Chapter 10 - Gage

Chapter 10

Gage

I’d gone to bed late last night, but I’d peeked into Freya’s room first. If she’d been alone, I would’ve curled up with her, but of course, Heath and Flint cuddled her from either side. Her mates had taken good care of her, from the scent of things.

Even in the darkness, my night vision picked up the sight of Heath and Flint’s arms touching across her body. All their legs tangled together with the sheet thrown back. I hadn’t been foolish enough to try covering them up — with that much body heat, Freya would be lucky not to roast by morning.

The next morning, I woke up to a message from Bretton that had me back in my brother’s throne room first thing. Too many wolves had held their concerns at bay while I was gone, and now everyone Bretton had held off had queued up to speak to their pack alpha. With a pack this large, my first day would be mostly alphas and betas, since they were given priority. Alpha audiences would be private, but once Bretton opened it up to betas, it became a public forum.

Even as I worked my way down the list, I couldn’t get the image of Heath, Flint, and Freya out of my mind. They’d looked so utterly at ease together. I tried not to be jealous, but I couldn’t deny the acidic ball of frustration roiling in my gut today.

“Alpha, I need more betas to cover the northern border,” the alpha at the foot of the throne said, jerking my thoughts back to the matter at hand.

“What happened to all the betas in your town?” I narrowed my eyes, vaguely remembering some population counts from various towns.

As the alpha complained about his situation, my mind wandered back to our arrival yesterday. The crowd had separated me from Heath, and I hadn’t gotten the chance to greet my packmate properly.

Maybe it was the way he’d been dressed to kill, but I’d longed to split the crowd and wrap him in a big hug… to smell for myself that he was okay and that nothing had changed. We’d never been separated for so long, and my best friend had always been there for me.

Seeing him from a distance in that suit had made me appreciate him in ways I’d never imagined before. The designer suit made him look even more attractive, emphasizing his strong physique instead of hiding it.

Even when we’d taken Freya out to dinner at Dark Potion, he hadn’t looked as drool-worthy as he did last night. Being second-in-command of a wealthy pack like Frost Fang served him well.

“Fine, I will reassign five betas from the town to the east of you and three from the town from the west,” I said, growing tired of this alpha.

“But, pack alpha—”

“Assign those eight to watch the border for now,” I interrupted. “Come back to me in two weeks if you still feel stretched thin.”

The alpha dipped his head, the tension dissipating from his shoulders at the short time frame. I hadn’t shut him down entirely, just asked him to try it temporarily, and he seemed appeased. When he straightened, he met my eyes briefly, then glanced away.

“One other thing… I heard rumors that your mate is… not entirely faithful to you alone, alpha.”

I barked out a laugh. Bretton had informed me that our secret was out. The matching rune on Heath’s and my faces made it clear to our packmates what was happening. Still, I’d hoped to have time to think of a reassuring official announcement. Instead, Fern had provoked her brother, forcing Heath’s hand. He’d kept it simple, admitting that Freya, being half mage, would take multiple Bonded.

I pointed to my face. “Did you miss this?”

The alpha just raised an eyebrow, making me laugh again just as Heath poked his head in through a side door. His eyes narrowed on the alpha at the foot of my throne as I continued.

“This rune proves Freya is part mage. She’s also part wolf shifter, and my mate. I know Frost Fang isn’t as familiar with witches as packs on the border, but… you know that witches take multiple Bonded, right?”

The alpha dipped his head again, glancing between Heath and me as my packmate climbed the stairs to the throne. “I see. I’m glad that it comes as no surprise to you then, alpha. If needed, I will return in two weeks.”

“Very well.” I chuckled again as the alpha turned tail and briskly left as though he feared to see me confront Heath.

I didn’t miss the way Heath’s eyes followed the other alpha out of the room and the unease in the pack bond I sensed wafting from him. Today he was dressed much more casually, with slacks and a loose shirt. When he came to sit on the arm of the throne beside me, I breathed deep, filling my lungs with his scent. With it came the traces of his cologne, and together, the heady concoction reminded me of his unpredictable wildness.

Heath’s presence overwhelmed me, somehow filling the entire throne room with his essence. I found my gaze drifting over his body as though checking for wounds, but instead, I found myself cataloging all of Heath’s best features. Those powerful biceps straining the diameter of his short sleeves. The powerful pecs stretching his shirt’s fabric. The way his shoulders filled out the shirt, wider than his hips.

