Froston shook his head slowly. “Drake isn’t the new king, the Morrigan chose Fallon.”
A sour twist of his lips let me know that Froston wasn’t happy about that decision.
“You seal off Winter, and then what?” I asked softly.
“I hold the gates closed until the battle is done,” Froston said with a grim look. “As you well know, I’m not the only one who can open gateways to this world.”
“It can’t be closed forever?” I asked hopefully.
Froston gave me a wry look. “Not the way you’re thinking.”
I hummed an agreement, but I doubted Froston would tell me the truth. He couldn’t survive in this world for long without going back to Winter to recharge, and he wouldn’t be willing to give up his playground in this world.
“And if we lose?” I asked boldly. “You’ll have the Morrigan and the king of Winter after your head.”
Froston chuckled. “I’ll be fine. I have your mother to look after.”
“And Skye?” I asked.
If everything went to ruin today, it would give me some measure of peace to know that my mother and sister would be safe. Even if safety came at the cost of them staying with Froston. He probably had several plans set in place for each possible outcome.
“Of course,” Froston said smoothly. “Your mother would never forgive me if something happened to that little girl.”
“Take the other pups as well,” Caleb interrupted from behind me. “If there’s a safe place available, we owe it to them.”
I held up my hand in warning and narrowed my eyes at Froston, but he merely smiled.
“I expected the request,” he murmured to me. “And I’ve made arrangements with the dragons.”
My eyebrows flew up. “Dragons?”
“Yes, they’ll keep our vulnerable ones safe until we return for them,” Froston said absentmindedly as his attention was drawn over my shoulder.
I glanced back to see what had pulled him away from our conversation. My mother and her twin sister were walking along the beach, swinging Skye between them. Her eyes were bright as she giggled with joy as she flew through the air and then back to the sand.
“How can we trust dragons that we’ve never met?” I asked suspiciously. “I didn’t even know that there were dragons. Are they part of Winter or Summer?”
“Dragons aren’t fae,” Froston told me as if that were the most preposterous thing he’d ever heard. “They’ve agreed to guard the section of land I have warded, and in return I’ve given them sanctuary in this world from enemies of their own.”
My eyebrows rose. This world was a mess right now. I couldn’t imagine what would drive the dragons to think it was safer here than in their own world.
I watched Froston watch Astrid and used my new goddess powers to interpret what he was thinking. I sensed longing and loneliness from him, but nothing to indicate that he was thinking of betraying us to the Morrigan. It seemed as though as long as Astrid was on our side, Froston would fight with us.
A shout came from the forest, and Ragnar stepped out with his packmates, their pups running out ahead of them. I blinked when I saw a little bear run straight for Sam. To my utter shock, she knelt down on the sand to scoop him up and snuggle him close, murmuring into his ear.
The pups played and ran toward the water, oblivious to the danger we were walking into. But I couldn’t help but think that this is what all of us needed to see. This is what we were fighting for. This is what we were defending.
Love. Life. Laughter. Happiness. Family.
Ragnar’s eyes were cold as he eyed Froston, but he clasped hands with Austin.
“Sorry we’re late,” he grumbled. “We brought reinforcements from Montana and New York.”
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, and I was surprised to see at least a hundred additional men and wolves streaming onto the beach.
“My pack will fight the old way,” he growled. “But Ingrid found some white wolves in hiding, and the Americans brought their guns.”
Hope soared in my heart. With Froston blocking the Morrigan summoning help from Winter, Ragnar bringing reinforcements, and additional magic users on our side, our chances of winning were increasing.
We made our greetings and introductions as the young pups squealed and splashed each other with the cold ocean water. The littlest of them were in their wolf forms, probably because their human forms were so much more vulnerable. They chased each other through the sand, nipping and wrestling at