Chapter 172 The Truth Isn’t Enough

Chapter 172 Freya Makes her Claim
FREYA -

Grace didn't ask where Freya wanted to go until the Stones disappeared behind the trees.
Freya sat in the passenger seat with her hands folded in her lap, though mud still clung beneath her fingernails. The bond stayed open in her chest, warm and stretched in the direction of Casey. He was farther away with every turn of Grace’s car, but he was still there, steady enough that Freya could breathe without feeling like she had left part of herself behind.
She was raw from everything she’d learned, but Casey’s warmth grounded her. A few days ago, that would have scared her. Now it was the only thing keeping her steady.
Grace kept both hands on the wheel, but her eyes flicked toward Freya once, then back to the road. “Do you actually want me to take you home?”
Freya looked out the window as the Ranch trees gave way to open road. Home meant Sandy’s narrow hallway, the old carpet, the bedroom where Sandy had hidden her for the last nine years.
“No,” Freya said, her voice rough from crying. “Take me to the Council House.”
Grace’s foot eased off the gas. “Freya.”
“I’m not going there to accuse him.” Freya turned her face from the glass and looked at her. “Not yet.”
Grace watched the road for another second before her fingers shifted on the steering wheel. “Does Casey know?”
“No.” The word came out harder than she meant, and Freya pulled in a breath before she continued. “He has something else to do.”
Grace’s mouth pressed flat, but she didn't argue right away. The tires hummed over the road, and Freya could feel Casey through the bond, anger and focus moving under the warmth he'd left open for her. She kept her side open but calm and quiet.
“You just watched things no one should have to watch,” Grace said. “You don’t have to do this right now.”
“If I wait, Jared has more time with the people here, and you already know what they all think of me.”
Grace’s shoulders lifted with a small breath, then lowered. “Okay.”
The Council House sat near the center of pack land, older than the school and built from a dark stone that held the morning cold. Two wolves stood outside the front steps, and both looked at Freya before their gazes moved to Grace behind her.
Freya climbed the steps before either of them could decide whether to stop her.
Inside, the air smelled like polished wood, old paper, and too many wolves. Several people stood in the front hall, speaking in low voices that cut off when Freya entered. Grace stayed close at her side.
It took longer than she liked to find him. One of Jared’s men saw her first, and a moment later, Jared walked down the hallway toward her.
For one breath, his face showed surprise. Then it smoothed into something almost pleased.
“Freya,” he said. “There you are. I wondered when you’d come to your senses.”
Her fingers curled once at her sides, but she didn't let them become fists. “I’ve made my decision.”
His smile deepened by a fraction. “Good. Then we can stop dragging this out.”
“I’m staying in Vernal.”
The smile didn't vanish, but it thinned. “You’re tired. You’ve had too much thrown at you in too short a time. Shifting can be hard for anyone, and it must have been a shock to find family.” He curled his fingers, pointing at himself, like him being her uncle meant anything at this point.
“Yes,” Freya said. “I have had a lot thrown at me recently.” Jared’s gaze sharpened. “But I’m not confused.” Her voice cracked, but it held. “I’m not going back with you.”
Murmurs moved through the hall.
Grace shifted closer, and one of the pack wolves near the door slipped outside with a phone already in his hand. Jared noticed the movement too. Freya saw it in the brief flick of his eyes, but he let it happen.
“You are Calder blood,” Jared said, the warmth leaving his voice. “My blood. Your place is with your family.”
Freya stared at him and thought of her mother on a hallway floor, choosing silence over betrayal. “You don’t get to call me family.”
Something cold moved across Jared’s face.
Grace inhaled softly beside her.
“You think Eric Stiller is your family?” Jared asked. “You think that boy of his is enough to make a place for you here?”
Casey’s warmth flared through the bond, as if he'd felt the bite of his name without hearing it. Freya kept her breathing even and didn't reach for him.
“This isn’t about Casey.”
Jared laughed once. “It has always been about Casey. Your lust for that boy made you easy to confuse.” His mouth curled. "I've heard whispers about you, you know? A couple of boys following you around, and you're playing both of them."
The mention of Jaxon flared the anger still coiled inside her over what had happened at the warehouse, but she shoved it down and refused to let Jared manipulate her.
Instead, Freya stepped forward before Grace could stop her. “No. People made me confused. People who gave me pieces and called them truth. People who decided what I could know, where I could go, and who I belonged to.” Her throat hurt, but the words came anyway. “I don’t belong to you.”
Jared’s hand lifted, not quite reaching for her, but close enough that Grace moved.
The front door opened behind them.
“She said no,” Eric said.
The hall went silent so fast Freya heard the small creak of wood beneath Jared’s shoe.
Eric walked in with two wolves behind him, his expression controlled. His eyes went straight to Freya first, unreadable, before he looked at Jared.
Jared lowered his hand. “This is family business.”
“Not while she stands in my territory. I made that clear before, Jared,” Eric said.
Freya’s spine pulled straighter. “I didn’t come here for Eric to say it for me.”
Eric’s eyes flicked toward her, and something like approval moved through his face before he looked back at Jared.
Freya faced her uncle. “I came to say it myself. I’m staying.”
Jared’s jaw clenched, and the mask he wore didn’t fully settle back into place. For the first time since she'd met him, Freya saw calculation move too quickly behind his eyes.
“You are a child making a decision with half the facts,” he said.
“Then maybe you should have given me the whole truth before trying to pack me like luggage.”
One of Jared’s men took a step forward, and Eric’s wolves answered with one step of their own.
Jared lifted a hand, stopping them all. When his smile returned, there was nothing kind left in it.
“The Gathering is in a few days,” he said. “We’ll see how many people still think this is your choice then.”
Freya held his gaze. “It will still be mine,” she said.