PATRICK'S POV. Asking the guards to fetch the slave girl is a very rash decision on my path but I can’t waste any more time on the matter. Nikolai dating a slave right under my nose is embarrassing enough, I can’t have them embarrass me even further. I had no idea she was a slave, even I was attracted to her, I can’t blame Nikolai for his mistake. The girl must be some sort of witch, inviting powerful men to her life with her eyes. I’m going to get rid of her before she does any harm to this kingdom but I have to do it subtly. Nikolai is my son but he’s also someone you wouldn’t wish to have as an enemy. As an ally, he’s the best but as an enemy, you’ll be sorry. I’m positive Nikolai will accompany her here and I’ll act normal and demand an explanation. The less he knows about my plans, the better. The ceremony is only a day away, I could use it as a decoy. WINTER'S POV. The look on Nikolai's face makes me wish I had told him earlier. I had no idea, a problem like this would
PATRICK'S POV. Just as I predicted, Nikolai is here with the maiden, glaring at me like we’re no longer father and son but mortal enemies. “Where are my guards?” I ask half-heartedly. I won’t be perturbed if none of them survived, they’ve fought side by side with Nikolai at wars and take overs. If not them, who should be able to attest to his ruthlessness, they should have known stealing a woman from him, especially one he’s infatuated with, was a suicide mission. “I’m sure you didn’t expect them to come back alive so why bother asking?” He’s clutching tightly to her hand like she’s going to run away any second which makes me more interested than I should be in her. How far would he go for this woman? I’m curious. “You're right, I didn’t.” I say without a flicker of emotion in my voice. I see Winter shift uncomfortably, she must be disturbed by how little the lives of those guards mean to us and its only right that she is but I still consider it weakness. “Why did you send them?”
NIKOLAI'S POV.What was I thinking? My father was right. My feelings don’t come first. Today is the mate-picking ceremony and if I refuse to pick a mate, I’ll loose the trust and support of the pack. I’ll loose everything that I’ve worked for my entire life.I tried everything I could. I even tried to speak with the elders but it was of no use, there’s nothing they can do about it. My father has announced that Winter will be mated to him in a few days and he’s taken custody of her. The worst part of this all is that I can’t do anything about it, for now at least. I couldn’t bear to look at Winter when the guards came to take her away from me. I’d have killed them but it won’t have solved anything. I knew at the back of my mind that I was going to have to give up Winter before I could do anything. I wish I’d told her so she could be mentally prepared for it but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She looked like she was expecting it too, she was composed when the guards came for, she d
WINTER'S POV. Having fell into a dreamless sleep, I awoke feeling even more hunger than I felt before. Do they intend to starve me to death? I would pace around the room in agitation but I have not the strength to as much as stand. My stomach grumbles even louder and tears pool in my eyes, I don’t know if I’m crying because I’m hungry or because I’m heartbroken and my life is a mess. I take another look around the room. The curtains are shabby and old, they look like they’ve been around for at least a thousand years. The paint on the wall is starting to peel off the and ceiling looks saggy and moldy, like its going to fall off anytime soon, I think I see traces of white paint but I can’t really tell. The sheets on the bed is dirty and reeks of smoke that I wonder if the room has ever been on fire before. I wonder how I even fell asleep on it? What if the last person that was here died in a fire? No, no. I need to get these ridiculous thoughts out of my head before I snap. I se
NIKOLAI'S POV. I thought about it all night and I’ve reached the conclusion that the only way I can get to Winer is from the inside. My father has always been careless about the number of workers he has in the house, he barely even recognizes them, that’s why he had them put on this silly uniform for recognition. All I have to do is get one of those uniforms and find someone to help me sneak in. I thought about using someone that already works there to get to Winter but if I know anything about my father, it’s that he's great at making people scared of him. Asking one of them would be too risky and if they refuse, the whole plan will blow over because my dad will find out I’m snooping around. I have it all figured out, there’s only one thing that’s stopping me now and it’s who. Who will I send to the lion's den? Sherry has been going in and out of my room an awful lot this morning and its starting to irritate me. The first time she came in, she asked what I wanted for breakfast a
HUNTER'S POV.I’ve thought about all the people that are going to care if I die, they’re only handful and they’ll get over my death before I’m even buried so I have nothing to worry about. I calm my raging nerves with slow and deep breaths as I approach the front gate that is heavily guarded with hefty looking men that can snap my neck in only a matter of seconds.They don’t spare me a glance as I approach the gate, they just open it like they’ve been expecting me. Did Nikolai bribe the guards? He couldn’t have, he specifically said; you are on your own in there. Surely, he would have told me if he bribed the guards. It must be the uniform that I’m wearing.I pass through the gate and marvel at the size of the building. It’s huge. The windows look like glass doors and the walls are remarkably spotless. There’s a garden too and it’s adorned with all kinds of flowers, I can’t take in the
HUNTER'S POV. I don’t know why I said what I said. I feel so stupid. I thought I was over her but seeing her again—her beautiful eyes— they remind me that I’ll never be over Winter. I was willing to risk my life for her, how did I not see that I was still in love with the woman? I take deep breaths and remind myself that Nikolai is the better man for her and my job is to help them get together not to run away with her. I set the plates down on the kitchen counter and turned to leave. “Going somewhere?” The woman with blazing red eyes asked me and I almost tripped, I didn’t even hear her come in. Can this day get any worse? “No, I was just about to get started on the plates.” I answer and she narrowed her eyes at me. I wait for her to walk away but its like she has nothing better to do than to stand there and gawk at me. I end up doing all the dishes, cleaning the floors, wiping every surface clean and when it was time to take out the trash, I knew it was my only chance to escap
PATRICK'S POV.“I guess it’s today then.” I’m cladded in my royal regalia, ready for the ceremony and I thought I’d stop by and say hi to my little prisoner. She looks better than I expected, I thought that she would have ripped off all her own fingernails by now out of nervousness. Her hair looks even better than it did when she arrived here, there’s no single strand out of place. Am I treating her better than I should?“I guess it’s today.” She replies calmly. I think it’s the first time I’ve heard her speak since she got here.“You sound calm. Do you no longer have fears?” She smiled, something I’ve never seen her do. I still don’t get why Nikolai is so smitten by her but she’s got the looks, that’s for sure.“I still do, I’ve just. . . come in terms with them.” She replied and I raised an eyebrow. Her confidence is somewhat strange but there’s something I’ve come to realize during my lifetime and it’s that different people have different reactions in the face of death. Maybe this