CHAPTER THIRTEEN—Mina, watch out!

Freya Rose Knock, knock.

Our laughter was interrupted by a gentle tap on the office door. I cleared my throat and waved at the guys to quit their playing around. Mason ran over to the couch and sat down, placing the fire extinguisher down the side of it and out of view. Evan glanced at me and pointed at his hair then whispered, “How am I supposed to explain this?” I sniggered and took my bright pink hoodie off of the coat stand next to the desk and threw it at him. “Really?” He questioned me in a whisper while raising an eyebrow. With a smirk on my face, I shrugged at him then straightened my face and sat down at my desk.

Knock, knock.

Another tap at the door a little louder this time.

“Com…” I began to answer but Evan waved his hands at me and whispered, “Wait, wait! Give me a chance.” He rushed to put my hoodie on, and it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. This muscled man trying to squeeze into my tiny pink hoodie. Once on, it only came down to his waist and his massive arms stretched the fabric to almost bursting point. He yanked the sleeves up towards his elbows, and a loud ripping sound followed. I giggled and looked at Mason who was bright red from holding his breath trying not to laugh, but the occasional snigger still managed to burst through. “Shut up you! This is all your fault,” Evan hissed at Mason.

He went and stood near the door and turned to the side so that whoever was behind it couldn't see his pure white face that had been covered by the fire extinguisher.

“Come in!” I shouted out.

The door swung open and in stomped my aunt Hannah and her daughter Imogen. Evan quickly snuck out behind them and closed the door.

“Who was that?” My aunt asked me sternly.

Trying to keep a straight face I answered, “Evan. Don't mind him. He has some work to do.”

She furrowed her brow then asked the obvious question, “Why was he in a tiny pink hoodie? And why does it look like it snowed in here?”

Mason burst out laughing and I couldn't help but snigger as I answered, “It's not important. Now, Mason, can you make us some coffee's please and bring them through to the living room. Also, tell Evan to come and clean up this mess will you,” I ordered Mason as I stood up and walked towards the door.

“Of course, Fionn. Right away,” he replied as he stood up from the couch.

“Thank you. Would you two head there, please?” I asked Hannah and Imogen politely. They nodded and proceeded to leave the office and make their way into the living room. I poked my head back into the office and said to Mason, “don't think you're getting out of it Mr. You can help Evan clean up this mess.”

I winked at a wide-eyed Mason, then left with a huge smirk on my face. I could get used to this Fionn lark, I thought as I made my way into the living room to join my aunt and cousin. Closing the door behind me, I composed myself and headed over to the armchair then sat down. Hannah and Imogen had already sat on the couch and after being around Samael I found it quite rude that they hadn't waited to be seated. My aunt was a slim woman with blonde hair like my dad and Carmen. She wore it long and straight, just below her shoulders. She had brown eyes like Carmen and slightly tan skin too. Imogen didn't look much like her mother at all. She had brown wavy hair and dark blue eyes and the only similarity between them was the slightly tanned skin. I couldn't stop obsessing about how angry and disgusted my aunt looked, but my thoughts were interrupted when she asked, “Freya, you needed to see us about something?” She said it bluntly with that same look of disgust on her face.

She'd seemed so nice when I saw her after the incident with Mason and Tristan. I couldn't understand why she was looking at me like that. Imogen just kept her head down, she seemed either embarrassed by her mother, or she didn't want to look at me. Either way, I wasn't about to accept their rudeness.

“I'm sorry Hannah, but do you have a problem with me?” I asked her just as bluntly as she'd asked me.

Imogen looked up at her mother, her face pleading with her not to say anything. But Hannah didn't notice her daughter and replied in a venomous tone, “Yes, frankly I do!”

I furrowed my brow and replied politely, “Would you care to elaborate?”

I raised one eyebrow at her while I waited for her reply.

“You shouldn't be allowed to be Fionn! My brother was a loving and kind Fionn. My father was a strict and courageous Fionn, and my grandfather was a strong and righteous Fionn. They and our family's past Fionn's were loved and respected by the faction and the hunter's council. All of them would be turning in their graves right now, knowing that a damn dog is now ruling in their place.”

After her spiteful speech, she casually sat back on the couch and folded her arms across her chest, then smirked at me. I looked over at Imogen whose mouth was now open just as wide as her eyes. My rage was building, the damn right cheek this woman had, was making my blood boil, and I really didn't want to control myself, but I knew I had to bite my tongue if I wanted information from her.

“Hannah, you are entitled to your opinion. But I will not be sorry for who, or what I am! I am your Fionn, whether you choose to accept it or not and I need you to answer a few questions for me,” I said through gritted teeth trying my best to sound polite while struggling to control my temper.

She scoffed then answered sarcastically, “I will not answer your questions. I know the council want to kill you and I won't help you squirm your way out of it. Amelia is the rightful heir, and she deserves to be Fionn, not some mangy mutt. Now, come on Imogen, we're leaving!” She snapped at her daughter then stood up and stomped out of the room.

