Chapter 15 - Freya

Chapter 15

Freya

My date with Rowan ended in the best way possible. Despite the awkwardness at the restaurant, being in bed together felt entirely natural. Rowan made me see stars and even cuddled me afterward.

But we still hadn’t claimed each other yet. His breath on my neck had excited both me and my inner wolf as he drove me toward climax. But he didn’t bite me, and we didn’t talk about it afterward. We both knew it was too soon, and I didn’t want to ruin the wonderful mood our first date had left us in.

In the middle of the night, he kissed me awake.

“I can’t sleep in my two-legged form,” he whispered in my ear, his words laced with regret.

“I understand, Rowan, don’t worry.” Running my hands over his strong shoulders, I kissed him back. “No need to change who you are for me.”

“I’ll send Gage in to sleep with you instead.”

I tilted my head, watching his expression for any clue about what he might be thinking. We both had sensed Gage and Heath in the closet while Rowan had teased me on the kitchen table. Rowan seemed to welcome the idea of them watching, but they left the house soon after we made our way to the bedroom.

“I like knowing that they’ll protect you when I’m not around,” he answered my unspoken question.

Rowan gave me a final peck on the lips before disentangling himself from the sheets.

Unlike Rowan, though, I knew how sexually aroused Heath had been. Something had happened with him and Gage. The mate bond had revealed Heath’s body pressed up against Gage’s rock-solid form, and it had driven Heath to the edge of his control. It made me wonder what Gage thought of the situation, and what he’d sensed through the pack bond with Heath.

Soon enough, the pack alpha slipped into bed, taking the warm spot Rowan had left behind. I wanted to ask him what had happened between him and Heath, except I wasn’t sure how to bring it up.

“Sleep, princess,” he commanded, seeming to notice my restlessness.

Perhaps it was for the best. With Gage’s arms wrapped around my body, I did as my pack alpha ordered.

In the morning, Gage kissed me awake but didn’t give me the chance to seduce him into more than that before he was out of bed.

“We have to get moving,” he explained. “We’re to meet with the Snow Moon pack today.”

“Where?” I asked.

“Just north of Moonblessed, almost up to Canada. Heath and I will meet with them since they’re familiar with us. We’ll also take a contingent of Frost Fang guards with us to fill out our full caravan.”

“Are Flint and Rowan going?”

“After what happened last time we met with the Snow Moon pack?” Gage gave me a vicious smile. “Nothing would keep them away. Which means you’re coming, too.”

The ambush last time we’d met with the Snow Moon pack had put my men on guard, and for good reason. Flint had fought a much larger bear shifter while a wolf shifter had charged me — fortunately, I’d managed to toss him off a cliff. We’d been lucky to make it out alive, only to find Gage and Heath engaged in a shoot-out against multiple attackers.

We’d come so far since then.

Before we left, I chugged down my contraceptive brew. Just as Gage promised, when we hit the road, we did so with a full caravan. Frost Fang wolves, mostly betas and subordinates, rode in the trucks ahead and behind ours for our protection. That allowed us to take direct routes over the best highways, because no one dared attack a large caravan on neutral roads.

Gage and I rode together most of the way with Rowan in the truck’s bed in his wolf form, as usual. Heath and Flint rode in other vehicles in case of an ambush, which unfortunately meant that two Frost Fang wolves rode in the extended cab behind Gage and me.

Gage palmed the steering wheel with one of his big hands while laying the other on my knee. It didn’t surprise me that our domineering alpha refused to let Frost Fang drive him around. He liked being in control.

“I’m sorry I took you away from your teacher,” Gage said carefully. “I don’t mean to press but… is there anything you can do to practice?”

I sighed. “I couldn’t even do the simplest task she set before me. There’s not exactly homework, you know?”

Plus, I didn’t really want to talk about this with an audience. I had to be on my best behavior to show our two female companions I wouldn’t let my heat distract our pack alpha. Inside me, my wolf didn’t feel jealous having these two female wolf shifters close to my mate. Perhaps it was because Gage had already claimed me.

However, she felt uneasy about not knowing exactly where Flint and Rowan were. Heath practically rode alongside me in my mind thanks to the mate bond, which comforted both me and my wolf.

“Will we need this many vehicles to cart back the stuff for the Midnight Path?” I asked Gage, changing the subject to something we could discuss in front of the other two.

Gage patted my leg. “Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. Bretton wouldn’t let me do something so risky without tons of backup.”

