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“Like bite off Flint’s head?”Heath’s mental laugh rolled around in my mind.
Why did I feel so possessive of her? I’d made the deal so we could share her between us, but now that we knew for sure Flint must be her mate, the deal was off. It had to be. Of course, that didn’t change the fact that we would protect her.
I’d promised her, and I kept my word.
“It doesn’t make sense. They’re mates. We all know it.”
“We do,”Heath replied.“Did the witch confirm it?”
I thought back to what Freya had told me.“Only that the fated mate bond was fake, which means her heat is because of finding her real mate.”
Heath dipped his snout, and his mental words sounded resigned.“Flint will be best for her.”
As the pack alpha, I could only sense my packmates’ emotions when they were strong enough. Like Heath’s current sadness entwined with acceptance. And Flint’s adoration and pleasure as he worshiped his mate.
I should be pleased that one of my pack had found his mate. Instead, it was close to torture… like an open hole in my heart that left me bleeding. And I didn’t understand why.
I tried to keep my mind on the task at hand — scouting for enemies. If we stumbled across a rogue alpha right now, I welcomed the chance to taste blood, to take my mind off what I could sense all too well through my bond with Flint.
A fight would be perfect for getting Freya off my mind. Even though the pack bond didn’t allow me to see what Flint saw, my mind filled in the blanks.
I remembered how hot it had been to see Freya writhing beneath me on that kitchen table back at Alloy.
And then… after she’d run from us and we’d reclaimed her, I remembered watching her wrap her pretty lips around Heath’s hard cock while I filled her from behind in the middle of the woods where anyone from Alloy could’ve heard.
I remembered the way her ass had ground against my erection in the backseat before we showed her our den in Moonblessed.
Now, I raced through the darkness, my paws pounding the rocky ground. My pace challenged Heath to keep up as I tried to do the impossible — outrun my conflicted feelings.
Flint’s absolute ecstasy filled the pack bond, and I snarled in frustration. What was the matter with him? It was like he was intentionally broadcasting it. He’d done a better job concealing it when he’d had sex with Freya in Moonblessed. And Heath always carefully kept his dalliances free from the pack bond. The secondhand feedback was uncomfortably arousing as well as frustrating. If Flint was intentionally messing with us…
Before I completely lost my mind, my torment ended. They’d finished, and I sensed Flint’s sudden change in emotion as he shifted into his wolf form. I paused, my sides billowing as I panted, and Heath pulled up short beside me.
A few minutes later, I sensed Flint giving us the all clear, and I did the same. We’d found no one. Not a single rogue alpha for me to take out my aggression on.
Which meant it was time for Flint to answer some questions.
As we approached, Heath chuckled.“Looks like Flint put her to bed real well.”
My wolf sensed the rise and fall of Freya’s chest, and her steady breaths told me she slumbered deeply. My nose picked up the obvious scent of her on Flint, and him on her. A scent that was dissipating from him now that the massive alpha wolf stood protectively over his mate. The moonmark in the fur of his forehead seemed to glow in the moonlight.
But the most curious thing was what Heath let slip through the pack bond to me. I wasn’t the only one having emotions for Freya I didn’t want to address. His guilt and desire came across in equal measure.
Which made our predicament even more dire… because she had truly become our greatest weakness. We’d left behind the safety of the Moonblessed pack, totally unprepared, for a stray wolf. A stray wolf who boldly fled to save the lives of people she barely knew in Moonblessed… Along with Heath and me, who might never be her packmates. And of course, the life of her mate, though she hadn’t known it at the time.
For the duration of our deal, I’d sensed Freya’s duplicity. But I’d never for a minute suspected she might not be able to shift.
Knowing the truth about her, about why the Ironwood pack had never considered her good enough, I respected her all the more. She’d spent her whole life being treated like a lone wolf.
Yet she was brave enough to sacrifice herself for the good of others, like only a true packmate should. As I watched her peacefully sleeping, probably dreaming of Flint, my wolf was… content. A swell of pleased satisfaction echoed from that side of me.
Only my human side felt unease.
“All clear?”Flint asked, even though we’d already told each other as much without words.
“Not a soul for miles,”Heath answered.
As I gazed down at the blanket covering Freya, a startling thought invaded my mind and took root in my stomach, making me almost too sick to ask the question.
