Winter's War

by G. Bailey

  “I doubt the stories of how the war was won are the best kind of baby story to help my daughter sleep,” Alex says as she walks over to me. I glance up at my best friend as she laughs at me.

  “I didn’t know what to say to a baby. Everyone keeps handing me babies and expecting me to know what to do.” I laugh as I hand over her daughter to her.

  “Well, auntie Winter, maybe try fairy tales next time,” she says. I guess that makes sense.

  “Like the big bad wolf?” I joke, and she laughs.

  “Speaking of wolves, your mates want you. They’re waiting outside the castle,” she says, and I stand up from the bench I was sitting on.

  “Alright.” I say and kiss her cheek before walking back through the newly planted trees that lead to the castle. My mates are sitting on the bottom steps, Wyatt is laughing with Jaxson over something, and Dabriel is looking at something on Atti’s phone. For the first few months after nearly losing Wyatt, I never let him out my sight. I kept all my mates close as we rebuilt everything we lost in the war. I wasn’t happy that Wyatt died for me and that my other mates knew, but then, I was prepared to do the same sacrifice for him. In the end, we all love each other that much that we want to make sure we all live. I don’t see how that can be considered a bad thing. I look over to see Dabriel straighten up, his eyes going white like he does when he has a vision. I run over and stop in front of him, all of us silent as we wait for him to come back from the vision. When his purple eyes come into focus, he looks down at me and I take his hand in mine.

  “Adelaide,” he whispers, and I frown at him.

  “Who is that?” I ask, considering it’s an unusual name, and I think I would remember it.

  “The fray you will meet. I saw you shaking hands with her and someone else saying ‘this is Adelaide,’ and then what looked like a portal opened,” he tells me.

  “How did you know she is the fray child?” I ask him, hoping for any way to get out of this vision being right.

  “I could see her aura, it was so red and bright. It looked just like a fray’s, and I doubt a portal would open for anyone other than the royal,” he tells me, and I nod, letting him pull me into his arms. I feel sick at the idea of Lily being anywhere near Adelaide, even if I don’t know her. I have spoken to many of the fray that survived the wars, and they all speak only of her cruelness. They say she is an insane queen that is touched by the God of Death, but I don’t understand their Gods enough to make sense of that. All the fray are slowly losing their powers, now, and they say it is what they want, but I still feel sorry for them.

  “We will worry about the promise another day, we can’t do anything about it now,” I say after a long pause, and he sighs.

  “That is true,” he leans down and gently kisses me.

  “I heard you all wanted me?” I ask, and he smiles.

  “We found something and want to show you,” Atti says and links my other hand in his. We walk around the castle, where we pass the outside training area. Freddy and Nathaniel are training, both of them circling each other with swords. Mich and Josh are watching from the sides and drinking water. It’s good to see them all together, all friends. It’s like what my mates had with each other growing up.

  “They have gotten close since the war. Freddy told me that Mich, Josh, and Nath saved him, and that’s how Mich ended up getting hurt in the war,” Wyatt tells us. Wyatt and Freddy have gotten closer, too, and I couldn’t be happier to see that change come about. Freddy actually calls him Dad since the war. I think losing Wyatt for that brief time made Freddy realise how much he actually loves Wyatt, but he wouldn’t admit that out loud to us. Stroppy, teenage hormones and all that. Josh waves as we walk past, and I wave back. I was sad to learn of Lucifer’s death in the war, and I’m keeping my promise to bring Josh up. I moved him into Freddy’s room, and now he is part of my family, despite the fact Josh doesn’t speak to us much, and I have no idea what he is.

  “So, why are we going into the woods?” I ask, trying to distract myself as we take a path into the woods to the left of the castle, where I have never been before.

  “It’s a surprise,” Atti laughs.

  “You know I don’t like surprises, unless they are chocolate-covered,” I say, making them all laugh, but I’m being deadly serious. A chocolate surprise is always a good one. We walk around the woods for a little while before we get to a lake that is hidden within the trees. You couldn’t see it from the castle before, but now that some of the trees were burnt down, the sun is shining down on the lake, and it’s really beautiful here. I think it’s the calmness of the water and the way it feels like you’re away from the world here.

  “It’s beautiful here,” I comment, looking up as Dabriel pulls me to his chest.

  “You remember that vision I had of us all by a lake, and Freddy was much older? The one I told you about once,” Dabriel asks me.

  “I remember. Was it here?” I ask, knowing that Dabriel said he felt complete in the vision. Much like I do now with all my mates when war isn’t chasing us, and we have our lives to enjoy.

  “Yes, and I didn’t tell you something about that vision,” he says, and I pull away a little to look up at him.

  “What was it?”

  “You. You were pregnant in that vision, Winter,” he tells me, and I lean up and kiss him, knowing we will have our future we fought for. It was worth all this. I lean back and catch a glance of three figures in white dresses floating in the middle of the lake, feeling their love from here.

  This was my fate and my future, with all my mates.

  The End.

