Chapter 26 - Freya

Chapter 26

Freya

I sprang into action, leaping over fallen branches and boulders and sprinting deeper into the forest. Behind me, my tail stabilized my movements, helping me stay light on my paws. I soared over the pine needle covered forest floor with a sensation like flying.

Everything felt right at last. I was in nature where I belonged, in the form I belonged in, with the wolves I belonged with. Except… a wolf was missing.

The silver wolf on my right cut across my path, urging me to circle around. I playfully nipped at his shoulder, then ran alongside him, letting him steer our path. Later, the brown-furred wolf at my left did similarly, nudging me with his nose to alter my path. When he pulled back, I noticed the mark of the moon goddess on his forehead. As I turned, I caught sight of the silent shadow behind me, the black wolf I'd first met in my dreams.

Surrounded by the three larger wolves, I felt safe as we ran together through the forest, the light of the supermoon reaching us even in its depths. I followed my nose, hunting down one scent after another, exploring this new world.

Moonbeams lit our way, and I remembered that the one who was missing was the one who should be leading this run. I whimpered at the sense of a pack incomplete.

But then a new scent caught my attention, and I raised my muzzle. It was another predator, but not a wolf… a coyote! I stretched my legs, pouring all of my speed into my stride.

The coyote raised its head and then ran. That only excited me more, as I gave chase. The coyote was fast, but we were a pack, and my mates spread out, racing through the woods to flank it.

Unfortunately for us, the coyote broke free from the forest, and over flat ground, it picked up speed. The distance between us grew until I finally slowed down, howling mournfully after it. And as I watched it disappear into the night, my human side pushed forward.

"We'll take you hunting properly in the daytime," Flint promised in my mind.

Now that my human side was at the fore, I was horrified. I'd almost chased down and killed that animal for no better reason than my primal instincts demanded it. I wouldn't have even considered it for meat.

"Deer are tastier," Rowan agreed.

"It seems our little wolf already has strong hunting instincts." Heath's pride washed over me, and I dipped my head.

The silver wolf with a coat almost as light as mine bent his head down, touching his forehead to mine. He was the most dominant wolf here, and his acceptance meant everything to my wolf. This simple gesture showed me my worth among them.

At long last, I had undeniable proof of belonging — the mental link created by the pack bond. If I'd been human, tears would've filled my eyes.

"Can you hear me?" I asked tentatively.

"You got it, moonbeam," Flint's praise made me shiver with pleasure.

Mates, my wolf assured me as I stopped to look at the three larger wolves. As alphas, they dwarfed me like any other subordinate wolf. My wolf turned out to be a natural wolf size, proving I was no alpha like them. But like me, she didn't cower from the alphas. She knew what to do with her mates on the full moon.

When I loped forward and picked up speed into an easy trot, they followed, seamlessly falling into the same formation once more. It felt so right to have them with me, and now that we were in the clearing, the moon goddess herself lit our every movement. When I turned left, they turned with me.

We moved as one, my mates and me. We were pack, and nothing would ever keep us apart again.

It was too good to be true.

"Flint… Heath… when did we celebrate my birthday? What was the date?" I asked.

"Today is… the fifth?" Flint pondered, and I realized it was harder to think of things like calendars in this form, because I was having the same trouble.

"We arrived here on the second," Heath added.

"Then we were reunited with you on October thirtieth, love," Flint said with certainty.

"October thirtieth," I said, savoring the sound of that date.

The day we'd been reunited. The day Heath had used my supposed birthday as an excuse to celebrate and have a threesome… while Rowan watched us.

"I suppose it's as good a birthdate as any," I said. "Hugo said I would shift on the first full moon after my twenty-fifth birthday."

"Then you could choose any date you wanted between now and your heat," Heath pointed out, since my heat had fallen on the last full moon.

My wolf growled as I thought of everything that had happened between then and now. "What better date could I choose? The date Nira nearly killed me? One of the days I was unconscious? The day I woke up and Gage claimed me and we argued? The day my aunt betrayed me and let Luka and his cronies take me?"

