His Lost Mate

Chapter 9

Freja

“Mommy!” Claire’s daughter, Lexi, yelled when we brought her into the conference room. Her eyes lit up and she started to run to her but Ares put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. I look at him and though our mind link I ask him, “What are you doing? Let her go.” But he doesn’t, he just gives me a hard look. He turns to Claire, who’s trying to hold back her tears, “If you step one foot over the line ever again, you will never see her again.”

“I know,” she says, her voice breaking.

“You’re no longer a warrior.” And with those words, she lost her composure and tears stream down her face. Ares let’s go if Lexi and she runs to Claire, nearly tackling her to the ground. Claire embraces her and cries into her hair. Ares turns for the door, I follow him out.

I don’t say anything as we walk through the pack house. I follow him to his dad’s office. Alaric stayed in the conference room to talk to Claire. I don’t know what he has planned for her since she won’t be training or on security anymore. Maybe she can find a job in town. I don’t really care, or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Ares stands at the window in his dad’s office with his arms folded over his chest. The muscles in his back bulge through his shirt. He’s been tense all day, so I smooth my hands over his back. Rubbing small circles in the tight areas. Circling around him, I look up at his face. His eyebrows are drawn together.

“You’ll get wrinkles if you keep making that face,” I tell him, trying to lighten the mood. He looks down at me but his features stay the same. I rest my chin on his folded arms and bat my eyelashes. He’s trying not to smile, but he fails miserably.

“If you weren’t so cute, I could stay mad all day,” he says.

“Cute? That’s it?” I ask.

“Cute. Sexy. Beautiful. Gorgeous,” he says kissing me after every word. “Is that better?”

“Yep. Thank you,” I say and he laughs. I want to ask him about Claire and what she’ll do if she’s not going to on security anymore, but I don’t want him to be angry. So instead, I rest my head on his chest for a moment longer. I hear the door open and Alaric and Sampson walk in.

“Now look, you’re still in your honeymoon phase, but my office? Can you stick your own house? Inside or out, apparently,” Alaric says and I feel myself blushing.

“You heard us?” I ask, not really wanting to know the answer.

“Sweetheart, the whole pack heard,” he says. I am so embarrassed, and I know my face is beet red. Ares seems to be proud of himself as he struts over to the couch. Sampson is uncomfortable; keeps shifting from foot to foot. I feel bad for him.

“Sorry Sampson,” I tell him.

“I’m not,” Ares says and I slap his leg.

“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s get down to business,” Alaric says. “Freja, what’s your plan for going to Blood Moon?”

“I was thinking I could just go knock on their front door and say ‘hey, I’m the new queen, get out of my chair.’” He doesn’t look amused. “No? Okay, well, I’m not really sure. How do you tell someone they’re no longer king and queen? I don’t imagine they will take it too well.”

“No, they won’t. They will question who you are, even though it’s obvious, you look exactly like your mom. They will not give up the thrown without a fight.”

“I don’t want to fight them, I just want what’s mine.”

“It’s not that simple, Freja. They were chosen as king and queen after your parents died. They won’t give that up easily. You need to be prepared,” Alaric warns. I know everything he’s saying is true. But I don’t want to imagine going to war with them and the council. To tell you the truth, I don’t want to go to war at all but I will if it means the killings of our kind for no reason will come to an end.

I sigh heavily because I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how I’m supposed to take the thrown or bring the shifters together to help me win the war. I don’t even know when this war is going to happen. This is all so frustrating. I feel myself getting lightheaded and my limbs getting week, like I’m about to pass out. I try to steady myself by putting my hands on the back of a chair. It doesn’t help, though. Pots start to appear in my vision and I know I’m about to go down. I barely hear anything anyone is saying. I feel myself falling, and then it’s dark.

I’m back in the field I was in when I met the moon goddess, Selene. It’s so peaceful here, I wish I could stay here forever. But I know I can’t, I have to talk to her again. Why did she bring me back here?

“Selene, um, Moon Goddess?” I don’t know if I should call her Selene.

“Selene is fine, my child,” she says from behind me. I turn and throw my arms around her before I can stop myself. “I see your mate’s family is rubbing off on you,” she laughs.

