CHAPTER 2: A Taste of Freedom

CHAPTER 2: A Taste of Freedom

~ Kim ~

I stood on the sidewalk outside the Fell mansion the next morning, breathing in the city air deeply for the first time in four years. It smelled like grease and gasoline and humanity and life.

I loved it.

"Where to first?" Galina asked, linking her arm through mine with familiar warmth.

I closed my eyes and tilted my face toward the sun. Real sunlight, not the harsh artificial white lights of the Rogue Space. This was warm and golden.

"Anywhere," I whispered, opening my eyes to the bright blue sky. "Everywhere. I don't care."

Galina squeezed my arm gently. "Then let's start with breakfast. Real breakfast."

We ended up at a small café three blocks away—the kind of place I'd loved before everything fell apart. Red vinyl booths worn soft with age, checkered floors, the smell of coffee and bacon thick enough to taste.

I ordered everything. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns, orange juice, coffee — hot and black. Galina watched me with fond amusement as the waitress raised her eyebrows but wrote it all down without comment.

"Four years is a long time to go without decent food," I said defensively when I caught Galina's expression.

"I'm not judging, sweetheart. Eat as much as you want." She stirred cream into her own coffee. "You deserve it."

When the food arrived, I had to blink back tears. It was stupid — it was just breakfast. Ordinary breakfast that people ate every single day without thinking twice. But after four years of stale bread and thin gruel that tasted like nothing, this felt like a feast fit for royalty.

I took a bite of pancake and closed my eyes, letting the buttery sweetness melt on my tongue.

Heaven.

"So tell me," I said between bites, trying to ground myself in normalcy. "What did I miss? What happened while I was gone?"

Galina stirred her coffee slowly, choosing her words with care. "A lot changed, Kim. The world kept moving."

"I know that." I stabbed at my eggs, suddenly hungry for information as much as food. "But I want details. I want to know everything. Please."

She sighed. "Where do I start? Well... your mother became Luna of your family pack after your grandmother passed."

My fork clattered against the plate. "Grandmother died?"

"Two years ago. Peacefully, in her sleep." Galina reached across the table to touch my hand, her skin warm and papery. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I thought they would have told you."

They hadn't. Of course they hadn't. Rogue wolves didn't get updates about family events. Didn't get to grieve properly. Didn't get to say goodbye.

I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. "What else?"

"Elena bonded with Alpha Richard a month after you were taken." There was something in Galina's tone — disapproval, maybe, or sadness. "Big ceremony. Very extravagant. The Fell pack spared no expense. Half the supernatural community attended."

A month. Elena had bonded a month after they'd dragged me away, while I'd still been adjusting to the horror of my new reality. While I'd still been screaming myself hoarse every night, begging them to let me out.

"Your family home was renovated by the Fells as a mating gift," Galina continued.

I nodded mechanically, trying to process it all.

"And Alpha Richard?" I asked, trying to sound casual and failing miserably. "What's he like?"

Galina considered this carefully, her eyes searching my face. "Powerful. He became Alpha of the Fell pack three years ago when his father died in a challenge. Youngest Alpha they've had in generations." She paused. "He's... devoted to Elena. Anyone can see it."

Something twisted painfully in my chest. I ignored it, focusing on cutting my pancakes into smaller and smaller pieces.

"So she really can't have a pup?" The question came out quieter than I'd intended.

"They've been trying for four years." Galina's voice was gentle. "Every healer, every fertility specialist, every treatment they could find. Nothing worked. Elena is... she's barren, Kim. That's just the reality."

Four years of trying. Four years of failing. And now here I was, the solution to their problem.

"In the wolf world," Galina continued, "if an Alpha doesn't produce an heir within five years of taking the title, his position can be challenged. Richard's already in his fourth year. The challenges have started." She took my hands across the table, her grip firm. "Trust me, Kim. Richard didn't want this. He was willing to step down as Alpha rather than take another mate. But he loves Elena, and he's doing this to save your family from the consequences of breaking the pack treaty."

I took a deep breath, letting that sink in. "So I'm supposed to feel grateful? Sorry for him?"

"I'm asking you to try to understand," Galina said softly. "This is hard for everyone."

I took another bite of pancake, but it tasted like ash now.

The door to the café opened, and the air shifted.

I felt it before I saw him — a prickling awareness along my spine, my wolf recognizing Alpha dominance even through the suppression collar. Some primal part of me that couldn't be fully contained knew when powerful wolves entered a space.

‘He's here,’ Rachel purred, suddenly very awake. ‘Turn around. Look at him.’

“Absolutely not.” I snapped back at her.

"Speak of the devil," Galina muttered, giving me a knowing look.

I didn't turn around. Didn't need to. I could track his movement through the café like a magnetic pull, feel the exact moment he spotted us.

Richard Fell approached our table.

There was something about him in daylight that hit differently. He wore dark jeans and a black henley that emphasized his broad shoulders and the lean muscle of his frame. His dark hair was neat today, his blue eyes sharp and assessing. Behind him walked another man I assumed was his Beta — tall and charming with an easy smile that Richard definitely didn't share.

"Hello, Kimberly," Richard said, his voice smooth but cold. Professional. Like I was a business associate rather than the woman he'd accidentally groped last night. "I saw Galina's car and thought I'd stop in. I need to have a word with you in private." He turned to Galina. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, of course not." Galina stood quickly, gathering her purse. The Beta followed her toward the counter, leaving me alone with my soon-to-be second mate.

