart in his throat. “I almost died a week ago. And the only thing I could think about while we were escaping was that I hadn’t told you I loved you.”
“But you did tell me,” she said gently.
“I did, but I almost lost the chance. I could have gone to the great beyond without you ever knowing what was truly in my heart. And I don’t want to go another moment without telling you this truth: You are my everything. I was half-living when I found you out in the snow, and you saved me in more ways than I can count. I am yours, bear and male, and I love you from the very bottom of my heart. True, will you marry me?”
He dropped to one knee and took a ring from his pocket.
He’d had the jewelry maker craft it for him: white gold with an intricate carved star in the center, where a perfect diamond rested. “You’re my North Star, True. My heart will always bring me back to you.”
She gasped and her eyes shone with tears. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Winter. I love you so much.”
He slipped the ring onto her finger and rose to his feet, drawing her close and bending her backward for a kiss that felt like it was as much a promise of the future as it was sealing their engagement.
He was going to spend the rest of his life making sure she was the happiest female in the world.
He was just the male for the job.
