Chapter 2 - Zak #3
Despite the witches’ efforts, the tide was turning in our favor, though they were making us pay for every inch of ground.
Artemis and her Bloody Dawn wolves had done their job perfectly, cutting off the retreat routes and forcing the Ashworth Coven into a defensive position they clearly hadn’t expected.
When I paused for breath, I realized with alarm that Aliza had vanished from the battlefield.
A moment later, she reappeared on the balcony of one of the few buildings still standing — a two-story house that had once been part of the alpha residence.
Shimmering barriers erupted around the entire structure, creating an impenetrable dome of magical energy.
I growled in frustration, not liking her new position above the battlefield one bit.
As the shields solidified, Dryden stepped out on the balcony beside her, his cold gaze sweeping the scene with calculating intensity. Both figures stood protected behind the magical barrier, untouchable.
The fighting around us slowed then paused as both sides took notice.
We settled into an uneasy stalemate, everyone breathing hard and eyeing each other.
Bodies lay scattered between us — all of them witches, I noted with grim satisfaction.
Our allies pulled the wolves with dust magic in their coats to safety behind our lines.
“Still playing soldier with your little pack, I see,” Dryden said, his gaze falling on his son.
Heath’s lips pulled back in a snarl that needed no translation. With his fists clenched at his sides, the hatred radiating from him was palpable. We all faced the man who had betrayed his own son, who had allowed witches to torture innocent wolves for their twisted experiments.
“Don’t give him the satisfaction of an answer,” Gage growled to Heath, but he ignored the warning.
Heath’s voice carried the promise of violence, cold and implacable. “You should have run to Harlow or Hazel when you had the chance. At least they might have shown you mercy.”
Dryden’s gaze swept over us with obvious disdain before settling on Freya, who stood naked and proud like a warrior goddess among her wolves.
“And here I thought your little mage gave you back your shifting ability, son.” Dryden kept his tone conversational as if they were meeting for lunch rather than facing each other across a battlefield littered with corpses. “My witch allies still hunger for her twisted magic.”
From the others’ reactions in the bond, Heath would be lucky if they let him do the honors by killing Dryden.
“Indeed, we do.” Aliza chuckled. “We’re going to drain the mutt of all her magic and then let her feral mates rut her husk when we’re through.”
Their words hit the Bonded link like a lightning strike. Fury exploded through our connection. Gage’s wolf snarled from somewhere to my left, while Heath’s rage burned deadly through the bond. Flint’s fury burned cold, but no less dangerous for the lack of heat to it.
Aliza’s lips curled in a sneer that made me bare my teeth in response, my wolf itching to tear out her throat for daring to speak to my mate that way.
Freya herself remained perfectly calm, stepping forward with the fluid grace of a predator who knew exactly how dangerous she was.
When she spoke, her voice was soft as silk and twice as deadly. “Call me a mutt again, and I’ll bury your bones where not even your coven can find them.”
Freya’s raw power and absolute confidence made my wolf howl with want — a sentiment shared by the others, as lust replaced the alphas’ fury in our Bonded link. This was my mate, my queen, standing fearless before our enemies and promising them death in her sweet voice.
Aliza reached into her robes and withdrew a stone that pulsed with sickly yellow light. “We’ve been so busy since we last clashed. This one’s special, crafted for creatures just like you. It’ll cage that pretty wolf of yours while leaving all that delicious magic ripe for harvesting.”
The words had barely left her mouth when Heath’s gun cracked twice in rapid succession. The bullets streaked toward Aliza, but crystalline barriers erupted from the ground, deflecting them with sharp chimes. Ice spread from where the bullets struck, creating a defensive wall around the balcony.
“Now!” Aliza screamed, and the world exploded into chaos.
“They were buying time,” Heath roared in the Bonded link, furious we’d fallen for the ploy.
Another group of witches materialized from concealment, their hands already weaving spells of devastating power.
They weren’t the desperate, scattered remnants we’d been fighting — these had held back, taking the time to coordinate and prepare powerful spells that required a coven’s combined magic to cast. Ice and shadow erupted across the battlefield, forcing our allies to scatter or be frozen solid.
Dryden twisted the top on a charm I recognized all too well — the equivalent of a smoke bomb.
“Take down those shields!” Gage’s mental voice roared through pack bonds and the Bonded link alike, his wolf already moving to shield Freya from a massive ice spear that launched from the protected balcony.
We wouldn’t give up without a fight.
Brielle’s fireball streaked toward the protected house, only to splash harmlessly against the shimmering dome.
My own magic lashed out, seeking weak points in the barrier, but it held firm against every assault.
Freya’s lightning crackled through the air, striking the dome again and again, each bolt leaving ripples of energy across its surface but failing to penetrate.
Heath emptied his clip in controlled bursts, the gunshots deafening as bullets sparked off the magical barrier. The dome pulsed with each impact but remained unbroken, protecting the two figures on the balcony.
The new witches had created a dome of frozen energy between us and our enemies, but our attacks were slowing them down, forcing them to pour more power into their defenses.
Our combined assault created visible stress fractures in the dome, the barrier flickering under the sustained magical bombardment.
Freya pulled on my magic, yanking it out of me to serve her purpose. To my surprise, she also seemed to do the same with Brielle.
Freya threw our combined magic at the dome, shattering the entire thing to reveal an empty balcony.
Aliza and Dryden were already gone.
“Enjoy your little victory, wolves,” Aliza called out, eerier now that we couldn’t see her or Dryden. “When Trella arrives with the full might of our coven, even your precious hybrids won’t be enough to save you.”
“They’re creating a path out the back!” Brielle warned, and I circled the dome to see some of the witches had created a tunnel of ice and magic.
