FREYA
“We’re almost there Freya.”
Sebastian’s voice wakes me up from my fixed thoughtless gaze out the window.
The last four-hour drive from Crystal Moon to Gage’s pack, River Run, has been a blind blur of trees and woodland. Each mile we travel a sinking ache in my stomach grows.
I feel dead inside.
I’ve spent the last three days crying and raging until there is nothing left inside me. I can’t bear to look at Neo since she Alpha ordered me not to contact Xander and Knox. How she found out about them I’m not sure, she won’t say and for the first time in my life, I feel like she’s keeping something from me.
“Thanks for driving me Sebastian, I know you didn’t want to leave Neo with the birth so close.”
Sebastian smiles.
“Not a problem Freya, I’ll be back home before dinner, we’ve got a couple of months left.” His smile is so joyous I can’t help but return it. His love for Neo and their baby is so pure. There’s something in the way he smiles when he talks about them that chokes me.
It makes me think of Xander and Knox.
Deep inside me, I know they care for me. It’s what makes everything hurt so much. I don’t understand why they haven’t even tried to call me.
The only thing I can think of is that they know about the trial. The news would have been everywhere in hours. They know Gage is still unmated. Maybe they have to also trial with the mate that rejected them. Either way their silence tells me everything. They let me go.
More than anything that hurts the most.
They didn’t even fight for me. They just let me go.
Sebastian takes a right off the highway down a nondescript dirt road. Typical of pack routes, winding through thickly wooded land until we reach a boom gate that is well guarded.
Two Epsilons dressed in black fatigues approach the SUV. I had hoped for a ride in Sebastian’s pimped-out truck but he never lets anyone in his truck except Neo.
“Your business?” The Epsilon asks with no trace of welcome in his serious gaze.
“Alpha Sebastian Kane and Freya Highwater here to see Alpha Gage. He’s expecting us.”
The guard nods, his eyes glazing over as he goes into mind link.
“Thank you, Alpha Sebastian. You can drop Miss Highwater here with us. Alpha Gage will be along to pick her up.”
Sebastian scoffs.
“Tell Gage I drop her off at the pack house personally or I take her back.”
The Epsilon walks away and I look at Sebastian quizzically. He shrugs.
“Gage has always been difficult to read. I’ve never got a handle on him. Remember, this is just a trial, if anything feels wrong, which I doubt will happen, link me or Neo, and we’ll come running okay?”
“Thanks, Sebastian,” I murmur nervously as the Epsilon waves us through.
Half a mile later we emerge from the woods which follow a wide rushing river to the pack house perched on a hill.
Another beautiful, large mansion but its modern architecture does not carry the antiquated homeliness of Crescent Ridge that I love. I’m biased I know, but everything in me rebels against being here so I’m predisposed to hating everything I see. Including Alpha Gage who stands on the porch front his hands thrust deep in his pockets.
I can’t help how my heart skips when I see him. It’s involuntary. He is a handsome Alpha, as one would expect. I still remember the day I saw him at the mating festival almost six years ago. Back then I thought he was the most handsome wolf I’d ever seen. Tall, perfectly muscular, hair the color of golden sand, and deep blue eyes like a stormy ocean. His quiet nature spoke of mystery, and he intrigued me. Right up until the moment he rejected me.
Hela and I were in full agreement that any wolf who didn’t want us, nor respected the mate bond, was not worthy of our heartbreak.
After I cried with Eva for a week, I pushed Gage out of my mind and have barely thought of him since.
It’s only been the last few months since Neo and Sebastian mated that I’ve had the misfortune to be around him. Each time, sure, the mate bond did its thing, I can’t help but find him attractive, but am I going to act on it? Hell no.
“Freya. You planning on getting out?” Sebastian looks at me with a raised eyebrow and I realize I’ve been sitting and staring at Gage.
“Yeah. Okay. Look, don’t hang around. I got this. Just get back to Neo. I’m still pissed, but I don’t want my niece arriving without her daddy around.”
