Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Freja had stashes of clothing all over the place.
The floral outfit she was wearing wasn’t exactly intimidating clothing.
She put on her black pants, shirt, combat boots, and her hooded cloak, situating her daggers and stakes in her utility belt.
It felt like forever ago, and at the same time, it was as if her life with Hunter had all been a dream.
She felt her stomach roll at the thought.
The steps to the dark tavern felt heavy. She knew the type of scumbags that were frequent patrons, but she wasn’t scared. She had to forget about her life as a luna. She was Freja, the demon hunter. The soulless dhampir who wanted nothing but to slit your throat.
She pushed open the heavy door that creaked its old greeting.
Her boots echoed on the wooden floor with each commanding step she took.
She sat on a stool at the bar. She knew the game here.
She would give them the cold shoulder. She released her dark aura over her … a fair warning to everyone there.
Already, she could see men slinking away from her, making sure they stayed low on her radar.
“Am I going to get a drink or what?” Freja growled at the barkeep.
The old man hobbled over, setting a glass in front of her. He had a patch over his eye and his hair was the color of salt and pepper. “Here you go. The usual. Haven’t seen you around lately.”
Freja’s dark, chilling eyes flipped up toward the man. Her lips curled up in a snarl and she took her drink. “Client problems,” she hissed, and downed the drink. Her green orbs pinned the man down. “I need information.”
The old man cackled. “I figured you did, or you wouldn’t be here.”
“I need to know how to remove a blood potion from someone,” Freja said, trying to be inconspicuous.
The man’s eyes narrowed on her in suspicion. “Why would you try to help someone?”
Freja scoffed. “I help myself, old man. I need information from someone. The damn witches made him a bloodhound. He goes feral every time he sees me. Easy enough to kill, but I need information that only he has.” Freja squeezed her shot glass, making it shatter between her fingers.
Red droplets oozed from her fingers. She glared at the old man.
“I don’t have time for games. I need answers so I can finish a job. ”
The old man nodded his head. “There is a way, I believe. But there is only one who knows the answer to that question.” His lips curled up in a smirk.
Freja stood up and leaned toward the old man. “Stop the theatrics. SPEAK!”
“You want answers? Then you need to see the dark priestess.”
Freja’s jaw stiffened, the displeasure on her face evident. “And just how in the hell am I supposed to find her?” The dark priestess was hidden away somewhere. No one knew of her location.
“You’re in luck. I know of someone who knows her location,” the old man continued.
“Old man … I am losing my patience. Where can I find this person?” Her eyes flickered in color, showing him that her anger was rising.
“Well, if you don’t hurry … you will find her about six feet under.
They just took the luck dragon out the back.
She was spying on some of Harley’s boys.
And you know how he feels about that.” The man watched as a blur sped past him and out the door.
He chuckled and wiped up the counter, clearing the glass and blood.
“We really should get rid of that one,” one of the patrons said from the other side of the bar.
The old man chuckled. “You and what army? Besides … she’s no worse than the rest of you lot.
She keeps to herself and does her job. She’s one of my favorite customers.
” The old man cackled again as he resumed his duties.
Right about now, he figured she would have reached those demons.
He sighed internally. That was three less customers he would have.
Freja plunged her dagger deep into the third demon’s chest. The familiar rush washed over her.
Not long ago, this was the only time she could feel.
It was only when she was killing that she felt alive.
She watched his lifeless body slump onto the ground.
She shrugged and sighed, turning to the bound person behind her.
“I mean, I did ask them first. Well, I didn’t really ask them. I said, ‘Leave the girl or die.’ They chose death.” Freja chuckled to herself. She knew they would choose death. She set them up for failure. She walked over and ungagged the girl.
“What do you want with me?” the girl said defiantly.
Freja’s eyes flickered at the girl in amusement. She had shiny black hair and wide brown eyes, with caramel skin. “Relax, dragon. I’m not here to hurt you. What’s your name?”
The girl paused. “It’s … Ciana.”
Freja froze from working at the girl’s knots. “Ciana … as in Jin’s Ciana?”
The girl’s eyes widened. “You know Jin? How is she?”
Freja looked at her in anger. “What the hell were you doing? You were almost killed. What if I hadn’t come? I didn’t realize the luck dragon was the same thing as the light dragon.” She untied the girl hastily and watched as the girl rubbed her wrists.
“Thank you. I didn’t mean to get caught. Why were you looking for me?” Ciana looked at Freja in confusion.
“I’m told you can tell me how to find the dark priestess.”
Ciana nodded her head. “I can take you there. As long as …”
“I’m not going to fight with her. I have a question,” Freja said in minor annoyance.
“Hope you aren’t afraid of heights.” Ciana grinned.
Hunter sat across from Reed and his wife, Erica. Erica held onto Hunter’s hand and closed her eyes. She was the head of the Bloom Coven and very powerful. Reed knew he had to bring her along.
“Shit.” Erica frowned and pulled her hand away from Hunter.
“What is it?” Reed rubbed his wife’s back. Everyone had gathered inside the pack house: Caden, Rosa, Caspian, Merida, Garrett, Kristen, Sam, Renee, Winston, Adam, Susan, Chasen, and Jin. They were all curious about what Erica might find.
The door slammed open. Asher, Lita and Grayson barged inside the pack house. “Okay, would someone care to explain what’s going on?” Asher asked in a deep voice. Lita immediately ran up to Hunter and Chasen.
“My beautiful boys,” she said, embracing them both. She missed them so much.
