Chapter 32 - Heath

Chapter 32

Heath

The day after Freya and I went to the library, I decided it was time to show my father that I couldn't become anyone else's Bonded, because Freya had already claimed me.

Her eyes shone with possessive glee when I told her my plan.

"Maybe I should come with you. I'd love to see the look on his face—"

"I'd rather not," I winced. "He's not prone to violent outbursts, but still… this is something I should confront him about alone. It's time I told my father once and for all that he has no say in my life."

Freya smiled sweetly and gave me a long, lingering kiss. It was enough to make me want to carry her off to bed. But when she pulled back, she nodded, as if to herself.

"Come back to me after you've shown off my mark?"

"Of course, my love." I kissed the corners of her mouth before reluctantly letting her go.

For a moment, I watched Freya as she walked away. Sensing my eyes on her, she turned and blew me a kiss. I winked and then turned to carry out my mission.

I made my way from our smaller guest house to the main estate house. The butler recognized me and of course let me in, but this time, I didn't let the secretary see me.

Instead, I took a back staircase, meant for the servants, up to my father's study, hoping to eavesdrop again. But when I listened in at the doorway, I heard nothing but the sound of rustling paper. It had a rhythm to it, and I realized he was paging through a book.

For a few minutes, I opted to wait him out, listening for anything out of the ordinary. After a while, I started to wonder whether I should go ahead and announce my presence. The longer I waited here, the more likely the secretary or someone else was to spot me. And that would look suspicious indeed.

I heard movement — my father's footsteps.

My heartrate spiked as I backed away from the doorway. If he came out, I would pretend to be just now walking up. But it seemed he was pacing around his office.

My wolf hearing picked up the sound of a phone call connecting just before my father said in his haughty voice, "Can you explain to me why none of the shipments from the border are listed? I let you take young, mated wolves in their prime this time, wolves who are loyal to me, and you—"

I couldn't hear the person on the other side, so I ended up creeping back to the doorway as close as I dared. From here, I could see into the study, and I hoped he wouldn't walk over into my line of sight.

His words filled me with a sense of dread. Perhaps the reason the kidnappers always seemed to know how to snatch wolves near the border without being spotted was because someone inside Elder Forest was helping them — my own father.

"Your coven can cook the books however you want to cover your asses, but I know what I agreed to, and I expect to be paid for the extra risk I took—"

I still couldn't make out the other person's words, but now I knew they were witches. I stifled a growl that my father was playing both sides — creating political alliances with the witches by day, meanwhile selling out his own packmates under the cover of night.

"Fine, then, have him call me back," my father growled, ending the call with an electronic beep.

He sighed, then paced back and forth a few more times before settling back in at his desk. I waited a few more minutes after that before sneaking back to the end of the hallway.

As I walked toward his office, I let my footfalls be just loud enough for a wolf shifter to hear. But before I could reach his doorway, my phone rang, the ringer echoing loudly down the hall.

I cursed and silenced it, but not before my father's head poked out of his study. His eyes narrowed when he saw me, but I'd still been far enough away that it looked like I'd just shown up — not that I'd been eavesdropping all along.

"Heathcliff, how nice of you to drop by," he growled in annoyance.

I fell into my petulant child persona, the one I preferred to use with him.

"Oh dearest father, I have news to share," I said in a singsong voice.

"Come in to my office and close the door." As I followed him inside, he continued, "Tell me you've reconsidered—"

Dryden's words cut off the moment he got a good look at me under the lights of his study.

"Remember how Freya said she claimed all of us as her mates?" I asked with a grin spilling over.

His gaze fixed on my cheekbone. "But… she's… I sensed her wolf. She's going into heat like a wolf shifter…"

"She's part wolf." I admitted. No wolf shifter with a functional nose could deny that.

"Who made you their Bonded, then?" he demanded. "Why would you do this when I had a perfectly good deal set up with Trella and her coven in Colorado?"

"I told you already. Freya claimed us all as her mates. I'm her Bonded."

"A hybrid?"

He stepped back toward his chair, his eyes wide, completely taken off guard for once. My father was normally much better at covering his reactions, but it seemed I'd really shocked him this time.

"Heathcliff, you know I always try to do what's best for our family."

Uh-oh. If he was using my full name, I was definitely in trouble now.

"Do I?" I settled down on the arm of the fancy leather armchairs that faced his desk.

