I could smell him before I even heard him.
Cheap alcohol.
Cigars.
Rot.
A scent I would never forget, no matter how far I ran.
⸻
“We’re okay now, Freya,” Astrid murmured softly in my mind. “Lucas will protect us until you’re strong enough to protect yourself.”
I swallowed, pressing my back lightly against the bathroom door.
“I feel… different,” I admitted. “Being part of his pack. It’s like… I belong somewhere.”
The word felt foreign.
Belong.
⸻
Freedom.
The thought alone made my chest tighten.
But I knew my father.
He wouldn’t stop.
Not now.
Not after I’d humiliated him.
⸻
I had rejected him.
In front of others.
Stripped his control over me.
⸻
And that kind of shame?
It didn’t fade.
It festered.
⸻
“He’ll tighten his grip on the rest of them,” I whispered. “He’ll m
