Winter's Guardian (Her Guardian's Series Book 1) Read online

  "No thanks, I don't dance," I say to Wyatt’s cold gaze. This time, his face converts into confusion and he steps closer to me than before, we are almost touching with how close he is.

  "Dance with me Winter," he says looking into my eyes again, his eyes glowing far brighter than they should and I yelp when he grabs my arm roughly, I take a step away. His grip is strong but I realise he isn’t trying to hurt me. I don’t dare look away from him as the black glowing eyes stare into me, into my soul.

  "No, let go Wyatt," I say firmly, challenging his grip by struggling away. I don’t know what changes but he lets me go with utterly confused and shocked look marking his handsome face.

  "How is that possible?" He mutters to himself, running his hands through his hair, stepping away from me. I take the chance he gives me to run out the door, not caring who is looking. I have a feeling challenging a scary man like that is not a good idea, I don’t think running from him is a good idea either but hey it’s all I have right now. I couldn’t have seen glowing eyes, right? I mean that doesn’t even make sense to me and it must have been a trick of the light or something. I eventually make my way outside. I can’t believe my luck when I spot the guy from class, Harris, opening his car for a young girl to get in. I’m glad I remembered his name now.

  "Wait, Harris," I shout from the door and he turns to me, looking a little shocked, but more worried than anything else.

  "Are you alright?" He asks none too gently as he grabs my shoulders, pulling me closer, and looking me up and down.

  "Yes, but I could use a lift home," I say gently as I pull away from him a little, enough that he drops his warm hands.

  "Sure, I was just taking my sister home. My parents are going to kill her for sneaking out tonight. So I'm sure she needs some extra time to come up with a decent excuse," he laughs opening the back door for me. As I get in, I look behind me to see Wyatt watching me from the door. I swear I'll never forget the look he has on his face as watches me get into the car. He is looking at me like I’m a meal and he is a starving man. I gasp before slamming the door shut and closing my eyes for a second, resting my head against the cold leather.

  "So, what's your name?" A girl in the front asks the minute I get in, I smile as I hear her draw out the sentence. I open my eyes to see a pair of light blue ones sparkling at me.

  "I’m Winter, you are?" I asked putting on my seat belt as Harris gets in.

  "I'm Katy. How do you know my brother?" she smiles but it looks cheeky.

  "You should be thinking of excuses to help yourself now, and not asking questions," Harris answers her question as he looks at me in the rear view mirror. I smirk at him when I see he is trying not to laugh and he winks at me.

  "They are going to ground me for life anyway. So do you have a boyfriend?" She asks with a huff, clearly not concerned about her parents and I look over at her now. She has the same light brown hair as Harris and matching blue eyes that are lighter than most peoples. I would guess she is around sixteen, which would make her way too young to be here. She is wearing a purple dress that is as short as mine but makes her look a hell of a lot older than she is. I can see why Harris parents are going to go mad. I’m guessing the amount of makeup she has on isn’t going to help her case. She doesn’t need it though because I can see she is very pretty.

  "No. I'm escaping a bad date actually," I mutter as she laughs.

  "Harris should ask you out, he wouldn't be a bad date," she winks and I see Harris blush.

  "I'm not dating anymore but if I was, Harris would be a good choice," I say gently letting them both down.

  "You should change your mind. You’re really pretty." She sighs finally turning around. Harris asks for the address, so I give it him before opening my phone. I'm surprised not to see any messages from Alex; I send her a quick one.

  Me: date was awful, shame the hot ones are always crazy. I got a lift home. I will see you tomorrow. Love you xx

  I missed out the start of the argument, as I was texting, but from Harris’s angry face he isn’t happy.

  “There are loads of them around right now Katy. I don’t want to find you sneaking out again.” He shouts in a hushed whisper, leaving me to wonder what he is talking about. Katy is looking tense in her seat at whatever he is talking about.

