Protecting Them (Only His Series: Book 3) *OLD VERSION*

Chapter 29

Alex's P.O.V

We took Freya, unconscious, to the bell tower. She woke, looking confused as she looked around and tried to figure out where she was. When she saw Klaus and I sitting nearby, she remembered what happened and became angry and frustrated at my husband.

"Ah, you're awake. Well, clearly your restorative powers are not renowned for their speed." Klaus said and I looked at her. I was sitting next to Klaus with my head laying aganist his shoulder.

"You dare lay your hands on me?" Freya asked him furiously.

"Yeah, sorry about his behaviour." I said to her and she looked at me, then looked back at him.

"Immortality is a bold play, Alex. I had to make sure she was telling the truth." Klaus explained to me and I rolled my eyes at him. Nice Save. Freya was clearly still appalled by his behavior as she tried to catch her breath. Yeah, you'll get used to it.

"Why did you bring me here?" Freya asked us.

"He couldn't have you stay in our home. Apparently that honor is something he reserved for those he considers our family." I said and she looked at him upset.

"So you refuse me as your sister?" Freya asked him and he looked at her.

"Well, you had a lovely audition. It just didn't seem to be the right fit." Klaus said to her as he got up and walked over to the other side of the room.

"I think Elijah felt otherwise. Rebekah, too, along with your wife." She said to him. Aha! So my plan did work, Klaus. He looked at me and I kept myself from smiling. He knew I was right. Her back was to me, so she didn't see the smirked I sent my husband's way.

"Yes, you did a fine job of convincing them with all your melodramatic tales. However, I suspect you were not entirely forthcoming. The truth is, Elijah, Rebekah, and Alex can be a bit naive when it comes to family relations. Case in point, their unending faith in me! I repay that loyalty by guarding them against treachery they cannot see, and I suspect you are very treacherous indeed." Klaus explained to her and walked back over to me.

"You wish to worm your way into my family - I want to know why. So, sister, I'm going to give you one last chance to tell the full truth. I suggest you don't muck it up." Klaus said. Freya lit dozens of candles around the room to give us some light.

"You want to know why I hate Dahlia?" She asked and I nodded. Klaus looked surprised and intrigued by this response. "It goes back to a man. His name was Matthias. We knew each other for one perfect year in the early 1400s. I loved him more than my own life, and Dahlia allowed me to love him."

"Of course. She wanted you to bear her another firstborn." I said and Freya was near tears again. Damn! She cries a lot.

"I broke my vow and gave into love, and that led to the darkest moment of my life. The day when I tried to steal from Dahlia that which she wanted most." Freya said and looked at me

"And what, precisely, was that?" Klaus asked her and she kept her gaze on me. Freya started to cry and hesitated for a moment, her voice breaking when she eventually spoke.

"My son." I looked down guilty, then looked at Klaus. "Matthias only wanted our son to be born free. For that, Dahlia cursed him to death. I knew that I'd never be free of her, that my child would be born a slave. To spare us both the horrors of the life I'd known, I took a bottle of Dahlia's strongest poison." I kept my eyes on Klaus. I tried to do that when I was pregnant with our children, but I couldn't. I looked back at her as she looked at Klaus.

"I wanted to die, for only death could give me the release I longed for. But Dahlia knew that my death was never an option. That was the day that I learned I could never die." Freya said.