Chapter 21 - Rowan

Chapter 21

Rowan

Through the pack bond, I sensed her closing the distance between us. My wolf demanded I turn around and face her.

Chase. Bite. Claim.

But my human side still hesitated, left worrying about her upcoming heat and how it might change the pack dynamic.

I’d had my chance to bite Freya after our first date. I’d courted her properly, and I could tell from the way she’d bared her throat that she longed to be bitten and claimed.

But I’d been too cowardly to do it. I’d fucked her so well she told me afterward that she’d seen stars. My thrusting had pounded the bed into the wall, leaving an indentation for my packmates to see the next time they fucked her there. I might not have left my mark on her body, but I’d proven she was mine.

Plus, I’d fucked her in front of our pack alpha — in front of her first two mates — and neither of them had stopped me. Gage and Heath had explained to me later that they wanted to give us privacy on our first date, giving me a chance to woo her properly.

For the first time, I truly began to believe that this would work. That all four of us could share Freya without becoming territorial like alphas often did over their mates.

And afterward… I had inhaled the delicious scent of Gage and Heath’s intense desire lingering in the den.

In the past, I’d been around Heath enough to know the scent of his lust didn’t repel me the way most other male wolves’ scent did. I always took it to mean that was because he was my packmate. It seemed reasonable. The Howling Echo was the only pack I’d belonged to as an adult, and I’d never stopped to question whether it was normal for packmates to like each other’s scents.

Now I wondered if the reason I liked their scents so much was because my wolf always knew we were meant to share a mate.

Suddenly the thought of Freya’s heat didn’t intimidate me so much.

I’d watched Flint and Heath drive her to ecstasy and beyond once before. Recently, I’d even smelled Flint and Heath’s scents mingling. Neither of them had acted any differently afterward. They would do whatever it took to make Freya feel good. I could do the same.

Maybe it should have felt strange to want to share my mate with three other alphas… to watch them take their own pleasure with her… to watch them fuck her in front of me. But my wolf never seemed bothered by the idea.

It just felt right. I’d always worried that if I found a mate, she would want me to stay civilized, to give up my long runs except when she wanted to join me. I’d never met a shifter as wild as me. Freya didn’t need me to be human all the time, though. She understood my wildness, and either matched my primal desires or was content letting one of her other mates take care of her.

She would need all of us during her heat, though. Flint had told me how she’d cried out for me during her last heat.

I wouldn’t deny her this time.

But could I do it as her mate? Could I let a witch mark me as hers?

Not witch, my wolf growled. Wolf.

Half witch, I answered.

Half mage, my wolf argued. Powerful wolf. Equal mate.

He had a point. Every witch who’d ever hurt me or anyone important to me had been part of a coven. No mage had ever harmed us, and Freya owed no coven her loyalty. She was a mage, the witch equivalent of a lone wolf. Would I really let her bloodline, something she had no say in, keep us apart? My wolf had always accepted Freya as she was.

The thought of actually going through with it, finally sinking my fangs into Freya’s soft flesh while her body milked my cock… I wanted that more than anything. Only one thing stood between me and that moment of true intimacy with my mate: me.

A shudder ran through me. My wolf and I rarely had conversations — normally his thoughts were mine, and mine were his. But now, my wolf growled, warning me not to get in his way anymore.

I won’t, I swore.

Freya’s scent drifted to me on a breeze, and I steeled myself for this conversation. She would want to make sure I didn’t feel awkward about what I’d seen — her claiming Flint. My mate was sweet like that.

But I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to run. I wanted to chase.

When I caught sight of her standing in the soft sunlight, her white fur flashing intermittently with lightning… She was glorious, a ghostly vision that took my breath away. Why would I prevent us both from getting what we wanted?

“My mate,” I called across the pack bond, dipping my head in deference to her.

“Rowan,” she answered, her mental voice holding a trace of uncertainty.

“My wolf loved seeing you claim another mate,” I said, hoping to bolster her as I fought to stay calm against the buzzing in my veins.

