Claimed by The Winter Spirit.

On Christmas Eve, Irina Ardentova walks through relentless snowfall toward the man she loves. But the one who greets her in the silent street is not merely a man. He is Erwin Frostvale—a winter elf bound to the ancient Yuletide entity known as the Hearth King. Ethereal, dangerously beautiful, and terrifyingly possessive, Erwin exists to preserve the fragile balance between warmth and frost. And that balance depends on one human soul: Irina. Her presence tempers winter’s cruelty. Her warmth sustains the Hearth King’s fading power. Without her, the world risks plunging into endless desolation. When Erwin claims her as eternally his, the night itself begins to change. The church bells ring out of rhythm. Snow falls in unnatural patterns. The cold ceases to be weather—it becomes will. Irina collapses into darkness, caught in Erwin’s arms as winter tightens its hold. Elsewhere in the city, meteorologist Adrian Volkov senses the shift before anyone else. Logical, composed, and fiercely protective, Adrian has been studying strange atmospheric anomalies in Verkhoyansk. When Irina fails to arrive for their meeting and communication signals fail, he realizes the disturbance is no natural phenomenon. If Irina chooses Adrian, winter may never end. If she chooses Erwin, she may lose herself forever. And the Hearth King is growing impatient. In a city where frost bites deeper than knives and love is indistinguishable from obsession, one question remains: Can warmth survive when winter falls in love?