Chapter 28 - Freya

Chapter 28

Freya

When I woke, my mates surrounded me. Heath’s scent filled my lungs from where I pillowed my head on his chest. I yawned and stretched, enjoying the feel of blankets over me and a soft bed beneath me, with my men surrounding me.

An arm draped over my waist from behind, and Flint whispered, “Welcome back, moonbeam,” in my ear.

Though my head still pounded, my eyes fluttered open to find all four of my mates hovering over me. Worry bled over to me through four separate mate bonds, and I jolted as I remembered what had happened.

“You’re safe here,” Gage was quick to assure me.

“Where is here?” I threw back the covers.

With my shifter sense of smell… I had a feeling I already knew. There was just something in the air. Something that made my stomach tie itself into knots.

Heath scooped up my hand as I sat up in bed. “We’re back on Ironwood packlands, love.”

Rowan crossed his arms. Seeing him in human form revealed how worried he must have been. “A pack that we now rule, so you have nothing to fear.”

I wrinkled my nose. Luka’s scent invaded my nostrils, which told me exactly where we were — the alpha residence.

Flint moved to sit beside me on the bed. “The Ironwood wolves did their best to air out the place before we took over and brought you here to recover.”

I raised a hand to my head, remembering the headache that had knocked me unconscious. This wasn’t a normal sleep.

“How long have I been out?”

“About sixteen hours.” Flint took my other hand. “How do you feel?”

“Like a truck rolled over my head,” I grumbled. “But it’s like the echo of pain. It’s fading.”

Flint nodded. “Brielle said it’s the backlash from overusing your magic.”

“Something about… using too much too fast before you’ve practiced enough,” Heath added.

I could feel their sense of helplessness through the bonds. They knew so little about magic, and they’d been powerless to wake me up. Even Brielle could do no more than tell them what had happened.

“I can’t believe… I did it.”

A moment of elation sparked within me. I’d used my magic at last!

“Your eyes went black,” Rowan noted. “I’ve never seen a witch’s eyes do that.”

When I glanced over at him, my elation faded as memories rushed back.

“I’m sorry I used witchfire.”

“I’m not,” he growled. “I only wish you’d struck Luka.”

“Is Willow okay?”

The others shared uneasy glances. My wolf preened at the sight of the glowing silver runes that marked all their faces, but my other half was entirely focused on their answer.

“Relatively okay,” Gage said. When he saw my expression, he rushed to add, “She’s healing from the witchfire. She’ll have burns like ours, but… it’s what she suffered mentally that I’m most worried about.”

“Years of abuse take their toll,” Heath said knowingly, squeezing my hand.

He would know. He’d been the one I’d lashed out at once while trapped in a traumatic memory.

“She can come see you, if you’d like. She’s been asking about you, but we told her to rest.”

Shame filled me at the thought of my witchfire harming my friend, the friend I’d left behind to suffer under Luka’s rule. He’d brought her to that fight to manipulate and control me, but it hadn’t worked because my feral wolf had taken over… even though I was trapped in human form by my heat. And Willow had paid the price for my wolf’s need to attack Luka.

“How long will it take?” I asked, my eyes raising to Rowan, the one who’d lived with witchfire burns the longest.

He knew exactly what I was asking. “The burning sensation will take months to completely dissipate.”

Tears welled in my eyes.

“I know that’s not what you want to hear, moonbeam,” Flint said, “but it’s the truth. Fortunately, as you’ve seen with us, it becomes a manageable amount of pain within the first week.”

“I want to see her,” I said. “As long as she wants to see me.”

Heath nodded, squeezing my hand again. “In the meantime, we should get you some food, love.”

I shook my head, then winced as my headache returned with a vengeance. “I feel too nauseated to eat yet.”

“Is there anyone else you want to see while we’re here?” Gage asked.

From his tone, I had the feeling he didn’t want to stay here long. But how would that work… when he ruled Frost Fang and Rowan ruled Ironwood? Wildlands separated the two, and they didn’t share a border.

