Page 66 of Mated to the Kings

“Sweet boy, I promised your mothers that I would take care of you. This is my way of doing that,” she says.

“What happened to your mom?” Striker asks, making the guys look at each other.

“I’ll explain later,” I say. “First, Freya, this is my brother, Striker. You know Leli. She is my sister.”

“It’s so nice to meet you all,” she smiles. “Should I make up some rooms?”

“For the love of God, woman,” Daemon growls.

“You’d think you would know by now that I’m always going to be here,” Freya laughs. “Where are they from?”

“Voradia,” I say. She stares at me for a second before looking at Dad. “Have you been here before?” she asks him.

“Not here at the house, but I’ve been on the property,” Dad says.

“I thought so,” she says vaguely. “So why do you want to get in touch with the witches?”

“Well, we need to get the witches and the fox shifters here,” I say. “Where it will be the safest place for them.”

“You have a point. Ever since reports have been going out stating that you are a witch, there have been protests and mobs every day. Lately, they have been getting more violent. A couple of fox shifters were killed last night on their way home. They have been getting the shit beat out of them when caught in public by the wolves,” she says.

“I’m afraid it’s going to get a lot worse,” I say.

“Are you a witch?” she asks.

“Yeah. I am,” I confirm. She looks at me for a moment before turning to the guys. There is a hesitation on her face. She wants to say something, and the longer the pause she takes, the more it solidifies my assumption. “You’re a witch… aren’t you?”

“I am,” she says simply, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Freya,” Callum sighs. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because you were taught to fear them. If I changed your view of that, then you boys would have been hurt trying to defend me. It was easier to let you sit with your misinformation than to let you get yourselves killed,” she says softly.

“It cost lives, Freya,” Kael says.

“But it made sure that the High Witch was able to find her mates,” she says with a smile.

“Do you know who Brenna is?” I ask. I’m not sure how, but I sense she knows more than what she is saying. From the moment I met her, there was something about her that was familiar. I thought she was just being extra friendly, but now that I have read Mom’s letter, she reminds me of someone from the orphanage.”

“She’s my sister,” she says softly.

“That’s how I know you,” Dad smiles. “You helped Ashara before she died. I remember her mentioning someone named Freya being able to help her if she went into labor early.”

“Wait, you knew her mom?” Callum asks Freya.

“I did, yes. I helped her after she had given birth,” Freya says. “Before Morwen captured her. She was terrified someone was close, so she told me she left you with Brenna and closed the portal. I tried everything I could to get her to stay here, but she had already been discovered, and they were looking for her.”

“How did she get discovered?” Dad asks.

“She said she did a spell thinking no one was around, but there was a wolf shifter near her, and she was outed immediately. She was in labor with you and just needed time to have you before they found her,” Freya says.

“Why didn’t she just go through the portal?” I ask. “She left me with Brenna. She could have just gone back.”

“I think she preferred dying over feeling like she abandoned you here,” Freya says. “She knew you needed to be here, but when she messed up and was outed, it made it so she couldn’t stay with you. She didn’t want you to grow up and know that she just dropped you off and went home when things got dangerous for her.”

“That’s stupid,” I frown. “So, she was too stubborn to keep herself alive? You tried to get her to go back?”

“Yeah. I tried, but she wouldn’t have it. She refused to let me help her because it would have risked me getting discovered also,” Freya says.

---