Winter's Mate: Fated on Ice

CHAPTER 3: Gone

Jude

I woke to winter sunlight streaming through the window and the immediate, devastating knowledge that something was catastrophically wrong.

Rosie was gone.

I shot out of the chair, my heart pounding, the mate bond screaming in protest at her absence. The bed she'd been in was empty, the covers thrown back carelessly. My jacket lay folded neatly on the nightstand with a piece of hotel stationery on top.

I grabbed the note with shaking hands, my wolf howling in denial.

Thank you for everything last night. I'm sorry I can't stay—I need to figure things out. You're a good person, Jude Winters. I hope you have a Merry Christmas. - Rosie

No phone number. No address. Just "Rosie Martinez" and "from silverwestern."

That was all I had.

I crumpled the note in my fist as my wolf surged forward, demanding we shift and track her. Her scent still lingered in the room—vanilla and something sweet and uniquely her—but it was fading. She'd been gone for at least an hour, maybe more.

My phone buzzed with missed calls. Seven from my mother. Four from Marcus. Two from River, my best friend and beta.

I called River first.

"Dude, it's like seven in the morning on Christmas," River groaned. "This better be—"

"She's gone."

A sharp intake of breath. "Who's gone? What are you talking about?"

"My mate." The words felt like broken glass in my throat. "I found my mate last night, River. And she's gone."

"Holy s**t. Okay. Start from the beginning."

I told him everything as I tore through the room, looking for any sign of where Rosie might have gone while knowing deep down she had left.

"So you have her name," River said slowly when I finished. "Rosie Martinez. She goes to Silverwestern University."

"Which is some hours away, and I have no idea where she lives or what her major is or—" I stopped, forcing myself to breathe. "I know nothing about her except that she's mine and she's hurting and she's gone."

"Oh man, you can go there. Simple."

"We can't just show up on campus. How would we even find her? There are thousands of students."

"f*******:? i********:? Jude, there are these things called search engines—"

"I know that," I snapped, then paused as I inhaled deeply. Rosie's scent still lingered in the room. My wolf fixated on it, desperate. "The hotel room."

"What about it?"

"Her scent is here. If I keep the room, maybe..." I trailed off, knowing how insane it sounded.

"You want to keep a hotel room because it smells like a girl you met for a few hours?"

"She's not just some girl. She's my mate."

River sighed. "Okay. Okay. Keep the room if it helps. But Jude, you need to actually find her. You can't just sit in a hotel room smelling her ghost."

He was right. I hated that he was right.

I looked at the note again, at Rosie's neat handwriting. You're a good person, Jude Winters.

She didn't know half of it. Didn't know I was a werewolf, the future Alpha of the Highland Creek pack, or that she was my fated mate. Didn't know that every instinct in me was screaming to track her down and never let her out of my sight again.

All she knew was that I'd helped her on the worst night of her life, and then she'd run.

"But first, you should probably call your mom. She's been blowing up my phone too."

Right. My family. Christmas dinner. The obligations I'd been trying to escape when I'd stumbled across Rosie in that parking lot.

It all felt meaningless now.

But I called my mother anyway, because Elena Winters was the one person in my family I couldn't disappoint.

"Jude! Where have you been? Your father is—"

"I found my mate, Mom."

"Oh, sweetheart."

"And I lost her."

I heard her inhale sharply. "Tell me everything."

So I did. Mom listened without interrupting, and when I finished, she was quiet for a long moment.

"Keep the hotel room," she said finally.

"River said—"

"River doesn't understand mate bonds yet. You keep that room, Jude. Keep her scent close. It'll help you track her when you need to." She paused. “Should I tell your father?"

"Not yet."

"He's not going to like this. A mate you've lost, and a human at that—"

"I don't care what he likes."

"I know. But be prepared." Her voice was gentle. "Come home for dinner. Then you can go back to Highland and start searching. We'll help however we can."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Of course. That's what family does." She hesitated. "Jude? What's her name?"

"Rosie. Rosie Martinez."

"It's beautiful. I can't wait to meet her."

If I could find her.

After I hung up, I stared at the empty bed for a long moment. Then I called the front desk and paid for the room. For a week to start. I'd extend it if needed.

The woman at the desk thought I was crazy. I could hear it in her voice.

I didn't care.

I grabbed my jacket—the one that still smelled like Rosie—and headed downstairs to my bike. The ride back to my family's house on the outskirts of town was a blur. All I could think about was Rosie's face when I'd found her in the parking lot, tear-stained and heartbroken. The way she'd felt in my arms when she cried. The way she'd looked at me like I was someone worth trusting.

And then she'd left.

The Winter's estate sat on fifty acres of forest land, the main house a sprawling log structure that had been in our family for generations. Smoke rose from the chimney, and I could see cars in the driveway—extended pack members joining us for Christmas dinner.

Perfect.

I walked in through the back door, hoping to avoid the crowd, but my mother was in the kitchen. She took one look at my face and pulled me into a hug.

"We'll find her," she murmured.

"What if she doesn't want to be found?"

"Then you'll convince her otherwise." Mom pulled back, cupping my face. "She's your mate, Jude. That means something, even if she doesn't know it yet. You'll find each other again. I'm certain of it."

I wanted to believe her.

Marcus appeared in the doorway, his expression stern. Marcus Winters, Alpha of the Highland Creek pack and my father, was not a man who tolerated weakness or sentiment.

"Elena said you found your mate."

"Yes."

"And lost her immediately?"

"Yes."

He studied me for a long moment. "A human?"

"Does it matter?"

"It matters that you scared her off before you could even claim her." His voice was cutting. "An Alpha should be able to keep his mate."

"Marcus," Mom warned.

"She didn't know what I was," I said, struggling to keep my voice level. "She'd just been through something traumatic. She needed space."

"Space?" Marcus's eyebrows rose. "Your wolf found its mate, and you gave her space? That's not how this works, Jude."

"Maybe it should be."

The tension in the kitchen ratcheted up several notches. My wolf bristled, wanting to challenge Marcus's dominance, but I forced it down. Now was not the time.

"We'll discuss this later," Marcus said finally. "Come. Your grandmother wants to see you."

He walked out, and I looked at my mother helplessly.

"He doesn't understand," she said softly. "He and I bonded traditionally—no complications, no trauma. But you did the right thing, Jude. Rosie needed kindness, not claiming. You'll have your chance."

I hoped she was right.

Christmas dinner was torture. I smiled when expected, hugged relatives, and accepted congratulations on being named team captain. All the while, my mind was elsewhere, wondering where Rosie was. If she was okay. If that asshole Josh was still bothering her.

The thought of him made my wolf snarl.

I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling, and tried to feel the mate bond. It was there—faint and fragile, barely formed, but there. A golden thread connecting me to someone I'd known for a few hours but would love for a lifetime.

Where are you? I sent the thought out into the universe, knowing she couldn't hear it but hoping somehow it reached her anyway. Where are you, Rosie?

No answer. Just the echo of my own desperation and the slow, steady ache of the incomplete bond as I buried my nose into the jacket that still carried her scent.

Vanilla and hope.