  “I know. But I never get to leave the pack,” she says looking away out the window with a long sigh and I’m sure that I see tears in her eyes as she picks her nails, looking worried.

  “It won’t always be like this but please, for me, don’t leave again without one of us.” he stares at her through the mirror and I see her lower her gaze quickly.

  “I promise,” Katy says with a frown and Harris nods, looking back at the empty road. I watch as he turns to look at me and a grin lights up his face when he sees what I’m wearing. Typical guy, but at least he has the common sense to look back at the road after a second, not voicing his opinion.

  “What’s a pack?” I ask clearing my throat and hopefully my red cheeks from Harris’s stare. I remember reading about packs of wolves in my class at university but I don’t think they are talking about that. Maybe it’s some kind of gang or a name of a house; I don’t want to guess because I’m sure I’m going to come up with something worse than what it actually is. I glance at Harris who isn’t answering my question so I repeat myself.

  “Oh, it’s nothing important,” Harris says quickly, all the while he is glaring at Katy like a parent whose kid just told someone a big secret of theirs. I glance back at Katy, who looks very guilty, as she shrugs at me, and avoiding looking at Harris at all. This night is proving to be all kinds of confusing and I’m pretty sure forgetting it is the easier way. No one says anything else while we drive home and a tense silence descends on the car.

  "Are you going to be ok to walk in? I don't think I can get in the car park with the gate down.” Harris says looking at me, as he stops on the road outside my building. The whole building is so close to the university, so it has to be on lock down after a certain time and you can only walk in, past a locked gate. I’m lucky the gate’s broken, so you don’t need a key to get in. Well unlucky in certain ways because it means anyone can get in.

  "Yeah, I'll walk in. The gate is open.” I say to Harris and he nods, watching me closely like he wants to say something but I get out the car before he can.

  "Bye Katy and good luck with your parents," I say through the open window and I laugh, hearing her grumble before I move away from the car. I wave them both off before opening the broken gate to the locked car park; the door is slightly open anyway from our neighbours. The car park is almost as big as the building in length and you have to walk across the whole thing to get to my building. My building has three flats, on three levels and we have the bottom one. The car park is empty, besides my car and one other. I walk slowly, only the dim lights of the street lamps near the building are lighting the car park showing me where I’m going. In the distance I notice a big, dark shape lying next to my car, near the door to my building. I run over quickly, my footsteps being the only noise in the dark night. I’m hoping the person is ok and pulling my phone out my bag as I run, to call an ambulance but as I get closer I see it’s a wolf.

  Could my night get any weirder?

  Chapter Three

  I slowly move forward, to take a closer look, as I slip my phone back in my bag. I’m a little relieved to see it’s not a big wolf. The wolf is the size of a small child and has light brown fur or it could be black as I can’t tell in the dim light. The light catches against the large dagger, stuck in its back leg. I hear him whine as he looks up at me with dark eyes, I don’t feel like he could attack me if he tried, so I carefully move closer. I know how dangerous it is and Alex would kill me for this but there’s a reason I wanted to be a vet. I love helping animals, I’ve been helping injured animals since I was a little girl and I brought home a cat that had been run over. So there’s no way I can leave this wolf now, no matter how foolish I might seem.

&n
bsp; "Hey you, look I’m a vet,” I say in a calm soothing voice and then think to myself that I should leave out the in training part.

  “I can help you but you can't hurt me or I will have to leave you alone, alright?" I say gently, hoping my calming tone of my voice soothes him enough that he will trust me. The wolf must be smart because I swear he is listening to every word and hasn’t growled at me once yet. He might be someone’s pet, as he doesn’t seem to be scared of me like most wild animals are of humans. I don’t know why I’m suddenly calling this wolf he; it might be a girl for all I know.

