Chapter 4

Freya's POV

Xaden exhaled sharpy and ran his hand through his damp hair and said those two, cruel words. “No.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“No, Freya. My answer is no,” he replied. “I can't accept your rejection. I won't.”

A cold, sick feeling twisted in my stomach. “You don't get to decide that after what you've done!”

He took a step closer, his presence a force that dominated but I refused to shrink from. “Actually I do, Freya. A rejection has to be mutual for the mating bond to be broken completely.”

The ground felt like it had been ripped in two underneath my feet. “You fucking bastard!”

Xaden didn't even flinch. “Call me whatever you want. It won't change anything.”

My chest was tight with fury and burst right through me before I could stop it. “Why are you doing this, Xaden? You don't even want me. You've spent 18 years making that very clear!”

His expression didn't even change and it infuriated me.

“That was before,” he said.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “Oh... so now that I'm your mate, you suddenly care about me? Well,.news flash! It does nothing!”

He didn't answer. He just stared at me.

“I hate you!” I began to scream now. “I hate you for standing there with that infuriatingly calm expression on your stupid face! I hate you for the years of torment and pain!  I hate you for refusing to let me go! And more than anything, I hate myself for feeling this stupid bond between us. It's not going to work out so leave me alone!”

“I'm sorry, Freya,” Xaden said quietly this time. That was the first and proper apology I had ever gotten from him in my 18 years of living. “But I can't let you go.”

Before I could up with a proper insult, distant sounds of creatures lurked in the shadows. We were both hurt and we were both tired but the sharp howl slicing through the air told us that we weren't alone.  

The resistance was here.

They'd finally caught up with us.

“They're close.” I whispered.

“If they are, then we need to move.” He sat up when I moved away.

“We?” I said, hesitant.

Xaden wasn't exactly the type of person I'd entrust my life to, especially not when he tormented me my whole life and pulled both of us over the edge of a cliff. No way that's happening again.

“Freya! We don't have a choice!” He said in a sharp tone. “Do you really think that you'd be better off with that leg?”

He gestured to my leg and the expression on my face hardened.

I hesitated again. He wasn't wrong about my leg. It was badly wounded and I couldn't get far on it. If I wanted to escape quickly, I'd need his help to walk and that is only because I can't die here.

He extended his hand. “Come on, Freya.”

I stared at it for a long moment — The hand he'd never lifted to help me before but now, he is.

The howls grew near and I cursed under my breath, grabbing his hand.

His warm fingers curled around mine and held it in a tight grip. A slight shiver raked through my body at the contact but I ignored it. Surviving came first while everything else, the war and the bond, could wait.

I told myself they could wait but deep down, I knew one thing for certain :

Fate had royally screwed me over.

*****

By nightfall, we had plunged deep into the ever thick forest with hunger gnawing at our stomach and our fresh wounds aching terribly.

My stomach grumbled but I refused to acknowledge it. My injured leg was a bigger priority than that.

My leg throbbed with each step but I forced myself to move, to keep my head clear.

I kept Xaden close but he dared not speak to me. I warned him not to. And as instructed, he didn't touch me nor did he pressure the bond. But his presence was a constant suffocating weight I had to deal with.

By midnight, I waited until he had dozed off and then as silently as I could, I pushed myself up, wincing as pain shot through my leg but that did not stop me.

Freedom was the only thing that mattered to me.

I took a step and then another. And just as I reached the tree line —

“Going somewhere?” A voice I recognized to be oddly familiar spoke, sending ice losing down my spine.

I turned slowly, my pulse pounding in my veins.

Xaden was awake, his golden eyes gleaming in the dark.

“You're not my mate.” I yelled the first thing that came to my head.

He tilted his head. “And yet, here you are, sneaking off in the middle of the night like a thief.”

My jaw clenched. “Because I refuse to be yours.”

Xaden sighed, rubbing his temple. “Freya —”

Suddenly, a howl pierced the air, swallowing the rest of his words.

Another howl followed then another. It was followed by the rustling of leaves and the sound of many some.things moving towards us.

Xaden tensed. “Shit. They've found us. We need to move. Now.”

I wanted to tell him to go to hell but I wanted to survive more than anything so I ran.

Despite the pain and exhaustion, I ran.

Branches lashed against my skin. My breaths came in ragged gasps. Xaden was right behind me, his presence like a shadow as the howl grew closer.

The howls stopped and we heard the voices.

“Over here!”

“I can see them!”

By the time we got to the clearing, we were completely surrounded.

My heart nearly stopped beating in my chest.

The resistance was here.

I was going to die.

They were figures cloaked in dark hoods and armed with crossbows and swords.

“Stay behind me.” Xaden said, pulling me behind him.

For a moment, I was startled. What was he doing?

The resistance were closing in on us but they weren't looking at me.

That was when I realized they were looking at Xaden. All of them. With their weapons drawn.

All this time, I wasn't the target.

He was.

One of the hooded figures stepped forward and spoke in a spine-chilling voice. “Xaden Andreas, son of Late Alpha Daemon Andreas...”

I'm sorry. Late?

The figure continued. “... is hereby accused of treason and is to be slaughtered without trial.”

Xaden stilled. “What?”

The figure raised his sharp, silver blade and pointed it at Xaden. “Kill him.”