Chapter 29 - Freya

Chapter 29

Freya

The next day became a whirlwind of Ironwood betas helping us prepare for the feast. Unfamiliar Ironwood ladies helped me get dressed in an outfit Heath brought to me. The dress had an asymmetrical design, with one side longer and the other side featuring a hip-high slit. For now, they left my hair down across my back and chest, saying the hair stylists would deal with me after they made sure the dress fit properly.

My reflection in the mirror surprised me. After the wolfsbane coma, I’d been thin and pasty, with deep shadows under my eyes. But now, I’d recovered my muscle definition, and my eyes looked… different. Lightning sparked across my blue irises, and I startled.

“What is it, moonbeam?”

“I always thought I was imagining it… seeing storm clouds in Brielle’s eyes. But I wasn’t imagining it, was I?”

Flint pulled my hands to his chest and stared deep into my eyes. “This changes nothing. We all love you just the same.”

“Even Rowan?” I asked.

“Even Rowan,” he agreed. “Didn’t he prove that when he took down Luka?”

Using my heat as bait had worked, but things hadn’t entirely gone to plan. Still, we’d come out on top.

“But I used witchfire.”

Flint shook his head. “You were trying to defend us. And you were feral. There’s nothing for you to feel guilty about.”

Next, another set of Ironwood women I’d never met claimed me, pulling me into another dressing room filled with all kinds of hair accessories. They argued back and forth over what hair piece I should wear. The bustling women finally agreed to fix my hair in an amazing up-do I never could’ve done on my own. As soon as they pulled my hair up off my shoulders, that’s when I noticed it.

My panic lanced across the bonds before I could stop it.

“Freya?” Flint asked, his voice worried.

“Why do I see a fifth rune…?” I couldn’t even finish my sentence.

Before, two ansuz runes had appeared under each of my collarbones, one for each of my alpha mates. I now spotted two on the right and three on my left.

The door to the dressing room flew open, revealing all three of my other mates, their eyes wild. All the beta women instantly scattered, knowing better than to stand in their way.

Flint waved down the other alphas. “She just noticed the fifth rune.”

Seeing their various reactions told me more than even the bond could. Gage’s shoulders fell. Heath’s gaze sharpened on me as his lips pursed, and Rowan’s eyes held a wariness I’d hoped never to see there again.

“Do you remember any of your dreams during the heat?” Gage asked, slowly approaching me as if I were a wild animal.

I frowned, then glanced over at Heath as he tensed up. His unease met us in the bond.

“I barely remember anything from the heat… until I found myself outside, holding those two wolves in midair.”

My voice warbled, and Heath grabbed my hand. “They deserved what they got, my feral little wolf.”

“My wolf… Even though I couldn’t shift, she took over.”

“Because you were feral,” Gage squeezed my other hand. “She wanted to protect her mates. You did the right thing.”

I swallowed, then met Gage’s eyes. “But as for dreams, no. I don’t think so.”

“You cried out during your sleep, like you did before, during your first heat. The fifth rune appeared then.”

I had no recollection. I wanted to ask more, but before I could, we all turned as we heard rapid footsteps approaching down the hall, heels clicking on the tile floor.

“Where did the alphas go?” someone called from the hallway. “Oh…” she said in surprise when she noticed the state of the dressing room door.

She poked her head in warily, then smiled kindly when she saw all of us together. I’d never interacted with her before, so I didn’t recognize her.

“Alphas?” she called. “I have your suits ready.”

My wolf didn’t feel a drop of jealousy. She’d already claimed her four mates, and they still carried the lingering scent of my heat, as well as my bite and my witch mark. This beta couldn’t hold a candle to me.

I wanted to discuss this fifth rune more, but my mates seemed to know little more about it than I did. It could wait until after tonight’s feast.

“Go get dressed,” I said. “We can talk later.”

Heath gave me a guilty look as they left. His words echoed in my mind. “We didn’t want to overwhelm you with everything at once.”

“I get it. We’ll talk more after the feast.”

