Chapter 4 - Freya

Chapter 4

Freya

Luka's threat hung in the air for a split second before Heath and Flint lunged forward, their manacles restraining them. Blood poured from their wrists, and their eyes shone golden. If they shifted, the nooses around their necks would strangle them to death.

I couldn't let Luka carry out his threat, but I also couldn't stand to watch two men I cared about get hurt or die.

"Luka," I reached out a hand, running it along his face. Revulsion shuddered through me, but I suppressed it as best I could. "A dungeon is no place for our first time together."

He kissed the back of my hand, looking up with a devious smirk. Then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me against his body. With his lips inches from mine, Heath and Flint both started shouting profanities, their vocal chords changed so much that it was difficult to understand the words they growled over top of one another.

Over their angry shouts, we heard footsteps pounding down the stairs. Luka turned toward the doorway and motioned for the jailer to go check it out. The guard stayed put, her jaw clenched, her expression sullen.

The jailer returned with an older male beta, who held out a phone as though it burned his hand. Only then did Heath and Flint quiet down. They shared a knowing look, and while no one else was watching, Flint met my gaze and pointed upward just as Heath had before. I tilted my head in confusion.

"Pack alpha, sir, I'm sorry, but—" the beta stammered.

"Spit it out," Luka growled, still holding my wrist in a bruising grip.

"The—the pack alpha of Frost Fang wishes to speak with you, alpha."

Luka snatched the phone out of his hand. Then he let go of me, turning to leer at me as he punched a button on the phone.

"My, my, my, did you sense something through your bonds?" Luka taunted.

"Is this the pack alpha of Ironwood?" Gage's powerful voice rumbled from the phone, filling the dungeon with his commanding presence.

"That's right. I'm Pack Alpha Luka, leader of Ironwood, and if you—"

"Listen, Luka," Gage growled. "You came after Freya when we were at Moonblessed. You picked a fight with a pack you knew you could beat, because Moonblessed is so much smaller than Ironwood. But what will you do when the might of Frost Fang shows up at your border? Your pack will see how weak their alpha truly is… what little will be left of it after Frost Fang is done."

"Are you threatening pack war right now?" Luka's eyes bugged out of his head, a vein in his forehead popping.

"What did you expect to happen? You have my mate. So, tuck your tail like the coward you are, and get ready to surrender. Your time is coming to an end. All who touch her will die. That means you, Luka."

Luka sputtered out a response, but I was too busy grinning over at Flint and Heath to listen. Even from afar, Gage was taking care of us, of his pack. He'd sensed our distress through the pack bond, and he'd called just in time to distract Luka. My heart burst with gratitude, and I couldn't wait until we were reunited.

Gage's voice interrupted Luka's desperate whining. "And Freya, if you're listening—"

"I am, my mate," I said, raising my voice and staring at the phone as though if I looked hard enough, I might see Gage.

It was the first time we'd talked since our fight about the mate marks. I raised a hand, touching the bite on my shoulder, longing for Gage's touch.

"Remember your dream."

I didn't get to hear anything else he may have said after that. Luka yelled and threw the phone against the stone wall of the dungeon. Pieces flew around the room, but the sound was inaudible over the howls of my packmates. Heath and Flint changed their vocal chords enough to howl like true wolves, but didn't shift enough to fall into the nooses.

I wasn't sure what to make of Gage's final words to me, but I knew one thing…

"You better get ready, Luka." I smirked at him. "Frost Fang is coming. The Howling Echo will be reunited. And Ironwood will fall."

"Call a pack meeting," Luka barked out orders to the beta, who nearly collapsed under the weight of his alpha command.

Luka glared at me, then told the guard, "Keep my future mate here until I call for her. These two will be a good reminder to her of what will happen if she tries to escape. She can't shift, so you shouldn't have any trouble with her."

I glared right back, and my wolf lunged inside of me, wishing she could reach his throat and prove him wrong. Luka turned away, leaving me behind with the guard.

"Tell the guards to prepare for intruders. And double the guards at the borders!" His words echoed down the hallway as he followed his packmate out, barking orders the whole way.

The jailer trailed along behind, but the guard took up her previous spot on a stool by the doorway.

"Maybe if we shift fast enough," Heath whispered, "we can free our wrists long enough to grab the noose—"

"I wouldn't, if I were you," the guard smirked, her eyes on me, the only one who wasn't bound.

I didn't care. I rushed over to Heath and Flint, unable to resist touching them any longer. Their chains barely allowed their toes to touch the ground, and they were already so much taller than me.

"I'm so sorry," I cried, running my hands over their chests and abs, since I couldn't touch their hands over their heads.

"It's not your fault, moonbeam," Flint told me.

"Don't worry about us," Heath growled.

"It is my fault," I sobbed. "My father's sister… she's a witch. I thought you were with me," I looked up at Flint through watery eyes. "But everything was an illusion."

"Wait," Heath said. "You thought Flint was with you? That's why you left Frost Fang packlands?"

I nodded, tears streaming down my face. "I feel like such an idiot."

"That bitch led you into a trap," Heath growled.

"Betrayed by your own blood," Flint murmured. "I'm sorry that happened to you, moonbeam. But we sent two wolves to follow her trail. When they find her…"

"She hates wolves so much," I whispered. "She hates me, even though I'm her niece. She tried to take my magic. It… hurt so much."