“My mother,” I answered. “My adopted mother, I mean. Her name is Kaydence. I haven’t seen her since…” I took a deep breath. “The night that Luka and his father exiled me.”

“Then we’ll make sure you can catch up with them both,” Flint promised.

“The pack wants to hold a feast,” Heath said. “We told them to wait until you woke up.”

Rowan grumbled, and I had a feeling the others had talked him into it.

“Do they know I’m awake?” I asked.

“Not yet, but we could all sense your awareness stirring,” Gage admitted. “That’s why we’re all here. We’ll tell them to hold off until tomorrow so you can recover. And… you need time to come to terms with everything that’s happened.”

His words filled me with a sense of dread. What else was there besides my wolf going feral and unleashing my magic in an uncontrolled fashion yet again? The first time, it had been my Odinswolf magic that had lashed out and killed my aunt. Now, my witchfire had harmed my friend. But… Gage implied there was more I needed to process.

Sensing my unease, Heath tried to lighten the mood.

He grinned over at Rowan. “Ironwood wants to pay their respects to their new alpha pair.”

I caught the uncertainty in Rowan’s gaze. He and I were so well connected now that I didn’t even have to ask.

“You never wanted to rule Frost Fang with Gage. Claiming you as the alpha pair… I was too hasty.”

“I’m not upset at you. I just… don’t want to rule this place. I don’t want to stay here.”

“Neither do I,” Rowan admitted.

“If neither of you wants to stay here, then we won’t,” Gage said.

I startled, suddenly realizing that not only had Gage heard my words through the mate bond, he’d somehow also heard Rowan’s… while in human form.

“How…?” I wondered.

“We’re your Bonded now, which seems to come with a magic all its own,” Rowan explained silently, with no trace of bitterness or anger in his words. It was hard to believe he’d come so far, no longer hating me for my witch bloodline. “The Bonded link expanded your mate bond to include us all the moment you claimed Gage.”

I gasped, thrilled that I now shared a mate bond with all four of them, and that it somehow also connected them, too. Rowan’s eyes dropped to my collarbone, no doubt remembering that the same rune on my collarbone also graced his face. Perhaps he’d finally come to terms with that, as well.

“This stronger Bonded connection we share now works like the pack bond in any form.” Strangely, Gage didn’t sound pleased by that.

Unaware of our three-way mental conversation, Heath rubbed my back. “Tomorrow, the Ironwood alpha pair impresses everyone with how regal they look.”

“We don’t need to impress anyone,” Rowan grumbled. “I already impressed them when I tore out their old pack alpha’s throat.”

Pride warmed me as I remembered how Rowan had acted without hesitation to defend me. He would never aspire to be pack alpha, but that hadn’t given him pause. He’d decisively taken out Luka for me. Despite the need to remove my childhood enemy, I hadn’t been able to follow through. But Rowan had done what I could not.

Which reminded me… “How did you shift?”

“Your heat broke,” Rowan said.

Heath added, “And if you’d shifted before you fell unconscious, you probably would’ve healed faster.”

Flint shrugged. “We can’t be sure, since you were suffering from magical backlash.”

Gage came over and tilted my face up toward his, his knuckle under my chin just like old times. I searched his eyes. Letting my love for him flow, I felt his love in return across the new two-way mate bond.

“You claimed me at last,” he whispered.

“I did,” I smiled, pushing my joy to him through the bond so he would know I would have done so regardless of my heat. “You’re mine.”

Desire filled his gaze, and he leaned in to kiss me, plundering my mouth with his. My body warmed, but nothing like when my heat had hit. I could choose to give in or ignore it. But with the way Gage was kissing me, I strongly favored giving in.

A knock at the door ruined the moment.

“You’re ours,” Gage whispered along my lips. “No matter what happens, remember that.”

His eyes dropped to my collarbone just as Rowan’s had earlier.

“I’m yours,” I agreed.

Gage stepped back and adjusted himself in his slacks. Then he answered the door. I was surprised to see it was Bretton.

