Chapter 18 - Heath
Heath
As we made our way through Moonblessed, the satisfied ache on my ass cheek reminded me of Zak’s bite and exactly how we’d spent last night.
We’d been so focused on getting to the den to be with each other, we’d missed all the spirited holiday decorations, so we were taking our time on the way back to the camp to look around.
We waved to shifters as we passed — some of them more awake than others after the night’s celebrations.
For the seven of us, it had been a night of experimentation, and yet thanks to the Bonded link, we’d held no fear of stepping over anyone’s boundaries. It made even a flash of discomfort so obvious — it was why Gage had honed in so hard on Zak’s hesitation.
Zak’s scent still clung to my skin, mixed with the familiar musk of Gage and Freya’s sweet scents, and my wolf practically purred with contentment.
Through the Bonded link, deep satisfaction radiated from everyone, and our feet barely seemed to touch the ground as we passed through Moonblessed’s gates, still riding the high from all the bonding intimacy.
We were all thankful to have Rowan back among us. He even stayed in human form, walking in between Torsten and Flint.
Rowan’s time in exile away from the pack seemed to have changed him.
He was more open with his emotions in the Bonded link, and as soon as our wolves had run with Torsten, it seemed that was enough to convince Rowan that they were destined to become mates.
The sense of ease between them made me a little envious, truth be told.
Anything that made Freya happy made Flint happy, and right now, both their hearts were full to bursting.
Freya and Torsten’s claiming had gone so seamlessly thanks to their repeated dreams of each other, combined with the way the Bonded link seemed to give us deeper knowledge of one another than ever before.
Maybe that was why Gage and I had so easily settled into our mate bonds with Zak, cuddling him between us all night. It felt… completely natural. Everything last night had been.
Every few strides, Zak’s hand bumped mine, making me feel as ridiculously giddy as a teenager.
Four runes now decorated his cheekbones, one for each of his four mates, making him look like a tribal warrior ready for battle.
Seeing them made me feel almost as possessive as seeing my mate mark on his forearm.
Zak had been quiet ever since breakfast, seeming lost in thought, but I didn’t sense any hesitation or regrets about last night from him, so I gave him his space. Flint must have sensed it too, because he dropped back to fall into step beside Zak.
“You’ve been quiet since we left the den. Everything alright, starbeam?”
“I’m fine, just processing,” Zak said. Then his head whipped toward Flint. “Did you just call me starbeam?”
Flint smirked. “Trying it out. What do you think?”
“But… you call Freya moonbeam.”
“You’re the first one we met after the starbeams fell. They brought you to us.” Flint shrugged. “If you don’t like it…”
“I do!” Zak jumped in to say. “I was just surprised.”
I chuckled, and Zak elbowed me. “Do not cockblock me,” he warned me silently through the Bonded link.
It was all I could do to keep my jaw from falling open. Sure, Flint had messed around with me once or twice for Freya’s enjoyment, and we’d all touched each other in various ways during her heats. It was bound to happen. But… was Flint flirting with Zak?
“Anyway,” Zak said, “I’m just… even though I told you all that our wolves’ mate bonds just make evident how the Bonded link already connects us all, it still feels really good to have the mate bonds. It… satisfies my wolf side.”
“Get used to it,” he said firmly. “You belong with us.”
The certainty in Flint’s voice made Zak’s steps falter slightly.
“Even with you, my moonmarked wolf?”
Flint’s brown eyes heated, and through the Bonded link, I felt the spark of genuine desire that flared between them. Not the desperate claiming need we’d all shared earlier, but something slower, deeper. More patient.
“You definitely belong with me, starbeam.”
Their tender moment was unfortunately interrupted as we crested the ridge overlooking the valley, the weight of leadership crashing back down on us. The temporary camp sprawled below, hundreds — maybe thousands — of shifters from different packs depending on our leadership.
“Back to reality,” I muttered. We couldn’t hide away in our private den forever, no matter how much we wanted to. I didn’t regret a single moment of the time we’d taken for ourselves, though.
Gage smirked at me. “We’ll get through it.”
Freya’s snow-blue eyes took in the bustling camp. Through our bonds, I felt her mental shift from mate to leader, and I remembered Torsten calling her an astral, a leader outside the pack hierarchy.
