Chapter 13 - Torsten #3
But it was the look Rowan gave me that made my breath catch. Golden eyes met mine across the gathering, and for a moment I felt an echo, like we were back in Denraider’s camp — two warriors surrounded by enemies, fighting as one against the world.
Found you again, my wolf whispered.
Rowan’s mouth tipped up at one corner. He didn’t move toward me, not yet, but his body angled in my direction like a compass needle swinging north. Through the Bonded link, he didn’t hide his feelings — curiosity and attraction that promised interesting developments when the time came.
My wolf already felt at home among the six of them. The pack bond would merely make it official.
Gage stepped forward, and the casual conversations died away as wolves focused on my future pack alpha.
His voice carried across the camp with unmistakable alpha authority. “Friends, please gather to witness the expansion of the Howling Echo pack with the addition of Freya’s sixth mate.”
I stepped forward, feeling the weight of eyes on me. My breath misted in the cold air as I faced Gage.
My wolf sensed wolves circling around behind me, and even without turning around the Bonded link made it clear who they were — my future packmates, Zak, Rowan, Freya, Flint, and finally, Heath.
“Torsten, formerly of the Snow Moon pack, now a lone wolf,” Gage intoned, his voice carrying the authority of generations of pack alphas, “do you give up any previous oaths binding you to other shifters?”
“I do,” I replied, my voice steady despite the emotion threatening to overwhelm me. “I am here free of any other pack bonds, seeking a home among the Howling Echo.”
“Do you swear loyalty to the Howling Echo pack and pledge to put your packmates above all others?”
Privately across the Bonded link, Heath and Flint told me what to say, and I repeated the words out loud. “I swear my loyalty to the Howling Echo pack. I promise to put my packmates first and to always serve the pack.”
“And the pack will serve you,” Flint, Heath, Freya, Rowan, and Zak echoed in unison, their voices blending into one.
Sensing the rightness of the ritual, I shivered, goosebumps rising on my skin.
Gage’s intense gaze never left mine. “Now you must swear loyalty to me as your pack alpha.”
Here was the moment of truth. I’d always chafed under the idea of swearing fealty to an alpha whose commands I could never be forced to obey. After our conversation this morning, I knew that things were changing, that the Howling Echo alphas were a different kind than most I’d known.
Gage wasn’t demanding my obedience. Choosing to follow him made it all the more meaningful.
Gage wouldn’t stand in Freya’s way as she discovered where she belonged as an astral. No, I believed he would support her in every way possible. That made my next words easy.
“I pledge my loyalty to my pack alpha, Gage of the Howling Echo pack.”
“Then shift and present your left paw,” Gage commanded.
I shrugged out of my winter coat, aware of all my future mates’ eyes on me as I disrobed before them for the first time.
The weight of their gazes felt like a physical caress across my skin.
Heath’s appreciative stare lingered on my shoulders and chest, while Gage’s sky-blue eyes held a hunger he was trying to suppress.
Flint’s dark gaze was warm and patient, but I caught the way his breathing had hitched as his eyes scanned my body.
Zak watched with undisguised interest, his head tilted in that way that made my wolf want to nuzzle his throat.
The cold bit at my exposed skin, but anticipation burned hotter than any fire.
Freya smiled that knowing smile, like we shared a secret.
We both knew the same truth — her mates were also mine — all of them.
My wolf knew it with absolute certainty, even if some of them were still coming to terms with the idea.
Joining the pack was just the first step toward being claimed by them all.
Both Gage and I dropped to the ground, bones cracking and reforming as we took our wolf shapes.
The familiar rush of the shift settled over me, and suddenly I was looking up at Gage’s massive gray-and-white alpha wolf.
He towered over my smaller white form, embodying the kind of dominance that had ruled packs for millennia.
No command pushed at me. My Odinswolf nature would have shrugged it off even if he’d tried. I dropped my head anyway, baring my throat and extending my left foreleg. Submission, given freely.
Gage’s jaws carefully closed around my left foreleg. Pain flared hot and bright — then vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by an almost dizzying rush of connection as the pack bond snapped into place.
Magical bonds bloomed across my vision all at once.
I saw them as lines of pale light in the air — one anchoring me to Gage, then branching from him to Heath, Flint, Zak, Freya.
