Chapter 12 - Rowan
Rowan
My wolf prowled impatiently close to the surface.
I stood at the edge of our gathered allies, watching Freya command attention with a strange kind of natural authority that I lacked as an alpha.
She spoke about choice and freedom, about building something better than what came before.
Every word rang with conviction, and pride swelled in my chest at how far she’d come from the wary hybrid who whose magic had once terrified me.
Nearby, Zak shifted from foot to foot, his gaze on me.
Through the Bonded link, I caught threads of his anxiety.
The vulnerability radiating from him triggered a primal protectiveness in my wolf.
The intensity of my desire shocked me, as someone who had always been repelled by other male wolves in the past.
It was different from what I felt for Freya.
She was my mate, my equal, an Odinswolf who could stand against any alpha command.
But Zak… Zak was a beta, susceptible to dominance from wolves like Gabriel who weren’t yet pack.
The thought of anyone commanding Zak, forcing him to submit against his will, made my wolf snarl with possessive rage.
I deliberately stepped closer to him, allowing my alpha scent to mark him as under my protection. He glanced up at me with those dark eyes, surprise flickering across his features, then a knowing smile.
My human side knew the one he might need the most protection from was me — and my wolf’s lack of restraint. I tried to focus on Freya’s words, leashing my control as his scent invaded my nostrils.
Beside me, Zak made a small gesture, and a tiny sigil appeared midair before fading away.
“It doesn’t matter where you came from or what rank you held before,” Freya continued, her voice now magically amplified across the gathering. She nodded her thanks at Zak.
Her words brought memories of my own exile from Denraider flooding back. If not for the Howling Echo, I would have remained a rogue alpha, slowly becoming more untamed and eventually going feral before dying alone in the wildlands.
As Freya continued her speech, I felt a similar recognition through the Bonded link from Zak.
He had also been told he wasn’t good enough and never would be.
Like the rest of us, he understood what it meant to be different, to be cast out, to find acceptance only after years of rejection.
The parallel between our experiences sent warmth spreading through my chest.
My feelings for Freya burned steady and true, an anchor that had pulled me back from the edge more times than I could count on Denraider territory.
Freya was my equal in ways that defied the traditional hierarchy I’d been raised in.
An Odinswolf who couldn’t be commanded, couldn’t be controlled, who chose to be mine every single day.
The mate bond between us felt like coming home after years of wandering.
What I felt for Zak was different because the beta in him called to something primal in my alpha nature, but it wasn’t about dominance. It was about protection. And yet, he had the power to protect as well. He’d healed my scars, allowing me to be vulnerable in a way I’d never explored before.
Perhaps because they were alphas, my feelings toward Gage, Heath, and Flint had always been brotherly, despite the intimate things we’d shared during Freya’s heat and beyond.
But with Zak… my wolf recognized them as something more.
And Torsten’s arrival and the seamless way we’d fought together on the battlefield also had my wolf rising up.
Mates, he grumbled, impatient for the human pleasantries to end so he could be with Freya, Zak, and yes, even Tor.
I’d never foreseen such a thing for myself. The idea of multiple mates still seemed unbelievable for a wolf like me, especially when I’d never imagined having a single mate would accept me at all. To think I might have three was unfathomable.
My attention was torn back to my surroundings as Gabriel, Thatcher, and Artemis spoke up for their groups, swearing to work together as part of the alliance forming around Freya. Had the Moonblessed alphas been present, I had no doubt they would have done the same.
When Torsten swore he was hers, my wolf stilled inside me, then howled with joy.
Seeing Freya kiss him made me long for the moment when we would all claim each other.
Though I stood by Zak’s side and had claimed and been claimed by Freya, I couldn’t tear my eyes off Tor, the mysterious wolf Freya had met in dreams, then brought into the Bonded link to help give me the power to stand up against Lydell.
Even as Gage gave orders that got everyone moving with renewed resolve thanks to Freya’s words, I found myself in a maelstrom of confusing feelings. My wolf wanted his reunion with Freya, yet he also desperately wanted to claim both Zak and Tor.
I was losing the willpower to hold him back from any of them.
My sharp hearing didn’t miss it when Tor whispered to Freya, “There will be time for us later. Right now, he needs you more, to reclaim what’s his.”
