CHAPTER ELEVEN—Kill your Fennid?

Freya Rose Two years later.

“That's it. Now come at me again, but this time when you jump at me, I want you to shift as quickly as you can. Okay?” Finnley shouted out to Tana.

Tana nodded her head at Finn, then pulled her thick dark red hair into a ponytail. After clicking her neck from side to side, she stretched her arms across her chest. Once she'd finished stretching herself out, she charged at Finn, running across the training ground with lightning speed. Her dark red ponytail whipped around in the air behind her when she picked up speed. When she jumped high into the air, I pressed the button on the stop clock. She shifted as instructed, and it was swift. It was something Finn had been working on a lot lately. He felt like all of our shifts should be complete in less than thirty seconds and Tana was by far his best student. She had her shift completed just before her giant front paws hit the ground.

Tana's wolf stood strong and fierce in front of Finn. She was snarling and growling at him, but I could see that he wanted her to attack him. She shook her wolf head, clearly not wanting to attack him while in his human form. Finn didn't wait any longer, he ascended and sprinted towards her. As he reached her, he spun around and kicked her wolf square in the face. She yelped out and collapsed to the floor. After quickly righting herself, she charged while growling at Finn. While lunging for him, she managed to clamp down onto his arm, but unfortunately for her, Finn still had one free arm. As she bit down harder, he swung himself around and jumped onto her back. He slid his spare arm around her neck and began to choke her.

Tana's wolf wriggled and bucked, trying to unseat Finnley, but he'd locked his feet together underneath her stomach. He wasn't going anywhere. He tightened his hold around her neck making her grip on his arm loosen. I could see her wolf panic as her air supply was gradually depleting. Finn glanced at me with a disappointed look on his face. He wasn't impressed with her effort, and I could hear the other hybrids mocking her. I shot them a scowl, and they immediately ceased their laughing. I wasn't about to let the boys think that they'd won, us girls needed to stick together. A slight smile formed on my face while I mind linked Tana.

“Ignite!”

Tana's wolf instantly calmed when my order filled her mind. Her wolf burst into brilliant bright orange flames, causing Finn to release her. He flew backwards, dropped to the arena floor, then frantically rolled around in the sand, attempting to put out the flames. The other hybrids gasped while they watched Tana's wolf extinguish her flames, then pounce onto Finn. She pinned him to the ground then gently placed her canines around his neck. Finn reluctantly tapped the ground, admitting his defeat.

I stood up from the stairs where I'd been watching the training. His arm slid around my waist, and as he leaned in behind me, I could feel his hard body pressing against my back. He swept my hair aside then kissed my neck, sending glorious tingles throughout my body. His warm breath tickled my cheek.

“You shouldn't cheat, Freya. She needs to learn by herself.”

“I didn't do anything. It was all Tana this time, I swear.”

While struggling to keep a cheeky grin at bay, I gradually turned around to face Mason. After placing my arms around his neck, I looked up into his eyes. He glanced down at me with a huge grin, clearly not believing my lie. Even though he knew I was lying, he went along with it anyway.

“Okay, well I'll let you get back to it. I just came out to tell you that we're going out tonight. So, be ready for seven, okay?”

He kissed me softly, but I immediately deepened the kiss by pulling him into me. Just as I was beginning to get lost in our kiss, I heard wolf whistles and cheers from the male hybrids behind me. I reluctantly heaved myself away from Mason while rolling my eyes, he smirked at me with a cheeky slap of my ass. The guys behind us began laughing and hooting. To show that I was still the boss, when Mason turned to leave, I slapped his ass back. I made sure it was a stinger, causing him to grab his ass cheek and vigorously rub it. The hybrids burst out laughing while I winked at Mason. With a raise of his eyebrow, I knew I’d be paying for that little stunt later. I turned around and headed over towards Finn, who had now gotten up off the floor.

“Since when was, Tana a Phoenix? And why didn't you warn me?”

Finn stood in front of me brushing off chard pieces of his clothing. Tana's wolf came over to greet me while whining at me excitedly. I scratched behind her ear, before running my fingers through the silky soft fur on her head.

“We only discovered it last night when we were out hunting. We came across a pack of rogues, close to the town. I'd managed to kill three of them, but when I was distracted one of them snuck up behind me. Luckily Tana spotted him, didn't you?” I asked her wolf while stroking her head. She howled in response, and I continued with my story, “when Tana's wolf was wrestling the rogue, it got the better of her and had her pinned to the floor. I was busy with two others. Just as the rogue went to rip her throat out, she burst into flames.”

“That is something I should have been informed about immediately! Her Phoenix status and the rogue attack. As your beta I need to know these things, do you hear me, Freya?”

Tana's wolf whimpered at his rant, while I raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know that he'd overstepped his bounds.

“Everyone shift and go and do your patrol rounds. Then get out of here and enjoy your weekend. Great training session today guys. I'll see you all back here nice and early Monday morning.”