He casually slung one leg over the arm of my throne, and, as he leaned toward me, I stared at the veins in the forearm he rested on his knee. A playful smirk graced those pale pink lips, and I realized how much I’d missed seeing the mischievous sparkle in his caramel-colored eyes. Even his hair reminded me of a playboy with its messy cut. The scruff on his chin didn’t dispel the image.

And over and above it all, his pure dominant nature, daring anyone to take him at face value and challenge him.

“Welcome back.” His throaty voice suddenly had blood flowing to unexpected areas, leaving me stunned as my eyes felt drawn to his lips.

Heath had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. Had being away from him really gotten my wires crossed so badly?

At the main entrance, I saw Bretton wave someone back, motioning for them to wait as Heath’s gaze pinned me to my seat.

Struggling to regain control of my body’s strange betrayal, I raised an eyebrow. “Thanks for handling things while I was away. But if you think I’m going to start wearing suits like yours, you have another think coming.”

Heath’s lips curled up as he snickered. I loved seeing my friend’s eyes alight with amusement. As his gaze swept over my body, I shifted in my seat, fearful he would see a larger bulge than usual in my pants. I’d be lucky if he didn’t smell traces of arousal in the air.

“I’d love to see that,” he purred.

Now I truly was in danger, because my cock practically leaped to attention.

Fortunately, a fresh apple pie scent drifted under my nose, and I gratefully turned to face the new arrival. Freya smiled up at me, and I gestured for her to join us. She settled on the other arm of the throne, but I grabbed her hips and pulled her to me, thankful to have her covering my lap.

When we kissed, my body’s response finally made sense. Maybe I’d subconsciously smelled her before I’d realized, and that’s where my unexplained arousal had come from.

For a moment, my world narrowed in on Freya, until she pulled back to smile tentatively at me. She looked up at Heath, but he was looking toward the entrance and motioning at Bretton.

“Send in the next.”

“Will you stay?” I asked Freya.

“Sure,” she said, and brushed her hand over Heath’s forearm. “We both will, at least for a little while, right?”

Heath nodded, and I kept Freya firmly in my lap but let her turn to face the next petitioner. It was another alpha I’d left in charge of the border while we were away.

Freya had once told me she didn’t want to rule with me, but she was a natural, listening to the alpha’s concerns. Soon, Bretton opened up the room to the public, signaling that the next set of petitioners were betas or lower rank. A few other Frost Fang wolves trickled in as an audience for our first beta petitioner, and even more for the next.

By the time he’d left and the third had come in, also seeming at ease with all three of us there, I realized something. Freya made people feel comfortable. Partly because they expected to see an alpha pair, but maybe also because they couldn’t see the runes under her clothes on her collarbone.

Only one person called out the fact that Freya was half mage and therefore untrustworthy. Heath and I had growled and put her in her place.

After that, each new petitioner flinched away from my eyes, as was proper with the pack alpha. But I didn’t miss the way their gazes lingered on my cheekbone and then immediately jumped to Heath’s matching rune.

Ironically, the mage who’d marked us put them more at ease, simply because they couldn’t see such obvious evidence of her differences. She made them feel comfortable, encouraging them to state their needs. During one break between petitioners, I nuzzled my face into her hair and groaned with the scent of her upcoming heat.

Beside me, Heath stiffened on the arm of the throne, moving his leg to reposition.

“I should have them toss out this throne and put more comfortable chairs up here for us,” I muttered.

Heath chuckled. “I don’t think five chairs will fit on the dais.”

“Four, then,” I answered. “We all know Rowan wouldn’t sit in his anyway.”

Heath’s laugh drained the tension from my body, making me feel like things were right in the world again. My mate sat in my lap, no longer rejecting her place as part of the alpha pair. My best friend was at my side where he belonged. And now that we controlled a powerful pack like Frost Fang, we could shower our mate with everything she could possibly need. We no longer had to scrape money from odd jobs as we constantly traveled through the dangerous wildlands.

Heath looked down at us and leaned over, his large hand gripping the arm of the throne. He bent at the waist as though about to whisper a secret. Listening to Frost Fang wolves’ complaints had long since deflated my boner, but the mischief in Heath’s gaze as he glanced between me and Freya had me plumping up again. I found myself leaning closer to him, wondering what words his throaty voice might impart this time.

