Bastian’s POV:
The next morning, I got up before Ria did and made us some breakfast. It was a rough night for both of us. Ria kept having nightmares and thrashing in her sleep. It took almost all my strength to keep her from lashing out at me.
I sensed movement from the bedroom and knew that Ria had gotten up and out of bed.
I turned to see her standing at the doorway to her bedroom.
“Good morning,” I said to her as I turned back and continued to cook.
“Good morning,” she said softly.
She came to sit down at the bar.
“How are you feeling this morning?” I asked her.
“Better than yesterday but nowhere near feeling like myself.”
“Do you remember me telling you that I got a call from Mandella last night?” I said as I turned to see her reaction.
She sat up a little higher and asked, “No, I’m not sure that I do. What did she say? Is she coming here?”
“She says she will be making her way here soon, but she asked me to help you get back in connection with Freya.”
“How do we do that?”
I finished making her dish and placed it in front of her. “You and I are taking a little trip out into the deeper part of the forest. Mandella thinks that my wolf Rufus can help Freya.”
Her eyes went wide as she finished chewing and then swallowed. “How do you feel about this?”
“I talked with Rufus, and he has promised to be on his best behavior.”
“Can I apologize now for whatever Freya does? I have no idea what kind of state she will be in from all this, and she is a horny wolf.”
Rufus chuckled.
Me: Hush it!
“I’m sure Rufus can keep her in check. Now, eat up. You are going to need your strength. I will have one of my warriors bring us some supplies and food to take up there. There is a cabin tucked away there, where we can stay.”
She nodded. “Okay. Anything to get Freya back.”
She finished eating and headed back into the bedroom to get ready to go.
I pack-linked one of my warriors to get some supplies ready for us to take and bring one of the vehicles to drive up to the cabin.
The drive was about thirty minutes away as we got into the vehicle and headed to our destination. Ria rolled down her window to feel the breeze and smell the trees and wilderness as we passed by it.
“I love the smell of the wilderness. It’s so calming,” she said as she placed her arm out the window to feel the wind hit her hand and move it around.
I nodded in agreement. “Me too.”
“Even if I weren’t a wolf, there is just something so serene about all this.”
She looked over to me, and I just smiled at her, knowing exactly what she meant.
I pulled up in front of the cabin, and we grabbed the supplies and made our way inside the cabin.
The cabin was a pretty simple one, studio style with a little bathroom in the far corner. We put all the food and extra supplies where they needed to go and put our bags by the bed.
“Do you want to go for a little hike to show you what’s around?”
She let out a sigh and then nodded.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just going through the motions.”
I tried to rub her back, but she jumped away from me.
“Sorry, I guess I am still a little skittish after what happened.”
“I’m sorry, Ria. I will try to keep my distance,” I said as I started to put some distance between us.
She started to move closer to me and stood right in front of me, but I made no attempt to touch her. She placed her hands under my arms and moved them so they were wrapped around her.
“This will also help me heal. I just need to be aware that it is happening just for a little bit. Can you help me with that?”
I took a deep breath and then let it out before saying, “Yeah, I can help you with that.” I pulled her in closer and just breathed her in.
I could feel her heartbeat slowing down and trying to sync up with mine. It was a weird feeling, knowing that I could be her calm. It was reassuring.
“Just out of curiosity?” she said with a pause.
“Yeah, what?”
“When did you drop the formality of calling me Luria to Ria?”
I chuckled for a moment and then let out a sigh before saying, “Right about the time I was going crazy trying to figure out what happened to you.”
“Oh,” she said as she squeezed a little tighter.
“Why? Do you not want me to call you Ria?” I asked as I pulled away from her a little.
“No, I’m happy that you are calling me Ria.” She pulled me back into her again.
After a long embrace, I finally pulled her away from me a little, looked down at her, and asked, “Are you ready for that hike?”
She nodded with more confidence this time, and I smiled.
“Alright, let’s go.”
I pulled her along as we left the cabin and started making our way to this beautiful pond that I knew about.
When we finally reached the pond, Ria was smiling.
“Bastian, this place is absolutely beautiful,” she said with a soft smile.
“I’m glad you like it. This is my go-to spot when I need to get away and kind of let the stress out.”
She walked over and wrapped her arms around me from the side, and I wrapped one arm around her, looking down at her.
“Thank you for sharing your secret spot with me.”
