Chapter 11 - Freya #3
I looked to Gage, seeing my own thoughts reflected in his sky-blue eyes. “Will you bite them and bring them into a pack bond?” I asked.
A small, hollow ache echoed from Rowan through our mate bond — there and gone before I could chase it.
Gage’s expression grew thoughtful. “Into Frost Fang, you mean?”
“Not necessarily,” I replied, turning over the idea in my head.
“We don’t have to decide this now,” Flint pointed out privately through the Bonded link.
“For now,” Gage said pragmatically, “Do you swear to fight alongside us? Stand against the forces trying to destroy what we’ve built?”
“Absolutely,” Jasmine answered without hesitation, her mates nodding agreement.
“Then we’ll figure out the details as we go,” Gage decided. “For now, you can be pack followers of the Howling Echo. But Ironwood and Frost Fang could both use more alphas for stability.”
“So could the Bloody Dawn,” Flint pointed out.
Gage nodded. “Get to know the other packs for now. Then you’ll be able to choose which pack to join. The protection council structure is still evolving.”
As Heath began explaining the different packs that had joined us on the battlefield, I went over to stand between Rowan and Tor, finding it too difficult to be separated from them by even a few feet. Rowan took my hand, and I felt his wolf instantly settle inside of him thanks to the mate bond.
Tor’s gaze swept over the camp, then returned to Gage. “Is now a good time to talk about what my ravens are seeing?” he asked quietly.
All my other mates glanced at each other. The part of me that wanted to drag Rowan straight back to our tent protested, but the rest of me knew better. We had too many wolves depending on us to ignore the bigger picture.
“As good as any,” Heath answered, stepping closer.
“From what my ravens can see, the Ashworth Coven’s larger force has been denied entry at Elder Forest,” Tor explained. “Their only choice is to go the long way around those packlands. They won’t meet up with the rest of the coven for at least a day or so. It gives us breathing room.”
The tension in my shoulders began to ease. If the witches were stuck, rather than advancing…
Without pausing to celebrate that good news, Gage asked, “And Denraider?”
“My ravens show chaos in their ranks,” Tor said, his expression serious. “The slave uprising hit even harder than we hoped. Half their pack is still drunk from pre-gaming up to their holiday celebration, the other half is dealing with the fallout.”
The relief that flooded through all our bonds was so intense it made me dizzy. Both enemy forces were temporarily neutralized — the witches waiting at the border for their backup, Denraider still in chaos from what Rowan and Tor had accomplished.
“So we have today and tomorrow at the very least,” Gage concluded, his sky-blue eyes finding mine.
“It is Christmas,” Heath said with a growing smile. “The packs deserve a feast after everything they’ve been through.”
Flint nodded, pulling out his phone. “I’ll give Hugo and Idori a heads-up. They’ve been putting off the winter guardian spirit dance. Sounds like now’s the time.”
I found myself only half-listening as they discussed how to rotate patrols so everyone would get a chance to participate in the festivities.
A sudden spike of tension in the air caught my attention instead.
Rowan had left my side as someone approached us, walking across the camp with careful, measured steps.
Thatcher.
The conversation around me died as everyone noticed the same thing. The new Ironwood alpha and the wolf who’d briefly held that title faced each other in the space between our gathered allies. Nearby Ironwood wolves turned toward us as though expecting animosity.
“Rowan,” Thatcher inclined his head respectfully.
“Thatcher,” Rowan said. “Heard you’ve been taking good care of Ironwood.”
“Trying to,” Thatcher admitted. “The pack deserves better than what Luka and his father gave them.”
“Ironwood needed you,” Flint agreed, clearly trying to smooth out the tension in the air. “Someone who actually cares about the wolves, not just the power.”
Rowan nodded. “Thanks for taking care of my mate’s former pack.”
Nearby wolves visibly exhaled a collective breath. Whatever concerns there might have been about conflicts between former and current pack leadership dissolved in this moment of mutual respect.
Thatcher gave Rowan a fistbump. “Thanks for entrusting it to me. Too many alphas would have clung to a title they didn’t want just because they could.”
“We’re glad you took it over,” Heath said, coming over to stand at Rowan’s side.
Lee joined us. “By allowing Ironwood to be governed by its own people, you proved you’re not conquerors like Denraider.”
He spoke with conviction.
Gage nodded. “We don’t take what doesn’t belong to us or hold onto what we don’t need.” His eyes swept over the Frost Fang wolves nearby, his words carrying a double meaning.
However things turned out, he would never go back to ruling Frost Fang as he once had. It was one more thing we needed to decide, but the most important thing for now was to make sure we all defended each other.
“Exactly why we’re here,” Gabriel said. “To stand in alliance against the ones who would conquer anyone in their paths. Never before have I seen alphas from so many different packs willing to work together like this.”
