Chapter 23 - Freya #3
Rowan had briefly switched to human form to help with stacking the logs higher and higher.
Now I felt his urge to shift as if it were my own.
I opened the connection between all of us, and as Rowan shifted back into his wolf form, Brielle moved in perfect synchronization, flowing alongside him as they both stuffed their clothing into their sling bags and shifted at the exact same moment.
When his wolf burst forth, she was already there beside him, a shadow in perfect tandem.
Still, it was harder for me when we weren’t all trying to accomplish the same goal.
The strain hit me then — the influx of thoughts and emotions that I had to consciously filter and distribute through the group.
The connection taxed me, and I felt myself beginning to fracture under the pressure. But that meant they felt it too.
“Enough,” Flint said gently. “You need to rest.”
I let the connection dissolve, and immediately felt the absence like a physical loss. The pack mind was incredible, but it came at a cost.
“With practice,” Zak said thoughtfully, “and perhaps some ritual work to hold the magic in place…”
“You’re thinking like a witch in a coven,” Tor interrupted, his voice carrying gentle correction. “This isn’t witch magic. Freya is an Odinswolf, and this is an Odinswolf power.”
Zak pursed his lips in thought, then said, “Right, we shouldn’t be trying to contain it — we should be strengthening it. A ritual to make her a stronger conduit, not a limited one.”
As if summoned by my exhaustion, Gage and Heath returned from their rounds of the camp. Gage’s sky-blue eyes immediately found mine, and I saw his concern through our mate bond. They’d felt my strain and come to check up on me.
“How are the packs?” I asked, settling onto a wooden bench.
“Restless,” Heath admitted. “Everyone knows Denraider is amassing their troops closer to us, and they want to know what comes next.”
“You were practicing…” Gage said slowly, his eyes flicking from each of his mates and packmates. “We felt something strange through the bonds.”
“We sensed you tugging on us for a minute there, but then things felt really weird,” Heath admitted.
I pushed myself a little straighter on the bench. “Okay. Quick rundown on what we discovered,” I tried to slow down but my excitement made it hard.
“Pack bonds are wolf-only — the pack alpha and sometimes other packmates can sense danger and strong feelings, but not full thoughts. Plus, it’s limited because we can only talk in wolf form, and only to a certain distance.
Mate bonds are deep one-on-one connections, and they let us talk mind-to-mind with whoever we’ve bitten. ”
I tapped my collarbone, where my runes lay hidden under my shirt.
“The Bonded link came from my witch side but pulled in all my mates, not just Zak — it ties everyone who shares those runes together as one cohesive group. Right?”
“Yep,” Heath said.
“So far we follow,” Gage agreed.
Zak nodded, leaning beside me. “Up until now, when it felt like Freya was opening the bonds a little wider, I thought that was just the Bonded link. Turns out I was wrong.”
Tor took over. “The pack mind is something else entirely, from her Odinswolf heritage. Freya opens a doorway and, if you choose to step through, your mind syncs in a way that goes beyond any single bond. We become one mind, many bodies”
“But not my mind,” Freya said. “I’m not the queen bee controlling everyone. It’s more like… we all collectively decide.”
Flint spoke up. “Or like I told Brielle, the pack mind makes it feel like we all hear the same song and already know all the steps to the dance.”
Gage’s frown eased a fraction. “So the pack mind sits on top of everything else, but only Freya can make it happen.”
“Exactly,” I said. “But only if everyone I’m reaching for agrees to it.”
“It’s a legendary power I wasn’t sure existed,” Tor added.
“This ability would be easier if everyone were organized into proper packs,” I mused. “It’s hard for me to think about so many individuals at once.”
Flint straddled the bench so he could pull me against his chest. “I could sense your strain as you tried to manage every individual thought or action.”
I sighed. “It was like listening to six conversations at once.”
Tor sat down beside me. “With practice, it will come easier.”
I gazed up at Gage. “I think I could pull on the pack alphas as representatives rather than trying to connect with every individual mind.”
“Good idea,” Tor said. “The pack bonds would then allow the rest of the pack to join the pack mind without you expending any extra effort to individually ask each packmate.”
Gage nodded slowly. “That makes sense. Work through the pack structure rather than around it.”
“Which brings us to a problem,” Heath said. “Frost Fang still needs a pack alpha.”
I had an idea of who might work, but I wanted to make sure we’d considered all the angles, first. So I brought up Jasmine’s gentle mate.
“Gabriel doesn’t seem inclined to lead a large pack. And Dean or Varden would face too much resistance from Fern’s beta council.”
I glanced across the camp toward where Fern sat with several other Frost Fang wolves. The beta had fought bravely at our side, but I knew she still harbored deep resentment toward alpha authority.
Flint followed my gaze and sighed. “She’s seen too much, Freya. Fern and many others would be more receptive to a female alpha, given their past experiences with male pack alphas.”
“But she’ll need to be different than Nira,” Heath growled. “Remember, they weren’t solely governed by male pack alphas before Gage.”
Gage agreed. “Regardless of gender, it will take a gentle hand, but a firm one, to guide Frost Fang now.”
We quickly ran through other possibilities, making it that much clearer to me who the right choice should be.
“Astrid already has the Midnight Path,” Heath mused.
Brielle wasn’t an alpha, so she couldn’t do it, even if she wanted to.
“Which I most certainly don’t,” she said. But she dipped her chin to me. “If you need me to officially join a pack, Freya, I’m willing to consider it.”
“Only if you want to,” I assured her. “We’ll cross that bridge if we have to.”
Flint added, “Hugo and Idori’s city can’t absorb that many new packmates.”
That left us with the one person who had to be our best bet.
“There’s one alpha who has already proven she can lead a pack,” I said, hoping they all agreed. “An alpha without packlands, whose packmates could really use the safety of a larger territory.”
Rowan’s eyes lit up with understanding. “Artemis.”
“She’s a fierce protector,” I continued. “She’s kept the Bloody Dawn together through impossible circumstances. And she’s already earned the respect of many Frost Fang wolves after the way she and her pack came to their aid when we rescued Heath.”
Gage was nodding. “She’s earned it. And the Bloody Dawn would finally have a home.”
He turned to Heath and Flint.
“Are you ready for me to give up the Frost Fang pack bond for good? To release our claim entirely?”
Both alphas nodded without hesitation, and my heart swelled with pride and love for them. They were willing to relinquish their childhood pack to serve the greater good — exactly the kind of leaders our alliance needed.
“I’ll get her,” Rowan said, already heading toward where Artemis was checking supplies with some of her packmates.
When he returned with the female alpha, I could see the curiosity and slight wariness in her expression. Her usual stoicism cracked slightly as she took in our serious faces.
“Artemis,” I began, “we have a proposition for you.”
I explained the situation — Frost Fang’s need for new leadership, the opportunity to unite the Frost Fang refugees with the Bloody Dawn under a single banner.
Artemis’s jaw dropped. “Me? Alpha of Frost Fang? A pack several, several times the size of mine?” Her voice carried genuine shock. “That’s… a lot.”
I met her gaze, letting her see my absolute conviction. “You led the Bloody Dawn through the wildlands, Artemis. You brought them back from the brink. You have resilience and faith in your packmates. Frost Fang needs that kind of healing and strength.”
“You’ve already led your wolves through incredible hardship,” Flint added. “You’re a survivor, a leader who protects rather than dominates.”
“The pack needs someone who understands what it means to lose everything and rebuild,” Rowan said quietly. “Someone who can help them persevere.”
I could see the wheels turning in Artemis’s mind, the weight of the offer settling on her shoulders. Her gaze softened as she glanced back toward her remaining Bloody Dawn packmates, then at the Frost Fang refugees scattered throughout the camp.
“This isn’t just for me,” she said slowly. “You’re doing this for them. To give my packmates a true home.”
“And to give Frost Fang the type of leader they deserve,” Gage added.
Artemis gave him a long look, then one side of her mouth quirked up. I wasn’t sure if it was a smile or a smirk until she said, “You did a terrible job integrating the Howling Echo with Frost Fang.”
“Because we never really wanted to integrate with them,” Heath grumbled.
“You don’t have to decide today,” I told Artemis. “But we need an answer soon.”
“Denraider is a threat we can’t ignore,” Gage agreed, urgency creeping into his voice.
Tor nodded grimly. “My ravens show them amassing closer to the border. They’re preparing to strike. If they’re waiting for their final forces to arrive, I would expect an attack as early as tomorrow.”
Artemis was quiet for a long moment. Finally, she looked up at me with fierce determination.
“If I do this,” she said slowly, “I do it my way. No omega competitions, no pack slaves, mate bites are expected to be mutual. And I’ll try to only use alpha commands in battle or for the safety of the pack.”
“That’s exactly what we’re hoping for,” I replied.
She nodded once, sharp and decisive. “Then yes. I will take responsibility for Frost Fang. And I intend to do it right, for all our sakes. I will work toward the Bloody Dawn integrating into Frost Fang until we become one pack in truth.”
“Then your pack will need a new name,” Heath’s sharp smile was filled with challenge for the future Frost Fang pack alpha.
“Leave it to me,” Artemis grinned.