"Then she will pay," Heath growled. "Like Gage said, anyone who hurts you—"

"Freya can decide what to do about her own family betraying her," Flint growled at Heath. "Once we find her."

My heart warmed for these two. Here they were, chained up in a dungeon, and yet they spoke as though what came next would be inevitable. They had no doubt that they would soon be freed.

And even after everything that had happened between Gage and me, he planned to reunite our pack, even if it took pack war to do so. His words had filled me with pure confidence that everything would go as he planned it.

I longed for him, wishing I could fix what was between us, to make everything right again. Seeing Heath and Flint in such a vulnerable position had put my argument with Gage in a different light — I didn't want to be parted from any of them.

Despite the wild roller coaster of emotions over the last half hour or so, what I was left with was a certainty that one day, hopefully sooner than later, the Howling Echo would be reunited, and Gage and I could make up. He'd already proven that he wanted me to be with Heath and Flint, too. We just needed to talk. I had been so angry with him, but now, if I could just talk to him…

"Everything's going to be okay, moonbeam," Flint reassured me.

"We'll be out of here before you know it," Heath agreed. "And once we are…"

I gave him a savage grin, knowing exactly what would happen then. A fierce love for them all swept over me, and from the pack bond, I felt Gage's unwavering affection. He must know we were safe for the moment, saved by his perfectly timed phone call to distract Luka.

The Howling Echo protected one another, even from afar.

This wasn't exactly the best time to be having such soft feelings, though. With my chest feeling stuffed full of warm fuzzies, I needed my heart to pipe down so my head could get to work. We needed to figure out how to get out of here before Luka came back.

A commotion caused the guard to stand up so suddenly that her stool tipped over, the wood knocking against stone echoing eerily down the hallway. I whirled, my hands falling away from Flint and Heath as I stood between them. Fierce growls abruptly cut off a piercing scream.

"The dark wolf!" someone upstairs cried desperately.

Growls from multiple throats echoed eerily down the stone corridor. A whimper fell silent after a gruesome cracking sound. Guttural growls met wet snarls, the animals terrifyingly feral. The sound of a bone-jarring impact cut short a shriek of pain, and the bestial noises fell silent. The sudden contrast sent goosebumps across my skin.

That's when I felt it… another presence in the pack bond. Another Howling Echo wolf had arrived.

"What's going on up there?" the guard called down the hallway.

More savage growls sounded, then ended just as abruptly. The guard took off her shoes, preparing to shift, but she also pulled out her gun, raising it at chest level as she strode down the hallway.

I peered past her, shuddering at the thought of what monstrous beast now stalked the corridor toward us. All I could see were shadows moving, but the guard gasped and fired, a sharp crack telling us the bullet had hit stone instead of flesh.

"Intruder!" she shouted, but I had the feeling that anyone who might have heard her was already dead.

A feral growl tore from the throat of a black wolf that seemed to suddenly appear. Dim lighting illuminated his dark coat and gray forelegs as he lunged at her. The jaws of the monstrously huge wolf locked on her arm and tore it off her body.

She screamed as her arm fell wetly onto the stones, and she dropped as she began to shift. But even shifting couldn't heal dismemberment.

The dark wolf paused, as though waiting for the enemy to finish shifting. His yellow eyes burned with animal intensity, without a hint of a man inside of him. If it weren't for the alpha's unnatural size, I might have believed an actual feral wolf stood there, not a shifter.

Though she was an alpha, too, the guard's wolf stood a head shorter, but she lunged forward to attack anyway. Unfortunately, she seemed to forget that she was missing a foreleg. Her mistake cost her life, as the massive black wolf closed his muzzle around her throat. Her wolf's whimper abruptly ended when his jaws clamped down. He shook his head, and blood sprayed the wall as her neck snapped.

He dropped her lifeless body, then placed one paw on it. Lifting his muzzle, he seemed about to howl when Heath snapped out an alpha command, "Don't you dare howl and bring more enemies down on us."

The dark wolf growled instead, fixing his gaze on Heath. I could almost feel the danger rolling from him, his raw alpha power.

Yet he'd obeyed Heath, proving that the feral beast was a shifter, not a wolf. I stood in shock, realizing it also meant that Heath somehow outranked this nightmarish wolf.

The dark wolf stalked forward, his presence filling the dungeon. He sniffed the air, snarled, and avoided meeting my eyes. The pack bond between us sang with a sense of fateful recognition.

"This is Freya," Flint told the dark wolf. "Our newest packmate."

Gage's words made sense now. I'd dreamed of this dark wolf, but that hadn't prepared me to meet him. Blood coated his face, matting his fur. He was even more imposing and intimidating in real life.

He'd already left a trail of bodies in his wake. With one bite of his massive jaws, he could tear my head from my shoulders.

I took a step back as I fought the sudden urge to run.

"Don't be afraid," Heath told me.

The pack bond also flared with reassurances, as though Gage also wanted to make me feel safe. Inside me, my wolf didn't fear this unfamiliar packmate. She, too, wanted to run — but only to make him give chase.

I tugged down the hem of my too-white dress, feeling naked and out of place before this blood-covered wolf. I knew exactly who he was, and for some reason, it felt wrong to meet him here, on Ironwood packlands, wearing Ironwood clothing.

But I wasn't afraid. My wolf recognized her packmate. My mind recognized the dark wolf from my dreams. And my heart ached to know the man inside.

His name felt so familiar as it fell from my lips, "Rowan."