She was instantly reminded once he turned to meet her eyes. If it were possible for him to even be more intimidating, that unwelcoming frown he held as he moved closer, was off the charts. Did she offend him and didn't pay attention? Linda often put her foot in her mouth at times, but she'd never said more than two words to the guy that she could remember. Maybe it isn't me, she rationalized to herself. Maybe he's like Evan, who just hated people in general. Evan never liked to go out and do parties or anything social. He roamed with his trusted buddies and came home when he was hungry or horny. He tolerated her and Sandy, but that seemed to be about it in hindsight. It was an empty existence that reduced her and her daughter to tools instead of people. Still, with the grumpy mechanic, she smiled and waved, hoping to change his mind about her, whatever that meant. "Hi! My name is Linda and this is my daughter, Sandy." She patted Sandy's head. "Uh, Jimmy's Tow brought us here and was hoping you could look at my truck?"

Winter stood a moment and looked at her and the kid, then over at Jim who waved to him as he pulled away, leaving her truck right at the mouth of the garage entrance. His frown deepened. That asshole never gave him a head's up when he was bringing new business to his garage. They had an agreement to discount each other's services to help refer new customers, and for a while it worked great. But recently, business has been a little too good for Winter and if the lack of space in his garage demonstrated anything, his plate was pretty full. Hell, he still had some Aristans on a waiting list to repair their bikes. Not to mention everyone was getting their vehicles ready for travel during the holidays. "Shit."

Linda scowled at his response. "Excuse me?"

Winter glanced at her. "One second." He loped past the bikes and table and jumped over the railing to sprint to Jimmy, who was already driving away. "Jim! Jim!" But it was too late. Only taillights in view as Winter shook his head. "Fuck me." He turned to look at the truck with some sort of plastic animal jammed underneath the axle and Linda who was standing at the entrance holding herself with a concerned frown waiting for him. He sighed. Great. Now I'm stuck with them. Winter proceeded to walk back to the garage with frustration fueling every step.

"Hey, is everything okay?" She asked watching him barrel towards her. She was freezing and he was out there without a coat or jacket.

"Fine." He glanced up at her as he passed her. "What happened to your vehicle?"

Linda turned and followed behind him, the taps of her boots playing in contrast to the long strides of his gait. "Uh, I accidentally ran over one of Santa's reindeers going to the bookstore and now it's lodged underneath. I couldn't back up or remove it so here we are."

She followed him into the office and stood in front of the counter as he walked behind it.

"Seems quite a large object for you to miss."

Linda folded her arms, her eyes narrowing at his snide comment. Okay, what's this guy's problem? "Like I said, it was an accident."

Winter grunted as he pulled out his clipboard. "Yeah." 

She opened her purse to grab her pocketbook. "Shoot, Jim didn't ask me to pay him. I–"

"You pay him through me. His referral gives you a discount for the tow." He flipped through to find a blank form. Several pages of forms he needed to file since two days ago and with each flip seemed to heighten his angst. He needed a freaking assistant. He looked down to see a wide-eyed little girl with her little hands on the edge of the counter. However, it was her smile that made him look.

Sandy stood on her tip-toes. "What's wrong with all of the motorcycles?"

He looked back to his paperwork. "They're broken."

"You're going to fix all of them?"

He grunted."Yep."

"Wow. Some are really in a lot of trouble. That one over there is missing half of it! And that blue one–"

Sensing his unexplained annoyance, Linda stepped in. "Bug, how about you take this money and get those fig cookies you wanted, hmm?" She placed money in her little palm, before cutting her eyes back to Winter. He wasn't the only one whose patience was wearing thin. Linda wasn't one to get offended easily, but his standoffish behavior was crossing into rudeness. Whether he was having a bad day or a bad year, she was growing peeved at his tone. "How much do I owe for the tow?"

"Seventy-five dollars. I take cash, check or charge."

Linda dug in her wallet and pulled out her checkbook. Grabbing a pen from his jar, she proceeded to write out a check to Winter's Automotive Repair for a hundred dollars. "Keep the change for Jim's tip. He came pretty quickly for us." She slid it towards him on the counter along with her ID.