I growled again, and Heath's wolf let out a long huff of air. Slowing to a stop, I looked over at Flint, then back at Rowan.

"No, I choose the day that Rowan and I first kissed. The day I was reunited with the two of you." Then I looked back at Heath. "Maybe your instincts were right. Maybe that's why you suggested we celebrate together. Because October thirtieth really is my birthday."

"If that is the day you choose, it shall be that day, moonbeam."

"Happy belated birthday, little wolf." Heath moved forward and his tongue darted out, licking along my muzzle.

"Do you sense it?" I asked them.

"Sense what?" Heath asked.

"My wolf chooses all of you, just as Flint knew I would."

Heath gave me another lick, and Flint dipped his head, rubbing his forehead against mine. We'd waited so long for this moment, always wondering if it could be true. Now it was here.

At last, we'd finally done what mates did to acknowledge each other — we ran together under the full moon as equals. All of them with me. I only wished that Gage could be here.

"My wolf spirit had no doubt," Flint assured me.

I playfully nipped Heath on the shoulder, because I knew he'd had plenty of doubts, for many reasons. Perhaps now he could set them aside at last. Turning toward Rowan, I waited to see what he would say now that his wolf finally had proof we were mates.

Before I could question him, another presence washed over me, filled with acceptance, joy, and love. When I focused on those feelings, I could sense Gage. Raising my head, I gazed toward the northwest.

"What is it, little wolf?" Heath asked.

"I sense… Gage."

"No, he's not nearby…"

My awareness of the others faded as a presence rose up inside me.

"And I sense you, too, princess." Gage's voice in my mind startled me, making me jump.

Heath, Flint, and Rowan immediately faced outward, searching for any sign of a threat.

"Can you hear Gage, too?" I asked the others.

"No," Flint answered. "But you can?"

"What is this?" I asked, focusing on projecting my thoughts to Gage.

"Maybe it's because I'm your Bonded, maybe it's the magic of the Hunter's Moon, or maybe it's your wolf's magic." I could sense his shrug well enough I could imagine exactly what that would've looked like… in his human form.

But he was in wolf form right now, under the same moon as I stood under. And more than that, I had an awareness of his immediate surroundings. Frost Fang wolves ran through their packlands behind him. He was leading them on a run under the full moon, as was expected of their pack alpha.

"Maybe this is what the mate bond will be like all the time, when you bite me back."

"When?" I asked, suddenly realizing it was possible now. At long last, I could shift. That meant I could claim him with my mating bite now, too.

He backtracked. "Well, at least I hope you don't plan to sever our bond tonight. It is the night of the full moon, after all."

I gasped, realizing he was right… I'd threatened to reject him, and he'd reminded me I could only do it the night of the full moon.

"I'm glad you're safe with the others," Gage said, as if to change the subject.

"I won't choose them over you," I reassured him. "But I won't choose you over them, either. You are my mate, and so are they. My wolf chooses all of you."

"I know, Freya. I never meant to force your hand. I would never take your other mates from you."

Emotions overwhelmed me. At long last, it felt like everything I'd wanted really might be in reach.

"We should talk, Gage. In person. Is it safe now?"

His love poured through the bond to me, as did his hesitation. "Things are still rough in Frost Fang, as much as I wish it were otherwise. But I agree… I can't stand being apart from you any longer, princess. I'll meet you in Moonblessed as soon as I finish up a few things here."

"Okay," I said unhappily.

"I know. It can't come soon enough. But Freya," he hesitated only a moment. "If you decide to claim the others… that's your decision."

If I'd been human, the tightness in my throat wouldn't have allowed me to speak. Fortunately, our mental connection didn't suffer from any such physical impediments.

"I miss you, Gage. Truly."

"And I miss you fiercely. It won't be long now. Nothing can keep us apart, Freya. I'll prove it to you."

"See that you do," I laughed.

"Now go enjoy your run with your other mates," Gage said in his powerful alpha voice.

Just to tease him, I said, "Yes, alpha."

With that, I felt him withdraw, the connection between us no longer as overpowering as it had been. My awareness of my surroundings refocused my attention, making me feel grateful for my packmates protecting me on all sides.