  The wolf whines at me, so I take that as a yes. I know I can't take him to a vet or they might put him down. Even if he is tame, most vets won’t help him. The wolf is a wild animal that is usually hunted in other countries but I can't just do nothing. My mom would be going mad right now, like the time I brought home another injured cat, that was a local stray, and it chased me around the house when it woke up trying to bite me. That cat was not thankful for my help.

  I crouch down on my knees, carefully turning my phone light on to look closer. The wolf is nearly all black, as I run a hand over his fur and pull it back because he is mostly covered in blood. I know I need to pull this dagger out and then get him inside to stitch it up. I’m lucky I have some stuff in my emergency medical box that I can use.

  "Alright handsome wolf, I'm going to pull this out and then get you inside to my apartment. I can stitch this up for you.” I say to him, I swear that he actually blinks at me in as an answer.

  “Please don't hurt me for this," I mutter and quickly pull it out with a shaky hand and he yelps loudly. I’m surprised when he doesn’t growl at me but I could swear little tears are coming out his eyes as he crashes to the ground.

  "Shush, I'm so sorry little wolf," I say gently as I stroke his neck. He passes out after a few minutes, which is likely from all the blood loss. I’m hoping he is strong enough to make it through this because I have no idea how much blood he could have lost getting here. I stand up, looking down at the wolf and think about my options quickly. I know with him unconscious, I think I can get him back to mine without him making too much noise or distress for this poor creature. I look at the knife in my hand, its heavy and I think its real silver as it shines in the moonlight, the blood dripping off it looking unnatural and scary. It has unusual drawings all over it, that I don’t recognise but they look very much like crowns. I put it in my handbag with my phone, shutting off the light. I'm lucky I'm a little strong because half carrying the large wolf the short walk to my ground floor apartment nearly killed me. I eventually get to my door, opening it before carrying the wolf into my lounge. I lean against the wall, getting my breath back and look down at my red dress, covered in blood and stuck to me in sweat. I put the lights on and walk out to grab the first aid box off out the kitchen. When I come back In, I scream.

  I must be going crazy because where I left the wolf, there is now a young boy around eight curled up in a ball, with a mop of black hair with blonde tips covering his face and he’s naked. I rush over to him, seeing how pale he is and looking around for the wolf in my small lounge. The front door is shut, so I know he didn’t get out but as soon as I'm close the boy, his body shakes before he shifts into the black wolf.

  I scream again, dropping the box on the floor and just stare at the still passed out little wolf.

  What the hell? I know I’m having a really bad night but I really didn’t think I had gone completely mad. I slide to the floor staring at the wolf and I remember some weird things. Like all the books I read as a teenager about werewolves, and now there is a real one in my living room. Who knew they were actually real, and I should be running out the room screaming. The image of the small boy appears in my mind as I look at the wolf, and I realise that I don’t care what he is, he needs my help.

  I eventually calm myself down; knowing that the wolf is only a child and needs my help no matter what he is, helps me do that. I go closer to see the stab wound, and I’m surprised it is looking better, as it’s nearly all sealed up. I decide to grab a blanket from my room and cover the wolf up to the neck, just in case he turns again. I’m guessing the fast healing must be a wolf thing. I do eventually think of the downside of having a supernatural creature in my house, What if others like him, come looking for the child and think I hurt him? I should run but I don’t because I can’t leave a child, without knowing for certain he is ok.

  I've always been the type to do a massive cleaning when I'm stressed and Alex is the kind that cooks everything like my mum does, but Alex doesn’t make anything edible or without a high risk of food poisoning. I get some bleach and water then start scrubbing the floor up to the door, where there is blood and outside my door too before locking it.

  I check on the wolf and I'm not that surprised to see it’s the boy again but still looks like he is sleeping. I go to my room, taking off the now blood covered dress and putting on some casual clothes. I avoid looking at myself in the mirror because that would make this night way to real for me and I want some answers from the boy before I do that.

  I get a wash cloth out my bathroom, getting it a little wet before going to the boy.

