"So you declare that you're of sane mind and came here of your own volition?" The policewoman's voice is peppy as she reads off the formal words from the screen before her.

"Yes," I reply impatiently, wanting to leave the police station as soon as possible. We have more important matters to tend to. Matters I don't really want to try to explain to law enforcement, as they would probably put me in a straight jacket the moment I mentioned werebears.

"Good, let me just call the officer responsible for your case so you can talk to them before you leave. We want to ensure you're under no coercion and can safely care for yourself."

"I can do that. I guess..." I mumble, wondering how long this will take. "And I want to make sure my... friend doesn't get in trouble for anything." I gesture toward Mikk, who waits on a chair behind me in the lobby. "He says his mom will kill him if he gets in trouble with the police," I joke to take some of the pressure off the situation.

The woman, whose neat bob shimmers under the fluorescent lighting of the back office, stands on her tippy toes to reach over the counter and take a look at Mikk. "Yeah, she probably would," she surmises with a smile. "My aunt can be a bit... headstrong at times."

"Your aunt?" I stutter. "You're related to Mikk?"

"Yup! We're cousins," she leans over the counter to catch her relative's attention. "Mikkel!" she calls out, making Mikk turn his head. "What kind of trouble are you getting yourself in now?" Despite it probably not being the language they usually speak when together, they communicate in English, probably so I won't feel left out.

"Ina!" Mikk replies, walking over toward us. "I should have remembered that you work here. I could have called and asked you to sort it all out. But... well I've had a lot to deal with lately and then my mom called and yelled at me about this... situation." He shrugs, firing off a smile. "You know how she can be."

"I know all about Auntie Anu's penchant for drama," Ina replies with a snicker. "But I can help you sort this out now! I've already sent a message to the officer and he should be here any moment. And I'll talk to him if there any issues." She flashes a bright smile. There is definitely a resemblance between the cousins when they smile. A mischievous attitude and a stroke of daringness. Perhaps it's from their grandma who I've heard so much about.

That smile makes me believe this will all be worked out in no time.

"Saga!" I'm unprepared for the call of my name, coming from behind me. But I do know that voice.

Perhaps this will be messier than expected.

Turning around, I see a treacherous face. My traitor heart can't help but beat a bit faster at the sight of his well-combed hair and neat jacket. A reflex rather than a lingering affection. It's hard to just relearn your heart's response after three years.

"Stefan," I greet him, making sure my voice is without emotion. "What are you doing here?" Instinctively I use Swedish when speaking to my ex. The shock of seeing him has made me less considerate of language skills than Mikk and Ina.

Stefan doesn't belong here. Just seeing him step through the door to that police station is like a clash between worlds. His well-ironed light blue button-up and suit pants paint such a stark contrast to Mikk's plaid flannel shirt and jeans. He's a product of corporate guidelines and networking events. Always smirking, but never actually smiling with his eyes.

Smizing Tyra Banks called it. I'm not sure why I'm thinking of America's Next Top Model at this moment but the mind is an enigma. I snicker at the weird association.

Stefan gives me an insulted look as if I was laughing at him. I wish I had been. "I came here to ask if there was any news about your whereabouts," he says. "Apparently there are..."

"Well, I'm... not missing," I reply, switching back to English so that everyone in the room can understand. To display where my allegiances lay, I reach for Mikk's hand behind me."I never was. So you can leave now. I never asked you to come."

Ignoring my words, Stefan's gaze falls on Mikk, apparently now realizing that we're here together. "Who's he?" he asks, also in English now.

"My lover," I respond immediately, pulling Mikk closer. I demonstratively place a kiss on his cheek. Mikk recoils slightly. His mom's words about getting in trouble might still be echoing in his head.

"Your what?" Stefan sputters. I'm quite pleased to have shocked him. I always was so meek in his company before. But that was before and that person is no longer me. Really, she never was. I was always a rebel underneath the surface.

"Lover," I repeat, enunciating every syllable.

"So here I am, worrying about you, traveling to the ends of the world to find you, and you've just been screwing some Eskimo guy." Stefan nods toward Mikk like he's just any guy. He couldn't be more wrong. He's my guy, and Stefan is not. Not anymore.

"Inuit..." Mikk mumbles while I fasten my grip on his hand. I do want to avoid an all-out fistfight in the middle of the police station. If nothing else, for Mikk's mom's sake."I am Inuit."

"What?" Stefan asks, seemingly surprised Mikk even dares to speak to him.

"Mikk is Inuit," I clarify. "And I've been staying with him for the last couple of days. Not that you are entitled to know that. We broke up, Stefan. Remember? I can do what I want and be with who I want."

"Broke up?" My dastardly ex repeats. "You certainly didn't tell me that. You just left, Saga."

"I texted you that I had talked to Wilma. I figured you knew what that meant. You can't possibly have thought I would be fine with you trying to hook up with the poor intern? Or that she wouldn't tell me about all those other times when you had "played around" during conferences and work trips. Apparently, the whole company knew and kept it a secret for me, and Wilma, the twenty-year-old fucking intern, was the only one brave enough to finally tell me!"

It's telling that Stefan doesn't deny any of my accusations. "You should have let me explain," he just tries. "We could at least have talked before you just left."

