Chapter 7 - Flint

Chapter 7

Flint

Although we no longer took turns at watch, I’d sensed when Gage had gone for a night run with Rowan. Freya and I had curled up together all night, but she’d been exhausted from both magic and shifter training. This morning, I slipped quietly out of bed so as not to disturb her rest.

I grabbed my phone off the end table, preparing to head to the kitchen and start breakfast. Instead, I paused in the hallway, reading and rereading a message from Artemis of the Bloody Dawn.

The tiny ragtag pack was all that remained of the Dawn Chaser pack we’d once tried to help. Artemis and her grandfather, Hank, did their best to keep the pack safe like alphas should. They lacked the strength to keep packlands of their own, and we’d first met them in the wildlands outside Elder Forest. To thank us for killing a rogue alpha that had attacked their packmates, Hank told us everything he knew about Odinswolves like Freya.

I’d missed a call from Artemis in the night. But her message mentioned her bold little pack had trailed Heath’s father from Elder Forest down to the Colorado border.

Though the rays of dawn had barely begun to fall in the valley outside the window, I rang her back. The young alpha answered with unexpected alertness for this time of day.

“You got my message?” she asked.

“I called you the moment I woke up.”

“I tried to call your other packmates… Except I’ve never met your pack alpha, so I didn’t want to presume.”

“Trust me, Gage wouldn’t have minded you calling. Not with this news. But he and Rowan went for a night run, so they wouldn’t have answered. You’re sure it was Dryden you saw?” I asked, recalling her message.

“Sure as a wolf howls at the moon. When Heath high-tailed it out of here, he called and asked if we could keep an eye on Elder Forest. I told him the territory was far too big for my little pack to cover, but he gave me a few specific routes to watch over, and said to give him a call if we saw his father.”

“Did Heath ask you to follow him?” I didn’t like the idea of him putting the young shifter’s pack at risk like that.

“No, but he didn’t tell us not to,” she said defensively. “When Heath didn’t answer, I made the decision, so don’t—”

“I understand,” I interrupted, not wanting this budding pack alpha to get twisted up about an older alpha questioning the wisdom of her decisions.

“Good.” She sighed, then continued, “Yeah, so Dryden didn’t notice us following him, and the road he took wasn’t well maintained. He had to abandon his vehicle eventually. No surprise there, because that road leads outside Wyoming, straight into Colorado witch territory.”

“And… they just let him in?” That was the part of her message I hadn’t understood.

“They made him spend the night in the wildlands.” I could hear Artemis smirk across the line. “But yeah, the next day, they let him walk right across the border. I saw him get into a black vehicle. We tried trailing him along the edge of—”

“Artemis,” I growled.

“We never stepped one paw outside Wyoming,” she said defensively. “We stayed in the wildlands the whole time. But the vehicle went deeper into witch territory, so we lost sight of it eventually. Too flat down there,” she complained.

“Thanks for letting us know,” I said. “I hope you’re no longer sitting right on the borderlands?”

“We headed north after that,” she said. “But if you have any more jobs for us…”

“I’ll let you know. For now, take care of your pack. Don’t go anywhere near any witches.”

“Did something happen?”

I caught up Artemis on how Pandora had brought her coven to try to steal Freya’s magic, and how no witch had survived, though I spared the details.

“Did they… Is her magic…? Is Freya okay?”

“She’s okay,” I hurried to inform her before her pitch could go any higher.

Artemis let out a sigh of relief.

“We believe Heath’s father tipped the witches off about our next stop here at Moonblessed.”

“Well, we’ll try to keep an eye on this road in case Dryden comes back. I’ll let you know if we see him again.”

“You’ve done well, young alpha,” I said. “No need to put your pack at risk. We’ll line up other jobs for you.”

I didn’t like the thought of the Bloody Dawn pack going up against witches. They’d already been through enough.

“Talk to you later.” The line clicked.