They were probably supposed to feel inviting to his rich and powerful friends while making others feel intimidated. I debated confronting him about the missing wolves then and there, but Dryden had a way of weaseling out of culpability and assigning blame elsewhere. I'd witnessed it time and time again over the years. For now, I would play coy.

"Seems to me you've always done what suited you best, not the rest of us."

"If you'd only done what I asked, it would have secured our family's future. Harlow's marriage to a fae on the East Coast keeps them in check." He was referring to my alpha sister, the first he'd managed to marry off. "Hazel has the bear shifters wrapped around her little finger in the Northwest, and we all know they're the real power there. You were meant to ingratiate yourself with the witches and help our family maintain peace throughout the Southwest!"

I nodded. Of course that's what he told himself. Not that he'd sent Harlow and Hazel to be his spies, but that they were helping ‘maintain the peace among species.'

I hadn't talked to my littermates in a while, but I imagined neither of them were as obedient to our father as he liked to think. None of us truly believed the bullshit he fed us.

It was time to put his schemes for me to rest. Permanently.

"Looks like our family isn't the powerhouse you thought. I hate to spoil your fun, but I wouldn't want Trella to get her hopes up. Freya has my devotion. No one else."

Dryden shook his head and sat heavily in his desk chair. "You never did have a head for politics. What you've done could destabilize everything I worked to build. Your littermates could be at risk because of your selfishness!"

I got to my feet. "My sisters can hold their own."

In truth, Harlow's dominance outranked my own. Even though Hazel had been born the runt of the litter and come out as a beta, she was no pushover either. I was willing to bet that they were both much happier wherever they'd ended up than being my father's lapdogs.

"Heath, wait," Dryden called as I reached the doorway. His words grew faster as he raced to convince me. "I'm glad you finally agree it's time to move past old prejudices. I'm glad you don't care that your mate is a hybrid. But we need to avoid what happened in Europe. No one wants the vampires and fae taking over. Bonds can be reversed. You don't need to spend the rest of your life with that tiny, backwards pack—"

I growled but didn't turn around. "I should've known that even being marked wouldn't convince you."

"We don't want to make enemies with the Colorado covens, son."

"Then I leave it up to you to figure out how to make an alliance that doesn't depend on using your own children as leverage. If the fate of the nation really does rest on an alpha wolf shifter becoming a witch's third Bonded, then we're all in trouble."

I strode out of my father's study as though that had been the only topic of conversation between us. But in truth, I left with a new determination to thwart my father's plans. It seemed clear that he must be behind disappearances, but I wanted to know more.

If I talked to Rowan, maybe we could come up with a plan for investigating this together. He had continued patrolling the border, but he'd found no new clues as to the kidnappers' identities.

But if my father was behind it, then it was my responsibility to stop him. As both his son and as an alpha, I couldn't stand for another alpha hurting anyone else — his own people, wolves he was entrusted to protect — if I could stop it. Knowing who was behind it called to the protective instinct in me, making me want to challenge Dryden. But he'd taught me well, and I knew better than to go after him without a plan.

Striding into the guest house, I decided I would check in with Freya and let her know what I'd heard before shifting to hunt down Rowan. But as I entered the kitchen, I saw Flint on the phone. He raised a hand to me, telling me to wait.

"Understood," Flint said into the phone. "And Heath just arrived. If you—sure, I'll put him on."

Flint held the phone out, but before I could take it, he summed up, "Gage is going to meet us in Moonblessed. We're to leave ASAP."

I blinked at the sudden change of plans, but then the phone was in my hand, and I held it up to my ear.

This was what we'd all been waiting for. We'd longed to be reunited as the Howling Echo pack, and now it was within our reach and… I wasn't sure I was ready.

Then I shook myself, falling easily into my role as the pack enforcer.

"Gage? What about the troublemakers in Frost Fang?"

"All the ones who were loyal to Nira are definitely all either dead or exiled," Gage answered. "As well as some of those who were loyal to my brother, who still didn't think I should lead even though he's dead."

I could hear the sense of confusion in his tone. "Those idiots."

"They surprised me the most," Gage admitted.

"Did Flint catch you up about the Bloody Dawn?"

"Yes, but look, Heath, there are still some things I need to take care of here before I meet you in Moonblessed. Flint will fill you in—"

"I don't think I'm going to meet you in Moonblessed," I interrupted. Knowing he must be in a hurry, I added, "I believe my father may be behind the disappearances here in Elder Forest. I want to take over Rowan's investigation, with your blessing."

