Chapter 27 - Freya

Chapter 27

Freya

My true enemy had arrived at last, and I couldn’t let him see my power. I averted my gaze, pretending to revert to the pathetic, whimpering coward he thought I was.

But inside of me raged a monster.

Mate hurt.

The lightning surrounding my wolf flashed inside my mind’s eye, arcing farther and farther away from the tips of her fur as she snarled and paced. She had gone feral, and even I barely recognized her now. Her fury tainted everything in sight. Her reaction to Heath’s pain in the bond had broken something inside of me — the dam that had held back my magic.

Despite being trapped, my wolf took charge. They’d hurt my mate, and they would pay. I channeled that fury, and my magic rose to do my bidding.

My mates spoke to Luka, but I couldn’t focus on their words. All I remembered was the pain inflicted on me thanks to him. The way he’d stood by while others hurt me. The way he’d mocked me. The way he’d banished me when he thought I was his fated mate.

And then he’d captured me and tortured my mates. He wouldn’t leave us alone. Not unless I made him do it.

I screamed a raw, throat-rending yell, raising my hand in front of me. Blue flame arced out, and I felt Rowan flinch through the mate bond. To my horror, Luka pulled Willow in front of him at the last second, using her as a human shield. As my flames seared her skin, her cry of pain fed my fury.

Luka’s laughter fueled my rage. “I knew she’d be useful,” he crowed. “Surrender right now, or I promise your witchfire will be nothing compared to what I’ll do to Willow.”

My wolf was already in charge. Sensing her mate in pain had thrown her into a frenzy. And now, a threat to a friend who had always had my back?

I charged up the hillside to end him once and for all.

Two Ironwood alphas stood in my way, but one of them smelled familiar. They moved to flank — not me, but Luka.

Allies, she growled.

I passed right between them without fear.

My human side vaguely noticed briars ripping at my naked skin and stones tearing at my bare feet, but my wolf assured me she would heal away those minor wounds. First, I needed to sink my fangs into Luka’s throat and feel his blood filling my mouth. The mental image felt so real, I could almost taste it.

Kill the alpha.

But as I came closer, Willow’s terrified expression broke through to me. Every part of me wanted to destroy Luka, but I couldn’t get to him without hurting her. He threw out a taunt, and I snarled in response.

Only then did he catch sight of my eyes, and his surprise and shock gave me a moment’s opening as his grip on Willow loosened. With a mental shove, I used my magic to push him back and away from Willow, like levitation in reverse.

Behind me, the two alphas I’d passed between charged up the slope, arriving to either side of me. Catching Luka off-balance, the two alphas jumped on him, knocking him to the ground. But with my wolf in charge, I wouldn’t allow them to take my kill.

Snarling, I advanced on them until the smaller of the alphas looked up at me. He froze, and his fear smelled delicious. Even better was Luka’s, as he rolled over and pushed himself up on hands and knees, his eyes meeting mine.

The intoxicating rush of fear coming off him brought a grin to my face. A fresh bloom of terror filled the air.

I raised a hand, helping Luka get up… all the way up, as his feet left the ground. His eyes widened, and as he snarled, his teeth elongated into fangs. I tilted my head as his transformation began, and I could see it — the magic behind the shapeshifting ability.

With my other hand, I reached out, playing with it, testing its limits. Luka screamed an inhuman sound as his partially shifted vocal cords pulled tight.

The two turncoat wolves who’d attacked him pulled back, staring up at their pack alpha. I drank in their combined fear, and I smiled.

Playing with his magic, the innate power in all wolf shifters, I realized I needed more power to remove it from his body. I wanted it, badly — to watch him suffer without the ability to shift. To be devoid of magic, like I was until now.

Too bad I wasn’t strong enough to rip this magic from him. I needed either a coven or a powerful magical artifact, like the blue stone my aunt’s coven used to maintain my curse and suppress my magic.

Remembering the pain they’d put me through broke my resolve, and I jerked my hand back, letting Luka to fall to the ground. What kind of person was I, to torture someone the way Pandora had done to me? Did I really want to follow in her footsteps?

My wolf howled inside of me, demanding blood, but I shook my head, my thoughts clearing.

Until now, my wolf had controlled my actions, even though I was in my two-legged form. Sensing Heath’s pain had flipped me into a fully feral state, but now my human conscience surfaced. I pushed my wolf back and broke her control.

The sudden change in power left me with a massive headache, as though a battle had been waged inside my mind. I groaned and put my hands to my head. At the same time, I became aware of the cold — and that I was naked.

Luka instinctively shifted back to his human form after what I’d done to him, alleviating some of the pain I’d caused to his wolf. He shakily got to his knees.

