by Lola Gabriel
“Freya is a Matchmaker. She took you. She got into your head, Chess, and used your fears against you,” Noah said. He released Chessa and took a step back, his face falling as he said the next sentence. “I can’t believe you’re afraid of me.”
Chessa stepped towards him, removing the space he’d put between them. She reached up a hand and stroked Noah’s cheek. “I’m not afraid of you, Noah. I’ve been telling myself that if I didn’t have Sanmere in my blood, I’d walk away, and I’d be cool with that. I didn’t know the truth until now, but my biggest fear was that you’d choose Raina and let me go.”
“Never,” Noah said.
“So I guess this means I do have it? The Sanmere protein?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “This whole thing is a long story, but I swear I’ll explain everything once we’re out of here, okay?”
Chessa nodded, and then fear flashed over her face again. “Noah, my mom. Freya was her nurse. She’s on her own!”
Noah shook his head. “She’s safe. A friend of Raina’s is sitting with her until we get back. And he’s already texted Raina to let her know your mom is fine.”
“Thank you. And thank you, Raina,” Chessa said, turning to face her. “And I’m sorry I called you a bitch.”
“I’m over two centuries old, Chessa.” Raina smiled. “Believe me, I’ve been called far worse.” Suddenly, her smile was gone, her face a mask of fear. “Noah, look out! Behind you!”
12
“Get back!” Noah shouted, pushing Chessa away from him as he turned to face Freya.
Chessa backed away, her mouth open and her eyes wide with horror. Yes, she remembered now. Noah’s words, his kiss—they’d gotten through to her on some level. She had known in her heart that Noah wouldn’t hurt her, that he would never choose Raina or anyone else over her. But her head had questioned it.
Now she saw Freya again, it all came back to her. Freya had been the one to knock her out, lock her in a cage. Noah and Raina had come to save her. There was two of them, and only one of Freya. They could take her easily, Chessa thought.
Noah and Freya stood facing each other as Raina advanced slowly upon the pair of them. Freya glanced at Chessa.
“Don’t even fucking look at her,” Noah snarled.
Freya smiled and shook her head. “She broke the mind control. I’m impressed. You should be happy, Noah. Only true love can break my mind control. It’s a shame you won’t get to spend eternity together, but I have too much riding on this, I’m afraid. My fee, of course, but more than that, my reputation.”
Freya’s face started to change, but Chessa was no longer looking at her. Her gaze was fixed on Noah as his eyes darkened and tufts of fur began to sprout over his skin. His clothes seemed to magically vanish, and with a loud roar, he stood in front of Freya in his bear form. His fur was dark brown, almost black, his body muscular and strong.
Another loud, angry roar caught Chessa’s attention. It came from just behind her, and she half turned, suddenly afraid, wondering who was attacking and where it was coming from. A large, light brown bear sprang over Chessa’s shoulder, throwing itself at Freya, and Chessa breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t under attack. The other bear was Raina, and she was on her side.
Freya turned at the last second, facing Raina’s assault dead on. She thrust her palm out, and a long red laser flew from it, catching Raina square in the chest. Raina’s roar became a whimper, and she dropped to the ground. Chessa could smell the singed fur, the burned flesh. Raina stayed down, turning slowly back to her human form. For just a second, she was a naked woman with a large burn mark in the center of her stomach, and then she was clothed again, her top turning black where her flesh burned.
Noah’s furious roar turned Chessa’s focus back to him and Freya. They had moved away from Raina, and they circled each other in the middle of the room. Freya fired her lasers, and Noah dodged them. He kept ducking under her shots or moving to one side, and each time, he got a little closer, brandishing long, wicked looking claws, trying to take Freya’s throat out.
Raina still whimpered, and Chessa tore her eyes away from the fight and ran to her side. She fell to her knees beside Raina.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Chessa asked. Raina shook her head. Beads of sweat stood out on her deathly white skin.
“No. I’ll heal. It just takes time,” she said through gritted teeth.
