Troubled Freya

Chapter Two - Meeting

✤ Freya ✤

“I asked what are you two doing?” he said as he stood in front of us. I have no idea who he is, but I can smell that he is a wolf. Possibly a guard or warrior, I wasn’t sure. “Are you mute?” he asked not being able to take his eyes off from Holly. I couldn’t blame him; Holly was very pretty with her long brown hair and honey brown eyes. Perfect shaped face with a small nose and plump lips.

“Ok, honestly, we are here to spy,” I admitted but then regretted my choice of words immediately as the wolf turned his gaze to me. “What I mean to say is we are here to check out the guys,” his eyebrows shot up and he glanced back over at Holly, who still hadn’t said anything. “I know it sounds so wrong but we’ve seen a couple of the males come by our pack and we decided to sneak over and check out the males, I swear it,” I continued talking whilst this wolf and my bestie checked each other out. I giggled softly which caused Holly to tighten her grip on my hand, immediately shutting me up.

“Um…ok,” he said. His gaze spotted our intertwined fingers and he frowned slightly.

“Holly!” Holly suddenly shouted out her name and then promptly blushed.

“Your name or hers?” he asked.

“Mine,” she whispered.

“Ok, hello Holly, and who is your friend?” he questioned as he quickly glanced back at me.

“Freya,” I offered, and he nodded.

“Freya, Arion, and Laura’s daughter?”

“Yup,” I said popping the ‘p’ much to his annoyance, I noticed. “Is he your mate?” I asked her through our mind link, but she didn’t respond.

“Ok,” was all he said. The two of them still staring at each other. Since she couldn’t answer me, I asked the question out loud.

“Are you mates?” my question fell on deaf ears as the two continued their staring contest. I ripped my hand from Holly’s tight grip and took a step back. When neither one of them moved or acknowledge me, I took another step back and then another. Suddenly he tore his gaze away from Holly and stared at me.

“Where do you think you are going?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on between those two but if he is her mate then honestly, I do feel somewhat jealous.

“Who are you?” I dared to ask him. He looked back at Holly, continuing their little annoying staring contest and I thought he wouldn’t answer me.

“My name is Noah and I am the beta of Dolomite Pack,” he finally announced.

“Nice to meet you Noah, now would the two of you snap out of it!” I rushed towards them and started snapping my fingers in front of their faces. It worked. Both Noah and Holly turned their attention from each other to me. The minute Holly’s eyes met mine, I questioned her again. “Is he your mate?”

“Yes,” she answered as she gazed over at him. I watched as Holly reached out and tenderly caressed his cheek. Noah closed his soft blue eyes as he smiled and leaned into her touch. Holly turned to face him, and her other hand moved upwards, and she cupped his face in her small delicate hands. I knew what was coming and for some unknown reason, I just couldn’t look away. She took a small step forward, closed her eyes, and closed the distance between them. The moment their lips touched, I turned around and ran. I didn’t want to be some kind of weirdo who watches wolves kiss and make out. The pack’s village came into view and I stopped. He was much older than Holly and although I wanted to find it disgusting, I couldn’t, I was happy for her. Jealous but happy. All of a sudden, the plan of spying on the males seemed pointless and before I could get caught, I turned around and ran home. Holly would have a lot to deal with and Noah being her mate, meant that I didn’t need to worry about her safety. The minute my feet touched the ground of my own pack, I stopped and breathed out a sigh of relief. Looking around to make sure that no one was paying any attention to me, I ran as fast as I could to the packhouse. Sneaking out wasn’t much of an issue but sneaking back in always proved to be difficult. I pushed open the door and stuck my head in, checking to see if anyone was around. With a sigh of relief, I went in and closed the door behind me as quietly as possible. So far, so good. I kept my head down as I made my way upstairs to my bedroom. Feeling lucky that I hadn’t been caught, I opened my door and slipped inside.

“Welcome back Freya,” I turned around to see, not only my mother but my father too. Oh s**t. I thought I was in a safe zone.

“Care to inform your mother and I were you’ve been?” he questioned, concern evident on his face.

“And while you’re at it, please inform us where the hell is Holly?” Oh s**t, oh double s**t!

✤ Ryder ✤

“Can you be any more annoying?” I asked my twin brother as I looked over at him. Blade shook his head as he continued to jump up and down. I rolled my eyes and relaxed against the soft blue sofa in our father’s office.