“Just stop,” Willow called, cradling her burned arms close to her body. “They win.”

Part of me felt bad for forgetting about her — forgetting about everything and everyone as I tortured Luka and gave into my feral nature. With a clearer head, I would need to make amends.

Behind me, I sensed my mates fanning out, silently backing me up as I stood over Luka, kneeling before me.

“Submit to our mate, and we’ll consider letting you live, Luka,” Heath taunted.

I felt the lie across the mate bond. None of them intended to let him leave this clearing alive.

Everyone froze, waiting to see what would happen next. My wolf didn’t want Luka’s submission. She wanted his blood. Heath and Rowan flanked me to either side — one clothed and armed, the other naked and bloody.

“Fine,” Luka growled, his head bowed so I couldn’t see his expression. “I submit to the leaders of the Frost Fang pack.”

He tilted his head, baring his neck, but as he did so, he looked up at me from the corner of his eyes. The pure hatred there caught me off guard, and my wolf snarled out a warning.

Luka instantly shifted, pushing off the ground to leap at me. I raised my hands, shoving him away in mid-air.

He fell back, but before he could land on all four paws, a giant black wolf lunged for his throat. Rowan caught Luka mid-air, tearing him from my invisible grip. The dark wolf’s weight bore the smaller wolf to the ground. In one vicious shake of his head, the dark wolf tore out Luka’s throat.

The entire forest fell silent. Growls tapered off as wolves on both sides realized what had just happened. The remaining Ironwood wolves all sensed the change in the pack bond. With their pack alpha’s death, Ironwood lost the battle. The two turncoat wolves who had attacked Luka bared their throats, submitting to Rowan.

As the alpha who had killed the previous Ironwood pack alpha, the Ironwood pack bond magically transferred to Rowan. And with my new, magically enhanced vision, I actually watched the invisible web connect Rowan and all the Ironwood wolves. Looking around, I noticed how intricate and tightly bound the Howling Echo net looked among the five of us compared to the weaker threads that connected us to the Frost Fang pack.

Willow dipped her head and declared, “All hail the new pack alpha of the Ironwood pack!”

My wolf panted inside of me, thrilled at her mate’s victory. Rowan placed one paw on Luka’s snout and howled. Every wolf in the forest howled with him, Ironwood and Frost Fang alike. The battle was over.

Rowan shifted back, his eyes still golden as he looked at me. The bright rune glowed on his face in the dim forest. Then his gaze moved to the three men behind me. We faced the remaining Ironwood wolves as they trod through the forest to submit to their new pack alpha.

My mate took my hand and raised his voice for all to hear. “I am Rowan, and by right of combat, I am the new Ironwood pack alpha. My mate, Freya, joins me as the alpha pair.” Then he glanced back at Gage. “Since the rest of the Howling Echo wolves are also Freya’s mates, that means they are also the new leaders of the Ironwood pack. Their command is equal to my own. Obey us or die.”

Rowan’s first command to his new pack linked us to them. The magical net connecting Rowan to Ironwood expanded, tangling with the Howling Echo and Frost Fang webs.

The world seemed to spin as my headache pulsed behind my eyes. Exhaustion hit me in a massive wave, and my knees buckled. Rowan’s grip on my hand tightened and then released as brawny arms wrapped around me. Aside from Rowan, Heath had been standing the closest to me. The scent of his cologne surrounded me, still clinging to his clothes after all these days.

Gage’s voice snapped out orders, and the scent of fear dissipated in the air. Wolf shifters understood hierarchy, and Rowan had made the hierarchy clear. Having alphas to command them probably reassured all the wolves in the forest.

“She’s no longer feral.” Flint’s voice held a deep sense of relief, and my eyes tracked him despite the throbbing pain in my head.

Above me, Heath nodded. “And no longer in heat. That’s why Rowan could shift.”

Shirtless, Flint came to stand by Rowan, who remained completely naked after shifting. The new pack alpha of Ironwood stood tall and proud, unconcerned by his nudity even in broad daylight. My eyes fell on his witchfire scars, and remorse overpowered me. I’d used witchfire against Luka and hit Willow instead. I wanted to apologize to her for the pain I’d caused, and to Rowan, for using witchfire at all.

But my throat felt raw, and my vision blurred. My limbs felt heavy and weak. With me cradled in his arms, Heath began walking back toward the cabin.

“I told you we’d do it, my little warrior witch,” Heath said softly. “I told you one day, we would make Ironwood pay for what they did to you.” His faint chuckle made me want to kiss him. “I just wasn’t expecting you to steal all the fun.”

As the blackness took over, agony exploded inside my head, leaving me deaf and blind. Then unconsciousness stole my pain, and I let it carry me away.