Chapter 91

Chapter 91: Chapter 91

The question caught her off guard.

Freya blinked, her mouth opening slightly before she looked away. She glanced towards Zeke’s bed, where he was sleeping peacefully and her cheeks warmed.

Ingrid noticed her hesitation and gave a small shrug. "If you don’t want to answer that, you don’t have to."

"No." Freya shook her head, then drew a deep breath. "I told you I’d answer anything you asked, and I meant it. I’m not going to go back on my word and besides, you noticed and that’s why you asked. Denying it now would be a bad move wouldn’t it?"

She paused again, gathering her thoughts, before finally looking Ingrid in the eye.

"Hunter G is my lover."

Ingrid’s eyebrows lifted slightly, though she wasn’t entirely surprised. She had suspected that Freya’s feelings for Hunter G went far beyond friendship, and the way she had kissed him without a second thought had only confirmed it.

Freya let out a quiet breath, then continued before she could lose her courage. "We haven’t told anyone in the Guild, and we prefer to keep our relationship private. Zeke is seven years older than me, and when we first met, he treated me like a little sister. He was always looking out for me, making sure I ate properly, helping me when I got into trouble, and teaching me how to defend myself. But the feelings I had for him were never the same as the feelings he had for me, and for a long time, he pretended not to notice."

She smiled faintly at the memory, though the smile quickly faded as she recalled how much her life had changed since then. Before the zombie apocalypse, her world had been far from perfect, but she had never imagined that the people who were supposed to protect her would become the first people she needed to escape. Her mother had always treated her as an inconvenience, and when Freya grew old enough to attract attention, her mother saw an opportunity to make money from her rather than a daughter whose future deserved protection.

"My mother wanted to sell me off for money," Freya said, her voice turning bitter. "She didn’t care what happened to me, who the man was, or whether I wanted to go. All she cared about was what she could gain from it, and when I realised what she was planning, I knew I couldn’t let her do it. I destroyed my own face so that she would no longer be able to use my appearance to sell me to someone, and that was when I met Zeke."

Ingrid’s expression softened, and her gaze briefly moved to the scar stretching across Freya’s lips. Freya spoke without trying to make herself sound pitiful, almost as if she had told the story so many times in her own mind that she had grown used to the pain, but the bitterness in her voice made it clear that the memories had never truly stopped hurting.

"He was kind to me from the beginning," Freya continued. "He didn’t look at me with disgust, and he never treated me as though I were broken or worthless. He was seven years older, so he treated me like a little sister and helped me get back on my feet, but I fell in love with him. I tried to make him see me as a woman rather than a child he had to protect, but he always acted as if he didn’t understand what I was trying to tell him."

Freya gave a small, humourless laugh and shook her head. "Then the zombie apocalypse started, and everything changed overnight. I thought that no matter how badly my parents had treated me before, they would at least protect me when the world became dangerous. I thought that when the zombies came, they would remember that I was their daughter and try to keep me alive, but I was wrong."

Her hands tightened at her sides, and the smile vanished from her face.

"When the zombies attacked, my parents threw me towards them so they could escape. They didn’t hesitate, Ingrid. They pushed me away and ran, leaving me to be eaten while they tried to save their own lives. I remember looking at them as they ran, and for a moment, I couldn’t even understand what had happened. These were the people who had raised me, the people who were supposed to care whether I lived or died, and they had decided that my life was worth less than their own."

Freya paused, her eyes drifting towards the floor as she struggled to steady her voice. "I managed to escape, but by the time I found them again, they were already dead. The zombies they had thrown me towards had caught up with them, and the people who had abandoned me were eaten by the very creatures they had hoped to escape. I remember looking at what was left of them, and all I could feel was anger. I didn’t cry for them, Ingrid. I couldn’t. I hated them so much that I wanted to kill every zombie I saw, and for a while, that was the only thing keeping me alive."

She drew a slow breath before continuing.

"I killed the zombies that had attacked them, and Zeke found me not long after. He brought me to the Hunter’s Guild, where they were training people who had awakened their beast forms. We were among the small percentage of people who didn’t turn into little animals when our abilities first awakened, so we were able to learn quickly and climb the ranks much faster than most others. Zeke was especially talented, and he advanced even faster than I did, but he always said that he wanted to become stronger so he could protect me."

Freya’s expression softened when she looked towards his bed. Even unconscious, Zeke seemed to carry the same stubborn determination she had come to rely on, and remembering how hard he had worked to keep her safe made her chest ache. He had never made her feel like a burden, and even when she was reckless or difficult, he had stayed by her side without making her feel that she owed him anything for it.

"I pursued him for months," she admitted, a faint flush returning to her cheeks. "I told him how I felt, followed him around, and made it very difficult for him to pretend he didn’t understand me. He kept rejecting me at first, saying that he was too old for me and that I deserved someone who could give me a normal life. But I didn’t want a normal life with someone else. I wanted him, and I kept telling him that until he finally agreed to date me."

Freya let out a quiet laugh, wiping away the last of her tears. "We’ve been together ever since, but we decided to keep it a secret from everyone in the Guild. Zeke thought it would be better if people didn’t know about our relationship, especially with his position and the number of enemies he has. I didn’t care much about hiding it, but I agreed because I trusted him. So we’ve been dating secretly all this time, and until today, I never imagined that I would have to watch him fight for his life because of the people he works with."

Ingrid listened without interrupting, and the more Freya spoke, the more she understood why the thought of losing Hunter G had shattered her so completely. He wasn’t simply a man she loved; he was the person who had offered her safety when her own family had betrayed her, the one who had stayed when everyone else had abandoned her, and the person she had chosen to build her future with. Losing him would mean losing the one person who had made her believe that a future could still exist for her.

"I understand now," Ingrid said softly.

Freya looked at her. "You do?"

Ingrid nodded. "Of course I do." She glanced at Lysander with a complicated look in her eyes, "If I had lost Lysander too, all hell would have broken loose. But Freya..." Ingrid started but stopped. She didn’t know how she would say this or if she wanted to say it in front of others.

Freya might have mentioned it but it’s possible it’s a passing thought and not really something she wants to do. However, Ingrid wouldn’t be able to live with it if she didn’t say it.

"You know staying here would be more harmful than good."

Freya scoffed, "You think I don’t know that? I want to leave, but Berthanon would never let us leave. Especially since we’re in the ranks. He doesn’t want us to leave but he’d rather kill us. What an amazing man."

"I’m surprised you never knew what kind of person he is." Lysander spoke for the first time in minutes. Everyone turned to look at him. The expression on his face was dark and thoughtful.

"You know him?" Nurse Maya questioned, "I noticed you called his name without being told."

"Know him? That man had a hand in the extermination of my whole family. Of course I know him!"