Winter.
Standing tall and proud before my eyes was Dante Verlice, my mate. He was the alpha of the biggest pack in Vegas. One of the few who brought his pack to flourish despite building it from nothing. He was notorious for his leadership skill, his gentleness—which I believe was a facade, and his hobby of playing around with she-wolves.
“You are trembling again.” His low and deep voice snapped me back to reality. “I told you, don’t be scared.”
How could I not? Having him as my mate was the worst thing Moon Goddess could do. Dante was the type of male I should avoid at any cost. I should have never let Snow take over. I should have run the very first time I sensed him.
‘You won’t be able to run, Winter.’ Snow said carelessly.
She is wrong. I always manage to slip away, especially from a dangerous male.
“And I’ve told you I’m just cold,” I replied with confidence. I didn’t want him to catch a sign of weakness from me.
I knew he didn’t buy my reason, but he didn’t refute me either. Instead, he took over his suit, leaving him only with a white shirt with two buttons off, then draped it to my shoulder. A soft gasp escaped my mouth as he pulled my body closer and buttoned the suit in slow motion.
“Breath, Adrianne.”
“Alpha Dante, Alpha Harry is looking for you. He has something to discuss with you. And it’s important.” His Beta said impatiently while casting me a suspicious look. Despite his clear unfriendliness toward me, I thank him inside my head for interrupting this moment.
“Wait here—“
“I have to work.” I cut Dante before he finished.
“You don’t have to work. Tell that—“
Dante stopped, brows drawn together, and his mouth twitched as I took three steps away from him. Great, he looked pissed. As an Alpha, I knew it would be hard when someone defy your words. But did I care? Absolutely not.
“Adrianne—“
I lifted my hand in the air, once again stopping him from speaking. I lifted my chin, lips thinned in a straight line, and eyes looked straight into his piercing blue eyes.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do after meeting me for less than twenty minutes.”
His jaw ticked upon hearing me, and I expected him to explode, but he didn’t.
“Okay. Keep an eye on her, Kayden.”
“Understood, Alpha Dante.”
Dante reached for my hand, tugging me toward him, and placed a hard kiss on my mouth for the last time before he stepped away reluctantly and disappeared into the sea of wolves.
I could finally breathe and think after he wasn’t near me anymore. The only problem I had right now was his Beta, who looked at me like I was some sort of prisoner.
“You can do your job. If you change your mind, I can escort you to rest in Alpha Dante’s office.”
“No, thank you. I’ll work.” I removed Dante’s suit, gave it to him in a hurry, then continued my duty.
Twenty minutes had passed since then, and Dante hadn’t returned yet. His Beta still stood there with a solemn look. His eyes watched every move I made. I knew I couldn’t wait anymore. I should take a risk if I really wanted to escape.
And so I brought a tray of drinks to the guest near the exit gate while kept looking over my shoulder repeatedly. Only when he talked with the guest, I moved so fast. I abandoned the tray at the nearby table.
‘You are fighting a losing battle, Winter. He is not to be played with. His wolf is vicious, I know it.’
‘Shut it. I can’t, Snow. I don’t want and don’t need a mate in my life. He is too powerful. I’m afraid. Please, we shall leave.’
‘He will find you, Winter. And when he did, I’m sure both of us won’t like how it turns out.’
‘I’ll think about that later. Now, we run.’
***
As soon as I slammed the door to my apartment, I went straight to my room without greeting Skye, who loafed on the couch. I took my backpack and began shoving all my clothes and everything I’d need while I went into hiding mode.
“Did you find him?” Skye’s head appeared behind the door. “You okay?”
“I’m okay,” I said harshly.
Skye opened the door fully and entered our room. She held my hands, stopped me, and turned my body to face her. Her green eyes narrowed as she watched me from head to toe.
“You are so pale, and you are sweating. Did something happen at the Verlices?”
“No. Nothing.” I shoved her hands and continued my activity. I didn’t have much time to entertain Skye and her curiosity. “Has Nina returned yet?” I asked after zipping my bag. Then I hung it on my left shoulder.
“Not yet. Where are you going this time?”
“Skye, please — “I pushed her as I stepped out of the room. “You know I can’t tell you.”
“What exactly happened? You went into hiding every two to four months, and you just returned a week ago. What’s the trigger this time?”
