Sitting alone in Enzo's room, still trying to understand everything they had just told me, I didn't want to believe that Lillie could be behind any of this. She was my friend; we had known each other for just about our whole lives. The betrayal stung deep, twisting my thoughts into an indistinguishable mess of anger, confusion, and sadness.A soft knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Elena standing there, her expression a mixture of concern and sadness."If you're ready to come out, we would really like to start talking about our plan," she said softly, her eyes searching mine for any sign of readiness or resolve.I nodded my head, my body feeling heavy as I pushed myself up from the bed. My legs felt like lead as I walked towards the door and out into the living room where Enzo and Jake were waiting. As I stepped into the room, my eyes met Enzo's for a brief moment. Worry was etched deeply in his gaze, a concern that tugged at my heartstrings, yet I fe
As I turned away from Enzo and Elena, I could feel their heavy and concerned eyes on me. Each step I took toward the door seemed to echo. I made my way to the car, my mind a tangled web of thoughts.The ride back to the bed and breakfast was a tense silence, broken only by the hum of the engine and the occasional shifting of gears. Enzo drove, his jaw set rigid and his eyes fixed on the road ahead. Elena sat in the back, next to me, her worried gaze flicking between Enzo and me as if she was trying to work out how to fix our relationship that had never started.When we finally reached the bed and breakfast, I didn't wait for anyone. I pushed open the door and practically ran inside. Once inside, I leaned against the wall, my breathing heavy and erratic. The old wooden floor creaked beneath me, the familiar scent of lavender and old books doing little to calm my racing heart.I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "Okay, Winter, get it together," I muttered under my breath. I p
Elena grinned and linked her arm with mine as we walked out of the dressing room. The music throbbed through the walls, the bass sending a pulse through my chest, matching the unruly beat of my heart. We made our way into the dimly lit heart of the club, the air heavy with a mix of sweat, perfume and alcohol. The crowd seemed to merge into a single living entity, writhing under the neon lights.As Elena and I approached the main floor, I spotted Enzo and Jake seated at the bar, their faces illuminated by the soft blue glow. I could already feel Enzo's gaze on me, so I tried my best to ignore it.As the hours passed, my attention was drawn to a man who entered the club. Something about him—a silhouette in the entrance, backlit by the doorway's neon frame—seemed hauntingly familiar. The feeling crept into the edges of my mind, like a word on the tip of my tongue. I tried to place him, but his face remained shrouded in the shadows of my memory.Before I could think too much about it, the
As we left the club and drove back to the bed and breakfast, I couldn't shake off the lingering sense of dread. I had almost been kidnapped, and now the man who claimed to know my parents was lurking somewhere in the shadows. Where was Lily? I needed her sarcastic quips right now to mask the terror creeping into my bones. We finally pulled into the gravel driveway of the cozy bed and breakfast. The golden light spilling from the windows did little to calm my nerves. I put on a brave face, even though every bone in my body wanted to collapse."I don't understand why we just can't stay here," I muttered as we walked up the creaky wooden steps to our room. The comforting smell of old books and lavender filled the air, but it did little to soothe me.Elena followed close behind, her eyes flicking worriedly between Enzo and me. "Winter, you need to rest," she insisted, her voice soft but firm. "A good night's sleep will do you wonders."I shook my head, the events of the night playing on
Winter's POVThe room was suffocating, the walls closing in as the shadows of the evening deepened. Elena's words lingered in my mind like ghosts that would not be put to rest. Her departure felt like a stab in the heart, leaving an aching void in its wake. I couldn't stay any longer. I had to find Lily. Moving to the small desk by the window, I grabbed a pen and a notepad. My mind raced as I scribbled a hurried note to Elena:**Elena,****I'm sorry, but I can't sit here and do nothing. I’m sorry that I'm doing it this way, but I can't ask you to come with me because I know you and know that even though you don’t want to, you will come. I can't give up on Lily. I need to find her and understand what's really happening. Please take care of yourself, and I hope you're right about the boys. I promise I'll come back.****Winter**My hands shook as I tore the note from the pad Tears threatened to fall as I laid the note on my pillow. I hastily packed a small bag—clothes, phone, water, mon
Elena’s POVEnzo, Jake, and I stood on the back patio of the bed and breakfast. The tension between us was clear, and the air felt thick with unspoken doubts. I turned from Enzo’s steely gaze to Jake's comforting, albeit worried, eyes. We all knew Winter needed her space, but my nerves were frayed with worry."Winter just needs a minute to think," I repeated, my voice trembling slightly as I explained to the two men. Enzo's jaw clenched and unclenched, the muscles in his neck taut with suppressed frustration.A heavy silence hung over us for minutes that felt like hours. Finally, Enzo broke it, his voice low and decisive. "I'm going to talk to her," he announced, pushing himself up from the porch railing.My heart sank as I watched him stride toward the house with purpose. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Jake looked at me with a raised eyebrow, his expression mirroring my own concerns."Give her a bit more time," I whispered, almost to myself, as Enzo disappeared in
