6. Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Wulfric
A distant howl wakes me, but it’s the pain that has me bolting upright in bed, agony twisting through the pack bond that ties me to Anders. Something has happened. We’re under attack. I must protect Kieran.
I leap from bed, but Kieran’s spot by the fire is empty. Kieran is gone. Fear and fury make my fangs descend and turn my claws razor-sharp. I hurl my black wolfskin cloak over my back as I tear from the house and out into the streets.
A crowd has gathered, carrying candles or hoisting torches high. I shove past people and through them. I must find Kieran, kill whoever took him, and save my brother from harm. In my chest, Lyall’s bond flares to life, then Gunnar’s. They’re coming to Anders’s aid.
Father Wolf, let that fool be safe… I’ll never forgive myself if my last memory of Anders is an argument about who should have been alpha. Like we’re both fool pups and not grown men. The iron tang of blood hits my nose. Anders’s blood. With a roar, I force myself through the crowd—and completely freeze.
Anders is hunched over, blood dripping from the blade buried in his stomach, and Kieran is with him. Kieran’s face is bloodless, eyes wide in horror, hands outstretched in front of him like he’s still holding on to something.
There’s no one else there with them. The rage drains from me. “What is going on?” I ask, breathing hard from exertion and fear.
Anders rips the blade free with a strangled snarl. Smoke curls from the wound in his gut.
The blade is made of silver. But who in the village would have such a thing? None of us can so much as touch a silver weapon. Unless… No.
Anders grunts. “Damn human. Stole from the stables. I chased him down, cornered him. R-ran me through.”
Furious snarls erupt from the crowd.
My head begins to throb.
Kieran stole from our stables? Stabbed my brother with a silver dagger?
“Move!” Lyall bursts through the crowd beside me.
At his side is Gunnar, lips curled in a snarl. “The human did this?” Fury blazes in his eyes. “You dare spill my brother’s blood?”
Kieran takes a step back, hands raised. “No. No, I didn’t mean to. Listen to me!”
But ever since the death of his chosen mate and child, Gunnar has been overprotective of us. I know just from the look on his face that he won’t hesitate to kill Kieran for harming his pack. And I…
I should be at his side, fighting in my brother’s defense. I…
I should hurl myself in front of Kieran to keep him from harm. I…
With a roar, Gunnar hurls the hood of his fur cloak over his head. His fur cloak possesses him, changing him from a man to a huge bloodthirsty wolf as big as a horse.
“No!” Lyall shouts. “Wait, something isn’t right!”
Kieran turns to run. A big mistake. Gunnar leaps, flying toward my mate.
I don’t think. I don’t have to. I made my choice the moment I caught Kieran’s scent. The shift tears through me but I don’t take the form of a regular wolf. No, not for this. To stop Gunnar, I will need more strength than four legs can provide. My body swells with power as I shift to an enormous cross between a wolf and a man; my berserker form. I run, clawed feet slamming the earth, wind tearing through my fur.
Lurching in front of Kieran, I brace and absorb the impact of Gunnar’s body. I reach out a huge hand fitted with hooks for claws and lock my fingers around my brother’s throat. Gunnar yelps and thrashes as I hoist him off the ground, his paws kicking in midair.
I shove my snout in his face and snarl, “Touch him, brother, and I will rip you apart.”
Hurting Gunnar would destroy me, but I would do it in an instant to protect Kieran.
Gunnar shifts, his fur falling away. Grasping at my thick, hairy forearm, he pants, “How can you defend him? He’s human!”
“You will not harm him. Am I clear?”
Shock and hurt widen Gunnar’s silver eyes. I know how hard this will be for Gunnar to understand after losing his family to humans, but I pray he will try. Grinding his teeth so hard a muscle ticks in his jaw, Gunnar gives a stiff nod. I drop him, and Gunnar gasps for breath at my feet.
“Holy shit,” Kieran whispers, sounding both awed and frightened.
He’s safe. The rage settles and allows me to shift back to a man. “Are you hurt?” I ask him, voice gruff.
Wide-eyed, he shakes his head.
Still, the beast rumbles in my chest. The crowd around us snaps and snarls, hungry for blood. Kieran isn’t safe, not yet, and if my people don’t get away from him, I might slaughter them all. “Helga,” I snap, fangs sharp in my mouth. “Take him home. Lock the doors.”
“Aye!” She rushes to Kieran, takes his arm, and leads him away.
“Anders, we need to get you to a healer. Now.” The silver will inhibit his body’s natural healing.
Grimacing, Anders allows Lyall to help him walk to the healer’s hut just up the road. The crowd follows us, shouting over each other. My head throbs, a growl rolling through my chest.
Kill them, the berserker snarls. Kill them all.