“Alpha, there’s a lot to discuss—”

“I’m sure there is, Bretton.” Gage glanced over his shoulder at me, his heated gaze holding a promise.

“Later, we’ll remind you exactly how you’re ours,” his low voice promised in my head.

Heat instantly pooled between my thighs. I wondered if he and Heath planned to ‘punish’ me for joining the fight.

“But first, send Fern in.”

Heath and Flint slid up to sit beside me on the bed but didn’t leave my side. That left Gage and Rowan to tower over the beta when she arrived a few minutes later. My headache still pulsed behind my eyes, so I closed them and rested my head on Flint’s shoulder.

I must have dozed off, because I came to with Gage’s angry words ringing in my ears and restrained fury across the mate bond.

“...could have gotten yourself killed. Or worse, put your brother in danger by trying to protect you.”

“Pack alpha, I—” Fern’s voice trembled.

“What were you thinking?” Gage demanded. “You were ordered to stay in Frost Fang for good reason. A beta like you had no business being in that fight.”

Fern’s dour expression indicated she didn’t approve of being reminded of her status. But instead of answering Gage, she glared at her littermate.

“I never expected my brother to flaunt his power like other alphas.”

Flint froze beside me. “What do you mean, sister?”

“I thought you were different.” She nodded at Gage. “Instead, you’re like them, taking more territory, seizing more power.”

“That’s not what happened,” I growled, lifting my head from Flint’s shoulder.

My wolf paced inside of me, and I tried to soothe her. Now wasn’t the time for violence. We needed to win over Fern, not make her distrust us even more.

“Isn’t it?” Fern asked. “You intentionally baited Pack Alpha Luka, didn’t you?”

Why did I suddenly feel like I was on the losing side of an argument? Gage’s anger grew, and I wondered how Fern failed to sense her pack alpha’s restraint on the verge of breaking. The air itself felt thick and dangerous.

I answered, trying to diffuse the situation. “He would’ve attacked anyway.”

“I guess we’ll never know.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to her,” Heath warned through our bond. “Let Gage handle her.”

His fingers wove through my hair, massaging my scalp. The rhythmic motion soothed my headache somewhat.

“You’re not here to make accusations,” Gage growled at Fern. “You’re here to answer for your disobedience.”

Hearing him say “disobedience” made my body heat with memories of their sexy punishments, but it had the opposite effect on Fern. It was like he’d thrown a bucket of cold water on her anger. She bowed her head, seeming to gather herself before answering.

“I only wanted to… prove myself worthy,” Fern said.

The slight hesitation in her words made me think she’d come to the fight for a different reason. I sensed Gage and Heath’s suspicion over the bond as well.

“By disobeying a direct order?” Gage’s voice held steel.

She kept her head bowed. “I apologize, alphas, for disobeying you. I feared for my brother’s safety, and if my meager contributions to the fight could help, I couldn’t possibly stay away.”

“This is the last time I will tolerate your disobedience, Fern,” Gage warned.

I felt both Flint and Heath tense, but Heath shook his head. They would let Gage handle this, as Frost Fang pack alpha.

“Understood, alpha,” Fern choked out.

“But you’re here now, and Ironwood knows you’re here.” Gage gave an alpha command, “You will obey me without question and do nothing to show your earlier disobedience. In fact, you will join us at Ironwood’s feast, along with Bretton, as visiting allies from Frost Fang. Let everyone see Frost Fang as a unified front, and I will consider going light on your punishment when we return to our packlands.”

I found it interesting how he referred to Frost Fang as ‘our packlands.’ We now controlled Ironwood as well, so who did he mean when he said ‘when we return’? Things were getting complicated, fast.

“Of course, alpha,” Fern gripped her hands in front of her. “I’m grateful for the invite to the feast.”

“You’re dismissed.” Gage said to Fern. “And remember, next time—”

“There won’t be a next time,” Fern promised. Her throat worked as though the words were hard for her to spit out. “You’ve reminded me of my place, alpha.”