But Freya leaned forward too, and their faces came together as if magnetized. As Heath kissed Freya, I realized it hadn’t been about me at all. Still, getting a close-up view as Heath devoured her mouth and hearing the resulting moan from both of them had me hardening against Freya again.

When she broke the kiss, she grinned back at me. “Imagine how much fun a threesome would be on a throne.”

I growled and nipped at her ear. “Stop that. We’re not even through half the list yet, and you’re already reminding me why I hate ruling a pack this large.”

Heath chuckled. “At least you have Freya to cover you up.”

Glancing down at the room full of our Frost Fang packmates, he repositioned himself again, and I realized he must be as hard as I was. The problem was, I knew exactly what his hard dick looked like. My mind instantly went back to all the times we’d shared Freya, remembering his hard length sliding in and out of her, coated in her wetness. It made me want to see it again. I wanted to watch Heath’s determined expression as he drove Freya closer and closer to her climax…

I groaned and Freya laughed, turning to face the front again. To my surprise, I saw Bretton approaching the throne, perhaps to explain the reason for the delay in the next petitioner’s approach.

“Pack alpha, I hope you don’t mind me bucking tradition to put a subordinate wolf ahead in the queue, but I think you’ll want to hear this.”

A flash of intense anger across the pack bond caught my attention from the crowd below, but it was gone before I could pinpoint it. Freya tensed in my lap, and I recognized another opportunity to show that we didn’t have to stand on tradition now that the Howling Echo had taken over.

So, I let my voice ring out across the throne room. “Of course not, Bretton. Use your judgment. If it’s urgent or important, that’s what we need to hear next.”

He dipped his head, a pleased smile quirking at his lips. “I thought you’d say something like that, alpha.”

Then he turned and gestured at the entrance. A familiar face tilted up to the throne before the subordinate woman’s shoulders curled forward. She crept toward us as if expecting to be tossed out at any moment.

“She’s one of the Ironwood refugees,” Bretton quietly mentioned as he stepped aside.

“Put her at ease, princess,” I whispered in turn.

“Be welcome, my fellow packmate,” Freya called. “In Ironwood, we were treated as weak, worthless members of the pack, but I assure you, things are changing here in Frost Fang. Gage and Heath, let me introduce Brooke.”

Brooke’s head whipped up as her gaze struck Freya. “You… remember me?”

“Of course,” Freya nodded. “You were treated nearly as badly as Willow and I were.”

My eyes narrowed on Brooke’s face. She seemed at least five years older than Freya, if not more, and she kept combing her fingers through her long dark hair in her nervousness.

The refugee bowed her head, too timid to look up at us for long. “Before they named Willow as the omega, I sometimes received that… honor.”

“I know you haven’t been here long,” Freya answered. “But have you noticed that there is no omega in Frost Fang? The practice is banned here, as it is in many other good packs.”

She choked out the words, “I am… glad to hear it, alphas.”

Freya’s body tensed, but perhaps she decided the woman had been referring to both myself and Heath as alphas. Since Freya was my mate, she’d become part of the alpha pair, and that meant her rightful title had become alpha, as well. But I would bring that up another time.

“Now, what did you come to tell us?” Freya asked. “I’m sure it must be important.”

Brooke straightened, her chin coming up and a defiant light entering her gaze. “I have news from my cousin, Thatcher. I… I have a phone, alphas.”

“That’s no concern of ours,” Freya assured her. “In Ironwood, only alphas are allowed to have phones,” she murmured by way of explanation to Heath and me.

Brooke continued, “Although our pack bond is broken now that I’ve sworn allegiance to Frost Fang, my cousin and I still message each other from time to time. I am always careful not to tell him anything useful, in case they confiscate his phone…”

“Since Thatcher is an alpha, he’s okay to have one, but that doesn’t mean that it’s totally private,” Freya explained again. “Luka is probably paranoid by now.”

Brooke nodded. “He says Luka hasn’t treated any of them the same since they came here. He’s suspicious and has repeatedly punished them for minor things. Luka didn’t believe them when they said Freya wasn’t here. Thatcher and Lee aren’t even allowed in Luka’s alpha meetings anymore. But my cousin said he overheard Ryan and Luka talking the other day. It sounds like Ironwood might strike on the next supermoon in December.”

Freya stiffened in my lap, and I squeezed her tight to allay her fears. If Ironwood wanted to start a fight, I knew who would end it.

“I see,” I said mildly, as though my mind weren’t racing with all the preparation we would need before then. “The fourth of December.”