He heard one of the Frost Fang wolves behind us snort, and he met their eyes in the rearview mirror. Without turning around, I knew she quickly dropped her gaze.

“Something funny?” Gage growled.

“No, pack alpha. I was just shocked you let Bretton, a beta… ah, influence you.”

I gave Gage an encouraging smile. This was his chance to show that he would run Frost Fang differently.

“Does being an alpha mean my ideas are better than his?” Gage asked.

The wolves in the back seat were unsure how to respond. Neither a yes nor a no seemed safe. I knew exactly how they felt. As a low-ranking wolf in Ironwood, I’d often found myself trapped like this, not knowing how to appease an alpha wolf.

Twisting around in the seat to face them, I helped them out.

“Anyone can offer their ideas or suggestions,” I reassured them.

Gage nodded. “I promise you, as the alpha pair, we want to hear what you bring to the table. Bretton’s ideas are no better or worse than ours, and he has the balls to tell us when we’re taking unnecessary risks.”

The way he included me by calling us the alpha pair made my stomach do flip-flops. I’d been a rankless wolf for so long, I still couldn’t come to grips with my new ranking. Being called the ‘alpha pair’ still bothered me, somehow. But before I could process it, Gage went on.

“So, if you see something we miss on this trip, warn us. We can’t trust the Snow Moon pack completely, so we all need to be on alert for threats from any direction.”

“Yes, alpha,” the two shifters said simultaneously.

Given something they recognized as an order, despite how vague it was, I knew they would do their best to follow through.

After silence filled the cab, I cranked up the volume on the music. Later, I was surprised when the caravan pulled off in a small town.

“This is where we’re meeting the Snow Moon pack?”

Gage nodded. “After traveling half the day, we all need food, and we didn’t pack enough for all of us. So we may as well share a meal as well as completing the exchange.”

“And they’re less likely to try any sort of ambush in a neutral town of this size,” I mused.

Gage nodded with a smile on his face that told me he was proud I’d figured that out. Last time we’d met them, we’d been in the middle of nowhere, with only a small gas station in sight. This town must have hundreds of people living here, perhaps as many as a thousand. We passed the main stretch of it, then pulled into a small parking lot in front of a large restaurant called The Den & Nest.

When we stopped, several Frost Fang wolves popped out of the vehicles first, following a protocol Bretton had set. When they called out the all clear, Gage helped me down from the truck, his eyes meeting mine. He gave me a small nod and reassurances flooded me through the pack bond. I smiled at him, feeling safe in his presence.

“One from each vehicle, stay on guard,” Gage called out. “We’ll bring you food for the road.”

I chuckled as our two Frost Fang passengers began a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would stay behind. Heath came over to my other side and took my hand with Flint trailing not far behind. I admired his muscular arms as he tied his long, dark hair back.

When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Rowan was the one staying behind with his truck. Naturally, he remained in wolf form. I had a feeling this was all pretty normal for the Howling Echo, and I could easily imagine previous jobs before they’d met me where Gage, Heath, and Flint dealt with the paying customers and Rowan guarded the vehicles.

“Surprised?” Heath asked over our bond.

I chuckled. “Of course not. He gets to stay in wolf form this way. And neither of us really enjoyed the restaurant much the other day.” I realized what I’d said when a slip of disappointment leaked into the mate bond. “Not because it was a bad choice.” I squeezed Heath’s hand.

“It’s because he didn’t pleasure you under the table, isn’t it?” Heath snickered as we both tried to keep a straight face.

“Keep your paws to yourself this time, mister,” I warned.

“You’re sure you don’t want a reenactment of that time at the Dark Potion?”

I didn’t answer as we filed into the dimly lit restaurant and found our way to a back dining room with several tables and not a booth in sight. This place didn’t feel nearly as fancy as either of the restaurants the guys had taken me to before, both of which Heath had chosen.

“Let me guess, you weren’t the one who picked this place,” I ribbed Heath.

“Hah, funny. No, actually, it was Gage. This one’s more his speed.” He winked at me.

In the back room, our crew filled most of the tables. They left space at the largest rectangular one for Gage, Heath, Flint, and me to sit where we could watch the door. With our backs to the wall, four seats remained open on the other side of the table. I took a seat between Gage and Flint, leaving Heath to sit on the other side of Gage.

“Cute,” Heath growled in my head.

“A girl’s gotta protect herself,” I answered innocently.

