CHAPTER 227

WINTER

"I should’ve known,” I whispered.

“I should’ve known it wasn’t just some damn prank. The messages. The way they kept coming. I ignored it. I was such an idiot.” My voice cracked, trembling on the edge of breaking completely.

Harry’s jaw clenched as he yanked out his phone, fingers moving over the screen. 

“No more ignoring, this guy. This ends now. I’m calling the cops. They need to know everything—every message, every threat. We can’t let this go on any longer.”

“No!” I snapped, moving so fast I almost stumbled out of Zion’s lap. 

His arms dropped away, surprise flashing across his face.

“Harry—don’t. Just don’t.”

Zion’s eyes narrowed, voice low and sharp. 

His hands reached out, fingers curling around my wrists as he tried to hold me still.

"Snowflake?"

“I said no!"

I jerked my hands free, breaking from his grasp before he could tighten it.

"What if it makes him worse? What if calling the cops sets him off?”

Ro stepped forward, jaw clenched. 

“Worse? He already killed a fucking cat. A cat you loved, Winter. That piece of shit wants you scared!" His voice was rough, raw with frustration. 

“And it’s working!” I snapped, spinning on him, my voice splintering with panic. 

"You think I care what happens to me? I don’t! But if he touches one of you—"

Zion cut in, voice rough and furious, shaking with the weight of everything he wasn’t saying. 

“You think I’d let that happen? You think I’d let him get anywhere near you, or Claire, or Ro, or anyone under this roof? I swear to you—if he even thinks about crossing that line, he’ll regret the day he was born. I’ll make sure he never sets foot near any of you again. Nobody hurts my people. Not while I’m still fucking breathing.”

“—just stop, Zion! Stay out of this! All of you!”

My hands shot up between us, pushing against his chest, but it didn't move him an inch.

Zion’s jaw clenched

“Stay out of it? Are you fucking kidding me?” Zion roared, his voice shaking with fury. 

“You really think I could just stand back after what he did to you?”

His eyes blazed, wild and burning, like he was barely holding himself together. 

“He left that cat there for you to find. He wanted to break you—scare you. And you expect me to sit on my hands and do nothing?!”

His chest heaved as he stepped closer, voice raw. 

“He hurt you. He targeted you. And you want me to pretend like that’s okay? Like I’m supposed to just sit here and do nothing?

He left you a fucking corpse, Snowflake. A warning. That wasn’t just a message—it was a threat.”

“Exactly!” I shouted hoarsely, pointing like I could shove the nightmare back behind the door. 

“Did none of you see what that sick fuck did? He butchered Toby! Left him there like some goddamn trophy for me to find!”

Zion moved instantly, but I flinched away before he could touch me. 

My breath caught, hands trembling as I pointed at them—at Clark, at Ro, at Harry, at Ariel, at Claire, at him.

“He killed Toby because of me,” I said, voice breaking. 

“He did that to punish me. To warn me.”

“What if I’ve already doomed you all just by letting you in?” My hands gripped my hair. 

“I thought I could handle it. I thought he was just some sick freak with too much time on his hands. But he’s not. He’s sick. He’s methodical. He’s watching.”

I gasped, panic clawing up my throat like I was choking. 

"Snowflake...."

“You really think I’m going to risk any of you getting hurt next? What if it’s Ro’s dog? Or Clark’s sister?” 

My eyes flicked sharply to Claire, then back to Zion. 

“Or what if it’s you?” I jabbed my finger at him like I was trying to drive the words right into his chest.

“What if next time it’s you lying in a box?!”

Zion stepped forward, arms out but steady, voice low and raw. 

“Snowflake —breathe, goddammit, just breathe.”

“No!” I shoved his hands away like poison. 

“You don’t get it! I underestimated him! Thought he was some sad little troll with a burner phone. I laughed it off like a dumbass. But he’s not. He’s violent. He’s enjoying this sick game. Watching me. Playing with dead animals and blood like I’m some joke—like I’m the punchline!”

Zion didn’t flinch. 

Didn’t blink. 

But his jaw clenched tight, and when he spoke, his voice was a dangerous growl.

“You’re not alone. None of this is on you.”

I shook my head violently, panspiralling, words spilling faster, harsher, desperate. 

“But I’m the reason it started! Can’t you see? You’re all only in danger because of me! I can’t protect you—I won’t let you get caught in this mess! I can’t lose any of you. Not like this.”

My knees gave out beneath me.

Zion caught me instantly, pulling me into him so tight I could feel the fury shaking in his chest, hear his heartbeat pounding like a war drum.

“Let me go,” I sobbed, voice raw and broken.

“Not a chance.” His whisper was fierce, trembling with rage and something deeper. 

“Scream. Shove me. Hate me. I don’t give a single fuck. I’m not letting go. Not now. Not ever.”

His arms tightened like a vice, locking around me as my body convulsed against his. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Just the weight of his grip and the panic rising like a flood in my throat.

And then—I snapped.

“Let me go!” I screamed, my hands slamming against his chest, over and over. 

“Let me go!”

Zion’s eyes widened, shocked—but only for a second.

“No—”

“I said LET GO!” I shoved him with everything I had. 

All the terror. 

All the horror clawing inside me. 

It burst out of me like a scream turned physical, and for the first time… he let me go.

I stumbled backwards, gasping, my hands trembling at my sides.

He stood there, chest heaving, jaw clenched like he was barely keeping something caged.

But I couldn’t look at him.

I couldn’t look at any of them.

Because all I could see was what might come next.

