Chapter 29 - Heath

Chapter 29

Heath

When Flint and Freya had returned late yesterday, I hadn't expected the tale they told. We'd all assumed the Dawn Chaser pack was no more, but instead they were surviving by the tips of their fangs out in the wildlands.

"Maybe once things settle down in Frost Fang, they can join the safety of a larger pack," I suggested.

Freya had shaken her head and gone to bed early. Flint hadn't known what to make of it, but he'd told me everything about what had happened, from the legends of the Odinswolves to the way the rogue alpha had attacked Freya. Rowan had been even more distant than usual, even through the pack bond when I shifted to check on him later that night.

Today, Freya seemed subdued. She floated through the house like a ghost, and didn't start or continue conversations unless forced into it. She ate breakfast and lunch with us, but kept to herself.

I hated it.

After lunch, I couldn't bear the silence. Being separated from the rest of my pack, even for that short time yesterday, had left me feeling restless. Rowan was out patrolling the border again even though the Elder Forest pack didn't seem to want his help anymore. I didn't know what Flint was up to, but he wasn't the one I was worried about.

I found Freya curled up in the reading nook with a book in her hands, but she wasn't reading it. Slowly approaching, I gave her the chance to notice me out of the corner of her eye.

"What is it, Freya?" I asked, unable to bear her strange silence.

She forced a smile, but her eyes didn't meet mine. "I hate what happened to the Bloody Dawn, but I don't know how to help them. I just feel like… I finally found my wolf, but I'm still the most helpless, worthless member of the pack. I wanted to fight back, but in the end, that rogue alpha just knocked me down, and all I could do was cower before him."

"Little wolf…"

I took the book and set it aside, noticing it was a book of shifter legends. Then I slid my palms against hers, wrapping my fingers around her wrists in a firm grip.

"You are not weak or cowardly. The rest of us have over a decade of shifting experience. We've had to practice fighting in that form. We've also led lives that have required us to learn other ways of defending ourselves."

She nodded, but her mouth still remained in a frown.

"Up until just a few months ago, you were little more than a slave in Ironwood. It's not your fault you're behind the rest of us. You'll find your own, unique way of contributing to the pack over time. I know we're all looking forward to being reunited."

Freya pursed her lips and looked away, making me realize I'd said the wrong thing. Before I could backtrack, Freya changed the subject. "How did the talk with your father go yesterday?"

I hesitated, remembering the strange conversation I'd overheard yesterday before my father had noticed my arrival.

"When I got there, his secretary told me Dryden was expecting me, but I don't think he knew his boss was on a call. Dryden was talking to someone about securing their alliance, but something about it seemed off…"

"You think he was talking to Trella coven about your betrothal?" She looked like she'd eaten something sour, her nose wrinkling in the cutest way.

I thought back, trying to remember the words he'd used. "No. He made it sound like… a personal alliance. Everything he said was ‘I' and ‘me'… not ‘us.' If he were speaking on behalf of his pack… wouldn't he have called it ‘our alliance' or something?"

The conversation just didn't sit right with me. Especially since he'd hurriedly ended the call when he saw I'd arrived.

"Your father seems like the narcissistic type. Maybe to him, all alliances he sets up are ‘his,' not the pack's?"

"You could be right," I shrugged. "In any case, I told him there's no chance I'm marrying Trella. As usual, he seemed to think I would come around."

Freya's snow-blue eyes burned. "What will it take to convince him otherwise?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. This is why I've kept my distance from him for so long. He can't use me as a pawn if I'm not in his grasp. I told him we're going to Moonblessed and will be out of his hair soon enough."

Freya's jaw worked, like she was holding back a few choice words. With my father, things had a way of going in circles. He would keep trying to wear down my resolve, but I refused to let him.

I squeezed her hands, wanting to move on from that conversation. She'd changed the subject, but could I circle back around to help put things right for Freya?

"That's why the only ones we trust are the Howling Echo. We're packmates, and we look out for each other, but we want you to be able to defend yourself. I know Flint's teaching you to fight in human form. But now you can use your wolf form, too. Anytime you want to practice fighting off big alpha wolves like us, just say when. I could go for a fun tussle." I gave her a wry smile.

Her lips quirked upward. "You want to chase me around, huh?"

I'd cracked the outer shell of her morose mood, and I wanted to watch the whole thing crumble. "I do love playing tag."

A laugh escaped her lips before she could stop it. "Is that your favorite game?"

"What is the time, Ms. Wolf?" I asked, wondering if she'd ever heard of that variation of the game.

If she answered ‘Time to eat,' then I should be the one running away, according to the rules of the game. But no recognition lit up her gaze, only amusement.

To banish her sadness, I wanted a full-fledged smile, so I put on my cocky grin, and said, "I can think of other games I'd rather play. Strip poker for one."

Victory! A smile cracked her glum expression, even reaching her snow-blue eyes.

"Sounds boring. Shifters see each other naked all the time."

"Oh, ho!" I laughed, though in truth I was glad to hear her thinking like a shifter at last. "A challenge! Well, perhaps we'll have to think of something a little more… exciting."

I pretended to think, and from my position so close to Freya, the scent of arousal washed over me. Her upcoming heat made her pheromones all the more powerful, giving me an instant boner.

"A good game has to have stakes," I mused. I reached over and grabbed her chin. "So, let's make a deal. If you win…" I tilted her chin up, wondering what she would ask of me if I gave her free rein. "I'll give you whatever you want, little wolf. The moon herself, if you win."

