Chapter 2 - Zak
Zak
As we advanced into Frost Fang’s packlands, my wolf was at the forefront, fully alert, even though I was on two legs.
The silence felt wrong — not the peaceful quiet of snow-covered wilderness, but the hollow emptiness of a place where life had been violently torn away.
Blackened timber jutted from the ruins of the pack house like broken bones, and the acrid smell of old smoke clung to everything.
Streaks of blood showed where bodies had been moved for their last rites.
None of us had caused this wreckage, which told us that the remaining Frost Fang wolves we’d left behind had finally fought back after they’d regained their wolves.
Some had made their way to us, but the others were probably in hiding, scattered throughout the packlands and the wildlands beyond, taking refuge from the magic that had tortured their pack.
As the winter wind nipped at me, fortunately less than usual since my wolf had been freed from years of suppression, I let my gaze sweep across the assembled war party, taking in faces both familiar and new.
Frost Fang wolves who’d escaped the witches’ control now stood shoulder to shoulder with the Howling Echo, their eyes hard with the need for vengeance. Bloody Dawn packmates paced restlessly.
Moonblessed had sent a few of their alphas with us, but kept most of their fighters in reserve in case they had to fight off Denraider on their own.
After all, Moonblessed not only had their own pack to tend to, but they had also taken in Frost Fang’s most vulnerable — the elderly, the injured, and the children.
Bretton moved between the groups with quiet efficiency, organizing strike teams that could respond as a group to the changing circumstances of battle.
Dean huddled close to Varden, their voices low as they discussed something, while my fellow hybrid, Brielle, caught my eye and flashed a grin that was all teeth and promised violence.
In the past, I’d done everything I could to deny the half of myself that would revel in the hunt. Now, my magic and wolf instincts churned together in my chest like a storm barely contained. My wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin, hackles raised.
I deliberately avoided shielding those feelings from the pack bond, letting my new pack — and my future mates — sense my nervousness and my wolf’s unease about the coming fight.
Since Gage bit me and brought me into the Howling Echo pack bond, I no longer felt the need to hide.
No more careful control to protect myself, no more fear that they might see too much and find me wanting.
Gage turned toward me, his gaze sharp with awareness as he let his cool confidence wash over me through the pack bond, as Freya’s love and reassurance met me through our Bonded link. Both took a moment to care for me, even in the midst of battle preparations.
I’d finally found people I could trust, a place where I belonged.
“He won’t get away this time,” Heath assured us telepathically from across the crowd.
“And we won’t let those witches sever anyone else from their wolves,” Flint added.
Surrounded by my first and only pack, there was still a hollow ache where Rowan’s presence should have been.
I closed my eyes for a moment, pulling my mental curtains closed as I let a memory surface: kneeling between Rowan’s powerful thighs, the salt-sweet taste of him on my tongue, the way his hands had tangled in my hair with such desperate need.
The trust in that moment had been intoxicating — alpha and beta, wolf and witch, all barriers stripped away until there was nothing but want and acceptance.
Now he was gone, infiltrating the enemy pack.
I found myself missing his wild energy in the pack bond and his large black wolf pacing alongside me.
Through the Bonded link, Freya’s own grief remained ever present — a constant undercurrent of worry that she tried to hide but couldn’t quite suppress. My wolf whined softly, wanting to comfort her, to comfort all of us. The pack was missing a crucial piece, and every one of us felt the loss.
But we had our own work to do while Rowan was away.
“Gather round,” Gage’s voice cut through the murmur of conversation, drawing everyone into a tight circle.
I shifted back to my human form to make a quick voice amplification sigil in the air, so the alphas’ voices could travel to the wolves at the periphery.
Gage’s commanding alpha presence filled the space, intoxicating to my beta wolf.
Every time one of the Howling Echo alphas took control like this, I remembered how my wolf knew, from the first moment I shifted again, that they would one day become my mates.
I just didn’t know how long it might take for them to realize the same.
Or if all of us would survive to have the chance.
“We’ve had a few days to regroup, but so have they.” Gage’s voice betrayed no concern. “Our best chance is to eliminate the threat before they gain reinforcements from the larger coven.”