As we wandered past the tents designated as ours — all standing empty last night — Rowan naturally fell into step beside Torsten, their shoulders nearly touching. Zak fell in on the other side, and the easy familiarity between them made my heart expand in my chest.
“Already plotting magical mayhem together?” I asked, and Zak’s grin widened.
“The best kind,” he replied, his dark eyes dancing as they moved between Torsten and me.
Wolves ducked out from their tents when they heard our voices, and Bretton fell into step with us.
I felt vaguely guilty about the way we’d been ignoring Frost Fang lately as he gave Gage a status update, letting him know the party had gone off without a hitch last night, and where we were with the patrol rotations.
A rumble of engines echoed across the valley, cutting him short before he could give a supply run-down.
“That’ll be Astrid,” I said.
Multiple vehicles were approaching fast. Voices rose in alarm throughout the camp, but Gage waved them off.
“The Midnight Path has come to join us,” he called back.
Sure enough, a convoy of trucks and SUVs roared up to our camp, kicking up clouds of dust and snow. The lead vehicle barely came to a complete stop before the driver’s door flew open and Astrid emerged in all her commanding glory.
Even in human form, the Midnight Path pack alpha was imposing — tall, broad-shouldered, with blonde braids tied together at the nape of her neck. Her scent drifted toward us, making Torsten perk up in surprise.
“A bear shifter?”
Her deep voice carried easily across the camp as she surveyed our expanded group.
“I see you’ve been busy gathering new friends,” she called out, her eyes bright with interest.
Pride swelled in my chest as I watched the framework we’d built come together.
Representatives from so many different packs, all here because we’d proven that cooperation was stronger than conquest. This was what we’d been working toward — an alliance that could stand against anything Denraider or the remaining witches threw at us.
Gage stepped forward to greet her, his pack alpha authority on full display. “Astrid. Allow me to formally thank you for coming so far from your packlands to join us here.”
“My pleasure,” she replied, her gaze already moving past him to catalog the various pack representatives. “Your pack always makes life interesting.”
Her eyes found mine, then moved over to the way my arm draped around Zak’s shoulders. I caught the familiar glint of mischief there.
Astrid represented a simpler time in my life, when physical attraction was enough and emotional complications could be avoided with a well-timed exit.
We’d made out once during my “fuck and forget” years after being exiled from Frost Fang, but I’d never given her what she really wanted — an alpha lover.
Now, surrounded by my mates and packmates, that kind of casual connection felt as foreign as another lifetime.
“Heath. Still collecting strays, I see. Does this mean your hot girlfriend is available?”
The casual dismissal of Zak as a “stray” made my jaw clench. Astrid had no idea what our beta had sacrificed to find us, what he’d endured, or how he’d defended me when I was at my most helpless. The protective instinct that rose in me was as fierce as anything I’d ever felt for Gage or Freya.
“Heath,” Gage silently warned me.
He was right to talk me down. We needed Astrid as an ally, and it was only my new mate bond that was making me so protective. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice my agitation as Freya laughed.
“More taken than ever, I’m afraid.”
When Astrid’s eyes caught sight of multiple bites on Freya’s body, her eyes widened.
“So I see.”
Then her roving eyes took in Torsten, the only one who towered over her tall and sturdy frame.
“Too bad you also took this one.”
Gage stepped in front of Torsten, as if to shield him from her gaze, his protective and possessive instincts still running high after last night.
“This is Zak and Tor,” Freya said, glaring at Gage and introducing them properly.
“Astrid and the Midnight Path protected Frost Fang packlands while the Howling Echo and Frost Fang wolves worked together to defeat the Ironwood pack alpha, Luka,” Gage explained to Torsten over his shoulder, not letting him step forward to shake her hand even though Astrid clearly knew he was spoken for already.
“Who’s in charge of Ironwood now?” Astrid asked, her predatory gaze sweeping over our group.
“That would be me,” Thatcher said, stepping forward with Lee at his side. “Thatcher, new pack alpha of Ironwood. This is Lee, my enforcer.”
I watched Astrid’s assessment of both men, the way her eyes lingered on their alpha builds and confident postures. Her grin widened slightly as she took in Thatcher’s steady presence and Lee’s quiet strength.
“Congratulations,” she murmured with a smirk, and I caught the calculating look that meant she was already wondering which one might be more amenable to her particular brand of charm.
“I’m sure you’ll want to get to know them both,” I said with amusement.