"Your father?" Flint and Gage said simultaneously.

"I overheard him on a call with some witches, talking about how he took a risk to let them take some loyal wolves in their prime ‘this time'."

"That does sound suspicious."

A moment of silence left me feeling anxious. If my pack alpha ordered me to join the pack in Moonblessed, I would obey. But I felt called to put my father in his place. It wasn't just about protecting wolves who couldn't protect themselves… something about the entire situation felt like a bigger threat.

"If you decide to stay behind and take over Rowan's investigation, that's fine, but the rest of our pack will meet me in Moonblessed," Gage decided. "And we won't be at Moonblessed for long. Bretton will flush out any final dissenters while I'm away, so we'll return to Frost Fang soon after."

"Then I'll meet you in Frost Fang as soon as I can."

"I don't like this, Heath."

"I don't either, but it's my father. It's my responsibility to stop him. Knowing him, this is even bigger than it sounds."

There was still so much more I wanted to talk with Gage about, like what we'd discovered about the runes… or how Freya and I were now bonded.

He knew, though, and his final words to me before he ended the call proved it.

"I have to go, but… I just wanted to say, I'm glad Freya has a strong bond with you, Heath. Give her a kiss for me."

The thought of kissing Freya as a message from Gage somehow thrilled me, and I reminded myself to chill out. Gage cared about Freya, not me, and that would never change.

As soon as I hung up, Flint shook his head.

"Freya's not going to like this," Flint warned. "Not with the two of you freshly bonded."

"I know, but we ran together under the full moon. Our wolves accept one another, and they'll know we'll be reunited as soon as possible."

Flint frowned. "I guess you're lucky no moonbeams fell that night."

"If Freya and I were fated, I would've counted myself the luckiest man in the world."

Freya had once experienced a fake bond. True fated mate bonds all began with the moon goddess shining a beam of light down on both mates before connecting their hearts. Afterward, real fated mates could barely stand to be separated, which clearly hadn't been a problem for Luka and Freya. Their bond had been fake, through and through.

"But maybe she can't have fated mates."

"You mean because she's not an alpha?" Flint asked. "Or because—"

"Because she's part witch, and part Odinswolf. Witches don't do fated mates."

"And maybe Odinswolves don't either." He nodded.

"Talking about me behind my back?" Freya asked, joining us in the kitchen.

"Love of my life," I said, turning to her. "I have some good news and some bad news for you."

Freya's eyes narrowed. "Bad news first."

I took both her hands in mine, and caught both her up on everything I'd overheard my father discussing.

"That bastard, betraying his own people," Flint growled. "He doesn't deserve to be called an alpha."

Freya brought the conversation back around. "This is definitely bad news…"

"It's bad news because I'll be separated from you for a time," I explained. "I need to get to the bottom of this. My instincts tell me it's much worse than it seems. I'm going to take over Rowan's investigation, but go about it differently."

"Why will we be separated?" her brows drew down in confusion.

"Because of the good news." I smirked down at her. "Gage plans to meet you in Moonblessed in a few days. Me being here will give you two some private time… at least, as private as it can be now that you and I share a bond."

Freya's eyes lit up when I said Gage's name, and something ugly coiled up in my gut. I loved Freya, but an empty part of my heart still ached for Gage. It shouldn't have been possible, since I'd found my mate, claimed her, and been claimed in return.

I was happy for Gage and Freya, just as he seemed to be happy for us. But… I was glad for the excuse to avoid seeing Freya and Gage reunite. It would destroy me to see the look on Gage's face when he saw Freya for the first time in almost a month — a look that would never be aimed at me. It would only make me jealous of their relationship.

After he'd claimed her, I'd been so busy dealing with Gage's pigheaded behavior that I hadn't considered my own feelings in the matter. The only thing that mattered was making sure Freya was okay, especially after she'd gone missing.

Admitting my feelings about Gage to Freya had broken the dam inside me. I'd suppressed my feelings for him for so long by ignoring them and pretending they didn't exist. Now, I wasn't sure what would happen when I saw him again. No doubt he would be fully preoccupied with Freya.

I tamped down everything I was feeling, trying not to let it reach Freya through the mate bond. Her frown told me I probably wasn't as successful as I'd hoped.

