The Four Mates of Freya Rivers

Empty Hallways

Freya

My father’s smiling face is the first thing I see when I turn the corner to the foyer. He stood right by the door, shaking hands with our closest neighbour who had his Luna and officers in a tow. He saw me from the corner of his eye, momentarily looking away and waving me over.

Right beside him was my stepmother, Victoria, in all her blonde glory. Jeez, I think she might have gotten another procedure done while she was in the city. I wonder how she explains to her plastic surgeon the fast healing of werewolves as they inject plastic into her cheeks.

She sees me walking over and her eyebrows practically rise to the middle of her forehead. The woman was the only mother figure I had growing up. While I got the emotional care and guidance of a mother from my father and our female elders, I got the snark and passive aggressiveness of a mother from her. It made for a well-rounded childhood, that’s for sure. But we’re not exactly going to be drinking wine and gossiping on a girl’s night out anytime soon.

“Freya!” She greets, giving me a peck on the cheek that doesn’t even touch my skin. “That’s what you’re wearing?” She asks, pushing me away by the shoulders and looking at me from head to toe.

“Uh, yes?” I didn’t mean it to sound like a question but every time I talk to her always felt like a shot in the dark.

She hums to herself as she places an elegantly manicured hand to her chest. “Well you look… very excited for someone who’s possibly going to meet their mate today.” She pauses. “Happy dirthday, child.”

“Thank you, Victoria.” I said.

My father dragged the attention back to our new guests, who followed Victoria’s greeting with their own. After giving me casual hugs, they leave with their guards escorting them to their rooms.

My father faces me and engulfs me in a hug. “Happy birthday, darling.” He says. “You look like you’re glowing this morning. Are you ready for tonight’s celebration?”

I smiled so big my cheeks were ticking. I smiled while all I wanted to say that no, my mind wasn’t exactly on the celebration tonight. I wanted to tell him that I was probably glowing because the mate bond has imprinted. At least that’s what people say – mated wolves have this unique glow to themselves. But then my eyes bounce to the car that’s slowing down to a park in the driveway outside, and I decided that it wasn’t exactly the best time to bring it up. I’ll just catch a quick second with him later.

“I’m more excited about the food actually.” I joked and we both laughed.

“Don’t eat too much tonight, Freya. It doesn’t look good.” Victoria piped up from beside us. I was about to comment but then our next guests had arrived and was already greeting my father.

That went on for an hour. Alphas and their family or officers arrive, exchanging pleasantries and greeting me a happy birthday. One came right after the other that the dominant energy that Alphas leave was getting a little too overwhelming in the foyer. Of course it only affected me and Victoria, Dad barely budged.

“Where’s Lucas?” I asked after we sent off another guest. It's odd that my brother wasn't here. Usually Victoria would be grabbing him by the ear for stuff like this.

“He’s helping with patrol.” Victoria answers, making me surprised. He’s a little too young to be joining patrol at 17, but his skillset have developed faster than the average wolf since he went to that overseas school. “The guards scented rogues at the edge of territory. Lucas wanted to help.”

“Wait.” I paused. “Rogues? As in more than one?”

“That’s what I said.” Victoria says, pulling out a compact mirror and checking her make up for the hundredth time in the past hour.

“That makes twice in two days.” I say, turning towards Dad. “And on the day that we’re hosting a party with every Alpha in the state. Isn’t that a little too concerning?”

“It is somewhat concerning, Freya.” He looks at me, his eyes still tired but proud nonetheless. “But we don’t need to worry, it’s all going to be alright. It’s nothing that Henry can’t handle.” He refers to his Beta and Chase’s father.

That’s about as good as it’s going to get. Beta Henry is one of the most capable officer in our pack. I’d trust the lives of the pack members with him. Hell, I’d trust him with Dad’s life more than I’d trust Dad. The man is as skilled as they come, it’s no wonder where Chase got it from. Which makes me remember, I wonder if he’s with patrol too. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t ambushed me like he did this morning.

I fidget as my dad grabbed a glass of water from the table by the door. “Is… is Chase with them?” I asked.

“With Patrol?” Dad clarified and I subtly nodded. But before he could even answer, the strong earthy scent hit my nose and my heart climbed to my throat. I knew he was here before I saw him. I felt his energy tugging on mine like a rope slowly turning in the wheel. Every hair on my body was standing on end, and if I listened really closely, I could hear every purposeful step he took.

My breath was getting shallower and shallower when my Dad looked up over my shoulder. “Well, apparently he’s right here.” He smiled. “Chase, any news from your father?”

His steps slowed down until they stopped right behind me. Maybe a foot or two of distance between our bodies, but he was too close. Or he wasn’t close enough. I don’t even know. All I was certain of is that I wanted to turn around and pull him close just as much as I want to run out that door in front of me. But I don’t. I stay still with my hands clasped rightly in front of me, refusing to acknowledge his presence in the room.

