by G. Bailey
The rules are changing and Winter needs to fight to protect what is hers and avoid the destruction of everyone she has come to love.
What happens when you want to stop a prophecy before it’s too late?
18+ due to violence, sexual scenes and language
*This is a Reverse Harem Series*
Nineteen
Winter
“Winter, Winter, Winter understands at last, the war is coming, the war is death,” a sweet, childlike voice sings into the cold air. The song is repeated again and again until I can no longer understand the words.
Everywhere is white as I look around; snow is falling as I stand in the middle of a white field. My hands tremble, and I lift my hand in front of my face as snowflakes float around me. The snowflakes slow down, so slow I can reach out to touch one.
"Finally, we meet, child of my blood," a soft voice behind me causes me to spin around. Standing directly in front of me is Elissa, or at least I think it is her. The woman I always dream of. I didn’t know her name until recently. Her short, black hair floats in the wind, mixing with the falling snow as her bright blue eyes stare at me in a way I don't understand. Elissa has never had short hair before.
"Elissa," I say.
"Not quite, but you are ready. It's time," she says. The song is still being sung all around me, the tune haunting and familiar, but the words are blurred. Just the sweet voice is humming along.
"You knew this would happen?" I ask, referring to the fact I'm dead after being stabbed in the heart. My hand falls to my chest feeling for a mark that isn't there. I look down and see I'm wearing the same white dress that she is. It's straightforward and long as it floats in the wind around my legs.
"It's time to wake up, child. It's time to finish what I couldn't," she says.
"Stop talking in riddles. I'm dead like you, there isn't any waking up," I whisper as I wave my hands out at her.
"No, Winter, they all need you. Now, go and choose wisely."
"Choose what wisely?" I ask as I feel myself falling away from her.
"Who to trust," she smiles sadly at me as her face floats away into darkness.
I wake up with a gasp, feeling air rushing into my lungs, and my vision is very blurry as I struggle to see where I am. I can smell something comforting like vanilla ice cream, and I swear I can also smell something incredibly sweet. When the room slowly comes into focus, I first see I'm in a dark-red bedroom. The room is unfamiliar. There's a big bed, which I'm currently lying in the middle of. Other than that, there are two double wardrobes and a large fireplace in the room. There's a large mirror opposite the bed, and once I see myself, I can't look away.
I don't look healthy. Well, I look like me, but my hair is longer, almost hitting my waist, and my eyes are glowing blue. They look like, well, like Jaxson’s but not green. I'm dressed in a black, silk nightie and little else. I feel around my chest as everything hits me.
I was stabbed.
I should be dead, and yet, I'm alone in a large bedroom.
The door opens to my left, and a very dishevelled-looking Wyatt is suddenly standing there watching me. His jaw is unshaven, and his clothes have seen better days. The man looks nothing like my Wyatt.
"Winter," he whispers and walks quickly over to me. His hand goes straight into my hair, and he leans his head down to mine. Our lips meet in a passionate kiss. The second I taste him, I can't get enough. I pull him onto the bed, and he happily holds his body over mine. The kiss deepens until he pulls away.
"As much as this is a slight turn on, don't you think we need to talk, Winter?"
Wyatt moves off me quickly, with a speed I've never been able to see, until now. It’s like the room’s gone into slow motion, and I could see what he did. I shake my head and turn to see Atti standing at the door. He grins at me, but it's lost all the usual humour in his eyes. He looks terrible, with big shadows under his eyes, and his hair is down. I've never seen him with his hair like this, it stops at his shoulders and shapes his face. It makes him look so handsome.
"Do I get a hug? I've been waiting a month for you to wake up," he tells me. Wyatt sits on the end of my bed as I nod at Atti. My mind takes a minute to process what he said.
"A month?" I ask him, and he nods. Atti comes over and pulls me into his arms.
"I missed you," he whispers into my ear. His arms wrap tightly around me. I love his hugs. Atti gives the best hugs.
"Explain what happened," I say when Atti lets go of me. He stays close, sitting right next to me on the bed.
