Renegade

11

“We found her!”

Gabriel let out a small huff of relief as one of his pack members mind-linked him to the news that they had found Winter. He and a few of his trusted sentinels quickly hurried towards the burning cottage despite it being not under their assigned area of responsibility. The small house was almost all embers and ashes when they arrived, the smoke thick enough to hinder their sense of smell from functioning properly.

He had dreaded the thought of Winter possibly being trapped there while it was burning down. It was unlikely that the threat of murder would befall his niece, since nobody in town actually knew who she really was. True, harming her as a means of weakening or using her as a leverage against their pack is possible but still too far-fetched as of the moment.

Who would dare invade or cause trouble in their territory with two of the Royals present in the area?

Gabe came to a halt in the woody area almost near the rubble of the cottage. The swift run cleared his senses and this allowed him to smell his niece right away. He saw Winter lying on the cold ground, seemingly knocked out. How the hell did she get here? If she had been abducted and dragged into this area, where was the perpetrator?

He quickly shifted back into his human form, accepting the clothes from one of his members. After quickly dressing up, he crouched on the ground to lift Winter into his arms. He was not worried about her getting too cold or hypothermia since the rage he was feeling on the inside was making his skin burn hotter than usual. He held her close to his body, knowing perfectly well that the heat he was emanating would warm her through.

“Scout the area and see what you can find beyond the border,” Gabriel barks out his order through gritted teeth. His gaze fell on Jackson and the younger wolf nodded in understanding. It was his responsibility now to find out who took Winter since she disappeared under his watch.

Traveling swiftly back into town, Gabe decided to go directly to his house since he did not know if it was safe in Winter’s apartment. He and his wife would have preferred their niece to live with them in the huge pack house, but the stubborn woman wanted to live independently.

“What happened? Is everything okay?” Jill asked as soon as he crossed the huge hall entrance of their three-story mansion. She quickly placed a hand on Winter’s forehead to check before her eyes roamed all over her body to make sure there was no injury.

“Someone took her before she could get into her apartment building,” Gabe replied curtly.

“When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was in that bloody damn meeting all night when Jackson called me. He was too panicked to even mind linking. He had to call me on my phone to tell me that Winter had been kidnapped.” Gabriel responded while he placed his niece gently on the huge couch near the burning fireplace. “I did not have time to tell you, I’m sorry. I had to control my emotions so that the Royals would not read too much into my abrupt exit.”

Jill let out a worried sigh before she proceeded to take the jacket off Winter. She grabbed the thick blanket, covering the still-sleeping body on the couch, thankful that her clothes were not soaked through.

“What does this mean, Gabriel?” Jill whispered the question as she stroked her niece’s hair.

“It simply enforces what we have to do, Jill. What we should have done a long time ago! It’s time to tell her the truth.” Gabriel replied as he settled tiredly on one of the chairs.

It was inevitable, they both knew it. Winter is too important for their species’ survival to be kept in the dark any longer. She needed to come to terms with reality and take the mantle of responsibility that is her birthright.

“Do they know?” Jill asked, looking at her husband with fear.

“As far as the people in that meeting go, nobody is the wiser,” he replied, “but someone out there probably knows her true identity, Jill. Otherwise, why grab her?”

“It could be one of our enemies, someone who wants to get to you?”

Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t think this has anything to do with me or the pack. It’s very sudden, and we have not been getting any threats from rogues or any other packs near our territory.”

“Then who?”

“I do not know. There are too many possibilities and too little evidence. Your theory is as good as anyone’s. " But, one thing is for sure, I will find out who is behind this!” Gabe growls slowly.

Jill nodded. “Winter should probably move back here. I’ll have her room prepared. I’m not particularly enthused about discussing living arrangements with her.”

Gabriel could not help but smile, “Glad it’s you and not me. The girl is as bull-headed as her mother!”

“It’s almost daybreak, you should get some rest,” she says to her husband.

“I should get back to the council meeting,” he responded, but at the same time, he closed his eyes, leaning back against the chair’s backrest.

“I think they will not come to any consensus while you rest, Gabe. I think everyone else has gone to bed. We should too! We all need enough rest to deal with what Winter will recount to us once she comes around.” Jill stated, also leaning back, closing her eyes. It was evident that both of them were not going to leave Winter alone until she woke up.

Winter felt like she was on fire. She groaned and pushed the heavy blanket off her body, eyes still tightly closed. It was like something more than the clothing that was weighing her down. Every nerve ending inside of her seemed to sizzle, an extreme tingling sensation all over her body which made her feverish. She did not remember lighting up her room’s heater, so why was it so stiffly warm?

I think I turned the heater way too high when I came home last night, she thought to herself, while letting out another groan of discomfort.

Last night.

Home.

She did not actually make it to her apartment, right?

Suddenly, the events of her a*******n came flooding into her awakened mind and Winter sat up, her eyes wide open, breath coming in small pants. She blinked, trying to get her bearings and finally noticed that she was in her foster parent’s living room. How did she get there?

She could feel how tired and sore her entire body was. Looking down on her wrists, she blanched upon seeing how red and raw they were, but it did not pain her that much anymore. She always healed faster whenever she got wounded.

“How are you feeling?”

Winter looked up just in time to see her foster mother sitting down beside her leg. Jill looked like she was holding back tears and trying her best not to show the extent of her worries.

“Sore but I feel okay,” Winter replied with a smile, hoping that her mother would be put at ease. “How did I get here?”

“Oh honey, we don’t have to talk about that now. How would you like a nice, warm bath, then breakfast perhaps?” Jill offered with an encouraging smile as she reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind Winter’s ear.

“I forgot to tell - my shift at the café. They will be understaffed,” Winter suddenly blurted with concern.

“Already taken care of, Win. Gabe sent reinforcements so that they will get plenty of help in the shop while you recuperate. Now, I refuse to carry on with any conversation until you go up to your room, shower, then join me for breakfast.”

“Mom, I was kidn*pped by this weird guy who turned into –“

“Winter, please,” Jill interjected, this time with a little bit of a bite.

If it seemed weird, Winter did not utter another word. She trudged up the stairs towards the familiar hallway that led to her old bedroom. Even when she no longer stayed in the house, her foster parents insisted on keeping it up to date and well-kept so that she can come home anytime and still have her own space.

Winter pushed the door open and sighed, unable to help the smile on her face. The room is pristine with a little bit of an updated, modern edge to it which is also highlighted by high-tech gadgets that clearly did not come from the local electronics store.

She continued towards the bathroom and could not help but say a little prayer of thanks and relief. The events last night were surely not some freaky nightmare and there were a hundred questions zooming in her mind at the moment, but Jill was right, she needed to get herself together because somehow, Winter knew that what happened later would completely change her life.