Page 76 of Bound to Exiles (Rejected Wolf Pack #5)

“Did they cast you out for challenging their alphas?” Gage asked. “Because if so, they’ll surely remember you.”

“They cast me out when I was fifteen.” I held Freya’s horrified gaze. “My wolf hadn’t come yet, and in their eyes, that made me worthless. Less than worthless — a drain on resources that could be better spent on wolves who might actually contribute to the pack’s strength. ”

It was my parents’ indifference that hurt the most as they watched their son being cast into the wildlands to die.

“They left me for dead,” I said, my voice hardening with old anger. “Told me that if I ever set foot on their territory again, they’d kill me. They won’t recognize me as the boy they threw away, a child they considered a weakling.”

The transformation had been brutal and complete. The scared, powerless child they’d exiled no longer existed. In his place stood an alpha who’d learned to survive alone.

Freya’s eyes filled with tears, but beneath her anguish, I felt something else — understanding. She knew what it was like to be discarded, to be deemed unworthy by those who should have protected her. The kinship between us went deeper than attraction or even love. We were both survivors.

“I know what it feels like to be treated as less than nothing, Freya,” I said softly, reaching out to cup her face in my hands.

Her skin was warm beneath my palms, anchoring me to the present even as memories of the past threatened to drag me under.

“To be lost and alone with nowhere to turn, convinced that you deserve the pain because surely there must be something wrong with you if your own family could throw you away so easily.”

Her breath hitched, and I felt her recognition through the bond. She understood because she’d lived it too — the constant question of whether the abuse was somehow deserved, whether the fault lay in some fundamental flaw that made love impossible.

“I can’t let your sister live under their abuse,” I continued, my thumbs brushing away the tears that had started to fall.

“Not when I have the power to do something about it. Not when I know exactly what she suffered when they thought she couldn’t shift.

They probably only kept her because she’s female, and they decided she made a good slave. ”

“But the risk—” she started. “What if your family or a childhood friend recognizes you and blows your cover like Tork screwed over Heath?”

“My family lived in Oregon. They aren’t raiders. The risk is worth it,” I stated firmly. “And the time is now. Denraider might stop recruiting if they decide they have enough alphas, or once they’re ready to move out. We can’t afford to wait.”

“Rowan,” Gage shook his head. “We need all the help we can get when we go against the witches again.”

“That’s exactly why I’m the only one who should go,” I insisted. “The rest of you can prepare for the fight with Dryden and the coven. Meanwhile, I’ll gather intelligence on Denraider and find Freya’s sister.”

Gage looked to Flint as though asking him to intervene, but I wouldn’t be persuaded to let this go.

“Freya’s next heat arrives within a moon. If I’m still away, I’ll go into rut and be completely compromised. I have to be in and out before then.”

The tactical reality of the situation settled over them like a heavy blanket. I felt their reluctant acceptance filtering through the bond, even as their fear for me remained sharp and painful. They understood the logic, even if they hated it.

“No,” Freya said, standing suddenly. “I won’t let you do this. You shouldn’t have to face your abusers alone.”

“If you could face your abusers in Ironwood, I can face mine in Denraider,” I countered. “And thanks to our bonds, I’ll never be alone, lightning bolt.”

Still she shook her head. “I almost lost Heath. I can’t lose you, Rowan.”

I rose to meet her, taking her hands in mine. “Philipe can’t get in. If I succeed, we’ll know where your sister is being held and can plan a rescue.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “They could trap you there, keep you prisoner.”

A rumbling growl started in my chest at the thought. “I promise you nothing will keep us apart for long.”

The silence following my declaration hung heavy in the air. I could feel the mixture of emotions through our bond — Freya’s fear and love, Gage’s reluctance, Flint’s protective concern, and Zak’s quiet assessment.

Heath broke the silence. “He’s right,” he said, surprising everyone. “ Rowan is uniquely qualified for this mission. He knows Denraider from the inside, and they shouldn’t recognize him after all these years.”

“But after what happened to you—” Freya began.

“What happened to me was different,” Heath interrupted gently.

“I walked into a trap set by my own father. If Rowan’s sure no one will recognize him…

” He raised an eyebrow until I nodded. “Then I think it’s a good plan.

I don’t see any other way we’ll get the intelligence we need to rescue your sister. ”

Flint stepped forward, his expression troubled. “I don’t like the idea of any of us entering that den of wolves alone.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, his grip firm. “But I trust Rowan’s judgment. If he believes he can do this, then I believe it too.”

“We need to establish clear communication protocols,” Gage said, bringing us back to the practical matters at hand. “How often will you check in through the Bonded link?”

“Once a day,” I suggested. “After dark. That should be a time I can reasonably find privacy.”

Flint’s eyes fell to Freya’s rune on my cheekbone that I’d once feared so much, then jumped to her mark on my neck. He pointedly avoided looking at the other mark no one had brought up… Gage’s pack bite on my wrist.

“What about your scent?” Flint asked. “You smell like us, like Freya.”

“A few days in the wildlands will take care of that,” I assured him. “And I’ll roll in forest debris to mask any lingering scent.”