I would have loved to be surrounded by all my mates, but I knew we had an image to maintain, and soon enough, a woman and two men came into the restaurant.

The last time I’d seen them, I’d been on the edge of a cliff with my gun sighted on them, in case they caused trouble for Gage or Heath.

Glancing between the two men now, I realized they must be littermates. My wolf instantly recognized the taller man as an alpha, though not nearly as dominant as any of mine. I sensed the beta beside him was almost as dominant as his brother. He wore an undercut style with enough length on top to differentiate his haircut from the alpha’s buzz cut.

The woman was also a beta — she’d once gotten my attention by kissing multiple men. And this was the beta that had pushed aside the alpha to kiss her, shocking me at the time.

“Welcome,” Gage said, and we all made introductions.

As I’d expected, they introduced themselves as Gabriel and Garreth, proving they were littermates — littermates traditionally had names starting with the same letter. They flanked Jasmine, and she gave me a hesitant smile. After the introductions, Gage gestured for them to take a seat.

As the alpha, Gabriel sat directly across from Gage. Jasmine sat across from me, and Garreth sat across from Flint.

“Your pack has grown,” Gabriel commented, meeting Gage’s eyes for just a moment before averting his gaze.

“You could say that,” Gage chuckled.

“We were surprised you came to meet us yourselves. We heard you took over the Frost Fang pack.” Garreth glanced at the other tables surrounding us, each full of their own Frost Fang shifters.

A server came into the dining room and glanced around. She visibly sniffed the air, then made her way to our table and bowed slightly at Gage. “May I take your order, alpha?” she asked.

Gage ordered a hamburger, and instead of jumping to Heath as the next-most dominant, the subordinate shifter looked to me next.

I also ordered a burger, and then she continued around the table, moving to Flint. My wolf watched her carefully, pacing inside of me as though waiting for her to steal Flint from me. But she moved on to Garreth next, and my wolf settled down inside of me. After she’d taken our table’s orders, she left to put our orders in and sent in a male server to take the orders from the other tables. I had the feeling we might be here awhile, so I settled back into my chair.

“How are things in Snow Moon?” I asked Jasmine, hoping to put them at ease.

She smiled at me, then glanced over at Gage, then Heath, then to Flint next to me. She leaned forward, lowering her voice, “To be honest… it’s not easy having multiple mates in a pack that doesn’t welcome it.”

Surprised she admitted so much so fast, I also leaned in and said, “I get it. Frost Fang isn’t exactly thrilled about the marks on my mates’ faces.”

Her eyes flicked over to Flint and then back to me. “You haven’t yet claimed them all?” she guessed.

I didn’t want to give away anything, but since Flint’s face remained unmarked, it was pretty obvious.

Flint squeezed my knee under the table. “Our time will come,” he answered confidently.

Jasmine grinned. “I had all three of mine bite me at once,” she confessed, and Garreth leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “I was afraid if I didn’t, the bond wouldn’t work right. Though of course later, I bit them back one at a time, obviously. That’s when I realized it didn’t have to be simultaneous after all.” She gestured at Flint, “Which you’ve clearly already realized.”

I studied Jasmine, noticing her eyes were a pale blue. “Were you a late bloomer by chance? Did you shift late?”

She shook her head. “I shifted at fourteen, just like my littermate, Jessika.”

“Is there anything special about your wolf when you shift?” I tried again. “Like… your wolf’s eye color?”

She shook her head, looking puzzled. “Gold as usual.” She gestured between them all. “We all have white coats when we shift. I know that’s unusual outside of Snow Moon.”

I almost asked about lightning, but she clearly had no clue. Or she was a good liar, but I doubted it, considering shifters could sniff out such things. Which meant Jasmine wasn’t an Odinswolf like me.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well…” I hedged. “When I shift, my wolf’s eye color doesn’t change to gold. I was wondering if that was why so many alphas are attracted to me.”

That seemed innocent enough. I didn’t plan to tell her I could project my thoughts like an alpha, or that I could ignore alpha commands entirely, or that my fur crackled with lightning.

Jasmine chuckled. “I’m sure that’s not the only reason.”

“I mean… there must be something special about the two of us. Most wolves mate in pairs.”

Jasmine shrugged, and Garreth leaned forward and said, “Some humans love multiple people. Polyamory, they call it.”

“And the witches take multiple Bonded,” Gabriel added. “The Fae, too.”

