Chapter 13 - Torsten #4
Heath grinned, his voice filled with affection. “Everyone knows Rowan belongs to the Howling Echo already.”
When I refocused my Odinswolf vision on the complex, interwoven bond web, I saw it now — the thread leading to Rowan was frayed and hanging loose, never quite connecting. An intentional break. Gage’s doing, from when he’d exiled Rowan to infiltrate Denraider as a rogue alpha recruit.
Rowan stepped forward, his sleeves rolled up, revealing the bare wrist Zak had healed. The skin looked naked and blank now compared to the rest of us.
For a moment, he and Gage locked eyes. To anyone else, it probably looked like two alphas fighting for dominance in a battle of wills.
But through the Bonded link, I knew what it really was.
Rowan’s fear came roaring to life — he’d disobeyed Gage more than once in his time as a rogue alpha.
Did his pack alpha really want him back?
“If you’ll have me,” came Rowan’s low words.
“You’ve always been our packmate,” Flint said before Gage could speak. “Even when you left to go to Denraider.”
“You were always ours,” Gage agreed. “Come back to the pack,” he said firmly before raising his voice. “Rowan, formerly of the Howling Echo pack, now a rogue alpha, do you pledge yourself to the Howling Echo pack once more?”
“I do,” he said, and then, in a rush, “I swear my loyalty to the Howling Echo pack. I promise to put my packmates first and to always serve the pack.”
Now it was my turn to echo, “And the pack will serve you,” in unison with Flint, Heath, Freya, and Zak.
Gage’s voice filled with challenge, though he spoke the same words as before. “Now you must swear loyalty to me as your pack alpha.”
“Always,” Rowan answered instantly. “I pledge my loyalty to my pack alpha, Gage of the Howling Echo pack.”
But without waiting for Gage’s invitation, Rowan shifted first, his massive black wolf slightly larger than Gage’s alpha form.
“Jackass,” Gage growled through the Bonded link, and I stifled a chuckle.
“We missed you,” Heath silently assured Rowan.
Rowan tilted his head, baring his neck in clear submission to his pack alpha.
Gage’s fangs sank into Rowan’s left foreleg, and I watched with my enhanced sight as the loose thread in the air snapped back into place with a flash of light.
The whole web shuddered, then settled, tighter and stronger than before.
Relief bled through every connection: Gage’s fierce pride, his relief at having Rowan back.
Then there was Heath’s amusement that Rowan had ever doubted, Flint’s contentment and certainty that all would work out, Freya’s wild exultation and relief, Zak’s satisfaction at how well we all belonged together.
My wolf howled again, the feeling so overwhelming that tears pricked at my eyes. Home. We were finally, truly home.
Both alphas shifted back, and Gage dragged Rowan into a rough hug. “Welcome back,” he said gruffly.
Zak’s hand found Rowan’s back. Pride and possessiveness warred in his dark eyes, then melted into something softer.
“Ours,” he whispered through the link.
Rowan couldn’t resist his beta mate, and the two met in the middle for a kiss. My wolf felt nothing but contentment, seeing the two of them together. He was as eager as I was for more, of course, but to him, becoming mates with our packmates was so inevitable as to be inconsequential.
We’d found our pack. It was only a matter of time before they recognized us as their mate as well.
Meanwhile, Gage announced, “While I have everyone’s attention,” he chuckled, glancing at Rowan and Zak’s very public display, “Torsten’s ravens confirm our enemies are still licking their wounds or delayed.”
Murmurs of relief rippled through the crowd.
“Should we take the fight to them, then?” Artemis asked.
“Our enemies are in two different directions,” Gage answered. “If we attack one, we would still have to leave a force here to defend Moonblessed.”
Freya agreed. “That would split our strength too much. For now, we rest and recover. That way, whatever Ashworth and Denraider throw at us next, they’ll face our combined packs at their full strength.”
“We were hoping you’d say that,” Artemis laughed.
Heath’s grin was sharp and anticipatory. “Let them come.”
Thatcher chuckled. “After tomorrow.”
“Preferably never,” Shante corrected.
I watched the crowd’s reactions with growing amazement. This strange mix of packs, this alliance built on choice rather than conquest or one alpha’s dominance — it was unlike anything the shifter world had seen before.
