Winter's Promise

by G. Bailey

  “No trouble,” I say and hand him the bag full of bed sheets. I walk out holding Winter’s hand and she looks around. Jaxson’s two wolves, which have a talent for building, managed to get plumbing and electric fitted throughout the castle yesterday.

  “We found something in one of the towers,” I say to Winter and walk her towards the left tower. We only just got into it yesterday because it had a powerful ward surrounding it. Atti finally managed to get in after a lot of work. The vampires stop to bow at us as we walk past, Winter blushes every time.

  “What’s in there?” Winter says when we get to the door of the tower. It radiates a certain power; I can feel it now that the ward is down and I’m not surprised that Winter can too.

  “Come,” I say and she nods. I love that she trusts me completely. I open the door and walk through the new ward with Winter. It only accepts Winter, me, Dabriel and Jaxson now. Atti doesn’t need to be accepted as he created the ward and can just walk in. The stairs are high and when we finally get to the top, Winter stops to stare.

  A massive blue crystal glows in the empty room; there are no lights other than the crystal as there are no windows. A change I will make because it doesn’t seem right. The light should be able to be seen from afar, the tall tower as a beacon of hope to any supernatural who needs it. I can see this castle being the home we need to unite our people and live in peace with Winter. The outside of the crystal is like glass, and the inside filled with thousands of tiny blue lights that move in a swirl. Atti has never seen anything like it; he says it’s what protects the castle and the grounds.

  Winter doesn’t say a word but she moves closer. I go to stop her but I’m too late as she places both of her hands on the stone. The stone threw Atti at the wall when he touched it, and it did the same for me. Winter just starts glowing the same blue as the crystal, the little lights inside the crystal moving faster into a whirlwind. The air in the room seems lost as it’s hard to breathe, yet Winter looks fine.

  “Winter?” I ask her and she turns to smile at me.

  “It knows me. It sings,” she says just before she collapses to the ground. I move quickly and catch her before she hits the ground. I hold her close as the crystal returns to normal and she stops glowing. I move down the stairs, holding her in my arms and Atti is coming up them with a frown.

  “I felt something strange,” Atti says and stops talking when he sees Winter.

  “Winter, is she alright?” he runs up and places a hand on her forehead.

  “Yes, I think so. The crystal let her touch it and I think it spoke to her. She just passed out.” I say and Atti strokes her cheek.

  “I’ll take you both to the pack,” Atti says and places a hand on my shoulder. He moves us and we reappear in the kitchen of the house. Anna is stood washing up.

  “I will not get used to that,” she starts and then she sees Winter in my arms.

  “Is Winter okay?” she asks and I nod.

  “I’ll return and keep the work going,” Atti says and squeezes my shoulder before he leaves. I watch him closely, the usual dickhead I have to put up with is gone and instead he’s serious all the time. It’s not like him. He hasn’t been in my room once to move my shit around.

  I move Winter up to the room I’ve been using here; it’s simple with a double bed and one dresser. I lay her on the bed, smoothing her long hair out of her eyes.

  She is so innocent and beautiful. Not just on the outside but in her heart as well.

  My beautiful mate.

  Chapter Six

  Winter

  “Winter, Winter, Winter needs to run. Run fast child of winter, for the storm comes,” the childlike voice sings in my mind, repeating the same sentence again and again until I want to scream. I blink my eyes open and see myself standing before the very crystal I just saw with Wyatt. I think I passed out. I watch as Elissa comes into the room, heavily pregnant and with a man whose face is hidden beneath a cloak. The man is huge in his build; the cloak is split down the middle, showing off his golden chest. Elissa is wearing a purple cloak; a crown on her head but it’s not the one I’ve seen before. This one is white.

  “Elissa, you shouldn’t be up here,” the man says, his voice sounding deep and strong.

  “Henrick, I wanted to check the barrier. I felt the need to. Our time is running low,” Elissa says and moves to place a hand on the crystal. She stops just before she touches it and moves back.

