Chapter 31 - Freya

Chapter 31

Freya

I’d held off telling them about my visions for long enough. But discussing the slaughter I’d envisioned in our peaceful bedroom felt wrong, and I wanted to tell all four of them at once.

So we got cleaned up, and then I asked if we could talk about this outside. All five of us threw on jackets or outerwear, although Flint only zipped up a vest over his naked torso. I led my mates outside for a dark stroll around Frost Fang packlands. Except then, we kept running into people.

“Good evening, pack alphas,” Varden called as we passed.

It seemed he’d found his manners after the day he scoffed when Gage called me princess. A blush rose at the thought of this stocky, tough alpha listening in during my heat as he patrolled around the cabin, waiting for Ironwood.

Flint pulled me to his side and kissed the top of my head, pouring wordless reassurances to me through the bond. I melted against him, grateful for his sweet gesture.

“See, they call us pack alphas,” Heath said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Does this mean we’re not calling Freya ‘Queen of the Howl’ after all?” Flint teased Heath about his outlandish suggestion.

But Gage and Rowan didn’t so much as smile. I’d left them in the lurch, telling them I knew who Zack might be.

“I’m not as familiar with Frost Fang as you three,” I grumbled. “Someone take us somewhere private.”

Heath beckoned. “This way. There’s a ridge where I used to lie back and look at the stars when I needed to be alone.”

“That will be perfect.”

Other Frost Fang wolves — in human and wolf form — paid their respects to the five of us as we walked past. Eventually, we went off the path through a small patch of forest before we reached a rocky incline.

Heath started hiking up a path only he seemed to see, and I picked my way through the rocky terrain after him. Soon, we reached a ridge overlooking our packlands, yet Heath continued on.

At last we reached a grassy patch, and Heath sat down, patting the grass beside him on the gentle slope. I joined him, and the other three circled around me, with Heath and Gage on either side of me and Rowan uphill behind me.

Flint sat downhill from me, then laid back with his head on my lap. I smiled down at him, appreciating the gesture of solidarity. No matter what I had to say, nothing would change between us.

Through the bond, though, I sensed Gage’s wariness, and I hated it. Though I supposed he had every right. This was something I’d been keeping from them.

So, I began, “After the fight against Pandora and her coven… After they removed the curse, I guess I must have fallen asleep. And then I had visions… they weren’t dreams.”

“You were awake?” Flint asked, eyes intent on me.

“Right. They happened after I woke up. When I looked around, time sped up. And then I had the first vision, and it was… terrible, awful. It showed me what would happen if Ironwood attacked as planned. So many were dead. Then I had another vision, and somehow I knew this vision was showing me how to prevent the slaughter I’d seen. That’s the vision that came true — where I convinced you guys to use my heat as bait to draw Luka into a trap.” I reached over and squeezed Gage’s arm. “I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure if it would affect the vision’s outcome… and so many lives were at stake. Frost Fang and Ironwood alike would have died in the pack war.”

“That was a wise decision.” Flint’s voice soothed me as he looked up.

I ran my fingers through his long, beautiful hair. “I still don’t know if telling you would’ve changed the outcome, though.”

“You made the best decision you could,” Heath bumped his shoulder against mine. “That’s what he means.”

I glanced back at Rowan behind me. “You know I would follow you anywhere, lightning bolt. Vision or no. You’re pack.”

His words struck me with a wave of emotion through his bond. Rowan finally felt like he belonged. I’d helped him find his place in the pack. And as long as his packmates were safe, he felt content.

“What does this have to do with Zack?” Gage asked.

He seemed to sit up too straight, and even his voice held a note of tension.

I nodded. “Those weren’t the only two visions I had that night.”

“How did we fail to notice this?” Flint wondered.

“You and Rowan were lying beside me, not exactly looking at me. And besides, it’s not like my eyes rolled back in my head or anything special.”

“Tell us about the third vision,” Gage insisted.

“I stood on a cliff, surrounded by darkness, but the four of you were there. You faced toward an encroaching threat behind me. Or at least, I got that sense. But I faced the other way, looking outward, down off the cliff into the deep darkness below. I felt like the five of us were stranded or alone somehow. And as that feeling of being cut off infected me, I saw two lights flickering to life down below.”

I gestured up at the sky.

“Little flickers, like stars in the darkness. As they came closer, I realized they were two men, each unaware of the other. Yet somehow they both knew me. They… called to me. My wolf recognized one as a wolf shifter… an Odinswolf like me. That’s when I realized the other one wasn’t a shifter at all, but a witch or a mage, because he carried a ball of witchfire. My mage half recognized him just as my wolf side recognized the Odinswolf. And they both felt familiar, like allies I should know, who can help us in our darkest hour. I got the sense that they’re meant to help me unlock my powers.”