“I'm sorry about my mother, Freya. She's finding this all really difficult. It's bringing back memories of Kali, I…” She was abruptly cut off as she tried to defend her mom and she sounded so sincere and sweet I couldn't help but feel for her, “Imogen. Now!” Hannah screeched, making Imogen scurry off after her mom.

“Hey, what crawled up her ass?” Mason asked when he entered the room carrying our coffee's. He set them down on the coffee table while I just sighed and slumped back into the armchair, before covering my face with my hands. I heard him walk over to me, then felt his arm slide under my legs as he gently scooped me up and sat down, placing me onto his lap. “What's up, Fi? How can I help you feel better?”

I rested my head on his shoulder. I could definitely think of a few ways he could make me feel better, but I knew we had more important things to discuss.

“Did you or, Evan tell, Hannah or, Imogen about the hunter's council?”

I asked quietly with my head still on Mason's shoulder. He grabbed me by my waist and lifted me up, placing me back onto the chair, then took a seat in front of me on the coffee table.

“No! We haven't told anyone. The only ones that should know are us three and the person that told the council. So tell me exactly what she said,” he said calmly, but I could tell that he was beginning to tense up.

I sat forwards and told him exactly what my aunt had said.

“She called you a what? How fucking dare she be so disrespectful. I should drag her a back here, string her up in the garden by her tits and make an example of her,” he shouted as he shot up from the table sending the coffee's flying.

“Mason calm down.” He was fighting his ascension, so I stood up and tried to snap him out of it. “Babe, look at me.” I took his chin in my hand and pulled his face down so that he had to look at me. Once his illuminated light green eyes met mine, I said softly, “breathe.”

He focused on my eyes and began to take deep breaths. Slowly but surely, his eyes returned to normal, and his expression softened.

“Hey, what's up with Mason? I heard shouting!” Evan blurted out as he ran into the living room.

“He's fine,” I replied without taking my eyes off of Mason. “Aren't you!” I asked him with my eyebrows raised, he nodded, then hugged me. I squeezed him tight making sure he knew I was ok.

“Okay, what's going on?” Evan asked as he stepped closer to us.

I knew I had to tell him, but I didn't want him flying off of the handle too, so I decided to leave out the part where my aunt called me a dog.

“Hannah and Imogen know that the council wants to kill me. She also thinks that Amelia is the rightful Fionn of this faction,” I said as calmly as I could, although repeating the words made my blood boil again.

“How the fuck do they know? It's got to be, Carmen or, Amelia then!” He snapped before, and I had a chance to reply we were interrupted.

“What's got to be me or, Carmen?” Amelia asked casually as she entered the living room and plopped herself down on to the couch.

We all turned to look at her. the guys glanced at me, hinting that I should be the one to talk to her. Typical, I thought. They were so quick to get angry and bitch about it but are happy to leave me to the dirty work. I rolled my eyes at them then snapped, “Go and clean the mess up in the office!” They both smirked, then left.

“So, what were you guys on about? And what happened in here?” She asked while pointing towards the coffee cups on the floor and the coffee all over the place.

“Oh that, I bumped into the coffee table. You know how clumsy I can be,” I quickly lied to her. I was shocked at myself for how good I was getting at lying. She nodded and smiled in agreement. “And about the other thing, I need to ask you something. It's really important and you won't be in trouble, I just need the truth, okay?” I asked her as sweetly as I could, while I sat down on the couch next to her.

She sat up and turned to face me and with an expression full of concern she replied, “Of course, sis, I'd never lie to you.”

She sounded sincere and I believed her right away. I took in a deep breath then asked her calmly, “Did you see anything you shouldn't have last night?”

I couldn't believe I was asking my sixteen-year-old little sister, if she had been spying on me, Mason and Evan having sex. I knew I'd skirted around the question, but I couldn't bring myself to ask her outright. She furrowed her brow at me then looked up in the air as if she was trying to remember. She then glanced back at me and said, “Well, I'm not sure that I shouldn't have seen it, but if you mean, 'Did I see something odd,' then yeah, I did—two things, in fact.” She paused to gauge my reaction, and I raised my eyebrows at her.

“Well?” I asked in a sterner voice, she looked towards the door making sure no one was there, then leaned in towards me.

“When I arrived, I walked past the office, and I heard Mason shouting at someone down the phone. He said, ‘stop calling here Cassie, I've already told you Freya doesn't want to speak to you!’ Then he slammed the phone down,” she paused again when she noticed that my face had scowled with anger.