"Umm hmm." He took both the check and ID and froze at the name. He recognized her face from earlier but it wasn't till he stared at her name on her ID did he realize who she was. "Was it really Jim that recommended you come here?"

Linda picked up a suspicious tone in his voice, but wasn't quite sure why. "Yes, it was. I mean I've heard of your place but never came here before." She looked at him quizzically. "Why? What's wrong?"

Everything, he thought. He was swamped, tired and annoyed. His alpha gets suckered into a stupid mission which she tossed into his lap. A duty he didn't even want and the woman he was charged to look out for was staring back at him with confused blue eyes. The day just got better and better. He cleared his throat and tried to put on a half smile, which at this point was all he could muster. "Nothing. Wait here, I'll examine your truck."

Before he moved from the counter, she waved him down. "Um, if you don't mind. I would like to join you?"

He frowned. "It's freezing outside."

She shrugged. "Doesn't seem to bother you. I'm tougher than I look. I'm trying to learn more about vehicles."

"I'm going to have to lift your vehicle in order to remove the obstruction from it and then see the kinda damage done to your axle and your undercarriage. This is not something I have the time to do today."

Linda nearly gasped in shock. "I don't understand. So when can I expect my truck to be repaired?"

"Not including the half-day's work to lift and remove the reindeer and assess the damage. If there's problems of broken wires and axle issues it could be a couple of days."

"Days?" Linda's eyes widened in shock. She didn't think this would be so much of a problem. Maybe a tire repair but not what he was talking about. "Oh my god, I need my truck, Mister...um."

He folded his arms, holding an odd smirk. "Winter. My name's Winter."

"Winter. I have to get to work and take my daughter to school. Is there anything that can be done today?"

Winter walked back to the office, not looking back at Linda struggling to catch up to him. "I understand you need your vehicle, but Jim should've called me before he dropped you off here. If he did, I would've told him to send you elsewhere." Regardless, if any other mechanic tells you they can get you up and running today, they are selling a bunch of bull." Turning the corner, his eyes narrowed on Sandy, who no longer was in the office, but turning the throttle on Griswald's decommissioned bike.

"Hey! Don't touch that, kid!" he barked.

His voice was so thunderous and sudden, both Linda and Sandy jumped in alarm. Sandy quickly stepped away from the bike and slinked back on the other side of the rails to safety.

"Bug, I told you not to touch anything," She walked passed Winter towards her daughter.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to see what it was like is all," Sandy leaned in and hugged Linda so tight, she could feel the slight tremble in her little body.

Linda looked up at him, his scowl even more pronounced. "I'm sorry about that."

Winter grunted towering over them. "Just don't let it happen again." His voice was stern and a bit louder than comfort. "This is an auto shop, not a playground and these sure the hell ain't toys. The owners entrust me with their merchandise and my work space is dangerous."

It was time that Linda gave him a scowl of her own as Sandy clung to her. "Listen, she didn't mean anything by it and she apologized, let's leave it at that. There was no harm done."

Winter witnessed the challenge in her eyes. The tension increased a hundredfold between them. Thick and menacing like a fog in the gulf.  He ran a hasty hand through his hair as his eyes trailed to the frightened bundle of a little girl by her side. "Fine. It's late and freezing outside. I'll take you home." He moved passed them and headed to the office. He wasn't even sure if she was going to accept his offer or tell him to go to hell, but in any case, it was best for them to part ways for now.

Linda wanted to punch him for his oafish behavior. Who yells at a child like that? For stupid motorcycles no less. She didn't want to ride with him, she'd rather get a cab. She pulled out her phone and frowned when all she got was a dark screen after trying to wake it. Great. A dead phone in this weather was indeed my luck. Guess she had to be thankful they were out of the cold and not stranded anywhere. Linda looked around. Speaking of stranded, seems she only had one choice. Only because I have Bug. Cause if I didn't I'd be hoofing it. If to prove anything except I had rather walk out into the freezing cold to my death then to spend five more minutes with him.

She rubbed Sandra's back. "You're alright, Bug? Ready to go home?"

Sandra quickly nodded. "Yes ma'am. Please?" She lifted her face off Linda's leg. Her eyes shimmered with would-be tears, but blinked them away. "I didn't mean to make him mad."