“And I can give you this,” Zak added, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small pendant similar to the one he’d given Heath. “It won’t help against other wolves, but it will shield you from basic witch detection.”

I shook my head. “Denraider kills all witches. I won’t need it.”

Zak shrugged. “The Ravenscroft Coven once convinced Denraider to attack the Winter Wind pack. Denraider may hate witches, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any contact with them.”

“Take it,” Freya demanded, and I accepted the pendant, dropping it around my neck. “You might need it on your trip back to us, anyway. If witches try to break your bond like they did to Heath…”

“I’ll send an emergency signal through the bond — an image of the tattoo we all received under the stars for brevity,” I replied. “But mostly, I’ll shield myself from the bond to avoid distraction.”

Gage nodded. “Good. And we’ll do the same. The last thing we need is for you to be distracted by our thoughts during a critical moment.”

We were all still dancing around the most painful part of all.

“So, how do we cover up the rune?” Freya asked. “And your tattoos…”

Zak stepped forward, his dark eyes meeting mine with unwavering support.

“I can help,” he said, his voice steady and sure. “I can create a charm to hide your rune and tattoos.”

This man who had been cast out by his own people understood the necessity. He knew what it meant to risk everything for the chance to belong somewhere. He knew how important this was for Freya’s sister.

I touched the glowing rune on my cheekbone. Freya’s mark would mean my execution. Denraider hated witches, and a wolf consorting with witches was even worse in their eyes.

“What kind of charm?”

“A small one you’ll have to keep close to you at all times.

If the charm is destroyed or too far from you, the rune would reappear.

Same with your pack tattoo and the starbeam tattoo.

The charm will need to be renewed daily if possible, or every two days at the most, but it’s not difficult once I show you how. ”

Gage’s expression turned grim, calculating risks and benefits with the cold precision that made him such an effective leader.

“It’s decided then,” he said finally. “This is a reconnaissance mission only, Rowan. You find her, you report back through the Bonded link with her location and the layout of their defenses. No rescue attempts without backup, no matter what you see or how much you want to act.”

“Understood,” I agreed, though we both knew that if the opportunity presented itself — if I found her in immediate danger — I wouldn’t hesitate to act.

At last, Flint broke the silence on the one remaining issue we needed to tackle. Even if Zak’s charm could hide the Bonded rune, my pack tattoo and the moon tattoo…

“What about your bonds? Every wolf can sense you’re mated and part of a pack.”

“The mate bond is easy,” I said. “I’ll just say she’s gone, which will be true.”

“They’ll assume you mean dead, but you won’t smell like lies,” Flint nodded. “But the pack bond…”

They all knew what needed to be done, they just didn’t like it.

Heath sighed. “If he’s to be recruited as a rogue, he needs to actually be one.”

We all fell silent at that.

Gage’s expression grew heavier, burdened by what he knew he had to do. When he spoke again, his voice carried the authority of a pack alpha making an impossible decision.

“For this to work, you can’t be one of us. You have to be a true rogue, completely severed from any pack bonds.” His eyes met mine, and I saw the pain there, the way this decision was tearing at him. “Rowan… I have to exile you from the pack.”

As a teenager, I’d survived through sheer determination, killing older and more experienced rogue alphas.

After witches killed my wolf family, I’d been alone again until meeting Gage and Heath and finding my place in the Howling Echo.

My new pack had never once made me feel like the worthless castoff Denraider had convinced me I was — but now I dreaded the loss of my pack again.

This time, though, the exile was born of necessity rather than cruelty. This time, I had something to come back to.

“I know,” I said simply, my voice steady despite the storm of emotions churning in my chest.

Gage remained silent, his gaze thoughtful as he weighed the options. Finally, he spoke. “You plan to leave immediately?”

“As soon as you exile me.”

The acceptance in my voice seemed to hit him harder than any protest would have. Through the bond, I felt his anguish, the way it went against every instinct he had as our pack alpha.

Protecting us was his purpose, his driving need. Being forced to cast one of us out, even temporarily, was like asking him to cut off his own arm.

But sometimes, love required the cruelest sacrifices. Sometimes, the only way to protect what mattered most was to let it go and trust that it would find its way back.

I looked around at my packmates — Freya with her tears yet fierce determination; Gage, who had taken me in as a rogue alpha and made me pack; Heath and his tactical mind already working through contingencies; Flint with his steady strength and unwavering faith in me; and Zak the newcomer, with his deep sense of belonging and worried look in his eyes.

They were so much more than just my pack, or my family. They had become everything to me. They were worth any risk, any pain, any sacrifice.

With a knuckle, I wiped away a tear from Freya’s cheek. “I’m your mate. That makes your sister my sister. And we’re going to free her.”

I would walk back into the hell that had forged me if it meant giving her the freedom to find out where she truly belonged.

As a full-blooded Odinswolf, the sister we’d never met needed the freedom to find mates of her own.

Perhaps one day, she might discover the same kind of love we’d found in each other.

The kind of love that could heal even the deepest wounds and make broken bonds whole again.

Soon, I would begin my journey back to the pack that had cast me out, back to the place where my life as a lone wolf had begun.

But this time, I wouldn’t be alone. This time, I carried the strength of my pack and my mates with me.