She rolled her eyes at my grandiose promise. "And if you win?"

My grin must look feral, because her eyes widened, her pupils dilating. "If I win, I get you. Naked, letting me do things to you that'll make us both go wild. But first… you'll have to run."

She raised an eyebrow, and my brave little warrior wolf rose for the challenge. But what she said was, "So, you were jealous Rowan got to chase me after all."

Her gaze scanned my face, and I let her see the pure desire there. She deserved to see it, to know how much I craved her. Hell yeah, I was jealous. I'd wanted to chase her down and fuck her ever since that time in the woods where we'd run into her Ironwood friends.

"Fine," she said, rising from her chair. I rose with her.

"Fine?" I grabbed her hand and led her toward my room. "It's a deal, then."

"But wait!" she protested, following my lead. "You didn't tell me what the actual game is."

We reached my room, and I whirled on her, pulling off her top.

"The rules are…"

I pushed her back onto my raised bed, then grabbed her pants and yanked the rest of her clothing off of her in one vicious motion, leaving her naked before me.

"If you come in under five minutes…"

I began kissing along her thigh, just above her knee.

She teased, "You think you can make me come in five minutes?"

I chuckled darkly. "No, I'm going to make you come well before five minutes."

I pulled out my phone and set a five-minute timer. Then I handed it to her.

"I'm going to make you scream my name before the timer goes off. And then I'm going to make you run. And when I catch you…"

My fangs descended, and her eyes widened as they met my doubtlessly golden ones.

With a determined grin, she hit the start button on my phone, and the timer instantly clicked over to four minutes, fifty-nine seconds.

I lunged forward and she squealed, probably worried about my fangs being so close to her body. But instead I met her with my palms pushing her thighs open and my tongue on her wet center.

"Already wet for me, baby?" I asked before diving right in. "You're gonna make this easy on me aren't you?"

She growled, her hands clutching at the bed. "Wait, so, I just have to last more than five minutes?"

"If you can," I said, breathing in her delicious scent.

My gaze flicked over at the phone, laying face-up on the bed not far from her. It read 4:43.

With my fingertips, I stroked up and down her slit, teasing her. It wouldn't take long before she was teetering on the edge — it never did. I just had to guide her to it.

"If you're a good girl and you come before the timer, maybe I'll even reward you with a second orgasm before I make you run," I smirked up at her.

She gazed down between her legs at me, then pushed backward, pulling away from me with a grin and a challenge in her eyes.

My snarls echoed off the bedroom walls as she rolled and tried to get up on her hands and knees to get away. I cracked a hand on her ass, spanking her for trying to ruin my fun. She yelped, and I pulled her ankles, making her fall face-first onto the bed.

She laughed and struggled beneath me as I tried to turn her back over. So, with one hand on her upper back, I pinned her down. Then I slid two fingers between her tightly clenched thighs.

"Oh, you are a fighter," I growled, prying her thighs apart.

As soon as I let up the pressure on her upper body, she rolled onto her back, then rolled twice more to get away. Her feet hit the floor with a thump, and I chased her around the bed, my heart racing.

"Come here," I growled, but she laughed and ran to the corner of the room.

"You want it against the wall?" I asked, slamming her naked body back against it.

I grabbed one ankle, pulling her off balance. I hooked it over my shoulder as I went to my knees. But as I did so, she pivoted on her standing leg, drew her bent knees over my head, and took off again. If she reached the doorway—

I grabbed her around the waist and threw her bodily onto the bed, and she let out a cry as her back hit the blankets again. Changing tactics, I grabbed her ankles, pulling her to me and spreading her thighs. Then I grabbed both her wrists, pinning them to either side of her as I dove face-first into her pussy.

She let out a shriek as my tongue found her center, then her body seemed to relax around me with her sigh of pleasure. I didn't dare poke my head up to look at the timer. Instead, I pulled out all the stops, eating her out like a starving man. She groaned, her hips bucking under me, her wrists pinned to either side of my head.

When I pumped my tongue in and out of her tight channel, she screamed. My victory was just around the corner.

I lapped at her clit, bringing my hand down to penetrate her instead. But as soon as her wrist was free, she pushed back, drawing her hips away from me in a seated position. She twisted away, but I still had one wrist.

Frustration coiled in my gut. This was supposed to be a fun little game. I would let her come first like a gentleman before I spanked her ass and sent her running so I could chase her down and fuck her like my beast side so desperately wanted.

I couldn't get her other wrist now, so instead, my hand came down on her throat. Her eyes widened and her body stilled as I pinned her to the bed, applying gentle but firm pressure over her collarbones.

Her eyes met mine, and her wariness sent two simultaneous pulses through me… a shock of lust straight to my groin, and a shock of regret straight to my brain.

I narrowed my eyes and growled. "You're going to come before that timer."

Amusement instantly replaced the concern in her gaze, her lips curling up. Taking advantage of the moment, I snatched her other wrist and pinned them back where they belonged as I dipped my head between her thighs again.

But as I licked her hard, I heard a sound that made my blood run cold.

The dinging of the timer. I had lost.

"Yes!" Freya cheered, wriggling beneath me. "I win!"

I sat back, releasing her wrists. The look of triumph in her eyes made it worth it, though.

Time to do whatever Freya wanted.