Chapter 2 - Mighty.

Cora 

As I get closer to the diner, I'm walking and bobbing my head, still pretending not to notice someone has been following me since I left the group. I kept my senses sharp the entire time and sniffed out that it was a female, a gamma. I relax a little but not too much because who is she, and why is she following me? 

I suddenly stop walking in the middle of the alley, a route I don’t usually take, pretending to fumble about with my phone. I sense she’s moving closer, taking my bait, and I quickly grab her, shoving her up the wall by the neck.

“Who are you, and why are you following me?!” I snarl. 

“Please don’t hurt me! I snuck into the meeting, and I, I, I smelled you were a shifter, and I thought you could help me. I promise, I mean no harm.” She pleads and whimpers, borderline crying. 

‘Rina, she’s no threat. I don’t sense any malicious intent. I think she may be a pup. She’s tiny.’ Luna says in my head as she looks at the girl through my eyes, and I hear her gasp. 

“What are you?” She says, with a whimper, still scared. 

I loosen my hold on her, setting her down on her feet gently and carefully. 

“What do you mean?” I ask, taking my hand off her neck and looking at it, making sure I didn’t hurt her too much. 

“Your eyes went bright blue. They almost looked like sapphires.” She awed.

“My wolf was present. She said you were not a threat.” I tell her casually, putting my earbuds and phone away. 

“Wow, I have never seen a shifter with eyes like yours.” She said, just as her stomach grumbled. 

“Best get some food in you. When was the last time you ate? My wolf thinks you're a pup due to your size. Are you?” I ask her, ignoring her comment. 

She shakes her head. “No, I’m 19, and I don’t know to be honest. I think maybe 4-5 days.” 

I press my lips and nod, giving her a quick once-over. Well, that explains her tiny frame. That’s a long time to go without food.

“Right, come on then. Let’s get you fed, and then you can tell me what happened to you,” I say in a softer tone, and she responds with an eager nod. 

“Thank you so much, but won’t you get into trouble? I have no money.” She sheepishly tells me when she sees my uniform. 

“Don’t worry about that.” I say with a smile and offer her my hand. 

She took it and started walking with me to the diner. The young girl tells me her name is Freya Reed and that she escaped from her pack. 

Freya stiffens when we enter the diner, her eyes locked on the chef, Robbie. I take a quick look and sniff around before I answer her.

“It’s okay, Freya. Robbie is also a shifter, but he is no danger.” I tell her calmly. 

“I see you've found a stray.” Robbie says, coming out of the kitchen and wiping his hands with his apron. 

Robbie is a big man, both in width and height, which can be quite intimidating to people who don’t know him. However, once you get to know him, he’s actually a big, cuddly bear—if he lets you.

“Don’t worry, little wolf. I may be a bear, but I tend to limit my diet to greasy pigs and cows.” He jokes, offering out his hand, and she flinches. 

She whispers ‘sorry’ and tentatively shakes his hand while I rub her shoulders in assurance and comfort.   

“He’s a bear. We’re not supposed to associate with other shifters.” She whispers to me even though we can both hear her. 

“Says who?” I ask her, confused, looking between her and Robbie, who rolls his eyes. 

“She means by your so-called wolf council. They don’t like other shifters, and it seems like they are teaching this shit to the younger generation.” Robbie explains to me, with Freya nodding, confirming his words. 

“What a load of bull. I don’t see the problem as long as everyone is nice and civil with each other.” I scoff. 

“I agree. Why do you think I live alone, work in this place, and am friends with you, wolfie.” Robbie says with a teasing tone. I flipped him the bird with a smirk. 

“Hey now, keep doing that, and I will show you what it's like with a bear. There’s a reason we are bigger.” He teases, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“Whatever you say.” I mumble, blushing slightly, and Robbie snickers when he sees my pink cheeks.   

“Anyway, little Freya, how about some food? Since it’s quiet, I can cook us up some decent grub.” Robbie says, all jokes and teasing aside, since we can hear her grumbling stomach. 

She nods her head yes and whispers, ‘Thank you.’ 