The guys went with the beta to get ready while my hair stylists returned to arguing around me. I only absently paid attention as I reflected on everything that had happened recently.

Later, I would want to learn more about our new Bonded connection with my mates… as well as this mysterious fifth rune. Was it somehow connected with the man I’d dreamed of last night?

Dream fragments surfaced, but I couldn’t seem to hold onto any of them. All I remembered were dark eyes watching me. A cool undertone deepened the man’s smooth black skin, and his lips parted to say something I never caught.

And on his cheekbone… an ansuz rune that matched all the others on my mates’ faces.

I’d told Heath we would talk later, but I couldn’t help it when my private thought escaped along our Bonded connection.

“Do I have a fifth mate?”

None of the guys immediately replied, probably trying to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. It was Flint who answered.

“It seems so, moonbeam. But we don’t know where to find him.”

Flint’s reassurances poured to me as the others leaked concern, frustration, and wariness across the bond. I echoed these emotions right back at them… including reassurance. Even if I had a fifth mate, it wouldn’t change how I felt about any of them.

Later in the day, Flint and Heath returned to me. I very much enjoyed seeing Heath in a suit once again. He wore it with the confidence of a natural ruler. Flint had incorporated colorful beadwork into his lapels, and when I got closer, I noticed the small pins that affixed them there. He braided back his long, beautiful hair, leaving me to ogle him.

I took a long moment to admire my men as their gazes raked across my body as well.

“Gorgeous,” Flint said.

Heath smirked. “That dress looks even better on you than I imagined.”

“As handsome as you both are…” I started, “I can’t wait to see you out of all of that.”

Flint grinned as Heath said, “Ditto, little witch.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “You can’t call me that.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t have a coven, remember?”

He shrugged. “You were my little wolf before. Little witch sounds better than ‘little mage’ you know.”

“Well, don’t call me that in front of Ironwood. They’ve never seen another type of shifter besides a wolf shifter, let alone the other species. They don’t need reminded of how weird I am.”

“I think it’s too late to worry about being judged for our weirdness.” Heath laughed, gesturing to the rune on his face.

Flint raised my hand, bowing over it and kissing the back. “You are perfect the way you are, moonbeam. And we’ll make sure everyone knows it.”

After we’d dressed, Flint and Heath escorted me out of the alpha residence. I knew it was important to show that we were in charge, and that was best accomplished by doing what the pack expected their pack alphas to do, but I hated being there.

I didn’t expect to hate being in the pack house even more. So many memories haunted this place — times when Willow and I had done our best to serve Pack Alpha Jameson, his son and heir Luka, and visiting alphas from other towns in the pack, or even visiting alphas from other packs.

We’d always been mistreated, no matter how hard we tried to serve them perfectly. Neither the pack alpha nor his son directly interacted with us when others could see — we were too far beneath their station. But the punishments usually came after the meal, delivered by betas or lower-ranked wolves who were eager not to take our place as the omega slaves of the pack.

“Three of our new leaders, Heath, Flint, and Freya,” a herald announced just before we stepped inside the biggest room in the pack house.

The familiar decorations made me shiver. Flint and Heath squeezed in tighter to me on either side. I took a deep breath, and their scents kept me from dwelling too much in the past. Now I was one of the pack alphas, and I would prevent anyone from enduring what Brooke, Willow, and I went through.

Tightly arranged tables stood perpendicular to the raised main table where the alphas always sat.

“They wanted Rowan at the head, but he insisted we’re all equals,” Heath whispered as we approached the long table.

The two of them helped me up the stairs, since the alphas’ table loomed over the rest upon a raised dais. It had been set with ten place settings, and Flint and Heath marched me right up to the center one. With my back to the wall, I felt safe, even when the two of them peeled off, leaving an empty seat to either side of me.

I followed their lead and didn’t sit down yet. Instead, I nervously stared down at all the upturned faces of Ironwood wolves. Some I recognized, but many I did not. All of them remained respectfully on their feet.

