Late January

"This better be good," Emma muttered more to herself than the man walking five steps ahead of her.

The heavy snowfall of the last few days had turned the landscape in a snow globe all over again. Everything was buried under layers of white, quieting down the noises around them. Tonight it had chilled down even more and the snowing had finally stopped.

Emma didn't mind snow, winter was quite possibly her favourite season, with nights so long she could almost stretch them between her fingers. But now as walked through the woods, her boots too short to keep everything out, she wasn't the biggest fan to be honest.

Connor merely chuckled at her dark mood. "Relax. Live a little."

He turned around, his forehead lamp shining directly into her eyes. Emma lowered her gaze down at the glittering snow. The flashlight was basically redundant; they were beings of the night after all, the monsters you warned little children about and didn't need any light. But it was certainly convenient,

At least when he didn't try to blind her permanently with it.

"I am living."

"Not to your fullest," Connor laughed.

Emma raised an eyebrow at him. "You know what, wolf boy -"

That's all she could say before Connor stopped in his tracks. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and then pulled her black wool beanie down and over her eyes. His warm breath against her cheeks was a stark contrast to the freezing temperatures around them. Even without her eyesight she could imagine the glimmer of mischief in his dark blue eyes.

"What do I know, blood sucker?" Connor whispered into the small space between them. Goosebumps rose on her skin and it ab-so-lu-te-ly nothing to do with the cold. He wanted to rile her up. And maybe, just maybe, he succeeded. A little bit. 7%. Or so.

But, he wasn't the only one who could play this game.

She bit her under lip - because she knew he got weak knees when she did that - raised her hand to his head and pulled down the lamp. "You look ridiculous with this thing."

"Do I?"

"Hmmm."

Connor wrapped his other arm around her. "You don't even see anything. So, you are not the best judge, are you?"

"And whose fault is that?" Emma still didn't pull her beanie back up. There was too much fun in their little game. She knew it was the reason why he had proposed their little adventure. To get away from everything, to be themselves around each other for five freaking seconds.

His lips pressed down onto hers and every thought left her brain. She usually prided herself on her pragmatism, on straight forward thinking, but Connor had this effect on her. He pushed all the right buttons just by existing in the same space as her.

Their kiss was soft, slow, chaste almost. Emma wanted it to go on forever.

Her heart did somersaults in her chest, the sensation too good to let go. Emma wrapped her gloved hands around his neck, the wool scratching against his stubble. Connor took off her beanie and buried his fingers in her blonde hair.

A moan escaped his mouth and she smiled against his lips, for scoring a point. "Weren't we here for something else? I remember ice skating, because fucking me against a tree when I'm freezing off my ass is not gonna happen."

"Spoilsport."

"Somebody's got to be realistic."

Connor let go of her, taking a step back. "There's always summer."

"Ever the eternal optimist, buddy."

He laughed, putting the beanie into place on her head and turned around. They resumed their slow pace through the Winter Wonderland in comfortable silence. Schaumburg had some pretty great parks and since was so close to Chicago they had decided to drive here for their little midnight adventure.

Illegal ice skating on a pond in the woods.

It sounded like a lot of fun in her head and even more fun when she said it out loud.

Every once in a while Emma sneaked a glance at Connor's face and tried to read. Something was off and she knew she had to ask him later for the reason behind it, but now as he took her hand and laced their fingers together, her mouth couldn't form the words for it.

They existed in a bubble of oblivion just for a few hours and weren't they allowed a little bit of it, before responsibility would catch up on them again?

It didn't take them much longer to reach the pond. A solid layer of ice was frozen all over it. Emma stepped on the surface with one foot to test it, but it didn't give.

"Looks good," she announced.

Connor stepped next to her and suddenly started jumping on the ice a little before nodded at her.

"Was that necessary?"

"Better falling through the ice now than later."

She punched his upper arm. "You are impossible."

"And yet you love me."