After making sure Freya was comfortable, sitting her in a booth closest to the kitchen, away from public viewing and windows with multiple drinks, I went for a quick smoke since no customers were in. 

We ended up having a few customers, but thankfully, they only wanted something light to eat or drink. By 1 a.m., everything went quiet again, meaning we could finally sit and eat in peace—or so we thought. 

Robbie and I looked at Freya with amusement as she scarfed everything down loudly and asked for seconds. 

Poor thing, she really was starving. 

It didn’t go unnoticed by me or Robbie that the young girl had scars littering her hands, going up her arms, and, judging by the little I saw around her neck, possibly her back too. Emotional ones, too, as she flinched each time Robbie came near her. 

I discreetly glanced at Robbie so that I could talk to Freya alone after we finished eating. He understood, took our plates, and went into the kitchen, leaving us alone. 

“How do you feel now?” I ask her, holding my cup. 

“Full, thank you. What can I do to repay you?” She asks, standing up, and I shake my head, motioning with my finger for her to sit back down. 

“Told you before it’s okay but I would like to talk since we have a minute.” I say with a gentle tone. She nervously nods her head. 

“So, you mentioned you escaped your pack, and judging by your scars and your reaction to Robbie, I presume something bad happened?” I ask her, not beating around the bush.

“Yes….” She whispers, avoiding eye contact by looking into her glass and tapping the sides of it. 

“Hey, look at me.” I tell her softly, and she does. 

“If you want to tell me, you can; if not, that's also okay. Whatever you feel comfortable with.” I give her a soft smile, reaching out for her hand and giving it a little squeeze. 

I push out a little of my aura, and she responds instantly. I don’t know how or why, but ever since my escape and I got some of my strength back, I realized I have some abilities, including a calming effect on females. 

I never questioned it, but I am thankful as it allows me to help people like Freya. 

I watch her bask in my aura and see her visibly relax, her breathing and heartbeat slowing down. I also notice that Robbie is watching us intently from the kitchen, and I know he’s going to have questions later. 

I shake my head at him, mouthing, ‘Not now,’ and he nods in understanding. 

“How did you do that?” Freya asks, her head tilted to the side, and I just shrug. 

“I don’t know, but I am glad it helped you.” I smile.  

“Yes, it did, thank you. Regarding your earlier question…” She trails off, glancing at Robbie quickly before returning to me. 

I nod, indicating it’s okay. 

“Something bad did happen, yes. I couldn’t take it any longer, so I waited for my window of opportunity and took it. That pack and my Alpha…” She paused, taking a shuddering breath, and I pushed my aura out again to help her.  

“Are not very good wolves.” She whispers, trying not to cry. 

“It’s okay. Based on what I have observed so far, I'm getting the general idea.” I tell her gently, and she nods, wiping her cheeks. 

“Uh yeah, forgive me for eavesdropping, but…” Once again, glancing in Robbie’s direction before leaning over the table to whisper, again not realizing that Robbie could probably hear her no matter what. 

Bear shifters are among the best when it comes to certain senses. 

“I heard you and the others at that gathering talking about your experiences, and much of what you were saying happened to me.” 

And I let out a loud, angry snarl, and Freya gasped, moving away from me. 

The next thing I see is Robbie putting his arms around her.

“Cora!” Robbie yells while shielding Freya, and I snap my face to him, showing my teeth and viciously snarling. 

“Cora, calm down. Your eyes and aura are lighting the place up, and it’s fucking painful! I'm feeling it, too.” Robbie yells, trying to hold up Freya, who is whimpering in pain. 

Once I hear her whimper, I shake my head, snapping myself out of my rage haze, and I’m horrified to see I almost made her pass out. 

“Oh shit, I am so sorry.” I say in remorse, going over to sit by her, checking her over. She is panting, trying to catch her breath by patting her chest. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to anger you.” She whimpers, slightly cowering away from me into Robbie's arms, who is sitting behind, rubbing her arms, trying to soothe her. 

“Oh no, sweetie, it wasn’t you. It was my memories and what happened to you, Luna just reacted.” 

