Page 19 of Bound to Exiles (Rejected Wolf Pack #5)

Freya

Through the windshield, I watched Heath’s shoulders slump as he walked away.

My heart ached for both him and Gage, knowing how much courage it had taken Heath to finally make his move.

After watching them dance around each other for so long, the last thing I wanted was for Gage’s fears to drive them apart.

“Get in,” I repeated, gesturing for Gage to join me in the back seat.

Once we were both settled and the doors were closed, the silence settled over us both as I took his hand. His other hand clenched into a fist, betraying his inner turmoil despite his stoic expression.

“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “You shouldn’t have had to see that.”

“Why not? I enjoyed it.” When his eyes widened, I squeezed his hand. “Gage, did you really think I wouldn’t notice how you look at him? How he looks at you?”

His jaw tightened. “That’s… You’re my mate.”

“And so is Heath. Why should me having both of you mean that you two can’t also have each other?”

Through our bond, his instant denial warred with desire.

When he said nothing, I added, “You can’t tell me you didn’t feel anything when you kissed him.”

“Of course I felt something. But that doesn’t mean…” He ran his fr ee hand through his hair. “What kind of alpha would I be, taking another alpha to my bed?”

“The kind who isn’t afraid to admit what he wants.” I traced my thumb over his knuckles. “You’ve never had a problem sharing me with Heath. Why should it be different the other way around?”

“Because you’re an Odinswolf. Multiple mates is part of your nature.”

“Maybe. Or maybe it’s because I’m a witch, and the Bonded connection is influencing all of us to be closer.” I gave him a meaningful look. “You’ve felt it too — how the bonds between all of us have been growing stronger.”

Gage suddenly tensed, his grip on my hand tightening. His eyes went distant in that way I recognized meant he was sensing something that had nothing to do with our conversation.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Something’s wrong.” His face twisted with frustration. “I can’t quite… it feels like fear, but muted. Like the Frost Fang pack is trying to hide from me.”

My chest tightened with worry for the packmates we’d left behind. “Is there something we can do?”

“They made their choice.” But the words sounded hollow, and through our mate bond, I felt how much it cost him to say them.

“There’s bound to be an adjustment period as they come to terms with life without alpha protection.

Even if they’re choosing new omegas to abuse, we can’t force them to change. ”

He closed his eyes, and I felt him deliberately pushing down his connection to the Frost Fang pack bond. When he opened them again, his gaze was clearer, focused on me.

He was right. Worrying about Frost Fang would get us nowhere. Besides, I had other things to worry about, like the discord between my mates. It was hard enough dealing with Zak’s sudden arrival and the change in our dynamics. I wanted things to be easy between Gage and Heath, at least.

“What’s really holding you back from Heath?” I asked softly. “And don’t tell me it’s about being an alpha again.”

Gage rubbed one hand along his thigh as he gathered his thoughts.

Through our bond, I sensed him wrestling with how to put his feelings into words.

My alphas had always been at their strongest when acting on their instincts, not describing what they felt.

I waited patiently, my thumb brushing back and forth over his knuckles.

“Heath knows exactly what he’s doing,” Gage finally said. “He’s been with men before. He knows what he wants, what he likes.” His shoulders tensed. “I’ve never… I don’t even know if I’ll like it. And the thought of fumbling around like some inexperienced pup while he…”

“While he what? Judges you?” I couldn’t help but smile. “Gage, Heath has wanted you for years. Do you really think he cares about your inexperience?”

“I’m not used to feeling this… uncertain.” His frustration leaked through our bond. “I’m supposed to be the one in control. The pack alpha. Instead, I feel like a teenager again, getting hard anytime he so much as looks my way.”

I couldn’t solve his insecurities, but I could remind him that they didn’t matter. Sliding closer to him on the backseat, I let my voice drop into a seductive tone.

“Remember the times when Heath was fucking me while you watched? I felt how much it turned you on — and not just because of what he was doing to me.”

Gage’s breath caught. “Freya…”

As an alpha, he would eventually take what he wanted… if pushed hard enough.

“You were watching his muscles flex, the way he moved. His powerful body.” I ran my fingers up his arm. “And when you were both inside me at once? You loved feeling his cock sliding against yours.”

