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She rested her hands on her thighs and stared intently at him. “You’re my mate.”
“I am.” His bear huffed out a happy breath.
“I’m True,” she said.
“I’m Winter.” Crap, he’d said that already. She grinned and he almost fell in love with her right then. How was she so beautiful?
“I need to leave a message for my family, Winter. I don’t know when they’ll make landfall but I can at least let them know I’m okay.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket and she took it with a relieved smile. She made one phone call, left a message, and then sent several texts. Handing his phone back to him, she said, “Did you find my satchel? I was getting dressed when I saw the lights coming toward me.”
“Sorry, no,” he said. “When you passed out, I wanted to get you here as soon as possible.”
“I appreciate it.”
The infirmary door opened and Santa walked in. True blinked in surprise. “Hi.”
“Welcome to Northernmost. I heard you got stuck in a storm.”
“Jack Frost is a son of a bitch, pardon my French.”
Winter grinned.
Santa chuckled. “Emberlin healed you?”
True’s wings twitched. “Yes.”
“Frost has definitely been busy,” Winter said.
“It’s more than Frost, though,” True said.
“What do you mean?” Santa asked.
“I smelled sulfur right before the worst of the winds took me down,” she said. “The storm felt off, like it was made with something other than straight winter magic.”
“Nightmare?” Winter asked.
“The bad dreams guy?” True asked.
“Yeah, he joined up with Frost. And maybe they’re helping each other by boosting their magics,” Santa said. He shook his head. “I’m going back to my office. I need to make some calls and see if Sandman knows what Nightmare is up to. Welcome to Northernmost, True. I’m glad you’re okay.”
They said goodbye to the most powerful warlock in the world, and then Winter turned to True. “Are you hungry?”
“Actually, yes.”
“Let’s go to the cafeteria,” he said. “Maybe your family will call by the time we’re done eating.”
“I hope so,” she said. “I hope they’re okay.”
He offered her his hand and she took it. “I hope so too.”
Winter’s bear rumbled in happiness. His mate had literally fallen out of the sky and he’d been in the right place at the right time to save her. If she’d passed out in the dark alone? She most likely would have succumbed to the elements, shifter or not.
He was damn thankful to have been able to get her to safety.
Hope really had sprung eternal.
True paused before they entered the cafeteria and pulled her wings into her back. She could tell she’d been healed magically. Her body still tingled from the aftereffects, although to be fair, she could be tingling because of the guy looking at her like she was air he needed to breathe deeply.