“I’m sorry,” I start to apologize but she waves it off.

“I know you have a lot of questions , Freja, but I cannot give them to you. All I can tell you is that your enemy is your friend,” she says. Does she not know how many enemies I have? Hell, I don’t even know!

“Would that be the council or the Blood Moon pack?” I ask.

“I can’t tell you. I cannot interfere any more than I already have. You have to figure this out on your own, or with the help of your mate and his family. You are smart, my child. You can, and will get through this. I have every bit of faith in you.”

“Why?” I ask her.

“Because you were created for this. I know it’s hard to believe but you are much stronger than you think. Stop being so meek. You’ll never get your thrown if you ask nicely. You have to take what’s yours,” she says.

“You say that like it’s easy to do.”

“You have a whole pack behind you. Don’t you know that?” She’s right, but how do I ask them to risk their lives for me?

“You’re their queen, and if I’m not mistaken, one of them has already pledged his life to you,” she says.

“Are you reading my thoughts?” I ask and she smiles. “Please don’t do that. It’s invasive.”

She laughs but says, “Okay, I’ll try not to. Our time here is coming to an end. I’ve given as much information as I can. Be brave, be strong, Freja. Most of all, continue to show mercy. Not everyone is who they seem to be.” She starts to disappear as she did last time. I try to reach for her but my hands only grasp at the air. As she fades completely I start to fall back into darkness. Everything goes black on e again.

Ares

“Freja!” I shout as she falls. I catch her head before it hits the floor. “Freja, wake up!” I shake her gently but she doesn’t wake up. I lift her and carry her to the couch. My dad and Sampson cross the room, both looking concerned. I sit next to her and stroke her cheek. She looks peaceful, not in pain. I don’t know why she would have passed out. When her eyes start to flutter, I hold my breath. She slowly eyes them and looks at me, “She has got to stop doing that.”

“Selene?” I ask. She nods. “What did she say this time?”

“My enemy is my friend. She can’t say who that is, though. She’s not allowed to interfere,” she says.

“That could be anyone,” I say. Claire, the Blood Moon pack, the council. Any one of those could be her “friend.” Maybe a combination of all. Maybe it’s someone we don’t even know yet.

“How long was I out for?” She asks.

“Not long, couple minutes,” I tell her.

“Oh okay, that’s about as long as our conversation I guess. She really couldn’t say much. Just that I can’t take the thrown being nice and to continue to show mercy. I assume she was talking about Claire.”

I nod, Selene is right. If Freja wants her thrown, she has to demand it. I help her sit up and she pales. She looks like she’s going to be sick. Her hand flies to her mouth. My dad grabs a trash can and puts it in front of her. I hold her hair and rub her back as she throws up. Sampson hands me a water bottle.

“Here, drink some water,” I tell her. “Your equilibrium is a little out whack.” She sits back and takes a few sips. “Better?”

“Yeah. Sorry, that was gross,” she says and wrinkles her nose. I laugh, “It’s okay. Do you want to lie down?” She shakes her head. Her color start to come back.

“I need to that this pack is behind me. I will need every ally I can get. Going up against the council and Blood Moon will not be easy, and you have to know that there will be casualties,” she tell my dad.

“It’s not even a question, Freja. We are with you one hundred percent. And we’ll find every ally we can. You’re not alone in this fight,” he says. She should already know we have her back but I understand why she felt the need to ask. She comes from a pack that lied to her for her whole life. No one has ever had her back.

“You are my queen. I vow to protect you from this day forward. I pledge my life to you, Freja,” Sampson kneels in front of Freja and bows his head. Sampson is good ally to have; he’s trustworthy and a hell of a fighter. He’s quiet but his presence is always known. He’s very observant. Tomas is a lot like him in that matter.

Freja takes Sampson’s hand in hers, “Thank you Sampson. I only hope that I am worthy enough to be your queen.”

“You are, you’ve already shown that, l” he tells her. “You will live up to your parents legacy.” A tear runs down her face but she wipes it away.

“Thank you, again. I really appreciate it,” she tells him.

“We need to have a pack meeting. The pack needs to know what’s going on and what’s coming,” my dad says. I agree, and most of the pack hasn’t met Freja yet. It’s time they meet their future queen.