Winter's Guardian

by G. Bailey

  "Winter?" Freddy’s voice says into the phone.

  "Freddy, how are you?" I ask surprised how nice it is to hear his voice.

  "All good but I want to see you, I'm coming with Harris and Katy to pick you up." He says like the excited voice of a child on a lot of sweets.

  "Oh, and why are they picking me up?" I ask him.

  "We all miss you." Katy takes the phone off Freddy and I hear his grumbling in the background.

  "Where are we going?" I ask her.

  "To a party, so dress up. One hour." She puts the phone down before I can reply. I smack my head with my hand, intending to kill Harris when he gets here for letting them call me. I stop half-way to my wardrobe when I remember Dabriel’s words. He told me not to go to a party and some words about death. I forgot to ask Wyatt about that but it’s only one party.

  I open my wardrobe finding a long purple maxi dress; it has purple beads in a halter style that holds it up. Slipping it on and letting my dark brown hair fall down my back, wavy from the bun it was in. I'm surprised that it looks nice in wavy curls and not a big ball of frizz. I put a little makeup on before finding my bag and stuffing my phone in it. The doorbell rings, as I finish locking my room.

  I open the door to a grinning Freddy; he is wearing a white shirt and black trousers looking very smart. I try to ignore the way he looks too much like Jaxson, but it hurts a little to look at him for a second. Freddy’s short hair is dark brown with blonde tips that look natural, the dark brown is clearly from Jaxson’s side of the family. I wonder if his mum or dad was blonde.

  "Winter!" He grins widely pulling me into a strong hug. He is so strong that I have to get my breath back when he let’s go.

  "Come on, we have to go." He says with such a huge grin I can't say no. Damn Katy, she knew sending him up here would work. I lock the doors with a smile and let Freddy grab my hand pulling me outside. Harris looks guilty as I pass him and sit in the back seat. Freddy gets into the other side. Katy beams when she sees me.

  "You look so totally hot." She pulls on Harris arm so he looks back at me. I smile in a friendly way, that I hope shows I’m not mad at him.

  "You look lovely Winter." He says with a roll of his eyes at Katy and a small smile for me.

  "Where the party?" I ask.

  "It's a mating party, there are three wolves being mated tonight." Harris answers.

  "At the pack?" I ask a little nervous for his answer. I know the answer but I need to hear him say it.

  "Yes," Freddy smirks and Harris starts driving.

  "You can't avoid us, Jaxson is well whatever, but you’re my friend," Freddy says with those damn puppy dog eyes.

  "Fine one hour, and then Harris is driving me home," I demand and Harris nods with a small smile.

  "I'm sorry if we upset you the other day," Katy says awkwardly.

  "I get it; you were being honest and didn't want me getting hurt," I tell her and she looks relieved.

  She nods looking sad, before turning back to the front. The rest of the drive, Freddy tells me about his school work and Anna making him homemade strawberry ice cream. It was funny to see how happy that makes him. My body tenses as we pull into the pack lands, there are two wolves by the entrance to the long path and they nod at Harris as he turns. We stop at a small cabin further away from the main house I'm used to and we all get out.

  "So how good are you at dancing?" Katy asks as I follow a tense Harris, up the main path towards to main house. All the cabins have green lanterns outside. I’ve been here at night but I’ve never seen that. It must be a wedding thing.

  "Terrible." I laugh and Katy grins evilly.

  "I can't wait to see that." She chuckles.

  "You won't," I warn.

  "But you have to dance with me," Freddy says coming up next to me, it's only then I notice Harris is wearing the same white shirt and black trousers while Katy is dressed in a blue skater dress. It's simple but it suits her figure making her seem older than her fifteen years. Katy is really stunning tonight and I know she will be a handful for some guy when she is older.

  "Don't do the eyes." I look away from Freddy and he chuckles.

  "I will get her to dance," Freddy whispers to Katy and Katy laughs as they fall behind me to conspire. I catch up to Harris and I'm about to say something but I forget when I see the sight in front of me.

  The trees around the main house are filled with green lanterns that give an earthly effect to the white tables lined out in front of the house. There is a made up stage with a band playing gentle music as a couple dance and everyone watches them. My eyes are drawn to them as they sway to the music and the man spins the girl with long brown braided hair in a light green dress and I see her back. All the way up her spine is a tattoo like I've never seen, it looks like vines but it clearly makes a symbol I don’t know. There are three wolves on her back, with them all looking like they are real as we get closer. I look over to see two other men, watching the couple dance but they are just watching her. There’s no jealously on their faces when I realise they are her other mates and the song ends. The couple walks over to them and one of the other guys pulls her into a passionate kiss. The others don’t look away and it’s strange to see, not a bad strange but still, it’s something else.

  "That's a mating mark, whatever our mates are born with on them; we get an equal one appears once a mating is completed," Katy whispers.

