Chapter 4
961 Words
Freya’s Pov
The drive back home felt endless, the dark road stretching on like it was trying to give me time to fall apart. But after another hour, the familiar golden gates of the estate finally swung open, and the world I had left behind welcomed me with open arms.
Chants of my return drifted through the car windows. “Princess Freya! Princess Freya is home!”
We had returned to the Golden City, my real home. The name came from the seven towering wolf statues cast in pure, gleaming gold that stood guard along the massive walls separating our world from everyone else. The estate was vast, filled with elegant buildings designed to house the entire pack in comfort and luxury. Greenery spilled everywhere…manicured lawns, blooming gardens, ancient trees lining the long road that led to the grand mansion at the heart of it all.
Pack members lined the streets and leaned over balconies, shouting my name with pure joy. Their happiness wrapped around me like a warm blanket, but it couldn’t quite reach the cold ache still lodged in my chest.
“Everyone is so happy to have you back, Princess Freya,” the young woman from earlier said with a genuine smile. “It’s been two years since you left. The whole city feels alive again now that you’re home.”
We pulled up to the mansion, and my heart squeezed at the sight. The entire household had gathered outside…staff in crisp uniforms and my younger siblings dressed in their finest royal clothes. My father, however, was nowhere to be seen.
“Welcome home, Princess Freya!” the staff called in unison, bowing deeply.
My siblings rushed forward like a wave of tiny hurricanes. “Freya!” they screamed, wrapping their arms around me, clinging to my torn, bloodied dress.
“What happened to you? You look so ugly,” little Amira, only six, said with a scrunched-up face full of innocent disgust. “Did you do something to your face? Why do you look like that?”
“Amira… Big sis is tired,” Kiara, eight years old and already trying to be the responsible one, scolded. Then she looked up at me with bright, hopeful eyes. “Are you really back to stay, Big Sis Freya? You won’t leave us again, right?”
“I would never,” I promised softly, forcing a small smile as I tried to scoop all four of them into my arms at once. “You’ve all gotten a little heavier.”
“You’ve gotten weaker and skinnier,” Amira fired back without missing a beat. I let out a tired chuckle and set them down.
“Where’s Father? And Big Brother?” I asked.
“Father is in his chambers… he’s very ill,” Davion, the eleven-year-old, answered quietly. “And Big Brother was banished last year.”
I nodded, too exhausted to press for details tonight. “Okay.”
I left the children with the staff and walked straight into the mansion, my footsteps echoing through the grand halls. I headed for my father’s chambers, knocked once, and stepped inside when he called for me.
He lay propped up in his massive bed, looking frail and worn. But when his eyes met mine, a weak but loving smile crossed his face.
“You’ve finally come to your senses, my dear Freya. Welcome home, child.”
I crossed the room quickly and wrapped my arms around him, careful not to hold too tight. “I’m happy to be back.”
“You don’t need to apologize for leaving,” he said gently. “And I won’t say ‘I told you so.’ I’m simply grateful you’ve returned to take your inheritance. Tomorrow, we’ll talk more. I wish I could hug you properly, but since you left… I’ve come down with Wolf Syndrome. The pack doctor says it will take time, but I’m doing well enough.”
Wolf Syndrome.
The same illness that had slowly drained the life from my mother. I remembered watching it steal her strength, twist her mind, until her own wolf turned violent and dangerous. Now it was taking my father too. The thought made my throat tighten.
“I can try to heal you,” I offered, reaching out my hands, ready to siphon the sickness away.
“No,” he said firmly. “It might transfer to you. Don’t worry about me. Go rest. Carl will be here tomorrow to show you the ropes on how to run the company and prepare you for your duties as the future Alpha of the pack.”
I hesitated, tears already burning behind my eyes, but I nodded. “Okay.”
I stepped out of his room, closed the door softly behind me, and finally let the tears I’d been holding back since seeing him fall freely down my cheeks. I pressed my palm gently against my stomach, feeling the small, secret life growing inside me.
I had lied to Leon.
I never aborted our pup. Even when the pain and shame made me want to, I couldn’t bring myself to end something so innocent. So I forged the medical reports and carried the truth alone.
Leon would never know about this child. I intended to keep it that way.
I leaned against the cool wall of the hallway, letting the weight of the night crash over me…the rejection, the bond snapping, the blood, the betrayal, and now this quiet, terrifying hope growing inside me.
I was home.
I was Freya again. Princess Freya, heiress, hellhound and future Alpha.
But I was also still Summer. The woman who had loved too deeply and lost everything. And I would make sure no one ever broke me like that again.
- Writer