“How can you be so calm?” he suddenly stopped jumping and looked over at me as he questioned me seriously.

“Is there a reason I should be jumping up and down like some fool?” I questioned curiously. Was it possible he knew something that I didn’t?

“Well, how often do we get called into fathers office?” he shot back. I frowned; he had a point.

“Not often,” I admitted, running my fingers through my dark brown hair.

“Exactly, I can feel something is going to happen, I just know it,” he said as he came over to me and threw himself down on the sofa, his hazel eyes glanced over at me and smiled. “Father is going to announce the next Alpha, I’m telling you,” I thought about that for a moment and continued to frown as I realized that he could be right. However, since we are twins, who exactly does father intend to make Alpha?

“Boys,” Alwyn, our father, acknowledged us as he entered the office. Blade and I quickly stood up and bowed respectfully. “Relax, take a seat,” he said as he sat down on his favorite armchair. He eyed us carefully before he spoke again. The tension rising as he took his time. “Boys, as you know, it is time for me to step down and for one of you to take over the pack,” we both nodded in agreement but kept quiet. “However, the thing is, there is two of you and both of you deserve the title and the honor,” once again we nodded. He leaned forward and kept eye contact with Blade. “You both have strengths and weaknesses and as much as I would like to pick, I can’t,” he finally admitted, and I let out the breath that I hadn’t even realized I had been holding.

“So? What now?” Blade asked.

“Naturally, I contacted the council and sought out their guidance. Dimitry explained to me that even though you are both of age and ready to take over the pack, it is impossible,”

“Impossible?” I repeated confused.

“Of course, a pack cannot have two brothers running it. Two Alpha’s, can you imagine that? The testosterone alone would cause too many problems,”

“But we get along just fine,” Blade argued, and I raised my eyebrows at him. “Most of the time anyway,” he added after seeing my face.

“You could fight for the title but as I pointed out to Dimitry, it would not only be unfair, but we would lose a son and I don’t like that idea, neither does your mother,”

“What are we going to do then?” I questioned.

“Since I am still able to run the pack, I will continue to do so, the two of you are going on a quest,” Alwyn informed us.

“A quest?” Blade sounded stupid and I smirked slightly. Even though I had done the exact same thing moments ago.

“Yes, a quest,”

“What kind of quest?” I dared to ask him.

“A quest to find your mate. You see, not all Alpha’s mate with a daughter of an Alpha. Both of you need to find your mate and only then can the title of Alpha be transferred to one of you,” he explained.

“What if one finds his mate but not the other?” Blade pointed out and I nodded in agreement.

“It won’t matter if one does or you both do, you’ll understand when you find your mate, however, for now, both of you are to attend meetings and take note of the responsibilities of the pack. You’ll be required to tag along to other packs, and to the human town for supplies. Hopefully, during this time, you will find your mates,”

“What if we don’t?” I asked.

“If after three months, neither one of you have found your mate, then you are to take to the road and your quest turns into a journey,” he explained patiently. I frowned, quest, journey, it all sounded like the same thing to me.

“Where do we start?” Blade stood up, ready to get the show on the road. I stood up too, not wanting to look uninterested.

“Noah has to go to Dark Sky pack to see his mate’s parents,” Alwyn informed us.

“Wait! Noah found his mate?” Blade screeched out. we were both shocked. “You mean his mate was at Dark Sky pack this whole time?”

“Yes, that is why you will be joining him, accompanying him, maybe your mate is there too,”

“Who is she?” I asked I couldn’t wait to meet her.

“Holly Kelly, daughter of the Beta. I think you two should get going, Noah won’t wait for you for much longer,” Blade and I nodded and rushed out of the office and I saw Noah standing with a female at the bottom of the stairs. Noah noticed us and looked up, causing the female to do the same. I heard Blade cuss as we made our way towards them. I didn’t blame him; she was a true beauty with her long brown hair and a bright smile. We reached the bottom of the stairs and her honey brown eyes looked between us.

“Twins?” she questioned softly, and I melted. Even her voice was heavenly.