"You nearly died, Winter. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I don’t–” I get out, but apparently Wyatt isn’t done with his rant at me.
“Do you know how crazy you were, running head first into a supernatural battle like that?" Wyatt says, well, more shouts at me. I watch as he gets up to pace the bedroom. Atti links his fingers in mine.
"I love those wolves, they were in danger, and I knew I could help. I'm no coward. I won't hide when my friends are dying," I tell him honestly. I knew the massive amount of danger I was in when I picked up the crossbow.
"You stood no chance, Winter. If I wasn't there. . ." Wyatt says as he stops at the end of the bed. The scary look on his face makes me scoot closer to Atti.
"How am I alive?" I ask him. Wyatt finally turns to look at me.
"I gave you my blood, I tried to turn you into a vampire and make you my mate," he says, and my skin turns cold. Is that why I look different? I don't feel different.
"Tried?" I ask Wyatt.
"We don't know what you are, you have a heartbeat. Winter, vampires don't have heartbeats, and your eyes are blue. All vampires’ eyes are black or very dark-brown," Atti answers as I hold Wyatt’s gaze. I feel more drawn to him than ever before, and I swear I can even feel his anger and how scared he is, in my chest. It’s like I can feel what he is feeling.
"Why do I feel like I need to be near you?" I ask him, and he looks away from me.
“We are mated, you wear my mark now, and the urge to be close is something you will get used to. I’ve always felt that way around you,” Wyatt admits.
“Mark?” I ask, and Atti grins when I look up at him.
“It’s on the bottom of your back, you would have to lose some clothes to see it,” Atti says with a waggle of his eyebrows that makes me blush.
“I will wait then,” I say with a nervous laugh as Atti looks at me differently. There was always some boundary before, and it doesn’t feel that way anymore.
“So, we are mated now?” I ask Wyatt.
“Yes. I didn’t want it to be like this,” he says sharply.
I watch as he walks out the room, and the door slams shut. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me, but the reaction still hurts my heart. I feel myself rubbing my chest without thinking.
"We have a lot to talk about, Love," Atti tells me and pulls me to his chest. I rest my hand on his chest, noticing that my nails are longer and look like I've had a manicure.
“How did Wyatt and I mate?” I ask him.
“Vampires have to give their blood to a human or vampire, seconds before they will die.” Atti says, the shadows under his eyes seem darker as he moves a little closer to me.
“Oh,” I say, a little dazed.
“Don’t be mad at him, I would have done the same in his situation. I would have done anything in my power to save you and fuck the consequences,” he says, and my cheeks warm up. I wrap my arms around his chest, and he holds me close.
"What are you then?" I ask him. I know he isn’t a vampire because I can hear his heartbeat under my cheek. He smells so good, and all I want to do is push myself closer to him.
"A witch."
"Not a wizard, then, because witches remind me of women in corsets and spiky hats?" I ask him
He laughs, "No, there are no such things as wizards. Witches are the term for male and female witches."
"Can you fly on a broom?" I ask, and he laughs louder.
"No, but I
can do this," he talks in my head, and I jump.
"You can hear my thoughts?" I ask a little worried. Ok, a lot worried.
"No, but I would like to," he says in my mind again, and I can see his grinning face.
"What else can witches do?" I ask him.
"We have high connections with the elements, we can move things with our minds, and talk to people in our heads. I can boost individual angel powers, and the best one is, I can make myself and others move to wherever I have been before. I can also go directly to someone if I know them well," he says, and I watch as he disappears, causing me to fall onto the bed. I turn to see him reappear by another door in the room. He opens it, while I look at him like a gaping fish. Well, I guess that's what I look like.
"Why don't you have a shower, and I will get you some clothes? I will leave them in here for you," he says, and I get off the bed.
"What is that smell?" I ask when I get closer to him. I smelt it before, but it smells better now.
"Winter, your eyes," he watches me as I move closer. I know it's him that feels nice, and I press my face into his neck.
"You smell like chocolate," I mumble, and I hear his chuckle as I realize what I’ve just said. My cheeks are feeling warm.