It was deeply uncomfortable.

Richard slid into the booth across from me, his piercing blue eyes locked on mine with unsettling intensity.

"I need you to understand something before the bonding ceremony," he started without preamble. No small talk. No acknowledgment of last night. "I love your sister, Elena. She is my true mate and Luna, bonded to me in every way that matters. Your role in this is purely functional — to bear the heir that Elena cannot. Even though it requires a ceremony to satisfy the pack law, you are not my mate. Not really."

Each word landed like a small slap.

He sounded so cold. So dismissive. This was only the second real conversation we'd had — the first being last night's disaster in the kitchen — and he was already making sure I knew exactly where I stood.

Nowhere.

"I've heard of you," he continued, leaning back with an air of superiority that made my teeth clench. "The rogue omega. The one with the forbidden power. Dangerous and unstable. And it's unfortunate that you're the only unmated sister Elena has available for this..." He paused, his gaze hardening. "I don't want any complications with Elena. I don't want drama. I don't want you to get any ideas about what this arrangement means."

What an absolute dick.

I took a deliberate sip of my coffee, not caring that it burned my throat.

Then, fueled by four years of suppressed rage and the dismissive arrogance radiating off him, I did something stupid.

I let my power slip free. Just a tiny amount—barely a whisper of what I was capable of. Just enough to connect with his life force and push the sensation of burning into his throat, making him feel exactly what I felt.

The collar around my neck warmed in warning, but I didn't care.

"What are you..." He choked, his hand flying to his collar as he struggled for air. His throat was burning now, just like mine had. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to kill you so I don't have to bond with a dick like you," I said calmly, holding his gaze as he gasped.

I stood, smoothed down my borrowed dress, and gave him one last cold stare. "Consider this your warning, Alpha. I might be here because I have no choice, but that doesn't mean I'll tolerate being spoken to like I'm nothing. Collar or no collar, I'm still dangerous."

I walked out of the café with my head held high. Only when I was safely outside did I release the connection, letting him gasp for air.

The collar was hot against my throat—a reminder of the price I'd pay if I used my power too much. A reminder of what I could become.

But God, it had felt good.

Too good.

‘That was reckless,’ Rachel said, though I could hear the satisfaction underneath. ‘Also, he deserved it.’

I forced the craving down, swallowing hard against the pull.

How the hell was I supposed to bond with that arrogant bastard?

This was going to be even more difficult than I'd thought.

…

I lied to Galina when she found me standing on the sidewalk. Told her we'd finished our conversation and I was fine. She didn't push, bless her, though her worried eyes told me she knew better.

"Where would you like to go now?" she asked gently.

"Anywhere but here," I muttered.

Galina showed me the changes in the city over the next few hours — new buildings where old favorites had stood, trendy shops that had replaced family businesses, construction sites promising luxury condos. I tried to memorize everything, to soak it all in while pushing thoughts of Richard Fell and his cold dismissal from my mind.

We passed a park where children were playing. Their laughter rang out, pure and bright and uncomplicated. I watched a little girl chase a boy around a tree, both of them shrieking with joy, and something in my chest ached.

I was supposed to have this. A normal life. My nursing career, maybe finding a mate of my own someday. Maybe pups.

Instead, I'd gotten four years in hell and a bond contract to a man who could barely stand to look at me.

"Come on," Galina said softly, steering me away from the park. "There's something I want to show you."

We left the main streets behind and headed toward the edge of the city, where buildings gave way to trees. The woods.

My heart started to pound.

"Where are we going?" I asked, though part of me already knew.

"You'll see."

The trees grew thicker, the sounds of the city fading behind us. And then I saw it—the clearing. The exact spot where my life had changed forever.

Where I'd saved the wolf.

My feet stopped moving of their own accord.

"Kim?" Galina's voice sounded distant.

I stared at the ground, and I swore I could still see it. The blood. So much blood, pooling in the dirt and soaking into the earth. The wolf's golden eyes staring up at me, pleading, dying.

"Kim." Galina's hand on my shoulder brought me back to the present. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." My voice was rough, thick with unshed tears. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... this place."

"I know, sweetheart." She squeezed gently. "But look. Something's different."

I followed her gaze and froze.

There was a cabin.

Right there in the middle of the clearing, where four years ago there had been nothing but trees and blood and death.

"What..." I stepped closer, my heart racing. "When did this get here?"

"Alpha Richard built it," Galina said quietly. "Four years ago. Right after his bonding to Elena."

"That's... strange," I managed, though my voice sounded hollow. "Why would he build a cabin out here? In the middle of nowhere?"

"Elena said he needed privacy," Galina explained. "A place away from pack politics where he could shift and run. She says he comes here often to clear his head."

I nodded slowly, still staring at the cabin. It was beautiful in its simplicity—dark wood, large windows, a stone chimney. It looked like it belonged here, like it had grown out of the forest itself.

But something about it made my chest ache.

This was the place where I'd lost everything. The place where I'd made the choice that had cost me four years of my life.

And Richard Fell had built his sanctuary right on top of it.

"Come on," Galina tugged my arm gently. "We should go. It's getting late."

"Galina," I called out before she could walk away. "Can you give me a few minutes? I just... I need a moment alone here."

She hesitated, studying my face with motherly concern. "Are you sure? This place…"

"I'm sure," I said softly. "I'll be fine. I just need to... process."

Galina nodded slowly. "Alright. But don't be long. We need to get back before dinner."

I watched her disappear through the trees, and then I was alone.