A Dragon for Christmas: Shifters for Christmas #2 Read online

  A Dragon for Christmas

  Shifters for Christmas #2

  Zoe Chant

  A Dragon for Christmas

  By Zoe Chant

  Copyright Zoe Chant 2019

  All Rights Reserved

  Author’s Note

  This book stands alone. However, it’s the second in the heartwarming Shifters for Christmas series featuring agents of the Shifter Patrol Corps and their mates. Each book features a new couple. If you’d like to read the series in order, the first book, featuring the characters of Emilia and Rowan, is A Griffin for Christmas.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  A note from Zoe Chant

  More Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant

  Zoe on Audio

  A Griffin for Christmas: Special Sneak Preview

  Prologue

  “And just what the hell is this?”

  Ordinarily, Garrett Kolev of the Shifter Patrol Corps wouldn’t dream of barging into his boss’s office like this, and he definitely wouldn’t have slammed a piece of paper down on his boss’s desk while demanding to know what the hell it was. But just lately he’d been feeling a little more tense than usual, and these were definitely some extenuating circumstances.

  As it was, his boss, Hardwicke, simply raised an eyebrow at him, proving once again that his legendary coolness wasn’t just office talk.

  Nonetheless, Garrett could see just the tiniest spark of anger in his eyes, and he had to will himself not to gulp. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest, making sure to maintain his glower.

  “It’s an approved leave form,” Hardwicke answered him after a moment or two of frosty silence.

  “I can see that,” Garrett snapped. “Why’s it got my name on it? I didn’t put in for any leave.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Hardwicke said. “But I did. On your behalf. Congratulations. It’s been approved.”

  “No shit,” Garrett growled. “Since you approve my leave. I can’t imagine how you finagled that.”

  This time, he really did gulp. Hardwicke’s cold, flat stare told him that his sarcasm had been noted and definitely not appreciated.

  “Sit down, Garrett.”

  Garrett hesitated only slightly before shaking his head and complying, seating himself in the leather chair in front of Hardwicke’s desk. He was aware of just the tiniest bit of regret about how he’d handled this worming its way into his brain.

  You should challenge him, his dragon inside him hissed. No one tells a dragon what he may or may not do!

  You shut up, Garrett hissed back. You’ve caused enough trouble for one day.

  And it was true – dragons were legendarily short-tempered and fiery. It was listening to his inner dragon that had made Garrett barge in here in the first place, when listening to his human common sense might have made him at least knock first.

  As it was, he found himself balling his hands into fists as he forced himself to sit still, waiting to hear what Hardwicke had to say. And why exactly he was being forced to go on leave at what was usually one of the Shifter Patrol Corps’s busiest times of year. The snow and freezing cold of December might force many human criminals to halt their activities for a while, but shifter criminals had no such limitations. Shifters ran hot, and they could endure conditions that would kill a human – cold didn’t bother them. If anything, it was around the Christmas and New Year season that shifter criminals got even busier, scooping up the business humans were forced to leave unattended.

  That was part of the reason Garrett himself had been so busy lately. He’d just gotten back after spending three grueling weeks tracking some shifter gun runners through the wilderness across four states. And before that he’d been bunkered down on a stakeout that’d run longer than anyone had anticipated. And then, before that –

  “Do you know how long it’s been since you last took some leave, Garrett?” Hardwicke asked, interrupting his thoughts.

  Garrett frowned. “No. Does it matter?”

  Hardwicke just raised an eyebrow again. “It’s been three years, six months and two weeks since you last took even a few days off,” he said. “And that was because you got shot, and the doctor forced you to take a few days to recuperate.”

  “I got winged,” Garrett insisted, leaning forward. “On the shoulder. No big deal.”

  It takes more than that to stop a dragon.

  It was perfectly true – even among shifters, dragons healed fast and could take heavy damage without slowing down.

  “The bullet was tipped with dragonsbane,” Hardwicke reminded him icily. “You could have died.”

  Garrett shifted uncomfortably. Okay, that was true. But he hadn’t died, had he? There’d been medical help readily available, and he’d been fine after a day or so.

  “Yes, I know. But –”

  “Don’t interrupt me,” Hardwicke interrupted him. He leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes. “I had hoped that you’d eventually realize you needed a break and put in for some leave on your own initiative,” he said. “But you didn’t, and now you’ve forced my hand.”

  Garrett grimaced. His dragon flicked its tail, fury building within it.

  We’re needed, it insisted. We cannot simply –

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Hardwicke’s tone softened slightly, though his expression was still far from pleased at Garrett’s behavior. “I know this is a busy time of year for us. But I have to think about the Corps as a team.”

  Garrett wanted to argue that he couldn’t do anything for the team if he wasn’t on it, but for once he kept his mouth shut, pushing down his dragon’s baser impulses.

  “I have enough agents to cover the work – thanks, in large part, to all your efforts over the past couple of months. We’ve cracked the gun running operation we’ve been after for years. Those dealers in Montana are cooling their heels waiting to go to trial. All things you’re directly responsible for.”

