Page 46 of Bound to Exiles (Rejected Wolf Pack #5)

Some of the wolves broke off to chase each other playfully, nipping at flanks and tails. Others, like Heath and Flint, maintained a steadier pace. I found myself somewhere in the middle, matching my stride to Freya’s.

“This is incredible,” I told her privately across our Bonded link.

Her wolf grinned at me. “This is pure freedom.”

We ran until my lungs burned and my legs trembled, but I didn’t want to stop. More than fifteen years of suppression had left me starved for this — the wind in my fur, the earth beneath my paws, the companionship of other wolves.

Eventually, Gage led us to a rocky outcropping overlooking a valley.

The other wolves milled about, some resting, others playing.

Freya glided over to me, her elegant coat gleaming.

We nuzzled one another, catching our breaths.

After letting us all rest for a few minutes, Gage rose to his paws and faced the pack.

“Carry on without us,” he instructed. “We’ll rejoin you later.”

With nods and playful yips, the larger pack moved on, leaving just the five of us — Gage, Heath, Flint, Freya, and me — on the outcropping.

“Shift back,” Gage ordered me without making it a true alpha command. “Show us that both sides of you know how to work together. ”

Panic fluttered in my chest. What if I couldn’t shift back? What if I was stuck as a wolf now?

“It’s okay,” Freya assured me, sensing my fear. “You can do this. Rowan once explained to me that the easiest way to shift is to think of why you need that other form over your current form. If your wolf knows you need hands, for example, he will push your two-legged side back out.”

I must prove myself to the pack alpha, I told my wolf. He wants to see me shift from one form to the other. But we’ll run again soon.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on how much my wolf longed to please our pack alpha. The transformation was easier this time, much less painful — though still disorienting. When I opened my eyes, I was kneeling on the rocky ground, naked and slightly dizzy.

The others had shifted too, and I noticed each of them digging around in their sling bags. Shrugging off the sling bag Flint had given me, I freed the loose clothing I’d pulled on that morning.

I gratefully got dressed, searching for words and finding none adequate. So, I simply thanked Flint again.

“Of course,” he grinned. “Now that Freya’s heat is on its way, you’ll want to keep your clothes handy.”

Heath nodded. “She’ll be super jealous until either you two claim each other or her heat arrives.”

Freya swatted his shoulder. “Standing right here!”

Flint laughed and pulled her in for a kiss.

“Good job,” Heath grinned, clapping me on the shoulder. “Your first pack run.”

“First of many, I hope,” I replied, trying not to lean into his touch.

We settled on the rocks, the five of us forming a loose circle. The air between us felt different now — charged with a new understanding.

“So,” Gage began, his sky-blue eyes fixed on me. “You really can shift.”

It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway. “Before now, I only ever shifted in secret. When the coven caught me shifting, they punished me.”

Heath growled, and I noticed gold ringing Flint’s pupils.

“Finally, they’d had enough. When I was twenty, they bound my wolf. I haven’t been able to shift in over a decade. ”

“Until today,” Flint intoned.

“Until Freya,” I corrected, glancing at her with gratitude.

She blushed. “We did it together. I just helped unravel what they’d done to you.”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Gage asked, his voice neutral.

I looked down at my hands. “I was ashamed. Honestly, until recently, I thought my wolf was dead. I’d convinced myself I didn’t need him anymore. Then Freya came to me in my dreams, and everything changed.”

“But you kept the secret even after you started dreaming of Freya,” Heath pointed out. “Even after you came here.”

“Old habits,” I admitted. “In Ravenscroft, secrets kept me alive. And…” I hesitated, then decided honesty was the only path forward. “I feared you’d see me as unworthy of your mate. I wasn’t sure how you’d react to a hybrid who couldn’t shift.”

Heath snorted, and a smirk twitched at Gage’s lips. “Freya once thought the same thing.”

She laughed. “I did. I hid my inability to shift for a long time. I didn’t think I ever would.”

“I always thought she just didn’t want to get naked in front of us,” Heath chuckled. “In spite of our deal.”

Gage’s expression hardened as he met my eyes. “Anything else you want to reveal to your future packmates? The Howling Echo keeps no secrets from one another.”

“I have no reason to keep secrets now.” I gazed up at Gage through my eyelashes, my chin dipped in deference. “I’ve always wanted nothing more than to belong. I’m yours to command, alpha.”

A comfortable silence fell between us, broken only by the distant howls of the continuing pack run. I could feel something shifting in our dynamic — acceptance taking hold where suspicion had been.

