“There are my beautiful, stormy eyes,” Freja said quietly.
“Freja.” Hunter looked at her pained expression. The stake was wedged right where her heart would be. There was no way it would have missed it. She didn’t have long to live … he had fought off the blood potion but was going to lose his mate anyway. He watched as her eyes shifted to Lita.
“Thank you,” Freja said as she winced a bit from the pain in her back. “But do you think you could take this out now?”
Lita knelt down beside Freja. “Okay, prepare yourself, alright? Make sure your wolf is ready to heal you.”
Hunter looked at his mother and Freja in confusion. What was going on?
“Ready?” Lita said as she gripped the stake. Asher knelt by Lita’s side with a thick cloth. The moment Lita pulled the stake out, he applied firm pressure to the wound.
Hunter looked at the stake, furrowing his eyebrows. He quickly glanced at everyone and could see that Chasen was just as confused as he was.
“Could someone tell me what the hell is going on?” he growled, annoyed but relieved. He thought Freja was on death's doorstep. She was wounded, but it wasn’t fatal.
Freja started to explain, but Lita rested her hand on Freja’s arm. “Just concentrate on healing. I’ll explain.” She looked at her son. “There was only one shot at this. When Freja and I went out to talk, we were figuring out the best way to reach you. The only thing we both agreed on was that you needed to see your mate hurt. But not just hurt … you needed to think her life was in danger. We hoped this would be enough to help you fight through the blood potion. And luckily it was. I took one of her stakes and we cut the end off of it. This way it would look like she had been stabbed through the heart. Instead, I just shoved a blunt, flat stake into her skin, creating a bloody mess but nothing life threatening.”
Hunter began to tremble slightly in relief. He let out a breath and met Freja’s gaze. She was going to be okay, and the blood potion was no longer a problem.
“So, what was it that you and dad had planned then?” Hunter looked at both of his parents kneeling across from him. He figured they must have had something up their sleeves and he wanted to hear it.
Asher smirked with a shrug. “We were going to do what we had to. If this didn’t work, your mother was going to take Freja and seal her in Elysia. We would keep you both safe from eachother while we worked on a solution. We were hoping we could maybe work something out with one of the deities, or try to put Freja’s soul into another person. We weren’t exactly sure what would work.”
“So, you were going to take my mate away from me.” Hunter looked at both of his parents in annoyance.
“We were going to try to make it so you could see Freja again. Even if it had to be in a different body. An accident was bound to happen, and we were not going to let you have that on your conscience.” Lita looked at the wound on Freja’s back. “Good, it’s already sealed over. I guess I won’t be doing any healing today.” She then rose to her feet. “Luckily, I’m a healer, so I know exactly where to lodge the stake and cause the least amount of damage.”
“Well, I don’t know why I wasn’t let in on any of this,” Chasen growled, his arms crossed in front of him.
“Sorry, Chasen. After Lita linked the information to me, I just quickly gave Grayson the rundown. There really wasn’t any time to go over everything with you, too.” Asher chuckled a bit as he stood up beside Lita. They were both relieved that everything had worked out. Seeing their son so tormented was more than they could stand.
Freja sat up, and Hunter helped her to her feet. “I think it’s good enough that I can move around now,” Freja said as she looked over her back shoulder.
“You heal very quickly,” Lita observed, intrigued by Freja’s powers.
“That was some surge of strength there at the end,” Asher said, giving his son a crooked smile.
“Him shaking us off doesn’t count, though. He was half transformed into his new, tribrid self,” Chasen said with a grin. Honestly, he was shocked at his brother’s strength. The power that came from him was completely unexpected.
Hunter smiled, listening to their conversation, but his eyes were fixed on Freja. He cupped her cheeks, leaned his forehead onto hers and gazed at her face. He hadn’t been able to look at her and was soaking in every small detail that he could.
“So, what’s the plan now?” Grayson asked, looking at Lita and Asher.
“Well, now we’re going to take a breath and properly meet Hunter’s mate.” Lita smiled.
Hunter lifted his head away from Freja and pulled her into his chest, holding her tight. “Yes, I think a proper introduction is in order before you guys leave.”
“We can stay with you longer, Hunter. We don’t have to leave right away,” Asher said as he held Lita next to his side. They did have some planning to do, but Hunter came first. They would stay with him as long as they were needed.
“You’ve been away from Elysia for too long already. We’ll be okay now. We’re going to take a couple of days and settle down. Then, we’re going witch hunting. The pack can handle things from here.” Hunter looked at his dad and smiled. He appreciated them staying for as long as they had, but the witch fight was his fight. His parents still had a demon war to prepare for, which reminded him of something.
“So, what was it that you saw when you were traveling that you couldn’t mention to me earlier?” Hunter asked, looking down at Freja.
“I saw the original demon Mephisto.” Freja looked up into his silver eyes. “We’re going to have a rough battle coming up soon. Honestly, we’re going to need a strong deity in order to have a chance. And even then, it won’t be an easy fight.” Freja frowned, but Hunter smiled at her and reached up to rub her back.
“It’s going to be fine. Reiya has Leviathan as her summon. I have faith in him. We’ll take down anything that’s thrown ourway. No matter how tough it is, we’ll get through it.” Hunter's eyes then fell on his parents, his red energy flowing around him in swirling motions. He had fully unlocked his power as the King of the Werewolves and was also a tribrid now. He could feel his strength pulsing inside him, and he would unleash all of his power in the demon war. His mate was by his side, and she’d marked him. He was riding on a high at the moment. “Let’s go back to the house and have some REAL family time now. I want you to get to know Freja better.”
“I would like that.” Lita could already tell Freja was a strong mate who was devoted to her son, and she liked her.
