Winter

"Wow," Atti says, and then clears his throat as he looks at me. I should be the one saying wow when Atti is dressed like a hot sailor. He has a loose white shirt on, that dips to show off his impressive chest. He has a white cloak on, stretched around his large shoulders and tight black trousers. Honestly, I expect him to throw me over his shoulder and take me to his ship.

"This looks okay?" I ask, glancing down at the white lacy dress I'm wearing. Tonight is the summer solstice and witches all go to the trees to dance and celebrate. Atti wants to take me; Leigha is watching the house and Dabriel had to visit the pack to heal a few people after a fight broke out. The wolves and vampires are still having trouble mixing. I was left to Alex and her fashion do over.

"You look amazing, no hot, no wait I can think of a good word," he mumbles out, making me chuckle.

"So, what happens tonight?" I ask him.

"A big party and…” Atti stops and shakes his head. He takes my hand and pulls me close,

"I'd rather just show you," he says and we float away with his power.

When we reappear, we are in the middle of a crowd. A few people stare at us and bow their heads. Other witches look on in worry or just walk away from us. It takes me a second to recognise them as witches because they all have their hoods down. Most of them have black or dark blonde hair like Atti. There are a few with silver hair, which makes me wonder which side they are from. They have a mix of skin tones as well, but most have a gold complexion like Atti’s. Sun-kissed skin. I glance up at the stars in the sky; they are so bright here.

There's a long table full of different food spread down the middle of the trees. Children and parents spin in circles as music plays fast merry tunes.

The trees have yellow bunting hanging between them and I can hear the trees singing to the music. They’re happy.

I smile up at Atti who takes my hand and leads me through the crowds to the dancers. He spins us around, and we hold hands as we dance around in circles like the others. I laugh as he pulls me close and spins me out. We dance close, my big smile matching his, our hips swaying to the music and my head tucked into his chest.

The song ends and I clap with everyone else to the small band, just a few witches playing a variety of different instruments with one singer. People are still staring but it isn't too bad. I kind of got used to it at the vampire castle.

"Will you dance with me?" A little girl asks Atti. She looks around five with her white hair in two plaits, and a little yellow dress. It reminds me of the yellow dress I saw myself wearing as a toddler with my mother. It’s hard not to feel the pain with the memory, the tears running down my mother’s face. The pain.

Her mother, I guess, comes running over and lowers into a bow.

"I am so sorry for my daughter, she doesn't realise who you are," the blonde woman says. She stands up; she has on a simple white corset dress that falls to the ground.

"I'm just a witch like her. I would love to have this dance with you, my lady," Atti says and does a bow at the girl who giggles.

Atti holds a hand out and she takes it. I move back next to the woman and watch as Atti picks the girl up and dances around with her.

"He will make a good father, My Lady," the woman says and I nod watching him. I can’t imagine a life where I would feel safe enough to have a baby. The world we live in isn’t safe and yet, I could see a little girl with my hair and maybe Atti’s eyes. I could imagine having a child with any of my guys.

"Agreed. I'm Winter," I hold out my hand to her and she accepts it.

"I sincerely hope you win the last fight. I have always believed in the goddess," she tells me. Her light greys eyes are large on her bold-looking face. There’s a slight scar by her eye that stands out in her perfect face.

"Thank you," I nod and she smiles.

"I’m going to try the food; could you tell Atti where I am?" I ask.

"Of course, my lady," she bows again and I move away towards the food. 

"This is a message from the queen," a woman I recognise steps in front of me. The woman is one of the two I usually see with the queen. She is the pretty one, with the long blonde hair and a light witch. I wonder why she is on Tatiana’s side and not Atti’s.

"What is it?" I ask and she smirks before answering.

"The next fight is the last and you are allowed two women to fight with you. This fight will be the end, the queen is done with the games as we have a war to fight," she says, her voice echoing and everyone stops to stare at us. The music cuts off a second before I feel Atti appear next to me and slip his hand around my waist.

"Fine," I reply. The woman disappears. The witches all go back to whatever they were doing but a lot of them are still watching us.

"Who are you choosing?" Atti immediately asks me.

"Leigha and Alex. I don't know any others to help me." I say.

"Two vampires are not a good idea, Leigha, yes but Alex is still so untrained." He says. I guess he is right; Alex wouldn’t be a good choice. Also, I would be way to distracted trying to protect her.

"Who would you suggest?" I ask.

"Katy or maybe Lucinda." He tells me. I didn’t realise he knew her.

"Why?" 

“They are both strong and Jaxson has made Katy a guard. Lucinda is an alpha of strong blood. I believe one of them would be the ideal person to have at your side." 

"I will ask Jaxson. She’s only sixteen and Lucinda has a lot of responsibilities." I say.

"And you are only twenty. Age is just a number for us, we don’t have the pleasure of being innocent for so long. Our children don’t know a time without death and war." Atti says, his eyes watching the dancers.

"Twenty-one in two months," I say and Atti smiles.

"We will have to celebrate," he winks.

"Only if the whole world isn't destroyed, you mean," I joke a little too loudly. Several people look my way. Okay, maybe a bad joke.

"I'm going to feed you so you stop talking. I have better ways to keep you quiet but we can't do those in public," Atti winks at me and I laugh with warm cheeks. He walks us closer to the table of food, his arm tight around my waist.

"Oh, chocolate cake!" I point at a large chocolate cake and he walks us over. He cuts me a big piece and then gets me a fork.

"I would try the whole romantic feeding you thing but I'm honestly scared you would try to eat me and not in the good way," he laughs.

“What’s the good way?” I innocently ask him and he smirks.

“The same good way I would enjoy eating you,” he winks and I blush, my mouth closed around a piece of chocolate cake.

“And baby,” Atti says as he moves his head close to my ear,

"I can be as slow or fast as you like," he whispers, I nearly choke on my chocolate cake at his seductive words. I was wrong; fucking hell, Atti can flirt like the best of them. I miss this side to Atti, the less serious side.

“What was it like growing up around here?” I ask him as we eat.

“I didn’t get out much. My mother was protective to say the least; she couldn’t cope with me being far from her until I was stronger and able to protect myself.” He says.

“So, you were lonely?” I ask.

“No just bored. You forget I used to sneak out and see the others. When I first started seeing Wyatt, he was an angry kid, but it was fun to wind him up. We both came up with this great idea to see the other princes. Jax was cool but Dabriel tried to kill us. He was a serious one with a stick up his butt.” Atti says and I laugh at his choice of words.

“Anyway, my mother finally caught on about my disappearing acts. Witches usually can’t use the power to move until they hit sixteen so she didn’t know I could do it. She showed me the castle and told me it was safe to play there.” His words hinted in sadness.

“The rest of my childhood was council meetings, fighting in the arena and learning everything I could about ruling.” He tells me.

“You will make a good king,” I say, and he looks down at me.

“With you at my side, I will,” he whispers and kisses me.

“You had a little chocolate on your lips,” he smirks.

“You don’t need an excuse to kiss me, Atti,” I grin.

“I know,” he smiles and wraps an arm around me. We both watch the dancers for a while, lost in our thoughts.

"Here, my lady, I brought you a drink. They’re made from the grapes I grew in my garden,” a woman says with long black hair as she stops in front of us, a dark witch. She hands Atti and me two glasses.

"Thank you," I say, and drink some as she moves into the crowd. The grape juice is soft and sweet. It's really nice.

I eat a few more pieces of cake before I start feeling hot. 

"Winter," I hear and I try to respond but nothing comes out.