The Four Mates of Freya Rivers

Two Mates, I Guess

Freya

Here I was again, running and running and running. One foot after the other, the wind loud in my ears. Only difference today is… well, I don’t really know where I’m going.

Over my head, the birds chirp and fly under the first rays of the morning sunlight. It’s a beautiful morning, but I had to wake up into a storm blowing up in my face. I couldn’t get my breathing to calm down, my breaths shallow and my head light. My wolf was thrashing inside me, whining and begging me to go back to the pack house and rush into their arms. Theirs. Because there’s two of them.

I have two f*****g mates.

Does that even happen?

I’ve heard of rejected mates, rare as they are, find second chance mates. That would make two mates in their lifetime, right? But they never imprinted the bond on two at the same time. So how come I did?

There’s a chance I could’ve made a mistake. Mistook that the mate bond set for the two of them when it was only for one. But which one?

Mates!

My wolf screamed in my head. Yep, there’s definitely an ‘s’ there. I have two –

I tripped on a tree root I didn’t see, falling and rolling down a short terrain covered with damp leaves and twigs. I had been to loss in my head that I didn’t even see where I was going, I don’t even know if I’m still in our territory. But then I shake my head, finally noticing the sound of water crashing down onto rocks. I was at the waterfall, thank the Goddess. Still inside the territory.

I sit up, shaking the debris from my hair and placing my elbows on my bent knees. I had tiny scratches on my arms and legs, most of them already starting to heal.

Great job. I think to myself.

“Freya?” A shaky, old voice calls out to me. “Is that you, my dear?”

I look up and that’s when I see Medora, one of our elders, with her feet under a foot of water and a basket in her hands. I guess she was out here gathering.

“Medora,” I quickly stand, bowing to her in respect. “I didn’t see you, I’m sorry.” I was still out of breath.

Our pack currently had seven elders. They live as our spiritual guides, our connection to the nature and our remembrance of our past. All of them were inducted by other elders when they committed to the cause, and all were well over a hundred years old. Although when you look at them, they look like sprite sixty year olds.

It’s the humble life that they live. Never siring pups and renouncing the possibility of mates. They live in this beautiful hut in the middle of the forest, no trace of any modern technology or development. And somehow, they’re always there to help children who shift for the first time.

Werewolves awaken around the ages of 12 to 18. It happened for a lot of children during the night, feeling their bones break and hearing a howling in their heads. They’d jump out their windows and feel scared, no idea of how to handle it. Then one of our elders were suddenly there. Calming them down, helping them adjust with their wolves, and easing them through shifting back into their human selves while offering a set of woven breechcloths to cover their bodies.

For me, my wolf awakened when I was 11 – earlier than everybody else. It solidified my future as the next leader of our pack. I was hella scared, and Medora was the one to guide me through it.

“What’s wrong child?” She moves towards me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “You don’t seem too happy for a woman who’s supposed to be celebrating her 21st birthday.”

I smiled at her, trying to dust off the dirt on my body.

“Unless…” She brushes my hair out of my face. “Darling did you just find your mate?”

My brows furrowed. How could she possibly know that?

She smiled as she continued, gesturing towards the air above my head. “There’s an aura on wolves when they’ve imprinted the mate bond.”

“Oh.” I breathed, starting to get nervous again, remembering the two mates I left at the pack house.

Of course it had to be my best friend. And my other best friend’s grumpy older brother. Goddess, how the hell am I going to handle this? They’re members of the pack, so my fear of possibly needing to leave could be laid to rest. But now I have this new thing to worry about.

“Darling, you have two.” Medora is fascinated. My eyes were wide and my heart thrashing as I look at her. I couldn’t do anything but nod. She smiles a “And that’s why you’re feeling scared?” Tears started to form in my eyes, but I shook it off. I nodded as she grabbed my hand. “Come, let’s take a seat by the water. It can help cleanse our minds.”

She guides me towards the riverside, urging me to sit on these set of rocks. “Take off those shoes of yours and dip your feet in the water, Freya.” She instructs and I do.

I took a calming breath as I breathed in the fresh air, listening as Medora hummed to herself as she sat down beside me.

“You know, it was common for our ancestors to take on more than one mates. One of our greatest Alphas from hundreds of years ago had taken his true mate and a chosen mate. They helped him build this pack to be one of the strongest in the state. They were a gift to him. Just like I bet your mates are a gift to you. And, by the Goddess’ grace, they’re both true? It’s more of a blessing.”

I fidget with my hands as I listen to her.

“You’re the first female Alpha in over a hundred years. You’ve been surprising us and this pack ever since you were born.” Her voice was calm and comforting. “Somehow, it makes sense that the Moon Goddess would give you two mates.”

I took a deep breath, trying to absorb the calming energy around me. Focusing on the sound of the water, the chirping of the birds, Medora’s quiet presence.

“Tell me,” She begins again. “Who might the young lads be?”

“It’s Jax and Chase.” I answered, wringing my hands together at the thought of them. Goddess, I want to run back to the pack house. Back to them. And my wolf is definitely on board with that. “I scented them andran down the kitchen to find the both of them. Right there. And the mate bond – bonds…” I correct myself. “Just snapped into place. I felt it pulling me towards them.”

“I see.” Medora smiles. “They’re both good men, both close to you too. Is that adding to your emotions about this?”

“I guess so.” I paused. “Jax is my best friend. And the other one is well… Chase. Not to mention that he’s my other best friend’s brother, but he’s the guy everybody hates because he’s so good at everything.” And he’s an asshole who loves rubbing it in people’s faces. That part I don’t say out loud.

Actually, there’s a lot of things I don’t say out loud.

Chase is for sure going to be an officer of mine, most likely my Beta and chief of warriors. But now that he’s my mate, what’ll happen to him? Since wolves take on higher titles if they marry higher ranking officials than them, that would make him what? Some sort of alpha consort? I don’t even know if that’s a thing.

Then there’s sweet old Jax. We talk s**t about Chase all the time. And even though I have two mates, they each just have me. He’ll be stuck in this weird little mate triangle for the rest of his life.

And Goddess, how the hell am I going to tell this to Dad? He might be excited for me to find a mate but I don’t exactly know how he’ll react when I have two. Then there’s Victoria. She might be the mother I grew up with but that woman is the most emotionally unavailable person I know. She cares for the pack - that I can guarantee - but she does it in the most passive aggressive way possible. I can already see her eyes rolling when she finds out.

“The Goddess is all knowing, Freya.” Medora says, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “She has great plans, and we are all here to watch it play out. And I, for one, believe that you’ll be playing a great part in it.”

She stands, gathering her basket and stepping out of the water.

“I’ll leave you to yourself now, child.” She smiles down at me. “I think you’ll find peace with your thoughts out here. I’d tell you not to rush yourself, but I do believe you have guests arriving soon.”

And doesn’t that just make the day any better?

But I have to go back now, don’t I? I’ll have to walk back and face the both of them head on. Talk about the mate bond, and what the hell it’ll mean for the three of us. And I don’t really do that. I might not be that good with confrontation, if that’s not obvious yet.

If it were up to me, I'd hide out here all day. But that probably won't work out either. Tracking is another skill that both Jax and Chase excell at. If they wanted to, they'd find me here in no time.

Are they trying to look for me though? After I ran out of there like I was on fire, I didn't even stop to comprehend that maybe they'd run after me. Hell, maybe they're as shocked as I am about all of this.

So maybe it would be better if I talk to them. Face the music, and all that.

Oh well.

It’s time to put on my big girl panties, I guess.