Winter. One of the great things about living with Nina was the surrounding area around the apartment complex. It was so wide and peaceful. A perfect place to seek comfort when I had too much in mind. Usually, when I was doubting my decision, I’d run in my wolf form and let myself free, but I had no time to go to an open area where human wasn’t around, so I always opted to walk around the apartment. The weather was especially good today, which improved my mood. I had been having trouble sleeping for a while now. It wasn’t just about Dante, but about my past that kept coming to haunt me ever since I found my mate. It was maddening. My mind wandered to the trial Dante offered. It was silly, but perhaps it might have worked. There were so many possibilities that I could end up hurting in the end, but I was glad that he provided an escape route. A formal rejection. For now, I was more on the rejection path, but I knew nothing about the future. ‘This is the best decision you made afte
Winter. “I reject you—“ Red. Everything was red. His shirt, mine, the floor, and so were my hands. My mate’s eyes widened as the small silver blade slipped out of my grip. His veins bulged, mouth agape, trying to lunge at me like a wounded wolf he already was. “How dare you! How fucking dare you, Winter!” With a wounded chest, he struck at me. Both of us fell with a loud thud. He stayed on top, breathing hard while clenching my neck, trying to suck the life out of my body. “No,” I screamed, kicking the air and punching his bleeding wound. He smiled in mirth, knowing that my consciousness began to fade away. How did we end up here? We were madly in love. I devoted myself to him, bare my soul only for him. Yet, the love was gone in a blink of an eye. “I would have given you the luxury to stay in my pack if you had accepted the fact that I’ve found my fated mate. I would have left you living your best life here. But not anymore. You prove to me a jealous female could be very danger
Dante.A loud sound echoed in my office as Kayden—my beta, barged in with an irritating look plastered over his face. He leaned on the door, eyes staring deeply in my direction, hands folded before his chest. With an arch brow, I waited without bothering to speak up.“You are not supposed to be here.” Kayden finally spoke—every word laced with impatience. I believed he was tired of socializing in my stead.I reached for a lowball glass on my desk and took my sweet time to swirl it while still staring at Kayden. Another minute passed, and none of us spoke. He sighed, making the corner of my lips tug upward.As expected from a male with little patience.“Where should I be? Pray tell” I asked, spinning my chair so I could face the glass window, which showed the beauty of night in the Strip.“Out there hunting for your mate. We hold this party for you. If you don’t step out, those hags will not stop pestering you.”The thought of the elders in my pack made my mouth twitch. They had been pe
Winter. Standing tall and proud before my eyes was Dante Verlice, my mate. He was the alpha of the biggest pack in Vegas. One of the few who brought his pack to flourish despite building it from nothing. He was notorious for his leadership skill, his gentleness—which I believe was a facade, and his hobby of playing around with she-wolves. “You are trembling again.” His low and deep voice snapped me back to reality. “I told you, don’t be scared.” How could I not? Having him as my mate was the worst thing Moon Goddess could do. Dante was the type of male I should avoid at any cost. I should have never let Snow take over. I should have run the very first time I sensed him. ‘You won’t be able to run, Winter.’ Snow said carelessly. She is wrong. I always manage to slip away, especially from a dangerous male. “And I’ve told you I’m just cold,” I replied with confidence. I didn’t want him to catch a sign of weakness from me. I knew he didn’t buy my reason, but he didn’t refute me eithe
Dante. I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped into the pool area. All my guests and employees were already gone. Only Kayden and Kieran stood rigidly in front of me. However, Kieran’s eyes wandered past me while Kayden looked at me with a layer of guilt on his face. “Where is she?” I asked, faking the calmness even though I only wanted to scream right now. Kayden and Kieran exchanged glances a few times. “I’m asking.” “I’m still looking for her.” “WHERE IS SHE, KAYDEN?!” Gone was the calmness I fought hard to keep. “She escaped.” Kayden’s words rang so loud in my head that I felt the world spinning around me. She escaped. My mate. My fucking mate was gone when I just got her. Ace snarled in anger, and I could feel him trying to control my body, which was not a good sign. ‘Calm down,’ I said to him. ‘You fucking lost her, Dante. I’m going to kill your useless Beta and Gamma.’ ‘Don’t! I swear to Moon Goddess, you will never get to see her again if you do that. I promi
Winter. Living in Elko for about a month wasn’t different from in Vegas. I still wake up and work my ass like crazy. I never had time to enjoy my free time. All I ever thought about while I had spare time was how to get more money to ensure that I could eat while living on the run. I did every job I could do. From the moment I escaped my former pack, I never rested properly. I knew once I let my guard down, they could take me back and torture me until I lost my life. For the past few weeks, I only tried to work in a bar and grocery store, but I found the money wasn’t enough to fund me if I ever needed to move again, so fighting was my only solution to get quick money. I knew it wasn’t fair to fight with humans, knowing I was far stronger than them. However, I would not follow my moral values because it wouldn’t give me money. After all, fairness didn’t exist in this world. So here I am, facing a man twice my size. “Diana, was it?” The man—Carlo, the legendary underground fighter
Winter.The moment I opened my eyes, unfamiliar surroundings welcomed me. With minimal furniture, the small room only had a medium-sized table, two chairs, and a small couch, which I'm currently occupying. The closed windows had a dusty curtain covering them.My head turned to the right, finding Kieran staring at me. “Where am I?”“Thank Goddess, you are awake. I almost lost my neck because of you.” He kneeled beside me, lifting his hand, and asked me how many fingers he showed.“Four and two.”“Goddess, I almost piss myself because of you.”“What?”Instead of answering, Kieran stood up. He looked down, hands in his pocket, while smiling strangely at me.“Anyway, you lose. So, five minutes’ talk.”I did a half-shrug and replied, “Okay, go ahead.”“Not with me, but with my Alpha.”My eyes enlarged, realizing that I had forgotten about my predicament for a moment. Shit. This wasn’t good. Seeing my reaction, Kieran chuckled. He tapped my shoulder and then uttered,“Good luck, Diana.”And
Winter. Lying in the small bed facing a brown-colored ceiling, I felt sweat dripping from my body with each passing minute. My heart rate increased so fast that I could hear how loud it beat against my ribcage. My chest heaved up and down in rhythm as the heat spread all over my body. “Fuck my life,” I cursed, moving restlessly to ease the pain. ‘Fuck you, Winter.’ Snow snarled at me. She was beyond angry right now and knowing how tortured she was, I couldn’t even refute her. This was an unexpected situation. I didn’t know I’d be in heat this soon. This was why finding a mate was bad news. Not only did it put me on my mate’s radar, but now I had to deal with an occasional heat. It was bearable when we never found our fated mate, but it was totally different when we finally met. Ideally, after meeting our mate, we’d marked each other as soon as possible to hinder from getting in heat, which was painful. But with my situation, I couldn’t let my mate mark me, leaving me to deal with