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“I promised one day both our old packs would pay,” Gage reminded me. “This is our chance to get back at Ironwood for everything they did to you. We can rule Frost Fang together and bring Ironwood to its knees.”
Why did my wolf feel so content? Gage and I were fighting, but she was practically preening with self-satisfaction. That only fueled my anger more. Of course, she was happy to have snagged a pack alpha for a mate.
But he wouldn’t even apologize for what he’d done. And now he thought to soothe me by sharing his stolen power?
“I don’t want to rule, especially over Frost Fang! What makes you think they’ll even fight Ironwood? They wanted to ally themselves with my old pack, the pack that cast me out. No thanks!”
“In case you forgot, Frost Fang castmeout,” Gage growled. “You think I want to rule them? I killed Nira for you. To protect you.”
He grabbed my upper arms, his sky-blue eyes burning as he glared down at me like he could force me to agree.
“No, you challenged Nira as pack alpha. You wanted to take back Frost Fang, your birthright. Don’t pretend that had anything to do with me.”
I shook my head. He was avoiding the actual issue by making this about some vendetta against Ironwood. Just like the Ironwood alphas I’d grown up with, Gage’s actions showed he cared more about himself than he did about me.
“I didn’t ask for this.” I yanked free from his grasp.
Gage ran a hand through his hair. “Alright, fine. Would you rather I give up the Frost Fang pack? Because I can, Freya. Say the word, and it’s done. Is that what you want?”
I stared at him in disbelief. He hadn’t given me the chance to choose the bite, but now he put the fate of an entire pack in my hands?
I scoffed, shaking my head. “Seriously?”
I imagined Flint returning with my clothes and finding Gage’s mark on me. He was going to be crushed, and his disappointment would make this all so much worse.
I could handle my disappointment — I was used to being disappointed. I could survive this because I’d already proven I could survive anything.
But to see the hope go out of Flint’s eyes when he realized I was a taken woman? That he and I would never be mates? I wanted to run so I would never have to see the betrayal on his face when he found out.
“You took Flint from me,” I whispered as my eyes filled with tears.
“What?” Gage asked, his eyebrows drawn down in confusion.
Suddenly, I wondered why Flint hadn’t returned sooner. Why he hadn’t come bearing my clothes yet? He had to have heard me yelling.
Gage was shaking his head. “Why would you—”
“Where’s Flint?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.
Gage’s eyes narrowed. “I used the pack bond to ask for privacy while we talked this through.”
“Privacy?” I laughed, dimly aware of how hysterical it sounded. “How lucky for you that you can just boss your packmates around and getprivacy. Something I’ll never have again!”
“Freya…”
“No. I don’t want to hear any more.”
Since I’d met them, I was the one who had to go along with whatever the alphas decided. I wasn’t involved in the serious discussions, my voice wasn’t factored into the decisions, I had almost no control over what we did or where we went. And I’d put up with it with minimal complaint, willing to earn my place over time. Now, suddenly, he wanted to make us the alpha pair? Unbelievable.
“I refuse.” That was the only power I could still claim. “We will not be the alpha pair of Frost Fang. Keep the pack, and you can keep your ‘power,’ too. I don’t want it.”
Gage’s eyes widened, and his expression went from disbelief to anger to fury.
“You’re rejecting me?” He snorted. “This mark you put on my face says otherwise.”
When I didn’t answer, he stalked toward the window and gazed outside. In that moment of silence, the idea of rejecting him wrenched my insides.
I wasn’t angry because I didn’t want Gage — it was because I wantedallof them. If he’d asked me before he bit me, I would’ve wanted to talk everything through first, to find out whether it was even possible to have multiple mate marks and multiple mate bonds.
