Chapter ten: the cry of freya

The scent of burning pine slapped me in the face before the first howl pierced the sky.

I was too late.

By the time I reached the edge of White claw territory, the damage was already spreading like wildfire, literally. Flames ate the tree lines, crackling like laughter in the air. Screams echoed in the night air, a mixture of chaos and terror. And through it all, I could feel her. Freya.

Kade had used her power. I didn’t know how he convinced her, or how far she’d gone, but I could feel her energy tearing at the seams of our defenses like a dagger through old cloth.

This wasn’t just an ambush.

It was a full massacre.

I walked down the incline, dodging the sharp debris, my claws thrust forth and breath heavy in my chest. The trees around me were burnt black, and ash floated like snow. Every thing nerve in my body screamed for me to turn back. But I couldn’t. Not when my pack was under attack. Not when she was still out there.

A low growl rumbled to my right. I spun just in time to parry the strike from a rogue wolf—one of Kade’s lieutenants. His eyes were red with bloodlust, fur stained dark. I met him head-on, claws slashing across his muzzle. He yelped and staggered back, but another replaced him. Then another.

They came like shadows, relentless and silent. My muscles burned, but I kept going, cutting down each one with fury I didn’t know I still had left. Every time I blinked, I saw Freya’s face. Every time I struck, I prayed I wasn’t striking her.

I pushed toward the heart of the territory, where the main den lay hidden under rock and root. But the deeper I went, the worse it got. Whiteclaw warriors—my warriors—were falling. Our barriers were useless, sliced apart by energy I had seen only once before.

Freya’s magic.

But it wasn’t right. It wasn’t controlled. It was wild. Untethered.

She didn’t do this on her own.

Kade had her. Twisting her. Feeding off her pain, her rage, her confusion. I should’ve told her the truth sooner. I should’ve never let her walk away.

I came around a burning log and found Elya, one of our youngest, bleeding and curled under a collapsed tree. I skidded to a halt and dropped beside her.

“Finnick…” she gasped, her breath thin, eyes wide with terror.

“I’m here,” my voice low almost a whisper, pulling the tree off her with a loud groan. “You’re going to be alright.”

“They came from above. From the cliffs,” she whimpered. “Freya… she opened the shield. She was crying, Finnick.”

Crying?

She wasn’t lost then. Not yet.

“She didn’t want to do it,” Elya whispered before her head lolled to the side in exhaustion.

I stood, fury burning hotter than the fires around me. This wasn’t a war. It was a message.

And Kade was signing it in the blood of my people.

A howl rose up in the distance—long and deep. Not a White claw howl. It was Kade.

He was calling me.

Challenging me.

I ran, not thinking, not breathing. I let instinct take over, following the pull of his voice, the tug in my bloodline that told me exactly where he was. He wanted me to find him.

And I would.

The sky opened above the cliffs, red and black smoke curling into the stars. There, at the summit, Kade stood like a king at war, his coat soaked in shadows, and beside him—Freya.

She was on her knees, glowing faintly, like the moon trapped under a glass jar. Her eyes were open, but vacant. Her magic pulsed around her like an echo.

He was using her like a battery.

“You always were predictable, Finnick,” Kade called out, smiling like he already won. “Rushing into danger. Heart on your sleeve. No plan. Just anger.”

“I’m here,” I snarled. “Let her go.”

He laughed and placed a hand gently on Freya’s shoulder. “But she chose to come with me. Didn’t you, Freya?”

Her lips parted. A faint whisper escaped, but I couldn’t hear it.

“She's not your pawn anymore, Kade.”

“No,” he agreed. “She’s a queen now.”

In a glimpse ,his eyes flared gold, and Freya’s body quivered as if struck by lightning. Her scream was a blast of raw energy and full charged power that cracked the rocks beneath us. My knees buckled as the force of it slammed into me like a wall.

I forced myself stand up, blood dripping from my nose.

“Stop using and manipulating her!” I roared.

“I’m not using her,” he sneered. “I’m *unleashing* her. You were always afraid of what she could become. But not me. I want all of it. The fury. The pain. The power.”

“Freya, listen to me!” I shouted, stepping closer, ignoring the shaking ground. “This isn’t you. He’s twisting your pain! You can fight this!”

Her eyes flickered.

Just a flicker. But it was there.

Hope.

“I..” she muttered.

Kade grabbed her chin, forcing her stare to his. “Don’t listen to him. He abandoned you. He lied. He let your family die.”

I saw her worried. That wound was still bleeding inside of her.

“listen, I’m not asking for forgiveness, I’m asking you to remember who you are.”

Another flicker.

Then she rose to her feet.

Slowly.

Uncertain.

But it was her.

Her eyes met mine. No longer vacant.

And then—suddenly—her mouth opened, and she screamed again. But this time, it wasn’t power she released.

It was a warning.

“Behind you!”

I turned but Too late.

A shadow lunged from the smoke behind me. I only saw the glint of metal and eyes like frost.

Kade’s mother.

Her blade tore through my side, white-hot pain flooding my vision.

I collapsed to one knee, clutching the wound, vision spinning.

Freya screamed again—not in power, but in terror.

Kade’s laugh echoed over the cliffs.

And then, Everything went black.