Page 79 of Bound to Exiles (Rejected Wolf Pack #5)

“I’ll never miss another of her heats again,” he swore. “Which is why I should go tonight. Let me get ready.”

“Pack light,” Heath advised. “You’ll be a lone wolf, remember.”

Rowan moved with purpose, gathering a change of clothes and a few other necessities as Gage exchanged uneasy glances with me and Heath. Zak also began making preparations, drawing Freya aside to show her how to make the charm that would conceal her rune on Rowan’s face, along with his tattoos.

Soon, we crowded into the kitchen, where Zak surprised us all by holding up one of the curse stones from Frost Fang. Heath flinched back, and Gage wrapped his arms around him from behind.

“This stone will hold the spell Freya and I crafted better than anything I could create on my own with such short notice,” he said apologetically.

“Whatever works,” Rowan said.

“It’s attuned to you,” Freya said softly, running her hand down Rowan’s forearm. “But I know if Denraider catches you with something from a witch…”

“I’ll keep it hidden,” Rowan said, but we all sensed his doubt.

“They’ll search you for weapons, and when they do, they’ll find this,” Heath said quietly.

“Denraider hates witches, right?” Zak asked suddenly.

Rowan growled, “Yes, that’s the whole problem.”

“I healed you of your witchfire scars, but I imagine you can still speak convincingly about your hatred of witches,” Zak continued, ignoring Rowan’s irritation.

“They killed my wolf family,” Rowan agreed. “I’ll never stop hating them or the ones who hurt us, especially Freya’s aunt.”

“Then tell them this stone is a trophy of your victory over witches,” Zak suggested. “Hopefully then they’ll let you keep it.”

He grabbed Rowan’s left wrist, turning it over to reveal the only pack mark Rowan had ever known — the Howling Echo’s. He’d been exiled from Denraider before he’d been old enough to pledge his loyalty to them.

“If you bore another witchfire scar, it would be physical proof of your hatred. It would be a badge of honor to them.”

He met Rowan’s eyes again, vulnerability crackling along the bond between them.

The implication hung in the air. Zak was offering to burn away Rowan’s pack tattoo — the howling wolf that marked him as one of us — with magic that would leave a scar Denraider would respect.

“Do it,” Rowan said without hesitation.

“Are you sure?” Freya asked, her voice soft. “The charm is enough to hide it. ”

Rowan cupped her face and leaned in to give her a swift kiss. “For you, Freya, I would suffer witchfire a dozen times over.”

Tears rose in her eyes as they both turned to look at Zak.

My stomach churned as he summoned a small blue flame to his palm. The fire was different from normal flames — witchfire burned differently than regular fire, leaving scars that never fully healed.

“May I?” Zak asked, positioning his hand over the tattoo on Rowan’s forearm.

Rowan’s jaw set in determination. “Get it over with, mage.”

The moment the flame touched his skin, Rowan’s body went rigid. I felt the spike of agony through the Bonded link and had to grit my teeth against the echo of his pain. But he made no sound as the magical fire consumed the ink that marked him as ours.

When Zak pulled his hand away, the howling wolf was gone, replaced by an angry, weeping burn that would scar into exactly the kind of mark Denraider would respect.

Rowan looked at the wound, then met Zak’s gaze. His voice was rough when he spoke. “I’ll wear your mark with pride.”

The words carried more weight than expected.

In that moment, I realized what was happening between them — the connection that went beyond pack bonds or shared magic.

Rowan pulled Zak into a hard, brief embrace that spoke of gratitude and respect.

And when neither of them let go right away, I started to suspect—

“When I come back,” Rowan said quietly to Zak, “I want to explore more… with you.”

Freya pressed her lips together, her eyes practically beaming with joy, as though he’d just professed his undying love.

Zak’s smile was radiant. “I’ll be here.”

Rowan pulled back, his eyes dropping to Zak’s lips.

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath as our wild alpha leaned in and plundered Zak’s mouth.

When a small moan escaped from Zak, Rowan met it with a low growl.

He put his hand on the back of Zak’s head, steadying him as he licked into his mouth, claiming him for all to see.

