“Would understand that I can’t let you bleed out.” She was already moving toward the bathroom, grabbing medical supplies with efficient movements.
When she came back into the living room, he started to protest, his Alpha pride warring with practical necessity.
“Korrak.” Her voice carried its own authority—not the dominance of a shifter, but the steel of a woman who wouldn’t let harm come to her mate. “Sit still.”
He sat perfectly still after that.
Winslet worked with swift precision, cleaning wounds and applying pressure bandages, then helping him get dressed, all while her mind calculated time and distance. The cabin lay in ruins around them—their sanctuary compromised, their safety shattered. But she felt no despair, only grim determination.
“Give me your keys,” she said, helping him into his parka. “I’ll drive. You navigate.”
His ice-blue eyes searched her face, finding something there that made him nod.
As they abandoned the destroyed cabin, Winslet looked back once at the place she’d thought meant safety—and understood that safety now lived between them, not within walls.
She squared her shoulders and helped Korrak into the Jeep.
Time to show Bracken what happened when someone threatened her family and her mate.
TWENTY
KORRAK
The Jeep’s engine roared to life beneath Winslet’s steady hands, cutting through the Arctic silence like a blade. Korrak settled into the passenger seat, his jaw clenched against the fire racing through his shoulder and arms where grizzly claws had found their mark. Blood seeped through the hastily applied bandages, but his shifter healing had already begun its work—tissue regenerating and pain dulling to a manageable throb.
He should have insisted on driving despite his injuries. Should have taken control the moment they’d abandoned his destroyed cabin. But Winslet’s hands hadn’t trembled when she’d demanded his keys, and her voice had carried the steel of someone who wouldn’t be argued with.
My brave, fierce mate.
“Northeast toward the industrial sector,” he directed, watching her navigate the treacherous ice road with careful precision. “Keep the speed steady but don’t push it. These roads will kill you faster than Bracken if you’re reckless.”
She nodded, her knuckles white on the steering wheel but her breathing controlled. Through the mate bond, he felt her emotions—fury and fear braided together into something deadlyfocused. She wasn’t the terrified woman who’d fled Seattle anymore. This was someone who’d claimed her strength and refused to let anyone threaten what mattered to her.
The thought of what Bracken had tried sent fresh rage coursing through Korrak’s veins. The bastard had assumed he could manipulate an Alpha’s protective instincts, send his rogues to snatch Winslet while Korrak rushed off to defend the southern border like some inexperienced leader.
“He underestimated me,” Korrak growled, his voice rough with controlled violence.
Winslet’s eyes flicked to him briefly before returning to the road. “But you saw right through it.”
The trap had still sprung, though. Even recognizing Bracken’s manipulation, they were being forced to play his game. Her parents and uncle remained hostages, leverage designed to strip away every advantage they might have gained.
“He told me if I came back willingly, he wouldn’t hurt them,” Winslet said quietly. “But then he sent rogues to drag me away anyway. Why offer a choice if he was planning to take me by force?”
Korrak studied her profile—the determined set of her jaw, and the way her green eyes tracked the road with predatory focus. “Because Bracken doesn’t actually want compliance. He wants complete surrender. Wants you to fear him so that he can have total control.”
The truth tasted bitter on his tongue.
“And if I don’t surrender?”
“He’ll probably lock you away somewhere.” The words came out harder than he’d intended. “Not to protect his criminal empire from exposure—to ensure you can never choose anyone else again.”
The mate bond carried her spike of fear, quickly suppressed beneath layers of determination. His mate was brave to the point of recklessness, and that both impressed and terrified him.
Korrak’s focus split as they navigated deeper into the frozen wasteland. Half his attention tracked terrain and distance to the warehouse, calculating approach routes and defensive positions. The other half remained locked on Winslet’s pulse through the bond—steady, controlled, dangerous in the way soldiers got right before battle.
That calm worried him more than panic would have. She was preparing for war, and wars claimed casualties.
“We’re getting close now,” he said as familiar landmarks appeared through the windshield. “Another mile, then we stop. Can’t risk them detecting the engine.”
