Winter's Kiss (6 page)

He glanced at the window and extended his senses outwards into the surrounding forest. If he was right about the reason behind her fast transformation then the alpha male of the pack that had attacked her was old. It would take at least until tomorrow evening for Nika’s leg to heal fully. They might not have another day before the werewolves returned for her.

Colliding thoughts filled his mind, his heart torn between keeping her away from the werewolf who had turned her and handing her over to him. He snarled at the thought of the man having what should have been his. It was enough that this man had taken her from him. He wouldn’t let him claim her for his own. He didn’t care that the man had turned her. The man still had no right to touch her and he never would.

Winter had to get her away, make her go somewhere that she would be safe. The city. He stared into the night through the broken window. No, she wouldn’t listen to him. Even if he took her to the city, she would still come back. There had to be a way to make her leave this area, for her sake and his. He smiled when it came to him.

“Do you think you can walk?” he said.

She stared up at him with raised eyebrows. “Perhaps. Why?”

“We must leave this place.”

“But you said we couldn’t go back to the village.”

He picked up his cloak and reattached the leather straps
before placing it around his shoulders and fastening it. Nika moved to the edge of the bed and grimaced when she slowly bent her legs. They were probably stiff from lying down for over a day.

“We must. We cannot wait any longer.” Winter pulled his gloves on and then picked up his helmet. It was dry inside now but smelt of her blood and the strange scent of snow. He tucked it under his arm and extended his hand to her, offering to help her stand. She would need support if she was going to make it to the village. The bone in her leg had healed, but he had no doubt it was going to hurt her to walk on it for a few more days yet.

“Why not?” she said, ignoring his hand.

He took hold of her arm and pulled her onto her feet, his patience snapping. The quicker they reached the village, the faster he could be back at the mansion, away from her.

“The men who attacked you will be coming back for you. They will know from my clothing and my horse’s livery that I am a Validus. If they have sense, they will attack during the day when I will be unable to defend you because of the sun.”

Her green eyes widened. “Vampires really can’t go out in the sun?”

He shook his head. He had forgotten that the only things she knew about his species had come from the speculation in films and books, some of which was wrong.

“The village is a long walk from here. Are you certain you are able to make it that far?”

Nika placed her hand over his where it held her arm and nodded. “I don’t have much choice. I don’t want those men to take me from… the village and my family.”

Winter didn’t like that pause. For a brief moment, her look
had softened, her lips tilting into the barest hint of a smile as she had looked at him. That look hadn’t spoken of a desire to return to her family. It had screamed of a desire to remain with him. He removed his hand from her arm and crossed the room, needing the space. The sooner they were at the village, the better. If she showed signs of slowing, he would carry her on his back. He needed to get her to safety and then get back to the mansion. His gaze roamed back to her, studying her as she busied herself with her long coat, slowly fastening each button. His heart ached to look at her and know that she could never be his.

Vengeance would be though. Her father would be able to convince her to flee to the city and not return. When he knew that she was safely on her way to the city, he would return to the mansion and inform his lord of the werewolf attack within their territory. He would seek permission to return to the woods and kill every single werewolf in the alpha’s pack.

If he couldn’t have Nika, then no one would.

He picked up his sword from the corner of the room and fastened the belt around his waist. His hand rested on the hilt as he looked at Nika. Her clothing was in tatters, shredded by the teeth and claws of the werewolves. Her eyes still held fear—fear of what had happened, fear of what she would become.

His eyes narrowed and his fingers closed around his sword.

They would pay for what they had done.

Nika bit back the pain and hobbled onwards, willing herself to make it to the village. Winter kept pace beside her. Occasionally, she felt his eyes on her, intent and focussed. Some instinct made her defences go up and told her to flee. Would it always be that way now? Would she never be able to spend time around Winter without feeling as though he was going to attack her and she had to protect herself? Were vampires and werewolves enemies?

Her leg ached and she was tempted to stop and rub it, but the last time she had done that, Winter had told her to keep moving. She glanced around at the darkness, struggling to make out the trees and the way to the village. Winter didn’t seem to be having any problem. Could he see in the dark? His confident step and the fact he hadn’t walked into anything yet said he could. She had bumped into several trees so far and more branches than she could count had attacked her. She could just about see a dark shape where Winter walked a few feet from her. When she had fully changed, would she be able to see in the dark too?

Another branch smacked her square in the face.

Nika flinched and hobbled towards Winter. He started to turn to face her.

“Keep moving. I’ll follow you,” she said and he paused a moment before continuing to walk.

Being behind him made her feel vulnerable but it stopped her from walking into things. She kept close, so she could almost make out more than just his form in the cloudy night.

The image of him sitting on the bed near her flashed across her eyes. His handsome young face belied what he
truly was. The moment he had changed, irises turning iridescent purple and canines sharpening, she had realised that her life would never be the same. In fact, so much in her life suddenly felt like a lie but made more sense at the same time. Winter had never changed in all the years that she had seen him. All those years when she had been growing up, he had been the same man he was now. How old was he? Was everything she knew about vampires true or was it all a lie?

Were there others like him out there in the world besides those at the mansion?

Others like her besides the pack that had attacked her?

The questions crowded her mind and made it ache. It throbbed as hard as her leg.

She took a deep breath to steel herself against the pain and then frowned when she realised something.