  "Hey, I'm just going to clean you up a little," I say to him, even if he isn't awake, I’m hoping he can hear me. I can still hear his yelp when I pulled that dagger out, who would hurt a little child like that?

  I clean his face and then his shoulders. I lift the blanket to look at the dagger wound on his lower leg. It's nearly all healed, so I clean it up carefully and put a bandage on it before covering his leg up again.

  I sit down on the couch, looking at the boy, wondering what the hell to do. It's not like I can call a doctor to explain I have a wolf that changes in to a boy sometimes. I eventually lie down on my couch and drift off to sleep.

  Chapter Four

  Wyatt

  “Atti, I know it’s her, for fuck’s sake.” I mutter down the phone. Atti is a witch and general pain in the ass but I need him to know about this.

  “Hold on a sec,” he says to someone else and puts the phone down on me. I’m the prince of the fucking vampires and he puts the phone down on me like he couldn’t give two shits.

  “I’ve cleared the apartment; now tell me what’s going on?” Drake says, coming into the living room.

  “Its Winter, the girl we have all been waiting for, has been your mate’s best friend all this time.” I tell him harshly and he tries to hide his shock.

  “I can’t believe it.” He eventually mutters. Drake paces by the door and I just watch as he processes this. Drake has been my protector since I was born; I think he is around hundred years old and never took a mate. When he told me he was mating with a human girl he had met, I was a little taken back. Drake basically brought me up and yet is never nice to anyone other than me.

  “Baby, are you in here?” Alex’s voice comes from the other side of the door. Drake opens the door and takes her hand gently.

  “We will discuss this another time,” he tells me and I nod at him.

  “Wait. How did your date go?” Alex asks pushing around drake. Alex has known about us for over a year. She met him in a local pub and she let drake feed on her. From the first time he saw her, he told me he didn’t want to leave her and had to know her. I have no idea why she thought setting her best friend up on a date with a vampire was a good idea but she did.

  “I may have messed it up a little.” I say to her.

  “If you upset her, I swear I'll find a way to stake your ass.” She says with a glare, trying to move towards me but Drake lifts her over his shoulder.

  “Winter may have left the date after an argument.” I say.

  “Drake put me down and help me find a stake!” she tells him, loudly.

  “Stakes don’t work Alex and I didn’t upset her too much.” I tell her, as Drake whispers something to her, I could listen in but I don’t.

  “Fine, we can talk about this in the morning and I know stakes don’t work. But
I bet it would hurt.” She grins at me and I hear Drake’s chuckle as he walks her out.

  A few minutes later, as I walk aimlessly around my apartment, Atti appears in the room. Witches can travel wherever they have been before, using their power. Atti is their soon-to-be leader, their prince and is the most powerful witch around.

  “You are sure? Like completely, not fucking around with me right now?” He asks, in my mind. Another annoying habit of his, forgetting to actually talk out loud when he knows it gives me a headache.

  “Yes, I tried to make her dance with me and she resisted like it was nothing. No one has ever been able to stop me other than my father and some witches. It’s also how drawn I was to her, like I could see nothing else.” I tell him out loud. I sit in my chair by my fireplace, thinking about Winter.

  “Don’t forget me, D and Jax. Your powers never work on us, it does make me laugh though,” He laughs out loud, and I fold in my fists. I really know how much Atti likes to fuck with me.

  “Tell me about her.” Atti asks, thankfully out loud, as he takes the seat opposite me.

  “She has long brown hair, light blue eyes, a body that could outdo an angel’s and from little I spoke to her, she seemed good.” I tell him.

  “Of course she is good. Man, I love brunettes.” Atti sighs, rubbing his tired face.

  “I have to tell Dabriel.” I tell him.

  “And Jax.” Atti tell me, a stern look on his face.

  “No, he made it clear that he didn’t want anything to do with us after what happened. We haven’t seen him in seven years.” I remind Atti. It’s difficult to even talk about him; he was like a brother to me.