Winter's Wolf (A Court of Shifters Chronicles #1) Read online

  “No hug?”

  “Sorry. Just a long day.” He pulled me into a hug, and I melted into him, holding on tightly. No one hugged me the way he did. No one could give me comfort the way he did. He radiated warmth and security.

  “Want to talk about it? You know, away from the bows and arrows.”

  “There isn’t much to say. I just need to get more sleep.”

  “You’re lying,” I called him out on it right away. I could always tell when he was hiding something. I was pretty sure he could do the same for me.

  “Maybe I am. But either way I want to hear about your trip first.”

  “Not much to tell. Hung out with Lacey. Drank a lot of honeydew.”

  “Wow, admitting it even.” He playfully nudged my shoulder.

  “Come on. You know it’s hard for me to resist honeydew.”

  “Yes. Yes, it is. I don't quite know how you can drink that sweet stuff.”

  “I can’t help that you have no taste for things that are sweet. You are the one missing out on the good life.”

  “The good life? Getting drunk on honeydew is the good life now?” He walked over to the target and pulled out a half dozen arrows. He brought them back and slipped them into his bag.

  “I’m not only talking about honeydew. I'm talking about all sweets. Life is so much better with sweets.”

  “That’s your personal opinion.” He put in his bow and slung the bag over his shoulder.

  I felt a nudge of guilt that I’d interrupted his session at the range. But I knew he didn’t really care. “Nope. It’s fact. Cold, hard fact.”

  “I missed you, Wren.”

  “Yeah, I kind of missed you too.” I looked at his lips. Why was I looking at his lips? And especially why I was thinking about kissing those lips? Kissing them the first time had been a mistake. I certainly couldn’t make that mistake again. His friendship meant too much to me.

  “Where did you want to go chat?”

  “Oh. The tavern?” I wanted to talk privately, but then he’d be suspicious. Starting off by talking over a drink seemed far less conspicuous.

  “Going to settle for some ice wine? No honeydew here.”

  “I’ve missed ice wine.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  “It’s still daytime though.”

  “When has that ever stopped you?” He quirked an eyebrow.

  “It never has.” I linked my arm with his. “Let’s go.” I knew I’d probably regret putting off talking to my mother, but I also knew I wasn’t ready to see her without letting something on. She had this uncanny ability to see through me. But I refused to let my little sister get in trouble. I’d have to hold it together. Some ice wine might completely do the trick.

  The path to the tavern was quiet aside from a few young girls skipping by. I envied them in some ways. The innocence. The lightness. I’d never had that. But I was also given opportunities most Fae would never have.

  “What are you thinking about?” Frost asked.

  I glanced at him. His blue eyes were so full of care and worry. I hated that my mother was putting him in this horrible position. “Nothing really. Just thinking.”

  “You are always thinking about something.”

  I shrugged. “Well, nothing worth discussing then.”

  “I know it’s impossible to extract information from you that you don’t want to share.”

  “Very true. But It’s really nothing.”

  “Sure.” He patted my back. “Nothing at all.”

  “Get enough ice wine in me and that might change.”

  He grinned. “And that’s very true too.”

  The tavern was mostly empty when we walked in. That wasn’t surprising considering it was only afternoon.

  Frost started toward the large glass bar that ran the back wall of the space. “Should I order us some chips too?”

  “Chips and ice mints, please.”

  “Ice mints? More sweet?”

  “Hey, I didn’t buy myself any crystal candies. I gave all of mine to Genevieve.”

  “Yeah? Was she appropriately appreciative?” He adjusted the strap of his bag.

  “Yeah, she was. But sad about not being able to wear the dress I got her out.”

  “Still nice of you to get her one.”

  “I always bring her back something.”

  “Didn’t get me something, I bet,” he teased. He always teased me.

  “Of course I did.”

  “Oh?” There was something akin to curiosity in his voice. Hopefully my gift would bring that sexy as hell smile back to his face. I wanted to wipe the worry away.

  I walked over to our usual table in the corner. The one that gave a perfect view of the sunset as it made its way down behind the icy mountains that served as the western boundary of our court. It was a strong natural defense for us.

  Before long Frost walked over with two tall glasses of ice wine and a bowl of ice mints pressed against his chest. “Chips may take a bit.”

  “That’s fine.” I took the mints and set them in the middle of the table even though I knew Frost wasn’t going to touch them. “I’m not in a rush.”

  “You’re avoiding your mother.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “You mean other than the fact that you are always avoiding your mother?”

  “I’m not always avoiding her.” I sipped my ice wine.

  “Sure you are.”

  “Fine. Okay. But I’m avoiding her even more than normal right now.” I took a handful of ice mints. I’d skipped lunch, and I needed something until the chips came.

  “Because she’s mad you went away?”

  “Is she?” I popped a mint into my mouth.

  “Wren. Come on. You know very well she is.”

  “I needed the time away.”

  “I know you did. Doesn’t mean she’s going to understand it.” He swirled his wine around in his glass.

  “She doesn’t understand anything about me.”

  “She’s got a very fixed viewpoint. That’s just the way she is.”

