LOGINFreya By the morning of the third day, every part of me hurt. Not enough to stop me, but just enough that I noticed every step.The straps of my bag dug into my shoulders, my boots had rubbed a sore spot against my left heel, and my lower back carried that dull, persistent ache that had become a familiar companion ever since the pregnancy began.I shifted the weight of the bag slightly and exhaled through my nose."Complaining already?" Eliza asked, amusement threading through her voice."I've been walking for three days." I shot back. "You've complained less than I expected." I could hear a snicker in her voice. "I was saving it." I rolled my eyes. She huffed what felt suspiciously like laughter, but said nothing else. The road rose gently beneath my feet, curving around a cluster of old oak trees before disappearing behind a rocky hillside.Caden's map had told me this would be the last bend before the capital came into view and for reasons I couldn't explain, my heartbeat s
Freya By the second day, I stopped listening only with my ears.The road stretched ahead beneath a pale sky, winding between fields that slowly gave way to thicker woodland. The morning had been uneventful. Birds called from the branches overhead, and the steady rhythm of my boots against the packed earth had become almost comforting.It should have felt peaceful. Instead, something sat wrong beneath my skin.Eliza went completely still, not tense or restless, but still, and that was never a good sign. I had learned that silence from her meant more than panic ever could."What is it?" I asked quietly inside my own mind.She didn't answer immediately and she didn't need to.BShe was listening, feeling and waiting for the right answer to give. The hairs along the back of my neck rose and I resisted every instinct telling me to turn around. Instead, I kept walking exactly as I had been.I took one step, then another and another. The road behind me remained empty every time I glanced
Freya The next morning when I left Thornfield, the world was painted in shades of grey.The sky hung low overhead, heavy with clouds that threatened rain but hadn't committed to it yet. Dew clung to every blade of grass, turning the fields silver in the pale dawn light.The settlement was only beginning to wake.Smoke rose from a few chimneys, somewhere in the distance, a door creaked open. A dog barked once, everything felt ordinary, and somehow that made leaving harder.My bag rested at my feet while I tightened the fastening on my coat for the third time.Mira had packed enough supplies for a small military campaign. I had dried meat, bread, a water flask, bandages, medicinal herbs and an extra wool layer folded so neatly it barely took any space.I suspected she would have packed half the kitchen if I hadn't stopped her. Inside my coat, and close against my chest, rested two things.Ragnar's letter, and Caden's map.The map had taken him nearly an entire evening to finish.He'
Freya The kitchen was quieter after dinner, because most of the settlement had already drifted back toward their cabins or toward the fire pit outside where the last of the evening conversation still lingered in low murmurs. The heavy smell of stew and fresh bread remained thick in the warm air, mixing with wood smoke and herbs drying from the rafters overhead.Mira stood at the long counter scraping the remains of dough from a wooden bowl when I walked in.She glanced up once, and immediately knew I was there for something important.“Are you okay? You’ve been walking all day,” she said casually, rinsing her hands in a basin near the counter. “Either you’re planning a murder or a life change.”Despite myself, I let out the faintest breath of amusement. “Hopefully the second one.”“That’s usually how the first one starts too.” She dried her hands on a cloth before finally turning toward me fully. “What happened?”The humor faded from my face almost immediately and Mira noticed. She
Freya I didn’t tell anyone what was in the letter. Not Mira, not Caden and not even Eliza beyond the pieces she had already felt through the broken remains of the bond.Some things needed silence before they could become decisions and this one was a part of them. I tried and failed to distract myself, and because with each passing second, my mind kept on circling back to the letter, I walked.I spent the entire next day moving through Thornfield like I was learning the shape of it all over again. The paths had become familiar enough now that my feet knew where to go without thought. I went past the outer cabins, along the fence line, and through the narrow trail behind the storage sheds where the ground dipped slightly before rising again toward the western ridge.I even walked the same perimeter Caden had shown me in the dark nights ago. Only this time, I wasn’t memorizing escape routes, I was thinking.The air smelled like thawing earth and wet bark, the cold season slowly loos
Freya The morning Davan arrived, the sky hung low and silver over Thornfield. The air smelled like wet soil and frost beginning to retreat, and the fields beyond the settlement fence had turned soft from thawing ground. I had spent most of the morning helping Petra reinforce one of the smaller garden plots before the next rain came through.Mostly, though, I’d wanted something to do with my hands, because thinking had become dangerous lately.I was standing near the outer fence line brushing dirt from my palms when I saw the rider emerge through the trees.At first glance, he didn’t look remarkable. He was on a dark horse, in a dark cloak, and his posture controlled. But there was something about the way he moved that immediately pulled every instinct in me taut.Eliza lifted her head instantly, not in fear, but recognition. The rider slowed as he approached the gate, and even before I fully saw his face, I knew who it was.Davan.He dismounted smoothly, boots hitting the ground wi
Freya's pov“I'm really sorry. I know you were hoping for a different result but the test shows you are not pregnant," the doctor said softly, like she was scared it would break me. Maybe it did. It wasn't exactly the news I was expecting. I couldn't feel myself for a moment. I just felt numb, w
Freya's pov “Hold still, Freya. You are going to ruin the braid," Sera said. “I am holding still" Her fingers paused in my hair and she met my eyes in the mirror. “You are holding still? You look like you are having a full conversation inside your head," she sighed. "Whatever you are arguing wi
Mine. Mine. Mine.My wolf screamed over and over, like she had been waiting inside me to scream that word. The Alpha king's grip tightened around my hand. I looked up at him and found that he was already looking at me, his eyes wide. My knees buckled and I quickly caught the bar of the cage with m
Freya's pov “Don't marry him," Ravenna, my sister, had said when I told her that I was leaving with Thorne. I was so confused that day. Why wasn't she happy for me? “He chose me," I shot back. "He chose me as his mate.” She wouldn't know what it was like to be chosen for once because, even befor