From the side door, a herald announced, “Frost Fang Pack Alpha Gage and Ironwood Pack Alpha Rowan.”

Several moments of tense silence passed while we waited for Gage and Rowan to make their grand entrance.

“Putting them all in their place,” Heath laughed in my head. Then he broadcast to all five of us, “C’mon, we’re all starving!”

Gage and Rowan entered the room side by side, in perfect lockstep, and they marched up the dais stairs the same way. It was an awe-inspiring presentation, and it wouldn’t have been possible without my mate bonds pulling them into my Bonded circle. I desperately needed to learn more about my witch half.

Rowan came to sit between me and Heath, while Gage came to sit between me and Flint.

“And now we sit,” Gage said in our minds, “in three, two, one.”

All five of us sat down in one smooth motion. Both Gage and Rowan turned to push in my chair before scooting their own chairs up.

“Bring in our guests of honor,” Rowan called.

The herald announced, “Lee, Ironwood alpha.”

Looking as tired and haggard as always, Lee came to sit across from Heath. I had never interacted with Lee much. In general, I’d tried to minimize my time around Ironwood alphas as much as possible.

“Thatcher, Ironwood alpha,” the herald announced next.

The next alpha came in. He looked distinctly uncomfortable in his tight-fitting suit, and it was no wonder why. His muscular body seemed restricted in its movements as though it might burst free of the fabric’s constraints at any moment. He carefully picked his way across the dais to sit in front of Rowan.

When he passed, I got a whiff of him, and instantly recognized him as Thatcher, the wolf who’d fought and killed Ryan at our Frost Fang border. He’d helped orchestrate our trap, and it seemed to have worked perfectly, because here we all were.

“Willow… of Ironwood,” the herald announced with a somewhat nervous note in his voice. “And Bretton and Fern of Frost Fang.”

Murmurs rose throughout the room as Ironwood wolves talked amongst themselves about our chosen ‘guests of honor.’

“I already told them there would be no more omegas in Ironwood,” Rowan leaned over to whisper to me.

I put my hand over his. “Thank you.”

Bretton escorted Willow and Fern up the stairs as they each held their gowns in one hand. Willow’s eyes were bright, and she had a healthy glow to her, as though she’d gotten the best night’s sleep of a lifetime. She came to sit in front of me as Fern sat in front of Flint. Bretton pushed in both their chairs before taking his own in front of Gage.

“Welcome,” Gage said quietly to our five guests, only two of whom were alphas.

“Be seated,” Rowan called down to the rest of the pack below, and more voices rose as the pack talked amongst themselves while taking their assigned places.

“Willow, how are you feeling?” I asked.

“I’m fine, Freya,” she said. “More than fine, actually. It’s amazing what proper meals and hours and hours of uninterrupted sleep can do for a shifter.”

I smiled and reached out a hand to her as attendants came in to serve us. I instantly recognized one of them as Mara, who’d enjoyed hurting Willow and me for our mistakes when serving the alphas. It took effort not to growl when she passed by my mates.

As she and the other low-ranked attendant served our food, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. The rest of the table was talking, but I didn’t hear a word of it.

When Mara passed Willow’s chair, I heard her whisper, “Omega bitch.”

Willow whimpered, her shoulders rounding with remembered beatings. But I snarled and got to my feet.

“Remove Mara from our sight,” I growled, my voice raised so everyone in the room could hear.

Every fiber in my body trembled as I fought against the urge to demand Mara be treated as the omega slave. If we wanted to make Ironwood different, it had to start here.

To my surprise, Lee and Thatcher instantly leaped to their feet to carry out my order… even though my command had no alpha weight to it. The room broke out into loud discussions, and Rowan rose to his feet beside me.

“Silence!” he growled.

Silverware clinked against plates and chairs creaked, but all voices ceased.

“No more omega slaves in Ironwood, as I have commanded.” He paused as if letting that sink in, but he glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “But that alone is not enough. We will tolerate no further abuse from higher-ranking pack members to lower-ranked ones.”