Chessa reached out and brushed Raina’s hair back from her face. She wanted so badly to be able to take Raina’s pain away. She was only here for her, and it didn’t feel right to Chessa that she was putting two lives in danger. She took Raina’s hand in hers and rubbed her thumb over the back of it, hoping she could at least offer her a soothing touch.
She turned her head, watching the fight between Noah and Freya once more. She gasped in horror when she noticed the sword in Freya’s hand. It was a dull gold color, and she instantly recognized it. Jason had said she would know it if she saw it: an Ure sword, one of the only two things that could kill Noah.
Noah seemed to be aware of it. His animal instincts were sharp, and he was avoiding the wildly slashing blade and Freya’s red lasers, although Chessa had to wonder how long he could manage to keep it up. As if the thought alone had cursed Noah, Freya made a fast swipe in his direction.
“No!” Chessa cried as the blade slashed Noah’s side.
She watched, almost in slow motion, as a large gash opened up, deep red blood spilling over his fur and onto the ground. He let out a scream, a sound so full of pain that Chessa felt it along with him. He began to turn back into his human form as the pain overwhelmed him and he made that awful sound again.
Freya moved closer, her back to Chessa. She was saying something, taunting Noah, but Chessa couldn’t hear her. Freya raised the sword above her head in both hands. Chessa jumped to her feet, tearing her hand away from Raina’s. She closed the gap between herself and Freya in three long strides, and on the last one, she lunged, flowing through the air and slamming into Freya’s back.
Freya stumbled as Chessa’s arms wrapped around her middle, pinning her extra arms against her body. Chessa wrapped her legs around her waist, bucking and writhing, trying to knock her off balance, but she didn’t go down.
“No, you won’t hurt him again!” Chessa screamed, hanging onto Freya for dear life.
Freya lowered her arms, the sword only in one hand now. She reached for Chessa with the other hand, clawing at her, but Chessa held fast. Freya began to back up quickly, and she slammed Chessa’s body off the wall behind her. Chessa let out a pained groan as the air left her lungs, her body winded, but still, she held on.
She moved her hands up Freya’s face, trying to reach her eyes. Freya waited until Chessa’s hand was level with her mouth, and then Chessa felt searing pain in the side of her palm as Freya sank her teeth into it. She pulled her hand away quickly. Chessa saw a flash of movement to her side. Before she could really register what was happening, the sword was gone from Freya’s hand.
“Chessa, get clear!” Raina shouted.
Chessa sprang away from Freya, managing to land on her feet without falling back. She watched as Raina swung the sword in a whistling arc, slicing Freya’s head clean off. Blood pumped from Freya’s neck, her body staying upright for a moment. Finally, her knees crumpled, and she slammed to the ground, lying beside her head, where her still open eyes seemed to watch her body in confusion. Slowly, her body turned black until it burst into a whoosh of flames. They burned intensely for a couple of seconds, and then they were gone, leaving behind a small pile of grey ashes. It was over.
“Noah,” Chessa said, running towards him, her nausea forgotten. “Raina, Freya got him with the sword.”
“Where?” Raina demanded.
“In the side.”
“He’ll be alright. It’ll take longer to heal, but it’s not a fatal wound,” she said.
Chessa could hear the relief in her voice as she reached Noah and knelt beside him. He gave her a pained smile.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Chessa laughed. “It’s me who should be asking you that.”
“I will be. Just give me a second.”
Chessa’s eyes filled with tears; happy tears this time. She threw herself at Noah, wrapping her arms around him. He halfheartedly hugged her back, but his groan of pain made her pull back.
“Shit. I’m sorry,” she said.
“It’s worth a bit of pain to have you in my arms, Chessa.”
Chessa sat beside Noah, gently stroking his hair. Raina came and sat down on the ground with them, cleaning off the blade of the Ure sword on the bottom of her shirt.
“What are you going to do with that?” Chessa asked.
“Keep it,” Raina said. “It’s better in my hands than the hands of a hunter or a Matchmaker. Unless you want it, Noah?”
“Nope. All yours.” Noah smiled. “Trust me. You earned it. You saved my life. Both of you.”
“And both of you saved mine,” Chessa added.
“I hate to spoil the campfire moment, but how close are you to healed, Noah?” Raina asked, her voice serious.
“Almost there,” Noah said, lifting his shirt up. What remained on his body looked like a deep scratch now, and it was hardly bleeding.
“Why?” Chessa asked, glancing behind her. “Can she… can she come back?”
“No,” Raina reassured her. “Freya is well and truly dead. And Harvey owes me one hell of a big thank you gift for ending her.”
“Harvey?” Chessa said.
“Later,” Raina said, waving her hand. She got to her feet and pushed the Ure sword down the back of her jeans. “We do need to get out of here, though. It’s been what, four or five hours since Chessa was brought here? The buyer could be here any minute, and he’s not going to be too happy to see his bride leaving without him.”
A shudder went through Chessa at Raina’s words. Noah pushed himself to his feet, wincing. Chessa stood up, too.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked Noah, seeing the way he was gritting his teeth.
“Yeah. Raina’s right. We need to make a move. I’m almost done healing.”
Raina led the way, and the three of them made their way up the wooden staircase and into the main house.
“We can just leave via the front door now,” Raina said. “It’ll be much quicker to get to my car this way.”
13
Noah’s side felt like it was on fire. The wound he had showed Chessa and Raina was almost healed, but Ure had a special quality. It caused excruciating pain right up until the point where the wound it caused healed completely. Each step Noah took sent a wave of agony through him that made him feel like he was about to vomit. He could feel beads of cold sweat coating his skin, and his teeth ached where he clenched his jaw together so tightly.
None of that mattered, though. It would pass soon enough. What mattered was that Chessa was safe. Well, almost safe, because Raina was right. Chessa’s buyer could turn up at any moment, and with his side the way it was, he wasn’t overly confident he could win a fight right now. However, that wouldn’t stop him from trying. He would never stop trying to keep Chessa safe, and nothing and no one would ever hurt her while he was around.
Even though his head was full of worries, his heart was happy. Chessa loved him. And she had the Sanmere protein in her blood. The worst part was surely over. Except the moment when he turned Chessa. That was going to be hard. But it would not last long, and then Chessa would be his for life.
Freya had also unintentionally given him the one thing he had craved for a long time: confirmation that he was right. He and Chessa were soul mates. Only true love could break Freya’s mind control, and their kiss had broken it. Chessa had never feared him, her fear was the same as his own—that they would lose each other.
Raina led them through the house, towards the front door. She paused and peered into a room.
“Holy shit, look at this,” she said. She stepped aside, and Noah and Chessa looked at each other and then looked into the room.
A bank of monitors sat on one wall. The screens showed various places in the house, including the basement and the grounds where Noah and Raina had crept in. Next to the monitors was a wall of photographs, printouts from the security footage. Noah saw pictures of Harvey as he came and went from Freya’s house. A small yellow post-it note was stuck to one of the pictures, and Noah moved into the room, going for a closer look.
In small, neat handwriting were the words: “Find out how this guy gets into the house and then kill him.”
Noah read the note out loud.
“The part of the wall we came in through isn’t on any of the monitors, but Freya still knew Harvey was coming and going,” Raina said. “She just wasn’t bothered because at that point, she had no prisoners. She was going to use him to find the weak spots in her security system.”
“That’s why getting in was so easy,” Noah continued. “She was watching everything from here so she always knew if she had to make a move or not. She wanted Harvey to keep coming back so she could catch him in the act.”
“Who is he? Why was he breaking into Freya’s house?” Chessa asked.
“That’s my friend, Harvey, who we told you about,” Raina said as the three of them began to move again. “He hunts down Matchmakers and tries to stop them. He gave us everything we needed to know to get in here and save you, and he’s with your mom now.”
“I guess I owe him a hell of a big drink then,” Chessa said.
They reached the front door and stepped outside. Noah took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh air. He winced as a sharp pain stabbed through his chest.
“What is it?” Chessa asked, her voice full of concern.
“That was the last goodbye of the Ure. The wound is closed, look,” he said with a grin, lifting his shirt again and showing Chessa the now fully healed wound area. She smiled and took his hand. He squeezed her hand gently, glad to feel it in his.
“My car is parked down the road,” Raina said. “We can just leave through the gate.”
They headed down the steps away from Freya’s house and onto the long winding driveway.
“Wait,” Noah said. “Do you hear that?”
Raina and Chessa paused. Chessa shook her head. Raina nodded, her face serious.
“Car engine. Looks like we’ve got company.”
Noah heard a clanking sound, one he figured was the gates opening, and then a car came into view. It was too late to hide. If this was Chessa’s buyer, they’d have to fight him. At least I’m healed, Noah thought to himself.
The car stopped abruptly as the driver spotted them. He jumped out, an angry expression on his face.
“Who the hell are you?” he demanded.
“I could ask you the same question,” Noah fired back.
“I’m Kyle McLaughlin, and that woman is mine. Bought and paid for.”
Noah pulled his hand away from Chessa’s and positioned himself between her and Kyle.
“Chessa is my mate. She was kidnapped by Freya. She never was and never will be for sale.”
“Too late. I have the paperwork to prove I’m her mate.”
“Let me explain something to you,” Noah said, his voice low and dangerous. “My name is Noah Cressner. I’m the heir to the bear pack of District 175. And Chessa here is my mate. Unless you want to be the cause of a war between two packs, then I suggest you get back in that car and fuck off back where you came from.”
Kyle walked towards Noah. His manner wasn’t particularly aggressive, but Noah tensed up, ready to change into his bear if he needed to.
Kyle stopped a couple of paces away from him. “Look, I get it. The wolves don’t want a war any more than the bears do.”
He was a wolf shifter. Noah knew their pack was almost as big as his own. A war between them would be bad for both of them, for the whole district; every immortal would be forced to choose a side, and every mortal would be in danger of being cau
ght up in the crossfire. But if Kyle thought Noah was just going to hand Chessa over, he was sorely mistaken.
“But you have to understand,” Kyle went on. “I paid handsomely for Chessa. And I expected a fair deal. Either I take the girl, or you reimburse me.”
“A fair deal? You think purchasing a mate against their will is fair?” Noah questioned.
“It’s our way,” Kyle replied with a shrug. “It’s not like she’d have a bad life with me.”
Noah heard a tuneful whistle go up behind him. Kyle started to back up, and Noah frowned and glanced over his shoulder. Raina was polishing the Ure sword on the bottom of her shirt again, whistling as she did it. She looked up, seemingly surprised to find all eyes on her. Noah knew that she wasn’t surprised—she had just been waiting for the right moment. She smiled at Kyle.
“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?” she said, waving the sword in his direction. Kyle took another step back, his hands up now. “I’ve just used it to kill Freya. So, unfortunately, your transaction is null and void. Unless, of course, you want to discuss it further? I’m sure we could talk about justice and what’s right and fair if you still want to.”
Kyle was still scrambling backwards. The look on his face would have been comical under any other circumstances. His skin had turned pasty white, and his eyes were so wide, it looked like they might be about to drop out of his head. He reached his car and pulled the driver’s side door open. He turned back to Noah, addressing him, but his eyes kept going back to Raina and the sword. Raina stood side by side with Noah, making no attempt to get closer to Kyle. She’d made her point, and they all knew it.
“Listen, bud, my apologies,” Kyle said. “It seems there’s been a misunderstanding. I didn’t know she was your mate. I don’t want any trouble, alright? You’re right. We don’t want a war between our packs.”
He didn’t wait for an answer. He got in his car and reversed back down the driveway. He made a too fast, wonky three-point turn and floored the accelerator, leaving Noah, Raina, and Chessa watching him leave.