A Warrior Christmas Read online

  A Warrior Christmas

  Teresa Gabelman

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Also by Teresa Gabelman

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you so much to the readers, my friends. Your loyalty and friendship mean more to me than you will ever know. Thank you for allowing me to do what I love. I’m blessed because of each and every single one of you.

  Hugs and tons of love!

  The Protectors Series

  A Warrior Christmas

  Copyright 2019 Teresa Gabelman

  All rights reserved. The right of Teresa Gabelman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance between the characters and persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Gabelman, Teresa (2019-12-24). A Warrior Christmas (The Protectors Series) Book #14

  Kindle Edition.

  Editor: Hot Tree Editing

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter 1

  Jared followed Damon and Sid into the compound, shaking snow out of his hair and kicking it off his boots. “Why in the hell couldn’t Sloan set up base in fucking Florida?” he grumbled, his eyes narrowing at the snow they were tracking in as if he could melt it with his glare.

  “I like it,” Damon announced, his voice as hard as his eyes. “It’s—”

  “If you say pretty, I swear I will beat your ass right where you stand.” Sid used his hand to brush out his blond surfer-boy hair.

  Jared glanced at Damon with a smirk and knew it was coming.

  “Pretty.” There was nothing “pretty” in the way Damon said the word. At over six foot, he stood both menacing and rigid waiting to see if Sid made good on his promise of beating his ass.

  As they waited to see what Sid would do, the door opened, sending a flurry of Damon’s pretty snow inside. Steve walked by and paused, staring at the white stuff.

  “Damn, looks like a blizzard out there,” Steve said, then sighed. “Isn’t it pretty?” Not realizing what he could possibly be causing, Steve continued on his way and disappeared.

  Damon cocked his eyebrow at Sid, who let loose with a string of curses. Jared chuckled, slamming the door behind him. Jesus, it was going to be a long winter.

  Nicole and Tessa came out of Sloan’s office. “Well, you all made a mess. Sloan!” Nicole frowned at the wet floor as she called out to Sloan. “We need rugs out here for the guys to kick off the snow.”

  Jared heard Sloan’s mumbled curses, then winked at Tessa, who smiled up at him. Damn, he hated himself for putting her through so much shit because of his past. He was a bastard, who would spend the rest of their lives making it up to her.

  “How was your day?” Tessa stepped into his arms and peered up at him.

  Leaning down, he kissed her softly before answering, “Cold, wet, with a lot of bitching from Sid.”

  Sloan walked to his door and looked out. “Get your asses in here.”

  Jared looked away from Sloan to see Nicole and Tessa share a look. “What did you two do now?”

  “Nothing.” Tessa tried to sound innocent, but she failed miserably. She rolled her eyes before giving him a light kiss on the cheek. “He’s just being a Grinch. Now go on, and I’ll meet you in the game room.”

  Jared watched her go, then glanced as Nicole passed, mouthing, “Sorry,” and then chuckled. Shit, what in the hell did they do to put Sloan in a mood? Not that it would take much. With a loud sigh, he headed that way.

  Behind his desk, Sloan sat and glared down at it. Seeing Becky, Jared gave her a grin, which she returned before giving Sloan a narrowed look.

  “You want me to stay or leave, Sloan?” Becky’s voice wasn’t pleasant.

  Slowly, Sloan’s gaze rose toward her, and Jared wished to hell he was anywhere other than inside that room. He heard Damon’s whispered, “Shit,” as Sid pushed the chair in front of Sloan’s desk back just a little bit. The legs making a sound on the floor as he did.

  “Do what you want, Becky.” Sloan growled the words, his eyes narrowing to match hers.

  Becky jerked to her feet, grabbed a handful of files, stomped toward Sloan’s desk and tossed them. “I wouldn’t want you to feel you needed to… filter your words because I’m here.”

  Never had he known Sloan to filter shit, no matter who was within earshot. Mother Teresa could be standing in front of his desk, and Sloan would say what was on his mind without a second thought. Yeah, something big was up, and he had a feeling the mates were behind it, again.

  “Honey, my words are never filtered.” Sloan slowly stood, both hands on his desk. “Stay or go. It’s your call.”

  “You’re being a total asshole.” Becky put both hands on his desk and leaned toward him, eye to eye. “I don’t do filter either.”

  Jared, Sid, and Damon all looked at each other, not knowing where else to look. Damn this was uncomfortable. Seeing Becky, who barely came to Sloan’s chest, standing up to him, challenging him, was a little unsettling.

  Becky was the first to push away from the desk. She turned from him, her head held high as she moved toward the door. “Have a good day, boys,” she said. Each of them mumbled a reply.

  After the door slammed behind her, Sloan continued to stare at it before his angry gaze landed on them. “Get a receptionist, they said. It will help, they said.” Sloan slammed his hand on the desk before sitting down. “Your mates are going to drive me infuckingsane.”

  Narrowing his eyes, Jared glanced at the door, then back at Sloan. Before he could say anything, Sid spoke up.

  “Uh, I don’t see my mate anywhere,” Sid replied with a cocked eyebrow. “Actually, I think that was your mate who just gave you what for and slammed out the room.”

