Winter needed air after everything the king had told her, she needed to clear her mind, think about what needed to be done next. The king had moments where he seemed reasonable, but there were others where he was just plane mad. 

The king had granted her some time to think, she sat outside looking over a little lake in the royal garden. She closed her eyes for a second and felt how Luke made contact. 

'Are you okay?' Luke asked. 

'Yeah I am.' Winter replied. 

'Luckily, because you won't like what I am about to tell you.' Luke answered. 

Winter sighed. 

'He has found you guys, hasn't he?' she asked. 

'Yes, and he demands to speak to you.' 

Winter sighed for a moment as she opened her mind to let Arsen in. 

'Where are you?' 

Arsen's voice filled her head, she could feel that he was angry. 

'At the palace.' Winter replied. 

'I am coming to get you.' He replied stern. 

'No, you are not, you are needed in the pack.' 

'So are you'. 

Winter sighed; she could feel how tense he was. 

'Why didn't you tell me you were meeting him? We are supposed to be partners.' Arsen said.

 'Because I know that you wouldn't be able to control yourself.' Winter replied. 

'Yeah, I am not going to sit on the side line, waiting while you are there with him. We both know what he wants.' Arsen fired back. 

'Yes, you are.' Winter replied. 

'And you are going to listen to me. Because one I want pups and two, he is here.' 

A tense feeling settled inside Winter, she knew that Arsen was fuming, the person that hurt his mate was here. 

'But you are not doing anything about that, I am going to kill him.' she smirked. 

'And when I am back, you can explain to me why you didn't tell me about that curse.'

"Winter." 

That voice, how she hated that voice. Winter stood up and turned around. Hex stood there in front of us. 

"What do you want?" she hissed. 

"I want to talk to you." 

He moved closer Winter felt how her wolf got more on edge the closer he came. 

"When I left you were just a beautiful, little pup, look at you now." he licked his lips. 

Winter didn't reply she just looked at him, at every move he made. 

"I wonder what the king would think of you, if he hears about your dirty little secret." Winter smirked. 

"I just tell him you wanted it, he tends to listen to me." Hex cocky grin filled his face. 

"Who do you think pointed him in your direction?" 

He grinned as he slowly started to circle around her. 

"When rumors about you started to surface, I pointed him in your direction, especially after we heard about that little meeting at your brother's pack." 

Winter felt how his hand landed on her ass. 

"I bet I can even get the king as far as to share his mate." 

Winter held her breath, she knew she had to let him close to strike. 

"And all the other girls?" she asked. 

"Until we could get to you, we needed something to pass the time, something to play with." he answered with zero remorse. 

"The king as well?" she asked voice filled with disbelief. 

"The king doesn't know everything." Hex smirked. 

"He assumed that most of them slept willing with him and then went back to their pack. Well not exactly willingly but you get the point. He had a couple of them that he wanted to keep around."

There was no going back, Winter knew that she needed to kill him. The only question was what the king would think of it. 

"You look tough but underneath you are still that sweet little lamb, waiting to be devoured by me." He huskily said in her ear. 

Winter felt how his hands burned over her body. She needed to keep her wolf in line, promising her something else. Winter tried to step away but he grabbed her. Bruises wouldn't do it, they would be healed before anybody could find them.

"You'll never have me." Winter hissed. 

Hex ripped her top open. 

"Will see about that."

 Winter smirked; she wasn't backing down now she wanted to feel how his miserable live ended how he would never be able to hurt someone else. She turned around facing him and start to scream for help. All the while she grabbed him by the throat. 

Hex was surprised by her force, he tried to fight but he wasn't a match for her. In seconds she had wrestled him down. She heard how wolves were approaching her, she needed to be fast. 

She squeezed his throat shut with all her might, watching how he begged and fought for his live. Winter was still screaming for help, masking the sounds of Hex. Until she saw how life left his eyes. 

She knew that his dead wouldn't undo what he had done, his dead wouldn't change anything for her. But an odd sense of relief washed over her now that she knew he couldn't hurt her anymore or anyone for that matter.

The king was by her side moments later, Winter knew she had to keep the performance going. The tears flowed naturally over her cheeks, the moment she dreamed so long about, had finally happened. He couldn't harm anyone else. 

The king kneeled down next to her. 

"What happened?" he softly asked. 

"He tried to" Winter stammered. 

Roderick draped his vest around Winter's shaking body. It must have been all the tension that left her body. 

"How did you know him?" the prince asked. 

"He raped me when I was little." she softly whispered.

 Everything around them turned silent. 

"I was young and weak." she answered. 

The king softly rubbed her back. 

"He tried again." she said. 

"But I am not weak anymore." 

She looked up between tears at the king and the prince. 

"Are you okay?" the king asked. 

Winter nodded her head. 

"Let's get you inside." 

He said as he helped her up and walked with her towards the castle. Prince Roderick quickly followed them. 

"What's going to happen now?" Winter stammered. 

The king studied her for a second. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. 

"I killed your advisor" she answered. 

"It was self-defense. And I now get why he insisted on having you here." the king added. 

"I am sorry I let that happen to you." 

He softly brushed with his finger over her cheek. Winter closed her eyes for a second imagining it was Arsen.

"Once we are mated nothing will harm you anymore. "