  “We still have time. The demon bastard won’t get us. We have our own army now; the castle is protected and hidden.” The man says, and lowers his hood. His grey eyes are the first things I see; they look so much like Atti’s eyes. They even have the same build and some of the same facial features. This man is far sterner with two long cuts on both sides of his cheeks. They look very old. I would guess the man is in his late forties but being a supernatural, he could be hundreds of years old.

  “Elissa, my sweet mate, you must rest. The baby is coming soon,” he says and she turns to him. I can’t see her expression but I imagine her smiling.

  “Very soon. My water went about an hour ago,” she says and his eyes widen in shock. He stomps over to her and swoops her up in his arms.

  “Oh, Elissa, you do love your games,” he says and she laughs. They both disappear and I’m just stood staring at the crystal until I close my eyes.

  I shoot up, awake in the dark room I’m in, the curtains blocking out the dim light, but I can see through them. Wyatt moves next to me; his deep breaths tell me he’s still sleeping. I glance at myself; I’m just wearing the tank top from yesterday and some knickers. Wyatt must have stripped me of everything else after I passed out. I’m not as sweaty as before but I still need a shower after this latest weird dream. Henrick must have been Atti’s ancestor, another man who was clearly in love with Elissa.

  I slide out of bed, pulling on the jeans that I find folded on the dresser with my boots. I pick the boots up and slide out of the room to find a shower. I knock on Jaxson’s door before I go in. The room is empty, so I quickly shower and dress in a long blue top that says, ‘I’m the queen’ on it. Alex thought it was a funny top but it’s the only thing clean at the moment. All my clothes are at the vampire castle, so I’m not getting them back. I find some new leggings and some socks in a bag by the door. After slipping my boots on and plaiting my hair, I leave the room to find some food. I bump into Dabriel as he walks out of the kitchen, I laugh as I nearly fall over and he picks me up. He looks normal, well as much as he can be when he is seriously hot. His white hair is down, shaping his face. It stops near his shoulders because of how big he is. He’s wearing jeans and a tight black shirt; the black stands out against his large white wings. They look white but if you get closer, you can see the silver shiny strands in the feathers. His hair has a little of the silver in it too, like highlights.

  “Hey you,” he smiles at me. I gasp when he kisses me before I can say anything, his hand sliding behind my neck as he pulls me closer.

  “So gross,” Freddy’s voice comes from behind me and I giggle as Dabriel leans back with me still in his arms.

  “You’ll like girls one day,” Dabriel says and I turn in time to see Freddy roll his eyes.

  “That’s what bedrooms with locked doors are for,” he says and I feel like I’m about to get a lecture from a nine year old. Should he even know about this stuff?

  “Yes, locking you in your room alone sounds like a brilliant plan,” Dabriel mutters to me. I chuckle and shake my head.

  “I’m a wolf, I'll just break the door,” Freddy says with a smirk. A smirk much like his father’s when he is being an asshole.

  “We could tie him up and gag him.” Jaxson says coming into the corridor and ruffling Freddy’s hair. Jaxson has just jeans on again, foregoing a shirt so his chest is on full display. I swear these men are trying to kill me by setting my hormones on fire.

  “You wouldn’t,” Freddy glares at him and shoves his hand away.

  “I will if you don’t go an
d tidy that room like I asked you to last week. I want your washing downstairs in ten minutes as well or I’ll start your training an hour early, for a week.” Jaxson says crossing his arms. If I thought dad mode was hot on Wyatt, Jaxson gives him competition.

  “I don’t want to,” Freddy growls.

  “Two weeks?” Jaxson says, growling far louder and scarier.

  “Fine,” Freddy says and stomps out of the room. Dabriel and I can’t help the laughs that escape, Jaxson just smiles at us both.

  “Let me cook for you, lass,” Jaxson says.

  “I have already cooked, I was just coming to find Winter when she found me,” Dabriel says and turns me towards the door. I walk in and see that he has cooked pancakes and has lots of different fruits spread around the table.