“Allies…” Rowan sounded suspicious.

“Teachers,” Flint added.

“I also got the sense that I would meet them both soon.” I turned, raising my eyes to study Gage’s face. “When you said the name Zack, it felt so familiar. I think one of them must be Zack.”

Gage’s eyes darted back and forth between mine. “And did they speak to you? Touch you?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Well, whoever this Zack is, he certainly touched you in your dream,” Heath smirked. “He made you come good and hard.”

None of my recent dreams about him had been that vivid. They were slippery and hard to remember the next day, but the attraction I felt always lingered.

“It was her own hand that did that,” Gage protested.

He felt guarded, worried about the situation. And I felt like an asshole.

“When I had the vision, I thought they were likely just allies or teachers or something else… not mates. I’m sorry for not telling you all sooner. And… I’ve had more dreams of a man with my rune on his face. That’s pretty much all I can recall after waking up.”

I wasn’t sure what two more mates would mean for our pack. Gage, Heath, Flint, and Rowan had come as a package deal. They’d easily accepted each other as my mates because they were already packmates. But now, it felt like I was inviting two strangers into our home. It made all of us feel uneasy, my own uncertainty echoing through the bonds with my mates.

Gage leaned over to capture my chin, his thumb tracing along my lower lip. “Don’t keep secrets from us, princess. We’ll figure this out together.”

Heath nuzzled into my ear. With his lips at my ear and his eyes on Gage he tsked. “Keeping secrets from your pack. Does this mean we get to punish our pretty little princess?”

Gage’s eyes heated, and his gaze flicked from mine over to Heath’s, then out into the night, as though reluctant to linger on Heath.

After everything that had happened, I needed to say something else as well.

“Gage, you understand I want all of us to be happy together, right? Just as you all want me to be happy, I want the same for you all.”

Pouring that feeling of love and acceptance to Gage during our bedroom activities made him recoil in the bond every time, so I avoided doing it again now. But if Heath finally got both me and the man of his dreams, well, all the better in my opinion.

Instead of answering, Gage fell backward into the grass, gazing up at the stars. I turned around to look at Heath. His smile was more of a smirk, his eyes promising something naughty. But he, too, laid back into the grass beside me. And so I did the same, falling back to put my head on Rowan’s lap. With my legs still crossed and Flint’s head on top, we made a three-person chain.

“Do you think you need more mates to make you happy?” Gage asked, his voice quiet and brittle.

“I’m happy right now,” I pointed out. “But if it’s my fate to have four mates — or maybe even six — then why can’t you guys also be with each other if you want to?”

As far as I understood, being Bonded kind of already made all of us mates. Not just me with them, but all of us together.

For a moment, the four of us just laid there, with Rowan sitting watch above me, ever vigilant. We all waited, but for what, I couldn’t be sure. The bonds between us swirled with many emotions left unspoken.

Heath’s hand reached over until he found my forearm, then followed it down to my hand.

Lacing his fingers with mine, he asked, “Have you ever wished on a star, little witch?”

“I thought you could only wish on shooting stars.”

“You can wish on any star. You just have to whisper sweet nothings to it, first.”

I chuckled. “Like you do to me?”

“Yes, but you have to tell the star what it wants to hear. Like this: Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might have this wish I wish tonight. And then you make your wish.”

“Did you do it already?” I asked.

He squeezed my hand. “I’ve wished on these stars many a time, little wolf,” he said softly. “But they never answered me until you showed up.”

The sorrow entwined with hope in the bond made my heart ache so much that I brought my other hand to my sternum. He’d longed for Gage for so long… and he still wasn’t sure if he would get to have him. Something told me his heart wouldn’t be complete without him, just as my heart couldn’t have been complete with only one of my alphas.

“Do I have to say my wish out loud?” I asked.

“I guess not.”

“Then let’s all silently make our wishes together,” I said. “Maybe the stars only pay attention if there’s enough of us in one place, all calling on them.”

“Okay,” Heath agreed.

“I’m ready,” Flint said.

“Gage? Rowan?” I asked. “You guys have wishes lined up?”

“Sure,” Gage said, humoring us.

There was a pause, and then Rowan quietly said, “I have one.”

“Okay, let’s all think it really hard,” I said. “Go.”

Through the bond, I heard all of us say silently together, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might have this wish I wish tonight.”