He looked down at me, and I took a breath before sitting back down and letting him push my seat in again.

Gage raised his voice next. “Yes, alphas are more dominant than betas, and betas are more dominant than the rest, but that shows each wolf where they belong. Alphas serve their pack as protectors. Betas handle administration and other business to keep the pack running. Meanwhile, lower-ranked wolves carry out the labor. Each has their place. Together, we all create a powerful pack.”

He let his words sink in, and then Rowan gestured at the attendants to bring back out the food.

“Now, carry on,” Heath called.

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to do this,” Rowan grumbled under his breath.

Willow glanced from Rowan to Gage, and then over to my other alphas, before coming back to me. “Your mates are amazing.”

That startled a chuckle out of me. “Thanks, Will. I’m sorry that bitch still tried to torment you.”

She shrugged, staring down at her plate as the attendant brought out a steaming basket of rolls. “Well, nothing changes overnight.”

She was right, and I wondered if she wanted to find a fresh start somewhere else.

“Willow… You know how we used to dream of what life might be like outside Ironwood?”

I glanced down the table to see Flint giving me a nod of encouragement.

“A friend named Shante lives in the Moonblessed pack,” I told Willow. “I think you two would get along great. If the Howling Echo pack hadn’t taken me in, I would’ve gladly joined the Moonblessed pack.”

“Seeing the world beyond Ironwood… it’s always been out of reach,” Willow said carefully, casting a sideways glance at the empty chairs where Lee and Thatcher had been sitting.

Admitting we wanted to leave packlands under Jameson’s rule would’ve gotten us whipped for sure. Old habits died hard, and Willow still felt the need to be careful around Ironwood alphas. I didn’t blame her, because I felt much the same way. Lee and Thatcher didn’t trigger me, though, because I’d never really been around them much when I’d lived here. But if they’d done something to Willow…

“Did those two ever hurt you?” I asked her quietly.

“What?” Willow sat back in her chair, stunned. “Thatcher and Lee? No, they were… trying to change things around here. As much as they could, anyway. But… maybe I could forget about everything that happened here if I lived far away.”

I reached over and grabbed Willow’s hand, just below the bandage on her arms. “I’ll let Shante know you’re coming, and she’ll take good care of you. Then you can decide what happens next.”

Tears formed in Willow’s eyes, and she visibly gulped. “Thank you, Freya. I… I never blamed you, you know? At first, I was just glad you survived the wildlands. And later, I was happy for you, that you got out.”

“I know.” I squeezed her hand, uncertain how to end the awkward moment.

Luckily, Gage passed a bowl of vegetables to me, and I piled some on my plate as Willow accepted a serving platter from Bretton beside her. When the meat came around, Gage lifted a pile of beef tenderloin off the serving tray and placed it on my plate. Then he heaped roasted lamb and a whole pork chop on my plate next.

“You need to rebuild your strength,” he growled when I tried to protest.

Willow hid her grin behind her hand, and together, we dug into a meal we could have never imagined eating before.

“I never expected to sit up here,” Willow admitted when she took a breath, sitting back to digest for a bit.

“Me neither,” Fern said from the other side of Bretton.

“Did you send the Frost Fang alphas back to the pack?” I asked Gage.

“Yes, after you fell unconscious, they escorted us here to make sure Ironwood properly submitted. With a massive caravan of unified Ironwood and Frost Fang vehicles, we got here in record time. Once everything was under control here, I sent the Frost Fang alphas back to relieve Astrid and her packmates.”

“And we got to stay behind,” Fern muttered, elbowing Bretton.

Gage had ordered them to stay with us for different reasons, as I’d seen yesterday, but I didn’t point that out.

“We’re here to show Ironwood that these alphas are different,” Bretton responded. “They don’t just keep council with other alphas, but wolves from the entire hierarchy.” He motioned toward Willow as proof.

Thatcher and Lee returned to the table, ending the conversation.

“Don’t worry,” Lee said. “We took out the trash.”