She opened her mouth to say something, but then her eyes darted to Flint. "That's sweet of you, Heath, and it's noble of you to stay behind and take over Rowan's investigation, but…"

She shook her head, eyes darting to Flint again, clearly unwilling to voice her thoughts with him there.

I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her, allowing myself this moment with my mate.

"I'll start packing," Flint said, giving us a moment alone. He was a perceptive wolf, that one.

Once he was gone, Freya whispered, "I know it's hard for you… because of Gage…"

"I fully intend to meet back up with you all in Frost Fang," I protested.

Freya took a deep breath, pulled back, and sighed. "You better."

"I'll help you get everything loaded up."

Together, Flint and I loaded up the truck with all of their belongings. Their time in Elder Forest had come to an end… but I felt a renewed sense of purpose. Ever since Gage had killed Nira, the pack dynamic had changed dramatically. We'd stop being a small pack for hire and had become more traditional when we took over Frost Fang. This investigation brought me back to our old way of doing jobs. I missed it.

While Freya and Flint set about gathering food to eat on the road, I checked my room to see if Freya had left anything behind. I sensed my packmate's presence before I heard him, and I turned to find Rowan standing in my bedroom doorway in human form.

Shirtless, he cut an impressive figure. Normally, he hated being in human form, so I felt oddly flattered to see him in this form here, alone, in my bedroom. For some reason, an image of him and Freya rose unbidden in my mind. Imagining him chasing Freya down and taking her from behind made my dick take notice, and I turned away to hide the chub.

"Come to say goodbye?" I smirked, looking at him over my shoulder as I pretended to fold a shirt on my bed.

"You bit Freya and now you can't even show your face to our pack alpha?" Rowan growled, taking a menacing step into my room.

And my traitorous dick got even harder. Fuck, why? I'd found and claimed my mate, dammit. Why was I still lusting over my other packmates? I'd always considered them off-limits, and that hadn't changed.

"Gage felt it through his bond with her, and I talked to him this morning, Rowan. This rune on my face is no surprise to him."

"It's going to destroy our pack."

Unlike his menacing growl, those words were a boner-killer. "What?"

"I crossed the line with her," Rowan admitted, his expression downcast. "But at least I didn't bite her! When Gage—"

"Weren't you there with her at the Bloody Dawn when they talked about this?" I blinked at him. "Freya has multiple mates, Rowan."

"Because she's part witch." Rowan deflated, his shoulders curling forward — a strange posture for an alpha. "Real wolves mate in pairs. Shifters, too… Gage surely…"

I took a breath and counted to five, knowing part of this was because of Rowan's past trauma with witches. Then I got right in his face, forcing him to look me in the eyes. We were both alphas, and the challenge in his gaze didn't scare me.

"She's not just a wolf shifter, Rowan. I know your history with witches isn't good, but Freya is a hybrid. Probably a powerful one," I added, thinking back to our conversation with Rose yesterday. "Witches take multiple mates. And apparently, so do Odinswolves. Freya is both. Gage understands this."

"When Frost Fang sees Gage's mate returning with another mark, showing she took more Bonded behind his back… what do you think will happen?" Rowan's soft words made me shiver.

He had a point there. Normally I was the one keeping track of pack politics. Had mating with Freya blinded me? Frost Fang had never been very welcoming when it came to other species, or even other shifters like bear and fox shifters. It could undermine Gage's authority, but I also trusted Gage.

"He's ousted everyone who caused us problems. He can bring the rest around."

"That's wishful thinking, and you know it." Rowan shook his head, his mouth pulled down into a deep frown behind his full beard. "Your selfishness will ruin everything Gage worked to rebuild. It seems I should prepare myself to return to running with a real wolf pack again."

My wolf snarled within me, taking his traitorous words as a challenge to the pack, ready to kick his ass again. But I soothed my wolf. Violence wouldn't prove anything.

"Go to Moonblessed. Talk to Gage yourself. Then if you want to call me selfish again, you and I will settle it. Without words."

I unleashed my alpha dominance with a snarl, and Rowan dropped his gaze. As the second-most-dominant after Gage, my alpha command should have compelled even Rowan. But when he took a step back, the tension in his chest and shoulders told me he fought an internal battle.

With a snarl of his own, he backed out of the room, then stomped off down the hall. It was the loudest I'd ever heard him be, a true sign of his displeasure.

He would see. Gage would talk some sense into him — or beat it into him, if need be.

