Chapter 24 - Flint

Chapter 24

Flint

I'd spent the night in wolf form to speed my healing along, so Heath had been the one to let me know Freya had safely returned. My wolf felt content, as did I. I was confident that our pack could and would handle everything currently standing in our way.

Heath would handle his father, ensuring good relations continued with the Elder Forest pack. Perhaps someday we would even do business with them, or form a closer alliance across state lines. Gage would root out those he thought could pose a threat to the Frost Fang — or to try to sell out Freya to her enemies — and eliminate them. After that, we would return to our stronghold in Frost Fang.

I'd never envisioned going back there… never really wanted to, though I'd missed my littermate, Fern. I'd certainly never envisioned returning to be one of the pack's top enforcers. I couldn't think of myself as a Frost Fang wolf anymore.

So, I knew this wasn't the end of the Howling Echo pack — we would find a way to keep our identities no matter what happened.

Gage and Freya would sort out their differences just as Heath and Freya had finally done. It seemed Rowan and Freya were also finding their way. But I refused to grow complacent. I would show Freya my affection every day for the rest of my life, and today, I knew just how to do it.

With Heath arranging meals every day, I no longer cooked breakfast for her, but I joined her downstairs, expecting to find her in good spirits with Heath and maybe Rowan there as well.

Instead, I found Freya alone, her expression contemplative… and not exactly happy.

I waited until she caught sight of me, then moved forward to enfold her in my arms. She sighed and relaxed against me, releasing all her tension. I was pleased that she felt safe and comfortable enough with me to set her burdens aside.

But when I kissed the top of her head, she tensed again. "What is it, moonbeam?"

She sighed, that single breath conveying so much.

"Rowan," I growled.

She nodded.

"Did he leave you hanging?"

She chuckled out an exasperated laugh and turned to pick up a breakfast burrito. "Sexually? No, I guess not. But emotionally? Definitely."

I sniffed, sensing her arousal. Though now that another heat was incoming, she was nearly always aroused, so it was difficult to know when she truly was interested.

"Say the word, and I'll spread you out like breakfast and devour you on this very table."

Her eyes sparked with desire at my dirty words, but she shook her head. "Sorry, I—"

I came up behind her and kissed along her shoulder. "Never apologize for not being in the mood, moonbeam. It's always your choice."

She snorted, and I narrowed my eyes, wondering just how badly Rowan had fucked up last night. My mate was unhappy, and that left my wolf spirit prowling anxiously inside of me.

"We should eat so we can work out later," she grumbled, going to sit at the table.

After grabbing my plate, I joined her. We'd come a long way since the days when my love had been afraid to eat before the alphas, and I loved seeing her feel so self-assured. But something was bothering her, and she didn't seem in the mood to talk about it.

"Today seems like a good day to skip the workout and go get your pack tattoo, finally."

Freya perked up, then her shoulders slumped. "The heat—"

"She's a mated female wolf," I said. "And I've already asked if she'll clear the space of any other clients while we're there."

I didn't bring up the fact that Freya also being claimed would make this heat different from the past, too. It would only remind her how frustrated she was with Gage.

"And she'll give me the Howling Echo tattoo, even though she's not from the Howling Echo?"

I loved the way her eyes lit up with interest.

"You didn't think one of the other guys tattooed this on me, did you?" I asked, turning over my wrist to reveal the tattoo above Gage's bite mark.

Then I raised her wrist to my mouth, kissing the spot where her tattoo would go.

"We always go to outsiders for our tattoos, love. We might be jacks of all trades, but none of us have picked up that talent yet."

"Maybe that's where I come in," she laughed. "I'll be the pack tattoo artist."

"If that's what you want." I grinned before tearing into my burrito.

Freya chuckled and shook her head. "Trust me, no one should let me near them with a needle. I have no artistic ability whatsoever."

On our way out to the detached garage, Freya froze when she saw movement in the forest. Through the pack bond, I already knew who it was, but the pack bond wasn't as strong for Freya yet, because of her missing wolf.

When she caught sight of the glowing golden eyes in the morning shadows of the forest, Freya let out an honest to goodness, "Hmmph."

Without a word to Rowan, she headed for the garage. I gazed back at my fellow alpha, wondering if I should ask him about what was going on. But the giant black wolf faded into the forest, and I lost sight of him.

Rowan had always disappeared so easily, despite his massive size. Although he didn't share my ancestry, he revered nature like few others I'd met outside of Moonblessed. I admired that about him.

When I got into the driver's seat of the truck, Freya was sitting with her arms crossed and her gaze distant.

"He's different with you," I mentioned after I started up the engine. "I've rarely seen him stay in human form as long as he did last night."

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about Rowan." Her gaze softened as she looked over at me. "I want this day to be about the two of us. No one else."

I fell in love with her a little bit more when she said that.

But as I backed out the driveway, she added, "Let the pack come second for once."

I paused with my foot on the brake, putting my hand on Freya's forearm.

"Never. The pack is always first for me, Freya, because you are my pack."

Her expression brightened even more, and I started navigating us to the small strip of buildings where the tattoo parlor would be.

"It's hard for me to remember that, sometimes, you know," Freya said as the scenery whipped by outside her window. "I guess I never imagined myself as part of something bigger since I was always denied entry into Ironwood. Now, with the Howling Echo…"

"You belong to us." The possessive words slipped out before I could think better of it.

But she grinned. "Yes. And you all take care of me, whether I want you to or not. Heath has been stuffing me to the gills with food lately, and in the wildlands, Rowan…"

She trailed off, realizing she'd been violating her own demands to not talk about the others today.

I smiled and squeezed her thigh. "You can always talk about the others with me, Freya."

"I know. But I want to be present with you, Flint."

I nodded. "But now that you're part of the pack, you understand that we're all always with each other in the pack bond."

She pressed a hand to her chest. "Gage… He's there a lot."

I nodded. "One day, after you bite him back, you'll be able to communicate with him in your mind, at virtually any distance. Or so I've heard. Most mates never stray far from one another's side."

I pulled into the small parking lot of the tattoo place and grabbed Freya's hand, pulling her in for a kiss. What could I say? I wanted my scent on her before we went inside. Plus, after what I'd just said, I wanted to reassure her my belief hadn't faltered.

With each full moon that passed, Freya's hope that she would finally shift at age twenty-five, like the wolf in Hugo's story, dimmed a little more. So, I didn't even bring up the fact that tonight was the full moon.

When her wolf spirit was ready, she would appear. I sensed her wolf rising in her, that it had been growing stronger in the past two months. If her first shift wasn't tonight on the Hunter's Moon, then perhaps the December full moon, the Long Nights Moon, would awaken her wolf.

When Freya pulled back from the kiss, I savored the slightly dazed look in her eyes. I loved that I could still make her feel that way, despite the fact that she had three other mates — or soon-to-be three, anyway. Rowan would come around. Freya was too irresistible for him to hold out much longer. I hated that his standoffishness caused her any distress, and I hoped getting her tattoo would help reassure Freya that she belonged, no matter what.

Freya's eyes danced around, mischievously looking around the cab of the truck, then over at the backseat. "You know, I've never had full-on sex in a vehicle."

I laughed. "You've certainly had plenty of orgasms, though."

The flush that rose in her pretty, pale cheeks amused me. Even after everything she'd done with all of us, she still got shy sometimes.

"Let's get you that pack tattoo, my love," I said. "It's time everyone can see you belong to the Howling Echo."