"Winter your eyes are silver, like Wyatt’s when he feeds, but it’s not creepy as fuck. In fact, it’s hot. Maybe you need to feed as he does," Atti tells me, and I snap out of whatever I was doing by moving away.
"No, that's just, well, no," I say quickly and run into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.
Twenty
Winter
I rest my head against the cold bathroom door, as I calm myself down. I risk a quick glance at myself in the full-length mirror next to the shower, and I push myself as close to the cold door as I can.
My eyes are silver in the middle, bright silver. It’s so strange, I watch as my eyes turn back to a bright blue that is more familiar. I look wild and out of control with my long hair and panicked face. I have to close my eyes for a while to get my head around everything. I’m mated to Wyatt. That seems like a long-term kind of thing, with a man who is haunted, and I’m not sure I’m in love with. I’ve been sleeping a month, and my mother most likely has no idea where I am.
How did this all happen?
My tears fall faster than I can stop them as I slide to the floor and wrap my arms around my knees. I have to remind myself that I’m stronger than this. I eventually get up and run the shower. It’s one of those small ones with glass walls all around it and a glass door.
I pull the silk nightie off me and just stare at myself in the mirror. I’m still curvy as I have always been. I have the same pale skin and dark-brown hair, but it all looks different. For one, my hair is longer, much longer than I’ve ever had it, and it looks softer. I feel different, I feel stronger.
I sound like a superhero out of a comic when he first gets his powers. My thoughts are lame.
I turn, so I can see my back in the mirror, remembering what Wyatt said about his mark. Right in the middle of my back is a black tattoo about the size of a fist. Holy crap, I have a tattoo, and as I look closer at it, it glows too. That’s cool.
It’s a phoenix, with a small body in the middle and the wings are taking off. The wings gently move as I watch, and its tail is long, full of swirls. It is strong and elegant. It reminds me of Wyatt in a way. It could pass as an ordinary tattoo like most normal girls get.
Hell, who am I kidding, none of this can be classified as normal. I force myself into the shower and use the men’s shampoo I find and a razor to clean myself up. I come out of the bathroom a little later just in a towel. Alex is sitting on my bed, a pile of clothes next to her, and she is playing on her phone. Her eyes widen when she sees me. Alex looks as awful as Wyatt and Atti did. Her skinny frame is covered in sweatpants and a baggy jumper. Her eyes look red from crying, and her hair is in a messy bun that looks slept on. I have never seen Alex look this tired.
"Win,” she cracks out as she stands, dropping her phone on the bed. “I heard sleeping beauty finally woke up. You scared the crap out of me. I thought I'd lost you, and I couldn't cope. Come and hug me already." Alex is in tears as she opens her arms. I walk over, and we hug for a long time as she cries. I couldn't imagine losing Alex, so I have an idea of how scared she is.
“What does mum think?” I ask her.
“That you and I are on a trip. She doesn’t believe it, but I have been messaging her off your phone, pretending to be you. I have spoken to her a few times, and she’s worried,” she tells me, and I’m filled with relief. Well, sort of, my mum isn’t stupid, and I’m going to get an earful when I speak to her.
“I bet she is. I can call her tonight,” I say quietly.
“Yes, you should. She’ll go mad at you because she thinks you’re too busy to talk to her. I couldn’t exactly say that her daughter was stabbed, and her vampire boyfriend turned her into a weird version of a vampire. She would have me committed,” Alex lightly chuckles.
“I love you, you know that, right?” I tell her as I pick up the pile of clothes.
“I know,” she says.
"Let me get dressed, and then you can catch me up on what I’ve missed," I tell her, and she nods as she wipes her eyes. I get changed in the bathroom into a tight, yellow top and skinny, black jeans. I don't think too long about how my underwear got here, as the other clothes aren't mine but fit well. They can’t be Alex’s because she is at least two sizes smaller than me. Lucky cow.
My hair looks like I've spent hours with a curler on it and has dried on its own. I don't bother trying to find a hair band, but I do look at my face in the mirror.
