AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So that’s why Gage reacted the way he did when you brought me back to camp,” I said in a low voice, squeezing Flint’s hand.
“I was unaware of most of this at the time,” Flint said apologetically. “If I’d known every woman in his life had screwed him over…”
“You still would’ve brought Freya back to us,” Heath said with confidence. His gaze slid over to me. “The Howling Echo is a pack of rejects. We were all exiled from our packs for different reasons, but not for just causes. Freya belongs with us.”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut… because they were true. Flint had been exiled for something his sister did. Gage had been exiled because Nira had used his brother’s jealousy as a weapon against them both. And Heath had gone with Gage out of loyalty. Though something in his words told me there might have been more to it than that.
Like them, I’d been exiled for something that wasn’t my fault.
But to say I belong with them? Maybe I’d misread their actions last night. Maybe they did see me staying with the Howling Echo beyond the deal. Joining them… mating them?Everything was suddenly more uncertain than it had been moments ago, and right now, I knew only one thing for certain.
I craved more. I wanted to know these men inside and out. An overwhelming sense of belonging washed over me, starting with my wolf.
My pack now,she whispered to me.
Could Heath really go from seeing me as his plaything — to considering me his packmate? Because he was right — I belonged with them. My wolf wanted to join their pack just as much as I did.
“Freya…” Heath started, moving his hand to cover mine. “About yesterday…”
He trailed off, and both alphas glanced toward the door before my half-breed hearing caught a sound. Gage came through with a drink tray with four steaming to-go cups. I inhaled the glorious scent of coffee.
But when Gage’s sky-blue gaze landed on us, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Maybe something in the pack bond with Heath and Flint tipped him off, because he set the drinks down in front of us and demanded, “What happened while I was gone?”
“Oh, just a history lesson for Freya,” Heath waved him off.
“Heath…” Gage growled.
“Since our next mission involves Nira, they told me what she did,” I said, not wanting him to get all bent out of shape over it.
But I should’ve known better. Gage’s expression grew stormy as his gaze flicked among the three of us.
“I should have been the one to tell her about Nira.”
“Yes, you should have.” I got to my feet as his annoyance fed my own. “After all, the way you’ve treated me from the very beginning all comes down to her, doesn’t it?”
“Freya,” Flint grabbed my hand again, but he didn’t get a chance to say more because Gage whirled on me.
“You were an outsider. You were hiding things from us, and suspicious for your own reasons. It had nothing to do with her.”
“You just assumed I was a backstabber like Nira, didn’t you?” I met his stormy expression with one of my own, not looking away. “My secrets were none of your business. I couldn’t trust you, either!”
Gage crossed his arms. “Then what’s the problem? We all kept secrets, because we didn’t trust each other yet.”
“The problem is that I was somehow taking the blame for something Nira did. I’m always the lowest in the hierarchy, the one everyone takes advantage of. And it’s the same with this deal, isn’t it?”
Gage’s lips parted to speak, but I got there first.
I snarled, “I’m meant to serve you ‘whenever and however’ you want. All because some other woman hurt you and betrayed you. So, I get the fallout from it? But I get it. You don’t let women in. And even if you did, why should it be me? I’m just a double-cursed half-breed who can’t shift, definitely not good enough for the Howling Echo.”
My words choked off on a sob at the end, but I refused to cry in front of Gage. He’d probably just think I was using my tears as a ploy like women always did. That was how his mind worked.
Instead of getting into my space and challenging me like he had in the past, Gage surprised me by stepping back.
“Heath, Flint. Get out.”
My knees wobbled at the alpha command in his voice, even though it wasn’t directed at me. The two of them got up from their chairs, but they were alphas, too. Flint fought against Gage’s power over him to give me a quick kiss on the forehead.
Heath grabbed their jackets from the hanger by the door before they left. “We’ll be back with supplies for the job tomorrow.”