I remained silent. My roommates knew that I occasionally went out to hide. They knew I did it because I was running away from something, but they didn’t know exactly from what. I didn’t even bother to tell them the first time I did it, but they confronted me the moment I went back.
I expected someone to take my place in this apartment, but Nina was kind enough to wait. So, she proposed a deal. If I told them why I went away, she’d let me stay without having to pay for the time I was away.
So I told them the half-truth. I explained that someone was chasing me for something I didn’t do and said I’d be dead if they caught me. I told them I had to move from place to place and leave many traces in other places so they wouldn’t know where I stayed.
“Nothing happened, Skye.” I brushed her question off and walked to the door. And when I was about to open it and embark on my journey, Skye attacked me with another question.
“Did you find your mate?”
My body tensed for a few seconds and Skye gasped so loud.
“You did. Goddess, congrats to you.” My head snapped to her, then watched her in anger. “I’m sorry.” She should’ve known that having a mate was the last thing I wanted.
“Tell Nina that this time I don’t know when I will return, so if she wants to find another roommate, I’m totally okay with that.”
“What about your work?”
“As you already know, I don’t have a fixed job. I can start looking for it in my new place.”
“Winter…aren’t you tired? Running from place to place. Don’t you think you deserve a home? A permanent one. Like this one, with me and Nina.”
Home, she said. Home has been a foreign concept to me ever since that tragedy happened. Every place I used to stay at was only a temporary shelter and every person I met was only friends on the surface level. But Nina and Skye… they cared for me. I knew it from the way they treated me. They accepted me even though I only shared a tiny piece of myself.
I wanted to stay and form a proper relationship with them, but I couldn’t risk their safety. Nina might have her pack to back her up if something happened, but that couldn’t be said to me and Skye. Both of us were lone wolves. So hiding was the perfect solution, at least for now.
Smiling, I pulled Skye into a hug and whispered to her, “Take care, Princess.”
“I’ll be waiting for you. So is Nina. Don’t get hurt!”
Then I ran away like a coward.
Dante. I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped into the pool area. All my guests and employees were already gone. Only Kayden and Kieran stood rigidly in front of me. However, Kieran’s eyes wandered past me while Kayden looked at me with a layer of guilt on his face. “Where is she?” I asked, faking the calmness even though I only wanted to scream right now. Kayden and Kieran exchanged glances a few times. “I’m asking.” “I’m still looking for her.” “WHERE IS SHE, KAYDEN?!” Gone was the calmness I fought hard to keep. “She escaped.” Kayden’s words rang so loud in my head that I felt the world spinning around me. She escaped. My mate. My fucking mate was gone when I just got her. Ace snarled in anger, and I could feel him trying to control my body, which was not a good sign. ‘Calm down,’ I said to him. ‘You fucking lost her, Dante. I’m going to kill your useless Beta and Gamma.’ ‘Don’t! I swear to Moon Goddess, you will never get to see her again if you do that. I promi
Winter. Living in Elko for about a month wasn’t different from in Vegas. I still wake up and work my ass like crazy. I never had time to enjoy my free time. All I ever thought about while I had spare time was how to get more money to ensure that I could eat while living on the run. I did every job I could do. From the moment I escaped my former pack, I never rested properly. I knew once I let my guard down, they could take me back and torture me until I lost my life. For the past few weeks, I only tried to work in a bar and grocery store, but I found the money wasn’t enough to fund me if I ever needed to move again, so fighting was my only solution to get quick money. I knew it wasn’t fair to fight with humans, knowing I was far stronger than them. However, I would not follow my moral values because it wouldn’t give me money. After all, fairness didn’t exist in this world. So here I am, facing a man twice my size. “Diana, was it?” The man—Carlo, the legendary underground fighter