“Exactly,” Jasmine said. “Why shouldn’t we be able to as well?”

She sounded a little defensive, as though she’d made this same argument a few times before. My heart fell a little. I’d hoped I’d found another Odinswolf, but it seemed Jasmine was an ordinary wolf, probably a Lokiswolf like most others.

That knowledge made me feel even more lonesome. Not just the only Odinswolf in the room, but I was also part mage. A mage who couldn’t even use her own magic, just as I used to be a shifter who couldn’t shift. I really hoped a good teacher could change that for me.

Our table’s food arrived, surprising me with the efficiency. Gabriel reached for the ketchup, but Garreth snatched it first, smirking as he squirted it onto his burger. I chuckled, amused that the alpha brother let his beta littermate push him around.

In some ways, they reminded me of my Howling Echo pack. Gage took charge when he needed to, like on a mission, but the rest of the time, the four of them seemed more equal than I would’ve expected from my experiences in the Ironwood pack. When Gabriel finished with the ketchup, Heath snatched it before Gage could grab it, and I laughed as Gage leaned into Heath to try to take it.

I loved seeing Heath and Gage being playful with each other. It gave me hope that someday, Heath would tell Gage the truth about his feelings. And maybe by then, Gage would be ready to hear it.

As the ketchup made its way around the table, our server brought out mayonnaise for the Snow Moon pack, and Flint scarfed down a fry covered in ketchup.

“Canadians.” He shook his head.

“Trust me, we’d rather have gravy on them,” Garreth said as he dipped his fry in enough mayonnaise to completely cover it. “It’s called poutine.”

“With cheese curds, right,” Heath called from down the table.

“Sounds gross,” I said, making all the Snow Moon shifters laugh.

We all chowed down for a few minutes in silence. Flint offered me a bite of his bison burger, which was delicious.

“Now my burger tastes boring by comparison,” I complained.

Flint instantly waved down the server and ordered another bison burger.

“You didn’t have to!”

He leaned over and pecked my lips. “But I wanted to. Anything for my moonbeam.”

“Awww,” Jasmine cooed from across the table. “Your mates love you.”

“They do,” I said, surprised at how affirming her approval felt, kissing Flint in return. Frost Fang definitely viewed our relationships differently.

He cut the remainder of his burger in half and put it on my plate while we waited for the second one he’d ordered to arrive. As I ate the far superior burger, I noticed how Gabriel draped his arm around the back of Jasmine’s chair when he was done eating his burger, and how Garreth’s hand was clearly on her thigh under the table.

For once, it felt totally normal that I had multiple mates, because Jasmine did too. Before I could comment on it, Heath spoke up.

“While we have you here, I was wondering if the Snow Moon pack ever took in any refugees from Nightsinger, Winter Wind, or any other packs that Denraider conquered?”

Gabriel glanced over at Jasmine and Garreth, but they both shook their heads. “Not that we’re aware of,” he answered. “I could ask around.”

“Or,” Flint ventured, “Have you seen anyone who looks like Freya? Perhaps a similar age, who wasn’t raised in the Snow Moon pack? White hair, snow blue eyes?”

“It’s our wolves who tend to have white fur,” Garreth answered. “I’ve never met anyone who looks quite like your mate.”

His eyes didn’t linger long on me, as though he wanted to avoid giving offense.

“Take another look,” Gage encouraged. “We know you’re both mated to Jasmine. Our wolves aren’t concerned you’ll try to take Freya.”

I felt a little uncomfortable when all three Snow Moon shifters turned their gazes on me.

Jasmine reached forward and touched the back of my hand. “You lost a family member? A cousin or littermate?”

I nodded. “We’re still searching for my older sister.”

My heart warmed as I thought about how Heath had remembered to ask. I never would’ve broached the topic, but I’d gone my whole life without knowing my sister existed. I didn’t expect her to be found, but I still held on to the hope.

It was reassuring to know my mates had my back. If anyone could find my sister, I wanted to meet her.

“If you wanted to come visit sometime, we would find a safe place for you to stay,” Gabriel offered. “Then maybe you could try catching her scent.”

That would only work if I knew her scent — if I’d ever met her. I didn’t want to give away the fact that I hadn’t… and it occurred to me my guys would know if anyone smelled like me.

“Thanks,” I smiled. “I might even try some poutine.”

Jasmine laughed, and I found myself grinning. She seemed like someone I would enjoy getting to know. Maybe with time we could become friends. It would be nice to hang out with her and her mates again, the only other wolves I knew who understood what our dynamic might be like.

“And we likewise extend the same offer,” Gage said formally.

Flint nodded. “If you ever need a safe haven, you know how to reach us.”

Gabriel and Garreth exchanged a look that made me wonder if they might take us up on that offer. “Good to know,” Gabriel said.

The second bison burger arrived, but it was too much for Flint and me, so Gage grabbed the leftovers and ate the rest. As soon as our pack alpha had swallowed his last bite, Gabriel said, “We’re ready to move our stuff over when you are.”

Gage and Heath simultaneously pushed their chairs back, and we all followed suit, getting to our feet.

“Thanks for doing this for us,” Gage said as we followed them outside to their vehicles.

“It’s the least we could do after what happened last time,” Gabriel said.

“And it helps that you’re paying us directly, so we get a bigger cut than usual,” Garreth chuckled.

When we reached their vehicle, a third Snow Moon shifter waited there. His eyes lit up the moment he caught sight of Jasmine, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in days instead of just an hour or so.

Jasmine returned his kiss and smiled up at him with so much joy, my heart felt like it expanded to twice its size. It felt so good to see she felt the same way, and none of her other mates made the moment awkward at all.

“Brought you a burger, bro,” Garreth said to their other littermate when Jasmine pulled back.

Gabriel hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “That’s Grayson, the youngest brother.”

Grayson thumped him in the shoulder. “Born a single minute after you.”

Jasmine made the introductions for the four of us, and then Heath and Flint began directing the Frost Fang wolves to help the Snow Moon brothers unload.

Gage pulled me back against his chest and murmured into my ear, “It’s good to be the alpha pair sometimes.”

I laughed, enjoying his warmth against my back. It had gotten cold while we were inside, and even my shifter blood couldn’t completely negate the effects. The chill of winter bit at my nose and ears, and I hugged my hands in tight against me as Gage wrapped his arms around me.

“Let’s get you into a vehicle,” he murmured, but I resisted.

“I want to say bye to Jasmine and her mates.”

“Of course, princess.” Gage set his head on top of mine, making me feel like we fit together perfectly.

Jasmine had disappeared while the guys helped direct the Frost Fang wolves, but reappeared as soon as Heath called out that they were done. A big, fluffy ski coat enveloped her from head to knee, hiding her curves completely.

“It was great to meet you, Freya,” she told me.

I moved out of Gage’s arms, suddenly feeling the urge to hug Jasmine.

“I wish we lived closer together,” I admitted. Taking the chance, I opened my arms and asked, “Hugs?”

“Yes!” She stepped into my embrace, and her fluffy coat compressed as I squeezed her back. “It was awesome to finally meet you.”

Grayson approached. “We should get going.”

Garreth nodded, and as I stepped back from Jasmine, I was again struck by how much the littermates resembled each other.

“A snowstorm is coming in,” Garreth mentioned. “If we don’t beat it, we’ll be stuck south of the border for days.”

“Our absence would be noted,” Gabriel added, coming around the truck.

I stepped back into Gage’s embrace as the triplets surrounded Jasmine.

“Drive safely,” Gage answered. “And we’ll let you know if we have any more jobs for you in the future.”

“Same,” Gabriel answered. “Be well, Howling Echo.” He glanced at the other shifters waiting for us to leave. “Or should I say Frost Fang?”

“Either way, we’ll answer,” Heath assured them, waving as he walked back toward our vehicles.

“Now to get this shipment to the Midnight Path,” Flint murmured, waving goodbye.

As the Snow Moon shifters piled into one vehicle together, I smiled and waved at Jasmine. She waved back through the windows, and I knew then that I’d made another friend.

“Do you think they can make it back without the rest of their pack catching on?” Heath wondered.

“It’s on them if not,” Gage rumbled. “But I hope they can, for Jasmine’s sake.”

“Let’s get you out of the cold, moonbeam,” Flint called, and I reached out, taking both his and Gage’s hands.

Heath followed along behind us, and ahead, I caught sight of Rowan’s wolf waiting. Having all my mates in my sight instantly soothed something in me, and I envied Jasmine for getting to ride home with all of her mates in one vehicle. It felt good knowing that she and her mates had made their relationship work, despite her being neither an Odinswolf nor a half-witch. She was just an ordinary wolf shifter who’d fallen in love with three of her packmates, and that was beautiful.