FREYA
Freya wanted to sigh with relief. Even to start crying from what this traumatic experience had done to her. But her rational brain knew now was not the time.
Freya had killed Ivar. But she still wasnât safe.
The beast who had been stalking her and scheming against his own family, all of his people. He was gone by her hand, and by Ragaâs knife. It was as if Raga had come back one last time to protect Freya.
She sat in the cold and rain as she tried to process what had happened. How in one moment sheâd gotten the strength to plunge Ragaâs knife into the chest of the monster that pursued her. She thought of the revenge sheâd wanted against him. Now that sheâd gotten her revenge, all she felt was exhaustion.
All those dreams she had before meeting Cain were never about Cain, or a terrifying future with the Vargar. No, it was about this one creature lying dead at her feet. And he would never be able to hurt Freya or any of her family ever again.
Shakily, Freya stood on her frozen bare feet. Her knees were knocking together, and her shoulders were trembling with the force of her body nearly being ice itself. At least she was still shivering. She had to get up and move while she still could.
She had to make it back up the canyon. Although it had been some time since sheâd used her ability to climb, Freya thought she could manage it. The path they had used to come down to the bottom of the gorge didnât seem so steep from the bottom and from the perspective she was no longer being dragged against her will.
The main thing that concerned her was that she could no longer hear the rest of the pack in the forest above. Their howls had long since gone quiet. Probably theyâd lost her trail and gone in another direction.
But Freya wasnât going to give up. In the heat of the moment, she had managed to kill Ivar and ensure her freedom. All she had to do now was get back to her people. More importantly, to Cain.
It had been so long now that even in the dark, Freya knew that day would soon be coming. The storm was raging on, but the light of the sun would help brighten her path back to the camp. As long as she followed the canyonâs edge Freya knew she could find it in the clearing.
The walls of the canyon were steep, and her bleeding hand was making it nearly unbearable. Freyaâs arms were trembling with the exertion of pulling herself up each step of the way. She was already so tired.
She wasnât even a quarter of the way up when she collapsed on a short ledge with just enough room for her to lay on her side. Her body was aching all over and the shower from the sky was beating down on her with no sign of easing up.
Freya was too cold. The air was frigid, and the rain was near sleet at this point. Her dress was shredded to mere scraps of fabric. She glanced at her hand laying on the chilly rock surface next to her face. Her fingers were draining of color and were almost too stiff to move anymore.
Her mind was telling her that she had to get up and keep going. Freya knew she needed to keep moving to keep her body warm. But she was too tired. Her body was heavier than it had ever been, and her strength was failing her.
All the energy she had used to fight for her life in those last moments meant there was nothing left. Now she was frozen bones and frigid flesh.
She wished so badly that Cain was with her. Freya needed his warmth and his touch. No one would ever be able to soothe her the way he did. These were the moments she needed the Vargar heir, now alpha, more than ever.
Heâd lost his mother tonight. Would he have to lose his new wife as well? An empty sob left her throat at the thought. Even though she had defeated the enemy, she was also done for. Left to freeze to death in this canyon where she was all alone.
The feathers across her shoulders and back didnât do enough in the way of warming her. Perhaps if sheâd had wings, she could have been wrapped up in them. Or maybe she could have flown far away from Ivar.
Perhaps being different really was going to be the death of her.
She heard a scream. No, it was more like a hawkâs shriek. Loud and full of body as it carried through the air high overhead.
Freyaâs eyes opened up to the dark and vicious storm over her. The droplets were pelting her face and it made it so difficult to keep her eyes open. Her eyelids fluttered, trying to open fully when she heard the shrieking again.
Was it a hawk or was it the Valkyrie war cry? A war cry met with howling of wolves as though they were communicating with one another.
~Had the Valkyrie come to help?~
As her eyes began to flutter closed as her will to keep them open left her, Freya thought she saw the sun shining through the clouds. A small spot at first, circling in the sky above. It got closer and closer. The sun coming to devour her.
Her last thought was that the sun was coming for her. Then she fell unconscious.