Chapter 11 - Freya
Freya
Last night, while Rowan and Torsten had fought their way out of Denraider territory after starting a full-on slave uprising, the rest of us had been stuck here, helpless bystanders watching through the Bonded link as they infiltrated enemy lines.
Sleep had barely touched any of us. Gage and Heath had been awake all night sending scouts out to make sure Rowan and Tor weren’t leading enemies straight back to us. Every crackle of the radio, every distant howl had tied my stomach into worse knots.
I’d felt so much terror when Lydell tried to force Rowan to submit to the pack bond. Using the Bonded link across such vast distances, channeling the combined strength of all my mates to shore up enslaved wolves — it had been exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure.
Instead of feeling hopeful on Christmas Day, I was pacing outside our central command tent. We’d stayed in the temporary camp outside Moonblessed’s walls rather than returning to our den inside the city. We wanted to be here the moment Rowan and Tor arrived… if they arrived.
“You’re going to wear a path in the dirt,” Heath observed from the map table, where he sat pretending to review patrol schedules. His voice carried more affection than irritation.
“I can’t help it,” I admitted, pausing only long enough to scan the horizon through the tent opening. “We don’t know if Denraider is pursuing them. We don’t know if they’re safe.”
Heath’s caramel eyes softened. “We know Rowan’s too stubborn to die and Tor’s ravens show him every move Denraider makes. They’ll make it back to you, little warrior wolf.”
“Moonbeam, they’re here,” Flint called through the Bonded link, his words for all seven of us.
The sound of approaching vehicles made my heart leap. My mate bond with Rowan revealed his proximity. Through the Bonded link, I felt them both — Rowan’s familiar wild presence and Tor’s steady, calm power.
They were here. They were safe.
On Christmas Day, no less. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift.
I scrambled out of the tent, not bothering with shoes as I rushed outside. The December air bit at my skin through my thin sleep clothes, but I didn’t care. After weeks of dreaming about my sixth mate, after days of terror over Rowan’s mission, nothing else mattered.
A big SUV rolled to a stop at the edge of our camp. The Snow Moon pack symbol on the front plates identified them — a white wolf outlined in black in front of a huge full moon. My breath caught as the doors opened and familiar figures emerged.
Rowan stepped out of the SUV first, and my heart clenched at the sight of him. His beard had grown long and unruly, and exhaustion lined his face. Despite everything, his golden eyes found mine immediately, sending a fierce, primal urge through my veins.
My wolf howled with triumph inside me. My mate had survived. He had come home to us.
“Mine,” I snarled, but whether it was my wolf or me saying it, I couldn’t say.
I didn’t realize I’d projected it through the Bonded link for all to hear until Rowan gave me a cutting grin and echoed, “Mine.”
Then Tor’s large frame unfolded from the SUV’s passenger side, and the world seemed to shift around me.
My wolf went absolutely silent for a heartbeat, then erupted into eager whines and restless pacing.
Every nerve ending in my body suddenly felt hyperaware, as though I’d been struck by actual lightning.
My wolf didn’t just recognize him; she surged toward him like we’d been separated for lifetimes, not just miles.
The bond I’d felt for him in our dreams was nothing compared to this — leaving my knees weak and my pulse racing.
He was exactly as I’d seen him in dreams, yet somehow more real, more solid, more present.
Tall — so much taller than I’d expected, easily six foot seven.
His blond hair had been cut shorter since our last dream meeting, the sides and back cropped close while the longer top was woven into intricate braids reminiscent of Viking heritage.
Ice-blue eyes swept the camp before settling on me with an intensity that made my wolf rumble with approval.
The dreams had been real, but now I had the final piece of the puzzle I’d been building since I first met Flint and the Howling Echo.
My sixth mate. My fellow Odinswolf. The completion of a circle that had begun when the stars marked us all as each other’s chosen by fate.
Rowan strode toward me, and I threw myself into his arms first, my bare feet barely touching the frozen ground. I nuzzled his neck as he caught me, letting my lips fall on my bite mark on his neck. His arms surrounded me, his fingertips sliding beneath my hair to tease his own bite mark on my nape.
It was all I could do not to grind against him as the touch reminded me of our claiming. His familiar scent of wild pine and unbowed cedar surrounded me, and I filled my lungs, glad to have him back in one piece.
“You’re safe,” I whispered against his neck, feeling the tension I’d carried for days finally begin to ease. “You’re both safe.”
