Page 35 of His Winter Wonderland

“Get in here.”

He froze. Surely, he hadn’t heard her correctly. Not once had she ever invited him into her cabin. Moving slowly, afraid that if he moved too fast, he’d wake up from this dream, Rhen lowered his helmet and fastened it back into its place on his snow-bike. He wanted to ask her to repeat herself, but was afraid the response would be different.

Instead, he climbed off his bike. He felt like he was moving in slow motion as he walked over to her fence. He stood close to the fence and stared down at it, expecting it to spark. It didn’t. The lock on the gate clicked open. She’d let down her defenses for him. His gaze rose to the cabin, to her.

He couldn’t stop a tremble from creeping over him. She was letting him inside. His gums ached as his fangs dropped. He balled his hands into fists, not wanting her to see his nails changing into claws. Standing at her gate, staring at her, Rhen took a deep breath and released it slowly.

We will not hurt her, he told the darkness inside of him. That can never happen again. I’d rather hurt myself than hurt her. The bloodlust inside of him was rising. But it wasn’t trying to take over. It wasn’t craving her to the point of obsession. Well, it was, but it knew the consequences.

It knew that hurting her was akin to hurting himself. It knew that hurting her would send him spiraling into an abyss of depression that would lead to him going on a killing spree. It would lead to him killing any and everyone who looked at him wrong. It had damn near led to him losing his title as ruler of the vampires.

Most importantly, it would lead to his mate staring at him with fear, disgust and hatred in her pretty brown eyes. And tears. Tears, those were the worst. Seeing his mate cry was already hard. Knowing he was the reason behind her crying felt like he’d been having his skin ripped from him body.

At that thought, his dark companion, bloodlust, retreated, slithering back down into its hole. Yes, he was a vampire. Yes, he craved blood, Yes, he needed it to survive. But he’d rather die than feed off his mate again. Even just a little bit of her blood could send him over the edge. For that reason, he had to resist it.

But he didn’t have to resist her. As long as he resisted her blood, he could allow himself to be near her. And now, she was allowing him inside. Asking him to come inside. She was standing at the door, holding it open, for him. Him! His mate leaned her hip against the door and cocked her head to the side.

“Are you coming or what?”

Rhen smiled a wicked smiled. I’m coming. I’m coming for you, Winter Warren. He pulled the gate open and stepped inside. For the first time since being cursed to the Frostlands, Rhen felt like was going home.

Now he just had to give his mate a reason to let him stay home.

***

Winter

He was coming!

What the hell was she thinking! Was she really letting Rhen, the vampire she hated, into her cabin? Damn you, Sinclair Rose. The things we do for friends. Ugh, Winter sighed. With her hip leaning against the door, she tried to act nonchalant, like she didn’t have a care in the world.

That was hard to do while watching Rhen walking down the paved path that led to her front door. There was still time to abort this mission. There was still time to tell him to get the fuck off her property. But then he’d just leave and go implement his ridiculous plan to save Sinclair’s mate.

Winter hadn’t been kidding when she said mating was more trouble than it was worth. If Sinclair had never met Kaede, she wouldn’t be in this situation. She would be living her life, searching for a way off this plane so she could return to her family. And Winter would’ve been helping her.

Because she too was trying to find a way off this plane. A way that didn’t involve her or anyone else she cared for dying. Winter swallowed as Rhen neared. Why did he have to smell so good? He had his hair down. The last time she’d seen him, he’d had some chick on his bike. The heffa had been playing in his hair, talking about how pretty it was.

It was just damn hair. What was so pretty about it? Winter resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She didn’t care who he hung out with or dated or fucked…

“Liar,” Vicky growled.

Winter ignored her demon. She didn’t care about what Rhen did. But, when it involved people she was close with, she cared. Sin was her best friend. Had been her best friend for three years. And she was loyal. She knew things about Winter that others didn’t know. Of course, Winter hadn’t been able to tell her everything.

But she’d shared secrets that not even Silvia knew about. Sin was in trouble with Winter’s sisters. Winter had to help. But Rhen’s method wasn’t the way to go. It didn’t even make sense. There were other ways to separate the two of them on the night of the full moon. If he’d just give Winter time to come up with a spell, no one would have to die.

Winter was already trying to find a way to make her sisters lose interest in Kaede and Sinclair. That was going to be a hard task to complete. Her eldest sister, Slither, the Goddess of Death, had been obsessed with Kaede Oshiro for a very long time. From the moment Slith saw him, she had wanted him.

She even cursed him to this plane, thinking that would help her chances of being with him. Slith never thought that Kaede would resist her for all these years. Winter was pretty sure it was Slith who had brought Sinclair to this plane. Winter knew the way Slith thought. Her eldest sister more than likely had wanted to kill Sin in front of Kaede.

Or vice versa. Either way, she yearned to make the couple suffer for falling in love. She’d done the same to numerous couples on this plane. She was ashamed to call that Slither her sister. And she damn sure didn’t want Sin or anyone else to ever know that she was connected to The Deciders.

Winter was trying her best to help Sin without anyone finding out who she really was. But all that would be ruined if Rhen tried to turn Kaede. She had to figure out a way to talk the stubborn vampire out of this insane plan. When he reached the porch, he paused. His gaze locked with hers. Those eyes!

Winter cleared he throat and asked, “What are you waiting for?”

“Invite me in.”

“I already did.”