“When you say they’ve come, do you mean they are coming, or—” Hunter sighed, already knowing what he was going to say.
“I mean that they’re already here. At our border, and asking for entrance.” Caden listened to the low growl that ripped through Hunter’s throat. His eyes were laced with annoyance.
“Who are these wolves? Have we not met before?” Hunter leaned his forehead into Freja’s back as he took in her scent to calm himself. Of course, there would be something that would keep him from devouring his mate all day.
“They didn’t make it to the last meeting. It’s the Alpha of the Zigma Pack and the Alpha of the Rosen Pack, with a small group of pack members. They’re asking for entry andaccommodations.” Caden sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know if we can trust their intentions or not.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll soon find out what their intentions are. Caden, you, Garrett, and Caspian keep a close eye on them while they’re here. Adam and Winston, I want you to keep an eye on them, too. Especially both of the alphas.” He then turned toward Sam. “Put them in the two lower lodges. They should be able to accommodate both packs.” Hunter sighed with a low groan. “I guess we’re meeting some alphas.” He watched as Freja smiled back at him.
“I guess we are.” Freja leaned her head into him.But later, maybe we can play with those blindfolds.She trailed the tips of her fingers over his forearm.
Hunter chuckled lowly as his silver eyes flickered dark. Damn. He really wished he could play hooky from being the alpha today. He just wanted to drown himself in his mate all day. Lifting himself, he set Freja on her feet, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pecked the top of her head tenderly. At least he had his luna by his side now.
Chasen growled lowly and stood up from his seat. “I don’t like having outsiders within the pack borders.” His brows furrowed, his lips curled up in distaste. Especially after everything that had happened, strangers made him uneasy.
“Let’s meet these packs and see what they want. I highly doubt it’s just to see me.” Hunter looked over at his group with a slight nod.Never a dull moment.
CHAPTER FORTY
Hunter placed his hand against the small of Freja’s back as he walked out to meet the two alphas. Chasen was at his side, with Jin on the other. They walked up to see Sam, Adam, and Winston standing in front of two large men. Both looked to be somewhere in their mid-twenties. One of the men had bleach-blonde hair, while the other had bright red hair, both with deep blue eyes.
“Welcome to the Black Ice Pack.” Hunter extended his hand and firmly shook the two alphas’ hands. “This is my queen and luna, Freja.”
“I am Alpha Ander from the Zigma Pack,” the blonde man said.
“I am Alpha Tony from the Rosen Pack.” The breeze tossed his red locks gently. He looked at Hunter for a moment and then his gaze landed on Freja, lingering as he stared at her intently. He was looking at Hunter’s mate for too long, though, because a low growl reverberated through Hunter’s chest, making the man direct his attention back to him. He was shocked. As an alpha, no one had ever been able to make him feel intimidated or make him avert his gaze. But now, looking at Hunter, he immediately lowered his head and looked at the ground.
“Forgive me, I meant no disrespect. It’s just that …” He looked back at Freja. “We’ve met before … several years ago.” Tony looked back up to see Freja tilting her head, studying the man.
She took gentle whiffs of the man’s scent. It was familiar, but she was having a hard time placing it. She looked at his face, scanning his facial features, and her eyes fell upon his hair color. She furrowed her brows as she began to recall something in an insignificant memory. His scent and hair color were being charted in her mind as she searched through her memories. Recognition filled her eyes suddenly. “Calibus, right? You were called Calibus.” She watched the man nod, and a smile spread across his face.
“You do remember me.”
“Barely.” Freja shrugged. It was the truth, and she felt no need to sugarcoat it. She listened as Ander snickered quietly. Hunter’s fingers curled into her possessively, so she thought she’d better explain before her jealous mate lost control. “Calibus … errmm, Tony now, right?” She saw him nod his head and continued. “Tony was being kept as a pet by a couple of onis, a type of demon. Unfortunately for those onis, they were a target for a client of mine. After I killed them, I saw Cal-Tony chained up. So I unshackled him right before I left.”
“And you liked to pretend you didn’t have a heart,” Jin teased as she leaned forward to look at Freja.
“You saved my life. Thank you.” Tony nodded in respect to her. “You seem a lot … happier now than you did then.”
Ander couldn’t hold in the laugh. “Tough luck, buddy.” Tony turned and glared at him, but he only continued to laugh. “You see, Tony here has had a crush on you since you saved him. He’s out of luck now. Especially since you’re mated to the Werewolf King.”
“Thanks for sparing me embarrassment and humiliation. I appreciate you holding back, dude.” Tony rolled his eyes, then flicked his gaze between Freja and Hunter. “I’m not a home wrecker, so you don’t need to worry about me. I pledge my allegiance and my pack’s allegiance to both of you.”
Hunter smiled and nodded toward Tony. “I can’t blame you. You knew quality when you saw it.” He chuckled as he felt Freja bump into him, an embarrassed look on her face. What he said was true. As long as the man understood she was off limits, they wouldn’t have a problem. “What brings you two here? I hardly think it was just to meet me.” Hunter raised his eyebrows as he looked between the two men.
Ander smiled widely. “It was and it wasn’t.” He held Hunter’s gaze, studying the man. “It was more to size you up. The thing is we don’t know much about you. Hearing your pack is now under the ultimate rule of a stranger doesn’t sit well with me. I wanted to meet you for myself. I wanted to see your character.” He wanted to be honest about their intentions.
“Oh? And what if you don’t like it?” Hunter leaned back on his heels as a small smile spread over his lips. He understood him completely. In fact, he would have done the same thing. He would have wanted to check if the King of the Werewolves might be a problem for his pack.
Ander’s expression changed from a smile to a frown. “Then I would do what I had to in order to protect my pack and my mate. We’re expecting our first pup in a few months. I just … I had to see if I needed to make changes in order to protect them.”
“Well, you’re welcome to stay here and make up your mind about me. Congratulations on your pup. I’m sure you’re very excited.” The idea of having pups with Freja was exciting. After the demon war was over, impregnating his mate would be the first thing on his agenda. Until then, he needed to fine-tune his baby-making skills. For practice, of course …
“Thank you. I’m a bit nervous, but mostly excited. And understandably cautious.” Ander rubbed the back of his head as a cheesy grin spread across his face.
Hunter felt relaxed after talking to the two men. They were just being protective over their packs. He did need to speak with them about the demons. They were not at the last meeting, and this was something important.
“There is only one thing I can think of that you should be nervous about right now,” Hunter said with a small frown. “I’m not sure if you know or not, but the demons are massing for war.” He watched as the two men nodded their heads, aware of the demons banding together. “A war against them is on the horizon, and the werewolves are going to battle. We won’t be going alone, though. The fairies will also be fighting against the demons, and I believe the dragons will be joining us as well.”