I introduced Gabriel and the others to Thatcher and Lee.
Thatcher tilted his head, then glanced over at me with a playful smile. “The truth is, Ironwood demanded we join this alliance to protect one of our own.” He motioned to me. “Freya once lived among the Ironwood pack, and we have much to make up for. Even though she chose a new pack of her own.”
His words sparked something in my mind — a vision of what we could build together. Not the old system of conquest and domination, but something based on choice and mutual support.
I stepped forward, feeling the weight of everyone’s attention as I found my voice and motioned to everyone gathered nearby.
“This is what we’re fighting for. Not territory or titles or the right to rule others. We’re fighting for the freedom to choose our own families, our own bonds, our own futures. To protect those we care about, regardless of the pack they belong to.”
I looked around at the diverse group gathered here — alphas and betas and subordinates, wolves and hybrids, former leaders and future ones, refugees from multiple packs now standing together.
Rowan moved from my side to Zak’s. To others, it might look like he was giving me space to speak, but the hybrid’s spine immediately straightened, and he graced Rowan with a smile. It reminded me of what they both had suffered before finding the Howling Echo, just as I had.
“It doesn’t matter where you came from or what rank you held before.
” I paused when I found my voice magically carrying across the entire camp.
Zak winked, and I went on, “We all have something to contribute. But we deserve the freedom to choose what we offer to each other. It doesn’t matter if your wolf is a Lokiswolf or an Odinswolf.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a hybrid or something else entirely.
It doesn’t matter if you have no mate, or one mate, or multiple mates.
What matters is that we choose to stand together, to protect each other, to build something better than what came before. ”
Jasmine’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “That’s why we’re here.”
“We’re glad to have you,” I assured her, and everyone. “You all have a home among us, for as long as you want it.”
Gabriel stepped forward, his alpha presence like a physical force in the air. “Then we pledge ourselves to this alliance. To you, and to the future you’re building.”
To my surprise, Thatcher stepped forward and said the same. “The Ironwood pack would like to also officially pledges ourselves to the protection council you’re building. We stand by your side, Freya, and we hope to help you craft this future you’re building.”
“We all do,” Artemis agreed, coming forward from the crowd.
A ripple moved through the gathered wolves — backs straightening, shoulders squaring, hope brightening tired eyes. We’d been on guard, defending and attacking, and now we could take a moment to celebrate our alliance.
“We stand together,” I agreed, surprised and pleased. I motioned to everyone who had drawn closer. “Together, we fight — for each other.”
Other voices rose in the crowd, all in agreement or celebration or making pledges of their own. Bretton, Brooke, West, Sara, Hank… they all nodded or gave other signs of their agreement.
Even Tor, who’d been quietly observing everything, nodded his approval.
“The stars guided us well,” he said softly, his ice-blue eyes meeting mine. “This is where we were meant to be. I’m yours.”
His words brooked no argument, held no uncertainty. From our first meeting in our dreams, we’d both known what we would become to one another. All that we were lacking were the bites to turn our dreams into reality.
As I moved toward him, unable to keep myself back, Gage’s alpha authority rang out.
“Denraider is in disarray thanks to the chaos my packmates and our allies caused,” Gage said with pride. “And the Ashworth Coven is delayed by at least a day. That means we have time for a proper Christmas celebration tonight!”
The crowd cheered. While the leaders of the packs discussed logistics — sleeping arrangements for the new arrivals, meal planning for our expanded group, accounting for supplies and the two new vehicles our protection council might now make use of — and party preparations, I found myself in Tor’s arms again.
We shared another kiss, and this one felt like a promise of what was to come.
Tor whispered, “There will be time for us later. Right now, he needs you more, to reclaim what’s his.”
When I turned in Tor’s arms, Rowan’s hungry gaze was upon me. Of course — I’d forgotten that after fighting his way free yesterday, the alpha wolf inside of Rowan would be anxious to assure himself of my safety.
Around us, the camp was bustling with excited activity as everyone prepared for the festivities, but the undercurrent of need flowed through my bonds with increasing intensity.
In the distance, drums began to echo from Moonblessed’s walls.
The rhythmic pounding carried on the winter air, signaling an invitation to their winter guardian spirit dance that would blend with the traditional Christmas celebration the other packs were accustomed to.
Voices raised in song drifted toward us, and flickering torches appeared along the path between our camp and the Moonblessed gates.
Tor whispered into my ear, “Go to your mates, Freya.”
Privately, to me alone Flint asked, “Who do you want with you tonight, moonbeam?” and my heart melted.
Knowing that all my mates not only respected my choices but encouraged them made me bold enough to advocate for what we collectively needed most right now.
“Do you guys mind giving me some time alone with Rowan?” I asked Gage, Heath, and Flint. “And… Zak too?”