"I only love you for your good looks." She gestured from his head to toe with her hand in a swift motion. Connor grinned wide.

Emma quickly put on her ice skates and was on the ice before him. The snow that had fallen over it made it difficult to navigate, but she didn't care. It worked well enough. She glided over the icy surface almost effortlessly.

Hands at her waist stopped her and kept her in place. She turned around to look at Connor questioningly.

"For somebody as small as you, you aren't exactly an ice princess."

"And what am I instead?"

He laughed. "Well, you could easily be taken for one of the Chicago Blackhawks."

Emma turned around and shoved him with a solid push. He slid back on his skates and almost fell on his ass, but then he held his balance and stayed on his legs.

"Mean," he said.

"Catch me if you can."

With that Emma was off and skating out of his reach. Connor quickly regained his composure and was after her. She sped up and almost fell over a bump in the ice. He didn't have as much luck and landed on his knees.

"That fucking hurt," Connor groaned. He scrambled to his feet and wiped the snow from his trousers.

"Just proves I'm better than you."

"Are you?"

Laughter bubbled in her chest and she felt so light, like wings were sprouting between her shoulder blades and she could fly away any second.

"Hmm." She kissed him. "And my kisses are magical. They make everything better."

"True."

They spent hour after hour on the ice, only stopping a few times to drink some coffee from a thermos bottle Emma had brought with them and some muffins she had baked. She wouldn't feed her cooking to her worst enemies, but her baking skills were through the roof. By the end of their little adventure she was more than cold and tired and quite happy to get back to the car.

After another walk through the snow, of course.

"Tell me it was worth it," Connor said next to her, their hands linked together once again.

"Totally worth it," Emma answered.

They packed their stuff in the trunk and got into the car., heating turned on immediately. The roads were a little icy, but otherwise in great condition.

With ever passing mile, Connor's joy drained from him and left only a shell of his. It was now or never. She needed to ask, for both their sakes, even though she knew she wouldn't like what she would hear.

But she had always - braver.

No, not braver. More realistic.

"So, what is it?"

His head shot up and their eyes locked. "What?"

She shrugged, "You've been so excited. You've been planning this for what? Two weeks? But yesterday it kind of burned down. So I guessed there's something up. What is it?"

Connor kept his head turned toward the road ahead, the snow glittering in the darkness. His knuckles were white around the steering. Not even the radio could lighten up the mood.

Emma waited. She knew he would tell her, if he had anything to say. They knew each other far too long to bullshit the other. It didn't work like that.

"I have a date tomorrow." His voice is quiet "Gabriel set it up."

Oh.

A part of her wanted to scream into the night, to do some dramatic, desperate gesture. Part of her wanted to act like the 20 year old girl she actually was, but she didn't.

She wasn't this kind of woman.

So instead of 'Oh' or 'Why' or 'Fuck your father' she said, "Okay."

Because it wasn't Gabriel's fault. No, it was all on them.

"Okay? Nothing is 'okay', Emma." He actually made the effort to make air quotes, almost driving them off the road. She understood his anger, felt a similar kind simmering in the pit of her stomach. But they couldn't let it show.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Something."

Emma sighed, staring out of the window. She couldn't look at him now. Not when her eyes were so close to tears. She remembered Morgan and what he had said to her in passing not long ago, about her personality and how others in his house perceived her, how so many others saw her too.

"The three C, princess. Cold, cunning, charismatic. You've got it covered."

He hadn't meant to hurt her, only stated the truth. And she had smiled at him, laughed it off. Still - The implication stung.

Right now, Emma wished for a colder heart.

"He's your father. And he doesn't know we're -"

Together.

In a relationship.

In love.

"You're a Keene," she continued. His name softly fell from her lips, but it didn't lessen the hurt. His name was a curse, a death sentence between them. Her voice had a desperate edge now, too high to be unfazed.

Nobody was allowed to see her breaking, to see her less than perfect. Except Connor.