Gage stared at the door after she left, a fist clenched at his side.

“That could’ve gone better,” he said across our new link.

“I need to speak to her,” Flint said. “She distrusts us. She’s… not like the girl I remember.”

“A lot has changed since you took the fall for her,” Heath growled in our minds. His protectiveness for Flint was touching.

“She’s had to survive under Garth’s rule, then Nira’s while we were gone,” Flint reminded him. “She’s clearly suffered under alphas more than we realized. We just need to show her things can change.”

“Things are changing,” Gage growled. “It will take time, and she is unwilling to see that.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Flint said just as a knock sounded on the door.

“Come,” Gage called, and Bretton poked his head back inside. “Is now a good time?” he asked, holding up a slip of paper.

Gage glanced uneasily at the other three alphas, and that got my attention.

“What is it?”

Bretton took my question as permission to step inside. He closed the door behind himself.

“Pack alphas, before you left for the ambush, a messenger named Philipe arrived. He chose to leave when he learned you wouldn’t be back for several days, but he insisted on writing down everything he had learned up to that point. I have the message here.”

My heart leaped into my throat. “What message? Is it about my parents?”

Bretton raised the paper to read it. “Yes. Philipe belonged to Nightsinger, a pack that used to trade with the Winter Wind.”

“The same pack Ingrid belonged to,” Heath mused. “Perhaps they knew one another.”

I’d forgotten that Ingrid, our late informant, had said she was from Nightsinger, and that’s how she’d known my uncle, Liam. She’d been there when Liam brought me to Nightsinger to escape the fall of the Winter Wind pack.

“I… didn’t ask,” Bretton said slowly. “Who’s Ingrid?”

“Another packmate Nira killed,” Gage growled.

Bretton’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean my late packmate, Ingrid? I wasn’t aware she was originally from Nightsinger.”

“She was. But go on. What else does the message say?”

My mates’ attention sharpened through the bond.

Bretton’s attention settled on me. “Philipe claimed your father, Preston, was a powerful mage who helped defend the Winter Wind pack. But when Denraider struck, Preston and your mother’s other mates died protecting her. But before that happened, Preston arranged for you to be hidden away. He knew Denraider would target you because of your mixed heritage.”

That much I knew already from Ingrid.

“Did the messenger say anything about my sister?” I asked.

“Only that your mother’s first little girl was sent away before Preston arrived to the Winter Wind. She was… part of a treaty of some kind.”

“A treaty… with whom?” Heath’s eyes narrowed, and I could feel his sinking suspicion through the bond.

“Philipe wrote ‘another pack,’ but didn’t specify.”

Rowan nodded. “It must have been Denraider. Especially if this messenger said Denraider would target Freya.”

Ingrid had likewise suspected Denraider, but she hadn’t known for sure, either.

“Who else would they have needed a treaty with that would involve sacrificing their daughter?” Gage growled.

“Is she still there?” I asked, horrified.

I’d heard so many bad things about the pack that had conquered so many other shifters.

Bretton’s eyes scanned the page. “Philipe doesn’t know her current whereabouts. That’s part of why he left… to continue seeking answers. I paid him so he could get back to work.”

“Thank you,” Gage and Heath said simultaneously.

Bretton hesitated, then said, “Pack alphas, if I may… poking around Denraider is inadvisable. We can’t ask anyone to risk their lives doing so.”

“Of course, it’s inadvisable,” Rowan growled.

“They’re a powder keg waiting to ignite,” Heath agreed.

“Did Philipe say that’s where he’s going next?” Gage asked.

“No, but—”

“Then we’ll see what he discovers on his own next time,” Gage interrupted. “Anything else?”

Bretton scanned the note. “I’ll leave it for you all to read, but Freya, he suggested that you learn more about your mage heritage. He said there are others who would help teach you, if you seek them out.”

“A strange thing for a wolf shifter to say,” Flint mused.