The Howling Echo wasn’t a simple circle; it was a web, dense and bright.
But there was a loose thread coming from the pack bond, waiting to be reattached…
Now that I’d joined the pack, I reveled in the sense of belonging that it provided, and it made Rowan’s sacrifice all the more heroic. Would Gage bring him back into the fold alongside me?
In addition to the Howling Echo pack bond, I also noticed a weak, thin thread leading from Gage to the Frost Fang refugees.
I could even see lingering connections stretching back toward the Frost Fang packlands — Gage’s continued bond to wolves who were still hiding or trying to reclaim their packlands.
And even more surprising… the faintest, thinnest threads connecting Freya to them, too, along with the Ironwood wolves, Bloody Dawn survivors, Brielle, and even Moonblessed.
She truly was becoming astral, whether she was ready to acknowledge it yet or not.
The pack bond thrummed with Gage’s steady strength, but underneath it I felt the magical current of the Bonded link that connected us all.
And between all of them except me, mate bonds linked them even more deeply together.
I couldn’t wait to see my mate bonds joining them.
Seven minds counting mine, all linked by bonds stronger than blood.
Gage licked the wound clean, bringing me back to myself, and the pain disappeared entirely.
His golden wolf eyes met mine as he spoke directly into my mind, the first words over the pack bond, “Just as you have sworn loyalty to me, I swear to never abuse this power over you. You are now our packmate, the newest member of the Howling Echo pack.”
The formal words couldn’t capture what I felt in that moment — the end of a lifetime of searching, the beginning of belonging somewhere at last.
The pack bond settled into my consciousness like coming home after years in the wilderness. Unlike the electric, magical current of the Bonded link that sang with witch power, this connection felt primal, wolf calling to wolf in the most fundamental way.
The crowd erupted in approving howls and cheers, but I barely heard them. All my attention was focused on the bonds humming between us, the web of connection that finally included me at its heart.
We shifted back together, and I immediately noticed the fresh bite mark on my left wrist. The flesh was still red, but some time in wolf form would heal it, making it permanent. Soon I’d get the pack tattoo to go with it, marking me as Howling Echo for all to see.
“Welcome to the pack.” Heath’s knowing grin made my wolf rumble with interest, especially when I caught his gaze dropping briefly to my mouth before returning to my eyes. “Looking forward to getting to know you better, big guy.”
The promise in his voice sent heat pooling low in my belly, and through the pack bond, I felt an echo of his own desire.
Flint was next, and his embrace was anything but quick. Strong arms pulled me against his solid chest, and I breathed in his scent once more.
“Welcome home,” he murmured. His lips brushed the shell of my ear, sending a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold.
When he pulled back, his dark eyes searched mine with an intensity that made my wolf whine with want.
Zak approached with a wide smile. “Finally,” he said, dark eyes sparkling. He reached out to trace the fresh bite mark with gentle fingers, and magic tingled along my skin at the contact. “Now we’re both exactly where we belong.”
Rowan stood a little apart from the crush of bodies. He gave me a nod of approval. “We’ll run together soon.”
But there was more than approval in those dangerous golden eyes.
Heat simmered beneath the surface, recognition of what we’d shared on that battlefield — two warriors moving as one.
The memory of fighting beside him, of our wolves’ perfect synchronization, made my pulse quicken.
When his gaze dropped to trace the fresh pack mark on my wrist, then traveled slowly back up my arm to meet my eyes, the hunger there was unmistakable.
Freya came to me last, moving with otherworldly grace that marked her as extraordinary. Her snow-blue eyes held pure affection as she reached up to trace the rune on my cheekbone, her touch sending lightning through my veins.
“My sixth star,” she whispered, and the wonder in her voice made my chest expand with pride and possessiveness.
I captured her hand and brought it to my lips, pressing a lingering kiss to her palm. “Thank you for bringing me home.”
Her sharp intake of breath, the way her pupils dilated, the spike of arousal that blazed through both our bonds made me long for more time together with her, basking in the presence of my Odinswolf mate at last.
“Soon, my soulmate,” I murmured against her skin, and watched her shiver with anticipation.
“Before you all run off,” Gage called out as the witnesses started to disperse, “there’s one more bond to restore.”
Several heads snapped toward Rowan, knowing exactly who was missing.