  "It looks beautiful." I gaze out at the couple, as they look so happy. More couples join the dance and I see Fergus, leading Anna to a dance. Her stomach is wider now and she is wearing a similar blue dress to mine that shows off her bump. I have to admit that baby is going to beautiful with parents like them. I hope I get to see the baby at least once; I have to get them a lovely gift for when the baby comes. Fergus and Anna look so relaxed as they sway to the music. My gaze shifts when I spot Jaxson. My heart stops as I see him wearing his spotless white shirt that shows all his muscles off on his chest. The black trousers shine of his nearly black hair that reflects of the soft green fairy lights. Two hands appear on his chest as he puts his hands on Esta small waist as they dance. She looks up at him in adoration and looking as stunning as ever in a tight yellow dress. She wraps her arms around his neck leaning up over his shoulder as they move and her dark eyes lock onto me with a big smirk. I don't move as she leans up and kisses Jaxson. Jaxson doesn't move to stop the kiss, as my heart feels like it's stopped moving. My feet move on their own, as I turn away from the voices that shout my name and towards the training room at the back of the house to catch my breath. I lean against the door, as I wipe the stupid tears that fall on my face.

  "Winter," Katy says coming to my side and hugging me. The building is lit up from outdoor lights so she can see me clearly.

  "Go back to the party; I will just wait in Harris car. You know when I've calmed down enough to move." I tell her, not wanting to ruin her fun.

  "I didn't know, I swear none of us would have brought you to cause you any pain." She hugs me and pulls back. She holds my hand as I stare into the trees. We don’t say anything for a long time as I cry silent tears and try to pull myself together.

  A loud scream fills the air, as well as a whoosh of something flying through the air. Katy knocks me to the ground, covering my body with hers.

  Katy rolls away from me, laying on her back as I look at her in shock.

  "Katy," I scream, shaking her as she blinks up at me, holding her side. I pull her hand away to see it stained red.

  "The alpha is dead, that’s how they got in. Run Winter," she mutters before passing out. Screams fill the air from the front of the house and I hear growls in the background too. The ground starts shaking madly and it’s hard to stand up. I know what I have to do. I can’t leave Freddy to fight anyone. I don’t know who we are fighting but I have an idea. Vampires. I know I can leave Katy when I see the little silver bullet on the floor. It would only kill her if it was still inside her.

  I drag Katy into the training room, b
efore grabbing the crossbow off the wall and slipping some arrows in a bag on my shoulder. I load a couple of arrows quickly before locking the training room door, I hope Katy is safe but I can't help her now. I can’t think straight as I run across the grass, scared out of my mind about Jaxson and Freddy. If they got to Fergus and killed him, they could have hurt them too. I think Jaxson is ok by the shaking ground and the sound of trees being ripped out the ground in the background.

  I run around the house and pause for a second at the horrible sight, blood pours out the mouth of a sandy wolf at my feet. I look up to see a man rushing towards me, wearing all black and moving at a leisured pace like this is a game for him. His eyes glowing a dangerous red, a smirk on his face which dies when I shoot him in the heart. I watch as he falls to the ground holding the arrow. The man or vampire I'm guessing by the teeth turns black all over and turning into black dust. That's not creepy at all to see. A loud scream nearby directs my attention from the corpse dust. My eyes widen as I see Esta shift quickly and start fighting two men in her wolf form and Anna is hiding behind her. I shoot one of the men she is fighting in the neck as he falls, I fire another into his chest finishing him. Esta wolf takes the chance and kills the other vampire by tearing his head off. She nods in my direction before putting Anna on her back and making a run into the forest. I look around for Jaxson and I can't see him. I go to move towards more of the fighting when I feel the pain.

  I cough and raise my hand to my mouth, as I pull it away seeing the blood. I look down in slow motion, seeing the dagger in my heart. I don't feel myself fall.

  My eyes stay open, as I stare up at the night sky filled with stars.

  "Winter no, no! What are you doing here?" A voice floats around my brain, as my head is pulled into a lap. The arms surrounding me feel cold but my mind won't tell who it is. My vision blurs, so I can only see the outline of a man and the stars behind him.

  "Not yet, I'm sorry for this. I can’t lose you, it’s not your time Winter." A familiar male voice says in a whisper, as I hear a crunching sound before my mouth is filled with a thick water. I choke on it or my blood once more before blackness creeps into the corner of my eyes. I feel my body being lifted. I’m sure just as the trees fade away into blackness, that I hear a heart-wrenching scream from the wolf I love,

  "Winter!"

  Epilogue

  Wyatt

  “I don’t fucking know what she was doing there,” I tell Dabriel as he holds his glowing hands over Winter’s body. His whole body is glowing like a Christmas tree as he speeds up Winter’s recovery.

  “This isn’t right.” He says to Winter with a shake of his head.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” I say to him.

  I watch as he gets up, his white symbols stop glowing on his skin and he walks out the room, I follow him.

  “She isn’t a vampire.” He tells me.

  “That’s impossible,” I say firmly. I can already feel our bond, the connection we will have because she shares my blood.

  “She isn’t. I can tell. She still appears human but more. She is changing into something else.” He tells me.

  We both look through the door as we both hear something that we shouldn’t.

  A heartbeat.

  Vampire’s hearts don’t beat.

  Hello and thank you for buying my book. Come and say hello on my Facebook page, twitter or my website listed below.

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  Thank you to all my family for their support.

  The next book, Winter’s Kiss (Her Guardian’s series book two) will be out near the end of the year.

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