  Authors Note

  Hello and thank you for buying my book! You’re amazing, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support. Winter’s and her mates’ story is over for now, but Adelaide’s Fate (Her Fate series and Her Guardians spin off) is coming soon and is based ten years after the end of Winter’s War.

  A big thank you to Michelle, Taylor, Anna, and Meagan. Come and say hello on my Facebook page, Twitter, or my website listed below. I post teasers, new covers and giveaways on my Facebook group.

  Bailey’s Pack.

  I also have a newsletter, an easy way to keep up with new releases-

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  A review would be amazing, and I would love you for it as every review helps me a little bit, and I love reading them all!

  Thank you to all my family for their support as I wrote this book. Thank you to my husband for feeding me when I forgot to eat and my children for not destroying the house.

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  Please keep reading for the prologue of Adelaide’s Fate (Her Fate series coming 2018)…

  Adelaide’s Fate

  How far can fate make you fall?

  When Adelaide turned eighteen, the last thing she thought would happen is that she would lose her parents and gain custody of her fifteen-year-old sister. If being a shifter wasn't bad enough in a world where her kind are hunted, she now has to protect her sister. Adie has no choice but to move into the old house her parents left them, or risk being on the streets.

  Only, she didn't expect to be living next door to a strange group of men. Very attractive men who are far more than human. No, they are different, just like her, but not quite the same. They are all half breeds in a world where their kind are looked down on. They offer Adie and her sister protection, in exchange for keeping quiet about who they are. Protection comes at a cost, and the cost is something none of them could have expected.

  A cost that’s been destined. A cost that fate has weaved for Adelaide. A cost that even a royal cannot escape.

  (Her Guardians series spin off)

  Reverse Harem

  18 +

  Adelaide’s Fate

  Prologue

  18 Years ago…

  “Run faster,” the breathless voice of my mate’s best friend shouts to me as I rush through the cold woods of Scotland. The wind hits my fac
e as snow brushes against my bare legs, but I can’t let it stop me. Not when everything lies on my child escaping Fray today.

  “I can’t,” I say collapsing to the ground as pain rips through my stomach. I look down as blood coats the snow-covered ground by my feet. I’m not healing. I can’t do this anymore, it’s too late and I can feel the poison spreading through my body.

  “Reni,” I whisper my companion’s name as she slides to her feet in front of me, my gaze goes to my new-born daughter that she holds in blankets close to her chest. Two hours, that’s all I had with her before they attacked us. It’s not enough.

  “I will stay and fight to protect you, for him,” Reni says sharply, handing me my daughter, and I push her away gently.

  “No, go. It’s too late, and I can’t out run them. I can distract them enough by closing the last fray-built portal,” I say quietly as Reni’s eyes widen in shock. If I close that portal, then there is no way for her and her army to follow us. They could go through one of the natural portals between our worlds, but she would lose her power slowly if she did. She wouldn’t risk that.

  “Using any power now will kill you. My god died to keep you alive. You can’t do this to me,” she begs me in a whisper. I look around the snow-covered forest, remembering the autumn court and the brief happiness I felt there when I married the man I loved, and had my beautiful daughter.

  “Something is wrong and neither of us are healers. Take her and keep her safe. Please?” I say, reaching to hold a hand against my sleeping child wrapped in her arms. I twirl a finger around the dark-red hair on her head, the same colour as mine and all the royal family before me. Her bright-green eyes open and watch me, but she doesn’t make a sound. She is so innocent for the world she has been born into. Reni looks down at me and then to my little baby she holds in her arms.

  “I will do it for you, my queen. I will bring her up with my mate as our own. No one will know who she is,” Reni says, finally giving in, and I know her well enough to know she means every word. She may not be a full-blooded Fray, but she is family to me.

  “Her name is Adelaide, after my mother,” I tell Reni gently, who nods.

  “No one will know who she is, as long as you keep her away from anything Fray touched. She must never get her Fray powers,” I tell her, knowing that there is no way she can be taken back to Fray when I close the portal, but there are weapons here that have Fray magic, even some creatures that have passed through portals.

  “You have my word. I’m sorry I can’t save you,” she says with tears running down her face. Everything starts going blurry as she stands, and offers me a hand to help me up. I stand shakily and look down once more at Adelaide before turning away, my heart breaking. I have to do this.

  “They are coming, go,” I say, and she nods holding my daughter closer.

  “I’m sorry,” she bows the best she can when holding a baby. My mind flashes back to the prophecy surrounding my child, and the Fray courts that have fallen to keep her safe. She has to be safe. I watch until I can’t see Reni anymore before walking back off into the woods. When I see the portal, a slightly purplish-clear shimmer that only Fray can see, I lift my hands. It only takes a second for my power to shoot purple bolts of lightning out of my hands. The portal cracks slowly, bit by bit until it explodes, and I go flying into the air. I close my eyes and think only of Adelaide, knowing she will be safe. Fate will not have my child.

