Chapter eight: I was born for this war

The first thing I observed was noticing my breath, fast and shallow, as the cold was cutting me like a knife. The moon was seen high in the sky gleaming silver dim light through the trees that created a spinning ghost shadow. My Heart was racing, pulse was pumping and blood vessels surging through my veins.

Kade's voice was a new wind in my mind, unyielding: "Come on, Freya. Take your claim to your birthright, or die as a pawn in Finnick's war."

Kade's invitation pressed on me like a bee Sting. I wanted to shove it off, I wanted to destroy everything Finnick had spent his life building, I wanted him to suffer for the agony he inflicted on my family. But there was also obligation, and a heavier feeling pulled me. My pack, my people needed me.

"Make the right choice, Freya. For once in your life, make a good choice."

Kade's voice was not just a temptation, but a promise of power, and of control. Power that had been out of my reach for far too long. But was I ready to pay the price? How much blood do I need to shed to stand on that promise?

I stood at the corner's edge, staring into the distorting sea beneath me. The sound of the waves clashing against rocks was welcoming, but sadly reminding me of what was before me, should I choose  the wrong path?

My phone beeped and startled me from my thoughts. Finnick.

"Freya,Meet me in the woods. We need to talk."

My jaw tensed. I could practically hear the bitterness in his voice. He was desperate. But what did he want from me now? After all that had happened?

I didn't even stop. I grabbed my heavy coat and dashed into the chill darkness of the night.

The woods were thick and dark with buttered pine and earth. I found Finnick in the woods at a small clearing, back to me looking far into the distance. He looked so different from the man I held in such high regard.

It was dark in the woods; the pine scent, mixing with the earth, a refreshing and familiar stale smell. I found Finnick in a clearing, his back to my back, staring off into nothing. He appeared so unlike the man I remembered. Leadership had bent him, broken him. Now, all that was left was a shell.

"Freya," he said quietly, his pace leveled and full of tension. "I need you to listen."

I crossed my arms and stiffened but not only from the cold. Anger, confusion, fear rolled through me. "Why? So you can lie to me again? Why don't you just write me an apology and tell me how this is all my fault?"

He turned slowly to face me, our eyes locking. There was something unfamiliar in his gaze, regret, possibly? Or was it guilt? Yet I couldn't be bothered - just stand there facing him in silence.

"I don't even know who I am right now, Freya," he sighed as if he were admitting to everything himself. "I don't think I can do this anymore - not this way."

"Then stop!" I barked. "Just stop! Stop pretending! Stop playing this game! You've been using me!" I can't remember the last time I had this rage surfing in me. I've never ever screamed or spoke like this, but it felt good to spit them out.

"You think I wanted any of this??" he yelled, his voice started to break and he lost control. "My mother is the one who made me like this. The hate, the lies, the power...She never wanted me to be anything more than a puppet. She used me against you, against everyone. I need you to understand that. I never meant for you to get hurt."

My heart dropped. I had always suspected something wasn't right, but hearing it out from him, my breath caught in my throat.

"You think I don't know about all that?" I whispered, stepping forward. "I know that you were just a pawn too. But it doesn't change what you did. What we both did."

His eyes turned dark. "I'm sorry. I've always been sorry. But you don't understand. My mother - she's the reason everything is falling apart. She's the reason we are at war. I can't stop it without you. I need you."

The word 'need' resounded in my head. The weight of his plea settled on me like a thick fog. But just as suddenly, it was torn away by a different voice - Kade's, cold and insistent.

"You think Finnick is your answers, Freya? He's just another puppet. But you . . . you could be more. You could be my queen. We could rule this world together."

I was wrestling a civil war. Loyalty to my pack. Obligation to my people. But more than that, the hunger for justice, no, the thirst for revenge for the family I never got to accomplished.

“You..you don’t know what you’re asking,” I uttered, my voice trembling. “I can’t just shut it down. The anger. The hate. It’s now a part of me.”

“I know," Finnick replied, the strain in his voice hitting at an understanding of his own that he really wanted to deny. “But you can’t give in to it. It will consume you, destroy you. It destroyed me.” 

I took a step back where I stood unsure of my next action with a war raging in my head. 

Then, before I could act, something moved in the bushes. Finnick and I froze, both reaching for our weapons instinctively. From the shadows stepped a figure. 

It was her. 

Kade's mother. 

She smiled like a twisted, cruel serpent ready to strike. 

"Well, if it isn't the little pawn attempting to make her move," she shut back, her eyes glittering with malice.

Finnick's face shaped with rage, "You. What do you want?" "I came to reclaim what belongs to me," she responded in a frosty tone. "And I'm not leaving without her."

She advanced, her hands behaving in a dark energy, thrusting the power in her fingers to pulsating as if beating a drum.

I didn't think. I couldn't think. My instincts took over. when I lunged, the force of her magic tossed me back to the earth, knocking all the air from my lungs.

Finnick charged her, but she was too quick. She waved her wrist, and Finnick fell pliably to the earth, muscles twitching as if he were dreaming a bad dream.

'No...'

I made it back to standing, rage flooding through me. I had to act. There was no choice.

Kade's mom smiled, all-too aware she had won. until she noted I had raised my hand. A pulse of power surged inside of me, rough and untempered, and ready to burn everything to the ground.

I could feel the ground stirring slightly beneath my feet.

"Freya, no!" Finnick yelled but his shouts were muffled by the heavy roaring of power hissing outside of us.

And then, when I was about to act, Kade spoke in my head, clear, loud, and precise.

“Make your choice, Freya. Will you destroy, or will you save?”

I froze.

The world paused, holding its breath.

And the cliffhanger came, as I stood at the edge of it, not knowing which path to take.