Chapter 3 - Rowan #3
I forced a crude smirk, channeling thoughts of Freya to make this half-truth believable. “It would be fun to fuck a woman who can fight back. To make her submit without alpha commands.”
The words tasted like ash in my mouth, but Drew bought it completely.
“No one wants to fuck her, not with the owners she has,” he warned, his voice dropping. “Don’t even think about it. They’re brutal even by Denraider standards. Word is they traffic in information and favors, things that make even Lydell think twice about crossing them.”
So Freya’s sister was relatively safe from the general population, but probably not from whoever claimed ownership over her. The information was both reassuring and terrifying. I filed the knowledge away, already calculating how to gather more intelligence on them.
“Slaves like her aren’t near the front lines anyway,” Drew continued. “They’re kept back in Oregon with the other valuables.”
Then I probably wouldn’t get more intel until they moved me to the frontline. “Any idea when we’re going to join the fight?”
“Us? Who knows,” he said. “Lydell has his main force ready to hit those witches while they’re scattered.
Strike fast, strike hard. The rest of us have to keep Denraider’s previous conquests secure.
And who knows where the regional alphas will send the new recruits until he’s ready to give you his mark. ”
“So until then, I’m what? A prisoner?”
Drew shrugged. “Basically, yeah.”
Then it puzzled me why Keith had handed me over to a beta he knew I could overpower.
Did he expect me to try to escape back to the wildlands?
Maybe he wanted a chance to hunt me all over again, maybe even kill me this time.
Killing a recruit might be bad form, but killing a runaway rogue alpha in the wildlands?
Or maybe he was just testing me.
The conversation continued for another few minutes until Drew noticed I’d finished my meal. Then he escorted me to the barracks next.
I’d earned a meal, a blanket, and some healing time, so my odds were already better than they’d been a few hours ago.
As Drew left for patrol duty, I checked carefully for surveillance.
Inside, I realized what I should have expected already — there were no beds.
We were expected to sleep in our wolf forms. All the other blankets were folded as padding against the hard earth floor or were circled in nests to ward off the draft.
It might be a while before the rest of the new recruits were allowed to rest, so for the moment, I had my privacy.
I folded my blanket into a pad, then shifted to let my wounds heal. My tail fell off the blanket, but I folded my paws over and laid my muzzle down on the uninjured one.
Taking a deep breath, I centered myself, allowing a moment to imagine what waited for me back home. The memory of Zak’s eager mouth on me sent heat through me despite the cold barracks. His dark eyes filled with trust when he’d offered to burn away my pack tattoo.
And Freya, the first woman who’d loved me, who’d seen the man hiding behind his wolf, behind his scars. She made it impossible not to love her back.
Only then did I dare to lower my mental barriers.
“Rowan?” Freya’s voice flooded through the Bonded link immediately, full of relief and barely contained panic. “Are you alright? That pain—”
“I’m alive,” I sent back, trying to project calm despite the ache in my arm. “Had to prove myself to get in. It worked.”
“You nearly went feral,” Gage’s voice cut through, sharp with authority and concern. “We all felt it.”
“Almost.” No sense denying it.
“What did you learn?” Heath asked, pushing past the emotional response to focus on intelligence.
I shared what I’d discovered — Lydell’s rise to pack alpha and the information about Freya’s sister.
“Valkyrie,” Freya whispered through the link, wonder and pain mixing in her mental voice. “Her name is Valkyrie.”
“She’s alive,” I confirmed. “Her owners’ bad reputation keeps the others away but…”
“But not from them,” Flint finished grimly.
Heavy footsteps approached the barracks, and I slammed my mental curtains shut just as the door burst open.
“On your feet, recruit!” Keith barked, his face grim and a bit sullen — probably hoped he’d catch me sleeping.
I leaped to my paws and waited.
“I said, on your feet,” he growled.
I shifted back, meeting his eyes without putting my clothes on yet. If he wanted to order me around like a beta, then he’d have to state every order clearly.
He smirked. “Lydell’s gonna have fun if you challenge him like that. You wanna fight while you’re still injured?”