They all hooted and hollered then one by one began to shift. Tana's wolf rubbed her head against my leg, before heading over to the newly shifted guys. I watched with pride as Tana's auburn wolf ran off heading for the woods, closely followed by four more of my mega wolves. Once they had all disappeared out of sight, I addressed Finnley, “Finn, please don't talk to me like that in front of the hybrids.”

“Freya, I need to know important things like that, so that I can keep you and the pack safe.”

His dominant tone and his words pissed me off. I got that he felt protective of us, but the way he was talking, was like I didn't know how to keep my own pack safe. Like I couldn't protect myself or my children. Who the fuck did he think he was? I clenched my fist but made sure to keep my cool. Blowing up at him would just escalate the situation, and to be honest, I was going out in a few hours, and I didn't have time for Finn's dramatics.

“I appreciate your concern, Finnley, but remember who you are talking to. I am your Dam, and the Luna of this pack. I decide what your place is within this pack. If you have a problem with my leadership skills, then I suggest you challenge me the correct way, instead of trying to belittle me in front of the others.”

I loved Finn, but I think he was getting a little too big for his boots. Maybe it was my fault. I had begun slacking with my participation in training lately and leaving Finn to run the pack. But I had just been so busy, Finn had no idea what it had been like for me these past two years. Azael had been so frustrated, because every single hunter that he had brought to me, hadn’t made it through the transition. The last time somebody made it through the transition was seven months ago. But since then, every single hunter had died or killed themselves.

“Freya, I'm sorry. I don't want to challenge you for your position. I know that you’re a capable leader. I just hate the thought of losing you, or any of our pack. After Stevie, I…” He trailed off when he began to speak of his Fianna.

I interrupted him so that he didn't have to talk about it, I knew how much it still haunted him.

“It's okay, Finn. You don't have to explain. Look, I'm sorry that I have been so busy and preoccupied lately. There has been something going on, and I should have told you about it a long time ago, but I didn't want you to be a part of it all. You have been through enough, and I didn't want to bring more death and heartache into your life,” I explained honestly to him.

He furrowed his brow at me, trying to work out where I was going with this. I decided it would be better to show him, rather than try to explain what I had been doing for the past two years. I looked into his confused bright blue eyes, then said, “Follow me. Now, don't hate me, and please don't judge me, at least not until I've had a chance to explain. Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth shut.”

He looked at me with even more confusion on his face but nodded in agreement. I walked up the stairs and into the hunter's mansion with Finnley following silently behind me. I guided him all the way through the mansion until we reached the conference room. After keying in the code on the mirror, I entered the room. He followed in behind me and stood in the middle of the room. I Closed the mirror behind us and then placed my palm onto it, and the whole mirror glowed red, instantly locking it down.

“What the hell? I haven't seen it do that before. What did you do?” Finnley asked with fascination as he tried to bring the keypad back up on the mirror.

He finally gave up after the fifth time and looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I smirked at him, there was so much that he didn't know. So much that he didn't know about me, and what I had been up to.

“I locked it down, the only people that can open it, are myself and Azael,” I replied while throwing back the rug that was on the floor.

“What? Why would you need to lock it down?” He asked me as while turning away from the mirror. I didn't bother to answer him. I didn't need to, because he carried on with more questions as soon as he saw the giant steel hatch in the floor. “What the fuck is that? Is that a secret hatch? What the hell is going on, Freya?”

I ignored him again, and squatted down onto the floor, before placing my hand onto a glass panel that sat within the steel hatch. The glass slipped up into the hatch revealing a metal keypad. I typed in the security code and then waited for the beep. Once it beeped, the loud locking mechanism began to click. I stood back, out of the way, while the hatch opened up. A set of stairs descended into a corridor that ran underneath the entire conference room. I turned around and looked at Finn, he was beyond confused, but I could see his fascination and curiosity too.

“Be prepared, Finn. The horrors that I'm about to show you, will haunt your dreams forever. Once you see what's down there, you can never un-see it.”

***

Mason Hart I'd just finished getting ready in Freya's room. I had only been back with her for a few weeks. The last few years without her had been absolute torture and I barely made it through. The first few months were okay, I was so busy teaching Amelia how to be Fionn of the faction, that I was able to keep my mind off of Freya. However, that was only during the day, at night when I was alone in my room, she was all that I could think about. Eventually, Freya crept into my mind during the day too, and that's when it started to affect my work.

Hannah was the first to notice my daydreaming. On one particular day, I was sitting in the office chair staring off into the distance, entirely consumed in my thoughts of Freya, that I hadn't even noticed Hannah come into the room.

“Mason? Are you alright?” She asked, before closing the office door, making sure that no one else could hear us.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. What’s up?” I replied while shuffling some papers around trying to make myself look busy.

Hannah approached the desk and placed her hand on top of mine to cease my panicked fumbling. I looked up at her as she smiled down sympathetically at me.

“You missing Freya, eh?”

