Chapter 3: Old room New feeling

Chapter 3: Old room, New feeling

Freya's POV

My old room was exactly as I remembered, and yet it felt entirely different.

The same pale purple walls I'd begged Catherine to let me paint when I was thirteen was still there. The same set of white furniture dresser, desk, bookshelf filled with romance novels and fantasy novels. The same bay window with the cushioned seat where I'd read for hours and watched the pack training in the clearing below.

But it was smaller now. Or maybe I had grown.

"I don't think you saved it all," I replied, running my fingers across the spines of my books as Evie fell dramatically onto my bed.

"No one was allowed to touch it. She said you'd be back." Evie said propped herself up on her elbows, smiling. "She was right. She's always right. It's annoying."

I laughed, opening my suitcase and starting to unpack. "Some things never change."

"And some things change completely." Evie's tone had altered, sounding more serious. "You're different, Freya. You look more self assured. It like city live suited you." "It did," I confessed, folding up clothes in the closet that still had some of the old dresses I'd brought with me. "But I did miss this. Missed home. Missed being with people who actually understand the supernatural world instead of having to conceal it all the time."

"I couldn't be living with humans on a full time basis." Evie shivered. "All the lying, all the pretending. Weren't you lonely?"

I paused, a sweater half folded on my lap. "Sometimes. But I had to do it, you know? I had to figure out who I was outside of being the pack's taken human. Outside of being the girl who got adopted after her parents were murdered."

"And did you? Discover who you are?"

"I think so." I put the sweater away in the drawer and folded it. "I'm still me. Still human. Still a little bit broken by what happened to my parents. But stronger now. More sure of myself."

"Good." Evie sat up straight. "Because you're going to need that strength."

Something in her tone made me turn. "What do you mean?"

She hesitated, nibbling on her lower lip the way she always did when she was deliberating over whether or not to say something. "It's just... the pack's different. Stronger, I suppose, but more dangerous. We've been fighting other packs, and boundary wars. Being Alpha has changed Dane."

There it was again, that catch in my gut at the mention of his name.

"How?"

"He's harder now. More ruthless when he needs to be. He has had to make hard decisions, and to prioritize the pack over him even when it cost him as a person." Evie's eyes were grim. "He's still Dane at the essence of things still alert, still compassionate. But there's something tougher about him now. Something darker than was present before."

I recalled the outline I had seen in the window. The way my entire body had reacted to just the shape of him.

"Is he." My mouth felt parched. "Is he seeing anyone?"

Evie's eyes shot upwards. "Dane? Oh, no. He's been completely absorbed in pack business. I mean, there was that with Selene a few weeks ago, but..."

"Selene?" The name was familiar. "The warrior? The redhead?"

"That's her. She's even tougher now, top female fighter in the pack. She and Dane had a thing. Twice. But it wasn't serious. At least not for him." Evie's expression became worried. "For her though. let's just say she's been waiting for him to realize he wants her again. Haven't happened."

Jealousy, sharp and unexpected, sliced through me. Which was ridiculous. Dane could sleep with anyone he wanted. He wasn't mine. He was my. brother? Guardian? Friend?

Why did none of those words feel real anymore?

"Freya?" Evie was watching me very closely. "You okay? You look red."

"I'm fine. Just tired from driving." I turned my back on my suitcase, hoping she didn't see my face. "Now, tell me about you. How's life in the pack? Any new developments?"

"Well, there's..."

Someone knocked at the door. Catherine opened it, smiling warmly. "Girls, dinner in an hour. Freya, sweetheart, I'm making your favorite."

"Lasagna?" I asked hopefully.

"Is there somewhere else you're going to bed for your first night home?" She laughed. "And Dane will be joining us. He's finished his Alpha duties for the night."

My heart started racing. "Good. That's good."

Catherine's eyes locked onto mine for an instant, something knowing in her expression that left me exposed. As if she could see straight through me to the knotted mess of emotions that I didn't understand.

"Unpack slowly. We'll see you downstairs." She closed the door softly.

The moment she was out of sight, Evie jumped into motion. "Okay, what was that?"

"What was what?" I replied, pretending I didn't know.

"That." She gesticulated frantically. "Your face just went totally red when she mentioned Dane. And your heart rate sped up, I could hear it."

Hell with werewolf hearing.

"It's nothing. I just..." I settled onto the bed beside her, finding myself in desperate need of confiding. "I felt something odd when I arrived. When I looked up at his office window."

"Odd how?"

"Like... a pull... Like all the cells of my body aligned themselves with him." I laughed uneasily. "I know this sounds ridiculous."

Evie wasn't smiling anymore. Her face had become very still, very serious. "Freya, that's not crazy. That's..." She stopped herself. "How long have you been feeling this way?"

"Since I got here. Why? What is it?"

She opened her mouth, then clamped it shut again. Shook her head. "Nothing. I'm probably reading too much into it. You're just glad to see him again after all these years. That's normal."

But she was lying. I knew that. There was something she wasn't revealing, something she was convinced she understood but wasn't ready to tell me yet.

"Evie..."

"Come on." She stood and pulled me up after her. "Let's get you dressed for dinner. You want to look nice for your first night home."

"It's just family dinner."

"Exactly." Her smile was enigmatic. "Just family. Nothing complicated about that at all."

But when I stood in my closet, trying to decide what to wear, my hands were trembling.

Because somehow I was certain, in that visceral, gut level sense that had nothing whatsoever to do with logic, that nothing about this evening was going to be simple.

That the moment I saw Dane in person, everything would change.

And I had no idea if I was ready for that.

I grabbed a plain blue dress, it nothing too elaborate, just easy and attempted to disregard the thudding of my heart against my chest.

Just dinner with relatives.

So why did it seem like I was getting ready for something much bigger?

Why did it seem like tonight would set everything in motion?