I nodded, processing this new information about my past. About the parents I couldn’t remember, the parents I would never get to speak to. Ingrid had said my mother and all her mates were likely dead, but having it confirmed by a second person crushed my spirits.

“Thank you, Bretton.” Gage nodded to him.

“If you have time, there are a few other things the other alphas wish to bring to your attention. I have a list…”

Gage took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “We’ll do that elsewhere. Let’s give Freya the room so she can visit with her friend and mother.”

Bretton nodded and glanced at the clock. “Willow should be here any minute.” He smiled at me. “Your friend has been checking back every three hours.”

Gage turned toward me, and I rose to stand so I could kiss him. When Gage allowed Bretton to lead him away, Rowan and Heath also made their escape. I felt Rowan’s restlessness in the mate bond and knew he would go for a run.

While Flint and I waited for Willow, I curled up on the bed to rest my eyes and my head. Flint kneeled on the floor so he could kiss my face without leaning over. He ran his fingers through my hair a few times, and before I knew it, I’d dozed off.

A soft knock startled me awake, and Flint answered the door. I felt like a queen in an audience chamber, like how Gage received petitioners in the throne room back at Frost Fang, except my throne was this soft bed.

Willow ducked her head, avoiding Flint’s gaze, and my heart sank. Dark bags circled her eyes, her bandaged limbs seemed thin, and her reddish blond hair lay limp and stringy.

I sat up, and she came to my bedside, reaching out to hold my hand.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my voice hoarse from sleep and sadness. “I never meant to...”

“Shh,” she said. “That bastard used me as a shield. You did what you had to do.”

Her bandaged arms broke my heart. Even as a low-ranking wolf in Ironwood, she’d always stood by me, ensuring I wasn’t alone. I’d repaid her kindness with pain.

“The burns will heal,” she assured me. “Our new pack alpha told me so himself, and showed me his scars.”

The mate bond told me Rowan was already outside in wolf form, probably trying to regain some semblance of normalcy himself. His concern and protectiveness washed over me when he sensed my attention.

“I should go,” Willow said, rising. “There’s a feast tomorrow to celebrate… well, you. I need to help with preparations.”

“You’re not omega anymore,” I growled. “None of our packmates will be treated that way ever again.”

She smiled, but uncertainty lingered in her eyes. “Things are changing so fast. You’re mated to alphas… and now Luka is gone…”

Her smile faded, too brittle and careful to last long. It was the kind of smile that spoke of years of fear and abuse.

“Things will get better now, Willow. I don’t want you serving anyone at the feast. You should rest and recover.”

“By order of the alpha pair?” The corner of her lip twitched up.

I smiled. “If it needs to be.”

Before she could leave, Flint softly called her name.

Willow jerked as if pulled by strings, then bowed her head to the alpha who outranked her.

“Yes, alpha?”

“As Freya’s friend, you now hold a special place in the pack. Would you do us the honor of sitting with us at the feast tomorrow?”

Willow gasped and looked over at me. “At the alphas’ table? I… I couldn’t.”

“You can, and you will.” I got up and gave her a gentle hug. “If you want to.”

Willow glanced over at Flint, as though expecting to be laughed at or beaten for daring to think she could sit at the alphas’ table.

“If it’s no trouble… I would love to.”

“No trouble,” Flint assured her. “We would be honored to have Freya’s oldest friend sitting with us during the celebration.”

Willow’s lips pursed, and she still didn’t look convinced.

I longed to put my friend at ease. “And if you need anything before then… or if anyone gives you trouble, just come to any of us. Me or my mates. Things are about to change.”

“Okay.” She nodded, and straightened her shoulders, as if being given permission helped her regain some of her pride. “See you both tomorrow.”

“See you there,” I answered.

Flint opened the door, and as Willow left, another familiar scent reached me — my adoptive mother. The woman who’d taken me in when I was first brought to Ironwood entered hesitantly.

“Mother,” I said softly.

Kaydence dipped her head in deference to the alpha in the room. She lingered in the doorway, her shoulders tight with tension.

