The Winter Tyrant-Chapter 67: Consequences

Brooke scurried after Dean, clinging to his side as he walked back to his home. Chasing after him with a flushed face beneath her scarf.

"Where are you headed? What about my people? What about their settlement? There is more for us to discuss!"

Dean, however didn’t look back and continued marching forward. Only giving her the slightest bit of his attention.

"Daniel will handle the arrangements for your people. He’s already accustomed to helping people get settled."

Together they marched through the snow while Brooke struggled to keep up with Dean. He was, after all, wearing snowshoes that allowed him to practically glide across the surface of the snow, while each step she took sank into its depths.

Eventually, however, they both arrived at Dean’s front door, where he opened it with his key. It was only after they were both inside that he shut the door behind him, hollering down to the infirmary below through the shared corridors.

"False alarm, Katherine... Nobody’s going to be injured, but it looks like we just got new contributors to your blood bank."

Katherine? The name prompted an accusatory stare from Brooke. The man next to Dean had earlier stated that his woman’s name was Yuki.

She was just about to say something when Dean took off his helmet and balaclava. Revealing his snow white hair, pale skin, and ice blue eyes. Brooke stared in astonishment at his features, which were far more agreeable than she had thought they would be.

Dean, however, either didn’t notice or pretended not to. Because the moment after he took his gear off, Yuki ran into the room. She was practically sprinting towards her arms until she wasn’t.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Gazing at the woman standing behind Dean. Who had taken off her hood, wool cap, and scarf to reveal a rather stunning appearance.

"Dean, who is this?"

The voice was struggling to contain the accusations forming in the back of Yuki’s mind.

"Oh this, this is-"

Dean was cut off when he looked around and saw Brooke’s face for the first time. She was far more beautiful than he had expected her to be.

Her hair was mid length and curled over her shoulders in voluminous waves the color of wine.

Her eyes were a fierce match, but her cheeks were a rosy hue right now as she was either embarrassed, or overwhelmed by the central heating, which she hadn’t felt since the power lines first went down.

Brooke however, shocked both Dean and Yuki by responding in a way that surprised both of them. She stepped forward, a confident gait in her movement, and immediately stared Yuki down.

"I’m his fiancée, just who the hell are you?"

Yuki’s expression shifted from simmering rage to outright hostility. Her brows narrowed, her eyes sharpened. Not towards the woman who was espousing nonsense, but instead Dean.

"Your fiancée? I thought that Avery was your fiancée? Dean... Who the hell is this bitch and why did you bring her into our home?"

Brooke instantly became even more confused. Avery? There was a third woman she had to deal with? No... A fourth? After all, there was someone named Katherine here as well. Just what the hell was going on?

Did she accidentally walk into a polygamous relationship? No... he used the term bigamy for a reason. So if this clearly Oriental woman was Yuki, then who the hell was Katherine and Avery?

There were too many questions that Brooke had, and not enough time to interrogate everyone. But she noticed something instantly, it was subtle, but meaningful.

Dean’s jaw shifted when he heard the name Avery, and his voice grew slightly sullen.

"Yuki, relax. It’s not what you think it is.... There was a negotiation... I made a bluff... And this idiot..."

"Brooke... And you’re the idiot! What kind of moron makes a bluff about a marriage alliance?"

Dean instantly snapped his attention back to Brooke, whatever grief had briefly come over him at the mention of Avery had turned into fire contained loosely within his icy gaze.

"What kind of idiot takes such an offer seriously? What do you think this is, medieval Europe? Obviously, I was trying to test your sincerity! And yet now, because you don’t know how to read a room, we’re in this situation!"

Brooke’s eyes narrowed further, locking straight into Dean’s. So much so that the tension between them was almost visible

They hadn’t even noticed Yuki pouting, huffing, and puffing until she finally shouted something in her native language.

"Dean, Omae wa hontōni bakada!"

The statement forced Dean and Brooke back to reality as their stare down ended in a draw. All the while Yuki flipped her hair in a flourish and sauntered slowly off to the kitchen.

"I’ll go prepare dinner for our guest..."

Brooke however instantly hollered after Yuki, trying her best to chase after her.

"Fiancée! I’m his fiancée!"

Dean of course grabbed onto the woman’s shoulders and held her back, spinning her around so he could once more stare directly into her eyes.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you trying to make my life a living hell? Why the fuck would you announce yourself as my fiancée to my woman? This is simply a political arrangement!"

Brooke however, removed Dean’s hands from her shoulders and stared him sternly in the eyes.

"Political arrangement or not. I am now officially your fiancée, and I won’t have my position disrespected. Because if she disrespects my presence here in private, then she will inevitably do so out there! You brought this on yourself, Dean!"

Brooke stormed off to the kitchen, insisting on helping with the meal prep, while Dean sighed and sank against the wall.

He didn’t realize that Katherine had approached him until she pressed a cold bottle of beer directly against his face.

"You know... I didn’t want to say it... But I have been observing your behavior for a while now, and I have to admit, you are both paradoxically brilliant and foolish at the same time. I’m actually curious how you always manage to put yourself in these situations."

Dean said nothing he simply slid down to a seated position while Katherine hovered over him smirking, drinking silently as if he were a pouting child.

Katherine walked off with the same smirk on her face, saying something beneath her breath that Dean couldn’t hear.

"You’re awfully cute when you’re like this...."