Winter (Rise of the Pride, Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

house?”
Sheriff Lynch asked, his gaze on his notes as he kept writing while
he waited.
    “We never made it,” she sobbed, covering her
face with her good hand. “He pulled into Mr. Kinley’s corn fields,
and before I could ask him what he was doing, Perry drug me out of
the car by my hair. He pinned me to the ground and started
demanding I tell him everything I knew about the pride.”
    “What did you tell him?” Winter asked, his
voice unnaturally calm.
    “I didn’t tell him anything,” she barked. “I
would never sell out the pride!”
    “Calm down,” Winter cooed. “I just need to
know what this asshole knows.”
    “Nothing,” she sniffled. “I told him
nothing.”
    “What else do you remember?” the sheriff
asked.
    “He started choking me.” She paused,
touching her throat. “He didn’t…he didn’t touch me any other way,
but he hit me several times. The next thing I remember was waking
up here.”
    “What does he look like?” Winter asked.
    “He’s about six feet tall, black hair…brown
eyes. He’s muscular, but not huge. He has a birthmark under his
right ear about the size of a nickel.”
    “What was he driving?” the sheriff
asked.
    “He was driving an older model, white Ford
truck.” Nova winced as she scooted herself up in the bed. She
noticed that Winter watched her but didn’t make a move to assist,
and even though she knew he wouldn’t touch her, a little part of
her wanted him to hold her. She’d never admit it, but she was
scared. And that just pissed her off, because she was stronger than
that.
    “Okay,” the sheriff said. “I’m going to
transfer this to a witness form and bring it back for you to read
over and sign. I’ll leave you two alone, but I’ll see you in about
an hour, Nova.”
    “Okay.” She nodded, relaxing back into the
pillows. As soon as the sheriff left, she rolled her head to the
right, finding Winter there, staring at her. His eyes had a few
small flecks of amber showing and she knew from her sister that his
animal was agitated, possibly wanting to make itself seen. “Are you
okay?”
    “You’re asking me if I’m okay?” he
chuffed, shaking his head. The amber receded from his eyes, leaving
the ice blue of his human side.
    “Your eyes were glowing a little,” she told
him, her voice raw. Winter walked over to a side table and picked
up the pitcher of water and a small matching cup. He placed it on
the rolling tray and pushed it over to the bed. He maneuvered it so
it was over Nova’s lap before taking a seat in the chair.
    “I would never hurt you.” He frowned, his
voice softening. “Never, Nova.”
    “I know,” she whispered, feeling her eyes
water. “I’m sorry.”
    “This isn’t your fault,” he sighed. “Let’s
just worry about getting you home. We can talk about this whole
mess later…when you are feeling better. Because, Nova?”
    “Yeah?” she replied, her voice small. His
face hardened and when he blinked, she gasped because his eyes had
completely changed to the glowing amber of his panther.
    “If you ever…and I mean ever , put
yourself in harm’s way again, I will blister your ass,” he growled.
“Do you understand me?”
    She couldn’t do anything but stare at the
man who’d done nothing but protect her and had warned her away from
the jerk who’d ended up almost killing her. Nova had a lot of
apologizing to do.

Chapter Three

    Liberty couldn’t sleep. Her sister was in
the hospital because some asshole had used her to get information
about her pride. Winter had been at Nova’s bedside every moment for
the past three days. She knew the Guardian had his eyes set on
Nova, but he wouldn’t even get close enough to touch her to find
out if they were mates.
    She wondered if Winter even wanted a
mate. He’d been in charge of watching over the old farmhouse Nova
lived in alone ever since Liberty had mated Talon. Two weeks ago
and out of the blue, Nova had requested Dane as her new bodyguard
to keep her