  Please keep reading for an excerpt from new author Paige Taylor’s new reverse harem book called Dark Moon…

  Dark Moon

  Prologue

  I run towards my door, almost tripping over the welcome mat that sits outside the carved oak entrance. The sudden jarring of my body tearing open the healing cuts I have all over my body. My ribs burning as I grab the brass front door handle and fling the door open with as much force as I can.

  My mind is scrambled in my panic. What do I do? What do I take? How long do I have left? Obviously not long enough to pack up all my belongings and get the hell out of here. I run through my minimalist living room, heading straight for my bedroom at the back of the house. I can feel my right eye closing over, narrowing my vision, my jaw not yet healed from the break jolting with every impact my feet make with the ground.

  I run towards my bed, collapsing onto it, trying to grab my suitcases and duffle bags with my one good arm. Not that the arm is pain free, no, thanks to the broken ribs it’s almost as painful as the other arm that I’ve yet to reset at the elbow. Well no time like the present. I grab the wrist of my broken arm and jam it back into place, holding in the scream that is trying to force its way through my gritted teeth.

  I take a second to rest from all the physical exertion, I need all the strength I have to get these fucking bags out from underneath the bed. The dizziness I get lifting the bags is killer, making the room tilt and swirl like I’m on a bad fucking rollercoaster. I try to stuff as many clothes into the two bags and one duffle as possible, I don’t have the space to take everything, I’m only going to be able to take what I can grab in a few armfuls. I stumble over to the bathroom and snatch my jewellery bag and throw it into whatever bag is closest.

  I run around the room as fast as I can go, grabbing my memento’s, the photos of my family, emergency cash, anything that is irreplaceable. When I finally have everything I need, I go to close the lid on the suitcases, when a photo of the pack stops me. It dawns on me that I’m abandoning my family, my pack. A few tears start leaking from my left eye, which burn as they roll down through the cuts on my face. I can’t look at it anymore right now, I close the lid and zip the bag with as much force as I can muster.

  My car is thankfully right outside the door. I drag the bags to the back door and use every working muscle to lift them onto the seat. Silently closing the doors to the car, I walk back to my cabin and close the door without looking back, my heart aching with every step I take away from my home.

  I drive for what feels like an eternity and all I can think about is what lead me to here.

  I wake up gasping for air, why does my neck feel like it’s being crushed and burnt? I lift my heavy arm towards my neck and am met with a metal choker biting into my neck, the silver burning my hand the second I touch it. The silver choker tightening further as my breathing gets faster. Fuck, what the hell is going on.

  I look around the room and realise that my Alpha is sitting calmly on a chair about ten feet away from me, shielded in the darkness of the basement I now realise I am in. I try pulling the chain, yelling for him to let me go.

  He stands and walks towards me, utter terror seeping into my bones.

  “What did you hear Ava” he asks with his controlled voice. When I don’t respond his eyes harden with hatred and before I can even see him move, he is suddenly less than three inches away from me. .

  “WHAT DID YOU HEAR AVA?” he screams at me, spittle landing all over my face making me flinch.

  “I didn’t hear or see anything Alpha, please let me go!” I know I could get caught lying, but I’m hoping that he is that desperate to hear the answer that he can’t tell, that his desperation will save my life.

  “I don’t believe you.” he says back to the calm face façade I know that he wears in public. I’m given no warning as I’m thrown backwards with a punch to the side of my head. Over and over again I’m punched and kicked and beaten. I can feel every crunch of bone; every bruise being formed on my body. I know that I’m wailing at him to stop, he just keeps going, until I’m too broken to move, too broken for my wolf to come forward. The assault on my body stops suddenly but I’m too scared to look up to see if there is another blow coming. I feel the chain being unlocked and the burn of the silver taken away from my skin.

  He bends down to my eye level, staring into the one eye that is swollen to the size of golf ball. I whimper when he moves in closer touching his lips to mine, I try to back away, but the pain makes my consciousness waiver.

  “You need to run little Ava, run far. If I f
ind out you’ve spoken to anyone of this, I will kill anyone and everyone you’ve ever loved. No-one is safe. Do you understand?” he whispers so softly that I almost miss it. I try to nod my head, and just the slightest movement of my head down is enough for him to recognise my acceptance.

  “You have one hour. I suggest you move, Little Ava”

  Pulling myself out of my memory is hard, the trauma that I can feel all over my body bellowing at me, reminding me. It dawns on me that I’m finally out of pack lands and I pull over to the side of the road, I have to do what I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about since I was told to run. I have to break my pack bonds. I close my one good eye, and find that ball of purple light at the heart of any shifter in a pack, with beautiful tendrils reaching out to every member of the pack. I concentrate on extinguishing each tendril, and with each dimming light, my heart breaks more and more. The final thread is being consumed by my black cloud, and as if a rubber band was breaking, I felt the snap of the last link to my pack break. The emotional and physical injuries too great, I feel my body slump forward, my head knocking into the steering wheel as my consciousness fades to black.