Chapter 18 - Heath #2
I’d learned to recognize when someone was sizing up potential allies — or sexual conquests. Astrid was definitely doing the second, and both Thatcher and Lee seemed smart enough to handle whatever she might throw at them.
“And the rest of your pack…” Lee began, glancing among those standing behind Astrid. “If they’re not wolves, are we sure they’ll be able to work as well with us in battle?”
Thatcher seemed to sense what Lee was getting at. “Alpha commands help us quickly respond to battle condition. Some shifters don’t have alphas, though…”
“So what if alpha commands don’t work on them?
” Freya asked. My heart swelled with pride for my mate and the way she was becoming such a wise leader.
“They don’t work on me or Tor either. We can use all the help we can get, and trust me when I say neither the witches nor Denraider care what type of shifters they slaughter. ”
“Good point,” Lee frowned. Then he turned to the Midnight Path with a welcoming smile. “Welcome to the chaos.”
“And so you don’t get the wrong impression,” Thatcher told them, “Since I became pack alpha, Lee and I have only used our alpha commands in battle.”
I nodded. “The new leaders of Ironwood rule the pack fairly instead of exerting their dominance over everyone.”
Astrid laughed, the sound rich and unrepentant, breaking the tension. “Where’s the fun in that, pretty boy?”
The easy banter felt comfortable, familiar — like slipping on an old jacket that still fit but no longer suited who I’d become. Astrid would always be flirty, and that was fine. But my heart belonged elsewhere.
Zak gave me a peck on the cheek and nodded to Gage. “I’m going to catch up with Brielle about the wards.”
Gage gave him a long, lingering look as the witch disappeared through the crowd.
“Let me introduce everyone else,” I said, gesturing to our expanded group. “Artemis leads the Bloody Dawn, Fern represents the Frost Fang refugees, and we’ve recently been joined by Jasmine with Gabriel, Garreth, and Grayson, all exiles from Snow Moon.”
Astrid’s eyebrows rose as her nostrils flared. “Now that’s interesting. Multiple mates seem to be trending.”
“I didn’t dare to separate the three littermates,” Jasmine said with a confident smile, her hand finding Gabriel’s automatically.
Grayson raised her other hand to his lips. “When love is freely given, everything else tends to work out.”
“If only it were so easy for the rest of us,” Astrid sighed.
But like the alpha she was, she easily shifted gears and began ordering her pack to unload supplies.
“Where do you want all this stuff?” she asked, glancing from Gage to Thatcher and Artemis.
Her pack members began emerging from their vehicles to help. Everyone began bustling about, helping to integrate the newest members of our growing alliance.
Once the Midnight Path shifters had settled into camp and the midday meal was finished, we gathered around the central fire pit for serious discussion. The flames cast dancing shadows across the diverse faces of our pack alliance — a sight that would have been impossible just months ago.
I found myself naturally falling into the role of facilitator as we laid out our strategic situation.
“First priority has to be threat assessment,” I said, gesturing to the rough map we’d drawn lines on. “Denraider’s pushing east, the reinforcements from the Ashworth Coven are on their way here, and we don’t know what, exactly, the other witches are doing to Dryden.”
“Do we need to worry about Snow Moon coming from the north?” Freya asked.
“Snow Moon won’t be a problem,” Gabriel said firmly, his arm around Jasmine’s shoulders. “We may be exiles, but we still have contacts there. They’re not conquerors like Denraider.”
Jasmine nodded. “The leadership might be traditional and closed-minded, but they’re not expansionist. They’ll stay in their territory and focus on their own problems.”
Astrid watched the group dynamics with growing fascination.
Her sharp eyes tracked how the various pack members looked to Freya for guidance, not just to Gage or the other alphas.
When Freya spoke, everyone listened. When she asked questions, they answered with respect that went beyond simple politeness.
“The biggest threat is still Denraider,” Freya said, her unwavering voice cutting through the murmur of conversation.
Torsten agreed. “My ravens have shown me their movements — they’re still regrouping after the uprising Rowan caused. A few pockets of resistance are still putting up a fight, but it won’t be long before they’re on the move again.”
I felt a surge of attraction at how easily he’d integrated into the discussion. No hesitation, no deference to the alphas around him. He simply offered his intelligence and expertise like it was natural. Even Astrid’s imposing presence didn’t faze him.
“They’ll likely come through here,” Torsten said, leaning over the map to point out a mountain pass.
When he straightened, the firelight caught the sharp planes of his face, and my wolf stirred restlessly, drawn to the challenge Torsten represented. Another mate like Freya, who wouldn’t defer to my alpha dominance, nor command me to my knees like Gage.
“You’re staring,” Gage said silently to me alone.
“Can you blame me?” I shot back, no longer bothering to hide my interest after all we’d shared recently.
Gage’s pupils dilated as his gaze followed mine, taking in Torsten’s impressive frame. “Point taken.”
When Torsten’s ice-blue eyes found ours, the heat in them promised interesting developments.
“What about the witches?” Astrid asked, her words like a bucket of cold water over me, bringing me back into the moment.