His arousal spiked through our bond, along with a hint of shame that made my heart ache.

“It’s okay to want him,” I whispered. “I would love to watch you together, to see you discover each other. You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. But there’s no rush, no pressure. You can take your time figuring out what you want.”

“And you’re really okay with that?” His sky-blue eyes searched mine. “With sharing me with Heath? ”

“More than okay. It would be incredibly hot.” I grinned. “Besides, with five… soon-to-be six mates to keep satisfied, maybe I could use the help.”

“You never have to—” he started, but I pressed my fingers to his lips.

“I know. Just like you never have to do anything with Heath that you don’t want to do. But I love all of you, and I want you all to be happy.” I traced his lower lip. “The thought of you and Heath together… it doesn’t threaten what we have. It adds to it.”

Gage caught my hand, pressing a kiss to my palm. Through our bond, I felt him turning over everything I’d said, imagining possibilities he’d never let himself consider before. His desire for Heath mixed with lingering uncertainty, but the shame that had been holding him back was starting to fade.

“Why does it bother you so much… this idea of alphas being with alphas?” I asked. “Wasn’t Nira an alpha?”

“That was different,” Gage sighed. “Frost Fang was a lot different back then. My father made it clear that alphas were expected to produce more alphas. It’s why I stopped pursuing a subordinate wolf I was interested in and eventually got together with Nira instead.

Under my father’s rule, homosexual relationships between alphas were forbidden because they couldn’t produce alpha heirs. ”

“But you don’t believe that anymore,” I pointed out. “You’ve changed so many of your father’s laws.”

“Old habits die hard, I suppose.” He gave me a rueful smile. “Since you’re questioning my hesitation about Heath, it’s my turn to point out that you seem hesitant with Zak.”

He reached over to tilt my chin up toward him, staring down into my eyes, refusing to let me deny it.

“What’s holding you back, princess?”

I met his searching gaze, unable to hide my uncertainty. “I just… with everything happening with Frost Fang…” I shrugged. “Plus, who knows how long until my sixth mate shows up and shakes things up again? Though, we don’t exactly know where the seventh starbeam fell… ”

“I hope he’ll be drawn to us the same way we’re drawn to find him.”

So much longing laced his words, it made me realize he wanted to complete our Bonded circle as much as I did.

I nodded, but said, “I know we can’t afford to go chasing him yet without risking the pack falling apart.”

His kiss was quick and chaste. “I’m proud of you for putting the pack first.”

“In the meantime… Where should we go? We can’t camp here forever.”

Gage frowned. “Frost Fang expects us to take the Ironwood refugees back to their homelands.”

“But most of them don’t want to go back,” I protested.

“I know. So I say we regroup at Moonblessed.”

I nodded, looking away. But Gage’s fingers traced along my jaw, drawing my eyes back to his.

“What is it, princess?”

“While things are in turmoil, it feels selfish to focus on my relationship with Zak.”

“Or maybe you’re using that as an excuse. The fates brought him to you for a reason. You deserve mates who understand all sides of you — not just your wolf, but your magic, too.”

His words struck something deep inside me. Zak’s presence felt so different from my alpha mates. Their raw dominance pressed against my skin like a physical weight, demanding submission. Although my Odinswolf could resist their commands, I enjoyed when my alphas took control.

Zak’s power was more subtle — like static electricity dancing through the air, making the hair on my arms rise. It excited me, awakening something in me. When Heath growled, wolves backed away. When Zak smiled, the very atmosphere seemed to bend around him.

“What if…” I swallowed hard. “Things aren’t as natural with him as they are with the rest of you… Maybe the other two are just meant to be my teachers. And you all noticed he hasn’t kicked off my heat. Even he told me not all Bonded become mates. ”

Gage’s low chuckle surprised me. “Princess, that mage craves you. He may keep himself hidden in the Bonded connection, but only the blind would fail to see it.” He leaned closer, and his hand fell down to my collar bone, tracing the runes there before gently circling my neck.

“And even they would scent his arousal around you.”

Heat pooled between my legs at his words. Through our bond, I felt Gage’s own struggle — his alpha possessiveness warring with his patience.