"Shhhh," Linda wiped her face. Her heart broke seeing the shame on her face. It was like Evan yelled at her like he often did once upon a time. "You're okay sweetheart. Let's go home. I'm sure Comrade misses us and don't forget, we still have decorating to do."

Sandra's eyes brightened. "I need to work on the garland!"

Linda chuckled. "Yes, you do." She smoothed Sandra's hair back. "Come on, let's go.:" She loved how she tended to brush off her sadness with the slightest positivity that makes its way to her. One day, she swore she was gonna find out how her daughter managed to do that. Maybe one day, she can learn it too.

***

The ride to Linda's home was a quiet one. Other than the mumblings of her address to him as they climbed into his truck, there wasn't another word spoken from anyone. Winter appreciated the silence until it left him rethinking their encounter. 

Pulling up to her residence, Linda breathed a sigh of relief. The day took an odd turn and it was a blessing to see home again. "You can stop here, thanks." She opened the truck and hopped out, then gathered Sandra and helped her down. "Go run to the porch, Bug. I have something to say to Mr. Strongborne."

"Okay." Sandra looked up to the stern face of Winter and waved. "Good Night Mr. Winter." She ran to the porch and started to dig in her pocket for her house key.

Once she was out of earshot, Linda held open the truck door and turned her attention to Winter. "Now you listen to me," she warned. "You can be a dick to me all you want. I'm used to it, but I'll be damned if I let you be a dick to my bug, you understand? I don't know what your problem is, but I'm not gonna sit around and take your attitude with me or her." She kept her eyes locked on him. "Thank you for the ride. I'm sending Jim to pick up the truck and take it to another mechanic tomorrow. Someone that doesn't treat people like they're an inconvenience." With that, Linda slammed the door and hoisted her purse on her shoulder before catching up to Sandra as she opened the house door where Comrade greeted them.

Winter sighed, watching their wreath rock against the slamming of the door shut. He couldn't believe she just let him have it like that. As he pulled off, her words seemed to dig into him. "I'm a dick? I'm the dick?" he said aloud. "I'm not the one running over plastic reindeers and asking mechanics to jump through hoops!" He turned the corner and scoffed. "Yeah, I'm not the one with some potential rogue after them." He slammed on the brakes at the stop sign. Dammit. The rogue. 

He took a breath and looked around. Now that he knew who she was and where she lived, he needed to check if a Thesian has been hanging around there, marking territory so to speak.  Though he didn't get a sense when he dropped her off, there was recent snowfall and he wasn't all that focused on anything other than getting reamed by the woman. "Fuck me." He blew out an exasperated sigh of defeat.  He was already in the area and if it checked out, he could report an all-clear to Devin and forget about this whole ordeal. 

Winter drove a little ways down the road, remembering a little hunting trail about a half mile away. He parked to the side of the road, surveying the area to confirm seclusion. Winter got out of the truck and smelled the wild in the air. Quickly stripping down his clothing, he focused on the sweet change in his bones. The biting cold barely touched him, as it didn't hold a candle to the spectacular warmth and power of the change from man to wolf. It made him raw. Primal. His vision altered, allowing even more light into his eyes. 

The wild calling him so close to the change, Winter ran out into the forest, with each move forcing him down into his large wolf form. His stark white coat camouflaged him perfectly this time of year. Hyperaware of his surroundings, Winter quietly headed back towards Linda's home, letting his nose to track through the darkness and brush. The scent of fresh snow, animal urine and pine filled his nose. There were wolves in the area, but not ShadowShifter. At least from the prints he tracked. Approaching the back area of the home, he stopped just short of their backyard when the faintest , but familiar scent caught him by surprise.  Winter picked up a Thesian ShadowShifter smell around the back end of the fence. Too faint to determine sex, but definitely Thesian. 

Sniffing around the perimeter, he stumbled upon a partial paw print in the snow and growled low in his throat. The size of it was much larger than a typical canine animal like a dog or timber wolf. No, even with the fresh snowfall covering most of it, Winter was certain of its origin. With the utmost stealth, he moved around the back of the fence looking for the rest of the track. The vague scent faded the closer he moved back towards the woods, but something told him the forest was the source of exit.

