Chapter 26 - Flint

Chapter 26

Flint

I peeked out behind the curtains, keeping them as closed as possible so as not to disturb Freya or cause her any distress during her heat. Rowan and I were alone with her while Gage and Heath took shifts standing guard and catching up on sleep. The faintest rays of dawn brightened the mountain forest around us.

That Freya might have a fifth mate left all of us stunned, but her heat hadn’t slowed down, so I hadn’t discussed it with the others. They were probably reeling at the thought that Freya might have a mate outside the Howling Echo pack. To me, the biggest surprise was that we had never heard of him before.

An entire day had passed after that revelation with no sign of Ironwood, and we were all getting restless. We knew they must arrive soon. Luka had originally planned his attack for a significant day in the wolf shifter calendar — the next full moon.

That meant he would likely look for another equally significant day to attack, despite moving up his timetable. Tomorrow would be the final day of Freya’s heat. Attacking then would give us a false sense of security. Today was a national holiday, Thanksgiving, when most people — shifters or not — would be home with family.

I always disliked this holiday, a celebration of white colonizers arriving to conquer their new neighbors, who had been welcoming, willing to trade, and mostly peaceful — at least the first few nations they’d met. My ancestors hadn’t exactly been peaceful, of course, not even with other native nations. Since we had no concept of land ownership, white colonizers had ousted us from our ancestral hunting grounds.

A holiday symbolizing gratitude in the wake of such atrocities never sat well with me, even though I recognized that, in modern times, the holiday mainly existed as an excuse to bring families together for a feast.

“It’s almost… your turn,” Rowan called to me through gritted teeth as Freya rode him rough.

From his expression, his control was slipping. Afterward, it would be on me to take over keeping Freya satisfied, though we were all beginning to feel a little raw today on the fourth day. Before I could reach the bed, Gage’s presence in the pack bond yanked all of us to attention, keeping Rowan right on the brink. Oblivious, Freya continued her motions.

“Someone tripped Brielle’s wards.” Gage called across our new mate bond. “They’re here.”

That Freya’s heritage made it possible to communicate like this was a welcome surprise. We could communicate telepathically even though her heat prevented us from shifting and using the pack bond like we normally would in battle. An unfamiliar sense of distance separated me from my wolf spirit; he wouldn’t be able to help. Being Bonded in the way of witches gave us an advantage Ironwood would be unaware of, allowing us to coordinate during the fight.

Rowan’s hands circled Freya’s waist, encouraging her motions. However, through the bond, I sensed his mind was elsewhere as he assessed the threat to our mate. Heath’s eager desire for blood, along with Gage’s wariness, bled through the bond to me, making my wolf take notice.

“She’s focused on Rowan at the moment,” I broadcast to my three other alpha packmates, though Rowan was the only one I could see at the moment. “Should I join you two?”

Gage and Heath both barked, “No,” at once.

Gage added, “Guard Freya. Follow the plan. We’ll handle this with Frost Fang’s help.”

Our plan required two of us to guard Freya (and keep her distracted), so I paced in front of the window and peeked out. Only the nearby spruce trees met my eyes. Thanks to the wards, we had a few minutes to prepare for their arrival.

“Fuck,” Rowan moaned as Freya brought him to the edge again.

I refocused my attention on what was going on in the bed, noticing how Freya’s high-pitched whine grew more and more excited.

I’d never imagined myself in such a dynamic before, but I didn’t regret sharing my mate one minute. Not when the others drove her wild. Why would I deny her joy just to keep her to myself? Why would I deprive her of any happiness they could bring her?

And from her voracious hunger during the heat, it made sense that she needed a fifth mate to satisfy her. The four of us could barely keep up.

“Flint,” he warned, and my dick perked up at the desperate way he called my name.

The sight of Rowan driving up into her as she rode him filled me with desire. But for the first time, I noticed how it wasn’t just the sight of Freya turning me on. Seeing my mate’s silvery-white hair fall around her shoulders as she slammed down made my hand fall to my dick. The juncture of her pale thighs met Rowan’s dark patch of hair once more. And when she rose again to reveal her juices dripping down his hard cock… it made my mouth water.