  “You seriously think you have to remind me of that since it just fucking happened?” Sloan’s voice grew to a roar. “I have rogue vampires coming out of my ass…”

  Jared glanced at Sid and knew he wanted to make a smartass comment, but somehow Sid held back.

  “…as well as witches, demons, and not to mention the fucking humans calling all hours of the night and day with ‘I saw a shadow and I’m scared’ bullshit.”

  “And that’s our mates’ fault?” Damon finally spoke up, his arms crossed as he leaned against his favorite spot in Sloan’s office. Jared wondered if there was an indent of Damon’s shoulder in that very spot.

  “Yes, dammit!” Sloan roared. “It is! You know what your mate and your mate were in my office for?” He pointed first at Damon and then Jared.

  Jared noticed Sid glance his way, waiting to see what he would say. Jared thought about being a funny guy, then decided against it. Yet his mouth had other fucking plans. “For your upbeat and tantalizing conversation?”

  Sloan’s head turned toward him so quick, his eyes blazing red. “I swear I will kill you in the most brutal of ways, Kincaid.”

  Yeah, okay, maybe fucking with Sloan right now wasn’t the smartest thing to do. The voice he just heard coming out the boss man’s mouth was evil, with a promise that Sloan Murphy could possibly pull off. Jared decided to remain quiet… for the moment. Feeling a sense of relief when Sloan’s attention turned toward Damon, Jared shook his head at Sid, who grinned from
ear to ear.

  “Eight years, DeMasters.” Sloan’s fangs gleamed.

  “Eight years what?” Damon asked calmly, as if discussing the weather.

  “Eight long fucking years and this is the year your mate is going to start with this Christmas bullshit.” Sloan pushed back from his desk, irritated.

  “Uh, Sloan, my man.” Sid eyed him. “There’s been Christmas every year that I’ve been here with a tree and all the trimmings and shit. You losing it on us? Need me to call Slade?”

  Sloan looked as if he was going to jump over the desk and strangle the life out of Sid, but he refrained, and by the looks of his bulging arms, it was taking some strength mentally and physically not to kill Sid. Instead, he ran his hand through his hair and cursed. “A tree, a few presents, but this is going to throw everything into chaos, and that’s something we can’t afford to do right now.”

  Jared was actually tiring of watching Sloan sweat. Most days, he enjoyed watching the boss man jittery, but today, he just wanted to spend time with his mate, who right now, was waiting on him. They had a lot of time to make up for and time wasn’t exactly on his side.

  “Just spit it out, man.” Jared jumped in headfirst. “What in the hell has you all fired up?”

  “They want to decorate the walls outside. They want you Warriors to put up lights and shit. They want a party with all the neighboring Warriors and to invite the whole city in.” Sloan looked defeated. “Men, you have to tame your women.”

  Sid and Jared laughed loudly, with Damon laughing the loudest. “Tame them.” Damon chuckled, shaking his head. “As soon as you tame Becky and show us how that’s done, then you can let us know. I don’t see the problem with it.”

  “Yeah, ’cause he thinks snow is pretty.” Sid rolled his eyes, then stood. “Maybe they’ll change their minds. They’re all busy, so I say let’s just calm the fuck down. I honestly don’t want our compound looking like Who-fucking-ville. I can just hear the Warriors from other compounds busting our balls on that one.”

  “Yeah, I’d hate to decapitate one of our own,” Damon agreed with a frown. “And having strangers coming in here isn’t the smartest thing.”

  “See, fuckers.” Sloan threw up both hands. “Now do you think I’m overreacting? I just hope you’re right and the women calm down on this shit. I don’t have the time or the patience to deal with this woman crap.”

  “Hey!” Steve hurried in with a grin. “You all ready to par-tay! The women are meeting in the game room ready to get the show on the road. This is exciting stuff.”

  After Steve rushed back out the room, all four men looked at each other and said, “Fuck!” in unison.

  Chapter 2

  Tessa sat in the game room staring out the window. Daniel was outside throwing snowballs at a tree while Duncan stood watching. A giggle escaped her lips when Daniel turned quickly with the snowball he just made and plastered Duncan on the chest.

  Pam came out just then, laughing, but soon Duncan and Daniel ganged up on her, covering her in snowballs. With a content sigh, Tessa looked up at the night sky, watching the snowflakes fall. It was beautiful. Her eyes cast downward to see the snowball fight intensify, making her laugh. This time it was Pam and Duncan ganging up on Daniel.

  She knew the moment he entered the room, but she didn’t turn around. She just continued to watch the mayhem below. Jared came up behind her cocooning her, his large hands resting against the windowsill.

  “He’s getting so big,” Tessa said, watching Daniel dodging snowballs. “He’s almost as tall as Pam.”

  “That’s not saying much,” Jared teased, his breath warm against the top of her head. “Slade is trying to find someone out there like him so he can compare Daniel’s growth.”

  Tessa frowned. “What are the chances of that?”

  “Slim,” Jared replied. “But we’re all working on it. Reaching out to our contacts. We’re hoping his maturing will stop at a certain age. We just don’t know.”