Grinding my teeth, I force myself to follow my brothers to the healer. Lyall and Gunnar go inside with Anders. I watch them until they’re out of sight, then turn to the furious crowd. “I need to know what you saw.”
Everyone starts talking over each other.
“One at a time!” I bellow.
The baker shuffles forward. “I saw the whole thing, Alpha. The filthy human”—he winces when I growl—“tried to steal one of our horses. Anders chased after him and when he got close, the human stabbed him!”
“Humans can’t be trusted!” a woman cries.
“He doesn’t belong here! He’ll bring hunters and war!”
“Kill him, Alpha!”
A snarl from me silences the crowd. “Let me think.” This is bad. The crowd is determined to kill Kieran. They’re fearful, and Kieran’s actions tonight have only made them more distrustful. If the whole village decides they want Kieran dead, I won’t be able to protect him, but that won’t stop me from trying.
I will flood the village with my own people’s blood to keep Kieran safe. No. That can’t happen. I must find a way to keep Kieran alive while convincing my people he can be one of us. I have to talk to him now and hear his side of the story before I can decide the next step.
“Return to your homes,” I tell my people. “The human will be under close watch. Get your rest and in the morning I will have made my choice.”
By the time the crowd has trickled away, Anders emerges from the healer’s hut. He’s still scowling, but his wound appears to have healed. Gunnar stands beside him, arms crossed as he surveys the area like he’s expecting an enemy to emerge and strike at our vulnerable brother. Side by side, he and Anders could have been twins. They both share our mother’s dark hair, but Gunnar’s eyes are silver like mine while Anders’s are green like his twin. Remorse shudders through me as I remember Gunnar’s shocked, wounded expression.
Odin’s beard, I have failed them so. I’m supposed to be the alpha they deserve. Instead, I’m fighting one brother to protect my mate, and I can’t convince the other that I’m even half the leader our father was.
Gripping Gunnar’s shoulder, I clear my throat. “Apologies, brother.”
Gunnar shakes his head, but I can’t tell if he’s angry with me or not. “Your mate is a human. Why wasn’t I told this?”
“You were away when I returned,” I say, careful to avoid the subject of his family’s graves.
Despite my efforts, sadness touches his face. “It feels like I’m away too often.”
It’s true, but I don’t say so out loud. He disappears into the wilderness so often, sometimes for weeks at a time.
“Did I hurt you?” I ask.
He rolls his shoulders. “Nothing hurts anymore. Not really.”
I wince, understanding what he means. When you’ve gone through the losses Gunnar has, first with losing our parents, then his whole family, physical injuries don’t seem so terrible.
Lyall sighs, raking a hand through his golden hair. “You should go home and rest, Anders.”
Gunnar frowns thoughtfully. “What were you doing out so late?”
Anders scoffs. “What? Are you the only one allowed to walk the streets late at night and brood?”
“I do not brood,” Gunnar snaps.
Anders flashes a grin. “You do too.”
Sighing, I swing an arm around Anders, gripping Gunnar’s sleeve with my fingers, then put my other arm around Lyall. I pull my fool brothers in and hold them close. These men are all I have left in this world, and I keep failing them as their Alpha. “I wish I could be the alpha you deserve. An alpha worthy of Mother and Father’s memory.”
Lyall butts his head into my shoulder, a wolfish gesture that makes me smile. “You are.”
Gunnar cups the back of my neck, gripping hard. “You protected your mate. They would be proud.”
Anders says nothing and squirms out of my arms. I ignore how that stings.
“I will make this right,” I swear to them. “But I need you all to understand that Kieran is… important to my wolf. He is human. But I have to trust that the Norns chose him to complete me for a reason… or just to drive me to insanity.”
They laugh, even Anders.
“I can’t lose him.” Fear clogs my throat, trying to suffocate me. “But if I try to keep him for myself, my people will only doubt me even more.”
Gunnar wriggles free and says, “Then Kieran will have to prove he is worthy of being your mate, human or not.”
“How—” The answer comes to me, freezing my insides. “The Hunter’s Moon trial? No. No, he would never survive!”
Lyall’s face lights up. “Yes! That’s it. That’s the answer!”
Anders shoves me hard, sending me stumbling. “He ran me through with a silver dagger, no doubt acquired from our enemies! And you want to give him another chance? Are you mad?”
“Why are you being so dramatic?” Lyall rolls his eyes. “Hunters haven’t troubled us in years.”
“Doesn’t mean they won’t start now! That human tried to kill me.”
“It was just a little cut. I bit the tip of your ear off when we were pups.”
Anders snaps his teeth at him. “You were playing, not trying to kill me! If he can make an attempt on my life, he can do the same to any of us!”
My pulse races. I need to broach the idea to Kieran. Lyall is right, the trial may be my only hope of keeping Kieran alive. My people must trust him and for that, he must be worthy.
By the Father Wolf, I only hope he is willing to hear me out.
