Chapter 2

Freya’s POV

The rogues came round, their snarling in my ears. My hands shook, and I scrambled away, and my back came into contact with a tree. There was no way out.

"Stay away!" I screamed, my voice breaking. But they didn't listen.

The first rogue leapt at me. Desperation took over. I took a branch of the ground, a heavy one, and swung it at full blast with all my strength. The wood struck the skull of the rogue, who was yelling, went staggered back.

I hope there was a moment when I had hope. Maybe I could fight them off. Maybe I could survive.

But the other ruffians were about me, and their eyes were blazing with starvation.

You shall not have it, growled one of them, and the voice it spoke in is rough and malicious.

I swung the branch, and it was torn out of my hands. My arm was sunk in teeth, and I screamed. I could not see clearly; my face was streaming.

I was going to die here. It is in the dark, by myself and no one to even take my mourning.

Then there was a terrible crash of roaring in the forest. The rascals stood motionless with twitching ears. I had just time to get a grasp of what was going on when a black smear smashed into the rebel that was holding me.

It struck the two off their feet. The new figure ripped into my attacker with ruthless efficiency, and the latter yelped in pain. The other rogues stood by, snarling, their snarls becoming nervous growls.

I leaned against the tree, holding my bleeding arm. What I was looking at was a fierce scene. The character was a wolf, unlike any other I ever saw, and its movements were those of the most deadly accuracy, its dark hair being streaked with blood.

The rogues were dead, and in a few seconds, lay sprawled in the woodland. The wolf looked at me, and its slashy silver eyes were fixed on my face.

I couldn't move. I felt my heart beat when the wolf changed, with bones cracking and rearranging in the process, making it a man before me.

He was a tall, wild-haired with sharp-faced. His arms were covered with scars, the result of many battles. He was not the kind of man that I had ever met.

"Who are you?" I shouted out, with a voice that was nearly a whisper.

His eyes looked up, and the man tilted his head. The man who has just spared your life, he said in his deep and rough voice.

I shuddered at his presence as he approached me.

You are hurt, he said, looking at my arm.

It is nothing, I said, and the agonising pain told me so.

He cowered next to me; his movements were slow and slow. You could not have held another minute out here. Why did you run through the rogue country by yourself?

I turned my head, feeling humiliated and furious. "It's not consign you."

He raised an eyebrow, a smile playing about his lips. You are a rogue of a girl who came so near to being supper.

Thanks, said I, and bit him on the arm.

My name is Lucian. You see, a little softening. You appear so afraid of yourself, headman of the rogues.

I stiffened, with an attempt to withdraw. "You're a rogue?"

Yes, yes, I said, I think you know. "But not like them." He pointed at the dead bodies around us.

I did not know whether to trust him or not, but there was not much to choose from. I felt as though I were sightseeing with my eyes closed, and my legs were shaking.

You must believe me, said he, his voice deepening. Had I cared to lacerate you, I should not have been worried to save you.

I hated that he was right. "Why did you save me?"

The smirk in which Lucian had been smiling died, and a seriousness crept into its place, making my skin prickle. Since you are not a mere vulnerable girl whose life is on the run. You're special, Freya. More than you know."

"How do you know my name?" I insisted, and my voice was trembling.

You know a great deal about me, he said mysteriously, and you see you must go with me, and you have to get your answers.

I didn't trust him. All the instincts in me cried to flight and to be as far off as possible. But where could I go? Back to that pack that turned me down? Back to the cold, inexorable look of Kane?

"Why should I believe you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Lucian took a cross-armed stance, and his face was not intelligible. "You don't have to. But I can give you that which none other can give--safety. And perhaps even the truth about you, as you are.

I felt the shivers of his words. "What are you talking about?"

Bringing his voice nearer, he lowered it to a whisper. You believe you are a mere weak servant; however, you are wrong. You have power within yourself, Freya. Even your dear Alpha can never understand power.

My mind revolving, I stared at him. Was he lying? Or was there something he was aware of in me that I was not?

"I... I do not know, I said, and my voice was shaky.

"You will," he promised. "But only if you come with me."

I was afraid with my heart beating. It might not be enough to trust him, but it was impossible to remain here.

Okay, I said at last, and almost under my breath. "we will go together."

Lucian nodded, and his face, without an expression, showed a sign of something--satisfaction?

I hold him with both hands as he helps me up, remarking how tenderly he did it. Onward we started in the forest, and there was no talk between us.

"Where are we going?" I asked after a while.

Somewhere, he said, where there is no one to hurt you.

He paused in time before I could reply. His voice was solemn, and the word was Freya. You see, there is something you need to know.

I looked at him, and my heart was rising. "What?"

Lucian gave an intense look at me with his silver eyes. It is not only that it is not always commonplace... the power inside you... It's dangerous. And there are the ones who will have anything to make it.

My breath caught. "What do you mean?"

You will know soon, he said, grimly.

As I was about to further press him, I heard a great howl in the forest, and then I heard the feet. Lucian flushed dark.

They have discovered us, he said, in a low and desperate voice.

"Who?" I questioned, and my chest felt the panic.

Hunters, he said, huddling me under his arm. "Stay behind me, Freya. And whatever comes, never run away.