Page 46 of Marked for the Pack

“Pretty sure I already did.”

Gage straightened and turned toward me. Suddenly, all three of them seemed to regard me with way too much interest.

“Are we really about to do this?” I whispered.

Flint’s hand rubbed circles on my lower back. “If you’ll have us, the Howling Echo wants you, Freya.”

Heath nodded. “We want you to be safe, and you’ll be much safer in the pack bond. Even if you can’t talk to us telepathically without your wolf.”

I stared at Heath in confusion, then turned my stare on Gage. The two of them had done their best to drive me away. Gage had wanted me gone from day one. Heath had warmed to me, then turned ice cold. I still wasn’t sure I accepted his off-kilter apology. And Flint? He’d been the only one I could depend on for certain.

And now all three of them wanted me to stay? To join their pack?

No, I realized as I gazed at Gage. He hadn’t said that.

“Do you want me in your pack, alpha?” I asked him. “Will you mark me?”

I held my breath, knowing that at that moment, Gage could make or break me. If one more pack turned their back on me…

He moved forward with his wolfish grace, and both of his hands came up to my face. His sky-blue gaze hardened.

“You’re ours, no matter what. But Freya, you’ve never had a pack bond before. I want you to be sure of this. This isn’t part of the deal. You don’t have to do this.”

If his hand hadn’t been caressing my jaw just then, it might have hit the floor. For once, Gage was giving me the choice.

But then I remembered last night. He’d done the same thing, then. Instead of making me scream out his ownership over me while I was coming, he gave me the freedom to say whatever I wanted to. And instead of calling him alpha because that’s what he wanted to hear, I’d called him Gage, like he was my lover. Like I could claim him as mine.

As I gazed into his sky-blue eyes now, I realized my answer meant so much more to him than I ever thought possible. I wasn’t the only one terrified of being rejected right now. But if I backed away from this, would Gage ever invite me in again?

He dropped his hands and stepped back, his expression guarded. At last, I felt like I had enough of a window into Gage’s history to finally understand him better. I knew what had turned him against women to begin with. And I had the feeling we’d straightened out his twisted view that somehow all women were as shitty as his ex and his father’s mates.

That didn’t mean he was fully ready to trust me. And I wasn’t sure that I was ready to trust him or Heath.

But my wolf? She was all on board. Prowling around inside of me, she itched to go for a run. She wanted to lope alongside her packmates, to prove she belonged with them. I put my hand to my heart and closed my eyes, listening to her.

“Will you come out at last?” I asked her.

But she sat back on her haunches, her head tilted, as if listening and waiting for something.

I sighed and opened my eyes to find three men staring at me, their hopeful expressions at war with other emotions. Flint looked hopeful and excited. Heath looked hopeful and worried. Gage looked hopeful… but like he was steeling himself for the worst.

“My wolf wants to join the Howling Echo,” I told them.

“And you, Freya?” Flint asked. “What do you want?”

Tears stung my eyes as I admitted, “I’ve wanted it for so long.”

Gage took my hand and raised it to his lips. After planting a kiss to the back of my hand, he said, “Then come outside.”

“Aren’t we supposed to wait for the full moon or something?” I asked, my throat tight.

“Who cares?” Heath laughed, taking my plate away and gesturing for me to go outside.

“You know the Howling Echo doesn’t stand on tradition,” Gage reminded me. “But it’s still good to have witnesses for this.”

In the soft light of the morning, I followed him around the back of the house toward the woods. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Flint and Heath following me. I shivered, both from the morning chill and the sight of these two hot men watching me as they pursued me.

“We’ll be your witnesses, little wolf.”

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