Freya It had been days since Ava had been ripped to shreds on the garden lawn, and I had hardly slept a wink. My eyebags had eyebags, appearing almost bruised from nightly panic attacks. Every weird noise brought me back to that moment.The snarling wolf monster. The pungent, metallic odor of blood in the air. The dismembered corpse of Ava, her gray, lifeless, eyes staring into the grass and her jaw slacked in horror.What made it even worse is no one asked about her. In fact, even though Damien had said not to mention her, I asked a few of the other servants about her and they all acted like she never existed.I knew it was probably for their own safety, but damn it, Ava existed. She had been just as important as any of the rest of us, and I refused to be gaslit into believing I’d lost my mind and dreamt her up. The whole thing was being covered up, and I was angry about it.Just like Helena grabbing me or Evelyn attempting to manipulate me with her manipulative, almost motherly lik
DamienI could feel my heart in my throat as I turned away from Marcus and Freya, looking back at the beast I’d just slain, my stomach in knots. I’d already seen poor Ava-one of Evelyn’s maids—as I’d crept up from behind. And the very thought that it almost happened to Freya really messed with my head.Seeing that creature, that…wolf… thing going after Freya had made my protective instincts go into hyper mode. The cut may have been clean, but my instinct when I smelled her in the air, the fear coming off her, wasn’t just to dispatch Evelyn’s newest experiment… but to beat it to death.I’ll have to deal with Evelyn’s creature later, I thought to myself as I walked inside towards Freya's room, breaking into a run. I knew she was alive, but was she truly okay?My mind was racing even as I opened the door, and before thinking, I blurted out:“Have you lost your damn mind, Freya?!”Marcus looked at me curiously, and Freya’s face red and chapped, no doubt from crying, her arms firmly grippi
Freya As the moon hung high in the sky, and with my chores all done, I decided to go to the garden to gather more supplies. Prince Damien had come to me earlier in the day after the queen summoned me with yet another wound from practice— this time a cut on his eyebrow—And it was a fairly gnarly gash. Causing me to use up a bunch of my stock since there was no doubt in my mind he would definitely need it.I took the herbs inside and began washing them at the kitchen sink overlooking the garden when I heard his horrific roar from outside. At first, I thought it might be a wild animal, and then I heard it again, this time louder. Closer.More monstrous than any cat I’d ever heard.What the hell? I asked myself as I tried to get a peek out the window, and jumped when I heard the high pitched, fevered, scared cries of someone outside. A woman’s scream from the sounds of it, and then another thunderous screech from whatever animal was outside. Whatever was happening, it seemed to be huntin
Freya“My mo—“I began and then stopped. I can’t talk about my old life with her. I can’t tell her of my silver, gem covered vanity back home.“Pardon?” Evelyn asked and I struggled to recover.“My mother dreamed of such extravagance,” I stammered, which wasn’t entirely a lie. She’d often talked about the palace and the one time she’d been there and how she’d loved the ballroom especially. It was why my mother had had the ballroom redone when I was young, trying to mirror the palaces. At least that’s what I’d been told. I hadn’t seen it yet.“All women deserve to be pampered and treated like princesses, don’t you agree?” Evelyn said as she reached in her drawer and pulled out a silver necklace, set with sapphires. She then surprised me by putting it around my neck, grinning from ear to ear as she took a hairbrush off the vanity, pulled the hair tie from my hair, and began to brush.“Red hair is so beautiful,” the queen said. “I used to dye my hair just to dream of getting such a gorgeo
Freya“Hmm hmm huh hmm,” I’d hummed to myself as I took the fresh linens out of the rolling cart, the scent of lavender and vanilla wafting into my nose, the soft soothing smells putting a smile on my face.It had been a week or two since Helena’s attack, and though bruises had dotted my face, my spirits were no longer broken thanks to Ava. She had been so supportive, and we’d eat dinner with one another each night, swapping tales of our old lives. In my tales, I’d redacted the fact I was the Silvermoon alpha’s daughter of course. And while I did miss my mother, Raven, and especially Lucy… Ava had begun to fill that void for me.Our bond had come quite swiftly, yet naturally. Eventually I hoped I’d be able to get hold of a phone again, but until then I wouldn’t be able to call Lucy… and I knew in my heart I’d never be able to call home.As much as I loved them, I couldn’t stand the idea of being dragged back and locked up in my room again. starving myself because I wasn’t willing to b
Damien “Your majesty,” Marcus said, his wavy locks bouncing as he peeked into my office.“Hmm?” I grunted in response as I shuffled through more paperwork, a bunch of stuff my father had delegated me to be involved with. AKA things my father didn’t want to bother with.“Dinner is almost ready,” Marcus replied, and I felt my lip curl in disgust.“Just have Freya bring it here,” I said as I signed a document for the Dark Stars, approving some sort of building project in their territory. “I’m quite busy with this load of approvals father dropped into my lap.”“That’s the thing,” Marcus replied, nervously scratching the back of his head. “Your father wants you to be present, as does—““—Ugh,” I protested, throwing my pen down on the desk.“Why can’t he see that harpy for what she is?” I asked.“Someday he will,” Marcus replied. “But if we are going to continue our detective work on Queen Evelyn—““—I know, I know…keep up appearances,” I agreed as I stood up and pushed my chair in.“Anoth