Ever since I’d agreed to play around and experiment with Heath, I’d gained a new awareness of my packmates. I still craved Freya as my mate, but the others being there right along with us made the experience that much better for Freya… and heightened it for me, too.

I joined them on the bed, and Rowan steadied me with a hand on my thigh when I wavered, every muscle in my body feeling fatigued after the four-day marathon. With a nod of thanks to him, I slid my hand between Freya’s thighs and sent her to the stars.

As she took flight, Rowan let out a strangled roar, as though he worried about alerting the enemy to our presence. But his voice wouldn’t be the one they noticed, because just then, Freya screamed out her pleasure in a primal cry.

I hoped Luka heard it.

I hoped he knew Freya would never, ever scream like this for him. Because tonight, we would finish this. Even if I wasn’t directly involved, even if I spent the rest of the night on my back with my mate writhing above me, taking pleasure from my body, I would feel my packmates’ satisfaction through the bond as they put this threat to rest. Each of us had our part to play, and this was mine.

Freya’s hand latched out, squeezing my bicep as I circled her clit with my fingertips even as her orgasm faded. She rarely got oversensitive during her heat, but this seemed to be one of those times, as her body shuddered and her hips pulled back away from my hand.

With the worst possible timing, Gage and Heath’s flare of surprise caught us all off guard. The pack bond had never been so clear, but thanks to our new shared mate bond, I sensed the moment a bullet grazed Heath’s shoulder.

Unfortunately, so did Freya.

She gasped and leaped off the bed. I rushed forward to stabilize her as she stumbled on two feet. Her teeth lengthened into fangs as her wolf tried to rise, knowing her mates were in danger. But that’s as far as she got, her heat keeping her locked in this form.

“They’re okay, Freya,” Rowan told her, coming around to her other side.

Though I knew the heat might prevent her from understanding me, I added, “They’ll kick their asses soon enough, moonbeam. Come back to bed.”

In answer, she snarled, her fingers curling into claws. I pulled up short before touching her, recognizing the change coming over her. Rowan was usually the one of our packmates going feral, so he probably hadn’t ever seen someone manifest the signs in their two-legged form.

His gaze met mine, and I warned him across the bond, “She’s going feral.”

“We’re fine,” Gage said across the bond. “Stay with Freya.”

I couldn’t be sure if he’d broadcast to all of us or just me and Rowan, but Freya rushed out the bedroom door, still stark naked. To make matters worse, a growl tore from Rowan’s throat as he followed her, his own eyes pure gold.

“Fuck,” I said out loud before calling out to the other two. “Freya sensed Heath’s pain in the bond and went feral, and pulled Rowan in with her.”

“They’re both feral?” Heath asked just as Gage said, “Can they shift?”

“No, they’re two-legged, feral, and naked.” I grumbled as I snagged my jeans and pushed my feet through to slide on my moccasins.

Without letting them out of sight, I hurriedly buttoned up, then snatched up my sling bag. Grabbing a handgun off the side table, I checked it over, then raced outside behind Freya and Rowan.

“We’re coming your way,” I warned.

Gage let out a helpless sound of frustration through the bond. We all knew that if I tried to stop Freya, Rowan would intervene. He wanted to protect his mate. The problem was, so did Freya. Since Heath was the one in pain, he was the one she was drawn to.

“Fall back,” Gage ordered Heath. “We have to keep her away from Ironwood. She needs to see you’re unharmed.”

Undeterred by their lack of shoes, Freya and Rowan broke into a run through the forest as the sun rose to peek above the mountains, illuminating their naked bodies.

The moment Freya caught sight of Gage and Heath, she let out a strange, inhuman sound of delight as she rushed forward, her arms outstretched. Gage pointed his weapon to the sky as Heath put his in its holster so he could catch Freya. She jumped into his arms, sniffing his neck and running her hands all over his body as if to prove to herself he was okay. When she found the blood on his shoulder, her growl left no trace of humanity in her voice.

“I’m fine, my little warrior wolf,” Heath murmured into her hair, kissing her face. “Will you let Flint take care of you now?”

Shouts from behind them refocused all of our attention, and warning growls broke out. We couldn’t see the fight through the trees and underbrush, but a wolf yelped, and Gage tilted his head, listening along the pack bond with Frost Fang.