“Thank you,” Willow said, keeping her eyes averted.

“So, what are we calling the five of you, anyway?” Fern asked. “The alpha quintet?”

Her question seemed light and teasing, perhaps to make up for her missteps yesterday… but it felt forced.

“You mean, since we’re clearly more than an alpha pair?” Gage asked, his motions slow and steady, like a predator taking measure of his prey.

“Right, and it’s not like she’s actually a real alpha anyway,” Fern pointed at me with her fork, and I glared at her.

“She’s our leader,” Bretton growled, “and you will treat her as such.”

“Yes,” Thatcher called, pulling my attention toward his side of the table. “What should we call the leader and her four mates?”

I chuckled at his obvious flattery.

“Queen,” Gage suggested. “She’s always been my princess, but to the rest of you, she’s your queen.”

“The alpha queen and her kings?” Flint said doubtfully. “It’s a mouthful.”

“The alpha monarchs? The monarch alphas?” Lee tossed out.

“Sounds like a type of butterfly,” Rowan growled. “No.”

“I could go for the supreme alphas,” Heath grinned.

“Also no.”

“Alpha leaders? That’s more neutral,” Thatcher pondered.

“You five were the Howling Echo before,” Bretton pointed out. “How about the Echo Leaders? So there’s less confusion with Freya.”

“And Freya can still be our queen,” Gage smirked. “The Echo Queen.”

“If you want to be poetic, let’s call her the Moon Queen,” Flint suggested. “And we’ll be her Lunar Alphas.”

I laughed. “These are getting more and more outrageous.”

“The Queen of the Howl!” Heath added.

“And her Apex Alphas,” Gage leaned forward, looking down the table at Heath.

“Let’s not forget who claimed the pack alpha title here,” Rowan grumbled.

“You have a better idea, Pack Alpha Rowan?” Gage asked.

Rowan raised one eyebrow. “Let’s keep it simple. We’re all five pack alphas.”

Gage laughed. “The pack alpha has spoken!”

I leaned over to kiss Gage on the cheek, but he turned, claiming my lips for all to see. When he pulled back, his eyes danced with joy. “My queen.”

I reached over and squeezed his thigh. “I like seeing you like this,” I said quietly. He tilted his head, so I added, “Carefree and happy.”

Then I turned to Rowan, who sensed my desires in the mate bond and leaned in for a kiss. Cheers went up from some of the Ironwood wolves, and my heart raced.

I glanced over at Willow, who was grinning. “They’re happy someone from Ironwood is in charge, I think.”

I shook my head. I’d told Gage I didn’t want his authority — I didn’t want to rule over Frost Fang. The same was true now of Ironwood.

And through the mate bond, I felt an echo of my reluctance from Rowan. He didn’t want this, either. He’d wanted to see the man who’d allowed and caused so much of my torment to die. If that forced him to rule, then so be it. He would hate every minute, but that was pack law.

“What are we going to do?” I whispered as I pushed food around on my plate.

All eyes at the table turned toward me.

“Ironwood is too far from Frost Fang,” I pointed out. “If Rowan is here, and you’re there…” I turned to Gage. “It’ll break my heart.”

Gage took my hand. “I’d give it all up for you, my queen. Just say the word.”

My brows furrowed. “You mean… You’d give up Frost Fang? To stay in Ironwood?”

I glanced over and saw horror written on Bretton’s face, and a confused bewilderment on Fern’s.

“You grew up here,” Gage said. “Your mother lives here. We’ll all understand if you feel more comfortable here in Ironwood than in Frost Fang.”

“But… you all grew up there,” I pointed out. “Except Rowan, I guess.”

“And they exiled us,” Flint said.

“And Ironwood exiled me.”

Willow smiled triumphantly. “Yet here you are, ruling the place.”

I sighed. None of this felt right to me. When I’d lived here, I’d been a prisoner of my circumstances, a refugee who couldn’t even remember her origins, then, later, a worthless shifter who couldn’t shift. Now my circumstances conspired to trap me here again.

