“What’s going on?” I should’ve told them to go away, but I couldn’t.
“Lyla Berg, we’d like to invite you to your own Christmas Eve Winter Wonderland.” Ozzi bowed, smooth and graceful, and held his hand out to me. His stance screamed prince while Jason’s declared him a rogue. And damn, I loved the juxtaposition.
I was supposed to be angry. I had said I never wanted to see them again.
But a Christmas Eve Winter Wonderland…
My weakness.
I felt every pair of eyes in the corridor on me. My stomach was a flurry of nerves.
“I’ll come and see, but I have a ride waiting for me.” There. I was setting boundaries, being strong. I didn’t take either of their hands, but fuck, did I want to. Just to feel their warmth through the gloves. “Lead the way.”
Jason looked like he was about to say something, but Ozzi gave him a look and the two of them walked down the hall, consciously making sure that I was just behind them the whole time.
We passed the nurses’ station and the three women standing there grinned at me like they’d gone insane. Patientspeeked out their doors and a few orderlies grinned as I walked by. What the heck was going on?
When we reached one of the side exits, a grandmotherly nurse stood waiting with a… OH. MY. GOD. Was that an Elsa cloak? It was made with thin icy blue material and embroidered with hundreds of snowflakes. Just like my favorite princess in the movie. Disney only sold the blue velvet cloak with the white fur trim. This was handmade. It had to be, and it was so beautiful.
“This is for you, my dear.” The nurse motioned for me to turn around and she placed it over my shoulders. Ozzi gave me a soft smile and pinned it in the front with a sparkling snowflake broach.
“Thank you.” It came out as barely more than a whisper, and Ozzi gave me a little wink. My legs quivered, and I had to turn quickly to smile at the nurse. “Thank you,” I said with more volume. “It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“It was meant for you, Lyla. Enjoy your Winter Wonderland.” The woman looked incredibly tickled and disappeared down the hall.
“Do you trust us?” Jason asked, his tone low with some gravel. I was about to ask what he meant when he held up a blue woolen ear warmer. “We’d like you to put this one and blindfold yourself. We’ll lead you to the Winter Wonderland.”
I looked from one Alpha to the other. Hope shone in their eyes, and I wanted to give in, make them smile and laugh, let them kiss me again. Let them knot me over and over.
One more time. A final moment to end things with a happier note. “All right.”
Taking the ear warmer, I slid the band over my head and back up to cover both my ears and eyes. It wasn’t overly tight and didn’t hinder my breathing.
Jason and Ozzi each took one of my hands and looped my arms through theirs. God, I love being sandwiched between them. Their warmth and scents made me feel more alive than anything else.
One of them pushed open the door and winter’s cold blew over us. I could feel my snowflake cloak flutter behind me as we walked outside. Snow and ice crunched under our feet. I clutched their arms tighter as I felt a slippery spot, but they held me steady.
We walked for a few minutes, and I was about to ask where we were going when I heard soft Christmas music coming from somewhere ahead of us. It grew louder as we approached, but it wasn’t blasting out. Were they taking me to their truck? Did they build me a snowman? Not that either of them had ever seen my favorite Disney movie, but the cloak had to signal something.
We stopped, and one of them lightly touched my chin. “I’m going to take the band off now.” Ozzi slowly slid it up. “Welcome to your Winter Wonderland.”
I blinked rapidly, my eyes adjusting to the sudden glare of lights. But when I could see clearly, I gasped and raised my hands to cover my gaping mouth.
We were at the small park beside the hospital where there was a picnic area inside a circle of trees. Everything was covered in multi-colored lights. Bulbs, snowflakes, and icicles. Some twinkling and others not. Garland was strung between the trees and candy canes hung from branches. There was an igloo that was designed to look like a castle to the back and fake reindeer prancing on the edge of the clearing.
In the center, there was not one snowman but two. Framing a big snow throne with a red cushion on its seat.
They had truly made me a Winter Wonderland.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - Lyla
I spun around slowly in a circle, memorizing this beautiful scene. Tears clung to the corners of my eyes. No one had ever done anything so huge and spectacular for me before.
Dabbing away my tears, I clasped my hands together as I turned to face Ozzi and Jason. In this otherworldly place, they looked like magical elves. Not the stereotypical ones helping Santa, but smoking hot fantasy elves who would take on a dragon.
“This is incredible. How? When? You’ve both been working.” As far as I knew they had shifts today, and it wasn’t something you could trade off on Christmas Eve.
“When we weren’t working, we were out here getting things set up.” Ozzi smiled in that gorgeous sincere way he had. “Yet when other people at the hospital heard what we were doing, they offered to help.”