“What do you want, princess?” Gage’s voice dropped lower, more suggestive. “Only you can know your own mind.”

My alphas had already given me so much, and now they’d been forced to leave Frost Fang because of me and Zak. I hated to ask anything else from them. But Gage hated when I kept things from him.

“I want him,” I admitted, my voice barely a whisper. “But I don’t want that to come between—”

Gage’s rough hand tightened on my neck, dominantly, possessively. “Whatever you want, you get.” His gaze bored into mine. “You understand that, don’t you, princess?”

I stared up through my lashes at him, more turned on than I could admit. “Yes, alpha.”

His eyes gleamed. “Good girl.”

He looked pleased, but when he took his hand away, I felt the loss instantly. As much as I liked it when he took charge, I also knew he liked it when I challenged him.

So, I twisted in the seat and threw one leg over his hips, straddling him. As my weight settled over him, his hard length rested perfectly where I needed it, in spite of the clothing between us.

“When are you going to bite Zak and bring him into the Howling Echo?” I asked.

Without waiting for an answer, I rocked against him, and his voice roughened as his hands came down on my hips.

“Zak needs to learn his place in the pack first.”

My clit throbbed as I remembered how Gage had made me learn my place in the pack before he would let me join the Howling Echo. He’d had me on my knees before him… just the thought had me moaning .

“Are you going to make him kneel for you, alpha?” I whispered, and felt Gage’s dick throb in response.

Maybe Heath wasn’t the only one of my mates who found my fellow hybrid intriguing.

“Rowan told me he never once shifted while they were in the woods together, even when it would’ve been useful. He’s hiding his wolf from us, just like you did,” Gage growled. “I won’t mark him until he shows himself.”

He had a point there. All of us sensed Zak’s wolf, and I could tell he wasn’t an Odinswolf from the way my powers puzzled him and the age he said he’d first shifted. But his wolf wasn’t the only thing he was hiding.

“Sometimes I can sense things from him in the bond…” I trailed off, reaching out for that mental link now. I sensed Zak’s presence in the distance, but little more than that. “Something about his wolf makes him skittish around us.”

“That’s another thing,” Gage growled, frustrated. “He somehow hides himself in the bond. But…” he reluctantly added, “he also helped suppress it while you and Flint were distracting all of us.”

“Sorry, alpha,” I grinned. “I’m glad Zak could help.”

Gage glared, probably imagining how he could punish me for the distraction.

Then he said, “You can kiss him if you like... but nothing more until I give my approval.”

A growl of frustration escaped me, but memories of how my alphas used to control my pleasure sent another surge of heat through me. I remembered screaming that I belonged to the Howling Echo while they drove me to heights I had only ever dreamed of.

Gage’s throaty laugh told me he knew exactly what I was thinking. “My naughty princess likes it when her alpha takes control.”

“Yes,” I moaned. “Please, alpha, tell me what you—”

A knock on the window had both of us snarling. It was Varden, which only made me growl all the more.

“Two of the alphas are fighting,” he called through the glass.

I sighed. “Duty calls. ”

“If it’s not broken up by the time I get there, you’ll all be sorry,” Gage answered Varden, and the other alpha stomped off.

He’d probably already tried to break up the fight, or else he wouldn’t have brought it to Gage’s attention.

My shoulders slumped, and I didn’t try to hide my disappointment that we’d been interrupted.

Gage grinned at me, tilting his hips up enough to make me gasp. “Don’t worry, princess. I know how much you like a little delayed gratification.”

My eyes narrowed, thinking of the times he’d forced me to beg and plead for his cock before he gave me any relief.

Gage reached up and ran a thumb over my lips. “Since I can’t command you to obey, you’ll have to swear it. Tell me you’ll do nothing more than kiss him.”

I growled, but secretly I couldn’t wait to see what Gage would come up with to make it worth the wait. “I’ll do nothing more than kiss Zak until my pack alpha says otherwise.”

Gage grinned, his incisors sharpening into fangs with his arousal.

“Maybe the mage was right,” he mused, and the predatory gleam in his eyes made me shiver. “Maybe this will be fun.”