  “I won’t be that way.” I tried to watch him without making it too obvious. “When I’m queen.”

  “Wow.”

  “Wow, what?”

  “I’ve never heard you talk that way. To say when you are queen, as if it’s a sure thing to happen.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I'm finally facing reality.”

  He raised his glass. “I’ll toast to that.”

  “Since when did you want me to face reality?”

  “I just want you to be happy.”

  “Is that so?” I wanted to blurt it out. I wanted to blurt out I knew he was going along with my mother and taking me to find a mate, but I couldn’t. I knew why he was doing it. He’d do anything to protect his family. And I respected him for it. I’d have done the same thing to protect my sister.

  “Of course it is.” He set his glass down as I made no move to cheers. “What’s up, Wren?”

  If I couldn’t pull this off with Frost, I had zero chance of pulling it off with my mother. “It’s just weird to be back. That’s all.”

  “Maybe you should get things over with. Seeing your mom that is.”

  Not until I get some chips.” And finish a few more glasses of ice wine.

  The door to the tavern opened and a group of teens walked in.

  Frost watched them intently. I looked closer. His younger brother Preston was in the group.

  I observed as Preston made his way to the bar. “He’s not a little kid anymore, huh?”

  “He is. He just doesn’t like to think of himself that way.”

  “He sure doesn’t look like it.” I observed as he slung his arms around two teen girls.

  Frost watched his brother intently. “He needs to watch himself.”

  “You’re worried.”

  “Yeah… I am.” His brow furrowed deeply.

  “He’s a good kid. He will be fine.”

  “Wolves have to be care
ful… we are welcome here in some ways and not in others. Especially my kind.”

  “You are welcome here.” I reached over and grabbed his hand. “You are completely welcome here.”

  “By you.” He didn’t take his eyes off Preston.

  “You forget I'm going to be queen soon.”

  He turned his attention back to me. “Twice in one conversation. Wow.”

  “You like the word wow today.” I looked out the window and watched as the sun started its descent. “It’s even more beautiful than normal tonight.”

  He followed my gaze. “That’s the amazing thing about sunsets. Each one is different, yet it’s always the same thing.”

  “How many times do you think we’ve sat at this table?” I asked.

  “Too many to count.”

  “I’m going to miss this table.” I ran my hands over the worn wooden tabletop.

  “Are you planning on going anywhere?”

  No, but you are planning on us both going somewhere. I, of course, couldn’t say it out loud, but I was definitely feeling it. “I just mean when I’m queen.”

  “You can still come here. No one can stop you.”

  “Can you imagine my mother sitting here?” I popped another mint into my mouth.

  “You’re not your mother. Nor will you ever be.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He tapped his glass into mine. “Let’s enjoy the rest of the sunset.”

  Frost

  I wasn’t sure I could handle this. First, I didn’t want to lie to her. Or withhold information. But was withholding any better than lying? And I had to help her find a mate when being with her was what I wanted more than anything. Torture. This was torture, pure and simple.

  “What are you thinking about?” Wren tugged on my arm, pulling my fist away from my chin.

  “Nothing.”

  “Oh, come on. You are most definitely thinking about something.” She sipped her wine.

  “Sometimes I wish you didn’t know me as well as you do.”

  “Nah. You like that I know you. You know it.”

  “Do I like it? Sure. But it can make things hard.” I looked into her violet eyes, wishing I could make her understand what I was going to have to do. “Very hard.”

  I heard laughing and looked over to where Preston sat with his friends. I’d never felt that carefree before. As the oldest, responsibility had always fallen on me.

  “Oh.” Wren noticed where my eyes were trained. “You are really worried, huh?”

  That wasn’t what I’d been thinking about, but it wasn’t like I could tell her the truth. And I was worried about Preston.

  “Yeah, I’m worried.”

  “He’s going to be fine. Just fine.” She patted my hand.

  The sun had fully disappeared, leaving us with a completely dark sky. “I hope.” I ran my fingers over her hand. We touched each other a lot. I’d always wondered if she understood what she did to me each and every time we touched.

  The server brought over a basket of chips.

  “Thanks.” She took a yellow chip and dipped it in the spicy dip that came with them. “That took long enough,” she whispered after the server moved out of earshot.

  “Evidently being part of the royal family doesn’t get you faster service.” I tried a chip. It was still warm.

  “Nope. Well, I bet it would be for my mother.”

  “Oh yes. No one would keep her waiting.” I’d come close earlier that day.

  “Except for me.” She leaned back in her chair. “I should probably go.”

  “It’s up to you.”

  “I need more chips.” She took two and dipped each carefully. “And mints.”

  “I’ve missed you,” I blurted out.

  “You already told me that.”

  “And I can’t say it again?” I could say it a million times, and she still wouldn’t understand how strongly I felt that statement.

  “No. You can say it as many times as you want. I’ll never get tired of hearing it.”

  “Hey, it’s my favorite older brother.” Preston pulled up a chair to our table.

  “I’m your only older brother. And shouldn’t you address the princess first?” He was pushing his luck, and I was sure he knew it.

