Chapter 20 - Heath #3
“I’m not your son.”
My finger squeezed the trigger.
The gunshot echoed across the battlefield, and Dryden crumpled, dead before he hit the frozen ground, his blood mixing with a dirty patch of snow.
I felt no remorse as I stared down at the lifeless body. Not my father, not my family. Just a worthless politician who never knew when to stop. We’d sort out the political ramifications later. For now, justice had been served.
Then my knees buckled, sending me sprawling into the snow. My adrenaline abruptly leeched away, and I started shivering as blood loss caught up with me.
Gage was suddenly there, dropping to his knees beside me on the blood-stained battlefield — the rest of our pack not far behind.
I’d seen Gage angry, determined, furious, even terrified, like when Freya had been poisoned with wolfsbane. But right now his eyes were wide with raw, unfamiliar vulnerability. His hands hovered over my wound, trembling slightly, as if he was afraid touching me might make it worse.
“Heath,” his voice cracked, thick with emotion I’d never heard from him before. His entire focus was on my face, searching for signs that I was slipping away from him. “I… I can’t lose you.”
“It’s just a scratch,” I said, but something wet coated my lips, making me cough.
Zak rushed up beside us, his hands already glowing with blue healing magic that he sent into the bullet wound. The pain began to recede almost immediately, but I couldn’t look away from my pack alpha.
“I’m fine,” I managed, reaching up to touch his cheek. “Zak’s got me.”
Gage’s composure was completely shattered. “When I heard the shot…” He squeezed his eyes shut, his jaw working as he fought for words that had always been locked away between us.
Through the Bonded link, I felt the storm of emotions he’d been suppressing — terror at losing me, fury at himself for waiting so long to say what needed to be said, and underneath it all, the love he’d been too afraid to acknowledge.
“I love you,” he finally whispered, the words torn from somewhere deep inside him.
Flint clapped Gage on the shoulder, a proud grin splitting his face. “About damn time.”
I blinked.
Gage cleared his throat and said it louder. “I love you, Heath. I should have said it years ago, should have been brave enough—”
“Repeat that, alpha,” I interrupted, my voice rough with emotion. I needed to hear it again.
Gage’s eyes met mine with fierce intensity and not a drop of hesitation. “I love you,” he said, stronger this time. “I’ve loved you for so long I can’t remember when it started. You’re mine, Heath. You’ve always been mine.”
“Good thing Zak’s healing me,” I grinned. “Because otherwise I’d say I could finally die happy.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Gage laughed.
“You’re not dying,” Zak said firmly, his eyes full of joy. “The bullet went clean through, missed anything vital. You’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
But Gage wasn’t listening to the medical assessment. His hand cupped my face, thumb tracing along my cheekbone where my ansuz rune glowed, marking me as Freya’s.
“I should have known. I should have seen it. I always felt happiest running by your side under the full moon. You always stood by me. You were always there for me. Your devotion never wavered, even when my own littermate exiled me.”
I smiled. “Because I love you, you big lug.”
Something shifted in Gage’s expression then — relief, acceptance, maybe even joy. Through our mate bond, his walls finally crumbled completely.
“I was such a coward. All those years, wanting you, and I let my father’s voice in my head tell me it was wrong. Now I know better.”
“You have no idea how many years I’ve waited to hear you say that.”
“Then I guess I better make up for lost time,” he growled, leaning down to capture my lips in a kiss full of promise and years of suppressed longing.
When we broke apart, both breathing hard, Freya swiped at her cheeks, then glared at my bloodstained side with exasperation.
“I told you I would bleed for you if needed, little wolf.”
“You didn’t need to!” she argued. “Next time, take cover. What I really need is for you to stop collecting bullet wounds.”
“What can I say?” I wanted to shrug but decided against it. “Bullets like me. I have a magnetic personality.”
Flint snorted. “First those bandits, then during Freya’s heat, now this. We need to get you some body armor.”
“Maybe he should stay in wolf form more often,” Rowan teased.
Through the bonds connecting us all, the rightness of this moment settled into place. No more hiding, no more pretending.
Soreness throbbed where Zak had healed my wound, as though my body were catching up to the fact that I was whole again, but the immediate danger was over.
The witches were routed, Dryden was dead, and our allies were securing the battlefield. But as the frenzy of battle faded, something else took its place — something primal and undeniable.
Alpha battle lust.
It warmed my insides, deepening in my loins. My body might still be catching up, but every instinct screamed that I’d just survived mortal combat. The ancient, animalistic need to reaffirm life after staring death in the face burned through my veins.
I wasn’t the only one feeling it. Gage’s nostrils flared as he caught my scent, his pupils dilating.
Flint’s breathing had gone shallow, his eyes tracking over Freya’s still-naked form with predatory focus.
A coat draped around her shoulders, but it didn’t cover her completely.
Rowan prowled restlessly at the edge of our circle, his wolf riding him hard.
Through the Bonded link, I felt the collective arousal building among my packmates. Alphas always lusted after battle — it was hardwired into us. Shifting back to human form after a fight left us hard and desperate for our mates.
Around us, other allied alphas were experiencing the same thing. Gabriel’s eyes were fixed hungrily on Jasmine, while his brothers flanked them protectively. Artemis had that restless energy that spoke of barely leashed desire. Even Thatcher looked like he was fighting to maintain control.
Everyone knew what this was, and everyone knew to give the unmated alphas space… or to help them deal with their lust. Because, if battle frenzy couldn’t be slaked through lust, sometimes it led to dominance battles as alphas found other ways to take the edge off.
Knowing this, Gage, Flint, Rowan, and I circled tightly around Freya, Torsten, and Zak — marking our territory, defending our mates.
Bretton raised an arm, calling, “Betas! You’re needed for perimeter patrols!”
Shante took one look at us and laughed, already backing away. “Well, this is my cue to leave! Bretton, the Moonblessed betas will get some food going for everyone who’s not… busy.”
Bretton nodded knowingly. “Good idea. I’ll organize the other packs’ betas into patrols while you take care of that. Can’t have everyone distracted at once.”
“What about Denraider?” Varden asked, his voice rough, struggling against his instincts with the rest of the alphas.
Torsten’s ice-blue eyes went distant for a moment, communing with his ravens. “Their main force is nowhere near their perimeter. They’re not ready to attack yet. We have time.”
“Good,” Brielle said. “Then I’ll finish off the wards. You all… handle whatever needs handling.”
Zak laughed. “Oh, we will.”
Brielle’s green eyes flashed with annoyance as she glared at Dean and Varden. “If any of you battle-drunk alphas even think about following me… Don’t.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Varden said quickly, though his gaze lingered on her retreating form.
“Let’s head back to our den,” Gage growled, and we all turned to make our way through camp.
For now, we remained in human form in case anyone outside of our pack needed to speak to any of us.
Torsten’s nostrils flared as he looked at Freya.
“Watching you use our magic like that…” he murmured. “Intoxicating doesn’t begin to cover it.”
His gaze moved from Freya to each of us in turn, curiosity and hunger warring in his expression as the air around us crackled with tension that had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with need.
All seven of us, magically exhausted but alive and thrumming with desire, caught in a circle of unspoken anticipation.
No other words needed to be spoken. We inexorably moved as one toward the walls of Moonblessed.
The Bonded link crackled with potent, undeniable lust.
And I couldn’t wait.
“Let’s shift,” I said, hitting the ground running as soon as I had the paws to do so.