I took in a deep breath then exhaled to calm myself. Softening my expression I replied, “It's okay, Amelia. What was the other thing you saw?” She looked around again then whispered, “I saw a woman running into the woods crying, so I followed her…”

My eyes grew wide, because I was about to find out who had reported me to the council. Suddenly Hannah burst through the door and screamed, “There you are, Amelia. I have been searching everywhere for you! I thought I told you to wait in the damn car! Come on we're leaving,” she ordered, and Amelia immediately stood up and turned to walk towards Hannah.

I gently grabbed Amelia's arm then shouted back at Hannah, “No, Hannah! Amelia is going to be moving back in with us. There is no need for her to leave with you, I'll send someone for, Isaac and their stuff!”

Amelia looked at me in shock, but I continued to stare down Hannah. She laughed as she began to stalk towards us. She ripped Amelia out of my grip and dragged her through the living room, before shoving her into the hallway.

“Go and wait in the car, Amelia. I won't ask again!” She hissed at her. Amelia dropped her head and obeyed her aunt. Hannah turned to me and said sarcastically, “silly mutt. What do you know about bringing up children? I am their legal guardian, and if you try to take them from me, I'll have you arrested. Also, you won't be around much longer to be able to look after them. I know that the council won't kill you, but they will take you like they took my sister, Kali, and trust me, with what they're going to make you do, you're going to wish you were dead.”

She cackled and turned to leave. The rage building inside me made my body shake and I ascended while jumping over the couch and sprinting towards the bitch. She screeched into the air then ascended herself as she turned to face me. Within seconds, I had my hand around her throat, and I'd smashed her into the hallway wall.

“Mom!” Imogen screamed when I held her mother up against the wall.

I turned my head to see Imogen holding her hands over her eyes and shaking like a leaf. I spotted Amelia behind her with tears streaming down her face. I glanced back at Hannah, and she was smirking, knowing that I couldn't kill her in front of my little sister and her daughter. No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't.

“Get your filthy mutt hands off of my mother!” Carmen screamed as she stormed in from the garden.

A crowd was following closely behind her. Most of them watched on in shock. I heard some whispers, but I tried my best to ignore them. I felt a hand slide down my arm and gently pull on my wrist. I looked up into Mason's pleading eyes, then sighed as I loosened my grip around my aunt's neck.

“Come on Freya, leave it. There are too many people watching,” I heard Evan whisper into my ear from the other side of me.

He slid his hand along the bottom of my back and rested it on my waist. I pulled my hand away from Hannah's neck and watched as she dramatically dropped to the floor, not bothering to try to save herself. I rolled my eyes at her theatrics while I began to walk away.

“She just attacked me. I told you all that she couldn't control her wolf. She's not worthy of being Fionn, she's just a damn dog!” She spat her venomous poison, loud enough for everyone to hear.

I couldn't stop Mina from reacting and she took over instantly, turning our body around and shifting in record speed, before lunging at Hannah. Suddenly Carmen pulled out her silver hunting knife, the one she'd stabbed us with before, then lunged at us.

“Mina, watch out!” I screamed in my head. Mina jumped out of the way, but Carmen's knife sliced our leg. Mina growled and charged right at Carmen. She panicked and turned to run away, so Mina jumped into the air ready to take her down. “Min, no!” I begged, but she wasn't listening to me. She had Carmen in her sights, and she was ready to hunt. “What the hell?” I said in our mind link as we smashed into the floor.

Mina whimpered and I quickly took advantage of her distraction, taking back control of our body. I was now pinned to the floor by Mason and Evan, and I could hear hunter's screeching all around me. It was so bright that it blinded my delicate wolf eyes. Me shifting had caused a lot of hunters to ascend involuntarily and I was now surrounded by brilliant white and pink beams of light.

“We need to get her into the basement now!” Mason screamed at Evan.

“She needs to shift back!” Evan replied.

Hearing him clearly, I shifted back immediately. I was hoisted up into the air and carried off into the darkness. I heard the heavy steel door slam behind us as I was carried down the stairs on Mason's shoulder. He sat me down on the bed then ran back up the stairs to guard the door with Evan. I sat there completely naked trying to see again, after being blinded by all the hunter's ascension lights. I could hear the hunter's upstairs screeching and the beeping of the security keypad as they tried to get in. There were constant bangs of the door closing again each time they successfully managed to open it. The room filled with the screams of Mason and Evan begging them to stop.

I sat there feeling completely helpless just trying to get my sight back so I could help them and be of some use. My nose began to twitch when I picked up a familiar scent. Before I had a chance to react an arm flew around my neck and pulled me backwards off of the bed, sending me crashing down onto the floor. I ascended again to defend myself, but I still couldn't see a damn thing. Everything was pitch black with a bright white light in the middle of it, that was obscuring my vision further. I screamed when the person whisked past me slicing my arm with a blade, then screamed out again when the blade slashed across my cheek. Crouched down on the floor holding my face as blood seeped through my fingers, I cried out desperately for Mina to help me.

“This is a silver blade soaked in wolfs bane, your mutt won't be able to save you this time, Freya!”