“I… I wanted to see for myself that you were alright.”

When I reached for her hand, she flinched away. The motion stabbed at my heart, but I understood. She’d heard of what my uncontrolled magic could do.

“I won’t hurt you,” I whispered.

Flint’s love and admiration washed over me through the mate bond, and I silently pushed my gratitude toward him.

“I know you wouldn’t mean to,” she said, wringing her hands. “But that power… Freya, I always knew you were a hybrid, I just thought you were half human. Not half…”

She couldn’t bring herself to even say the word. It reminded me that most wolf shifters considered witches their natural enemies.

Even though she knew me, she didn’t feel safe around me. And as a low-ranking wolf here in Ironwood, she’d undergone many of the hardships Brooke, Willow, and I had suffered.

“Remember how Willow and I used to talk about leaving Ironwood?” I asked after a beat of awkward silence.

She smiled wistfully. “I’m glad you finally did it.”

“Well… I ended up in Frost Fang, which still has problems of its own,” I admitted.

And now that Gage was pack alpha of one pack and Rowan another, I wasn’t sure exactly what I would do. If I were going back to Frost Fang, I’d offer for Willow and Kaydence to come back with me. However, a potentially better option existed… especially since my mother might not want to be around me now that she knew my true heritage.

“But… there’s another pack. It’s in the mountains north of here. I believe they would accept you if you went there.”

“What’s your plan, moonbeam?” Flint quietly asked.

“Do you think Hugo and Idori would accept her?”

“I don’t see why not,” Flint said. “Luka is dead, the threat of Ironwood is neutralized, and you can vouch for her.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “If you’d like, I can arrange for you to move to the Moonblessed pack. Start fresh somewhere without all these memories.”

Relief flooded her features, followed quickly by guilt. “You would do that?”

“Of course. You took care of me when no one else would. Let me take care of you now.”

She nodded, still not meeting my eyes. “Thank you. I’ll consider it. I should let you rest before the feast.”

As she hurried away, I closed my eyes against fresh tears. Through our bond, I felt Rowan’s desire to comfort me warring with his need for nature.

“I’m fine, Rowan. Flint is with me.”

“I’m only a thought away if you need me,” my dark wolf answered.

I never would’ve believed our victory would cost me the only mother I’d ever known. But I would make it right. At the feast, I would make the same offer to Willow and any other Ironwood wolves who wanted a fresh start. We would build something better from the ashes of what we’d destroyed.

My new family — my mates — would help me forge a path forward. And maybe one day, my adoptive mother would see past her fear to the daughter who still loved her.

As the door closed, I met Flint’s concerned gaze.

“I need to learn to control my magic.”

I didn’t want another witchfire incident. Especially considering Rowan, Gage, and Flint had all recently suffered witchfire burns. I feared trying to practice using magic without guidance… Who knew what might happen? My magic could come out of its own accord.

As Flint had put it, with Ironwood neutralized, Moonblessed would no doubt welcome us back with open arms. But perhaps Brielle wasn’t the right person to teach me magic. Her teaching style didn’t mesh with me or something.

“I need a new teacher,” I mused.

“We’ll help you find one, moonbeam,” Flint promised. Then he added, “After you’re rested.”

He closed the door, took my hands, and pulled me back over to the bed. He was right. I felt exhausted after all the conversations today… with my mates, with Bretton, Fern, Willow, and my mother. If this was what it meant to be leader of the pack, I didn’t want it.

I settled back against Flint’s chest, letting his love wash over me. So much had changed — I was now co-leader of two different packs, my wolf finally ran free, my magic had awakened, and somewhere out there, my sister might still be alive.

But I had my four mates — my Bonded — by my side. Together, we could handle anything.

My eyes drifted closed, and dreams pulled me into a deep slumber. They took me far from Ironwood, Frost Fang, or Moonblessed, to lands I’d never seen before, to a man I thought I recognized. A glowing silver rune illuminated his deep black skin. He seemed so familiar…