  “Exactly,” Garrett said. “Which is why –”

  “Which is why you’re going on leave,” Hardwicke finished for him. “And exactly what I mean when I say I have to think about the Corps as a team. The Corps isn’t just one man, Garrett, no matter how good an agent that man might be. And I have to think about the fact that even good agents get tired and burned out. And how that might affect the rest of the Corps.”

  “I’m not burned out,” Garrett said, though even as he said it, the part of his brain that wasn’t overwhelmed by his dragon’s indignation was whispering to him that he had been feeling a little tired lately, and even more short-tempered than usual. Could he deny that he’d felt kind of sluggish yesterday when he’d been lifting weights at the gym? And he’d needed three cups of coffee this morning before he felt fully awake. He didn’t even usually drink coffee.

  “Maybe not yet,” Hardwicke said. “But you will be if you keep up like this. And a burned-out agent is a liability I’m not prepared to accept. Not for his own sake, or for the sake of his fellow agents – and the people we protect. Other people’s lives depend on your judgment. So if you’ve got a good argument for me as to why you shouldn’t take this leave –” Hardwicke tapped his finger against the form Garrett had slammed down on his desk only a few minutes before “– then I’m waiting to hear it.”

  Garrett scowle
d. Much as he didn’t want to admit it, Hardwicke was right. Other people’s lives did depend on him, and one slip on his part could mean the difference between life or death. Not just for other agents of the Shifter Patrol Corps, all of whom had accepted the danger their work put them in, but for the innocent shifters and humans they protected as well. And that was why Garrett had joined the Corps in the first place: to protect people.

  And I can’t do that if I can’t even get through a workout without needing a sit-down afterwards, he thought. Or get through the morning without throwing back a gallon of coffee.

  “All right, fine,” he grumbled – not that his agreement would have made any difference to Hardwicke anyway. Hardwicke’s word was law around here. If his boss said he was going on leave, then he was going on leave. His dragon’s fury had temporarily short-circuited both his common sense and his sense of self-preservation, but now that both it and he had calmed down, he was beginning to realize just how lucky he was to still be sitting here, hide intact, after the way he’d barged in here. “But at least let me take something home – some case files or something so I can keep up to speed while I’m not in the office. I’m just going to be sitting around my apartment anyway.”

  That was true enough. Garrett had no family. He had no time for a family. His family was the men and women who made up the Corps. And as for a mate…

  Ha.

  Mates weren’t for people like Garrett. His job was too dangerous. He couldn’t ask any woman to deal with that. He was better off alone. Things were simpler that way. Without a mate, he could devote himself entirely to the job.

  Realizing Hardwicke hadn’t answered him, Garrett glanced up – and frowned. There was a look in Hardwicke’s eyes he definitely didn’t like.

  “No, I don’t think sitting around in your apartment will do you much good at all,” Hardwicke said after a moment or two. “You’re going to have a real break, Garrett. Something where you’ll come back refreshed.”

  Garrett did not like where this was heading at all.

  Hardwicke leaned over slightly, opening one of his desk drawers. A second later, he tossed a colorful brochure down beside Garrett’s approved leave form.

  Garrett stared down at it. Lake Smithson Christmas Resort and Chalets read the bright green and red lettering of the heading. Below that there was a photograph of a smiling family, their eyes shining and their teeth blindingly white. A fleet of reindeer pulling a sled curved its way across the sky above their heads. A massive Christmas tree lit up with what seemed like a million fairy lights and topped with a shining star rose up beside them.

  “No,” he said, when he finally found the ability to speak again.

  “Too late, it’s booked,” Hardwicke said, tone implacable. At Garrett’s horrified expression, he seemed to relent a little. “Don’t worry, you’re in one of the private chalets up on the mountain, surrounded by nothing but forest. You’ll have privacy. You’ll be able to shift. And most importantly, you’ll be able to relax. The owner of this place is a shifter – he knows you’re coming. We’ve had an arrangement for a couple of years: when an agent of mine needs to get out of the city and take some time, I send them here.”

  “But it’s Christmas,” Garrett said, shaking his head. “This place’ll be packed.”

  “Not up on the mountain,” Hardwicke said. “That’s the point. You don’t even need to go down to the resort by the lake if you don’t want to. You’ll have everything you need at the chalet. You’ll have total privacy.”

  Garrett swallowed. With a sinking feeling, he realized there was absolutely no way he was getting out of this. Hardwicke, as per usual, had thought of everything.

  He picked up the brochure, willing himself not to shudder.

  Christmas had never been for him. He knew some shifters had embraced the human holiday – and why wouldn’t they? Garrett had to admit, it did look like fun. Presents, sparkling, shiny things, loved ones…

  All the things that dragons usually loved.

  Already, he could feel the tug of his dragon’s interest within him as he flicked through the brochure, with its pages and pages of luxurious chalet interiors and smiling families.

