Silven backed away, hands raised. “You’re becoming too emotional. We all know what happens when you?—”
There was a tremendous cracking sound as ice shot from my fingers, barely missing his head. The reindeer were bucking wildly now, bells jingling chaotically as they fought to break free from their harnesses.
Rudy lowered his massive head and charged forward, snapping the leather straps holding him to the sleigh. He galloped to my side, a saddle appearing on his back as he dipped down.
“Get on.”His voice rumbled through my mind.
I scrambled onto his back as the storm of my emotions whirled around us. My other eight reindeer broke free, thundering across the snow in our direction.
Silven’s face contorted with rage.
My magic surged again, and the snow before us rose,forming a massive, hulking creature with ice for teeth. The snow monster roared, lunging toward Silven.
Silven shifted forms, transforming into a reindeer with no antlers, his coat the same color as Rudy’s. He darted into the trees as my snow monster crashed into a pine, exploding in a spectacular poof of powder.
Rudy galloped across the field away from what was triggering me. Away from his father.
“Take me back!” I wanted to destroy Silven so he could never hurt my mates again. How many times had he said those words to Rudy?
The storm of my magic swirled around us, unwilling to relent.
And then Rudy’s hooves left the ground.
Chapter 33
Stocking Full of Coal
We were flying.
Not the awkward, struggling flight of someone first taking to the sky, but a smooth, powerful lift as Rudy carried us upward, his hooves pushing against nothing but air. Behind us, the other eight rose in perfect formation. The bond between me and the others flooded with protectiveness, pride, and fierce love.
“You’re flying!” I leaned forward to wrap my arms around his neck. “You’re actually flying!”
His connection to me opened, and his joy was pure and unfiltered. The training field and forest—where Silven was probably pissing his reindeer pants—shrank as we soared higher and higher.
We landed on a secluded mountaintop, touching down in perfect synchronization. The storm of my magic finally quieted as the adrenaline began to fade. The ice particles that had been swirling around us like angry fireflies settled onto the snow, glittering from the aurora overhead.
Rudy’s massive reindeer form shimmered beneath me, and I slid off his back just as the transformation began. Where powerful haunches had been moments before, strong human thighs emerged. I reached out to steady him as he shifted fully, catching him as he stumbled forward.
“You okay?” I held onto his biceps, searching his face.
Rudy nodded, his chest heaving with exertion. Sweat beaded on his brow despite the frigid temperature, but his eyes blazed with a triumphant light I’d never seen before.
“I flew.” The words came out in a breathless rush as he grabbed my hands. “Neve, Iflew.”
Eight other transformations rippled through the air around us as the rest of the herd shifted back to human form.
Dane approached first, his expression a mixture of awe and disbelief. “Holy shit, Rudy.”
Kip bounded through the snow like an excited puppy. “You were majestic as fuck!”
My fingers found Rudy’s, my own emotions threatening to spill over again. “What happened back there?” I swallowed hard, trying to find the right words. “Why didn’t you tell me about your father?”
A shadow crossed his face. He pulled me toward a fallen log nearby, brushing snow from it before we sat. The others formed a protective circle around us, their bodies blocking the cold air.
“I didn’t grow up in the North Pole.” Rudy stared at our intertwined fingers. “My mother took me to Klarhaven when I was a calf.”
“And your dad?”