I can see Sebastian’s relief as he helps me with my bag, then after a quick greeting to Gage, he drives off.
“Welcome, Freya. It’s been a while.” Gage says quietly, not making any attempt to shake my hand which I’m grateful for.
“Not long enough Gage,” I say staring him straight in the eyes. I want him to know I don’t want to be here.
Gage nods understanding me clearly. Epsilons beside him take my bags into the pack house.
“Let’s talk in my office and then get you settled in,” Gage says and I follow him into the house.
It’s quiet. That’s the first thing I notice. The living room has a few teens watching a TV show with the volume so low you can barely hear it. The rest of the pack house is empty. I don’t express any curiosity. I’m not interested, but Hela peeks up.
This would have been her home if Gage had not rejected us. She was born to be Luna of this pack. It’s impossible for her to not be curious about those that should have been her wolves.
The mansion is impeccable. Nothing is out of place, it gleams with cleanliness. Such a contrast to the bustling lived-in feeling at Crescent Ridge. I shake my head mentally.
I’ve got to stop thinking about Crescent Ridge and it’s Alphas.
Part of me feels foolish for the way I threw myself at Xander and Knox. I did things with them I’ve never even dreamed of and I know Gage can scent that I’m no longer a virgin. That part doesn’t bother me. Gage is no innocent either.
What bothers me the most is I fell in love with Xander and Knox and I thought they felt the same. Sure they never said the words but everything that happened made me believe they were falling for me as hard as I fell for them. And yet here I am and they’ve done nothing to stop this. They said I was theirs, and they were mine. Looks like it was all just words. I feel like a stupid fool.
Gage holds open the door to his office. As I pass through my shoulder lightly brushes his chest and I have to bite my lip as quiet sparks run down my arm.
Fucking mate bond.
Until either of us is mated again the bond will always be there.
“Sorry,” I mumble stepping away from Gage and finding the furthest seat from his desk.
“It’s okay Freya, you’re going to be here for three months, it’s bound to happen.” He says with a kind smile as he pours me a glass of water before settling behind his desk.
I drink slowly and distractedly as I look around his perfect office. Not a single piece of paper is out of place, the decor stark and uninviting. He’s a person who likes order I can see, a minimalist. There’s nothing superfluous in his office. No Plants, photo frames, or throw cushions for the plain white sofa.
“Thank you for coming Freya, I know this is the last place you want to be.” He looks at me, I can’t help but stare as the light flits through the room creating a strange halo through his golden hair. He’s handsome, that’s for sure. My heart flutters and I force myself to look away. Why the fuck do I feel so guilty?
“I had no choice remember. I’m not losing everything I’ve worked for and you did approach Neo first and say you wanted the trial. Why? We could have found a way out of this I’m sure.” I lean back crossing my arms giving him what I hope is a good hard glare.
He stares at me. I can’t read him through his stormy blue eyes, but his jaw clicks with tension.
“I’m not losing everything I’ve worked for either. My Beta and I looked over the Kings amendments carefully, there was no other way out of this trial. I’m not the kind of Alpha that wastes time. I act. The Genesis Bill now has the power to strip my pack of everything if I don’t do this as you know.”
He leans back his eyes skimming my body openly. His mood seems to change suddenly as he relaxes back into the large chair.
“You’ve changed Freya. Last I saw you at Neo’s Alpha accession you were still waiting for your second chance mate. Still so pure and virginal. What happened, or should I say who?” His eyes narrow slightly as his eyes land on my bare neck.
I lean forward staring him in the eye.
“None of your damn business Gage.” How dare he. He has no right to question me about anything I’ve done after his rejection. I certainly don’t care who he’s been screwing all these years.
My reply seems to spark something in him as a flash of anger crosses his eyes before it disappears again and his stoic calm expression returns.
“No judgments here Freya. Just didn’t think you were the type. I thought you’d hold out for your second chance not give it up the second you stepped into Crescent City.”
