Page 78 of Their Scarred Mate
“Want what back?”
“The house.”
He laughed.
“It’s yours, Freya.My mating gift to you, if you prefer.All the terrain is yours as well, should you feel the need in the future to add more rooms to your house.”
She seemed confused, why would she ...then it dawned on her and she blushed violently.
****
Mace was still smilingwhen he mind linked the twins.
“Make her happy or you’ll answer to me,”The twins’ eyes widened.How could he mind-link them if they weren’t from the same pack?
“I’m the High King’s Beta.I can mind-link every one of every pack under the High King’s command.It’s part of their oath.Of all Alpha’s oath.”
Mace smiled at Freya once again.He said goodbye with a kiss on the forehead, and there was something so paternal about the gesture that her eyes filled with tears.Declan kissed her lips gently, then allowed her to turn to Ciaran, who deepened the kiss.She didn’t know it, but the presence of her mates calmed her heart and accelerated her healing.
“I love you,” she whispered, closing her eyes.She was up for a quick nap.
Chapter Forty-Four
The New Blood MoonPack never came to fruition.Its members, easily identifiable by the tattoos on their wrists, were quickly apprehended and killed.They were all dissidents from Lewis’s pack, and they all had squandered the first opportunity given by the High King.There would be no second chance.Freya learned of Jon’s role in her kidnapping, and she was confused.Deep down, she didn’t know if she could forgive him or not, but the man had spent the last few years as imprisoned as she had been.Only the bars of his cage were not visible to the naked eye, like hers.He was a prisoner of his own madness, his delusions ...his mind.
In the end, she mourned him.Declan and Ciaran didn’t seem to be as generous with their forgiveness, and she couldn’t blame them.She could only hope that one day they’d see things through her eyes.They had also omitted the identity of the man who had kidnapped her; he was dead and, in their own words, it was better not to be remembered.He would never return to harm her.
There were no threats to their future, and for that they were thankful.The High King had given them permission to return to their Alpha’s service, releasing them from his.They had already served in his army and were free to return home.
He also wanted regular updates about Freya, as his ward.Freya, who had no idea what that meant, was blissfully ignorant.For all the times she’d been told to use her “words, little one.We’re not inside your head”, now she’d found them all.She’d understood that shifters were like humans: there were good shifters and bad shifters.She ended up with the shortest straw in the beginning but was now member of a pack that protected her fiercely.Nothing would bring her parents back, but she’d gained an honorary uncle and aunt, a nanna from the heart and several cousins from either side.She enrolled in online classes and was bent on earning her GED.What she’d do afterward, she’d see later.
Sometimes she had flashbacks.Some less intense, from which she could return fairly easily, others deeper, that would take both her mates to help her recover.Once, she returned from one particularly bad one to find herself on Declan’s lap, with Ciaran firmly securing her legs, their eyes frantic with worry.
With time, they learned to recognize the symptoms.The vacant, fixed gaze, the empty expression, the quick breath ...and the panic that followed.Luckily, they weren’t very frequent.
They took their time before making love again.It had to come from her, as they had no idea what was inside her head, or where her mind was at.They were busy reinforcing the defenses in their home, so that no one could spy on them ever again.