By the time I went back outside, I spotted Rowan in the truck bed in wolf form. The massive black wolf laid down, but he was so big he could still easily see out if he raised his head.

Freya ran up to me, unease and worry trickling from the mate bond to me. Like we were in the movies, I ran toward her, grabbing her up so she could wrap her legs around my waist. Then I kissed her senseless, pouring all of my hopes for the future into a single kiss. By the time she came up for air, her snow-blue eyes sparkled like a winter morning.

For some reason, that look reminded me of the promise I'd made to Gage on the phone earlier.

"That was a kiss from me," I said matter-of-factly. "This one's from Gage."

With one hand still wrapped around her to support her weight, I grabbed her chin with the other and gazed deep into her eyes. A playful smile curled up her lips just before our mouths met.

I kissed her softly at first, then began devouring her as I imagined Gage would when first reunited with her. He would probably tear her clothes off in front of Flint and Rowan and have his way with her right then and there. Which was exactly why I was glad to have an excuse to meet up with them later, after they'd gotten that out of their system.

When I pulled back, Freya kissed along my chin and gazed up into my eyes. "Why are you jealous?"

I sighed, annoyed that the mate bond would allow no secrets between us. Maybe I should ask Rose if any of those books told of a way to tone it down a little. After all, Freya wouldn't want all four of us bombarding her with emotions in the future.

"Should I try to talk to Gage?" she asked, studying my face.

"You should definitely talk to Gage," I laughed, brushing her off.

"I didn't mean about me and him," she said sternly, still staring me in the eyes.

Her wolf had emerged and yet… I couldn't force her to submit. Still, she wasn't an alpha.

The way she demanded an equal mating when I was perfectly happy to leave it one-side also proved she wasn't a subordinate, submissive wolf, either. Clearly, Odinswolves didn't follow the same hierarchy as the rest of us.

When I didn't respond, she straightened her back, rising up to capture my lips again. "Talk to me while we're apart?"

"Of course," I said. "And I'll try not to be long. I just… need to settle things here."

Since we were outside, I didn't dare say anything about my father's plots in case other ears might be listening in.

"Plus, staying behind will give me the chance to move my accounts and check in with the people I hired to hunt down your sister. Maybe I'll also meet up with Dawn Chaser — err the Bloody Dawn pack — before I go."

"You have the number from Flint?"

I nodded.

"I still think you should come with us."

"Soon. Take the opportunity to focus on Gage when you get there. Because when I show up," I grinned, "I'm going to monopolize you as much as you'll let me."

She smiled a sad smile, but I poured my love to her through the bond and tried to hide the rest.

Now that she knew my true feelings for Gage, I couldn't stand the thought of her turning eyes full of pity on me anytime she and Gage were together. I couldn't do it. She should be able to love her mates as she pleased without my jealousy souring everything.

"What if my heat comes while—"

"It'll be awhile yet," I said, trying to pour all of my belief into that statement while hiding a sliver of unease.

I'd never heard of a wolf having two heats back to back outside of the mating season, which meant this might also be another Odinswolf quirk. We couldn't know anything for sure, but if the timing ended up like her last heat… we had more than a week left to go.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," I swore.

Freya frowned at me for a moment before moving her legs from around my hips and sliding down my body. It was good to feel how much muscle she'd begun to regain in the past week, but I knew a full recovery remained on the horizon for her.

"Goodbye for now," she sighed.

"Your other mates will take good care of you."

I waved to Flint, who came over to clap me on the shoulder.

"Don't disappoint Freya," he said in a quiet voice in my ear. Then he stepped back. "See you in Frost Fang soon enough."

I nodded, and he and Freya got into the front cab of the truck. The route from Elder Forest to Moonblessed was mostly highways — neutral territory — so I wasn't worried about them getting waylaid by bandits along the way.

We'd told no one that they were leaving today, so no one could out us to Ironwood. But just in case any Ironwood wolves watched Elder Forest exits, Flint would leave Elder Forest packlands along an unexpected route. It would add an extra hour and a half to the trip, but it was worth it to throw any Ironwood spies off the trail. Then he would have to navigate around the borders of various packlands, often along roads that no packs maintained. They were in for a long trip.

I watched the truck slowly disappear down the estate's driveway. The big black wolf in the bed sat up on his haunches, staring mournfully back at me until they rounded a bend onto the town's main road.

Though he was probably too far away to hear me now, I promised Rowan, "I'll finish your mission."