Freya was bounded by chains in the midst of nowhere, surrounded by a dark cloud that thundered every now and then.

The vast eerie looking surrounding that only had her presence scared her to the bone. Where was she? This wasn’t real, was it?

“Somebody help me!” She screamed, her whole body protesting. Just a moment ago, she was scrubbing the floor with a water that had wolfsbane in it then…everything that happened after was blurry. She couldn’t remember how she got into this godforsaken place.

Her hands pulled at the chain but the chains were strong. “Oh my God, what’s happening to me?” Her eyes caught sight of her shredded palms and she gasped. H…how had she gotten that? Of course, the wolfsbane?

“Somebody help! I’m so scared!” She screamed till her throat was protesting. As if on cue, a giant masked figure, covered in back armor stepped out of a smoky corner. His boots’ sounds were so loud they echoed everywhere, and also in her ears.

It couldn’t be real. It was like he was walking through her ears. The sight was so scary she almost averted her gaze, but she was also too curious to do so. Her heartbeat spiked in her chest. Will he kill her?

“Freya,” He called as he stopped at a distance before her. He was even more of a giant up close. “Wh…who are you?” Freya’s voice shook, her hands already hurting from being tied for long. The thunder blared loud again and she flinched.

“The almighty powerful hybrid. We have been waiting for you for years, but it’s a shame you’ve wasted the early stage of your life living the wrong purpose, when you should be enjoying your reign as the crowned queen of all supernatural creatures.”

A cold chill swept through Freya’s body. “What are you even talking about? Please, I just want to be free and go back home. Put this chain off me!” She protested with frustration.

The figure laughed out loud, and Freya would have covered her ears if it was possible.

“Freya,” He called in that eerie tone again.

“You are chained because your soul is in bondage. Your power is in bondage. Your mind is in bondage. You are like a caged lioness who thinks she’s a cat, because that’s what she has been made to believe since birth. You will not get off these chains until you're ready to be freed, Freya.”

Tears started falling from Freya’s eyes. “Does…does this have to do with… with the power the pack witch and pack doctor said I have?”

The giant figure let out a wolfly growl. “Even they know nothing about the extent of your power!”

“Wh…what?”

“Find out about the sigils on your arm. Until then, you will continue to be in bondage.” The figure disappeared.

—

Freya stirred, feeling a soft bed beneath her. It was hard opening her eyes at first as she almost couldn’t gain control of her own body but she was able to force her spirit out of the weakness.

A gasp escaped her chapped lips as her eyes snapped open.

She scanned around her to see she was lying on a padded cot surrounded by medicine shelves. How come? Who got the chains off her? How did she get here?

“The chain…the giant…” She started saying to herself,

“What chain? What giant?” She jerked backward on the cot, startled by the pack doctor’s voice.

“I see you have decided to rejoin the living, Freya. You’ve been unconscious for the past four hours. And from your words, you seemed to have been having quite an intense dream. Care to share?” The middle aged man asked as he placed a concoction on the shelf.

Freya contemplated telling him about the dream, but what if the dream meant nothing? Surprisingly, her arms hurt in reality like they did in the dream, and that made it seem more real.

But as she looked down at her palms, she was surprised to see it as smooth as if she had not gotten wounded severely while scraping the Alpha’s floor earlier.

Her breathing slowed, something stirred in her but relaxed before she could try to process it.

Then the sigils on her arm, they glowed faintly and she was jolted by her own self.

“What…”

Across her, the pack doctor observed her closely.

“What is it, young one?”

Freya blinked hard and swallowed. “My hands…I was wounded…the pain was… why is it…I don’t understand. I can’t even differentiate reality from the dream anymore. Did I dream about my wounded hands too? If it was a dream then why am I in your care house?”

The old wolf let out a dry low chuckle and scratched his grey-streaked beard. “That’s the question of the day, isn’t it?” He studied her as one would a riddle that kept solving itself in unexpected ways.

“You are a mystery, little one. I’ve lived long enough and I’ve seen things. However, what I haven’t seen before is someone who healed after her powers were bounded. That one, my dear, is strange.”

Freya felt her entire body shudder. From the dream to this…their words seemed to be related, and that scared the shit out of her. What the hell was she? Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to accept it. She was human. Whatever this was? It was nature’s fault.

She scoffed incredulously. “I’m human. There’s no mystery anywhere. Whatever’s happening to me is probably from being trapped under that cursed Alpha’s lair for too long. Maybe I’ve turned into a bloody sorcerer.” She threw a hand in the air trying to make her situation look trivial.

The pack doctor smiled faintly. “You are naive,” He said. Freya frowned.

“That’s not how it works. Power doesn’t slip into you unless it belongs there.” He leaned in and his voice got gentler. “Maybe if you stop denying what you are, you would begin to understand what’s trying to rise from beneath your skin.”

Freya opened her mouth to argue but shut it just as fast. Her heart drummed violently as she related the doctor’s words to the giant’s in her dream. Both dreams and reality are saying the same thing. They couldn’t be both wrong.

But the fact remained that she wasn’t ready to face it. She had no business knowing about this power. And she would prefer it perish. She didn’t want it.

She looked away. “Who brought me here?”

The doctor paused, remembering that Alpha Torin told him not to tell her he brought her here. “The Omegas brought you. Sorry about the punishment you had to go through, but you won’t have to if you obey our Alpha at all times.”

Freya’s thoughts traveled back to when Alpha Torin ordered her to pick grains while she was hurting and internally fighting for her life. A surge of rage coursed through her and her fists tightened.

She swung her legs off the cot, winced slightly because her body still felt weak and leaden but she needed to walk.

The doctor stepped forward quickly. “Wait, where are you going? You are still recovering.”

“I’m fine.” She answered in a clipped tone. He gave her a look, but said nothing as she pulled the infirmary’s curtain aside and stepped into the hallway, heading to Alpha Torin’s hall, where he usually was.