**Enzo's POV**The guilt gnawed at me as I watched Elena rush from the room, her sobs echoing down the hallway. I wanted to comfort her and tell her that everything would be okay, but I was too consumed by my own turmoil. My heart ached for Winter, my mate, who was out there somewhere, possibly in danger. I wanted to chase after her, to protect her, but Jake's words kept ringing in my ears. He was right; there were things I needed to learn, and Winter needed to find her own way.Jake leaned against the doorframe, his eyes carrying a mixture of pity and frustration. "What the fuck, man? You don't think she's already in enough pain? Now you're just making it worse."I felt a surge of defensiveness rise up, but I pushed it down. He was right. I had acted impulsively, and now, two of the most important people in my life were hurting because of it. "Look, I know," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "But we can't just give up on Winter. I can find her. She's my mate."Jake sighed, sha
**Winter's POV** As the first light of dawn peeked through the trees, I felt the weight of my worries pressing harder down on me. After hours of walking with no real destination in mind, my legs ached, and my thoughts were a tangled mess of fear and hope. I found a fallen log and sat down, rubbing the soreness out of my calves. The forest around me was waking up; birds chirped, and the scent of dew-soaked earth was comforting, almost distracting me from the monumental task ahead. Almost. A shiver ran down my spine as I looked around, realising I was close to the place that connects the human world to the witch world. It was a boundary rarely acknowledged, an invisible line that promised both danger and possibility. My pulse quickened, the conflicting emotions of dread and resolve battling for dominance in my mind. I didn't know if I should go there. Witches wouldn't take kindly to a werewolf crossing into their domain, especially an uninvited one. But then I remembered Lily's words
Winter's POVI swirled inside the dark place in my head, lost and disoriented. How long had I been here? How long had I been trapped in this endless void where nothing made sense? Time didn't mean anything anymore. It felt like years, but also like a moment. I could never tell.The only thing I remembered clearly was the grave. Digging my way out of it. The suffocating weight of the earth, the desperation, the hunger to live. I remembered the thirst for revenge on Kenny, the anger that kept me alive. But even that seemed distant, as though it was someone else's memory.Everything else was a blur. The love for my friends—their faces flickered in and out of my mind like faded dreams. Sometimes, I saw them clearly, but other times, it was like I was stuck in the dark, unable to reach them, unable to make sense of anything. I didn't even know if I had truly died.I felt... lost. More than that—forgotten. The world felt so far away like I was being swallowed by the darkness. I could feel m
Enzo's POVWe moved upstairs, all of us, with a sense of urgency pressing against our chests. The atmosphere felt thick, heavy with uncertainty, as we filed into the room again. Winter was still there in the corner, her eyes dull, her movements slow and almost robotic. I couldn't shake the feeling that she was still trapped somewhere deep inside herself. She had to be. The way she stared at the wall—like a part of her was lost and couldn't find its way back.Lily was the first to speak, her voice sharp and laced with frustration. "We were in here before, and all that happened was her hand glowed. We still have no idea what to do or how to fix her."I stared at Winter, my chest tightening. "I think Winter was trying to tell you... It's like she's trapped in her own mind, and she can't explain what you need to do."Elena nodded, a sombre expression crossing her face. "So, we just follow her lead, then. We trust her."The words hung in the air, the weight of them almost unbearable. But w
Enzo’s POVI stood at the bottom of the stairs, unable to stop glancing back at the door to my bedroom. The sounds of the others talking voices low and filled with uncertainty, only made the silence in my chest louder. The question still haunted me—Was it really her? Winter was here, but she wasn’t... herself. She was broken, lost in a world that none of us could understand. But I couldn’t deny it. I knew it was her. Deep down, I had to believe it was.The others were still discussing what to do, trying to figure out the pieces of this puzzle we didn’t have the answers to. I could hear Lily’s voice, low and careful, talking about options, about what magic we might be able to use, but my thoughts kept circling back to the bedroom door.“I know you’re worried,” Lily said, her voice cutting through my spiralling thoughts. “But we need to figure this out. We can’t just sit here.”“I’ll be right back,” I said, cutting her off as I turned toward the stairs. The last thing I wanted was to ke
