Page 25 of His Winter Wonderland

Dying at the hands of Rhen Fujisaki. Her blessing and her curse. Her beginning and her end. No longer a warrior, she was now just a girl. A lost girl with no place to call home. Every girl dreamed of one day meeting her mate. Even girls like her. No, she wasn't like most creatures. She was different because she was created for something different.

She was created for destruction. She was created to kill and sow chaos and discord. But that didn't define who she was. The main reason she'd been cursed to this frozen tundra was because she refused to live her life the way others dictated. Because she refused to simply be a creature who killed and brought chaos.

She'd known she could do so much more, because she was so much more. And the more she wanted to do hadn't involved death and fire and brimstone. It had involved kindness, mercy and love. But then her sisters had tricked her, and she'd been cursed here and forced to kill in order to survive.

Who knew that the first battle she ever lost in the Frostlands would be to her own mate? Who knew that the person who killed her would be the one person who shouldn't be able to harm her? The one person who should love and cherish. The one person who’d promised to love and cherish her.

The one person she'd been hoping she'd one day meet but feared it would never happen because she was stuck on this cold plane. Her wish had come true. She'd found her mate. His wish had come true also. He’d found her. And on Christmas of all days. His Christmas Wish had come true.

Too bad the day she met her mate was also the day she would meet death. Perhaps it was better this way. The only other option would be her killing him. That was something she didn't want to do. Despite his harsh treatment of her, she still didn’t want to be the one who ended her life.

That sin would stick with her forever. That would be one sin that she wouldn't be able to shake or ignore. And her sisters knew that. Which was probably why they’d sent him her way. In her dreams, Rhen stated that a witch had cursed him to sleep every night and every night, his dreams were filled with Winter.

Only one of her sisters could’ve learned that Rhen was her mate. Her twin. Her biological sister. The only goddess that had been created from the same energy as her and split into two separate beings. The goddess she’d been the closest to growing up. Until her sister decided that Winter was the weakest link and she didn’t want to be associated with her.

Until her sister decided that Winter was the weird goddess who’d question the authority governing them so many times that they were thinking about ending her and finding a new goddess to take her place. Her sister, Ember, had decided that she no longer wanted to be associated with Winter.

They were no longer close. But Ember would be able to sense Winter’s mate. They were connected so closely that her doing so was possible. Ember had found Rhen, cursed him to haunt Winter’s dreams, and then tasked him with ending her. Sometimes, it was those closest to you who hated you the most.

What would her sister had done if Rhen failed? What would she have done if it was Winter who killed him and not the other way around? This way was better. Since he was indeed savagely bringing her life to an end, that meant he didn't realize she was his mate. He’d said it numerous times tonight, and she hadn’t caught on.

He thought she was a creature who was pretending to be the woman from her dreams. Good. This way, her death wouldn't stick with him. He wouldn't feel guilt over this. He wouldn't spend the rest of his life pining after her, longing for her, wishing he'd done things differently.

As she felt the life fading from her body, she opened her eyes one last time to stare up at him. She couldn’t see his face. And she longed to see his face one more time. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she forced them open. Darkness greeted her.

Her voice sounded raspy when she whispered, “I forgive you, Rhen.”

But even as she said those words, she knew she hadn't spoken them out loud. Still too weak to speak, they’d only drifted through her thoughts. Heard by her and her alone. And though she felt like she’d opened her eyes, they were still closed.

She could see nothing. Feel nothing. Her body was already too numb, too cold to move. This creature, her mate, Rhen Fujisaki would never know that he'd been forgiven. She didn't know which one of them was worst off.

Her, the mate who'd been killed savagely. Or him, the mate who'd never know that he'd held the one who was made for him in his arms this night. He’d go through life searching, but never finding his Winter again. Perhaps, they were both poor subjects.

Unable to feel or see, Winter could still hear. And she heard another vamp calling for Rhen to release her, calling for him to free her. Why would a vamp want to help her? She was their enemy. She wished them all dead. Every undead one of them. Rhen didn’t release her.

The vamp screamed out, “Your back, Rhen. The mark of your clan is appearing. That means you’ve found your mate. Don’t kill the witch. She’s yours.”

A flicker of hope bloomed. Yeah, Rhen, don’t kill me. I’m your mate, she thought. But Rhen didn’t release her. His grip on her tightened.

“Rhen, release your mate before you kill her. Rhen. Rhen! She yours.”

She felt his fangs leave her neck. For a second, that flicker of hope returned. Rhen quickly doused it.

“I know who she is,” he growled, then went back to feeding on her.

The other vamp was screaming something else. Winter couldn’t hear him. Her hearing had joined her sense of feeling and sight, it too had abandoned. Rhen knew who she was. He knew she was his mate. He knew she was the one from his dreams. The one he’d sworn to protect. Tears sprang to her eyes. But she couldn’t feel them fall down her face.

She couldn’t feel anything. Not the coldness. Not the pain from Rhen’s bite. Not the fear of dying. Not even the love she’d once had for him. It was all gone. The hope, the fear, the love, the forgiveness. Winter let it all go. She didn’t want to hold on to it any longer. It was too heavy. It weighed her down too much.

Finally feeling free, Winter passed out while wrapped in her mate’s arms.

Chapter Ten

Rhen

His nightmare had come to life.

Everything that happened after his mate passed out was a blur to him. He’d heard Rome yelling for him to release her. He’d even heard him say that she was his mate. But none of that registered. He’d been too far gone for it to matter. He’d even dragged her deeper into the woods so that he could feed on her in peace.