I sighed heavily while gradually sitting back in my chair, letting my hand slip away from Hannah's. It felt like such a relief that I didn't have to pretend that I was coping.

“More than anything. Every day is getting harder and harder, I can barely function anymore. She consumes every waking thought that I have. Even my dreams are filled with memories of her, or thoughts of the future that we could have had. I am exhausted.”

She smiled at me softly then went to sit on the couch. After patting the seat next to her, she waited for me to make my way over to her and take a seat. I slumped back onto the couch and covered my face with my hands. I sighed heavily as I ran my hands down my face, then let my them fall to my sides and stared at the floor.

“I know exactly how you feel Mason. My Fennid left me when the girls were young. He went to do some work for the council and never came back.” I could see tears beginning to well up in her eyes, but she quickly sniffed them back and spoke again, “I thought he was dead, but the bastard had run off with one of Kali's fucking hybrids,” she said with disgust dripping off of her every word.

I stayed silent because I couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say. If I’d said he was a dick, how helpful would that have been? She’d probably felt every emotion and called him every name under the sun. So I just let her carry on with her story. She continued, but her agitated tone had now diminished, leaving behind a low and sympathetic tone instead.

“Look, my point is, I understand how you feel. Even with all my anger and hate towards him, he was still my Fennid. Each day that passed by, my whole being cried out for him more. I got to the stage where I couldn't even function.”

I listened intently, because the way Hannah was explaining how she felt, was exactly the same way I was feeling. I had to find out how she got rid of it, because I couldn't put up with it anymore. I wanted Freya more than anything, but she'd been gone for nearly two years. I'd had no phone call from her, fuck, not even so much as a text. Wherever she was, she clearly wasn't feeling how I was, or she would have been in touch with me.

“For the sake of Imogen and Carmen, I had to find him. I could barely focus enough to take care of the girls. So, I went to the council and confronted, Kali. I knew that it was dangerous, but I had no choice. After she killed our parents, and so many other hunters, she could have easily killed me too.”

Hannah paused, got off of the couch and walked over to the drink’s cabinet. She poured herself out a large whisky, then another for me. She strolled back and handed me the drink. I silently took it from her while flashing her a slight smile. She sat down and continued her story.

“Luckily for me, Kali was more interested in reveling in my pain and misery. She loves drama, so she was more than happy to give me his location.” She fell silent again and just sat there drinking her drink.

I furrowed my brow, wanting to know what happened next.

“So? Did you find him?” I spat out at her, a little too enthusiastically I might add.

She turned to me, and with her eyes lightly illuminated she spat back, “Yeah, I found the son if a bitch alright. He was shacked up with that disgusting hybrid of his,” her voice was laced with jealousy and pain.

I waited for her to continue, but she didn't, so I asked, “So, what did you do?”

She turned away from me and gulped her drink, then crushed the glass in her hand. It shattered, and the tiny glass shards dropped to the floor. My eyes widened when I saw blood pouring out of her hand.

“I killed him, and his hybrid whore!”

My mouth dropped open, I didn't want it to, but I had no control. I was expecting her to say that she kicked his ass or something, but not that she'd killed him. I had one question pop into my head and my mouth automatically spat it out without warning, “How could you kill your Fennid?” I rolled my eyes as soon as the insensitive question slipped passed my lips. I couldn't believe I had just asked her that. I mean don't get me wrong, I was beyond curious. Not that I wanted to kill Freya or anything, but I'd heard stories of hunters feeling like they had died themselves if their Fennid or Fianna passed away. I quickly added to my question, I thought that I'd already made an ass of myself, so I might as well get the whole question out there. “I meant the question as in, how could you physically kill him? Did it not feel like you were killing yourself?” I cringed a little when I finish my deeply personal question.

“It's fine, Mason. I understand your curiosity, especially with how you're feeling. To answer your question, it was the hardest and most painful thing I have ever had to do. But I had no choice. I wasn't able to function without him, and my girls needed me. I was useless to them. I could barely look after myself, let alone them. So, if killing him meant I would be ripping myself apart, it was worth every ounce of that pain, for my girls.” I sat back onto the couch, then knocked back my drink. I knew that she was right, but the thought of killing Freya to stop the pain, was completely out of the question. “He was never coming back to me, and I didn't love him anymore. But your situation is different, there is still a chance for you two. If you want to know where you stand with, Freya, then go to her. Find out once and for all. Then make a decision.”

I knew she was right. I loved Freya more than anything. I also knew that I had to put the faction first, but how could I do that when I could barely get myself out of bed? I needed to see her. I needed to see if she felt the same way that I did. I stood up, determined to hunt her down and have it out with her.

“Thank you, Hannah, can you let the others know that I'll be back in a few days, please? I need to go and find my Fianna.”

After rushing towards the office door, I flung it wide open, taking a step back when I saw Freya standing right in front of me, looking even worse than I felt. She stared up at me with her beautiful blue eyes, oh God how I've missed those eyes.

“Hi, Mason, how have you been?”