Chapter Four - She is my Fianna

Freya Rose

I turned away from Mason and slid down the door towards the floor. Now sat on the cold concrete ground, I rested my head back against the glass door of the cell. Finn sat in the corner of the cell and Stevie sat up against the glass of her own cell next to him. They both looked at me with sorrow in their eyes. I glanced down at the floor and asked softly,

“What happened?” 

I waited silently for an answer. I heard Mason sigh then slide down to the floor himself. Even through the glass of the cell door, I could feel the magnetic pull of Mason's body, and even though I was furious with him for locking me in here, I still felt safe and protected with him around. I sat there and focused all of my attention on Mason as he began to tell me what had happened.

“When Tristan's pack attacked us, myself, your dad and a small group of hunters went searching for you in the woods. We split up and somehow Damien ended up out there alone. A group of Tristan's werewolves surrounded him and killed him.”

Mason sighed then inhaled deeply and carried on,

“We split up into two groups and continued to search for you. When we found you, you were in your wolf form and you thought you were protecting yourself against three hunters. Unbeknownst to you the three hunters were, Finnley, Stevie and your cousin Carmen.”

He paused as he let me digest his words. I raised my head and looked over at Finn and Stevie, they stared back at me with sympathetic eyes. I glanced down at Finnley's arm and spotted a raised, but healed over scar from a wolf bite. Finn followed my gaze and promptly covered the bite mark with his hand.

“Is that where I bit you Finnley?” I asked as I pointed towards his arm.

He looked down at his arm then back up at me and nodded. A wave of guilt swept over me; I couldn't believe that I'd bit someone. I never thought I'd harm anyone when I became a werewolf, let alone a fellow hunter. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I began to apologize,

“Finnley I am so sorry that I bit you, I don't know what came over me. I hope someday that you can forgive me. I doubt that I will ever be able to forgive myself,” my voice broke towards the end of my apology as I began to sob.

I lowered my head and wrapped my arms around my legs to shield my face. All of a sudden I felt a light touch slide across my back and my legs as two large arms enveloped me. Finn began to speak as he softly rested his head on the back of my shoulder,

“Freya, you didn't attack me,” he announced in a sweet voice.

I opened my eyes and furrowed my brow but remained hidden away from view.

“What do you mean Finn? I clearly bit you,” I questioned him in a low voice barely louder than a whisper.

I felt him pull his arms away and turn his body to sit down beside me. He placed his arm around my shoulders then replied,

“yes I won't deny that you bit me Freya, but it wasn't your fault. It was a complete accident; you didn't mean to hurt me at all. You were just trying to protect yourself from Carmen, and I got in the way.” 

He squeezed my shoulder as I began to raise my head.

Click

I stiffened up as I felt the cell door begin to open. I knew it was Mason I could smell him. His scent was delicious, it was a mix of a sexy musk scent and a fresh wildflower meadow. He slid his hands under my arms and gently lifted me up onto my feet, he then quietly locked the cell door behind him. He then swept me up into the air effortlessly and carried me bridal style over to the other side of the cell.

“Finnley continue your story please,” he asked politely as he lowered himself to the floor and rested me on his lap.

It always amazed me at the shear strength of this guy, I decided to lighten the mood and said playfully,

“Mason I can walk you know.”

He chuckled as he swept my hair away from my ear, then in a ridiculously sexy and husky voice he whispered,

“I like carrying you remember; it makes me feel complete when you're as close to my body as possible.”

My heart skipped a beat as his breath tickled my skin, his lips were so close to my neck but still too far away for my liking. Mason looked away from me and focused on Finnley as he continued to tell us his story.

“Well when Carmen, Stevie and I found you, you were passed out on the woodland floor. At first, we thought that you were one of the wolves from Tristan's pack and that you were already dead, but as we moved closer to you, we could see that you were still breathing,” he said calmly.

I rested my head on Mason's shoulder and listened carefully as Finn told us the events of that night. I felt Mason nod at Finn to continue.

“When we noticed that you were still alive Carmen took out her silver hunting knife and crept towards you. She was hoping to be able to stab you while you were passed out, but as she got to within a couple of feet of you, you suddenly woke up. Your eyes shot open and focused in on Carmen, and that's when I instantly knew it had to be you,” he paused again and glanced over at Mason.

I lifted my head and asked Finn,

“How did you know it was me? You'd never even met me.”

He looked back over to me and pulled the side of his lips up into a cheeky grin.

“Mason wouldn't shut up about finding his Fianna finally, so we all knew about you pretty early on. Then when you left him for a werewolf, you bet we heard loud and clear what he thought of that!” He giggled, which in turn made me smile.

I guessed that Mason wasn't smiling as Finn's eyes became wide as soon as he looked behind me at Mason.