"Gage sends his regards," I said, knowing I was the only one who could hear Gage's words.

"You spoke with him?" Rowan wondered. "Over this distance?"

"Something about our mate bond… or my magic… or him being my Bonded… or the full moon…" I chuckled. "I have no idea, honestly."

I raised my muzzle and let the night air enter my lungs. It smelled fresh with the scent of the pine and spruce all around us, along with the dissipating scent of the fleeing coyote. I could even pick up individual scents of other Elder Forest wolves, though none of them seemed familiar.

And above all else, I smelled the tantalizing scent of my mates surrounding me. The urge to mate nearly overwhelmed me.

But it seemed the others were still absorbing my bombshell news, because Heath had questions. "Well, little packmate, what did our pack alpha say? Any news to report?"

"He was leading the run with Frost Fang. Things are still rough there, he said. He'll meet us in Moonblessed once he finishes some things there."

I decided not tell them yet that he'd given his blessing for me to claim them. As he said, it was my decision, and I didn't want any of them pressuring me into it, even if they didn't mean to. This time, I wanted to be in control of when and how it happened.

The heat made claiming them feel even more urgent. My wolf longed to bite and claim her mates, to be bitten and claimed by all of them, at the earliest convenience. I'd been so afraid that Gage's bite had taken away my chance to have all of them. But my wolf clearly believed she could claim them all.

While I felt the same sense of urgency, my human side knew better than to rush it. And, given that it had taken weeks for my heat to actually hit last time, we had time to discuss it, to make sure we all wanted it. Especially Rowan, who even now stood slightly distant from the rest of us, his nose in the air, sniffing.

"Gage knows you found your wolf," Heath mused. "He must know what that means."

"C'mon," I said, unwilling to talk about any potential claiming in our future. "Let's run!"

This time, when we ran, I felt more in control. Not that I was controlling my wolf, but that we had… merged. I could feel every part of my body, and being in this form felt right. I knew what I was doing because my wolf and I were one. This felt as normal as being in my human form.

And as we ran together, I truly felt like I belonged with the pack at last.

"I want to hunt," the words slipped past my inner barriers before I'd even consciously thought them. As though my wolf's desires were my own — because they were. We were two sides of the same coin.

"We will," Flint reassured me. "But not tonight. Elder Forest packlands have been hunted out, and we would have to take you into the wildlands."

"And my heat makes that impossible, doesn't it?

"Probably not, if we all go with you," Heath admitted. "You being a mated wolf will also avoid some of the… difficult situations we faced before."

"Rogue alphas don't actually care about that," I pointed out.

"If they don't, they'll care about our fangs," Rowan growled from behind me. "But I agree… too many Elder Forest wolves have gone missing for us to risk it at night."

I'd almost forgotten he was there, he traveled so silently. Compared to Rowan, I broke every twig in the forest. Then again, it's not like my wolf had any practice.

It'll get better with time. The words echoed in my mind, but again, I wasn't sure whether they originated with my human side or my wolf side. After all, we were one at last.

"Perhaps it's time for a wolf lesson from Rowan," Flint suggested.

Heath growled, pausing in his steps beside me. He and Flint gazed at each other across my back, which wasn't hard considering how much taller they were compared to me. Something silent passed between them, and I nipped at Heath.

"Hey, no private conversations," I protested. I finally got access to the pack bond — no way would they leave me out of it.

"Sorry, little wolf," Heath's tongue bathed my muzzle even as his words echoed in my mind. To my wolf, the gesture was immensely reassuring. "Flint reminded me you'll need someone to help you shift back for the first time as well."

"Okay," I said.

"Who better to help than the one who remained in wolf form longer than any of us," Flint added.

"Stay within the area we've already run," Heath warned me. "This is all part of the estate, and no Elder Forest wolves will bother you here."

"Follow your instincts," Flint said, bumping his forehead against mine in a sign of affection.

With that, Heath and Flint turned tail and trotted back toward the house.

"Take good care of her, Rowan." Heath's growling words echoed in our minds as they departed.

And in the light of the full moon, the dark wolf turned his full attention on me.