"There was nothing to talk about. You proposed to me right before that damn work trip where you tried to hook up with Wilma! Don't think I didn't check the dates. You never intended to be faithful. You just wanted to know I would be there when you needed me, to prop you up and smile."

Stefan sighs, moving closer to put a hand on my shoulder. I back away, escaping into Mikk's safe embrace. "Like you're any better," he wheezes, looking in disdain at our interlaced fingers. "Hooking up with this guy before you've even taken off your ring."

"I did take off the ring," I clarify triumphantly. "It was the first thing I did when I came here. I threw it into the Polar Sea." I ignore telling him that I got the ring back, 600 years later. That would be tricky to explain.

Stefan's mouth falls open nonetheless. "You did what?"

"But regardless, it's not the same," I continue. "Because I was done with you. I didn't play any games. So can you please leave now?"

"I'm not leaving without you," Stefan says, putting his hand on my shoulder. Mikk instantly pushes it away and for a moment they stand there, like two bucks ready to tousle horns for the privilege to mate. I think I can hear them sneer and rustle their feet on the tile floor in anxious anticipation.

"Knock it off, both of you," I tell them. "I'm not a freaking prize at a carnival."

I think I hear Mikk growl, like a damn bear. I try to contain my laughter. This whole situation is absurd.

"I'll tell your mom, Mikkel," Ina threatens, waving her phone in the air to display that she has the ability to text her aunt at any moment.

Mikk reluctantly lets go of Stefan's arm. Ina smiles conspiratorially at me. I'm definitely planning to have coffee with her later--once this whole me being a missing person + finding a Viking werebear in a cave deal is sorted out--to get the full scope on her cousin.

"Saga Lindgren, apparently missing no more." The call of my name makes me take my eyes off the two combatants for my attention and toward a police officer walking out from the backroom. He's twirling his mustache in true detective fashion like he's some kind of genius who's solved the case of my disappearance.

"Yeah... I never really was," I reply. "I'm an adult woman and should be able to travel where I want, and be with who I want"--my eyes wander toward Mikk, who has stopped growling--"without someone putting my name on freaking billboards." I glare at Stefan. "So can I go now?"

"I would like to ask you some questions first," the officer explains. "Just to verify that you're of sound mind and under no duress."

"I would like to ask some questions too," Stefan, ever the busybody, interjects. "Without him there," he nods toward Mikk. "For all I know, he may have abducted her and is forcing her to say she's fine now."

"I can assure you my cousin has done no such thing," Ina says calmly to the other officer. "His mom wouldn't allow it..."

"Great, it's her cousin..." Stefan mumbles. "No bias here whatsoever."

"I will talk to you, Stefan" I agree, suddenly realizing that Stefan might still be useful in one regard."I'll talk to both of you, in fact."

Mikk taps the back of my hand lightly, making me look over. "You don't have to talk to him," he whispers. "You know that, right? Just speak to the officer and we'll be out of here."

"I know," I assure him. "But please trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Mikk nods. He trusts me. He believes me.

A few minutes later, I sit opposite Stefan in a backroom of the police station. The detective has gone to fetch coffee for us both.

"Saga... I worried I would never see you again." Stefan inches his hand toward mine on the table. I move my hand away from his. "Please, come home with me? We can start anew. I understand that you're upset and felt you needed to act out. Although I didn't think it would manifest in your traveling to the Arctic Circle and hooking up with the nearest Eskimo..."

"Inuit," I correct him by reflex. "Mikk is Inuit."

"Whatever," Stefan scoffs. "He doesn't matter. We matter."

"There is no we, Stefan," I explain. "I've moved on and with who and where isn't any of your business. I only agreed to talk to you for one reason: I need something from you."

He lifts his eyebrows. "And why would I give you what you need, Saga, after all the ways you've acted out to hurt me?"

I can't help but chuckle. "You flatter yourself if you think I did any of this to hurt you, Stefan. I don't think of you that much. I barely think of you at all these days. What I've done was for me."

"Regardless." He looks down at his hands, still laying on the table in search of mine, and sighs. "Why would I give in to your demands?"

"Because I have connections at our company's HR department," I triumphantly explain. "And I don't think they would be too pleased to know you attempted to hook up with the department's twenty-year-old intern. Wilma was too scared to talk to them but I'm not. I can tell them all about your other sidesteps during business hours too. Probably putting your expenses on the company bill. I can make you never get hired again."

Stefan leans back, removing his hands from the table. It's like we're on a poker table and he thought he would surely win with his full house, but I just presented a royal straight flush out of nowhere. "So what do you want, Saga?" he asks in a defeated tone.

"Freedom," I simply reply before laying out my exact demands to my now-compliant ex.

Author's Note: Of course, I had to end it there, without revealing exactly what she asked for. It all will be revealed in due time... But does anyone have any theories?

On another note: I hope Mikk getting called Eskimo in this chapter didn't read as offensive. I do know it's considered a slur and I hesitated whether I wanted to put it in the story (I definitely don't encourage the use of it). But I think the fact that Stefan uses it showcases how insensitive he is in this situation (so it's meant to reflect negatively on him, not on Mikk).