“I can smell things,” Nika whispered, afraid to raise her voice in case Winter berated her for speaking and giving away their location. He had done that earlier too.

Something told her that he was in a hurry, and that it wasn’t just the threat of the werewolves attacking that made him
rush
her.

Instead of a reprimand, he looked over his shoulder at her and softly said, “What things?”

A smile threatened to touch her lips. It felt as though he was encouraging her to try out the new sense that she had discovered.

She took another long deep breath and exhaled slowly. It was amazing. Every scent that had once only been an undertone was now clear and crisp.

The breeze brought delicate scents of the pines and the
snow, a warm smell that she liked. She smiled when she smelled something else—the fragrant scent of a wood fire that must have been carried all the way from the village.

“I can smell the trees and the snow, and the village.”

It was incredible. She took another breath, unable to satisfy her desire to explore this exciting change. The night was full of fascinating scents.

“Your senses are altering and will become extremely sensitive,” Winter whispered, his tone flat and matter of fact. “All of them would have changed when your transformation is complete.”

That word, transformation, sent a chill to her heart. For a blissful moment, she had forgotten that her change into a werewolf was the reason her sense of smell had become stronger. A werewolf. The thought of that made her tremble and fear reclaimed her. She shook her head against the memory of the wolves that had attacked her—larger than a normal wolf, savage in their appearance and holding death in their eyes. She didn’t want to become that. Her throat closed. Her breathing shortened as panic set in. Her hand pressed into her chest and she gasped at air, unable to control her fear.

The world felt suddenly distant.

“What is wrong?” Winter’s voice reached her ears, holding a note of concern this time. He moved back to her and she closed her eyes when his hand rested against her shoulder, holding it.

Her panic subsided when she looked up at him. A
break
in the clouds lightened the world and made it possible for her to see his face. She relaxed as her eyes met his and savoured the calming feel of his touch. She didn’t know what to say to him. Everything was overwhelming. Had he gone through a transformation like this? Did he know what
she felt like inside—torn in two, frightened of herself and the future, wishing she would wake up?

His hand left her shoulder and he turned away. The sound of his footsteps compressing the snow amongst the sparse trees was like cotton wool being torn. She focussed on each step. Each one took him a little further away from her.

“Nothing,” Nika said, forcing the word out, and continued walking, resolved now to face her future because there was nothing she could do to change it.

Her gaze fixed on Winter’s back and a new chill filled her heart.

When had he decided to leave her?

She stumbled on something and collapsed to her knees in the snow.

Winter was by her side in an instant, kneeling on the frozen ground beside her. His left hand was against her back, his other holding her arm.

“Are you all right?”

Her eyes met his in the darkness and she stared into them, more confused than ever by this sudden display of concern. His soft expression gradually melted away, leaving the emotionless look she had seen too many times on his face. She didn’t dare move the whole time his demeanour was changing back, hiding the beautiful anxiety that had lit her heart with warmth and stealing away the man that made her feel safe, leaving her feeling more alone than she had ever done.

When he leaned back to rest on his heels, she removed his hand from her arm.

“I’m fine,” she said and his other hand left her. A frown
married his black eyebrows. Her gaze fell to the floor, avoiding his. He could scrutinise her all he wanted. She wasn’t going to let on that she had figured him out.

The fear of the wolves attacking during the day wasn’t the only reason he was taking her back to the village.

After tonight, she would never see him again.

“Here,” he said and stood, offering his gloved hand to her. “Let me help.”

Nika frowned at his hand and struggled to her feet without his assistance. If he was going to leave her as she suspected, she had to fend for herself and learn to deal with what had happened to her. It was best that she stopped relying on him. She had never needed a man to look after her before and she didn’t need one now.

His hand curled into a fist and he drew it back to him, holding it close to his chest. His eyes bore into her, making her uncomfortable. When she straightened up and put weight on her leg, it ached and throbbed, searing her with pain. She gritted her teeth against it, reached out to the nearest tree, and pressed her hand into the wide trunk for support.

“Rest a while,” Winter said, as though she needed his permission.

Now that she knew why he was rushing her back to the village, she didn’t really feel like killing herself with pain to move faster than she could manage. From here on, she was going to take things at her own pace. She frowned and pouted when she leaned her back against the tree.

“What else can you sense?” Winter asked from the darkness.

A part of her wished he would come closer so she could
see him again. She didn’t like not being able to see where he was. It made her feel alone and vulnerable even though she could feel him, sense his presence in some strange new way. She cursed herself for relying on him to make her feel safe.

The clouds parted again and the world brightened to varying shades of dark blue and purples. Her eyes sought Winter. He stepped out of the shadows and came to stand a few feet in front of her. He held his helmet under one arm. His other hand rested on the hilt of his sword. The breeze tousled his hair but his long black cloak didn’t move. There was an almost eerie quality to the way it hung motionless, unaffected by even the stronger gusts.

His expression had softened again to reveal feelings she longed to understand and his eyes spoke of conflict that she felt echoed inside her. Was he confused too? What did he have to be confused about?

Closing her eyes, she concentrated and inhaled slowly through her nose.

“I can smell the wood fires in the village. It reminds me of home,” she said with a smile, thinking about how nice it would be to warm up in front of the fire and rid herself of this permanent chill.