It was as though her lightning coursed through me, filling me with energy that had no place to go.

“It’s your turn now, Rowan.” Her voice echoed with power.

This graceful little wolf wanted me, and she would not be denied any longer.

“I know, little lightning bolt.” A low, rumbling growl escaped my throat. “Run.”

Just as she had before, Freya let out a yip of excitement. Instead of running away, she ran straight toward me. I snarled, and she let out a chuff of amusement, turning at the last second. She was so close, I smelled the tang of her lightning and felt the breeze ruffle my fur as she passed.

She knew I wouldn’t end the chase so soon. My little mate was playing with me, taunting me. I gave her a head start, watching her escape into dense undergrowth I had no chance of charging through.

“You can’t hide from me, little lightning bolt,” I growled across the pack bond as I prowled forward, searching for a better entry point into this part of the woods.

Behind me, I sensed my packmate — her newest mate. I whirled and gave a roaring growl of warning. My wolf surged forward, taking over total control.

Flint’s moonmarked wolf didn’t cower or drop his eyes. The sling bag around his chest was full to bursting, the edge of a familiar yellow blanket peeking out from the flap.

He tilted his head and bared his fangs.

“Better catch her before I do,” Flint challenged me.

The human side of me knew he wouldn’t dare, but my wolf didn’t. My wolf expected to share her during her heat, but right now, he wanted her all to himself. The prize he’d fought me for was within reach, and he wouldn’t let anyone else stop him now.

I raised my muzzle and howled, and Flint’s voice twined with mine, echoing eerily in the dying light of the day. Before the sound faded, we both charged toward the trees, entering the woods at different points. Unlike me, Flint crashed through the undergrowth, heedless of the noise he made. Freya would evade him easily.

My wolf felt pride for his mate when her scent drifted through the air. She was well ahead of either of us, and with Flint’s noise, she would stay that way. In the twilight forest, I caught sight of the crescent moonmark on Flint’s forehead, turned in the opposite direction as the true moon overhead. He cut through the woods on the other side of a clearing from me, and he glanced my way.

“This is the place,” he called across the pack bond, but my wolf wouldn’t let me ask what he meant.

He had control, and he wouldn’t surrender it until he claimed Freya once and for all.

When Freya’s scent veered off, I followed, gaining on her as Flint fell behind. After a few moments, he fell silent behind me, no longer crashing through the undergrowth. That shot a thrill of urgency through me. Had he figured out a better path, one that left him unimpeded by briar bushes and the underbrush?

I charged ahead, not bothering to be so stealthy now. Freya’s panting reached my ears, and I knew she might be tiring. That wouldn’t do. I wanted her to have plenty of energy left for when I claimed her. I needed to catch her now.

Ahead of me, the moonlight fell through the trees onto a giant boulder. Atop it stood an apparition. Lightning danced along the white wolf’s fur, and she let out a howl of her own. I couldn’t help but answer it, and behind me, I heard Flint’s answering howl. I circled the boulder, my tongue hanging out in a victorious grin. She would have no choice but to come down and get caught. But to my surprise, the nimble little wolf leaped from one boulder to another. The space between was too tight and full of rubble for me to circle the next boulder, and as I changed direction, I lost sight of her.

I wasted precious time hunting for her around the perimeter of both boulders before catching the point where her scent grew strongest. She’d leaped down here, and I followed her trail back into the trees. She’d doubled back on our trail, perhaps trying to confuse me with her previous scent trail. But I was so keyed into my mate’s scent, I could easily tell the difference between the slowly fading old scent and the fresh, bright, new scent. Thinking about how I would soon sink my fangs into her, claiming her at last, mixing her sweet scent with mine… It made my mouth water.

If Flint didn’t get to her first. Just the thought of a rival ruining my chase had me growling. I still didn’t hear him anywhere. Had he given up?

