Episode 6
1064 Words
CHAPTER SIX
~~FREYA ASHWOOD~~
"Please," I whispered, the word catching on the lump of terror in my throat. "You don't understand. He won't just punish me. He hates me. He’ll kill me."
"Don't make this harder than it already is, Freya," he muttered, his voice a low, grumpy rumble.
Behind him, the silver-haired carbon copy of my father, stood with his arms crossed, watching my struggle with a chilling, detached curiosity.
I was dragged into the manor. The scent of floor wax and expensive wood hit me, bringing with it a dizzying rush of memories. The maid's gasps followed us like a trail of static.
"Is that her? The one who was banished?"
"The murderer? Why is she back?"
Their whispers were drawing blood from my old wounds.
I looked for Tasha, the only maid who had ever cared for me after my mother died, but she wasn’t there.
Maybe she left? The question was left hanging in my head.
"Where is the Alpha?" Quinn asked a passing maid.
"In the Great Hall, Mr. Quinn. He’s been waiting."
The name hit me. Quinn Ashwood. I repeated it in my mind, trying to reconcile the name with the man who the moon goddess had made my mate.
My father was waiting. The man who regretted my first breath was currently counting the seconds until he could extinguish my last.
The thought made me writhe in his grip. Quinn did not lose his hold on me, if anything, his fingers dug deeper into my arm.
He marched me toward the end of the hall. The decor had changed, the warm browns of my childhood replaced by an aggressive grey. but the man at the end of the room was exactly the same.
Alpha Damien.
"Father," Quinn announced, his voice tight.
Damien looked up. For a second, a flicker of pride warmed his eyes as he looked at his three sons. But the moment his gaze landed on me, that warmth turned to permafrost.
"You brought the curse back into my house," Damien said. He said quietly but the weight of his words pressed down on my shoulders until I could barely breathe.
"She didn't make it easy," his look alike added, a smug tilt to his lips. "Tried to run.”
"Of course she tried to run," Damien sneered. "She’s a rat. You should have let the woods have her, Ryker."
Ryker. I registered the name of father’s look alike as well
Quinn finally released my arm, shoving me forward.
I stumbled, my knees hit the marble with a sickening c***k. I didn't try to stand. I stayed there, staring at my own trembling hands in the puddle of light.
"Look at me, Freya," the Alpha commanded.
I forced my chin up. "Father... I never wanted to come back. I’ll go. I’ll go to the human lands, I’ll strip my name, I’ll never step foot on pack territory again. Just... Please, don't kill me."
A humorless, jagged smile touched his lips. "Kill you? You think I’d waste a formal execution on a wolfless girl? A clean death is for warriors. I would not waste that on you”
My hands balled into fists. "You banished me. You told the whole pack I killed her. You said the next time I saw you would be my last"
He nodded once. "You are right. I still regret till this day why I hadn't finished it all up then. But the Council has rules about spilling the blood of a child. You were six at the time. However now, you are eighteen, no longer a child protected by the rules"
"So what’s the sentence, Father?" Ryker asked, his eyes gleaming with a dark, twisted excitement. "The silver blade?"
"Maybe," Damien mused.
I saw Quinn take a sharp, jagged breath. He stood like a statue, his jaw so tight I thought his teeth might shatter. He didn't defend me. He just watched. My mate... my forbidden mate... was going to let his father destroy me.
"But there might be other options to consider than killing her, father" Ryker chipped in, yet again
I gulped.
"Care to share other creative ways, Ryker?"
He took a quick glance at me, his lips pressed into a thin, firm line then stared back at father. "The Dungeon"
"No!" I gasped, reaching out to grab the hem of Damien’s clothes. "Not the dungeon. Please, Father!"
Damien recoiled as if I were a leper, kicking my hand away with a heavy boot. "You stopped being my daughter the second her heart stopped beating.”
He turned his back on me, walking back toward his chair. "Quinn, take the girl to the sub level cells. Secure her. I will decide on her sentence after the morning meeting with the elders."
"Yes, Alpha"
Quinn stooped low to grab me back up.
"No. Not the Dungeon. She goes to the Academy. With Us!"
The room plunged into silence. Quinn froze. Ryker's smirk vanished and Father actually flinched, his shoulders tensing as he slowly turned back around.
All eyes landed on the brother who has saved me from the rogue. My Saviour
"What did you say, Xavier?" Father asked, his tone vibrating with the threat of an Alpha, challenged in his own home. He appeared to hate the approach, the invasion on his orders.
Xavier didn't flinch. He stepped forward, his presence expanding until he seemed to dwarf everyone else in the hall
"I said she goes to the Academy," Xavier repeated. He didn't raise his voice, but the authority in his words were unnegotiable.. "With us. Tomorrow."
Father raised his hand in protest, stepping forward. "You never interfere in matters, Xavier. Let it remain that way. I'm not comfortable with you going against me because of the murderer"
"I am neither asking for your permission nor opinion, father. The girl. She stays"
"Get up" Xavier said to me, icily.
I scrambled to my feet, my legs shaking so hard, I nearly collapsed again.
I followed him, away from the stares, the disdain and annoyance.
He led me to the upper levels of the manor.
I finally found my voice. "Xavier?"
He stopped but did not turn around, his next words had my toes curling out of fear.
"Don't make me regret it, because if I have to kill you myself, I won't be as merciful as the dungeon cell"
- Writer
