“You are one fucking lucky bastard, Stone. You know that?” Rhod Claus demanded as the woman in red, his best friend’s new mate, walked off with a sexy little sashay in her hips and headed back inside.
“Oh, don’t I just know it.” Stone, leaning on the wall next to him as the pair stood outside the brand spanking new PPA offices, grinned and twirled the liquid in the bottle between his fingers.
It was the company’s Christmas cum office-warming party, and all the agency’s operatives had been ordered to attend. Even them, although Stone hated parties and Rhod flat out hated Christmas.
Despite the fact his surname was Claus.
Because of the fact his surname was Claus.
Born and bred in the North Pole into the famous Claus clan, he wasn’t just one of Santa’s little helpers. Oh no. He was a main bloodline Claus, which meant when Dec 24th hit, he gained a couple of hundred pounds, five decades and a beard like a frost-covered bush to deliver presents to undeserving, snot-nosed, spoilt little brats.
And don’t even get him started on the fucking reindeer. Temperamental pains in the ass, they thought it was funny to pull an emergency stop and pitch him off the freaking roof. Last time they’d done it, just before he’d turned his back on the red suit for good, he’d threatened to turn them into rugs. It had taken months for the hoof-shaped bruise on his ass to fade.
“Life is gooooood.” Stone leaned back against the wall and took a swig from the bottle, then shivered in his thick coat and eyed Rhod with disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re out here in just a shirt. Your blood must be anti-freeze or something.”
Rhod shrugged noncommittally. Their boss, Iliona, knew what he was. Knew that among the thousands of elves who’d left the North Pole calling themselves “Claus,” he was the real deal. But no one else did, not even Stone. They all thought he was just a winter elf. “Yeah, something like tha—”
A scream shattered the silence, slicing through the darkness and rattling around the alley they stood in. It was female, nearby and terrified. Both men reacted without a thought, sprinting toward the noise. The alley let them down further away from the main road and into the heart of the neighbourhood.
“Which way?” Rhod demanded as the scream cut off. His heart pounded, adrenalin surging through his veins at the thought of a woman in danger. Sure, he’d made a shit Santa. But at plus six foot and built like a linebacker, he made a fucking good bodyguard.
Stone lifted his head, his nostrils flaring as he swung this way and that. Without a word, he streaked off down one of the narrower allies between buildings. Rhod didn’t question him. A werewolf, Stone’s nasal credentials were beyond compare. His natural mean-streak combined with Rhod’s bad temper and ninja-like abilities ensured that they made a damn good team.
He barreled into the alleyway a split second after his partner to find the wolf squaring off against three bully-boys. A woman cowered in a corner behind them. His temper flared from simmering to inferno within a heartbeat. There was nothing he hated more than a bully, unless it was three of the bastards.
“Nothing to see here, suggest you guys walk away. Before you get hurt,” One of the bullies snarled.
“Before we get hurt?” Rhod cocked an eyebrow. Realising he still held his bottle in his hand, he lifted it and drained what was left. No need to let good alcohol go to waste. Wasn’t like he could get drunk anyway. Unless it came from the North Pole, alcohol had no effect on him whatsoever.
“Yeah, you and your pretty boyfriend there. Heh…boyfriend, see that?” The guy in the middle, obviously the ringleader, laughed at his own joke as he pointed out Stone to his friends. Rhod’s eyebrow winged up into his hairline. He’d bet that was the first time Stone had been referred to as pretty. Ever.
The guy stepped forward and a quick movement of his arm dropped a blade into his hand. It was a wicked looking little thing that glinted in the flickering light from a doorway behind Stone.
“I suggest you get lost before we fuck you up.”
“Fuck us up?” Rhod asked, feeling his face setting as, next to him, Stone took a deep breath, then shook his head.
“Just human. Nothing special.”
“What are you, fucking deaf? Yeah, we gonna fuck you up. Big time.”
Rhod and Stone were moving before the trio could draw another breath. Stone leapt, all pretence at being human gone as he rebounded off the wall opposite, while Rhod flipped his bottle and smashed the bottom off on a handy dumpster before coming in on the other side. Used to dealing with the scum of the paranormal world, both men fought fast and dirty.