“Ahem, anyway, when Damien and Evan arrived back here after seeing you for your birthday, they told Mason that you'd been marked,” he paused again and glanced sheepishly up at Mason.

I felt Mason nod letting Finn know that he could continue. I furrowed my brow and gave Finn my complete attention as he proceeded.

“We had to lock Mason in this cell until he promised Damien that he wouldn't hunt Tristan down and kill him. Damien knew that you would never forgive Mason if he killed Tristan, and that the chances of you ever accepting him as your Fennid, or coming home to us would be ruined forever,” he paused again as I turned away from him to look at Mason.

Mason had lowered his head and was now staring at the floor.

“Is this true Mason? They had to lock you up?” I asked as I placed my hand on his chin and gently raised his head.

He glanced up at me with illuminated eyes, I knew he was fighting the urge to ascend.

“Yeah, when they told me what that monster did to you I couldn't control myself. Every thought I had was of ripping Tristan apart, and I couldn't calm myself down. I know that they did the right thing though, because if I had have hunted Tristan down and killed him, I would have lost you forever,” he sounded full of sadness, and I felt awful that I was the cause of his pain.

I stroked his cheek with my thumb and gazed into his beautiful light green eyes. Watching the swirling white circles dance around his pupils was hypnotic, and I could feel them pulling me in. I knew my own eyes were now fully illuminated and the magnetic attraction was too strong to ignore.

I leaned into him and whispered,

“I'm sorry Mason, I'm here now.” 

I then kissed him softly, and he brushed his hand affectionately down my arm. The electricity and fire from his touch, had become but a distant memory. But now, it rampaged throughout my entire body. With my new wolf senses, I could hear his heartbeat speeding up and I could smell his arousal, and let me tell you it was the most amazing scent I'd ever smelt, and almost impossible to resist.

It probably wasn't Mason's best idea to be touching me right now. He knows what it does to the both of us, but by the smirk I could see beginning to stretch across his face, I knew that he was enjoying making me squirm.

I pulled away and tried to calm myself down. He closed his eyes and within seconds I could hear his heartbeat settle back to its normal rate. Not the same could be said for the smell of his arousal though, that was still highly potent, calming myself was going to be more difficult than I thought.

I felt extremely awkward and embarrassed by my behavior. Now really wasn't the right time to be turned on, this situation was very important and serious. I needed to know what happened that night, but I couldn't help it, just being around Mason made my skin tingle and my legs turn to jelly. I need to pull myself together!

I pushed masons hand away from my skin, turned my body around and slid down onto the floor between his legs. I then closed my eyes and focused on anything but the intense and gorgeous smell that Mason was still emitting. I took in a few deep breaths and began to feel my heart slow down. Once I had calmed myself enough I exhaled heavily and opened my eyes. Finn was staring at me with a huge grin on his face, I could tell he was trying not to burst out laughing at me. Mason wasn't as considerate and chuckled at me anyway.

“Leave her alone guys! She's new to all of this. Finn, I remember when you first found out I was your Fianna. You couldn't control yourself at all. Do you remember that time you had an erection all the way through your little sister's initiation ceremony? You had to spend the whole time hiding out, watching it all from behind a tree!” Stevie piped up from behind us in the other cell.

I burst out laughing and so did Mason. Finn was mortified that Stevie had blurted out that story and his face immediately flushed red with embarrassment. I turned to look at Stevie and mouthed the words thank you to her, she winked at me in response.

“Ahem, well where was I?” Finn said quickly trying to change the subject.

“Ah right yeah, so I knew the wolf was you, as soon as you'd opened your eyes. It was clear that they were hunters eyes and the only hunter I knew that had been bitten was you. So as Carmen lunged towards you with her knife, I yelled at her to stop and told her that the wolf was you, but she didn't stop. You then launched yourself at her with your jaws open at the exact same time I'd gone to disarm her, that's when you bit my arm.” 

Finn took a deep breath as he finished telling us his story. I could feel Mason's body tense up behind me, he then asked through gritted teeth,

“Why didn't you tell me that Carmen knew the wolf was Freya before she stabbed her?” He looked at Finn for an answer.

Finn froze, then eyeballed Stevie with a questioning look. Mason and I shot our heads around to look at Stevie, she instantly avoided our glares and stared at the floor. We both turned our glares back to Finn.

“As acting Fionn, I demand that you answer me right now Finnley!” Mason bellowed, and I could feel his anger filling up the cell, you could almost taste it.

“I'm sorry Stevie,” Finn said in a hushed tone when he began to address Mason,

“I was all over the place after Freya bit me. I was locked up, then when I was finally let out I asked Stevie if she'd told you about Carmen and she...” He paused and with pleading eyes looked to Stevie for help.