Chapter 91: The ReturnEnzo’s POVI stood at the doorway, my heart pounding as I watched Elena approach Winter. She had the same look in her eyes that everyone had had when we first saw her—hope mixed with fear. It wasn’t just the hope of seeing Winter again. It was the fear of not knowing if she was really back, of not knowing if this was even really her.But I could tell. I could see it in Elena’s face. She believed that it was really winter.Elena turned to me, her eyes wide, searching for reassurance. “This is why you came, right?” she asked, her voice trembling.I nodded, trying to fight the knot in my chest. I wanted to believe this was Winter. My heart told me it was. But my mind... my mind was still battling with the fear. This wasn’t the Winter I remembered—her eyes were distant, her voice fractured, and the way she repeated those numbers over and over... It didn’t feel like her, but I couldn’t let myself think like that.“Are you sure it’s her?” Elena’s voice cracked with do
Elena's POVI barely had time to react before Rykor was on me, his hands grabbing hold of me with terrifying speed. I tried to fight, thrashing and kicking, but it was useless. His grip was like steel, lifting me effortlessly off the ground. Before I could even process what was happening, he threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing, and I screamed at him, my voice raw with panic."Let me go!" I yelled, kicking my legs in vain. "What the hell are you doing, Rykor?!"But he didn’t answer me. Not a word. He just kept walking, ignoring my shouts and my struggles. I was completely at his mercy, and the weight of that realisation made my heart pound even faster. What was going on? What was happening? I had a sinking feeling—a gut feeling—that this had everything to do with Lily and Enzo.When I felt the car's engine rumble to life, I knew exactly where we were going. My chest tightened in a rush of anger. Enzo’s house. This was his doing. I wasn’t going to let them drag me back int
Lily's POVI stood at the door of the room, just watching Winter. She was still sitting in the same spot, her hands moving with a kind of frantic precision as she repeated the same numbers over and over again. Her face was pale, her eyes distant. There was something haunting about the way she was trapped in this cycle, this unrelenting loop that neither time nor words could break.I wanted so badly to reach her, to pull her back to us, to make her whole again. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure how to fix her, how to fix what was broken inside of her. She had been through something no one should have to endure, and no one had prepared us for what she had really gone through.A soft sound behind me made me stiffen. I turned to find Jake standing there, his posture hesitant but still solid. His expression was one I couldn’t quite read, a mix of worry and curiosity."Do you think you can save her?" he asked quietly, his voice soft as it broke through the heavy silence in the room.I hesitated
Lily’s POVWe left the room, stepping into the quiet hallway, the weight of what we had just seen settling heavily in the pit of my stomach. I could still hear Winter’s voice echoing in my mind—those same numbers, over and over again. I couldn’t escape them. They circled my thoughts, making it impossible to focus on anything else.Three-zero-two-four-zero-zero.I kept doing the math in my head. How long had Winter spent clawing her way out of that grave? The numbers—those numbers—had been her constant. And now they were my constant, too, weighing down on my mind, reminding me of everything she had gone through.It didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense that Winter had survived, that she had fought for her life, but it also didn’t make sense that she was now trapped in this state, so far from the person I knew her to be.I sank into one of the chairs in the living room, letting my hands fall into my lap, lost in my thoughts. The pain, the guilt, the confusion—it was all swirling toget
Lily's POVI could feel my heart racing as I moved closer to Winter, her broken form huddled in the corner, mumbling the same numbers over and over again. Her voice was soft, haunting, like the echo of a distant memory I could never quite reach. Every repetition of those numbers sent a chill through me, each one like a needle pricking at the raw, exposed wound of my heart."Winter," I whispered, stepping closer, my voice barely more than a breath. "It’s me."I watched her, hoping, praying that she would respond to me. But she didn’t. Her eyes remained unfocused, her hands scrabbling against the ground as she continued to chant the numbers, like a mantra she couldn’t escape.My chest tightened as I reached out, hesitant but desperate for a connection. My fingers brushed against her shoulder, a soft touch that I hoped would break through whatever wall surrounded her. The moment my skin made contact with hers, Winter stopped. Her hands fell still, and her gaze flickered up, locking onto
Enzo’s POVI stood there, feeling the tension in the air as Rykor stepped forward. His face was hard, but his eyes were filled with something I didn’t quite understand. When he spoke, his tone was surprisingly gentle."Elena doesn’t mean it," Rykor said, his voice low. "She doesn’t mean a thing of what she’s saying. She’s just hurting."Lily, who had been silent up until then, broke her silence with a sharp edge to her voice. "We all are," she said. "But that doesn’t give her the right to attack us."Rykor nodded, acknowledging her words, but there was still a look of understanding in his gaze. "I understand," he replied, as if this made everything okay.Enzo’s patience, however, was beginning to fray. "If that’s why you followed us," Enzo said, his voice growing colder, "then we don’t want to hear it."Rykor, however, didn’t back down. Instead, he stepped closer, his voice more firm now. "I like the little fairy," he said, referring to Lily. "And I know that if she was in her right m