Connor saw everything, because she allowed him to.

"I am aware of that, Sullivan." His voice was low and too calm, spitting out her last name like a curse word and that's what it was, right? Their names, the legacy thrust upon them was what kept them apart.

They weren't Romeo and Juliet, not even close. This wasn't some tragic tale of love and death. Their families weren't at war. But before everything else, before themselves even, they were their father's children.

The heir to the throne.

By birth and by choice.

Emma wouldn't want it any other way. There's something to be said about paving your own way out of the gifts given to you. She recognized the privilege she had been handed from the cradle on.

But she was still a person, right? She had a choice.

There was a small side road, easily overlooked with the many inches of snow, but Connor maneuvered his car to the side and put on the hazard light before facing her completely.

He looked so exhausted it almost broke her heart, but Emma didn't even want to look into a mirror to see her own reflection. She would the same expression she now found on his face.

Sometimes it felt like they were running in circles, always close for just a moment before reality crashed back into. And the collision took more of them every single time, until one there wouldn't be enough of them to survive.

"Look -", he ran a hand over his face, "- I'm sorry. I don't want to ruin our night. We don't have enough time to spend it fighting." He grimaced a little, but when he raised his head again there was a small smile on his face.

Emma leaned over her seat and pressed her lips onto his jaw. The stubble scratched her skin and a shiver ran down her spine. Her mouth moved towards his neck and stopped right over his jugular vein, softly kissing there.

"Are you going to suck me dry now, Em? Please go ahead." Connor whispered against her ear, but he didn't touch her. His hands remained at his side and even though she couldn't make it out from her point of view, she knew he must have balled them to fists.

Emma let her fangs descend and lightly went over the skin without breaking it. Her eyes turned silver at the prospect of drinking his blood, the taste of it still a fresh memory. Drinking had always been a problem to her, so she had to restrain herself now. She left one last kiss, before sitting back in her seat.

His pupils were blown wide, his otherwise stunning blue eyes a dark shade of black. She knew hers were a shining quicksilver and she smiled.

"We aren't fighting."

Connor pulled back from her. He took a deep breath, heading back onto the road and started driving them towards home again. Not a single word was spoken during their drive.. They barely made it before dawn broke and Emma could make out the first rays of sunlight on the horizon, the deep dark black of the night turning into a shade of dark purple. Cadogan was lit up behind them, the guards standing attention at the gate.

"Please have fun on your date." It sounded bitching when she said it like that, but she didn't mean it. She wanted Connor to enjoy it, even though she wouldn't.

"Emma-"

"Look, I don't ever want to be the one keep you from your happiness."

"You are my happiness." He put his hands on her cheeks, his thumb stroke over her cheeks softly.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. And I thought we've been over it."

Emma cleared her throat. "Never hurts to do it again. And I hope you are nice and civil. It's not her fault the poor girl is supposed to the next Queen of the Pack, 'key?"

It hurt to think about it, about all the woman better suited to be his partner than her. But she suck it up, because Emma was many things and above all she was diplomatic. She'd never take his pack from him and Connor knew. It frightened them both.

"Alright."

"What do you want for your birthday?"

The sudden change of topic startled her. "What?"

Connor smiled. "I thought I'd ask first in case you had any special wishes."

"Roses in the colour of a Tiffany's box. And a bottle of Mexican Tequila," Emma said on a whim. "Everything else is optional."

"Good to know."

He placed one last kiss on her lips, before releasing her again. The night turned into day a little faster with every passing second, but Emma wanted to stay rooted in this seat forever. Her fingers wandered over his hand once more before she got out of the car and slammed the door shut again.

Emma walked towards the gate, greeted the guards and walked up the stairs into the house. She didn't look back at Connor, never betraying herself.

home sweet home.

Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I was trying to give you a feel for Emma, the main character, more plot will come later. Please let me know how you liked it. Reviews make my day.