Page 64 of Luna Ascending

“What do you want Marciel?” Freya's voice sounds wary “You're obligated like the rest of us not to cause trouble in The Sanctuary”

“I'm just so delighted to meet you again” the creep smirks “I'm so delighted” I can see his eyes raking Freya up and down, and I have to fight down the wrath threatening to boil over inside.

“Oh fuck off Marc” That's my Freya, I grin, but its quickly wiped off my face by Marciel's next words.

“I think we'll be seeing a lot more of each other now, don't you?” Marciel says “I mean, all things considered. I'm part of your life forever Freya, you have to know that”

“What? No. Get a grip Marc. We're done.”

“Oh that's cute Freya; the pretence. Just call me when you're ready baby-doll.”

With that Marciel starts strolling towards us, his eyes lighting up when he realises I've been listening. “Oh this is just perfect! Commiserations old chap” he claps me on the shoulder and Samantha has to physically step between us this time. I very nearly deck her instead.

My anger simmering over, I turn to Freya, and see emerging behind her Lyell and Aurora.

“The three of you – you have NO idea how much trouble you've caused. Home. Now.” I boom, barely glancing at Freya. I desperately want to sweep her up and tell her how worried I was and how much I've missed her. But the surprise encounter with Marciel has my blood boiling, and I realise I'm still furious that she ran away to begin with.

I storm off leaving them to trail behind me.

When we get back to the estate I'm still raging. I send Lyell to his quarters and Aurora to her room, with a guard on the door. Everyone's angry but fuck them! I'm the alpha and they're going to have to bloody well listen to me or face the consequences.

By the time I get Freya to our rooms alone I'm beginning to calm down a little. However, it seems she isn't. As soon as we step into the bedroom Freya catches sight of the handcuffs again and it sets her off – she turns on me.

“What the hell was all that Aaron?! I thought we were a team, a partnership – you don't hog-tie your girlfriend, your partner, and you definitely don't hog-tie your Luna”

“They were handcuffs... you weren't hog-tied! Don't exaggerate!” As soon as it's out my mouth I realise it was the wrong thing to say. Freya spins towards me straining her little face up into mine

“What?! What the fuck does my choice of words matter?! Andwhois that bitch of a vampire? I can smell her all over you”

I back away slightly alarmed by the venom in her voice. Her mention of Samantha makes me a little ashamed until I remember I came across her and Marciel having a nice little chat.

“Sam helped me find you, because I asked her. She did it for a price. Whereas... what the fuck were you doing with Marciel when I found you?”

“I didn't ask you to find me!” she spits “We were doing just fine getting Aurora back on side, until you come along and imprison her again. You can't live your little sister's life Aaron!”

“and Marciel..?” I won't let this go. She has to know what he meant, his words were ominous. I really didn't like them.

Freya's shoulders slump a little and she shrugs “He was being Marc. Marc plays mind games. Fuck knows what he wanted. At least he just turned up by accident– you invited that bitch into our business!”

Neither of us are going to win this argument tonight. We climb into the same bed but our backs are to each other. I feel vaguely uneasy at the crevasse that's opened up between Freya and I. While she falls asleep almost instantly, clearly exhausted, I toss and turn all night, getting increasingly more frustrated.

When I wake in the morning, groggy and poorly rested, Freya's already up. I can hear her moving around in the en-suite. Desperate for the loo I bang on the door.

“Hurry up in there would you? I need to be at training and I could do with a rinse and the toilet first”

“Fuck off Aaron, I'm not well” she grumbles back. My heart goes out to her a little – despite all her sleep, her voice still sounds tired. Maybe using her majik to find Aurora has taken it out of her. I can't face more argument. Sighing I decide I'll just use the guest room's bathroom.

Rushing out the door to training I nearly run over Liz on her way in.

“Hey! Liz! Freya's not feeling well. I've got to lead the training. Maybe you'd take her up some breakfast? And try to convince her Sam really was just helping?” I flash my most winning smile.

“It's Sam now, is it? Not Samantha?” Liz bitches at me. Of course she'd take Freya's side “I'll go and see she's okay, but it should be your job” She shoves past me into the house.

Man alive Tavey must stay on the straight and narrow to keep that one happy. I probably do owe Freya more of an explanation. I'm slightly worried to tell her I agreed an unknown price for finding her. I need Sam to expand on what she wants from us as payment before I broach it with Freya.

I'll go find Freya again after training. I genuinely hope she's feeling better. I need to spend some quality time with her, when we're not both angry. She needs to understand why she's not just important to me, but to the pack and the Watch.

Chapter Forty-Seven

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