Toby was just the beginning.

And if I didn’t stop this—if I didn’t push them away—one of them could be next.

Zion.

Ro.

Clark.

Claire.

Harry.

Ariel.

The thought hit like a blade to the chest.

He said I shouldn’t have told them.

So what the hell was he going to do now that I had?

Who was next?

“Winter,” Claire said sharply, stepping forward. 

“Stop.”

“No!” I cried, eyes wide. 

“None of you get it! This isn’t just some faceless creep anymore! He’s real. He’s right here. Breathing our air. Walking our streets. Watching me. Watching us.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, my nails digging into my skin, trying to hold myself together.

“If he hurts one of you…If he kills one of you… because of me…” 

I looked up at Zion then, my voice a broken whisper. 

“I wouldn’t survive it.”

Harry stepped forward, voice rough with bitter anger. 

“You think that psycho scares us? No. He’s the one who should be scared. Messing with us… messing with the Royals… he just signed his own death warrant.”

Ro folded his arms, eyes blazing. 

“You think we’re leaving you to fight this alone? Hell no. We ride or die with our friends. That bastard’s gonna regret the day he crossed us.”

Clark cracked a dark grin, teeth flashing like knives. 

“Yeah, Winter. You want that psycho dead? ‘Cause we’re all ready to break his bones and feed him to the fucking wolves. Nobody leaves a friend behind—not on my watch.”

I trembled harder, heart pounding so loud I thought it might burst from my chest. Panic twisted through me, but beneath it, something fierce flickered—because these people weren’t just friends. 

They were a goddamn army, and they would fight for me.

“No,” I whispered brokenly. 

“No way, I’m losing any of you. Not like this. Not ever.”

Zion grabbed me, crushed me tighter, his breath hot against my ear. 

“Then hold on, Snowflake. Because we’re going to burn this whole fucked-up nightmare down. And we’ll drag that bastard into the fire with us.”

I shook my head, backing away. “You don’t understand, Zion—he said it. He warned me. I shouldn’t have told you—”

“I don’t give a fuck what he said,” he growled, his voice shaking with rage. 

“He wants you scared. He wants you alone. He wants you to push us away so he can tear you apart piece by piece without anyone stopping him.”

My breath hitched.

Zion stepped closer, slow but steady, his eyes burning. 

“But here’s the thing, Snowflake—he doesn’t get that. He doesn’t get me. Because I’m not going anywhere. You hear me?”

I tried to turn away—he caught my wrist.

His voice dropped to something lethal. 

“He thinks Toby was the warning? That box was a message? Then here’s mine—if he touches anyone else you love, if he tries to hurt you again, I will bury him so deep the fucking worms will be scared to crawl near him.”

And suddenly I was back in his arms before I realised I’d moved.

Zion’s grip tightened—just enough to make me feel him, not enough to hurt. 

“You don’t get to decide who bleeds for you, Winter. Not when we’re already in this. Not when I’d gladly burn the world to the ground if it meant keeping you breathing.”

My chest caved in with a sharp sob, my knees trembling. 

“But what if you get hurt?”

“I already am,” he said, his voice raw now. 

“Every second you flinch away from me. Every time you try to carry this shit alone. That’s what’s killing me.”

His hand moved to my cheek, thumb brushing the tear that fell. 

“So don’t push me away, Snowflake. Not when I’d rather be ripped apart with you than watch you fall alone.”

No one moved for a moment.

Then I heard it.

A sharp, familiar click—followed by Harry’s voice, hard and flat.

“I’m calling the cops.”

My head whipped toward him. “—Harry—”

“Winter, he left a dead fucking animal outside your home.” Harry snapped, thumb flying across his screen.

“This isn’t a prank anymore. It hasn’t been for a while.”

“We don’t even know what he’ll do if—”

“Exactly,” Harry said, locking eyes with me, voice tight. 

“We don’t know. That’s why we need the damn cops.”

His voice didn’t shake. Not like mine had. He wasn’t begging or falling apart—he was angry. 

Cold. Controlled. 

And furious for me.

“Yeah,” he muttered, already lifting the phone to his ear. 

“Hi. I need to report a serious stalking incident. It escalated. Yes. There’s a dead cat —”

“He didn’t just kill it. He destroyed it. Tore it apart like it was nothing. Like he wanted to send a message.”

He paused, jaw flexing, and looked at me. 

“Yeah. Right on the doorstep.”

I sank onto the couch, unable to stop the silent tears slipping free again.

Zion moved to my side, slower this time, kneeling in front of me, one hand hovering—asking permission.

He didn’t speak yet. Just watched me.

The others stood in a tense circle around us. Clark’s hands were still clenched into fists. Ro’s jaw was locked. Claire hovered near the back wall, her expression unreadable, but her eyes never left me.

“They’re sending someone now,” Harry said finally, lowering the phone. 

“They’ll be here in ten.”

Ten minutes.

Ten minutes until we weren’t the only ones in this anymore.

Ten minutes until this nightmare stopped being mine alone to carry.

And yet all I could think was…

What if he knew?

"What if he was watching? What if Toby was just the beginning?

Zion’s voice broke into the chaos in my head, low and razor-sharp. 

“Let him watch. Let him hear. Let him know”

His hand finally touched mine—just a light press.

“And if he’s got a death wish, fine. Because what he did to Toby is nothing compared to what I’ll do to him.”

The sirens hadn't started yet, but I already felt the walls closing in.

And somewhere deep inside, I knew this wasn’t over.

He was watching.

And now, he would be very angry.