The lunar calendar was more important to us than any other calendar, so I already knew the date off the top of my head.

“Strike… where?” Heath gently prodded.

“It seems he’s after Freya, and he suspects she’s here at the capital. I hear he’s also still pissed his other two captives escaped.” Brooke dipped her head. “I’m sorry I can’t say more. That’s all Thatcher overheard, and he says they haven’t started mobilizing yet. He risked a lot to get me this message…”

“Thank you, Brooke,” I said, and she bowed. “And thank Thatcher for us the next time you message him. If you hear anything else… Don’t wait for an audience. Contact one of us or Bretton through the pack bond.”

She clasped her hands in front of her. “Right. I will, alpha. Thank you.”

Many would consider it a great honor to have permission to contact the pack alpha or one of his enforcers directly through the bond of a pack this large. If everyone tried to do that, I would have to shut down the pack bond to prevent a cacophony of voices. Hence why the tradition of audiences like this still existed.

Brooke backed out of the room to show her respect. I glanced down at the Frost Fang wolves loitering in the throne room, wondering if I should do some damage control. First, I took their temperature through the pack bond.

No one seemed overly scared or concerned by Brooke’s warning. If anything, I detected eagerness and anticipation, as though they were hungry for pack war. One of them even seemed angry, and I followed my senses to lay eyes on that wolf. I blinked when I realized it was Fern, Flint’s littermate.

I needed to say something before anyone mistook my hesitation for fear. Freya wiggled on my lap, and I wrapped a hand around her hip to still her. My calm response would show our pack how much contempt I held for Ironwood.

“If Ironwood wishes to provoke us on our own packlands, they are fools,” I called down to the assembled Frost Fang wolves. “Bretton and Heath tell me that even more Ironwood wolves have defected and asked to join our pack, including some betas. If Luka comes here with his paltry army, we will crush him.”

Howls rose from the throats of humans and wolves alike, echoing in the too-large room.

Intense fear flooded the mate bond, making me wish Freya had bitten me so we could speak privately to one another. As it was, I needed to kick out everyone to discover why my mate feared pack war with Ironwood. I would reassure her that she would never fall into Luka’s hands ever again. We would kill every wolf who had ever harmed her, including him.

After the echoes died down, I spoke once more. “For now, I will discuss this new information with my enforcers and advisers to refine my plans. Please give us the room.”

The gathered shifters bowed. Humans bent at the hip, while wolves put one paw out and dipped their heads to one side, baring their throats in submission. Conversation buzzed as they filed out of the room.

“Shall I call back the alphas from the border towns, pack alpha?” Bretton asked.

“Yes, and I’ll nudge Flint and Rowan. We’ll all fit in the meeting room beside my study.”

“We’ll meet you there.” Bretton disappeared out the side door.

Freya started to follow, but I grabbed her hand, pulling her back to me as I stood over her. “Don’t be afraid, princess. This time, we make sure you get to watch Luka bleed.”

A shadow of fear slid over her features. Heath glided over beside us, so close I could almost feel his arm hairs against mine. He touched Freya’s chin so lightly, lifting it so she gazed into his eyes. Something silently passed between them, and jealousy burned through my belly at the bond they shared.

Heath’s hand dropped, falling back at his side close enough I could have reached out and grabbed it.

What was the matter with me? It was almost as though being away from Heath had given me hyper-awareness of his every movement. Surely it was just because I’d never been away from my best friend for so long.

Heath smirked over at me. “We’ll just have to postpone our throne room threesome until later. Perhaps after Luka gets his punishment.”

His gaze heated as he stared into my eyes. At the word punishment, I remembered when Freya had run away from us, only to be attacked by Ironwood wolves that Heath then dispatched. The two of us had punished her for leading him into danger. I remembered the way Heath slid into her mouth after we forced her to swear she was ours. I demanded she make Heath come before I would let her come.

Watching her suck off my best friend had turned me on more than I’d let either of them know. The way his voice had gone ragged as she brought him closer, the way his eyes had rolled back in his head as I ordered her to swallow…

Now that I examined that memory again, I couldn’t help but notice that thoughts of both of them turned me on. In that memory, Freya’s submission to us both had been a major turn-on… but I’d enjoyed watching Heath find his pleasure, too.

I only realized I’d been lost in my own memories when the two of them turned away from me. And as Heath and Freya walked ahead of me, hand in hand, my wolf’s internal whimper startled me.

Must protect mates.