Page 86 of The Heart of Winter

As I was saying goodbye to my dad and father on the porch, something rare happened; Snow unexpectedly approached me.

"You're flying to Japan in two days?"

I nodded. I talked to Snow only on sporadic occasions, so his sudden question caught me off guard. But hey, my unique brother wanted to say goodbye, so why not have a quick chat?

"Yeah, we're leaving in two days. The company is covering the flight."

"Don't go."

I froze.

"And why not?"

For a moment, something strange flickered across his face, like his awareness had briefly shut off. His pale violet eyes became even more vacant, like a mannequin's.

"Don't go," he repeated.

I huffed in irritation. What kind of mind game was this?

"You've got to be kidding me. Everything's already set. This is a company trip—"

He turned around and walked away.

What the fuck?

My dad watched me and Snow for a moment, looking just as bewildered as I was.

"Winter," he whispered, "you know Snow has good instincts."

A weird sense of unease began to stir in me. "He didn’t say anything specific. I can’t back out now. Jacob would be pissed."

I saw the worry lingering on my dad’s face.

"Maybe you could call in sick?"

"Dad, it's not that simple!" I hissed. "We've been negotiating with them for months! We have a presentation ready, and I can't just cancel it like that."

Frustration flared up inside me. Not wanting to prolong the conversation or let doubt creep into my own head, I grabbed my suitcase and started walking away.

Dad hurried after me.

"Winter, Snow really has incredible intuition. I think you should cancel this flight. Please, son!" His turquoise eyes looked at me, pleading.

After loading my suitcase into the trunk, I walked around the car.

"Dad, I'm the lead on this project. We can't reschedule. The Japanese side set this date, and it's in our contract. I can’t make decisions based on someone's gut feeling."

I looked into my dad’s bright eyes one last time. Even though he was in his sixties, the magic of True Mates had kept him looking young—he didn’t appear a day over thirty-five. But now his face appeared almost gray, tense, and scared.

He reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Be careful, and remember—I love you, Winter. Always remember this!"

"Please, Dad. Don’t worry, everything will be fine."

As I pulled out onto the road, Dad stood in the driveway, watching my car disappear. His hand was pressed to his chest like his heart ached.

Despite my confident reassurances, an uneasy feeling gnawed at me the whole way back. I knew Snow wouldn’t have said something like that, unless he truly, deeply felt it in his intuition.

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