When the first enemy broke through Frost Fang’s line, Gage calmly raised his gun and shot the wolf in the head. It didn’t even get the chance to cry out as its body crumpled, tumbling tail over muzzle with its dying momentum.

A snarl escaped Freya, and she broke free of Heath’s arms to stalk over to the dead wolf. Rowan growled and strode forward to make sure the enemy was truly dead, prodding it with his bare toe.

Freya’s spit flew out and fell on the wolf’s snout. “Jaq. He tried to rape Willow. He insulted us both. And he lied to the pack alpha about all of it.”

I came around to look at Freya, wondering if fear for her mates and the sight of the enemy had broken her out of her heat completely. But when I saw her eyes, even my wolf recoiled in fear.

The irises remained pale blue, but now the whites of her eyes had gone pure, pitch black.

When the next two wolves reached us, she bared her sharpened fangs. I raised my gun, taking aim at one wolf, but Heath got to it first. Two shots rang out as Gage and Heath put down both wolves.

“Reese and Harper,” Freya’s singsong voice rang out with a hint of maniacal joy. “They beat Brooke within an inch of her life when she was the pack omega.”

“Surround Rowan and Freya,” Gage ordered. “The three of us need to keep them back.”

We circled them, putting our backs to them to face outward, waiting for the next threat to appear. With Gage and Heath facing the direction Ironwood kept coming from, I would guard our rear and make sure none of them tried to circle us.

More growls and screams reached us, drawing closer. If I had to guess, Ironwood was pushing Frost Fang hard, and they were being forced to give ground to stay together. Shots rang out, and from the corner of my eye, I saw wolves between the trees… then caught sight of more coming from the other direction. They were surrounding us. I didn’t fire yet, waiting until one of them gave me a clear shot to conserve ammo.

But when three wolves rushed me, I heard my sister’s voice call, “Watch out!”

My heart leaped into my throat — Fern wasn’t supposed to be here! But my body acted in self-defense against the enemy.

I fired, hitting an enemy directly in the eye just before the other two large alphas leaped at me. As their paws came off the ground, I shot at one and blocked with my other arm, knowing I couldn’t get a shot off at the third in time. I expected a massive alpha to bite my forearm and bowl me over with its momentum, but to my surprise, both alpha wolf shifters froze in mid-air.

My bullet lodged in the belly of one, staining her coat red. Both of them let out whimpers as they thrashed in mid-air, as though being held at the throat.

Behind them, Fern and a Frost Fang alpha named Dean rushed forward in their wolf forms. They stopped in their tracks, looking up at the two hovering enemies.

Freya stepped up beside me, her arm outstretched, her mouth open in a crazy grin, her eyes still snow blue circled in black. The bleeding wolf’s motions weakened, but the other redoubled his efforts as Freya approached.

“Vaclar, you gave me this scar,” she pointed at her hip bone. “When you pushed me down for overcooking your steak. Although I no longer belonged to the Ironwood pack, you both brought me back to Luka against my will, knowing what he might do to me. That he might execute me if I didn’t bow to his whims.”

Vaclar struggled, but with him in wolf form and us in our two-legged forms, he couldn’t communicate with us. I could tell he must be projecting his alpha voice, because Fern and Dean both whimpered.

“Stay where you are,” I commanded them both.

As an alpha around my level of dominance, Dean should be able to resist Vaclar’s commands, but my counter-command would make it even easier for him to resist. A fellow packmate’s alpha bark carried more weight than an enemy’s, no matter our form.

“And Yuriko,” Freya turned her attention to the bleeding wolf, “You banged on my windows when you went on patrol to scare me and keep me awake. That kept me tired so you and your friends could chase me and Willow at the end of your patrol and the start of our workday. You never beat us, because our bosses would do it for you since we were late for work.”

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing Gage and Heath had fresh new corpses in front of them. The need to protect Freya filled us all, and neither of them allowed themselves to be distracted when more enemies arrived. I turned back to make sure my side remained clear besides the two wolves Freya had magically levitated.

Freya shook her head. For being feral, she seemed all too aware of her surroundings. Yuriko’s movements slowed as she bled out from the gunshot wound I’d given her. Freya took no pity on either of them.

“You should’ve stayed home.”