His possessive kiss left the hybrid breathless by the time he pulled back.

And the Bonded link sang with approval from all of us .

Freya smiled at them both as Zak’s dazed eyes met hers. He mouthed the word, “Wow,” and Freya laughed.

Rowan’s knuckles grazed down the side of her face. “Don’t wait for my return to claim him, lightning bolt.”

She glanced between the two of them then her gaze flicked over to me. “Our wolves will know the time.”

My pride bled into the bond, and my heart was glad to know she remembered what I’d once told her about why I’d waited to claim her.

Gage stepped forward then, and the air in the room shifted. His expression was serious, heavy with the weight of what he was about to do.

Rowan squared his shoulders. “I’m ready, pack alpha.”

Zak and Freya flanked him, each of them taking his hands by unspoken agreement.

“To ensure your survival in enemy territory…” Gage’s voice rose, radiating alpha power, “I invoke pack law. Today, Rowan, I release you from your oath to the Howling Echo pack. Your wolf is no longer mine to command. You are hereby deemed a rogue alpha. No packlands will welcome you until you swear your loyalty to another pack alpha. You are hereby exiled.”

The words hit like physical blows. The pack bond with Rowan snapped, lashing through our minds with a metallic twang that seemed to gouge open a wound inside of me. It felt like loss and grief… it felt like death. The empty space where his presence had been felt cold and wrong.

Rowan flinched as though he’d been struck, and all the blood drained from his face. For a moment, he looked lost, adrift.

But before despair could take hold, Freya circled around in front of him. She pressed her palm over Rowan’s chest, her eyes locked on his.

“But you are never severed from us,” she stated, her voice fierce with conviction. “You are my mate.”

Zak nodded. “And you are our Bonded.”

The Bonded link flared to life — warm against the crushing cold of the broken pack bond.

Through it, I pushed my affection and support toward Rowan, and I felt all of us rush back into connection with him: Freya’s love, Gage’s strength, Heath’s loyalty, and Zak’s pride and growing fondness.

It wasn’t the same as the pack bond, but it was a lifeline. It was hope.

The empty space in the pack bond felt different from what we’d experienced when the witches severed Heath’s connection.

When Heath had been cut off, it had felt like amputation — a violent tearing that left us bleeding from across a void that shouldn’t exist. This was surgical by comparison, a clean cut made with purpose and the promise of healing.

The pack bond with Rowan was gone, but the Bonded link let us continue to sense him.

We could feel him breathing, thinking, choosing to leave us rather than being ripped away against his will.

It was agony, but it was temporary, and we’d chosen to suffer it together.

As though reaching the same conclusion, Rowan’s expression shifted from despair to determination. He looked at each of us in turn, memorizing our faces as though he might never see them again.

“I’ll find her,” he said simply. “And then we’ll free her.”

“We’ll be waiting,” Zak said.

“Trust your instincts,” I added.

“Come back in one piece,” Heath growled out an order.

“And before Freya’s heat,” Gage added.

“I’ll try to find you in my dreams,” Freya promised.

Then Rowan wrapped his uninjured arm around her and kissed her for a solid minute.

When he finally let her take a breath, he whispered, “I’ll come back to you. I promise.”

He grabbed his sling bag and headed for the door without another look back. For a moment, he paused on the threshold, his hand on the frame. Then he stepped out into the night and was gone.

I stood with my four remaining packmates, feeling the space where Rowan had been like a physical ache. The pack bond felt incomplete, unbalanced in a way that made my wolf whine with distress.

But through the Bonded link, I could still sense him. He’d walked to the gate in the wall already. Once on the other side, he disrobed and shifted.

He pushed reassurances back toward us, no doubt sensing all of us straining toward him through the connection. Freya let out a breath, and only then did I realize I’d been holding mine, too. He carried a piece of us with him into the darkness, alone but not abandoned.

Despite his exile from the pack bond, we still trusted him like packmates should, just as he trusted us. So while he sought out the information we needed to free Freya’s sister, we would prepare for his return… and whatever came next.

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To be continued…

Torsten will arrive in the exciting final book of the series! At last, Freya will claim all her power and all her men in Chosen by Fate!