Fuck, he’d taken my words to heart about wanting their wolves to meet, but now I found myself too impatient to care.
Still, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out to him privately on the Bonded link. “You don’t have to hold back. Not on my account.”
“I will wait until we can run together,” he answered me in kind. Out loud, he whispered, “Go to your mates, Freya.”
The words might have embarrassed a different wolf, but instead they soothed me. He acknowledged the gnawing need that had been eating at me since I’d returned — the desperate hunger to reaffirm my bonds, to prove to myself that my mates were real and safe and mine.
And he didn’t try to force his way into our dynamic like an alpha would. Freya deserved to taste him first. My wolf seemed to understand that, as my need for Tor felt banked compared to my irresistible desire for Freya, my bonded mate.
Within minutes, our allies bustled around camp with preparations for the holiday festivities.
I couldn’t stop looking at Tor… or Zak’s fresh mate mark from Freya.
My wolf wanted my bite to join hers on his flesh.
My attention had captured Zak’s gaze. Did his wolf feel as feral for me as mine was for his?
Bite, my wolf demanded. Bite both.
With everyone else otherwise occupied, it left the seven of us — Freya and all her mates — standing alone together off to the side of the chaos.
Drums sounded from the walls of Moonblessed, and Flint looked that way as though eager to join in.
“Sounds like the feast is starting.”
Reluctantly, Gage said, “We should join them,” and I sincerely hoped he didn’t include me in that statement.
“I need my mate.” I roughly voiced my wolf’s demand, on the verge of begging her to get us out of here before the alpha inside me clawed his way out to take her in front of everyone.
Heath’s eyes gleamed, but under the mischief was solid understanding. As an alpha, he knew exactly what I was asking for and was happy to clear the way.
“Why don’t Flint, Gage, and I show Torsten around? Introduce him to people?” He gave the Odinswolf a meaningful look. “Give these three some… time to reconnect.”
If I thought Tor would protest, I was wrong. His gaze lingered on me for a moment before he answered, though.
“I’d like that.”
When Freya took my hand, my wolf grew even more frantic with need. I had hoped that her touch would be enough to settle him until I could get her away from all these people, but I was feeling less optimistic about that now.
Need mate. Now.
He wanted to reaffirm that she was his, that we were both safe at last, that nothing and no one could keep us apart. And he would prove that last part literally if Freya let him.
“Then let’s go back to our Moonblessed den and remind ourselves why we fight so hard to stay together,” Freya said, her voice carrying that husky edge that made my cock twitch with interest.
Zak took a deep breath, his nostrils flared as if trying to sniff the truth in her words, hope and desire warring with uncertainty in his expression.
“I doubt Rowan will make it that far, little wolf,” Heath called over his shoulder.
With my wolf’s intense focus on Freya and Zak, I barely noticed as my packmates escorted Torsten toward Moonblessed.
Zak fidgeted, looking toward our departing packmates. “Should I—”
My wolf howled with longing, fearing he would try to leave us.
Instinctively, I captured Zak’s wrist and pulled him closer to me and Freya.
With my control hanging by a thread, I wrapped my other arm possessively around her.
Having more of my skin pressed up against them both calmed my wolf somewhat.
Still, my words came out rough. “Tell us what you want, lightning bolt.”
“You,” she said just what I’d hoped for. “Both of you.”
When Zak’s breath hitched, I knew he’d expected to be left out. I smirked. He didn’t know it, but my wolf wouldn’t let him escape the day without another mark on his skin to show the world who he belonged to.
In truth, I wasn’t sure I could prevent him from claiming them both right here on the ground. It took all my willpower to contain my wolf’s primal urges.
“Freya…” I warned.
“I know.” She pushed her understanding through our mate bond for me alone. “Let’s go back to our tent for now.” She gazed into Zak’s eyes and made her demands known. “Come with us.”
Zak instantly got on board, promising her, “We’ll see all your wishes fulfilled.”
The scent of Freya’s arousal flooded my senses.
“Come,” Freya said, grabbing both our hands and giving us a tug toward the taller tents in the distance.
Though as I followed her, I couldn’t help but glance at where Tor followed my three alpha packmates. He laughed at something one of them had said, and I couldn’t shake the sense that I’d fucked things up with him somehow.