“We can spare today for the holiday celebrations,” Gage continued. “Enjoy it. Rest while you can. Tomorrow we buckle down and start preparing stronger defenses.”
The crowd began to disperse. Representatives from different packs offered congratulations to Gage, to Rowan, to me, even to Zak for his new mate mark — no one seemed surprised to see another wolf with multiple mate marks.
Others congratulated the entire Howling Echo before heading back to their own duties.
Artemis clapped Gage on the shoulder, Jasmine beamed at all of us, and Fern waved at her littermate, Flint, before heading off.
Freya reached for Rowan’s hand, her fingers twining with his. “How does it feel to rejoin the pack?”
His voice rough, he answered, “Like my wolf can finally run free again.”
Gage’s approval rumbled through both the pack bond and the Bonded link, a double layer of connection that made me feel invincible. “Your wolf was never meant to run alone.”
He looked from Rowan to me, and I felt the truth in it.
“I begged the stars to show me where I belonged,” I said, looking around at the faces of my new pack, my future mates, my new family. “They gave me you. All of you.”
As I stared into Gage’s eyes, arousal filled my nostrils again. I could sense his hesitation, though, which in turn caused Heath’s hesitation.
But as Gage turned away, breaking his gaze with me, someone grabbed my wrist and spun me around. Zak grinned at me.
The deep desire in his eyes eclipsed all else. He surged forward and I met him halfway, capturing his lips and cupping the back of his head.
“They’ll come around,” he told me privately over the Bonded link even as his lips moved with mine.
“I didn’t know witches had the gift of prophesy,” I teased.
When we broke apart, Zak’s smile flashed brilliant white in reaction to whatever he saw on my face.
“Well,” I said, breathlessly. “That’s one way to welcome a new packmate.”
“Get used to it, big guy,” Heath said, grinning. “We’re not exactly traditional around here.”
Freya smiled and we exchanged a brief peck on the lips. Heat flashed in her eyes, and she whispered through the Bonded link, “Will you run with the pack?”
“Of course,” I answered.
Freya tipped her head toward Rowan, receiving his kiss on the lips.
“How about a pack run?” she suggested a moment later.
“You know him so well,” Zak laughed, already stuffing his shirt into his sling bag.
“We should run as a pack,” Gage agreed, also stripping down.
The moment we all shifted, profound peace settled into place within me. My white wolf stood among six others, ready for his first-ever pack run.
Gage’s massive gray-and-white alpha led the way with an easy lope so that the three smaller wolves — Freya, Zak, and I — could easily follow.
Heath’s silver-white wolf flanked him, while Flint’s dark brown wolf with the distinctive crescent moon marking moved with quiet grace at my side.
Rowan’s enormous black wolf was a shadow given form behind us, and Zak’s smaller wolf carried himself with surprising ease despite being suppressed for so long.
But it was Freya who took my breath away. Her pure white coat gleamed like starlight, lightning crackling faintly along the tips of her fur. When our eyes met — her snow-blue eyes unchanged even in wolf form just like mine — my wolf’s joy nearly overwhelmed me.
Finally, he whispered. Pack. Mates. Home.
We ran through the snowy landscape surrounding Moonblessed territory, our paws finding perfect rhythm together. Their satisfaction, their acceptance, their joy at having both Rowan and me fully integrated into their family flowed over me until my emotions found an outpouring in words.
“This is what I’ve been missing my entire life,” I said over the pack bond, unable to contain my wonder.
“None of us were complete until we found each other,” Rowan agreed.
Our pack bond hummed with contentment as we made our way through camp, and the other packs returned to their activities, either cleaning up after last night or preparing for more festivities tonight.
“No one here seems confused by a pack where all the packmates are also mates,” I noticed.
“Jumping ahead a little, aren’t you?” Heath laughed. “We’re not all mated quite yet.”
“The stars don’t lie,” I said simply.
“Our wolves don’t lie either,” Flint said with a chuckle. “But I trust them to know the right time.”
“Freya gets to claim him first,” Zak laughed.
“Technically, she already has,” I answered. “But even Odinswolves have to consummate our mate bonds outside of dreams.”