  “Thank you,” I say as I lean up to kiss his cheek and walk over to the table.

  “Where are Atti and Anna today?” I ask.

  “Anna is out on a walk. The pack loves to see pregnant wolves. There aren’t many. They are all saying that the goddess is blessing us again as there have been more pregnancies.” Jaxson tells me. When I widen my eyes in disbelief, Jaxson continues.

  “There have been seven newly pregnant wolves in the last two months, far more than there have ever been.” Jaxson says and piles a plate full of pancakes. I get two and some strawberries.

  “That could be just luck,” I say.

  “No lass, it’s not. You’re the goddess’s granddaughter; people always believe the two goddess sisters brought luck to the people. She did create them after all. The pregnancies and Marie's safe birth are a blessing.” Jaxson says. All this talk of the goddess just reminds me of the dream last night. Elissa was pregnant with a half demon baby, that couldn’t be good luck for her considering the demon king wanted to kill her.

  “It’s true. Wyatt said there were four more pregnancies confirmed in the months following you coming into our lives. We all believe you bring the supernatural race some form of good luck.” Dabriel says.

  “I don’t agree but I am not going to argue about it when there is chocolate sauce for my pancakes. Some things have to come first,” I say with a grin and Jaxson grabs the chocolate sauce before I get it. He holds it up and smirks at me.

  “I’m not saying please, you jackass,” I say with an angry glare.

  “I want a kiss this time,” he laughs and I shake my head.

  “I don’t believe you deserve one. No one should come in between a woman and her chocolate. No matter how hot they are,” I tell him, standing with my hands on my hips.

  “How about I take this chocolate sauce to our bedroom and find out how it tastes on your sweet body?” Jaxson asks, making me go red.

  “Err,” I stumble out. Dabriel and Jaxson laugh as I stare at my plate. Damn sexy men.

  “Harris and Katy’s mother is expecting you over there this morning. I can’t go with you,” Jaxson says. I look towards Dabriel who nods at me.

  “I’m interested in these books she has.” Dabriel says.

  “All sorted then lass, I have to go, and Harris is off duty today so I have to deal with the small pack stuff. Come to me tonight,” Jaxson says and holds up the chocolate sauce. He walks out with the sauce and I laugh.

  Dabriel and I clean up after we eat our breakfast. On the way to Katy and Harris’s house, we have to stop to ask a few people the way but I eventually recognise Harris’s car outside a large cabin. It’s two floors and has seven or so cars parked around the sides. I walk up and knock on the wooden door. Dabriel holds my hand in his.

  Katie slams open the door, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug.

  “I wanted to come and see you but everything is hectic,” she says and I hug her just as tightly. Everything we went through when we saved each other’s lives has given us a bond. Plus, I just like Katy, she reminds me of Alex. I have a feeling they would get on really well, like someone would end up hurt and I would have to break them up, kind of well.

  “I missed you as well,” I say.

  “And you brought eye candy with you,” Katy whispers and I laugh as I pull away.

  “I’m here to see your mum,” I say.

  “Oh, I know. She had my dad and I cleaning the entire house because the queen was coming. She even baked you chocolate chip cookies, because she heard you like chocolate.” Katy says and rolls her eyes.

  “Come on in so I can finally eat one of the cookies,” she says. We walk into a small corridor with wooden stairs going up. The cabin is mainly wooden floors and soft cream walls. The corridor wall is full of pictures, of a young woman and several men. There are photos of Katy and Harris as children on a man’s shoulders. They look so content. Katy walks us down to the end of the corridor and through a large kitchen to a dining room. The dining room has a wooden, round table in the middle, and there are eight chairs spread around it. There is a lovely bunch of flowers in the window and big French doors that are slightly open. A middle-aged woman is sat talking to a dark-skinned man who looks near enough the same age. They both turn when I walk in and instantly stand to bow at me.

  “My queen,” they say together. It’s still really weird to see them do that.

  “It’s nice to meet you, err…” I stop talking when I realise I don’t know their names.