Walking around the side of the house, the light from one of the windows distracted him. He watched Sandy and Linda throw popcorn at each other as they worked to build a garland for their bare Christmas tree. The big smile on Sandy's face reminded him of his sister, Trinidad. His thoughts strayed to his little sister and how happy she was around this time of year. Years ago, his mother and sister always love the holidays and the Stag Feast was a typical tradition. Their family despite of what their father wanted, always had special place in their heart for the festivities because not only was there the Stag Feast, but Winter's birthday. His chest tightened. When other people are celebrating Christmas his sister and mother were celebrating his birthday.

Winter peered through the window longingly thinking about the last things that he said to Trinidad before she died. Witnessing the smile and glow in Sandy's eyes made his memories bittersweet. Devin warned him about ignoring the past. He didn't want to, but how could he not when that pain never left?

Trini, you deserved better. They both did. A lot better than what had happened. They just wanted to live their lives in some peace. He turned away for a moment, before that misery and regret clawed at him. Even as he watched Sandy and Linda through the window, he envied the purity and happiness they generated. It was a warmth he could feel just as much as see. Perhaps it was true for this family as well. The little girl did nothing to him and in all honesty, it was more than a little shitty being so cold. She reminded him so much of someone that he'd lost, it almost pained himself to look at her and talk to her. But she didn't deserve the way he barked at her and neither did Linda.

He focused on the joy on Linda's face and believed that he had her all wrong. Though her beauty was quite distracting, she was a fighter and very protective of her child. Something that he could always respect. He still wasn't sure exactly what it was that was going on or if they're truly a rogue Thesian danger but, some signs were there and he shouldn't be adding on to their torment. He wished he could stop hearing Linda's voice insults him in his head. Or unsee Sandy's little heartbroken face. He couldn't understand why it bothered him so much. Maybe it was because she was right; he did often treat it people like an inconvenience. Great. Totally owned by a five and a half foot woman.

Winter pulled himself away from the window and quietly made his way back through the thicket, processing what he discovered. Nothing was definitive, but there was enough to let Devin know that Maddie was not wrong. There definitely was a Thesian around that residence, but he would need to come back tomorrow just to make sure. Thesians couldn't help themselves; they were terrible trackers and even just as worse as covering their own tracks. If there was a rouge misfit sniffing about, a clue would turn up it sure as a bear shits in the woods. Winter went to finally made it to his truck and stretched himself to his human skin with a growl into the night.  His teeth finally chattering, he threw on his clothes and shook the snow from his wet hair.  He pulled up his phone and dialed Devin's number.

By the third ring, Devin picked up. "Yo, what's going on, Winter? Anything about that babysitting gig?"

He rubbed his face and sighed. "Yeah, well there's definitely some Thesian activity."

"How severe?"

He shrugged to himself. "Not sure yet. Still doing some investigation, but looks like Aidan's myleigh is right. Someone's snooping.  I'll fill you in later."

Devin smacked her lips. "Wait, you're not gonna come chill at the bar with me and the guys?"

Winter looked around, then shook his head. "No, I got to take care of something tonight. I'm all backed up in work and this can't wait." He took the confused silence on the other end as an exit to the conversation before she started asking too many questions. "Talk to you later, Dev." He hung up and started to search for the nearest auto parts and salvage yards.  Winter was sure he was going to need to do a little bit of ripping and running to make it happen but he had enough time to do something. Turning on his engine, he quickly begin messaging one of his contacts a town away. He was almost certain that a couple of the parts that he needed this particular shop had in their possession. 

December 20, 2018 9:30 PM

Hey Jack. It's Winter. Listen, I need a favor. I'm going to be pulling an all-nighter and I'm going to need some parts ASAP.

After a minute, Winter got a return message.

December 20, 2018 9:34 PM

bike or vehicle?

Winter shook the melting ice and snow from his wet hair and proceeded to message back

December 20, 2018 9:35 PM

Vehicle. I'm texting the details to you now exactly what part and what part number do me a favor and have them ready I got to get on the road and I'm going to be able to pull this off.

A couple of minutes passed by as started down the road and proceeded to drive away but he could already imagine what Jack was saying. Most likely laughing his ass off that he was doing something other than fixing bikes and most likely he couldn't ever remember him wanting to call some sort of emergency like this for anything other than service to his Aristan brethern.