My head whips up as he stares back at me his fingers tented, elbows on the desk.
“What did you say?” I whisper, my heart thudding as he leans back with a strange smirk.
“I had an interesting call from Alpha Xander and Alpha Knox Bane before you arrived. They had some strong words to say about you, I believe ‘She’s ours and if you fucking touch her you’re dead,’ were their specific words.”
He tilts his head gauging my reaction.
My heart lurches, confusion and joy wreck me sending me back in my seat.
“Xander and Knox called you?” I can barely speak from the shock. I can’t believe they called him. And warned him off. Maybe I was wrong. Did I miss something? I feel like I have.
“Hmm,” he replies again adding no other detail. A strange smile hovers over his lips. I feel an unease settle into the pit of my stomach.
“I think I may have misjudged you, Freya. You and I are more alike than I realized. I’ve personally enjoyed fucking multiple she-wolves myself.” He says, again his eyes skimming over my body in an even more blatant and languid exploration.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I growl.
His ocean eyes ice over.
“I can look at you whatever way I want Freya. Remember you are on my land, this is my pack and you are my mate.”
Anger swells in the pit of my stomach.
“You rejected me Gage, and I accepted your rejection. We are not mates anymore. It’s nothing more than a mere technicality.” I snarl at him, hate growing inside me. Who the hell does he think he is?
“It’s nothing that can’t be undone, Freya. Tell me, are you enjoying being fucked by Xander and Knox? Knox has always been a puritan but Xander is a hell of a player, I guess he loves that ass of yours. Tell me is anal something you like? I think it is, you’ll be happy to know I rather enjoy it myself.”
Rage, confusion, and embarrassment blanket me. What the hell is going on here, why is Gage acting like this? Talking to me like this. He seems to know and read me well and that infuriates and also scares me. But more than anything I’m furious that he seems to think he can just talk to me like this. Knox would rip his heart out for the disrespect.
“You will never know what I like Gage. And frankly, you would never be able to do what they do for me, so wipe it out of your pathetic mind. I am not yours.”
Gage moves faster than I can blink. His chair flies out from behind him and suddenly I fly off the couch and I’m pinned against the door, his hand around my throat. I gasp and claw at his hand as the air is cut off, my toes just scraping the floor.
“You are whatever I say you are.” He presses his nose into my neck breathing deeply then pulling away scrunching his face up.
He drops me to the floor like I’ve burned him.
“Leave. The guards outside will take you to your room. I’ll deal with that disgusting scent later.” His words hold a threatening promise that I understand clearly. I need to get away from River Run. Now.
Shock spurs me out of the room clutching my neck. I slam into a guard standing outside who grabs my elbow which I brush off easily with fury riling me.
Gage won’t get the upper hand again with me. He will learn I’m not that kind of female. He should know we Crystal Moon she-wolves are not cast from the usual mold.
“Touch me again you’ll never see that hand again.” I scowl at the burly guard. He merely smiles humorlessly.
“Follow me to your room.”He orders and I trail behind his large form immediately linking Sebastian.
Sebastian. Something’s wrong here, Gage is crazy, can you come back and get me?
I pause on the steps confused as I find my link dead. Nothing by silence echoes in my mind as I reach out for Sebastian.
“Keep moving.” The guard says reaching for my elbow.
I swat his hand away and he lunges. My hands move in reflex borne by hours of defensive training.
The guard seems to enjoy the foray and lunges again forcing me to take a step back on the stairs. My back foot slips from the step and almost in slow motion I free fall backward, tumbling head over heel down the stairs, a deafening crack resounding through my brain following a jarring hit to my head as I collide with the edge of a step.
Blackness seeps into my vision as I lay twisted at the bottom of the stairs. Gage’s handsome face moves into my field of vision.
“You will learn Freya. I always get what I want, and I really don’t care how I get it. You do well to remember, I don’t take disobedience or disrespect well.”
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