Winter.The moment I opened my eyes, unfamiliar surroundings welcomed me. With minimal furniture, the small room only had a medium-sized table, two chairs, and a small couch, which I'm currently occupying. The closed windows had a dusty curtain covering them.My head turned to the right, finding Kieran staring at me. “Where am I?”“Thank Goddess, you are awake. I almost lost my neck because of you.” He kneeled beside me, lifting his hand, and asked me how many fingers he showed.“Four and two.”“Goddess, I almost piss myself because of you.”“What?”Instead of answering, Kieran stood up. He looked down, hands in his pocket, while smiling strangely at me.“Anyway, you lose. So, five minutes’ talk.”I did a half-shrug and replied, “Okay, go ahead.”“Not with me, but with my Alpha.”My eyes enlarged, realizing that I had forgotten about my predicament for a moment. Shit. This wasn’t good. Seeing my reaction, Kieran chuckled. He tapped my shoulder and then uttered,“Good luck, Diana.”And
Winter. Lying in the small bed facing a brown-colored ceiling, I felt sweat dripping from my body with each passing minute. My heart rate increased so fast that I could hear how loud it beat against my ribcage. My chest heaved up and down in rhythm as the heat spread all over my body. “Fuck my life,” I cursed, moving restlessly to ease the pain. ‘Fuck you, Winter.’ Snow snarled at me. She was beyond angry right now and knowing how tortured she was, I couldn’t even refute her. This was an unexpected situation. I didn’t know I’d be in heat this soon. This was why finding a mate was bad news. Not only did it put me on my mate’s radar, but now I had to deal with an occasional heat. It was bearable when we never found our fated mate, but it was totally different when we finally met. Ideally, after meeting our mate, we’d marked each other as soon as possible to hinder from getting in heat, which was painful. But with my situation, I couldn’t let my mate mark me, leaving me to deal with
Dante.“So, you finally have time to time with your mate, huh?”I shrugged upon hearing Ayla’s words. From the way she frowned, I knew she had reached her limit after I ignored her for days. This was Winter’s fault. That female occupies every corner of my mind and I hardly have time to deal with anything else.“I always have the time to talk. I just forgot about you for a while. And I’ll have to correct you there, Ayla. You are not my mate.”Ayla scoffed, then said, “Well, I am in the face of elders.” Ayla stopped. “I heard you find her.”Elders. Fuck them honestly. Ayla was Edward Brown’s adopted daughter. Edward brought her to Dark Moon pack when she was only thirteen. She was almost like a sister to me and Kayden. However, Edward wanted to make Ayla the Luna of the pack
Winter.I was totally wrong for thinking that Dante would give up after my threat because not only did he not stop, but he didn’t even bother to hide the fact that he made someone follow me. Even after I moved to another city and masked my appearance, his people still managed to find me.These days, it was getting harder to hide myself from Dante and his people, mainly because I lacked funds. I kept moving before I managed to earn good money to support my plan. If this continues, I’d end up broke, just like the first time I escaped my former pack.Exhaling an exasperated sigh, I turned my head, looking at the black car that stopped just two buildings away from me.‘He is here,’ Snow said.‘I know.’Dante might let his people be my tail, but he never showed himself to me after we met in the underground fight club. All this time, his
Dante.As I kissed Winter, the heaviness that had been weighing on my shoulder was gone in an instant. I was never wrong when I thought she’d be the only solution to all the fucking sickness I had felt since we parted ways.Goddess, I’d be miserable without her.“Ugh,” Winter moaned in my mouth as I parted her lips with my tongue and licked every corner of her mouth, tasting the saltiness of chips mixed with mint from my tea.Her hands that were hanging on her sides moved up from my shoulder to my neck, pulling me closer as she deepened our kiss. She was as hungry as I was.Winter pulled away, breathing hard on my lips. Her eyes were clouded, and for a second, I thought she’d bolt out of this car and pretend like she never wanted me. Yet the moment she locked her orbs against mine, I saw nothing but lust and hunge
TW: Miscarriage.Winter.Darkness greeted me as soon as my eyes opened. Excruciating pain spread all over my body. The sound of iron clinked against each other echoed as I moved slightly.Once again, I was trapped in my nightmare. I returned to the underground prison, where he put me without a second thought. Tears gathered at the corner of my eyes as I knew what was about to happen. It never gets better. Each day, the torture turned more and more heartless. It was a miracle that I could survive this long.“She is already wake up. Do you want us to whip her back again?” the male voice behind the bars spoke. I could detect mirth laced with every word he said.“No. Kick her stomach. Make sure she lost it.”The prison cracked open, showing a well-built male. I couldn’t see him perfectly, but I could make out a scar around his eyes. His gaze rooted to me, eying me li