“Of course,” he murmured, his voice rough with emotion. “I’ll always come back to run by your side.”
When I pulled away, Rowan’s hands lingered on my waist for a moment before he looked over my shoulder, a flash of hunger in his gaze.
Zak hung back slightly, uncertainty radiating from him through our Bonded connection. When Rowan finally turned to him, he raised his left arm, revealing Zak’s witchfire burn.
“It served me well,” Rowan said, and Zak moved toward him as though drawn by a magnet.
“I’ll heal it now.”
“First…”
Rowan lunged forward and pulled Zak into him, his arms wrapping around my fellow hybrid with fierce possessiveness.
I watched, heart in my throat, as Rowan buried his face against Zak’s neck right above my mark, breathing in his scent. Through our bonds, I felt Rowan’s growing attraction warring with his uncertainty.
“I want to wear your mark, mage,” Rowan growled.
“You mean…” Zak started, his joy blossoming in the Bonded link for all of us to revel in.
Rowan’s answer was a kiss. He ravaged Zak’s mouth, arms wrapping around him like he never wanted to let him go.
Tor’s hungry stare on both of them made me grin, and when he glanced past them and saw me, his lips turned up as well.
Heath cleared his throat and innocently mentioned, “Technically, he’s a witch again.”
Zak pulled back, his eyes wide as though Heath had shared his terrible secret.
“What?” Rowan said as though having trouble coming back to earth.
“It turns out, when Freya made me her Bonded, she also created a coven,” Zak explained in a rush. “And when Brielle swore loyalty to Freya, she joined our coven.”
He stared nervously at Rowan, as though this might be grounds for rejection.
“Regardless, Zak still belongs to the Howling Echo,” Gage growled as though reminding us all.
“Of course, alpha,” Zak ducked his head, and I could feel the collective arousal growing. Rowan wasn’t the only one attracted to my fellow hybrid.
But I hadn’t properly greeted my newest mate yet, and every passing moment made me more and more hungry to do so. As if sensing my desire, Tor approached with that same quiet confidence from our dreams. I tilted my head back to look up at him, and wonder filled his eyes.
“Freya,” Tor said, my name carrying his slight accent.
I moved toward him without hesitation, and when his arms opened to receive me, everything felt exactly right.
The hug was warm and solid and perfect, his strength evident in the careful way he held me.
At this height difference, the top of my head barely reached his chin, making me feel delicate and safe in his arms.
The size difference sent heat racing through my veins in ways I hadn’t expected. My wolf practically purred at being surrounded by his strength, while my human side marveled at how perfectly I fit against him. Every instinct screamed mine.
“You’re really here,” I breathed, pulling back just enough to gaze into his familiar eyes for the first time.
Six mates. The stars had promised me six, and now — finally — they were all within reach. If this wasn’t Christmas magic, I didn’t know what was.
“I’m here,” he confirmed, his voice just as I’d heard it in our dreams. “Finally.”
When he leaned down to kiss me, the world fell away entirely.
My wolf howled with recognition and desperate need, while my human side struggled to remember how to breathe. This wasn’t just attraction — this was cosmic, inevitable.
His lips were warm and sure against mine, as though welcoming me home when it should have been the other way around. Lightning danced along my skin, crackling over his arms and shoulders, and my wolf sang with recognition and joy.
He kissed me again, and it deepened naturally, as if we’d been doing this for years instead of meeting for the first time.
His scent filled my senses — winter winds and starlight made tangible.
The press of his lips felt intoxicating, irresistible.
I’d wanted this for so long, and to know that I could finally have it at last…
Through the bonds, I sensed my other mates drawing closer, their curiosity flowing through our connections. Now that I’d accepted Tor, proving he was my mate, it was their turn to greet him as well.
I pulled back, feeling chagrined.
“Um, so yeah, this is Torsten,” I said belatedly. “And Tor, you already know Rowan. That’s Gage. I guess you and Zak have technically met, too. The other two alphas are Heath and Flint.”
My pack alpha naturally came forward first, moving with carefully leashed power, his sky-blue eyes assessing Tor with careful consideration.
“So you’re the Odinswolf who’s been haunting my mate’s dreams,” Gage extended his hand, and Tor took it.
The moment they touched, something shifted in the Bonded link. Tor met Gage’s gaze with the natural confidence of an Odinswolf who didn’t conform to traditional hierarchy daring an alpha to admit his interest.