Bretton didn’t want us to give up Frost Fang. My mates would let me decide. So the question became: could I give up Ironwood?

I turned to look at the other end of the table. Thatcher and Lee hadn’t spoken.

“What about them?” The words escaped before I’d given them much thought.

Willow’s head whipped around as she looked at the two alphas, then back at me.

“Are they worthy to lead the pack, Willow?” I asked.

“Tell the truth,” Gage commanded, and I shot a glare his way for using his alpha dominance over her.

“This way they can’t be angry at her for speaking against them… if she does,” he explained. “She can blame it on my command.”

“Like I told Freya,” Willow said, “Thatcher and Lee have been trying to make things better around here. Lee covered for me so I could shift and heal when one of the other alphas backhanded me and knocked me against a wall. I watched Thatcher stand up for some subordinate wolves when another alpha was berating them, and Luka was pissed, too.”

“Good,” Gage said, but Willow wasn’t done. It seemed his command still held.

“Plus, both of them helped get out as many of our packmates as they could to go to Frost Fang packlands… Ryan did his best to spread suspicion about how Frost Fang would turn all subordinate wolves into their omega slaves. He said that if they tried to come back… Luka would exile them to the wildlands. But Thatcher and Lee countered those claims, and some wolves believed them over Ryan.”

“And those alphas… the ones that Thatcher and Lee stood up to,” Gage said. “Tell us who they are.”

“They’re dead,” Thatcher said. “Lucky for us, you killed off all the assholes during the battle.”

“And you’ve exiled the worst of the betas,” Lee added.

Heath leaned forward to smirk over at me. “We were cleaning house while you were indisposed, love. Anyone who ever laid a hand on you is dead like we promised, and we exiled others who abused their positions of authority in the worst ways.”

Inside me, my wolf panted in satisfaction. My mates had killed all my old bullies, enemies, and abusers while I’d recovered.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t do more back when you were here, Freya,” Lee tipped his head to me.

“Your exile came about rather suddenly,” Thatcher added.

“I don’t blame you,” I said. Then I glanced down the table one way and then the other. “I think Grandmother Moon had a hand in it, even though my bond with Luka was all fake. She brought me to these four.”

Something shivered along the Bonded link when I said the word ‘four,’ but it was something I would have to come back to later, when we discussed this mysterious fifth rune.

“If you choose to let us lead the Ironwood pack,” Lee said, “then I will step aside for Thatcher to become pack alpha.”

“What?” Thatcher scooted his chair back as if he wanted to challenge Lee. He remained seated, but all of his muscles tensed as if to leap up any second. “You — what? Why? I always thought you’d be the better leader. Plus, I think you’re slightly more dominant.”

Lee shook his head. “We’re evenly matched and you know it.”

“Flint and I are also your match,” Rowan pointed out. “Yet I became the Ironwood pack alpha, even though Heath and Gage outrank me. As long as the alphas get along, there won’t be dominance battles.”

“That’s right,” Lee gave him a grateful look. “And dominance alone doesn’t make a good leader. Look at the way Luka led. He was more dominant than both of us — barely. Did that make him a good leader?”

“No, but,” Thatcher sputtered. “You—”

“No, you,” Lee interrupted. “You’ve always done your best to try to take care of our packmates, even when Luka was being an idiot. Even when it meant helping them escape our own pack!”

“You did that, too. Everyone will just think that I’m the pack alpha because I kicked your ass or something.”

Lee shrugged. “Let them. It’ll help appearances. Anyone else will think twice before challenging you. And besides, I’ll always have your back, big guy.” He slapped Thatcher’s shoulder. “I’ll be your number one enforcer.”

“Together, you’ll be unstoppable,” Willow pointed out.

Thatcher sighed, as though resigned to his fate, but the beginnings of a smile curled his lips. He was secretly pleased that Lee thought so highly of him.

“So, how do we do this?” I asked the guys.

“Normally, there’s a big ceremony,” Lee started.