“They’re still patrolling the borders, Alpha.” Chase’s voice was husky and dominant, every syllable that came out of those lips sent tingles over my skin. “But he did ask me to assist in welcoming our guests.”

“Of course...” Dad smiled at him over my head, but he was cut off by another black sedan pulling up outside. “Ah, Alpha Romeo! My good friends!” He practically rushes out the door to hug them as they exited the open car door. Victoria followed him, which unfortunately left me idling in the foyer with one of my mates who was slowly inching his way closer towards me.

“Freya.” He breathes. He was so close now that I could feel his breath on my shoulder. A deep breath of air forced its way into my lungs, all full of his woodsy scent that I seem to couldn’t get enough of.

“Chase.” I say, still not looking over at him. “I don’t believe your assistance is needed here.”

“Ah, but I disagree.” He whispers, his lips now hovering closely against my ear that his breath was fanning my face. He was leaning down now, his hand gliding over my waist and grabbing me. Pulling me back until I could feel the hard lines of his body against my back. “Why did you run, Freya?” He whispered.

He’s too close. He’s not close enough.

My chest was rising rapidly now with shallow breaths. I was flushing from head to toe and I… I couldn’t get any words out. All I could do was look back at him in his nicely pressed black slacks, his hair in this freshly showered dishevelled mess. I want to run my hands through it.

“And you remember my daughter!” Dad says loudly as he practically drags Alpha Romeo inside the pack house. Chase had let me go and stepped back so quick even I didn’t notice it.

It took me a moment to paste a smile on my face and put my hand out for a shake. “Alpha Romeo, it’s nice to see you again.”

“My my! You’re a grown woman now.” He says as he gives me a small hug, his large belly forcing me to lean forward. “You were just a kid the last time I saw you.”

I smile as I step back. “Yes, it’s been quite some time.”

The man slaps his belly as he looks at me. “Wait! I bet you still remember my son, Ryland. He’s a grown man now too.” He bellows back towards the car, calling out to his son that I did meet years ago. In fact, this Ryland was personally mentioned by my father. He’d make a great mate! He’d said. Fat luck at that.

The look on my father and Alpha Romeo’s faces were nothing but hopeful right now.

We didn’t wait long until a handsome man, very different from the scrawny kid I remember, drops the luggage he was helping out of the car and runs towards us. He had this Hollywood aura on him, handsome with the perfect mix of dangerous and charming. He kinda looked like a young Brad Pit.

Ryland stopped in front of me with a large smile of his own, his eyes also brimming with hope for the mate bond. But then our eyes meet and nothing happens. He knows it too, because his smile falters. Although he does a well job of recovering.

“Miss Freya.” He says. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” I smiled as he grabbed my hand and leaning down to kiss my knuckles. He kept his ocean blue eyes on mine as he did so, that smile looking a little too sly now.

A growl comes from behind me, so low and controlled that I think I was the only who heard it judging from everybody’s non-existent reactions. I can’t really comment on it without drawing questions as to why Chase was growling at me.

My father takes back their attention, personally talking to the people with them and directing them towards the stairs to their room. And as they left, Ryland takes one last moment with me. “Please save a dance tonight, Miss Freya.” He says.

“I’ll be sure to write you in, Ryland.” I say. Ryland flashes me one final smile before finally trudging after his father.

“Over my dead body is he dancing with you.” Chase says with a low voice behind me.

“Chase!” I chastise, fully turning around and facing him. That same annoyingly stoic look plastered on his face makes me want to slap the hell out of him. Jeez, it’s more annoying now than it was yesterday. But then this tiny little smirk appears on his lips as he looks at me, a smile threatening to push out.

“You look beautiful, Freya.” He says.

Shit, what the hell do I say to that?

Apparently nothing because all I could do was turn back around and wait for our next guests to climb out their door. Dad was too busy with an old friend and Victoria is all over it too, so that leaves me and Chase. Not really my most preferred situation right now. Especially when the next few guests that arrived were either single or had a single son. They all greeted me hoping that the mate bond would finally snap in place, but to their dismay nothing happened. Yup, how unfortunate for them.

I already found my two mates. And one of them was right behind me. I was back to trying to ignore the hell out of his ass, simply greeting and smiling at every single person that came through our doors, but he had other plans. Chase has been staring them down as they arrived, looking like a pissed of bodyguard. He also kept growling at them, especially when their gazes lingered a little too long on my chest.

“We’re burning that dress.” He states.

I scoff, still not turning towards him. It’s actually proving to be harder than I thought it would be. All I, together with my wolf, wanted to do was to turn around and tell him to kiss me again. “I happen to like this dress very much, so no, thank you.”

