Freya woke up the next morning with an entire realm at her fingertips. Rule of the jungle; they overpowered the queen, the queen’s soldiers bowed to them in turn, as if they had actually been waiting for the right moment to turn against her. “I- I can’t do this.” She had whispered and shifted, retreating into her wolf form and the solace it offered. She allowed Venna to take charge and run as fast as her legs would carry her, taking joy in the delight of her primitive wolf thinking basic thoughts, doing basic things like hunting, following scents that intrigued her and offering her a reprieve from her constantly churning mind. When she’d finally stalked back into the castle, she was exhausted and had walked back into her mate’s arms and allowed him to drive the punishing thoughts from her mind. She woke up refreshed, a large screen over the thoughts that threatened to cripple her if she let them out. The scent of bacon made her sniff and she pulled the covers off her and followed t
Freya once thought that he nightmare ended once she broke out of the queen’s spell. To her horror, it didn’t. Her subconscious was broken, unable to get past that chink in her memory. She was still screaming as her mother’s body thudded to the ground with a sickening sound, and she was still screaming as her father’s body followed. The nightmare amplified the grotesque scene, the blood rapidly seeping out and seeping into her hiding place. Her eyes bugged out of her mind and she tried to get away but there was nowhere to go. The door was pulled open above her and her rage exploded. How could Riordan do this to her?She stabbed her dagger of shadows into his heart, half expecting the nightmare to return back to the start on a loop again but.. it didn’t. Riordan made a choked sound and his hood fell off, exposing his pained face, the spurt of blood from the corner of his lips-Her hands grew cold and she staggered back in shock at her actions. He fell heavily to the floor, his hands
Freya woke up with a smile on her face, immediately reaching for her mate but she found empty space. “Adrian?” She called and got off bed with a light stretch. The past few days had been blissful. She and Adrian had taken over the new castle and at his suggestion, they’d completely switched the timelines. She slept through the day now, and was up through the night. So far, his suggestion worked because she hadn’t had a single nightmare since then. Without the queen breathing down her people’s neck, her people were also blossoming. Adrian sent out all the resources the queen initially hoarded for herself to be distributed amongst the people that were suffering. At night when the creatures she let loose were active, Freya hunted, killing them all methodically. So far she’d added six more of the demented creatures to her belt.Perhaps Adrian was cooking, she thought with a smile. She awfully relished the times she woke up to find him in the kitchen. Like yesterday, though the turkeys
“I could never bring you here.” He said, turning back to her, his face hidden behind his cowls. “I don’t have the power to. You have found your way here once again.”“Why would I?” She asked. “Because there are questions that plague your mind.” He replied. “I did not have the pleasure of introducing myself before. I am Kuruk, your general, commander of the Wild Hunt, enslaved to your command.”“This is insane. My general? I am not associated to you in any way.”“And yet you have found me again.”He breezed closer and Freya stiffened. “Stop right there.” She said and he abruptly came to a halt. “Your wish is my command.” He said and she scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. The last time I made a mistake and broke you out of your prison you killed countless innocent humans. Did you think it was my wish?”His head bowed and he appeared... contrite. How does a dead man even learn contrition?“We got too excited, our instincts to hunt overrode your will because we had been locked up for so lo
When Aremin didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be found but of everybody in the world, Freya knew him best. She drank beer silently in the depths of the pub and she listened to the conversation around the room. Opposite her, Adrian watched her with a permanent frown on his lips. He thought she was neglecting herself since she started chasing after Aremin two weeks ago and he was not wrong but she didn’t care. Without him, she would have hunted Aremin all day without food or sleep but he managed to force food into her mouth at least once a day. Her mind was burning with questions and anger and she would not rest until Aremin gave her answers. A group of men were whispering at the other end of the room. “The collector will show up tonight aye?” One of them asked, so hairy she could barely see his face through it. “I have it on very good authority that he will. Relax, there’s hours yet.” A second man said, his eyes so tiny it looked like he was peering into your soul. “What use h
This used to be one of the drills in her training, trying to catch Aremin. The bastard was quick on his feet, always leading her to traps which she had to act fast to evade. She cursed as she pumped her fist to ran faster. For a human, Aremin was impossibly quick on his feet. Even with her immortal speed, there was never a time during her drills that she did catch him and it always led her to wonder if he was actually human at all. But this was not one of her training moments, she was no longer the girl that Aremin had wrapped around his little finger. When she got to the next diversion, she paused and listened. There, a footprint heading in one direction glared at her. Her trained assassin senses wanted to follow the evidence of his retreat but she would have done that those times when she never used her wolf senses. She sniffed the air instead, closing her eyes until she got a clear picture of his trail which she followed till.. right above her. She dove to the ground and rolled
“The Fae realm?!” Adrian asked, his voice rising and Freya frowned. “Yes. Why?” He started to pace. “It’s just.. the Fae are an entire entity on their own and no one would voluntarily be entangled with them. Those creatures are full of deceit, they are notorious for luring people into binding deals that practically sell your soul to them. I don’t want you to have anything to do with them.”Freya folded her arms. “Well it’s not like I have a choice.” She snapped, her voice getting testy. He stopped pacing and glanced at her and she was rigid with dread at the argument brewing between them because her mind would not be swayed. He sighed, knowing this and came to her, drawing her into his arms. “I’m sure we have nothing to worry about.” He said into her hair. “I’m coming with you.”“You are?” She asked, her heart soaring with hope and he tapped her nose. “Why? You didn’t think I would let you to go alone and have all the fun did you?”Her lips curved in a smile she couldn’t contain
He would follow her of course, and she knew only one way he couldn’t. Her wolf was pushing at her to come out and she didn’t resist. She shifted and tore into the forest, her feet flying over the familiar tangles and sprouts. Adrian lied to her. Exactly how many times did he look into her eyes and tell her no when she asked him if he could portal them out? She suffered in that realm because of their damn queen, the thought that he might have been able to prevent all of it and instead left her to go through it was painful. She howled, long and loud and she ran faster, like she could outrun all her pain and confusion. What was the love he confessed then? Did he love her when he left her to her fate with the queen? Was the love he had to offer just selfishness? A part of her mind knew she was being very irrational, she knew that Adrian was no villain but those parts were silenced by the other parts of her that was just in pain at his deception. She trusted him and he deceive her, it w