“Who’s Luna?” Both asked me at the same time. 

“My wolf. That’s her name.” 

Once again, Freya awes. “Your wolf is named Luna? That's a nice name.” 

“What’s yours named?” I ask her, pushing my calming aura out. I also mentally scolded Luna for hurting her like that. 

'Sorry, I didn't know I could do that, but good to know for future reference.' Luna says, mentally shrugging.

“Mine is, or was, named Tilly.” She replied with a sad tone. 

“Why do you say it was?” I ask her just as Luna tells me she can feel her wolf. 

“Because I haven’t felt her in a long time.”

Luna pushes to the forefront. “Sweetie, I don't know how, but one thing I know for sure is that Tilly is not gone. She is just too weak to make herself known right now. Hopefully, now that you have eaten and had some rest, you may start to feel her again soon.” She says, smiling, before she hands me back control.  

Freya looks at us with hope reflecting in her eyes. “Do you really think so?” She desperately asks. 

I nod, tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. I don't understand how Luna knows about such things or even some of our abilities, but I've learned to just roll with it. She is my wolf, and she's kept me safe all these years, so who am I to question it now? 

“Your wolf’s name means ‘mighty in battle’ and Freya means ‘noble lady’. Your parents and the goddess gave you some strong names, so I have no doubt your wolf will return to you. Also, the name ‘Freya’ is said to be an important goddess within Norse mythology. They say she was the goddess of fertility, love, beauty, gold, and death.” 

“Really?” Robbie asks. 

I just give him a blank look. 

“I did go to college, Robbie.” I snarky reply, and he just rolls his eyes.  

“Thank you, that’s very sweet, but I don’t think that’s me.” She whispers.

“Nonsense. You are a gamma and a warrior. I can tell you're strong, and you just need to build up your strength. Now, where have you been sleeping?” I ask her, rubbing her hands with mine. 

She avoids eye contact with us, as if embarrassed or ashamed. 

“I found a cave. That's how I’ve been living, but with no, or rather, weak wolf, it hasn’t been easy to hunt or keep warm.” 

Robbie and I look at each other over her head and nod. 

“Well, not tonight. I have a place behind the diner with a spare room, and it has your name on it for however long you need it.” He says.

“If you want…” I quickly add that knowing how crucial having a choice is to her. Sadly, I've been there and done that. 

“Do you trust him?” Freya whispers to me, starting to shiver a little bit from fear.  

“Yes.” 

“You sure?” She probes. 

I sigh. “You said you heard me in the group tonight?” 

She nods. 

“Then you know that trust, especially men, doesn’t come easily for women like us, so if I say I trust Robbie, then you can too.” I give her a reassuring, soft smile. 

She takes a deep breath, looking at him with a weak, small smile. 

“I accept, thank you. It would be nice to have somewhere warm and comfortable to sleep. It’s been a while.” She says. 

“Well, I don’t know about comfortable…” He jokes, standing up with Freya following. 

“Better than a floor in a cave.” I hear her say, laughing a little, walking in front of him into the kitchen.

“I will be back in like 10 minutes.” He says.  

I wave him off, telling him to ensure she’s okay first, and I’ll be alright for a few minutes. 

Robbie comes back after half an hour, telling me that Freya had a shower and was out like a light. He also let me know that the scars on her back were worse than we thought. Some were still open wounds and raw, so he had to put some ointment on them to make sure they didn't get infected if they hadn't already. He then says that it looked like someone whipped her, and I couldn't the snarl that came out of me. 

We continued our shift as usual when I suddenly felt Luna push herself into the forefront. A second later, we heard the jingle, and as soon as the door opened, the most delicious scent hit us, and I froze.

What the hell is that? Almost growling out of pleasure at the same time. 

Robbie quickly sprays himself to hide his scent, and Luna quickly follows suit. Unlike other shifters, we can naturally hide our scent, making us appear human. 

Because it’s wolves who have just entered the diner, and based on what I have been told, one of them is my fated mate. 

Fuck!