C68 Meeting the pack

Freya's Pov

The pain spread through my body as my wolf tried to claw her way out. I stopped and growled, getting on one knee, my hands found my heart as I fought to send her back but jade wasn't allowing it. She wanted to be let out, the pain and betrayal she felt, we felt, we wanted to both let it out.

Racheal and Williams paused and came to my side, “you want to shift?” they asked bending down with me.

I grunted and pushed her back, she should hold back, she wasn't the only one pained. She wasn't the only one suffering.

“You have to let her out,” Williams told me to which I shook my head to, “not now.”

With the last strength left in me, I took a long shaky breath and forced myself to my feet, while standing, I attempted to even my breathing till the sharp pain was dormant.

“You should let her out and we have to keep moving. By now he might have noticed your absence,” Williams spoke, referring to Artemis. I made an effort to breathe normally and when I was sure the pain was passive, I resumed running.

It would be fun to run in my wolf form, but I didn't. As I ran, the wind swept through my thick wavy hair, brushing my skin and setting my senses on fire. I felt alive. The rustling of leaves beneath our tramping feets, digging up soils as we sprint down the woods.

Soon after we were standing facing a lake, with collections of the finest flowers known. The landscape enchanted low orange rays that the sun give off.

‘At least I was able to see something beautiful in these cloudy days.’ I thought.

Night was fast approaching and we needed to hurry. But then the fear I had been lurking away from resurfaced.

‘What do I have here? Who am I going to become here? What hope is there, what future? What life!,’ all these I needed answers to, desperately.

My mind was humming with questions, thoughts, and failed hopes and consolations all tangled up in denials. I didn't want to own up to it, I didn't want to say it because if I do? Then I'd be true, but again does my voicing have anything to change the outcome of the predicament I'm currently in?

I wanted to let out a shout cry, scream to the universe for being so cruel to me, and ask the moon goddess what I ever did to deserve this.

I was a turbulent of emotions hanging on a thin thread before they would all come crumbling. I felt the rumbling, the shaking. It was close.

“Are you okay?” Rachael asked me as we climbed up a branch and hopped down. It was evening, the sky was getting darker and so my pace doubled.

“Yeah I am, why wouldn't I be?” I asked nonchalantly, pushing a branch from my view. She was the one to ask, I hissed. Wasn't she the one that chose to conceal the truth and keep it away from me the entire time?

She didn't care, they didn't care, no one cared.

“It's just you are acting like everything is fine,” she said tentatively, her words were curated as she chose them deliberately.

“Well why not, everything is fine,” I continued walking but I felt their stares on me, both she and Williams boring a hole into my back.

“We should hurry, it is getting dark,” I played reminder role, “besides why wouldn't I be?”I went on to ask.

“What she's saying is, after everything that has transpired with your mate and your… father. You haven't.. Umm haven't reacted like you should,” the last part was rushed and I imagined him closing his eyes while saying that.

I stopped and turned to him, “how should I react? It's completely normal and I'm sure I'm not the first to be deceived into mating with the man who killed my father and murdered people, of course, I'm okay, I'm not the victim, I was just foolish there's no need making a mountain out of a mole,” my words were quick and rushed and just as the last words left my mouth, I continued down the unfamiliar path.

An eerie silence enveloped us as they were quiet. I was just stupid there was no need to sit and have a self reflection of how stupid I'd been, all I had to do was move, act and hopefully I'll find myself again, I think.

“Freya!”

“Yes!” I shouted and turned to face them. I didn't know I was crying till I felt a single streak of tears roll from my eyes.

“It's this way,” Williams called out to me.

“I see,” I stomped forward, discreetly swiping the strand of tears from my eyes, “lets go.”

“Not that way,” he muttered again.

“Will you just point the way?” I snapped.

“Follow me,” he instructed.

My legs were throbbing or maybe it was as a result from my heart break but I did feel pain sprout through body, drawing me down.

Halting I leaned by the tree branch to catch my breath.

‘You are more important to me,’ his words came alive in me.

‘I could take up on that offer of having a date with you,’ Artemis' words echoed once more.

‘You——’

“I think we should take a rest,” Williams suggested.

I waved it off with, “it's okay, let's continue.”

We walked before we heard him announce, “we are here.”

He pulled us by the hand and veered us around as we were standing in opposite directions. There we stood facing a line of trees.

“And this is?” Rachael asked, looking at the void place aside from trees.

He chuckled and dragged me and Racheal and immediately we were surrounded by a pack of werewolves snarling and circling us.

“Step back!” Williams instructed and they lowered their head in obedience and inched back.

‘Was he the boss here,’ I couldn't ask that, not when I felt this anger rumbling deep within my chest laced with the ache in my heart.

‘What’s going to happen to our bond now?’ just as the thought passed my mind, pain jabbed in my chest. I staggered back at the intensity although Williams was quick to catch me and Racheal was already in position.

What was this? Why were they treating me like a broken porcelain.

‘Maybe because you are,’ a voice whispered.

‘I'm not broken, I'm not broken, Freya Demitri you are not broken,’ I memorized in my head, repeating them and hoping they'd sink, wishing I'd believe the word, I'd believe myself.

“Freya?” Racheal’s worried voice pulled me from the trance I've absorbed myself in.

“Are you okay?” her voice echoed, the tone irritating me to my very core.

With a deep breath I voiced “I'm fine,” stiffly.

She ran one look at me not buying my words, I wasn't selling them either.

“Where's the alpha?” Williams asked, his voice held so much power to them, like one in charge.

While I stood trying to keep my demons at bay.

“You are not the boss of us and we deserve some sort of explanation about this,” a werewolf spoke poking his head at me and Rachael’s direction.

“Where is he?” Williams insisted.

“Who are they, they could be dangerous, Artemis spies,” he said harshly, eyeing me.

The name made me jerk causing a bolt of electricity to pass through me, conducting it like metal. The pain poked again and I sniffed.

“Have you ever seen a spy come in through the door?” their constant bicker was annoying me, “just tell him who I am,” I snapped.

“She is the Luna of the Snow Moon pack, alpha Demitri’s daughter,” Williams spoke like I was some hero, some legend when I was anything but.

“I'm also Artemis mate,” I cut in, earning an undivided attention from everyone.

“What!, you brought——”

“The alpha is waiting for you and your guests,” another werewolf brought the report, casting same gaze as the others.

‘Don’t worry I'm not here to harm your precious alpha.’

Williams smirked following the werewolf. Racheal did not take her gaze from me, she watched me like some sort of guardian.

Walking was really becoming accustomed to me, the sole of my feet throbbed and burned from pain, like I was treading on hot coals.

We came face to face with an enormous pack house, not as big as Artemis’ but would do for shelter and roofing. My only hope was that this new alpha accepts me.

The grand door opened to a white interior, we marched in with our dirty feet. Racheal gasped and looked around in awe, while I longed to lay on the bed and cry, get soaked in the comfort of my demons.

This smell of wet sand and forest swept me off my feet, crashing like a fit of waves, distorting my thoughts. It was soothing, calming, and peaceful, everything I wasn't at the moment, and that feeling was calling unto me pulling me like a magnet.

“Tobias!” Williams excited voice jerked me from my reverie.

I followed his eyes to a pair of dark ocean blue eyes that swept me like the tides, carrying me along and washing away all my worries.

“Mine!” he snarled.

They all turned to my fixated form and the next words that followed made me retch.

“Mate!”