“Involving a feast? Where most of the pack are present?” Rowan waved at the assembled pack below.

“Well, yes, but it’s supposed to be held on the full moon.”

“That’s four nights away,” Willow sighed.

“Fuck that,” Heath said just as Gage snorted.

“It’s tradition,” Bretton said. The smirk on his face made me narrow my eyes — it was like he was goading Gage to say something.

“And we don’t stand on tradition, do we, Rowan?” Gage asked of the Ironwood pack alpha.

Fern’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Are you really about to just give up—”

“We really are,” Flint interrupted.

“My Ironwood packmates.” Rowan rose to his feet.

A commotion ensued as some Ironwood wolves decided they better get to their feet as well, and chairs scrapped back all across the room.

“Did I win my position as Ironwood pack alpha by right of combat?” Rowan shouted.

The room shook with a resounding, “Yes, alpha!”

“Then, as Ironwood pack alpha, hear me,” Rowan called. “Tonight I name an Ironwood alpha, Thatcher, as my heir. Does anyone deny his right to succeed me as the next Ironwood pack alpha?”

A slight headache throbbed as I tilted my head, accessing my magic to watch as the Ironwood web changed. Rowan’s tie to them all looked thickest and strongest, while also connecting us to them. And now, his tie to Thatcher thickened as well. A bright glow traveled down the tie from Rowan to Thatcher as the Ironwood pack answered.

“No, alpha,” the Ironwood wolves agreed, but I heard the doubt in many of their voices.

With the five of us to rule, they couldn’t imagine Thatcher ever getting the chance to lead. Until Rowan made his final proclamation as their pack alpha.

“Then, as your pack alpha, I hereby transfer all my authority over the Ironwood pack to my successor and heir. Let it be known that he is your new pack alpha, not me. Arise, Ironwood Pack Alpha Thatcher!”

The link between Rowan and Thatcher grew so bright it nearly blinded me. And in the next instant, it severed, leaving us separated from Ironwood’s web. Now the Howling Echo’s intricate web appeared the strongest. Thinner strands connected us to Bretton and Fern and faded from sight where they linked us to the Frost Fang pack members we hadn’t brought with us.

Lee grabbed Thatcher’s arm and dragged him to his feet to stand before the pack he now ruled. The sound of fabric tearing made me cover my mouth in embarrassment, but it was only Thatcher’s suit sleeve. The new pack alpha reached up and tore off the offending sleeve, then did the same to the other side, along with his shirt sleeves, putting his massive arms on display for the entire pack.

Lee grinned as though it had all gone according to plan. “Does anyone wish to challenge Pack Alpha Thatcher’s right to rule the Ironwood pack?”

The room went silent as everyone looked around. The Ironwood pack had lost numerous alphas in Luka’s desperate attack on us. If they still lived, the alphas from Ironwood’s border towns might be dominant enough to challenge Thatcher. But since all the pack alpha powers had transferred to Rowan upon Luka’s death, and he gave them freely to Thatcher, he could command the entire pack. That wasn’t something to challenge lightly.

“Thank you, Rowan,” Thatcher said. “Then, as my first act as pack alpha, allow me to welcome our visiting allies from the Frost Fang pack. May this be the start of a long-lasting peace between our packs.”

Ironwood packmates began clapping, but Lee raised his voice over the applause.

“And let this feast be in both their honor and in honor of our new pack alpha!” Lee called, and the room broke into cheers.

The alphas all took their seats again, and something inside of me settled peacefully into place.

“I hope you don’t expect your new pack alpha to wear suits all the time,” Thatcher grumbled to Lee.

“Only if he wants to,” Lee chuckled.

“Never again.”

We all shared a laugh, and things felt like they were looking up at last. As I gazed around the room, I recognized some faces from my bloody vision, alive and well. By convincing my mates to ambush Luka during my heat, we’d spared unnecessary bloodshed on both sides. And now our two packs were at peace.

Somehow it felt like that’s exactly what Grandmother Moon had wanted all along.