AstridI cringed every time Soren lifted the flogger up and lashed it down on Eridesce's backside. She had been screaming the entire time, but Soren didn't seem to care at all.I shouldn't be feeling this about her lying on that slab and getting flogged like a thief. She had watched them do the same thing to me. I shouldn't feel this way. However, I couldn't bring myself to watch it."Done for the day." Some kind of relief washed over me when those words left Soren's mouth. I didn't have to be the one to say them. Yeah, some guilt just left me."We can continue with her afterwards, if you so wish." He turned to me as he handed the flogger to the guard standing next to him."Yes. Maybe tomorrow." My eyes moved over to the slab where the guards were untying her from the ropes. Just as expected, she was weak and couldn't even stand on her own.Her body must be so warm inside. Just a taste of her own medicine. She thought she could get away with it, but she had something else coming her w
Astrid"He said he'd take you away from me." I looked at him in confusion, my hands holding his bruised knuckles.He said he'd take me away from him. Who was that, and why would they say that?"Who said that?" I demanded, knowing that I had no ties with anyone who would say such a thing, and the fact that he got into a fistfight with them meant that it was serious."Jarvis, of course. Who else would say that if not him?" I closed my eyes and tried to pretend that he didn't say that. Jarvis didn't say that.How dare he, when he was supposed to be low-key and not say anything that would lead to his quick demise?I brought his knuckles up to my lips and placed a kiss on them. Then I gave him an assured look."You don't have to worry about what he said. I guess he was just trying to get to you."I tiptoed and placed a kiss on his lips."I'm right here with you."He cocked his brow like he was having a hard time believing what I was saying."Don't go close to him, please. I don't want to l
SorenThe work was going better than I thought. Over thirty structures had been erected, although they still needed some final touches like roofing and plastering. However, I was grateful for what was in front of me.I decided to focus on the work and forget about what happened to me in the West days ago. I was still trying to find answers, but nothing important came to mind. At some point, I had considered going back there just to see if it was imagination or something that actually happened.Me, not being burned by the Frostborn, or them letting me go—this was the craziest thing I had ever witnessed in my life, considering how dangerous those things were. So, there was absolutely no chance in hell that they let me go.Something must be up. Something must be wrong with me. Yet, I decided to keep that at the back of my mind and focus on what was right in front of me.This project needed to be completed in no less than three months. I wanted to make sure my pack was properly protected
AstridIt was a sad day, as we were still mourning the loss of the men who left with Soren to the West. It was a sad day for Veridian.Still, that wasn't what had been bothering me since he came back yesterday. It was what he told me had happened to him—the same thing that had happened to me when I went to the West with the girls.He and one other didn't get burned. The man he was with had sustained some burn injuries, except Soren, who came back just as he left the pack. No burns, not even a single scratch, which left me wondering.Had they let him go? Or did the fire not affect him either? It was the same scenario as mine.What exactly was going on?Was there something happening around me that I had no idea about?Something that was in me that would happen to everyone I got involved with? And in this case, it was Soren.I still couldn't wrap my head around this. We needed to seek answers for this. Something could be going on that we had no idea about."I will leave now. If there's a
SorenSome of the alphas over Veridian had suggested that all the strong men in Veridian should travel up to the West to see what was happening there. They wanted the women to stand down for a while; maybe the men going there this time could actually mean something, which I thought was the same thing.But I couldn't voice that out, given that every one of them was determined to go out there to discover what was behind those hills. It almost felt like a journey of adventure, given how excited some of them had been.We had heard of the Frostborn recently, but it wasn't as serious as before. It was like they decided when to show up and when not to, which made it very difficult to tell when they planned to attack and also made it difficult for us to know when to attack them."Be safe." I pulled Astrid into a hug. Leaving for missions like this was always the most scariest thing to do because you didn't know if you'd come back home alive.However, there comes a time in life where we had to
Astrid."I'm not sure about this, Astrid," Fern said, with her hands still around me. She was holding on like she didn't want to let go. I didn't want to, nor did I want her to. But things were beyond my control right now. I had found her at the maze of corn Eridesce had started and had employed pack members to work in it. She had been supervising the work but Eridesce had made her do that in her absence. She had also made wild-looking guards watch the entire work, making it impossible for anyone to escape. After I told Fern my plans and what I wanted her to do, she wasn't having it. But I had to be real with her. I was born in Emberclaw, and I will always remember this place as my home. However, I found another home somewhere else, and that's where I was building my future. In that case, I needed someone to watch things in place for me while I figure out other things. "I trust you to do it, Fern. It wouldn't be long until I figure out how to run things on both sides."I pulled h