CHAPTER 18
**ZION**
“Hey, where are you going?” the redhead calls after me, her tone tinged with worry.
“Are we heading to one of the bedrooms or something?” I swat her away with a dismissive gesture as if she were a bothersome insect.
My attention remains fixed on my real target: Snowflake.
Inside, I try to convince myself I don’t care. About Winter or anything connected to her. But the truth gnaws at me, clawing its way to the surface. I want her to hurt, to feel the same kind of pain I’ve been carrying for years. She doesn’t get to just show up, act like nothing happened, and enjoy herself. Not while I’m here.
Fueled by that festering rage, I storm across the room and plant myself right in front of Ethan, cutting off his view of Winter. The smirk that was plastered on his face disappears the moment he looks up and registers the tension rolling off me. His expression hardens.
“What the fuck do you want now, Zion?” Ethan spits, clearly irritated by my interruption.
I step closer, lowering my voice to a dangerous pitch. “Stay the fuck away from Winter. Or there’ll be consequences.”
He lets out a sharp laugh, though his eyes glint with warning. “Is that a threat, Royal? Because I don’t take kindly to threats.”
“Oh, it’s more than a threat, Wilde.” My fists curl at my sides, knuckles white. “It’s a promise. Stay away from her, and we won’t have a problem. Push me, and I’ll make you regret it.”
Ethan glares at me, squaring his shoulders.
“Fuck off, Zion. I’m not one of your little lapdogs. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
I don’t blink, locking eyes with him. “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re gonna back off, Ethan. Walk away before things get ugly.”
The tension between us is suffocating, thick enough to cut with a knife. But before Ethan can fire back, my attention shifts to Winter. She’s watching the exchange, uncertainty flickering across her face.
“And you,” I say coldly, eyes narrowing on her. “You need to choose your friends more carefully, Snowflake.”
Her gaze sharpens, defiance flashing in her eyes. “Lucky for me, Zion, I don’t give a damn about your opinion. If I want to talk to Ethan, I will. So get over yourself.”
Ethan steps forward, fists clenched, jaw taut with frustration. “You heard her. Now get lost, Royal, before I make you.”
My eyes snap back to him, and I close the distance until we’re practically nose to nose.
“No, Wilde. You’re going to walk away and forget she even exists. You mess with her, and I promise—you won’t like how it ends.”
Ethan’s eyes narrow, jaw flexing with restrained anger, but he doesn’t back down. “You don’t scare me, Zion.”
I lean in, my face inches from his, my voice dropping to a low, lethal tone. “ You’ll walk away and forget she exists. Because if you don’t…” I pause, my voice dropping into an icy whisper. “You’ll wish you had.”
"Royal ..!"
"Fuck off Wilde!" I growl at Ethan, tightening my grip on Winter’s slim arm.
Her skin feels warm and soft against my fingers, and her scent of vanilla and cinnamon only adds to my simmering anger.
The scent slams into me like a ton of bricks to the gut. Pulling her toward me, I watch her face morph from laughter and happiness to anger and confusion in an instant.
“Let go of me!” Winter hisses, her voice full of venom as she jerks against my grip.
“Zion...” Ethan's voice cuts through, low and threatening, but I don’t even glance his way. I raise my hand to silence him, my eyes locked on Winter. I don’t care what he has to say. She was mine before anyone else, and she always will be.
ZION!"
“BACK. OFF. WILDE!” I bark, my voice vibrating with barely contained rage.
Without another word, I tighten my grip on Winter’s arm and yank her away from Ethan. He shouts something after us, but his voice is swallowed by the pounding bass of the music. I don’t care what he’s saying anyway. His words are meaningless.
Winter twists in my grasp, fighting against me as I pull her farther from Ethan. Her resistance only fuels my need to get her away, to claim what’s mine.
“Zion, stop!” she snaps, but I ignore her struggles, dragging her through the crowd as she tries to free herself from my hold.
“Let go of me,” she growls through her teeth, trying to dig her feet into the floor. Does she think she’s strong enough to fight me? I’m nearly a foot taller and much stronger, and if she wants to get technical about it, I have no problem proving it to her. Grinning, I hone in on that simmering pain that eats, breathes, and lives inside me.
“Nope. I told you that if you didn’t stay out of my way, there would be consequences. It’s not my fault you’re a shit listener.”
"I did stay out of your way! You’re the one who keeps coming into mine. Why can’t you just leave me alone? You can’t control me, or tell me where I can and can’t go—you aren’t a damn god!” she yells over the music blaring through the house.
Her feistiness turns me on as much as it infuriates me. I drag her through the crowd, and she stumbles a few times, but my grip on her arm keeps her from falling. When we reach the edge of the room, I yank open the back door and pull her out into the far corner of the backyard, away from the party.
The cold air bites into my skin, but it’s a welcome relief against the rage boiling inside me.
Outside, I release her like her touch burns, shoving her against the side of a tree.
Touching her reminds me of the times when we were kids, holding hands and walking together. It reminds me of who I was before she shattered me.
"I'm only doing what my mom told me to do—protect you from the bad boys. And believe me, Ethan is the worst of them all. You weren’t even invited to this party. I told you not to show your fucking face around me, but you just couldn’t let me enjoy myself, could you? Of all the people you could have flirted with, you chose my arch-enemy as a way to fu*k with me, didn’t you? Are you trying to piss me off?"
She looks genuinely confused, shaking her head. "I didn’t know who Ethan was or that you two had any issues. I wasn’t flirting; he was just being nice to me."
She glances back toward the house as if she thinks Ethan or someone else will come to her rescue.
Pathetic.
I clench my teeth, feeling the urge to shake some sense into her.
I don’t hurt women, not unless you count breaking their hearts as hurting them, but I want to hurt Winter. I want her to feel my pain, to shed tears and wallow in misery. Leaning into her face, I whisper harshly,
“If you’re waiting for a knight in shining armour, you’re wasting your time. Ethan won’t save you from me. He’s not stupid enough to meddle where he doesn’t belong, and if he tries, I’ll make sure he regrets it.”
“What happened to you, Oni?” Her voice cracks, eyes soft and pleading.
'Oni.' How dare she use that old nickname, the one only she used to say.
As if she doesn’t know exactly how she destroyed me, broke my family and my heart. Playing innocent, acting the victim—I’ll show her what it’s like to be truly broken.
“It’s Zion!” I shout, watching her shudder.
“And drop the innocent act. You know damn well what you did.”
She shakes her head, her blonde curls flying, and I can't hold back. I’m an asshole, a bastard, a fucking douchebag, but this is who I am now.
Winter had her chance to come clean back then, to tell the truth, but she didn’t. Now she's nothing to me, nothing but the enemy.
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