Then we all went silent, each of us making our own wish. Even my wolf seemed to gaze up at the stars with me.

Whatever happens, let nothing ever come between me and my mates.

I stayed silent with my eyes on my chosen star, pushing my words toward it, wishing and hoping with all of my might.

And then the sky opened up. Beams of starlight fell down upon us. The first landed on Flint, falling in a tiny line down to his heart, then expanding like a spotlight, shining down across his entire body, lying prone in the grass. He sat up, looking around in surprise, and the rest of us sat up with him.

My wide eyes met his, and he glanced down at his hands, turning them over as though he could feel the star’s magic on his skin.

Another beam fell down beside me, bathing Gage in its light, expanding to encompass his whole body. He reached for me, and the starlight’s beam expanded to encompass his arm all the way to the tip of his fingers. I grabbed his hand but felt nothing different. Starlight bathed my hand, but I couldn’t feel it.

The next beam fell down to catch Heath in its light. He gave me a worried smile, then looked toward Rowan. Only a moment later, another beam of starlight fell on the fourth alpha of the Howling Echo pack.

“What does it mean?” Rowan asked, breaking the magic of the moment.

“No idea,” Heath said, standing up and taking a step back.

His beam of starlight moved with him. Only I remained in the darkness. He spun in place, then stopped.

“Guys…” he said, turning to point off in the distance, down the ridge.

“Another one,” Flint whispered in awe.

In the far-off distance, another beam of starlight split the dark sky, falling behind the mountain.

Gage started, “What direction is—”

“Another one!” Flint repeated, pointing in a different direction.

And that one seemed much closer. The beam looked much wider, proving how much closer it was… perhaps only a few miles away.

At last, a seventh beam fell from the sky, illuminating me this time. My entire body tingled, and I felt something inside of me shift, like an ancient door finally opening.

“Ow, fuck,” Heath growled just as Rowan jumped in shock like he’d been bitten or stung.

Flint raised a hand to his upper arm, and when he turned it toward me, a tattoo decorated his shoulder. It was of a half moon — one side bright and white against his brown skin, the other side dark black.

“It looks the same,” Gage said, raising his sleeve to reveal the same tattoo on his shoulder.

“Yep,” Heath confirmed, ripping his sleeve off.

I turned to find Rowan had stripped off his shirt, revealing the same mark.

“Ow!” I yelled as a searing pain raced down my spine and between my shoulder blades. “What the f—ow!”

I dropped my jacket to the ground and ripped off my shirt, not caring who might catch sight of me illuminated on the ridge. The burning sensation distracted me, but I still noticed when all seven beams slid back up into the sky, disappearing into the night.

“Dammit,” Gage growled, staring off into the distance where we’d seen the closer of the two beams.

“It’s the same mark…” Rowan said slowly, examining my back. “But surrounded by six tiny stars.”

“Six stars, a half moon, and seven beams of starlight,” Flint said.

“And a matching half-moon for all of us.”

“The six stars circle around the half-moon on my back?” I asked.

“Yep,” Heath confirmed.

“Maybe the moon is me, and the stars are you guys,” I mused.

“Does it still hurt?” Rowan growled, as if offended he couldn’t attack the thing that had hurt me.

“No. It’s just weird knowing that it’s there, but I can’t see it.”

“Let’s go back,” Heath suggested. “You can look in the mirror and we’ll hold up another behind you.”

“Let’s get Freya clothed again first,” Gage growled, a spike of jealousy poked through the bond.

I rolled my eyes but put my shirt back on, then my jacket. Heath led the way over the darkened terrain.

“You know everyone probably saw that,” he called back.

Gage sighed, and I knew he hated the thought of trying to answer questions when he didn’t have the answers.

As if following my line of thinking, Flint mused, “Perhaps the half moon symbolizes your hybrid nature. One half is your wolf, one half is your mage.”

“And the missing two stars are the Odinswolf and the mage you foresaw,” Heath wondered out loud.

We’d only just come to terms with our unusual relationship and being Bonded… but what would happen if we added an Odinswolf and a mage to the mix?

“I guess time will tell,” Rowan said reluctantly.

“Should we… try to go find them?” I asked, feeling a little guilty about it.

Flint and Heath both seemed more curious than concerned so far. I sensed Rowan’s reluctance in the bond. Being mated to me, a hybrid wolf-witch had been hard enough on him. Bringing another mage into the pack might be too much to ask. And as for Gage… his protective instincts raged forward.

“Whoever they are,” Gage growled, “they know where to find us.”