  Tessa nodded, her eyes following Daniel, who suddenly looked up and waved. Waving back with a smile, she laughed when Pam threw a snowball, hitting Daniel on the side of the head. Jared laughed loudly. Daniel frowned up at him, grabbed a handful of snow, balled it, and threw it toward the window.

  “I think that was a challenge,” Jared growled with a hint of teasing. “Guess I need to go show the young one how it’s done. I’ve always wanted to throw something hard at Duncan.”

  After a quick kiss, Jared was off to join the excitement outside, but Tessa remained at the window. Things had changed for them so quickly. Many would think she’d let Jared off too easily and maybe she had, but that was her decision. Her life.

  Knowing his secret past, Tessa understood why he’d done what he had, but she agreed—as did Jared—that he could have gone about things differently. Having a demon—Jozzar—hunting you would make anyone nervous about who they brought into their lives. Jared was very protective, as were all the Warriors. His reluctance to see Tessa succeed as a Warrior was understandable, as was his reluctance to change her from human to vampire. Changing her meant she would be harder for him to leave if this demon who was out for his soul found him, and find him he would—at least, that was Charger’s and Jared’s prediction.

  What shocked her most was finding out he had once been married to a woman who carried his child. And the child was now Tessa’s age, give or take a year or two, who Tessa had mistakenly thought Jared was in love with.

  Rolling her eyes at that thought, Tessa saw Jared exit the compound, bending to roll a snowball and proceed to hit Duncan in the back of the head. Daniel ran over and gave Jared a high five, but Duncan was soon plastering them with snowballs while Pam stood by laughing, before she got one to the face.

  Speaking of Jared’s daughter, she saw Raven’s reflection in the window behind her.

  “Why aren’t you out there?” Raven asked, walking beside her to stare out the window.

  Tessa laughed when Pam hit Jared in the balls with a snowball, bending him over. Both Duncan and Daniel pointed while laughing. “I haven’t played in the snow for so long I’ll probably get killed out there.”

  “I think you can take him.” Raven grinned as Jared darted behind trees, hitting Pam every chance he got, apparently paying her back for the ball shot. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.” Tessa looked away from the window to stare up at Raven.

  “Can you and I go out sometime? Just us?” Raven asked, her tone and body language uncomfortably tense.

  “I would love that, Raven.” Tessa smiled with a nod. “Anytime you want, I’m there.”

  “Thanks,” she replied, with what sounded like a sigh of relief. “How about tomorrow? I’m pretty sure I’m off.”

  “Sounds good. Just let me know.” Tessa jumped when something hit the window. Glancing down, she saw Jared grinning at them, then spread his arms out wide in a taunting manner.

  “I think he’s challenging us.” Raven’s eyes narrowed as a grin tipped her lips. “And I never back down from a challenge. You?”

  “Never,” Tessa replied, then pushed away from the window. “How about we team up?”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Raven agreed as they headed outside.

  “Hey, where you guys going?” Jill asked as she passed them on their way out of the game room.

  “Yeah, I thought we were meeting here for a Christmas par-tay. I’ve got some good ideas.” Steve sounded disappointed as he looked around. “Where is everyone?”

  “Will you please stop calling it a par-tay. It’s party.” Jill rolled her eyes, keeping her attention on Tessa and Raven. “So, what’s up?”

  “We’re going down to take Jared out in a snowball fight,” Raven said with determination. “Care to join us?”

  “Ah, hell yeah.” Jill rubbed her hands together.

  “Steve?” Tessa asked as they started to head out.

  “Don’t make me choose sides, man.” Steve shook his head. “I’m alread
y catching shit because I’m on your side with the Christmas… par-taaaay. I’d like to live past the New Year.”

  “Ah, stop being a puss,” Jill said as they—instead of heading out the back—headed out the front to do a sneak attack. “Grow some balls.”

  “Growing them ain’t the problem.” Steve snorted, then reached down and took a handful of snow. “Keeping them is.”

  Tessa chuckled, then swooped some snow. It was good packing snow, perfect for snowballs. Peeking around the corner of the compound, she spotted Jared with his back to them as he hid behind a tree dodging snowballs.

  She glanced at Jill and Raven, and they gave her a nod. If they got too close, Jared would sense them—he was a Warrior after all. With a smile, she waited until he turned around surprised, then she let her ball loose. It sailed perfectly into his handsome face.

  “Oh, you’re going to pay for that,” Jared growled, his eyes narrowing at her. He let loose of what he was holding, hitting Raven as he took off for Tessa. She screamed as she backpedaled, then turned to run. She heard Steve saying it was all their idea. The coward.

  She knew Jared was close, could hear his feet pounding behind her, and then his arms circled her as she fell. At the last moment, he turned, taking the force of the fall on his back. Just as quickly, he rolled so he was on top, staring down into her face.

  “Steve told me to do it,” she lied, a small smile lifting her lips.

  “Did he now?” Jared cocked his eyebrow at her. “I don’t believe that for a second, Tessa.”

  He grabbed her wrists in one hand and held them over her head. With his other hand, he snatched a handful of snow, a sexy, evil grin forming across his lips.