As a young stag-shifter, all Pembroke dreams of is being harnessed to Santa’s sleigh. Yet his world comes crashing down when Santa is slain by the imposter Frost.<br><br>War erupts in the Arctic Circle, pitting elf against reindeer, and Pembroke is sent on a perilous mission. If he fails, his herd will be lost. When the mission goes awry, the stag-shifter must put his trust in an unlikely ally.<br><br>Where does one turn in a land of ice and blood? What happens when the enemy infiltrates your heart? What begins as a wavering alliance just might take Pembroke farther than he ever imagined.

Sugar Plum'd

Pembroke’s trance was broken by a shrill voice.


It cut through his dust trance, clanging like sleigh bells. Once, almost a pretty timbre, almost enchanting, but now Pembroke could only associate it with murder. An elf voice smashed through Pembroke’s glee.


The reindeer looked up from the mashed pile of plums. Pembroke’s long muzzle was matted and purpled with juices. “Who’s there?”


His voice own voice sounded high to him, the influence of the sudden surge of dust. He toppled into a mound of plums and they scattered across the floor.


Suddenly the chamber was filled with the long bellow blown through a spiraled narwhal horn. An echo carried through endless chambers and towers, becoming a throbbing alarm. All the tendrils of the marine life in the walls of ice began flickering a cautionary red.


“Whoever you are…they’re coming…that’s the alarm…you don’t have much time.”


Chapter 10