  “My name is Roger and this is my mate, Angela.” The man introduces them and holds out a hand. I shake his hand and Angela pulls a chair out for me. I don’t want to be rude, so I sit down and the minute I do she offers me a cookie from a plate of them. I take one, as does Dabriel who sits next to me.

  “Can I finally have one?” Katy groans from the doorway. This is a girl after my own heart and I grin at her with a mouthful of cookie. Damn, these cookies are good. Angela gives her the plate.

  “Make sure to share them with your brother,” she says.

  “No way in hell, mum. He has a girl over, so they are all mine. I’m going to watch some human TV.” Katy says with a disgust wrinkle of her nose and walks out, a cookie already shoved in her mouth.

  “I’m sorry about Katy, she can be,” Angela starts to say and I finish her sentence.

  “A little bonkers?” I say and she laughs with a nod.

  “I like her, she reminds me of my best friend,” I say and she smiles at me. I can see the resemblance to Katy; they have the same brown hair and large eyes.

  “Here you go; these are the four books that have been passed down through my family. They are the diaries of my great something grandmother. She was a maid, to the goddesses, and a friend. Her great grandfather was mated to the goddess.” She tells me.

  “I don’t understand.” I say. If her great grandfather was mated to the goddess, then wouldn’t she be related to her, too?

  “Oh. I'll start from the beginning, it should answer most of your questions,” she says and I nod.

  “So, a long time ago, when the goddess was in trouble and dying from silver, a human saved her life. The man was dying as well and he used the last of his strength to pull Demtra into his home and stitch up her wound. Demtra had the power to do almost anything but she could not save someone from a silver wound. Silver is the only thing that could ever hurt her, and she couldn’t heal others from it.” Angela says.

  “The man died,” Dabriel adds in, and Angela nods.

  “Yes, and he asked Demtra for his blessing for his children. My ancestor said that Demtra promised to give them long lives and treat them as her own children. The problem was, Demtra had trouble finding them, because they had moved and she had never met them.

  She eventually found two of the sons in an old hut in the middle of nowhere. The two twin sons were not as she hoped to find them, one had passed away from an illness and another was gravely injured. The one son had only just died, so she breathed life into the man and he came back as what are known as vampires. The other son, she pushed earthly powers into and he became a wolf as he healed.” She says; this is a far better telling of the story than what Harris said.

  “I know
that part from Harris,” I tell her and she nods.

  “I am not aware what happen to the other two sons, but,” Angela stops when Dabriel holds a hand up.

  “Please allow me to tell that story. I know that part,”

  “May I write this down later on? I would love to add it to the books for our future generations.” Angela asks, her eyes lighting up when Dabriel nods.

  “The other two sons had travelled over the seas for work. When the goddess turned up with their other brothers, neither wished for her help. My ancestor was happily married and had a child. Demtra stayed near when the other sons returned home. Later, a fire raged through my ancestor’s house, the man screamed for her help when his child and wife were stuck on the highest level and no one could get close. Demtra gave him wings and the power to heal his wife and child.”

  “Amazing, and the witch ancestor?” Angela asks gently.

  “Time went on and the final, youngest son found his own wife. She was told to be very beautiful and many men in the small village were in love with her. There was one man who would watch her every move and was mad about her. The man snuck into their house and took the wife when the youngest son was at work.” Dabriel says and glances at me.

  “The youngest son went to ask for Demtra’s help when he couldn’t find her or the man. She gave him the power to move anywhere he wished, including to be able to go to someone close to him and control over all the elements to serve punishment to the man who took his wife. When he found his wife, she was already long gone and the youngest son ripped the island away from the rest of the earth with his power in anger. Demtra blessed the earth where the wife’s body was buried and the first jewel tree grew there. The youngest son killed the man who took his wife but he was lost in sadness. The goddess gave him a final gift, the power to make a barrier around the island and keep it for himself. I don’t know anymore,” Dabriel says and reaches over to hold my hand.