We made our way outside of camp and into the wildlands near Moonblessed. Gage took me around, showing me where Brielle lived, though she wasn’t there, and none of us dared approach for fear of magical traps.
“Speaking of which,” Gage said to Zak. “I’d like you and her to set up some more wards further out.”
“Will do,” Zak easily agreed. I loved seeing the way they all contributed to the pack, each leaning on the others’ strengths.
As we continued our run, I asked Zak, “So what was your pack bond ceremony like?”
Zak laughed and then told me how he’d made them all suspicious because he ‘refused’ to shift and let his wolf meet theirs.
“It was a lot like how it took me awhile to join the pack,” Freya said. “Except back then, none of us knew anything about Odinswolves.”
“But we all knew Zak wasn’t one,” Gage grumbled.
“Sorry we tested you for so long before bringing you into the pack,” Heath murmured to Zak.
Flint agreed, “You’ve more than proven you belong with us, Zak.”
“I get the feeling you guys expect me to feel resentment that you accepted Torsten into the pack so easily,” Zak said, his golden eyes finding mine. “But I don’t. My wolf is pleased to have another packmate. And I feel… complete. Like this was always how it was meant to be.”
“The pack bond ceremony was just formality,” Gage added, his voice carrying that edge of possessive certainty. “You were both already ours the moment Freya dreamed you into our Bonded link.”
“Even if it took some of us longer to realize it than others,” Rowan said gruffly.
“I’m glad Freya found you first,” I said to Zak. “Made it easier for me to follow.”
“Glad I could pave the way,” Zak laughed. “Welcome to the pack.”
Freya bounded ahead, her lightning magic making her coat shimmer with otherworldly beauty. She led us up a ridge that overlooked the valley where we could see the camp bustling with activity.
When she faced us all, her wolf radiated pure happiness.
“I once had a vision that I was standing on a ridge much like this one, gazing out into the darkness,” she said. “My alphas had my back, protecting me from anyone sneaking up behind. And then I saw two stars shining in that darkness, making their way toward me.”
“Was this before or after the starbeams fell?” I asked.
“Before. The starbeams and our sudden tattoos confirmed it.”
She gazed at her mates with so much love in her eyes, and when she looked at me, it was with hope and knowing.
“And now here you all are. My six stars,” she said through our bonds. “My constellation is together at last.”
The pack bond hummed with shared contentment as we formed a circle around her, seven wolves united by the stars themselves.
My wolf knew them all as mates, and I hoped now that they’d properly met mine at last, they would know the same. I’d only been with them a day.
What were a few days compared to the years I’d wandered alone?
Eventually, the cold began to bite through even our thick fur coats, and Gage led us back toward the warmth of the campfires. We shifted back to human form, the familiar ache of transformation accompanied by the strange new sensation of the pack bond settling deeper into my bones.
As I pulled on my clothes, I caught Freya watching me with heated eyes. The latent mate bond between us thrummed with anticipation, with promises yet to be fulfilled.
But she reluctantly looked toward Moonblessed. “I should visit Kaydence. She mentioned she had something for me.”
“Your adoptive mother got you a Christmas present?” Zak asked with interest.
“Apparently. Though knowing her, it’s probably something practical like warm socks.”
“Well,” Heath drawled, exchanging meaningful looks with Gage, Flint, and Zak, “we got you something too. Would’ve given it to you last night, but didn’t want to come between Rowan and his mates.”
I glanced at Rowan. He was just as out of the loop as I was. They must have gotten it before we’d arrived.
Freya’s eyes sharpened with curiosity. “Oh? What kind of gift?”
“The kind that requires privacy,” Gage said sternly. “And patience.”
“And all of us,” Flint added with a warm smile, his eyes moving to me.
The promise in their voices, combined with the heated looks they were giving both Freya and me, made the air suddenly feel charged with possibility. Through the bonds, I caught glimpses of their intentions — desire and anticipation and something that felt deliciously forbidden.
“I’ll just go see Kaydence quickly,” Freya said, her cheeks flushing pink. “And then I’ll be ready to… unwrap whatever you have planned.”
“Take your time,” Heath said with that wicked grin. “Good things are worth waiting for.”
I had a feeling Rowan and I were going to enjoy whatever they had planned just as much as Freya was.