Fern and I exchanged a look, and I wondered how often her mind returned to the horrors we’d faced at the hands of the witches… all thanks to my father.
“They’re using curse stones to cut us off from our wolves,” I said. “One stone per wolf, to block their shifting.” I glanced at Astrid. “Presumably they could do the same to other types of shifters.”
“Oh hell no,” Astrid immediately replied.
I leaned forward, my voice dropping so as not to cause a panic throughout the broader camp. “If the Ashworth Coven succeeds in taking over pack territories here, they’ll have a foothold to expand across the entire Northwest.”
“How many more witches are we talking about?” Lee asked grimly.
I glanced over at Torsten, whose ravens had been spying for us.
“Hundreds,” he answered grimly.
“Everyone knows the entire Pacific Northwest and beyond exists under pack law,” Astrid protested. “Do they really think they can make this a witch stronghold?”
I shrugged. “Piecing together things my father said and did, my guess is that the Ashworth Coven sees pack law territories as ripe for conquest, especially with packs like Denraider causing us to fight each other instead of working together.”
Freya spoke up, her voice carrying that quality that made everyone listen. “That’s why we needed this protection council. Not just loose alliances, but actual coordination between packs.”
“For sure,” Astrid agreed. “I will join your protection council. So long as you don’t threaten my pack, I’m there… We’ve been good allies. Why not continue being so?”
“Agreed,” Hugo’s voice came from the edge of the circle as he and Idori approached from the Moonblessed walls. “Moonblessed is willing to commit resources to a unified defense.”
Gage introduced them to Astrid, and the others made space for two more alphas to join us.
As day wore into evening, the framework for our alliance took shape. Resource sharing, communication protocols, patrol routes. I did my best to coordinate between the different groups, translating concerns from one pack into terms another could agree with.
Torsten contributed strategic insights with the same calm competence he’d shown earlier, and I caught myself watching him more than I should have. There was something deeply attractive about a man who could hold his own in a room full of alphas without needing to prove anything.
Zak had been gone awhile, and I found myself reaching down the mate bond to check on him.
“Don’t worry about me,” Zak told me through the link as soon as he caught me focusing on him.
“Too much alpha testosterone?” I asked, trying to pretend he hadn’t just sensed my sudden worry about him.
“Brielle and I are pushing the wards out farther so we have advance warning before our enemies are right on top of our newest arrivals.”
“Good idea.”
“We’ll need supply lines for a force this size,” Gabriel pointed out, drawing my attention back to the matter we’d been discussing.
“Bloody Dawn can secure this mountain pass to the east,” Artemis offered, pointing at the map.
“Some of our packmates back on Midnight Path packlands could resupply us via that route,” Astrid offered. “We can coordinate safe passage.”
The tactical discussions continued past midnight, but finally Gage stood. “We’ve got a solid foundation here. Let’s get some rest and continue this tomorrow.”
As the various pack representatives began dispersing to their camps, Gage pulled me and Rowan off to the side.
“Heath, Rowan — Zak and Brielle have been out expanding the wards. I want you two to go relieve Dean and Varden so they can get some food and rest. Don’t let Zak and Brielle work themselves to death.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that Gage had the foresight to send other alphas out to the perimeter to protect the two hybrids, who were both betas and susceptible to alpha attacks.
“With this many people spread across the wildlands, we need better perimeter security,” I said.
Rowan gave a grunt of agreement and began stuffing his clothing into his sling bag. No doubt he felt like he’d spent far too much time in his two-legged form for one day. Together, we shifted and headed for the perimeter.
It felt good to run alongside Rowan again.
Until Torsten’s mental voice cut through our thoughts like a hot blade. “Ashworth Coven is on the move. Big force. East ridge.” I sensed Torsten’s fear for Zak’s safety as he warned, “They’re close. You need to get out of there.”
The witches had regrouped faster than we’d expected. My blood ran cold, knowing how far Zak was from camp and how far we still were from him.
Rowan and I put on a renewed burst of speed as Torsten’s fear and urgency bled through to all of us.
The tactical part of my mind immediately began running scenarios for how we could counter them based on how many witches they brought and how fast they might be moving.
But the mate-bonded part of me focused on one thing: keeping my new mate safe.
My paws flew over stones and snow, tearing up the distance to Zak. I refused to let more witches harm him.
Freya’s magic sparked to life, ready to help us even from afar, and Flint’s protective instincts flared.
Zak’s voice blasted through the Bonded link to us all.
“Brielle and I can sense a large magical force gathering to the south.”
“Rowan and I are on our way to you right now,” I said.
“We weren’t done setting the wards,” Zak warned.
“Fall back to Heath and Rowan. Now,” Gage barked, already in battle-ready alpha mode.
I had no doubt his alpha-bark through the Bonded link was enough to make Zak obey. I only hoped Brielle would be wise enough to do the same.
“How many?” Rowan demanded, his longer legs allowing him to charge ahead of me through the darkness.
Rowan and I caught the scent of Zak and Brielle’s fear before we saw them navigating their way through the undergrowth in their smaller wolf forms.
Zak’s voice wavered. “We’re going to need everyone we can get. I hope the protection council is ready to do more than just talk.”