Until Freya sighed and said, “There is one other thing to know… Zak and I realized something else. My father Preston was the mage who protected Zak after the coven killed his parents. Preston wasn’t able to take Zak with him when he left the coven behind.”

I watched their expressions carefully, trying to gauge their reactions. Gage’s face remained impassive. Flint looked thoughtful. Heath’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Perhaps that’s how you found each other in your dreams,” Flint concluded. “Your magic recognized something in each other.”

“I think so,” Freya nodded. “My magic knew Zak was someone I should have known all along. Someone who should have been part of my life.”

“And now he is,” Gage said, his gaze moving between us.

“Grandmother Moon knew what she was doing,” Flint said with confidence. “This must have always been her plan.”

“Fate brought us together,” I agreed, squeezing Freya’s hand.

Gage watched this exchange with those intense blue eyes of his, saying nothing. His eyes moved to Heath first, then Flint. They landed on Freya last.

Then, finally, he stood. “It’s time.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, hardly daring to hope for the pack bond and acceptance into the Howling Echo.

“You’ve proven yourself,” Gage replied. “You fought through the coven’s suppression. You’ve shown us who you really are.” A hint of a smile touched his lips. “Besides, you’re already Bonded to us all. Might as well make it official.”

My heart skipped a beat. Freya squeezed my hand, her excitement pulsing through our connection.

“You’re going to be pack,” she whispered.

Pack. The word resonated through me like a struck bell. After a lifetime of being neither fully witch nor fully wolf, of belonging nowhere, I was going to have a pack.

We made our way down from the outcropping to a small clearing nestled between ancient pines.

The forest floor was carpeted with soft needles, and dappled sunlight filtered through the branches above.

It felt sacred somehow, as if the trees themselves were gathering to witness what was about to happen.

As we walked, Flint and Heath told me how the ceremony would go and what words would be said.

Some part of me still waited for the other shoe to drop, so I asked, “We aren’t going to wait for the full moon? ”

“We didn’t wait for the full moon to bring Freya into the pack,” Flint said. “Seems fitting we do the same for you.”

My throat tightened with emotion. The parallels between Freya’s journey and mine weren’t lost on me — both hybrids, both outsiders for so long, both finding a home with these extraordinary alphas.

Heath agreed, “The Howling Echo never cared much about tradition. We didn’t even create the pack on a full moon.”

In the center of the clearing, Gage turned to face us. The air around him seemed to shimmer with authority, his presence commanding even in human form.

“Still,” Gage said, “some formalities matter. Heath, Flint, Freya — will you stand as witnesses?”

They moved to form a loose semicircle behind me, and I felt their support like a physical force at my back.

“Zakaib,” Gage addressed me formally. “Do you give up any previous oaths binding you to your coven and swear loyalty to the Howling Echo pack?”

The words caught in my throat momentarily as their significance washed over me. I thought of Ravenscroft, of the coven that had raised me after killing my parents, that had bound my wolf and tried to make me choose between my dual natures. They had never been family. The choice was simple.

“I do. I hereby relinquish my bonds to the Ravenscroft Coven. The Howling Echo has my loyalty,” I answered, my voice steady despite the emotion threatening to overwhelm me. “I promise to serve the pack.”

“And the pack will serve you,” Gage responded, the ritual words flowing easily from him. “And do you pledge to put your packmates ahead of all others, including your former coven, and even your own blood family?”

“I do,” I said without hesitation. “I will always put the Howling Echo pack and my packmates first.”

“And we pledge our loyalty to you, as your packmates,” the three behind me said in unison, their voices blending into one.

Then Gage’s eyes locked with mine. “Now you must swear loyalty to me as your pack alpha. ”

I took a deep breath. My entire life, I’d been told to fear alphas because they would kill me on sight for being part witch. Even in Ravenscroft, the few subordinate shifters allowed to cross into the city were kept on a tight leash.

Yet here was Gage — powerful, dominant, but offering protection rather than subjugation.

“I pledge my loyalty to you, Gage of the Howling Echo, as my pack alpha,” I said, the words feeling right, feeling true.

“You’ll want to remove your pants,” Freya warned. “Time to shift again.”

Gage’s eyes darted to Freya behind me, a slight smirk lifting his lips as he disrobed. I couldn’t help it — my eyes slid across his naked form, admiring his powerful, ripped physique.

Mate, my wolf whimpered.