I don't know how to feel about all this. I force myself not to think about Jaxson and the pack. The pain of Fergus’s loss is heavy in my heart already. I didn’t know him well, but I know he loved his pack. Poor Anna, and she is pregnant. I can’t imagine how she is feeling. I remember seeing her terrified, pain-filled look just before Esta took her away. I wonder if Anna couldn’t shift because she was pregnant. I doubt she was stronger in her human form.
When I finally have the courage to walk out, Alex is waiting by the open bedroom door.
"Come on, you have three hot guys waiting to talk to you,” she says, and I walk to the door. “You’re such a lucky bitch, we need to chat about that," she shouts, and I hear a chuckle in the other room.
"Alex," I groan, and she chuckles as I walk past. I let my hearing lead me down the small hallway and into a living room. There are two leather chairs facing a large, fake fireplace and a leather sofa against the wall by the door. There’s also a large bookcase filled with books in the one corner. I see Dabriel first, and I nearly fall over in shock. I take a step back as I see his big white wings on his back. I can only see his wings and his white hair as he’s looking out the window, but I would recognise him anywhere. He turns at my small gasp, and his purple eyes find mine. I just stare as he realises I’m looking at his wings, he’s dressed in a white shirt and black trousers. Looking like a sexy angel straight from heaven.
"You look stunning, you always were something else, but now, I've never seen anyone as lovely as you, Winter," he says and comes over to me. I let him pull me into a massive hug, lifting me off the ground as he does. The overwhelming scent of Dabriel hits me stronger than it ever has before, like vanilla and something else.
"You’re still in a slight bit of pain, what’s wrong?" he asks me as he puts me down. I watch as his hands glow and white symbols appear on them. The light is so bright I can't make out what they are, but as he puts his hands on my cheeks, I feel the warmth of them.
"You need to feed, like a vampire," he tells me and lets go. I instantly miss the sensation, and I almost go to grab his hands before remembering how weird that would be. Try to act cool, Winter, I tell myself, especially in front of one of the hottest guys you know.
"I can help you with that," he grins as he points at his neck, and I shake my head wondering what he is talking abo
ut.
"She shouldn’t have angel blood for a starter, she wouldn't be able to stop," Wyatt says, drawing my attention to him. I knew he was in the room, but he hasn’t moved or said a word until now.
"So, you’re suggesting you feed her?" Dabriel says moving away from me slightly.
"Shouldn't it be Winter's choice?" Atti asks from the doorway. Atti and Wyatt start staring each other down as I watch. I move in the middle of the three, drawing all their gazes to me.
"Guys, enough! Don't you think I can talk for myself? I don't want to feed on anyone, just an ordinary sandwich will be alright,” I say. I do feel hungry.
“Winter, it won’t be enough,” Dabriel starts, and I shake my head.
“I want to know what happened the night I almost died," I say. They all go silent, and I take a seat on one of the chairs by the fireplace as Alex sits on the arm of the chair.
"You all were told. Very sexy teacher attitude you’ve got going there, Win," Alex says into the silence, making me laugh, and the guys chuckle.
“You can be my teacher any day, I think I like being told off by you,” Atti says and grins at me.
Wyatt takes the seat opposite me, and everyone else finds seats as the joke stops the tension. I feel Atti standing behind me like he needs to be close.
"I’ll make you a sandwich, I want to call Drake and see what's going on, anyway," Alex says, and leaves the room when I smile at her. I hope she doesn’t try to cook anything, I’m sure we don’t need a fire right now. You’d think a sandwich was a safe thing to have her make you, it’s not.
"First off, you did die, Winter. Your heart didn’t beat for the longest day of my life," Wyatt tells me, his face colder than ever as he talks to me. I don’t believe it’s aimed at me but hurts all the same.
"How am I alive now, then?"
"When I got to the pack, I was too late to stop the newly turned vampires from attacking them, but I tried to help. My father didn't tell me about the attack, but I have friends in his court that let me know. I saw you straight away. You were so close to death when I got to you, I gave you my blood, and you died," he says, and I suddenly feel the chill in the air.