“Mom.” Hunter put his arm around her. There was a lot to talk about, but they were just about to find out something important. “Erica was just about to tell us what she found.”
All eyes were back on Erica. She sighed. “You were injected with a blood potion.”
“Who dared touch my son?” Lita’s eyes went dark as she growled. She’d kill them. Asher put his hand on Lita. He agreed with her line of thought, but they didn’t need to growl at the one there to help.
“I can sense the way this potion was brewed. I’m positive it was someone from the Briar Coven,” Erica said confidently. The low snarls of many animals echoed in the pack house. Someone had dared to touch their alpha.
“So, what does this mean?” Hunter asked quietly.
“A blood potion is strong. It’s something that mixes with your own blood.
It becomes almost part of your DNA. It makes it so that whenever you see your mate, you’ll try to kill her.
But when you don’t see her, you’ll be perfectly normal.
The blood potion will only affect you with the person it was bound to, in your case, your mate. ” Erica looked at Reed sadly.
“Can you remove it?” Asher asked in a whisper. This was his son’s mate they were talking about.
“I … I don’t know if it’s possible. Because it blends in with his blood, you can’t separate it. You’d have to bleed him dry. I’m sorry. It’s a very cruel potion, one that’s actually forbidden to use.” Erica looked at Reed with annoyance.
Hunter slammed his fist into the table. “I’m not going to be kept away from my mate.” He then glared at Erica and Reed. “The Briar Coven will be destroyed. How dare they mess with me and my mate? They will have the strength of all the werewolves come down on them.”
“Or at the very least the Black Ice Pack.” Grayson interjected. Why would all of the werewolves get involved?
“No … he means all the packs,” Chasen said, giving Grayson a side grin. “Mom, Dad, I’d like to introduce you to the Werewolf King.” Chasen held his hand out to Hunter.
“And as the Werewolf King, I sentence the Briar Coven to obliteration,” Hunter snarled angrily.
“The Bloom Coven will stand with you. We’ll help you purge the coven so it can be rebuilt,” Erica said.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t be of more help. We’ll leave you now.
Let us know when, and we’ll be ready.” Erica stood along with Reed and walked out.
She knew that this news was heavy on them, and there was much to be discussed.
Asher went and put his hands on Hunter’s shoulders. “I know the timing is bad … but I’m proud of you. The Werewolf King? That is something amazing. I’d like to meet your mate. Is she nearby?”
Hunter closed his eyes. Where was his sweet Freja? “She isn’t here … but you can meet Chasen’s mate.” Hunter smiled weakly and nodded toward Jin. They could at least be excited for Chasen. “Jin is my guardian now, too.”
Lita looked at Jin and Chasen. “Wow! Congratulations. I’m so happy you took a mate for yourself, Chasen.
” She then glanced at Chasen and whispered, “We will talk more later.” She smiled at the two of them.
Under better circumstances, there would be lots of hugs and laughter.
They would be getting reacquainted with their old pack members and friends as well.
But as it was, the mood was solemn. Hunter couldn’t see his mate, because if he did, he would try to kill her. This was devastating.
She turned back to Hunter. “Let me see if there’s anything I can do.”
She took Hunter’s hand, led him to the couch, and sat beside him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
“I’ll do my best.” She met her son’s silver gaze, which was like looking into his father’s eyes.
She began to search through his energy, shutting her eyes so she could focus on what she was seeing, searching for anything that didn’t belong.
There was nothing weird looking when it came to his energy, so she pushed deeper.
The rainbow of colors blurred past her. In his blood, though, she noticed a dark streak intertwined with the others.
She let her own energy flow out and smother over the darkness, but it couldn’t be separated.
It was bonded to him as if it were just another part of him.
Her hands began to tremble as she drained her energy, trying to free her son.
“Lita, baby, that’s enough,” Asher said as he sat down behind her. He didn’t want her hurting herself and knew she was pushing her limit.
Her eyes fluttered open and she let her hands drop onto her lap. “I’m sorry. I can’t separate it.”
Hunter sighed and looked down. “What am I going to do? I can’t be without her.” He looked up at his parents with pleading eyes. “I love her.”
“We won’t give up, Hunter. There has to be something.” Lita took his hand. She was hurting for him. She hated seeing her son in such anguish, hated seeing his torn face and knowing there was nothing she could do about it.
“I need to think of something else,” Hunter said in agitation. Not being with Freja wasn’t an option for him. He wouldn’t live like that. He just needed to change the subject for now. “How is Reiya doing? Have you heard from her?” He watched as both of his parents tensed up. “What?”
“Reiya is fine. We did just hear from Chelsie. Apparently, Reiya was able to pick up Abaas’ scent.
But she’s going to be fine. She has the four dragon kings watching over her, plus Leviathan.
So don’t worry about her. She has very powerful allies.
” Lita smiled at Hunter. “Why don’t you tell us about this whole Werewolf King thing? What happened with that?”
“When do you guys need to get back?” Hunter asked quietly.
“We’re staying here until we get things with your mate sorted out. So why don’t you bring us up to speed on everything we’ve missed?” Asher said. There was no way they would leave Hunter right now. They would stay there to help him through all of this.
He and Lita were devastated. They couldn’t help their son, and he was going to have to part with his mate.
He couldn’t risk killing her. There was no other choice.
They needed to stay with Hunter while he got his mind straight.
He needed to accept that he had to let his mate go.
This was going to be Hunter’s most difficult time yet, and they were going to be there to help him through it.