Page 26 of His Winter Wonderland

To feed on her without his den watching and drooling over what belonged to him. At some point, he’d realized his mate’s body had gone imp in his arms and her blood flow had slowed down. By then, it was too late. All he could do was stare down at her in shock as his mind raced and the haze of bloodlust cleared.

The words she’d been saying to him before she passed out raced through his mind. Words like, I’m yours, forgiveness and other shit that he couldn’t believe she’d said. She should’ve been cursing him. Not forgiving him. She should’ve been pleading with her to release him, not claiming him as her mate.

He didn’t deserve that title. He didn’t deserve to live in the same world she lived in. Even so, he still needed to see her. He still needed to apologize and at least try to explain to her what had happened. Shit. He didn’t even know what happened. He’d thought she was a pretender.

He’d thought this was something The Deciders had planned in order to prevent him from completing his last task. He’d thought there was no way she could be his Winter. His Winter was on a plane that didn’t have snow. It had deserts, sand dudes, dead bodies and other shit that he’d wanted to free her from.

He’d known that he had an issue with bloodlust. His father had experienced the same thing when he met his mate. He’d known he’d have to learn to control it before he met his mate. He’d considered his nightmares and blessing and a curse. They showed him just how savage he could be when the bloodlust took over.

They also offered him a way to battle that dark side of him and tame it. At least, he’d thought he’d tamed it. The fact that Rome had to go and get Silvia, a local snake shifter and healer, to come help Winter proved that Rhen had not tamed his dark side. He’d only forced it to go dormant. And because of his dark side, Silvia wasn’t letting him near his mate.

"Let me see her. Just once. I just need to explain."

Silvia stood in front of the bedroom door, blocking it. "I can't let you in, Rhen."

"You can't stop me from going in."

"I have my ways, vampire."

"Listen here, snake...."

Silvia smiled, revealing her fangs. "One bite from this snake and you'll be on your ass for a week."

Fucking snake venom! Rhen ran his hands through his hair. Fuck. He’d been pacing outside this door for damn near four hours. He needed to see her. He bunched his fingers up in his hair and pulled until his head ached.

"Pulling your hair out of your head isn't going to change what happened," Silvia told him.

"You think I don't know that?"

"You should just go home..."

"Home?" Rhen laughed. "What the fuck is that?"

"Still haven't gotten used to this place yet, have you?"

"I don't plan on getting used to it. Tonight, I was supposed to finish my last mission for The Deciders. How was I supposed to know they'd send me to her?"

He stared at the closed bedroom door. He could smell her. And what shamed him was the fact that the smell of her blood was still calling to him. He took a step back.

"Why did it have to be her?" He voiced the question aloud, but he was talking to himself. He hadn't expected Silva to answer.

"The Deciders like fucking with us. They knew this would be a mission you couldn't accomplish. And if you did accomplish it, they knew it would leave you broken."

"But... How is she even real? I..." He swiped his hand over his face.

"This is the first time I've seen you at a loss for words. How do you know her?"

Should he tell her? Would she even believe him if he did?

"She's my mate?"

"I know that. But how did you find her?"

"She's my dream girl."

"What does that even mean?"

Ignoring that question, he asked, "Are you sure she's going to be alright?"