Freya, Brielle, and I were the only mages on our side. We couldn’t hope to counter an entire coven’s magic like this, not when they’d had time to prepare. Our entire plan had hinged on a surprise attack.
Still, we tried, only to see my fireball freeze midair and fall to the ground with a thump, fizzling out beneath an icy shell. Freya’s lightning shattered midair against the coven’s might.
“Together,” Freya called, and the three of us sent our magic out as one massive fireball, larger than any of us could have created on our own. We unleashed everything we had.
At the same time, our allies opened fire on the semi-opaque tunnel as we caught sight of Dryden and Aliza making their escape. But it was all for naught.
“Take down the witches powering it instead,” I suggested, and the three of us hybrids redirected our attacks, taking down witch after witch who were focused on maintaining the icy corridor.
Wolves tore out their throats, eliminating the witches one by one, but we were too late.
Dryden and Aliza were gone, vanishing into the winter forest behind illusion magic.
The few witches with them were more than enough to maintain the glamor.
They left behind only the dead or dying, abandoned by their leaders without a second thought.
Within moments, the only sounds were the wind through the trees and the harsh breathing of exhausted fighters.
We’d won the battle and killed many of them, but our most powerful enemies had escaped to fight another day. And next time, they’d be coming with everything they had.
The silence that followed felt deafening after the chaos of battle.
Around me, our allies slowly began to regroup, the Frost Fang wolves shifting back to human form as they tended to their wounded.
Despite his own injuries, Bretton moved efficiently between the groups, his hands gentle as he checked injuries and offered quiet words of encouragement.
Gage, Heath, and Flint gathered around Freya. Seeing the alphas care for her soothed my wolf, knowing they would take good care of each other. Their hands were gentle but thorough as they confirmed she was unharmed. The sight of them protecting her made something tight in my chest finally relax.
Before I could turn to check on Brielle, Gage was in front of me, his hands brusquely roaming over my shoulders and arms. Startled by his sudden nearness, it took me a moment to realize he was looking for injuries, checking to make sure I, too, was whole.
His protective gesture was followed immediately by Heath and Flint doing the same thing.
Their concern and attention filled me with a warm gooey feeling that I instinctively hid from the bond, afraid it would reveal just how fast I was falling for each of them.
Old habits weren’t so easy to kick, it seemed.
“I’m fine,” I assured them, catching Gage’s hand as he reached for me again and squeezing it gently. “Not even a scratch.”
“This time,” Heath muttered, but his relief was palpable through the bond. I let some of the warmth I was feeling through, letting them know I appreciated their care.
I still couldn’t believe my dreams had actually come true. This sense of belonging, of being claimed and cherished — it wasn’t just wishful thinking or desperate hope anymore. I was truly part of this, part of them.
Freya grabbed my hand, and we moved through the aftermath together.
She’d gotten dressed and now moved with quiet authority, checking on each of our allies in turn, as she guided us toward the wolves with dust magic in their fur.
It took a combined effort from Freya, Brielle, and me to counter the spell and relieve their suffering.
“Stay in wolf form,” Freya advised one of the victims. “It’ll speed your healing along.”
A surge of pride filled me. Not long ago she’d struggled to use her magic at all, but she’d doubled down on my lessons, and Brielle’s, in the little time we’d had to prepare. Her skill and confidence had grown quickly, and now she was casting and healing independently.
Next, she offered Bretton a healing touch, shared a joke with Brielle that made the other hybrid laugh, and squeezed Varden’s shoulder in wordless thanks for his courage.
Every person she touched seemed to stand a little straighter, their eyes following her with something that looked suspiciously like devotion.
“Would you heal this one?” Freya asked me as we came to a stop before Dean. “Witchfire is your specialty.”
He raised his forearm to reveal the nasty burn.
“Of course,” I agreed, giving him a reassuring smile.
But as my hands healed away his injury, my attention remained on the magical being who had shared my dreams, whose starbeam had found me, the woman who brought me into a pack I’d never dared to dream of.
There was something different about her, something I couldn’t quite name. It wasn’t just the way she commanded respect without demanding it, or the effortless way she moved between our various allies. It was deeper than that — a sense of rightness, of destiny unfolding exactly as it should.
She was becoming something more than just our mate, more than just the center of our unconventional pack. What that something was, I couldn’t say. But I felt it in my bones, in the way my magic resonated with her presence, in the way even the Frost Fang wolves now looked to her for guidance.
As soon as I’d finished healing Dean, I found myself gravitating toward Flint as my adrenaline began to fade, drawn by his steady presence.
“She’s amazing,” I whispered to him as we both watched her moving among our allies.
“That she is.” When his arm draped over my shoulder, I leaned into the contact with shameless need.
His own desires met mine through the Bonded link, open and unhidden. Alphas had certain… urges after a battle, a thought that excited me.
“Prepare to move out,” Gage called once it became clear everyone who needed immediately healing had received attention.
The celebration would have to wait — there were smaller wounds to tend, plans to make, preparations for the larger war that was coming. But later… later, I hoped they would remember the heat that burned between us, the need that connected us all.
I wanted everything Freya could give me and more, and I wanted to give them everything in return. Soon, I hoped they would let that fire warm us until Rowan and Torsten could complete our circle.
Gage’s eyes met mine across battleground, and the promise I saw there made my wolf rumble with anticipation. Heath’s smirk was pure sin, while Flint’s thumb traced soothing circles on my upper arm.
Freya stood at the front of our ragtag army, her white hair catching the pale winter light as she surveyed the battlefield we’d won. Her allies — our allies — stood at her back, united in purpose if not in name.
And when she gazed at me, I found acceptance and anticipation in her eyes. But her calm expression soon twisted as pain stabbed through the Bonded link.
Her mouth opened in a wordless cry as she mentally reached for our missing mate. “Rowan!”