Chapter 19: CHAPTER 19: A STRONG FAMILY PART ONE

"How was your first day of school?" I ask, threading my arms into my nightgown.

Xander adjusts my sleeves so that they aren't too long. "Eventful to say the least," he replies as he lets out a long sigh.

Well, he's not wrong. After Alex carried me to the nurse's office, they had to leave my side in order to go to class since they are still students. Delic would stay next to me when he had free time, and the twins would visit me between classes. When I wasn't in class, everyone tried to pry more answers out of them, and the twins would get so flustered that they also ended up in the nurse's office due to the overwhelming stress. Delic practically had to lug the three of us on his back to get to the car.

"Is your heart feeling better now? I remember Delic saying that your heart was racing."

"I'm fine now. That was just a momentary problem that Delic grew into a big deal. I don't know why it happened though."

I take Xander's hand, and we walk over to my desk where some of my last minute documents are that I need to finalize.

"Even this late at night, you are still working hard," Xander comments while watching over me.

"What do you mean 'this late at night'? It's only 9pm," I laugh as I sign my name on the piece of paper. "It's not even a lot of work anyways. This is nothing compared to what my father did."

"If I may, do you mind if I ask you about your father and your late family?" Xander asks. "I know you said that you lost everyone in your family, but you never mentioned how. Normally, when someone loses a family member, they like to relish in the fond memories they had."

I glance up at Xander who is blankly staring at the desk. He notices me staring and starts rambling.

"I mean if you don't want to talk about it, then that's fine too. I was probably being nosy for asking such a personal question. You can just for-"

"Okay."

"What?"

"I'll talk about them with you. You're keeping me company, so I will humor you with my tales," I respond, giving off a warm smile. I gesture for Xander to sit in the chair that's in front of the desk.

"Do you mind if we join your story time as well?" Delic asks from behind the door.

Alex's head pops out from behind Delic. "I'm also very interested in learning about my Lady's family."

These boys really are something. I laugh to myself and wave my hand. "Okay, okay. Come on inside and take a seat."

Yule Winter. A warm man who used to be the coldest, most calculated Winter Vessel who ever lived. It didn't help much that he was bullied by his cousins for being born with weird powers. Yule didn't like that a huge responsibility was handed to him involuntarily. He was so upset. He was so mad. 'Why me?' was a constant question that would always pop up.

The day that Yule officially met his guardian wolf spirit was on his fifth birthday. At first, Yule thought it was just a normal wolf until one afternoon on his way home from school, Yule was attacked by an organization that was against the Winter Family. His guardian wolf spirit transformed into a human and fought off the small team of men who were after Yule. This was the day when Yule was informed of his position in the family. He was told at such a young age that he was born to become the leader of the family. He was told at such a young age that he had an obligation to protect everyone on the estate alongside the mafia.

Protect everyone? He didn't like the idea of protecting the group of people who bullied him every day. This made him increasingly violent.

You are reading story The Winter Vessel at novel35.com

The time came when Yule reached the age of twenty-one. It was the moment that he officially took his father’s place as head of the Winter Family and leader of the Winter Mafia. The ceremony was always an elaborate event, but this ceremony was an extremely cold one. Ice chandeliers line the ceiling on both sides of the room. Delicate snow lay on the edges of every wall, chair, and door. A marvelous display of small intricate ice sculptures decorate the tables. The doors burst open to reveal a fog of smoke. The extreme temperature difference between the room and the hallway was never common because the head of the family understands that not everyone in the Winter Family is immune to the cold.

Yule walks in with trails of snowflakes following him. Yule's nickname 'Ice King' has become a well-known rumor around the family. He shows absolutely no emotions. He callously dismisses the family's pleas when they disagree with the way he handles situations. He coldly glares at anyone who doesn't do what he says exactly as he says it. He basically lost all warmth in his body, so the rumor goes.

Upon accepting the new role in his life, Yule continues his frigid ways of leading.

Women constantly threw themselves on Yule hoping to be his so-called 'Ice Queen'. People never blamed them though. If Yule accepted a woman into his life, the woman would be the wife of the most powerful person in Eshea under the mayor. Bragging rights at gatherings was the main goal of these women. Who could possibly melt the Ice King's heart?

One of Yule's obligations is to check the business warehouse monthly to ensure that everything was in working order. While walking about the warehouse, a tall woman that was standing outside caught Yule's eyes. He memorized all of the workers in the warehouse, but he has never seen this woman before, so Yule makes his way over to the woman to question her on why she is standing behind the factory.

"I'm waiting for my father" is her reply, confidently matching Yule's energy.

A rustle in the nearby bushes distracts the two people. A large fox wanders out with three smaller foxes behind it. The woman bends down and holds out her hand which had a few slices of bread and some fruit from the market.

Annoyed by the woman's casual demeanor despite being in his presence, he grabs the woman's arm.

"Who is your father?" questions Yule producing one of his cold glares again.

The woman didn't say anything and just pointed at the fox on the ground.

Yule gets increasingly irritated. "Are you saying that this fox is your father?" he growls.

"Yes, it is. Any other questions?" the woman nonchalantly answers once again matching Yule's energy.

Yule scoffs and hurls the woman to the ground. "What's your name?"

The woman stares at the man who is towering over her. "And why should I tell such a disrespectful man my name?"

"Because if you don't, your father will be the one to suffer the consequences," Yule threatens.

The woman laughs and stands to her feet. "You still think that my father is not this fox sitting there. It must be so lonely being so ignorant." The woman dusts off her skirt and faces Yule. "Dugre. Ariel Dugre. You aren't going to find that family name anywhere, so have fun searching for nothing." With that being said, the woman turns around and walks away into the neighboring forest, following behind the skulk of foxes.

As irritated with the meeting as he was, this was not the last time he met Ariel Dugre.

---

Become a member of my ko-fi page to read ahead!

You can find story with these keywords: The Winter Vessel, Read The Winter Vessel, The Winter Vessel novel, The Winter Vessel book, The Winter Vessel story, The Winter Vessel full, The Winter Vessel Latest Chapter