  “I’ve told the owner you’ll be arriving tomorrow,” Hardwicke said, leaning back in his chair. “He’s set up a beacon by your chalet, so all you’ll need to do is home in on that. No need to check in.”

  “All right, fine,” Garrett grumbled, even as smoke began rising from his dragon’s mouth at the sight of a couple reclining on a thick carpet before an open fire, glasses of wine in hand, snow-covered trees visible outside. “I’ll go.”

  He knew his agreement was nothing but a formality, but Hardwicke seemed pleased nonetheless. “Good,” he said. He waved a hand, dismissing Garrett from his office.

  Garrett stood, taking the brochure with him as he made his way toward the door.

  “And Garrett?”

  Garrett glanced back over his shoulder.

  Is that…?

  No, it couldn’t be. For a moment, he’d almost thought he’d seen a smile tugging at the corner of Hardwicke’s mouth.

  “Yes, boss?”

  “Have fun.”

  Chapter 1

  “I want you to know I’m still extremely suspicious about the outcome of this raffle,” Georgia Clarkson said as she reached for her suitcase, ready to heave it into the trunk of her car.

  “Suspicious? What on earth do you have to be suspicious about?” her friend Emilia Lopez asked, her eyes wide, her expression the very picture of innocence.

  Georgia paused, raising an eyebrow. “All six of the people drawn before me somehow mysteriously lost their winning tickets and couldn’t claim their prize? C’mon, Emilia, just how likely do you think that is?”

  Emilia shrugged, as her husband Rowan came to stand by her side. “It happens. You know people around here. Butterfingers doesn’t begin to cover it. Anyway, most people only bought tickets to support the fundraising for Fairhill Elementary – they already had their Christmas plans sorted out. What would they need with a week at a chalet on a mountain?”

  “That’s part of what makes me so suspicious,” Georgia muttered, as, before she could stop him, Rowan lifted her suitcase as if it weighed nothing at all and plonked it into the trunk. She bit her lip. “You know I wouldn’t want anyone to give up anything they won fair and square, just so that I can –”

  “What, have the first break you’ve had in years?” Emilia asked, crossing her arms over her chest, her mouth severe but her black eyes dancing with laughter. “Take Logan and Freddy somewhere they’ll love for the Christmas break?”

  At Emilia’s words, Georgia glanced over to where her nine-year-old son Logan sat in the back seat of her car, his black Labrador Freddy sitting right beside him, as he usually was. They’d added Freddy to their family for Christmas two years earlier, and he and Logan were absolutely inseparable, at least when Logan wasn’t at school.

  To be honest, Georgia sometimes worried a little about it – Freddy was an amazing dog, there was no doubt about it, obedient and friendly and loyal. But it was also clear that Logan preferred Freddy to pretty much all of his human friends.

  Maybe it made sense, Georgia thought. Logan had learned pretty early on that not all humans could be trusted. He’d only been five when his father, Tim, had walked out on them – too young for her to explain all the reasons why it’d happened, but old enough for him to be desperately hurt by it.

  Not that I really know all the reasons why it happened myself, Georgia thought, swallowing. One moment, they’d been happy – or so she’d thought – and the next, Tim had told her he was leaving. He hadn’t even given her a chance to try to fix whatever the problems in their relationship were. She’d tried writing and calling, but she’d never gotten an answer. The last she’d heard he was off trying to be a pro poker player in Vegas, despite the fact he’d never shown the slightest bit of interest in poker while they were together. Who knew, though – maybe he’d disco
vered a hidden talent and was wildly successful. In any case, Georgia had consigned him to her past. She knew he was never coming back.

  Four long years had passed since then, and Georgia didn’t miss him – but she wasn’t about to lie about how much it still hurt to think about.

  “I know,” Georgia finally said, voice soft. “And don’t think I don’t appreciate what everyone’s done for me. But –”

  “But nothing.” Emilia’s tone was implacable. “You deserve this, Georgia. There’s no one who deserves it more. You work really hard, and Logan deserves to have some fun too. He’ll love it up at Lake Smithson. It should be packed with families at this time of year. He’ll be around tons of other kids his age.”

  Georgia caught her breath. She hadn’t really thought about that, but Emilia was right. Maybe it’d help bring Logan a little out of his shell, too. Maybe he could make a couple of close human friends. Even some long-distance ones he could write to.

  “It’s a great place,” Rowan broke into her thoughts, as he put his arm around Emilia’s shoulders. “I’ve been a couple of times. My boss used to send me up there every now and then when I needed a break. It’s beautiful up on the mountain – absolutely perfect. If you feel like some privacy, you don’t need to leave your chalet. But if you want company, the resort is always full.”

  Georgia smiled, for the first time letting her excitement at the trip overwhelm the guilt she felt about the fact that the people of Fairhill had basically cheated at the raffle to give it to her.

  “How did we even get such a great prize?” she asked. “This can’t be cheap – a whole week at a private mountain chalet.”