Heath nodded, his expression grim. “The Ashworth Coven lost most of their curse stones when Freya and Zak destroyed their cache, but that doesn’t mean they’re defenseless. Witches are adaptable, and we don’t know how long it takes them to make more of those stones.”
“They’ll likely have new tricks,” Flint added. “Stay alert, watch each other’s backs, and don’t get drawn into any traps they might set.”
My magic responded to the tension in the air, crackling along my nerve endings like electricity before a storm. The wolf in me wanted to shift, to tear into our enemies with fang and claw, but the mage part of my nature knew we’d need to call on both types of power before this was over.
“Artemis, it’s time for you to get a head start.
Same for the Frost Fang alphas. Take your wolves and circle around to cut off their retreat.
The Howling Echo and Brielle will advance more obviously, straight up the middle, to get their attention.
Moonblessed, cover our retreat. You all know your parts to play. ”
We’d discussed this strategy at length, so the other alphas merely nodded their agreement.
The Moonblessed fighters were already shifting to guard our way back to the safety of their walled city, while Artemis took off, calling her young Bloody Dawn wolves to follow.
Meanwhile the Frost Fang alphas gathered their packmates, all hungry for the chance at vengeance for what the witches had done to their pack.
To my surprise, Fern fell into step alongside the rest of the beta wolves, following alpha orders despite the rift she’d caused earlier to avoid just that.
I glanced over at Brielle, who gave me a nod of reassurance before she shifted and began scouting ahead.
She and I had created and given out as many charms as we could in such a short time.
They would ward off some magic, hopefully giving the wolves a split-second advantage — on top of the benefit of surprise.
Because the Bloody Dawn and Frost Fang forces were setting the trap. And the Howling Echo was going to spring it.
Soon, only the Howling Echo remained in front of the burned-out pack house. It seemed fitting, somehow, that it was destroyed.
We stood in the spot where Gage had once argued with Fern rather than punishing her.
And where he effortlessly defeated Varden, gaining the volatile alpha’s loyalty along with many Frost Fang pack followers.
Those moments were proof to me that the Howling Echo alphas were special.
They weren’t the brutal, mindless, violent monsters I’d been taught to expect.
They protected and cared about their people, even when those people didn’t want them to.
“And then there were five,” Heath said wryly, the twinge of dismay in the Bonded link proving he felt Rowan’s absence as much as I did.
Gage’s gaze swept the circle, landing on each Howling Echo wolf in turn before settling on Freya.
The love in his expression was so raw it made my chest ache, but it wasn’t with jealousy.
No, it was a much more complex emotion. Desire blended with hope that someday he might look at me the same way, twining alongside the hope that one day my bond with Freya would grow as strong as theirs — not to rival what they had, but to complement it.
That all of us might find a place of peace and belonging with each other, our desires met with love and acceptance like a strong Bonded circle should have.
Gage pulled Freya against him, his mouth claiming hers in a kiss that was pure dominance and possession. The Bonded link exploded with heat, their passion flooding through all of us until I had to bite back a groan as my dick instantly hardened.
My wolf rumbled with approval while my human side fought the urge to press closer, to join in. But it wasn’t my place. For all the time we’d spent together, Freya and I hadn’t had time to solidify our feelings into the bond I craved… and what I had with the others still remained untested.
The kiss broke, leaving Freya breathless and flushed, but Gage didn’t release her. Instead, he turned her to face me, and her eyes lit up as I stepped closer, drawn in like a moth to her delightful flame.
We shared a long, lingering kiss, and Freya whispered into my mind, “Soon.”
The pulse of warmth through our bond was better than any physical touch. She was the center of everything we’d built, the gravitational force that held our unconventional family together.
When we broke apart, Freya remained in Gage’s embrace. Her eyes gleamed like winter stars, but I began to wonder if I’d only imagined that word as she looked at Flint next.
As she kissed him, Heath grabbed my wrist, making me turn to face him. My heart stuttered at the intensity in his narrowed eyes, as though he were searching for something. It seemed he found it, because he nodded to himself, drawing me forward until he could claim my lips.