It was harder than I expected to let my eyes drop when our level of dominance was so similar.
“Good. Lydell’s mobilizing most of his main force for a push into Idaho — witch territory. Big targets, lots of glory for the wolves who prove themselves worthy.” Keith’s tone suggested this was exactly the kind of assignment he’d always dreamed of.
“Unfortunately for hotshots like you,” Keith continued with obvious satisfaction, “new recruits don’t get to join the fun until Lydell’s had a chance to properly evaluate you. So while the real alphas are out there making names for themselves, you get boring shipping duty.”
I forced myself to look disappointed rather than relieved. “Shipping?”
“Keeping our supplies moving. Conquered packlands have to contribute their fair share to the effort.” He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.
“You’ll be assigned to one of the outfits on the far western border.
Deep in Oregon, far from the wildlands so you can’t go missing.
Perfect place for an alpha who thinks he’s too good for pack hierarchy to learn some humility. ”
Oregon. Not a direct path to Freya’s sister, but a damn sight closer than I’d dared hope.
“He’s giving us boring duties that won’t require communication over the pack bond,” I said, understanding the truth between Keith’s words. “How long will I be stuck there?” I asked, making sure to sound reluctant.
“Until Lydell decides you’ve learned your place. Could be weeks, could be months until he can come back from his latest conquest and bite you all properly.” Keith’s grin was all teeth. “Meanwhile, you’ll figure out that this pack is for conquerors and kings, not for alphas who can’t follow orders.”
The words made me freeze, my entire body going still, my breathing paused. Conquerors and kings. I’d heard those exact words before, fifteen years ago, from the enforcer who’d cast me into the wildlands to die.
It must have become Lydell’s mantra as he rose to power, infecting the entire pack. I only hoped I could learn what I needed to in Oregon and get out before I caught his attention. If he recognized me, I could lose the chance to return to my pack.
I would survive whatever tasks Keith had planned for me. I would sneak away from the labor camp the moment I got the chance. Then I would find Valkyrie.
“When do I leave?” I asked, trying not to betray how eager I was to catch a ride closer to Valkyrie’s location.
“Rest tonight,” Keith said gruffly. “The convoy leaves first thing in the morning.”
I dipped my head in deference as he turned away, shifting back to my wolf to keep healing. I opened up the Bonded link again as soon as the door slammed shut behind him.
“By a stroke of luck, they’re sending me to Oregon tomorrow. Closer to where Valkyrie is.”
“Your mission is confirm her location and then get out,” Gage reminded me, his alpha authority bleeding through even without the pack bond. “Don’t split your focus trying to spy for us. That’s how you get caught.”
“I know,” I replied, though part of me bristled at being told what I already understood. “I can’t pull out yet. I need to find out where exactly they’re keeping her.”
“Just… be careful,” Zak’s voice was soft, the bond full of his trust and confidence in me. “Come back to us in one piece.”
“I will,” I promised, meaning it with every fiber of my being.
“You have to be back before Freya’s heat,” Gage reminded me unnecessarily.
“It’s not for three more weeks,” Freya added with confidence. “After the first two, I’ve learned what it feels like as it draws closer. Don’t worry about me, Rowan.”
Flint said, “Just be sure you’re back in time.”
“I know,” I growled again. “I will.”
I had to hope I’d be long gone by then. If her heat arrived before I escaped, I’d go into rut without her and be completely compromised, surrounded by Denraider wolves.
During her first heat, I’d been lucky to be able to seclude myself away from Elder Forest. For five days, I’d been forced to give up on my mission entirely as my rut consumed every waking moment.
“We’ll do our best to help when you need extraction,” Gage assured me.
“But if Denraider attacks first…” Heath didn’t finish that statement. He didn’t need to.
“I love you,” Freya whispered, her words wrapping around me like a warm embrace. “Stay safe.”
The Bonded link pulsed with affection from all of them — even without the pack bond, I wasn’t alone. I let that comfort me as I drifted off into a healing sleep.