“Ryder, Blade, please meet my mate, Holly Kelly from Dark Sky Pack,” Noah smiled warmly at Holly. “My love, meet the Alpha’s son’s Ryder and Blade, don’t ask me which one is which,” I rolled my eyes, trust Noah to say that. Blade and I may be twins but there were slight differences in our appearance. For one, we didn’t have the same fashion sense. Our clothes were very different. That and if you looked really closely you would see that Blade had a small scar above his right eyebrow.

“I’m Ryder, nice to meet you,” I chuckled as I held out my hand, instead Holly bowed respectfully and threw me a shy smile.

“Nice to meet you too,” she whispered as she bowed in Blade’s direction.

“No need for that,” he told her causing her to blush.

“Anyway, we are headed over to her pack to meet her parents as well as the Alpha and Luna, I was told that you two are to accompany us, so let’s go,” Noah grabbed Holly’s hand and led her out of the packhouse towards the large monster truck. Blade and I exchanged amused glances as we followed them. The drive to our neighboring pack didn’t take long and soon we were pulling up to Dark Sky’s packhouse. I couldn’t help but compare the two houses. Hell, I couldn’t help comparing the two packs in general. It definitely looked like the Alpha knew how to handle money. It was clear that the pack screamed out wealth. Holly scrambled out of the truck before it had even come to a full stop and ran inside the house. Noah chuckled at her actions. “She hasn’t been home in the last two days,” he informed us.

“Makes sense then, but how did you two meet?” Blade asked and I leaned in, eager to hear the story.

“I was doing patrol and smelt her, that’s when I came across her and her friend, or should I say, the Alpha’s daughter, Freya,” Noah got out and we followed him. Neither Blade nor I had ever left our pack and it is the first time in a new environment, I was quite excited. Noah had mentioned Freya and although I had never met her, I certainly have heard the rumors about her. Odd, weird, spooky, cursed, spoilt, chaotic, and much more. I was actually looking forward to meeting her. As we made our way to the packhouse, Holly suddenly came storming out with a massive smile on her face, she was dragging along someone with her and I stopped dead in my tracks. It couldn’t be, could it?

“You remember Freya, don’t you?” Holly asked Noah, who nodded politely before bowing respectfully. Blade held out his hand to the female and I felt a wild rage of jealousy erupt within me as she placed her smaller hand in his.

“DON’T!” I growled out as I moved forward and grabbed her, pulling her tightly to my chest. I breathed in her sweet scent as she wrapped herself around me.

“What the hell bro?” Blade asked, shocked, and confused by my actions.

“Oooh!” Holly started clapping as she realized what was going on and Noah smiled warmly at me and Freya as he took hold of Holly’s hand once again. Blade was still looking at me as if I had grown horns.

“What the hell is going on!” he shouted out, obviously getting angry.

“They are mates,” Noah explained.

“Ah damn it!” Blade growled out and stormed off into the packhouse, Noah, and Holly following him. I gently untangled the female from my body and gazed down into her captivating silver eyes. I smiled as I looked at my mate, happiness welling up inside me, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Suddenly she pushed against me, taking a step back, a crease on her forehead as she frowned at me. I opened my mouth to say something, but she beat me to it.

“No, no, no,” she chanted as she checked me out. Now, I stood tall and proud, I knew I wasn’t ugly or anything, I worked out, so my body was appealing yet for some reason she looked at me, disgusted.

“What no?” I asked her curiously, I looked down at myself and I too frowned.

“I won’t leave!” she told me, and I wondered what on earth she meant. My silence wasn’t the right answer apparently as she ran off into the packhouse. I stood there for a moment and then went in after her. Was she planning on rejecting me? She stopped and turned around, nearly bumping into me. “I won’t leave, do you understand?” she asked me, the crease was gone but was replaced by sadness. The feeling in my chest tightened and I took her hand in mine.

“I understand,” and I did, in fact, I understood completely. This was exactly what my father had been talking about. She smiled and I caught my breath at the sight of her smile.

“Thank you,” she whispered and then she did the unexpected, she leaned forward and softly kissed my cheek. Before I could even react, she pulled away and grabbed my hand, dragging me to what I assumed was her father’s office. Glancing around, I saw Noah and Holly cuddled up next to each other on the sofa. Blade was staring out of the window, a couple sat next to Holly, close but not too close. I guess those are her parents and then I looked over at the wolf that silently demanded dominance. He must be the Alpha, his mate stood next to him with her hand on his shoulder. They both eyed me out and I felt myself blush. Awkward.