She had tears streaming down her face as she stood up and backed away from the glass, she began to speak quietly as she walked away,

“I'm really sorry. Carmen convinced me that she didn't know it was you. She said she panicked and couldn't control her hunter's instincts. She begged me not to say anything. Then when Finn asked me about it, I tried to convince him that she was innocent. That's when we argued, and he got really angry and attacked me.”

She slid back down on to the concrete floor and began to sob into her hands. Finn hurried over to the glass trying to get as close to her as possible.

“Stevie I am so sorry. I couldn't control my anger. I was just so pissed off that Carmen had gotten into your head and manipulated you. When you wouldn't listen to reason I just freaked out. I promise it will never happen again,” he tried to reassure her, but she just sobbed louder into her hands.

I felt heartbroken for Finn; I knew what it felt like to be out of control. And I also knew what it was like to have someone you love feel disgusted and scared of what you are. It was such a lonely feeling.

“Mason, let him go and comfort her,” Mason looked at me with a worried expression. I smiled at him and said,

“It will be safe; he'll be fine I promise.”

I could tell that he didn't want to, but he did as I asked anyway. He stood up and walked over to the cell door, he unlocked it and left the cell. He then opened up Stevie's cell and Finn wasted no time in exiting our cell and then ran into Stevie's.

Mason locked the cell behind him then made his way back into mine. I half expected him to lock me back in, but he didn't, he stood at the doorway and held his hand out for me. I made my way over to him, took his hand and left the cell.

There was a bench opposite Finn and Stevie's cell, so Mason and I sat down and watched as Finn threw his arms around Stevie. At first, she repeatedly pushed him away, but he kept trying again and again to comfort her. Eventually, his efforts pissed her off completely.

“Don't touch me Finn, the idea of your dirty flea-bitten hands all over me makes my skin crawl,” she screamed at him.

There was such pain in her voice, the poor girl was conflicted. She loved her Fennid but the hunter side of her despised the wolf side of Finnley. Stevie sobbed back into her hands and poor Finn sat back on the cold floor completely lost. Tears began to stream down his cheeks. I don't know if it was because I'd turned him, but I felt an overwhelming need to mother him and comfort him.

My wolf was crying out to him and I could hear the whimpers of his own wolf. It was strange though, the whimpers from his wolf weren't for Stevie, they were for Finn. His wolf didn't like him being upset about this girl. I didn't know how it was possible, but I could hear in a mind link the conversation Finn was having with his wolf. Finn's wolf snarled,

“She's not our mate! Stop crying for her!” I then heard Finn scream back at his wolf,

“I know, you keep saying she's not our mate! But how many times do I need to tell you? She IS my Fianna! I don't know what you want from me!”

The wolf then howled in response,

“I want you to KILL HER!”

I gasped and held my hand over my mouth, Finn quickly shot his head around to look at me. He then immediately mind-linked me,

“Freya did you hear that?” His eyes grew wide as he awaited my answer.

“Yes Finn, I heard all of it,” I replied.

As soon as the words left my mind his eyes began to illuminate. That's when I heard the first bone crack, then another and another until the whole room was alive with the echoes of bones breaking, stretching and reshaping.

“MASON! Open the door, you need to get Stevie out now!” I screamed at him as I sprinted to the cell door.

I knew we only had a short window of opportunity to get her out. Finn was immobilized for now, but once he'd shifted she would be dead in seconds. The silly girl didn't know what was happening, it was all too quick for her and she hadn't even ascended, she stood no chance against him.

Mason hurried to my side and unlocked the door, I ascended as he flung it open. I flat-out charged at Finn, the sound of our bodies colliding vibrated throughout the building and he went flying into the glass wall. He whimpered as he hit the floor making my own wolf cry out at me. She then began to growl at me, she didn't like me hurting our son, but I had no space right now for sentimentality. I turned towards a terrified Stevie and screamed at her,

“RUN!”

She hesitated for a second, so I lunged towards her. I wasn't going to hurt her, I just needed her to snap out of it and run. It worked and she sprinted for the door. Finn had fully shifted now and swiftly chased after her. Luckily she made it out of the cell, but Mason was struggling to lock the door behind her. 

I knew if Finn escaped this cell he or Stevie were going to die. I have felt the strength of Mason, and I think that he would eventually be able to fend Finn off. But God forbid if Finn started to get the better of Mason, son or not, I'd have no choice, I'd have to kill him.

I did the only thing that I knew had worked before and stopped him in his tracks.  I screeched at him,

“FINNLEY STOP!”

But this time it didn't work, and he barged right through the cell door sending Mason hurtling through the air and smashing headfirst into the brick wall.