Hope soared as I drew closer and closer to my prey. Freya charged full speed ahead now, not bothering to try to be light on her paws. I breathed through my mouth, savoring the scent of her as a taste, an appetizer. I couldn’t wait to devour her.

“Come get me, my big bad wolf,” my mate called over the pack bond, taunting me.

I growled, not caring if she heard me now. She couldn’t escape me any longer. She raced ahead, almost to the clearing where I’d last seen Flint. I couldn’t let her reach him.

She renewed her efforts, putting on a new burst of speed. A bush threatened to deter me, but my haunches bunched, and I leaped over it. Freya let out a yip of surprise as I landed directly behind her. My fangs snapped on air as she pushed ahead, bursting into the clearing. She raced for a square of yellow in the middle of the mossy ground.

She barely managed to reach its edge before I was on her. This time, my wolf wouldn’t let me out. The much larger wolf overtook the small white wolf, heedless of the lightning that danced over us both. Just as she shifted, he sank his fangs into the nape of her neck.

She let out a cry as my fangs pierced either side of her spine. I fought, desperate not to let my wolf injure my mate at this vulnerable moment between forms. Her arousal filled my lungs just as my wolf pushed me into a partial shift — mostly human but covered in fur, my wolfish mouth still locked on her flesh. I wrapped my human arms around her naked body, prepared to catch her as she changed forms.

She landed on her hands and knees, her long silver hair filling my vision. I braced one fist on the ground to keep my full weight off of her as we both fell onto the blanket, while my other hand found her pebbled nipple. My hard length ached for her.

Without releasing my hold on her neck, I slammed into her wet channel, giving her something to clamp down on as she came. Her climax milked me, but I refused to give in. As her fluttering slowed, I released my hold from her neck, finally completing my full shift. My teeth flattened as I licked the blood from her neck, and she let out a contented sigh beneath me.

“Did I hurt you?” I whispered in her ear, my voice still rough.

“In the best of ways.” She twisted, and our lips met, but it wasn’t good enough for me.

I slid out of her, my dick hard and wet with her climax. Gently, I guided her down to the blanket, letting her roll over.

She smiled up at me, but even through the haze of lust, I noticed the worry in her eyes. I glanced down at her collarbones, finding two runes underneath each clavicle, one for each of the four Howling Echo alphas. I raised my fingers to my cheekbone, but of course, I couldn’t feel the matching rune there. Freya nodded to confirm — even though she hadn’t yet bitten me back, she’d marked me in a different way.

Instead of filling me with fear or fury, a sense of peace washed over me. My wolf was content, having gotten exactly what he wanted. And that peace put my human side at ease. Freya had waited for me, and she’d known exactly when I was ready. She’d led me on a chase because it’s what we’d both craved. She wanted me, the scent of her arousal overwhelming in the air between us. And…

I stared at the yellow blanket behind the fan of her silver hair. “Flint was never trying to catch you, was he?”

Her beautiful laugh sounded like the tinkling of crystal. “He wanted to give you a challenge. Make you work for it and prove you really wanted to claim me.”

“I did,” I settled in next to her, my hard-on pinned between us. “I have for a long time.”

Propping my head up on one arm, I traced the four glowing runes on Freya’s skin. Each one glowed faintly in the dark forest, and I knew this was what I’d been missing all along.

Even with the Howling Echo, I’d always felt a little like an outsider. But Freya not only accepted me for exactly who I was, she wanted me for who I was. She didn’t care about my burns any more than I cared about her scars. She didn’t try to tame me, only claim me. She was exactly what I needed.

I’d been foolish to ever believe she might tear our pack apart. No, she was what unified us. She was our missing piece. She brought us together in a way none of us ever could have imagined, but now nothing could break us apart.

Freya’s eyes studied me, but she said nothing, ever patient as a new awareness bloomed within me. What I sensed… was her. I would never be lonely again.

The mate bond told me how much she cared about me, so much that she was willing to wait for me to catch up. With her, I knew I would never have to pretend to be something I wasn’t. Something warm flooded my chest, and I gasped, my eyes catching hers.