I nodded but stayed silent as I took it all in.
Rufus: We need to get started.
Me: Wait, not yet.
I could feel Rufus pushing himself to the surface. I pushed myself away from Ria and turned my back towards her.
“Bastian, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Rufus. He’s trying to take over to get started,” I told her with a bit of strain in my voice.
Me: Rufus! Back down! Now!
Rufus: I can feel Freya. We need to do this.
“Rufus says he can sense Freya.”
“Oh, okay.”
Ria sat down in the grass and closed her eyes. She started to take deep, calming breaths as she tried to let go so that my wolf could call upon Freya.
I, too, closed my eyes and allowed Rufus to take over.
I hoped he truly behaved.
Rufus took over and squatted down in front of Ria with a mischievous smile.
“Freya, Freya, Freya, you dirty little bitch. Come on out and play,” he said to her.
Me: Rufus! Why are you being so rude? I need you to help me get Freya out, not piss her off.
Rufus: Sometimes, you need to be a dick to get the bitch to come out.
I rolled my eyes. I had a bad feeling about this. I knew Freya was a strong wolf, as was Rufus. I could only imagine how they were going to be when they met. I was going to have to keep a close watch on these two.
I saw that Ria started to sway back and forth slightly and open her eyes; I noticed their color was lavender, which meant that Freya had come to the surface.
She looked over at me and smiled coyly, “Rufus, it’s nice to hear your voice again.”
She started to stretch her body and leaned back on her hands.
“How are you feeling?”
She let out a deep sigh before responding, “Unfortunately, Ria and I are very weak at the moment. That asshole ex-mate of mine gave me wolfsbane and finished the rejection.”
“What do you need to help you heal?”
She looked at him with a seductive smile and said, “You know exactly what I need, Rufus.”
Before I knew it, Freya had shifted in her wolf form and taken off. Rufus started to laugh and shifted as well.
Me: Rufus, what’s going on?
Rufus: Don’t worry, Bastian. I have got this all under control. You just relax.
This did not sound good.
***
A Few Days Later…
Ria’s POV:
Faintly, I heard Freya.
Freya: Ria, Ria, it is time for you to wake up.
I woke up in a grassy area, startled and unaware of my surroundings. I noticed Bastian lying next to me.
“Bastian, Bastian, wake up.”
He slowly started to stir. “What’s going on?” he said as he slowly pulled himself up and looked around us.
“I am not sure. Where are we?”
He looked around, trying to get his bearings on where we were. It seemed he was as foggy as I was about what happened.
“Okay, we are at the pond that is not far from the cabin.”
“How long have we been out?”
He got up to look for his clothes and found them to pull out his phone.
“What? It’s been almost a week since we came up here.”
“A week? What happened to us?”
He let out a big sigh and growled out, “Rufus and Freya happened.”
Wait, what?
Me: Freya?
Freya: Yes?
A sense of relief flooded me.
Me: Oh, thank Goddess! You are back!
Freya: Yes, Rufus was able to help me get back on my feet.
Me: Wait, what did you do?
Freya: Just let him help me heal a bit.
Me: Why don’t Bastian and I remember any of this?
Freya: That’s because we stayed in wolf form the whole time.
Me: The whole time, the whole time, the whole time!
Freya: It was amazing.
“Oh no,” I spilled out.
“What?”
I turned to Bastian and said, “They stayed in wolf form the whole time. That is why we can’t remember anything.”
“Oh, those sly dogs,” he said in a shocked tone.
I scrambled to get up and retrieve my clothes and put them on.
“Come on. Let’s grab our stuff and head back to the pack. I am sure they are flipping out because they have not heard from us.
“I bet you are right.”
I followed Bastian back to the house. I didn’t feel a hundred percent better. There was something still off, but I had yet to figure out what.
Freya: He finished the rejection.
I stopped in my tracks.
Me: What?
Bastian noticed I had stopped and asked me, “What’s wrong?”
I put my hand up and put one of my fingers up to give me a minute.
Me: The rejection is complete?
Freya: Yes, it is. Between the wolfsbane and the rejection, I was very weak. But thanks to Rufus, he was able to help me.
Bastian gave me a concerned look.
I took in a few deep breaths, the tears burning at the rim of my eyes.
“Tarech. He finished the rejection.”
“Oh.”
That was all he said. But what else could he say?
I just nodded and continued walking back to the cabin.