Then she raised her other hand and sliced it through the air from left to right, snapping their necks. She dropped her other arm, and the wolves fell to the ground in boneless heaps.

Fern and Dean both whimpered and fell back in fear. Even I felt frozen in place as I tried to wrap my mind around what Freya had just done. Through our new Bonded connection, I felt my packmates’ shock as well.

She’d never used her magic before, and suddenly, she could do something like that? But it made sense in a way. Her Odinswolf and her wolf’s strange lightning had kept her safe when her aunt attacked. This time, trapped in human form, her Odinswolf could do little. Instead, her mage half came out to play.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Rowan grab a smaller wolf as it lunged at him, then rolled until his torso pinned the wolf to the ground. With shifter strength, he twisted the wolf’s neck until it snapped. Then he got back to his bare feet and howled, his vocal cords partly shifted enough to make it sound exactly like a wolf.

“Fern, what are you doing here?” I took the moment of reprieve to growl at my littermate, who should’ve stayed safe back at Frost Fang.

That snapped Fern out of it, and she snarled at Dean as if annoyed an alpha had frozen in fear alongside her, a beta. In her wolf form, she couldn’t answer me, so I expected her to switch forms.

Instead, she charged back into the trees, probably to find some Ironwood wolves to fight. Luka had probably brought all of his alphas, which didn’t bode well for my littermate’s chances. That’s why we’d only brought Frost Fang alphas with us.

“Be careful!” I called after Fern.

In some ways, she hadn’t changed from when we were pups. She still rushed off into danger, heedless of the consequences. And that impulsiveness would have led to her exile, if I hadn’t taken her place.

Dean stayed back, still staring up at Freya, who paid him no attention. My wolf spirit growled at Dean for daring to look at our mate. Fortunately for him, I scented only his fear, not arousal. He shook himself and dipped his head to me in a wolfish apology.

“Go kill Ironwood wolves,” I alpha-barked. “And protect my foolish littermate.”

Though my order didn’t compel the alpha the way it would a beta, it gave him the confidence to turn tail and do what needed to be done.

“Moonbeam,” I called to Freya, but she didn’t look at me.

Her gaze scanned the forest ahead, looking for more enemies. When she saw Rowan’s kill, she stalked over to the body and growled, reciting his crimes against her and Willow and other low-ranking Ironwood wolves.

She paid no attention to me, but when she saw Rowan, she sniffed him and then ran her tongue over his naked shoulder. He growled out an almost-purr, his golden eyes falling half-lidded. Maybe he could be the one to break her out of whatever spell she was under.

Though my wolf spirit had been the first to recognize Freya as his mate, our special bond clearly wasn’t enough to snap her out of her feral state. Gage was the first to mark her, and Heath was the first to share a mutual bond with her, but Rowan — she’d dreamed of him. She brought him back from being feral. Maybe he could do the same for her.

But first we’d need him to snap out of it.

“Rowan, your pack needs you,” I called to him.

But our two feral packmates had eyes only for each other.

“Fall back around them both,” Gage ordered, and the three of us circled Freya and Rowan once more. “And we’ll deal with Fern when this is over.”

His grim tone made my protective instincts war with my need to obey my pack alpha. Fern must have a good reason for being here… at least, I hoped so.

A woman’s cry of pain got our attention over the sounds of wolves fighting all around us in the forest. From over the rise, two humans peeked through the trees. The woman cried out again, and my eyes zeroed in on the man’s hand wrapped in her reddish blond hair. He yanking cruelly on her head, forcing her to walk downhill toward us.

“Luka,” Heath growled as the Ironwood pack alpha approached.

“Willow,” Freya gasped, and her fear flooded the pack bond, giving all of us pause.

Luka’s laughter filled the crisp, early morning air as he looked down at us. “What a sight the five of you make.”

He was right — Gage, Heath, and I were all clothed with weapons. We circled around Freya and Rowan, both in the nude. They both stood tall and proud, though, Rowan’s burn marks just as visible as Freya’s scars.

But with Luka’s arrival, Freya’s shoulders curved inward, her limbs tight to her body as if trying to make herself smaller. She bowed her head, averting her eyes to the Ironwood pack alpha, her former packmate.

“Don’t hurt her, alpha,” Freya whimpered.