I paused to listen at the bedroom door. The steady, slow breaths of my mate reassured me. Leaving her to her rest, I pulled on pants and crept into the kitchen barefooted so I didn’t disturb my other packmates.

It felt strange being in Moonblessed without Heath with us. He would be disappointed but not surprised to confirm his father’s alliances with witches ran so deep. After all, we believed he’d sold us out to witches once already. And he suspected his father might be responsible for the disappearances of Elder Forest wolf shifters.

To my surprise, I found Gage sitting down with a cold-brew coffee. I must have been projecting my worries through the pack bond, because he didn’t mince words.

“What’s the matter?”

“Artemis of the Bloody Dawn reached out. When he left, Heath asked them to watch the roads leading out of Elder Forest. Sounds like they followed Dryden of their own accord.”

“What did they see?”

“He left Wyoming and went south into Colorado… and the witches let him in.”

A faint growl escaped Gage before he cut it off, his eyes going to the hallway as if he feared waking Freya.

“Should we let Elder Forest know he’s a traitor?”

Gage shrugged. “We don’t know who else he was working with. Maybe his pack alpha sent him there.”

“So… we just let this slide?” My hackles rose at the thought of what Freya — and the rest of us — had suffered thanks to Dryden tipping off her aunt about our location.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Gage glared. “But we have our own house to get in order first. And even Frost Fang isn’t a big enough pack to stand against the Elder Forest pack. We can’t risk pissing them off.”

I frowned, realizing he was right. Especially if Elder Forest had allied with a powerful Colorado witch coven.

Pulling my hair back into a hair tie, I set about making breakfast. Before I finished, I smelled my mate’s delightful apple pie scent wafting into the kitchen.

Gage instantly rose to greet her, pulling her into a kiss that had her reeling. I chuckled and came up behind her to support her balance. She turned her head, her eyes lighting up and the scent of her heat cranking up. Gage groaned as I wrapped a hand around Freya’s ribcage to pull her against me for a kiss.

My body responded to her scent, trapping my hardness between us. Freya twisted in my arms to kiss me properly.

Gage pinned her in from behind, his hands falling to her hips. The heated look in his eyes made me suddenly hungry to share Freya with him. Heath and I had shared her many, many times, especially during her heat. Sharing her with my pack alpha without Heath could be fun as well.

And the way Freya’s body and scent were responding… I had the feeling she also liked the thought of having us both together. I would do anything she liked so I could drown myself in her wondrous perfume.

I kissed along Freya’s cheek and up to her temple. “Did my mate wake up hungry for something other than food?”

She groaned. “I did, but I don’t have time… Brielle wants me over there bright and early to do more pointless water exercises.”

Gage took a deep breath, then met my gaze. “We need to leave soon. It’s wise for you to get as much magic training as you can before we go.”

She let out a small gasp as his hands pulled her hips firmly against him.

“As much as it pains me,” he murmured into her ear.

Something about the way Gage’s hands guided her hips had my balls tightening with more desire than I knew what to do with. I stepped back to adjust myself, and Freya’s eyes raked my body.

“Seeing you shirtless and feeling the two of you pinning me in… you have no idea how much willpower it’ll take for me to walk out that door.”

She would never escape if she didn’t stop talking like that. What we needed was a change of topic.

“You should eat some breakfast first.” I moved to the counter. “Keep your strength up.”

“You’ll escort her through the wildlands,” Gage commanded.

“Of course,” I nodded to my pack alpha. “Rowan and I escort her every day.”

Gage sank back into his seat to nurse his coffee as I prepared breakfast. “Good. I still have a few things to do, and I’ll get Bea and Ivar to pack up.”

The mention of our Frost Fang packmates drained all the lust from my body.

Freya began nibbling on the toast I gave her while we waited for bacon and eggs to cook. Providing meals to my mate fulfilled me more than I’d ever imagined. I loved to see the food I’d prepared nourishing her and keeping her strong for whatever might lie ahead. It was especially gratifying to see how much she’d recovered from her wolfsbane coma.