With my thumb, I traced her perfect lips. “I never thought I would know love,” I whispered. “But… I think what I’m feeling right now is what everyone always talks about.”

The smile that spread across Freya’s face warmed me even more, making my heart long to burst out of my chest. She pushed on my shoulder, and I fell onto my back so she could straddle me.

“Let’s find out,” Freya said.

She slid down on my length, sheathing me, making me feel complete now that we were joined. I growled in need, my hands falling to her hips to try to get her to speed up. She laughed, gathering her hair and twisting her head, showing off all her bite marks. I raised a hand, tracing the one on her breast from Heath.

She shuddered, her inner walls fluttering before she leaned back, breaking the connection.

“That’s cheating,” she laughed.

“Then I’m happy to cheat four times over,” I said, my abs tightening as I sat up and her legs wrapped around behind me.

Without unsheathing myself, I lifted her, then reversed our positions, putting Freya underneath me where I could thrust to my heart’s content.

She glared up at me until I lowered my head and licked Flint’s bite mark on the junction between her neck and shoulder.

“Fuck,” she cried out in shock.

I reached down between our bodies, awkwardly twisting my hand until I could gently tease her clit. From the first touch, she was coming, and I clamped my teeth down on Flint’s mark. She screamed, her body jolting, her legs pulling me tight into her as she ground against me, leaving barely any space for my wrist between us.

“That’s it,” I growled, then moved my head over to the other side.

“Rowan—” she growled, but before she could stop me, I bit down on Gage’s mate mark.

This time she screamed a wordless shout, throwing her head back as her whole body tensed beneath me. I should’ve come three times over by now, but my body was waiting on something. Unfortunately, from this position, I wouldn’t be able to reach my mate mark on the back of her neck.

As she started to come down from that climax, she surprised me by curling up beneath me. The slightly different angle sent a tingle to my lower spine, letting me know my own climax might not be as far off as I thought.

“Mine.” She let out a growl as her vocal cords shifted, giving me only a moment’s warning before her fangs sank into my shoulder.

Heat shot out of me, the orgasm taking me completely by surprise as I lost all control. I growled and snarled as the climax went on and on, my hips thrusting instinctively as I gave her everything I had. Her fangs never dislodged, and I came so hard I went hoarse, my voice failing and my lungs seizing. Never had I experienced such an overpowering release.

At last, her little tongue lapped at the wound she’d given me, and I slowly relaxed. She pulled back, and awe filled me as I propped myself up on my elbows to look at my little mate.

A knowing smile played across her lips, still flecked with the red of my blood. She’d never looked so beautiful to me.

And that’s when I felt it. An overwhelmingly complex emotion, filled with joy, contentment, devotion… It was love, I realized. That’s when I realized what she meant. She was showing me what her love for me felt like, using the mate bond.

Tears filled my eyes as the two-way bond strengthened between us. She had these feelings for me while I kept us apart for no good reason. My throat felt thick with emotion, and I leaned forward, gently kissing the lips of the woman I didn’t deserve. She’d been so patient, so kind, letting me find my way, and she had been waiting for me at the end of it.

Why had I ever denied what we could have?

“It’s okay, Rowan,” Freya whispered against my lips. “I knew we would make it here when you were ready.”

I kissed her more passionately then, letting her feel the exact same emotions from me, entwined with an even more powerful one — awe. She wanted me, and I still couldn’t believe it. But I would stand by her, run by her, and fight for her until the end of my days.

I pulled back so I could see her expression, and so she could see mine. With the mate bond, she would know the truth of my words, but I wanted her to see it, too.

“I love you, Freya,” I declared, no longer afraid to say the words.

“I love you, too, Rowan.”

She let out a contented sigh, and I rolled, pulling the blanket around us and wrapping us up together.

“We make such a good blanket burrito,” she said with a laugh, and it was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard.