Chapter 29 - Flint #2
Artemis spoke next, her rust-colored wolf resting just behind her eyes. “My pack is new,” she said. “We’re still learning to trust each other. But in the pack mind, it didn’t matter. I didn’t have to shout orders. We just… knew what needed to happen. That was Freya’s doing.”
A New Dawn beta added, “She saved my wolf when the witches tried to strip him away.”
A cheetah shifter from Midnight Path called, “Mine too.”
From the Ironwood side, Lee stepped forward, shoulders tense. “We treated Freya as less than nothing,” he said, voice rough. “She had every reason to hold that against us, but instead, she brought us into the pack mind with the rest of her allies. That’s the kind of leader I’ll follow.”
“She chose to protect others even when she had every reason to protect only herself,” Brooke added, smiling over at her Ironwood cousin from her position among her New Dawn packmates. “And they encouraged us to join a different pack when staying in the old one would have been a death sentence.”
More voices joined in, and I felt the momentum building like a wave.
“She gave us hope when we had none,” Artemis said.
“She united us like one giant pack when we might have otherwise been enemies,” Astrid rumbled, the massive bear shifter’s voice carrying weight.
My throat tightened as I watched Freya’s face. I sensed she was overwhelmed, but she stood tall. Proud. Finally accepting what she’d always been too humble to see.
“I knew from the first time I met her that she was special,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “Not because of her power, but because of her heart. She always chooses compassion over bitterness. That’s what makes her extraordinary.”
Through our bonds, I felt her love wash over me, and I knew I’d said exactly what she needed to hear.
Gage stepped forward, his sky-blue gaze locked on Freya.
“On this first day of the new year, I propose we stop pretending this is temporary,” he said.
“We all came together for mutual protection against the threats of Denraider and the Ashworth Coven. And we all know who made our victories possible. Let us acknowledge that, unlike our enemies, this protection council is here to stay — with Radiant Freya leading a collection of Astral Packs into a new era.”
Agreement surged through the pack mind — not unanimous, but overwhelming. A few wolves still wondered if shared leadership could hold. The rest answered with hard-won faith.
Torsten stepped forward. “And we, her mates, shall serve her forever as her astral protectors.”
His shoulder brushed mine as he said it, solid and reassuring.
Rowan’s feral grin was visible even in human form. “Any who threaten our astral will face all six of us. And we don’t fight fair.”
A ripple of laughter moved through the crowd, breaking some of the solemnity of the moment.
When the noise died down, Heath added, “We won’t seek to control her, but to support her. To protect her so she can better protect all the packs.”
I spoke. “And as for her astral protectors, Torsten can also be considered an astral — another Odinswolf leader. While Freya is the heart of this alliance, Torsten also leads in his own way, different from alphas.”
Torsten inclined his head. “I serve Radiant Freya, as do we all.”
Freya lifted her hand, drawing in a breath I felt viscerally through our bonds. “Yes, I agree Tor is an astral, too. But so is Zak.”
A ripple of surprise moved through the crowd. Zak went very still.
“Like Tor and I, Zak cannot issue alpha commands,” Freya continued, her voice growing stronger. “But an astral does not lead through dominance. Zak’s wisdom, his magic, his compassion — these make him a leader. I trust him to lead as I do, through choice rather than force.”
Every word rang true in my bones.
Tor’s hand settled briefly at the back of Zak’s neck, thumb rubbing a slow circle there. The wild starlight feel of his magic wrapped gently around Zak’s jagged edges until our hybrid finally drew an easy breath.
My wolf pressed against my skin, already reaching for Zak as something more than packmate, more than another in Freya’s Bonded circle.
Mate. The certainty of it sat steady and quiet inside me.
Time had done what it always did — deepen the bonds that needed deepening. And at last, my wolf spirit knew it was time to claim our third mate.
Zak’s voice was rough when he finally spoke. “I… thank you. I won’t let you down.”
“I know,” Freya said simply, and the love flowing through our bonds was almost overwhelming.
When Zak’s shoulder brushed mine, the contact sent a current through my wolf — not the jolt of shock, but the warm recognition of something inevitable finally drawing closer. He met my gaze, a question in his eyes. I just smiled back, letting my wolf’s calm certainty speak to his.
Then Tor prompted Freya through our private bonds. “While we’re renaming things…”
Freya nodded, already sensing our intentions through our bonds and taking them one step farther. “From this day forward, the leaders of our allied packs will not be called pack alphas. You will be called pack protectors. Your role is to protect your pack, not to rule through fear.”
Freya’s gaze swept over each pack in turn — the Howling Echo, New Dawn, Midnight Path, Ironwood, Moonblessed, Celestial Alloy, and even Elder Forest.
“Pack protectors who wish to join the Astral Packs must swear to only use your alpha barks in times of battle and for the protection of your pack — never for personal benefit, and never to humiliate or harm. You will treat subordinate packmates fairly, and keep no omega slaves in your packs. Can each of you make this oath?”
One by one, they dropped to a knee.
Artemis went first. “I, Artemis of the New Dawn, swear to protect my pack with strength and compassion. I’ll use my alpha command only to shield, never to humiliate or enslave.”
“Rise, Pack Protector Artemis,” Freya said, the new title fitting as if it had always been there.
Thatcher followed, then Hugo and Idori together, Astrid, and then Gabriel. They echoed the same vow in their own words, promising to lead as protectors, not tyrants. The details blurred; the intent did not.
At last, Gage went to one knee in front of our mate, and instinct drove the rest of us down beside him, all kneeling before our astral.
“I, Gage of the Howling Echo, swear our pack will never use alpha commands to control or degrade,” he said. “We will protect through strength, not fear. We serve our radiant and the Astral Packs before ourselves.”
Heath’s hand brushed his shoulder. “We swear it.”
“All of us,” Rowan added, eyes blazing with conviction.
“On our bonds,” Zak said quietly.
My voice came out firmly. “On our love.”
Tor’s voice carried certainty. “On the stars themselves.”
Freya’s eyes shone. “Then rise, Howling Echo and my astral protectors. Your oaths honor me and the Astral Packs.”
When we rose, Heath didn’t bother hiding the way he twined his fingers with Gage’s for everyone to see. We felt Gage brace for disapproval — but none came.
The weight of history was shifting. This was the moment everything changed. Not just for us, but for every shifter who would come after.
To everyone’s surprise, Wendell stepped forward and then went to a knee to speak for Elder Forest. “Our pack alpha couldn’t make the journey, but I speak with his full authority. Elder Forest swears to uphold these principles. We choose this path with you.”
“Rise, as acting Pack Protector Wendell of the Elder Forest,” Freya declared.
Seven packs. Seven mates. All coming together, united by one amazing woman.
“When you address Freya, you may call her astral or Pack Astral Freya,” Tor declared for all to hear. “If you must use a title of honor, use Radiant, not Your Highness or my queen. She is not royalty. She is your astral — your guide, the one who unites packs, a leader of leaders.”
Freya gestured to encompass all the gathered wolves, her movements graceful.
“With your commitments, we are the Astral Packs — Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming united under a new banner. Not ruled by any one pack, but protected by all of us working together. And so I invite Elder Forest into the pack mind.”
I felt other minds join us through Wendell, sensed their shock and then a deep understanding.
I stepped forward, adding the practical details the pack mind told me she wanted to make official. “The wildlands will be reclaimed as neutral territory. No more rogue alphas terrorizing lone wolves. The wildlands belong to all of us now, protected by all of us.”
“No more refugees fleeing from pack to pack with nowhere safe to go,” Gage added, looking at me and Fern, then over at Brooke. “Each shifter is free to choose which pack they belong to at any time.”
“Who will decide what pack the packless wolves of the wildlands join?” someone called out.
“They will,” Gage answered. “They’ll choose their pack from among the Astral Packs, or we’ll send them to find their way to the Chicago Collective or north to Canada.”
Murmurs of approval rippled through the gathered wolves.
I could see the hope dawning on faces — especially among the former refugees who’d lost their original packs to conquest and cruelty.
Fern and I had been brought to Frost Fang as pups, just as Freya’s family had first sought refuge among Nightsinger, then Ironwood.
So many had been displaced by Denraider’s conquests, directly or indirectly.
And now, many of those outcast, packless wolves who were driven into the wildlands to die would find homes among the Astral Packs.
Freya’s expression turned serious, and I felt her nervousness through our bonds. This next part mattered deeply to her.