“Yesterday, Brielle wanted me to scoop up spilled water from the floor without touching it with my hands or a cup or bucket or anything.”

“How did you do it?” Gage asked.

“I didn’t.”

I rubbed Freya’s shoulders, eliciting a moan that had Gage’s eyes darkening. He adjusted himself under the table again.

“Maybe it’s not about the water,” I murmured, trying to soothe my mate’s frustration.

“I know the water is supposed to be a metaphor for magic, but it’s still frustrating.”

“Or maybe Brielle isn’t cut out to be a teacher,” Gage growled, also responding to our mate’s frustration.

“It’s my last chance to learn something,” Freya complained.

“We’ll find you another teacher later, princess.”

I didn’t ask how Gage intended to accomplish that. The rune mark on his face already disturbed many of our Frost Fang packmates — I’d overheard enough to know that.

Bringing a witch or mage onto packlands might prove too much. It could tip us into fighting a rebellion we couldn’t afford, not with everything else going on. We had Ironwood to defend against, and now maybe Elder Forest or the witch coven Dryden had allied himself with.

“In the meantime, there’s a different surprise waiting for you when we get back to Frost Fang packlands,” Gage promised as he pushed eggs around the pan that I’d abandoned.

Freya let out a small laugh. “I know.”

“What are you two talking about?” I asked, digging my thumbs into her tense shoulders.

She let out another small moan that had my flagging erection rising again.

“Heath already told me he’ll be waiting for us on Frost Fang packlands. He let me know he made it safely.”

“Good.” Gage said, gesturing at the food and raising an eyebrow at me.

He’d apparently picked up on how much I enjoyed feeding our mate. It was all part of the oldest courting rituals of our kind, but I gestured at him to go ahead.

He placed a plate full of food in front of Freya, then watched as she began digging in. Seeing the pleased look on his face eased something in me. I’d been worried about the two of them, even though my wolf spirit knew that they would settle their differences.

I’d been the first to suspect we would all end up with Freya. But I’d never expected how strongly seeing the other men’s reactions would affect me. I liked seeing my mate happy, yes, but it was more than that. I liked seeing my fellow alphas happy, too.

The three of us lapsed into a comfortable silence as we ate together. I couldn’t wait until we could eat together as a full pack. If I had to, I would speak to Rowan about it. But perhaps after his and Gage’s run yesterday, I wouldn’t have to.

I sensed Rowan’s nearby presence through the pack bond. He’d arrived, knowing that Freya would head to Brielle’s one last time before we left.

I went to the door and asked the dark wolf lingering outside, “Want to come in and eat?”

He answered by yawning, revealing all of his canines. Freya joined me at the door and began stuffing her sling bag with her clothing. I didn’t miss the way Rowan’s golden eyes raked our mate’s nude body. With the scent of her heat growing stronger by the day, she became even harder to resist.

“I’ll let you know when we’re ready to go,” our pack alpha said.

Before Freya could shift, he pulled her naked body to his, running his hands from her perky buttocks up to support her head as he kissed her. She moaned into his mouth, and I instantly went hard again.

“Go, before I keep you here all day,” Gage said, his voice rough with desire.

Though Gage’s command didn’t force either of us to obey, Freya and I both shifted without another word. Freya’s bright white coat and smaller form contrasted with mine and Rowan’s darker and larger alpha wolves. Despite her small size, she was the one who led as we left our den behind. My ears picked up the sound of a frustrated sigh just before the door closed behind us.

As we wound our way through Moonblessed, Shante silently fell in beside us. She and Freya nipped playfully at each other, racing ahead to reach the gate out to the wildlands. Shante and I had long ago reached friend status, but she and Freya had something deeper. I knew my mate would miss her new best friend when we left, so I hung back with Rowan to give them space to play.

“How was the run yesterday?” I asked.

“Good. I wanted to ask you something…”

His hesitation made me instantly perk up. “Anything. We’re packmates.”

“Tell me… how is courtship supposed to work?”