Chapter 25: Territory and Resolve
Chapter 25: Territory and Resolve
(Caroline’s POV)
My chest tightened as I watched Freya push the territory rights document to the side without even a glance. The silence between us was almost unbearable. I had rehearsed this interaction in my mind countless times,
carefully planning every word. This… this wasn’t how I imagined it would go.
“You haven’t even carefully reviewed the terms,” I said, unable to keep the hint of frustration from my voice.
Still, I masked it with a smile. “These hunting grounds are among the best Redwood Pack has to offer. Surely
you’d want to take a look.”
Freya remained composed, her calmness unsettling. There was no anger, no outburst. It was like I wasn’t even phasing her.
“I appreciate the effort,” she finally said gently, her voice steady. That gentleness only made me feel worse. She sounded like she pitied me.
“You have no idea the opportunities included in this offer.” I pushed the envelope closer to her across the small table. My own hands were trembling slightly, so I quickly clasped them together in my lap. “This isn’t just about land. It’s security. Comfort. A new beginning.”
Her eyes flicked to the envelope but didn’t reach for it. I glanced at her hands on the table, one of them lightly resting on her stomach. My suspicion flared again. She wasn’t hiding it anymore, was she?
“I…” My throat tightened, but I forced myself to regroup, softening my tone. “I’m offering this personally. It’s not just from Redwood Pack. It’s from me. Please consider it, Freya. If not for yourself, then for–you know- your situation.”
“Situation.” The way her lips curled faintly at the word made my wolf bristle. She let the word hang in the air for a moment before sitting back in her seat.
“My situation isn’t a problem,” she said, her tone kind as if she were letting me down gently. She paused before continuing, her hand now visibly shifting to rest protectively over her stomach. “While I admit my pack lost its territory, I’ve managed to support myself just fine. I won’t be needing this.”
I froze at the unmistakable gesture of her hand. My heart thudded in panic as the realization struck me like a blow. She was keeping it. The cub. She wasn’t just defying me; she was defying logic.
“You’re keeping it,” I said, my voice coming out in disbelief. I couldn’t hide the shock from my face.
Her calm violet eyes met mine, making my stomach churn. She wasn’t denying it. She wasn’t even trying to. “You need to think this through,” I hissed, leaning toward her. “Freya, do you have any idea what this means? What it means for Aaron, for the pack, for you? This could ruin everything!”
“It means,” she replied softly, her eyes never wavering, “that I’m making the decision I believe is right. For me.” Her words infuriated me. I shot to my feet, grabbing her shoulders without thinking. “This isn’t just about you! Do you understand what you’re doing? The consequences? Aaron has a future to think about. A mate bond severance doesn’t need complications like… this!”
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She didn’t flinch under my grip, didn’t look away. Her calmness only fueled my anger.
“It’s my body,” she said. “And my decision.”
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For a moment, my entire body stiffened as her words sunk in. It wasn’t just her soft tone–it was the stubborn resolve behind it. She wasn’t going to be swayed.
‘I won’t change my mind,” she added quietly.
Her gaze pierced me so deeply that my hands fell from her shoulders. I backed away, shocked, and for once,
speechless.
“I can find my way out, Caroline,” she said with the same infuriating composure.
The c***k in my carefully crafted veneer widened into a gaping hole. Forcing my legs to work, I turned and stormed away, leaving her behind in the garden.
The sound of my hurried steps broke the unsettling silence, and I hated myself for letting her see me rattled. I hated her for winning this confrontation without even having to fight.
(Freya’s POV)
I stood frozen for a long moment after Caroline left. It was as if her tense presence lingered in the air even after she was gone. Bella growled with approval inside me, but my heart felt heavier than ever.
With a sigh, I bent down and picked up the envelope that Caroline had dropped during her hasty retreat. She hadn’t even noticed she left it behind. The crisp Redwood Pack seal stared back at me.
This wasn’t mine to deal with. This was Aaron’s problem. I straightened up and tucked the envelope into my pocket, deciding to deliver it back to him later. He could pass it back to Caroline, along with whatever hollow assurances he’d use to smooth things over.
That evening, I walked through the halls of the pack house, my mind a storm of emotions. When I reached the quarters that Aaron and I had shared for two years, I leaned against the doorframe and stared at the space with a growing sense of unease.
I moved to the wardrobe mechanically, pulling out clothes and carefully folding them on the bed. Packing should have been simple, but with every drawer I opened, I found new memories hiding among the mundane.
The silk scarf he’d handed me as a casual gift during our first winter together. The book of wolf legends we’d read at night during his rare moments of leisure. My hand lingered over a small trinket box housing a pair of earrings he’d given me after the annual Alpha Summit.
Memories upon memories poured out of the little details, threatening to overwhelm me. Two years wasn’t a long time, but I had integrated into this space more deeply than I realized.
I forced a deep breath and grabbed only the essentials. Clothes, documents–nothing more. I couldn’t do this
otherwise.
The sound of Aaron’s black SUV pulling up outside the pack house jolted me out of my trance. My beds briefly stilled over a folded sweater before resuming their work.
His footsteps echoed down the hallway until he entered and froze at the sight of the suitcases by the bed. One was already full. The wardrobe door hung open, half of the clothes missing.
“What are you doing?” His voice cut through the air, sharp and low.
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I turned slowly to face him. The envelope in my hand felt like a physical weight. Without a word, I held it out to him, watching his brows furrow as he took it.
For a moment, he flipped through the documents in confusion. “These are the territory rights papers I granted
before… but what’s this?”
His dark eyes traveled to Caroline’s document. I didn’t miss the flicker of realization that crossed his features.
“Caroline left that for me earlier,” I explained coldly. My voice came out steadier than I expected. “She wanted
me to take it. I told her no.”
Aaron’s lips tightened as he lowered the envelope. His confusion shifted to something unreadable.
“Why didn’t you claim the other territories either?” he demanded, though there was no anger in his tone–just a strange, questioning tension.
“I don’t need them anymore,” I replied simply, keeping my tone neutral.
The silence that followed carried a thousand unspoken words. The weight of everything between us settled heavily over the room.
Finally, I broke it. “I’ll be moving to the upstairs guest quarters tonight.”
His gaze hardened ever so slightly. “And after that?”
“I’ll leave after Elder Katherine’s treatment is complete,” I said evenly, “and after the official severance of our mate bond.”
I turned away, returning to the suitcase I was packing. The task had seemed like a way to keep my hands busy earlier, but now it felt like the hardest thing in the world.
Every little piece of clothing I folded was a goodbye. To this place. To him. To the fractured dream I had once thought could bind us.
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