“Oh, I like it too, baby.” He says, once again getting close to my ear. Damn it, the term of endearment weakened my knees. “I like it too much. In fact, I’ll probably like it better in the privacy of a room somewhere, where we can take it off without any eyes on us. Because I swear to the Goddess, Freya, if one more person looks at you…”

“What?” I whisper, cutting him off, finally turning my head and giving in. Our faces were so close, our nose and lips were almost touching. Every second seemed to stretch as Chase’s eyes lock on my lips, leaning in, breathing me in.

He’s gonna kiss me again. And I was excited and annoyed about it.

“Freya!” Victoria rounded the corner making me and Chase jump apart. “Marcus is gonna sit and chat with Romeo for a while and I’ve just been informed that the rest of our guests will be arriving later this afternoon. Including this friend of his from out of state. Anyway, you don’t need to stand around here.”

“Of course.” I smile, acting like I wasn’t just on the brink of making out with Chase right in this foyer. “I’ll just help with the florists.”

She rolls her eyes as she unlocks her phone. “Mm-hmm. I’m sure you can make yourself useful.” She murmurs before walking back out the way she came from.

My eyes roll of their own. That woman is the ice queen of passive-aggressive land.

Still highly aware of Chase’s presence behind me, as well as his piercing gaze on my back, I huff out a breath and walk away. I don’t really know where, but all I knew once again, was that I needed to take one step after the other towards somewhere – anywhere.

Goddess, these mate bonds are going to make me crazy. They’ve only been here less than eight hours and I think I’m already going crazy. One second I’m scared shitless at the thought of both them, the next I want to grab them and pull them in for a kiss. And now I’ve got to handle smiling at all of these Alphas in our territory, entertaining my father’s excitement and swallowing down whatever comment comes out of Victoria’s mouth.

I’m definitely going to be crazy by the end of the day.

Chase grabs me by my elbow, making me gasp with surprise, before he pushes me against a wall that was just down the hallway from the foyer. He pushes against me, one of his hands settling on the wall above my head and the other gripping me by the waste. A breath exits me as I recover from the shock and become aware of the fact that we were very alone in a very secluded area of the house. Nobody walks down this hallway, not every day at least – especially today that there’s a party here.

“Freya.” Chase whispers, his hand slithering higher and pulling my chest towards his. A whimper passes my lips, and I want to kick myself. Get yourself together, Freya. “We need to talk.”

“I don’t know…” I begin, but my breath catches when Chase ducks down to drag his nose down my neck, over my collar and back up to that delicious spot behind my ear. His lips briefly touches it and this time, a literal moan comes out of me. “Chase.”

“I knew it in my gut that you were mine, Freya.” He says. “You’re mine. And I don’t care if you have other mates waiting to kiss your feet. You. Are. Mine. So that means no more running. If you’re scared, you tell me. If you’re panicking, you seek comfort from me. Because I am yours.” His eyes returns to mine and all I can see there is sincerity and so much want. And there’s so much damn heat too that I feel it glide down my spine and pool at my centre. “Tell me you understand, Freya.”

My eyes were feeling heavy as his lips keep teasing mine with feather light touches and warm breaths. Deep down inside me, I knew he was right. That comfort I felt with Jax, then this weird, hot, safety I feel with Chase… They’re my mates. I should be running towards them. I just can’t help getting overwhelmed with them.

“Okay.” I breathe against his lips. I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to.

“Good girl.” He smirked. And that made even more heat pool at my centre that if I rubbed my legs together, I could feel its slickness running down my thighs. Chase did a small sniff of the air then unleashes such an evil smirk that made me want to hit him over the head. The jerk could smell my arousal, that’s for sure.

“If you don’t stop smirking, I will kick your ass.” I say, shaking myself out of my mate fog and taking a tiny step back. I didn’t really get very far, Chase’s hand tightened around me.

“My girl talks big game.” He smiles, nudging his nose against mine one final time before letting me go. I wavered slightly on my feet but I catch myself. I’m fine. Totally fine. I do want his hands on my again, but I’m fine. “We’ll put a pin on that for some other sunny day, baby.” He pauses, stepping back and putting his hands in his pockets. I try to focus on something else other than how his biceps deliciously push against the fabric. “But today, we’ve got things to focus on. You go and do your thing for the party. I got to head back and help patrol with my Dad.”

“You said your Dad sent you here.” I followed him with a question just as he smiled and started walking back towards the foyer.

“I lied.” He laughed. Jeez, I’ve never heard him laugh before. It sounds addicting. “Oh and baby,” He pauses, like he was emphasizing that stupid nickname that made me hot. “Tonight, I'm making sure everyone knows you're mine.”

“What?” I ask, but he was already walking away again. “Chase, what?” My voice was higher, desperate for him to answer.

“I’ll see you tonight, baby.” He calls over his shoulder. With one final look at me, he runs out.

Damn it.

I’ll definitely be kicking his ass. Okay, I’ll probably kiss him first and then I’ll kick his ass.