  “Oh. Sorry.” He actually looked embarrassed as he turned to Wren.

  “Don’t listen to him. He’s messing with you.”

  “I didn’t know you were back.” He reached over and took a handful of chips.

  I glared at him. He was lucky Wren knew him so well. Otherwise he’d be treading on some seriously thin ice.

  Wren pushed the dip closer to him. “I only got back today.”

  He dipped three chips at once. “Welcome home.”

  “Thanks.” She popped a mint in her mouth.

  I wasn’t sure how she switched back and forth between mints and chips like that. They were such different flavors. “Was there a reason you came over here, Preston?”

  “Can’t I just want to say hello to my brother?”

  “Sure, you can. But that’s not why you came over.” I wasn’t going to play along with his games. I had too much else going on.

  “True. I need a favor.” He crossed one leg over the other.

  “I’m truly shocked.”

  Wren snickered.

  “I know. I know. I promise this is the last one.” Preston crossed his arms.

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I was going to help him. We both knew that, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t try to talk some sense into him. If he made false promises to the wrong person, he could find himself in hot water.

  “May I speak with you alone?” Preston made a side eye toward Wren.

  “Nuh uh. I”m not missing out on this.” Wren grabbed another few chips.

  “Preston, are you asking a Royal to excuse herself? Do you realize how grossly inappropriate that is?” This kid needed to learn his place.

  “It’s okay,” Wren pulled the dip closer to her again. “I mean I won’t excuse myself, but it’s okay that he asked.”

  It wasn’t okay that he asked, but I appreciated her reaction. Wren kept her head and managed to keep elitism at bay despite how easy it would be to let her place in the court get to her head. She was going to make one heck of a queen.

  “I wasn’t asking her to go anywhere. I was asking you to come with me.” Preston didn’t seem to get it. Wren didn’t want to be excluded from the conversation, which meant she wouldn’t be. If he wanted to talk with me alone he was going to have to wait until later. And even then Wren would try to get information from me. She did not enjoy being left out of things. Not that I blamed her.

  “Preston, either spill it or go back to your friends.” I was losing patience.

  “I need to borrow some money.”

  Wren coughed, and I knew she was trying to cover laughing.

  “See? This is why I didn’t want to talk in front of her.” There was a whine to Preston’s voice.

  “Hey, sorry.” Wren tried to compose herself. “I’m all better now. Continue.”

  “What is there to continue?” Preston frowned. “I need to borrow money from you, Frost.”

  “Why?” I knew I wouldn’t like the answer, but I asked anyway.

  “Because I do. Please don’t make me go into it right now.”

  “Why don’t you want me to know?” Wren scooted her chair around closer to him. “Because that’s why you don’t want to go into it. Don’t lie.”

  “It’s embarrassing.” He finally looked a bit embarrassed about his behavior. Our mother would have killed him for the disrespect he was showing Wren.

  “You’re embarrassed of me knowing?” Wren put a hand to her chest. “It’s just me.”

  “It’s just you?” Preston arched a brow. “You can’t say things like that.”

  “She can say anything she likes,” I pointed out. The only person who could tell her what to say or not to say was her mother, and that
was only until Wren became queen.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Yes, I do, but you still have to respect her.”

  “This isn’t about respect. I need money.” His shoulders hunched.

  “Why?” I pressed.

  “Because.” He looked down at the table. “Just because.”

  “You can’t expect him to give you money if he doesn’t know what it is for.” Wren crossed her legs at her ankles. Her leggings exposed a series of metal anklets.

  He ran a hand through his hair. “Fine. I owe someone. Okay? Is that enough?”

  “Who do you owe?” I tried to keep my voice level, but I was angry. He knew better than to take a loan. Why hadn’t he come to me in the first place?

  “No one good,” Preston mumbled.

  “I assumed that much.” I sighed. “Listen, Preston. I’d like to help you. You know that. But you have to give me something to work with.”

  “Work with the fact that I’m in trouble if you don’t help.” Preston glanced over his shoulder.

  “But trouble with who?” I asked.

  “Whom, but who’s being specific?” He corrected.

  “Really, Preston?” Wren rolled her eyes. “You are going to correct his grammar right now?”

  “You can tell me.” I was worried. Preston had asked for money plenty of times, but this time felt different.

  “I can’t.” He trembled. “I really can’t.”

  “Then I can’t help you.” I didn't want to use tough love, but sometimes that was the only way.

  “Damn it, Frost. You’ve been in a pinch before. Don’t let me down here.”

  “I won’t let you down, if you give me something to work with. I need to know who you borrowed money from.”

  “It’s not someone from this court.”

  Wren and I exchanged looks. This wasn’t good. Doing business outside the court boundaries was forbidden.

  “See? This is why I didn’t want to say anything in present company.”

  “You think I’m going to tell my mom?” Wren scowled. “Because if you do, you are absolutely crazy.”

  “It was stupid. I know that.”

  “Stupid or not, how did you do it? Who was your go-between?” I needed details.

  “I don’t want to get him in trouble.”

  “So it’s a him?” Wren asked.