Clenching my teeth, I push open the door to my bedroom. Kieran is pacing so furiously across the floor it’s a wonder he hasn’t burned a hole through it. When the door closes behind me, he jumps, spinning toward me. He opens his mouth, then seems to think better of whatever he was about to say and snaps it shut with a scowl.
My mate tried to run away from me. After how coldly I’ve treated him, it’s no wonder, but it only makes me realize what a poor match I am for him. I thought that making him supper would begin a truce between us. Nothing I do is ever the right thing.
Fury at my own incompetence thickens my voice when I growl, “Hold out your arms.”
Eyes wide, he complies. I grab the iron cuffs I’d hoped not to use again and snap them back on his arms. This time, I brought some chains for his feet.
“Seriously?” he grumbles.
I yank on his leg and make him step into them, then lock them around his ankles. “I thought I could trust you. I will not make that mistake again.” Rising, I glare down at him. He meets my glare head-on, like I couldn’t rip him in half with my bare hands. Not that I want to. “Are you mad?” I growl at him. “Leaving my home, fighting with my brother?”
“Oh gee, can you fucking blame me?” he snaps. “You haven’t exactly been a gracious, welcoming host! Whyever would I want to leave?”
“You could have been killed!” My roar fills all corners of the room. Finally, he shows some gods-damned fear. I was beginning to think there was no sense in that beautiful red head of his. “Do you understand that, fucking?”
He gapes at me. “That’s… not how you use that word.”
“Is it not an insult?”
“It is, but—damn it, never mind!”
“Why did you have a silver dagger? The only ones who carry them are hunters.” Pain twists through my heart, sudden and savage. Gods. Could the Norns have truly fated me to not just a human, but my pack’s enemy?
A muscle twitches in his jaw. “Fuck it. Even if I tell you, why would you take my word for it?”
“I asked because I want to know.”
“You wouldn’t believe me!” He stomps as best he can in those shackles, so much like the angry waddle of a furious puffin, over to the fire and drops down onto his ass.
Desperation claws at me. He can’t push me away, not now. Not when it’s imperative that we come together. Before my own pack rips him from me.
“My pack will want a better answer than that!” Kneeling, I grip his jaw and force him to look at me. His glare could melt iron. “Your life is in danger, do you understand that? You attacked a member of our pack with a weapon only our greatest enemies carry, Kieran. They will want blood for blood.”
Kieran’s throat bobs, his blue eyes softening. Fear clouds his scent. “They’ll kill me?”
I wish I could say no. I wish none of this were happening at all. This was never what I imagined happening when I finally found my mate. “Unless you can prove your loyalty to me and this pack, prove that you are worthy of being mine, then they will never trust you. I can protect you from my brothers but not from my whole pack. Their voices will overrule mine, and you will die if that’s what they want.”
His breathing turns harsh. “F-fuck…” Panting, he draws his knees to his chest and hides his face from me. “Want to go home. I just want to go home. Oh god…”
Pity and terror squeeze my chest. I can’t lose him. Without him, I’m lost. Unless we complete the bond. “Listen to me,” I say, trying to make my voice softer. I’m not sure if it works. “There is a way we can both get what we want. Among my people, there is an ancient rite. It’s called the Hunter’s Moon trial. All ulfhednar undertake the trial when they come of age. If you want to earn the pack’s respect and trust, you must prove you are a strong, worthy hunter, capable of providing. You must hunt a beast and win.”
“Please tell me that by beast you mean a cute little bunny or squirrel…”
“A fellow wolf. You must slay it, don the furs, and become one of us.”
Kieran looks up, eyes wide, chest rising and falling as he sucks in oxygen. “I… I can’t. I’d never pass.”
“I would teach you how. We have a week before the hunter’s moon rises. If you are truly dedicated to learning, that’s more than enough time to become a novice archer. Once you pass, the pack should be more comfortable having you around the village.”
“And how do you benefit from all this?” Kieran asks, cuffed hands shaking.
I wet my lips, considering if I should tell him my condition. “I get you.”
His little intake of breath is loud in the quiet.
“You would have to become my mate before I can let you go, Kieran. If I let you go before then, the berserker’s rage will consume me, and I will be lost.”
Releasing a sigh, Kieran says, “And why should I give a damn what happens to you?”
“Because I’m your only hope of leaving this place alive and returning to your time.”
“Fuck.” Closing his eyes, Kieran sits in silence for several seconds. “And by ‘get me,’ you mean…”
Heat flares in my cheeks. I hate that he’s making me say it out loud. “After you are made one of us, you must come to my bed. You will lie with me, and I will claim you as mine.”
Color rises in his freckled cheeks. “And if I don’t want to?”
“You will.” I’m sure of it. The gods wouldn’t have given me a mate who didn’t want me. And he does. No matter how we bicker, I can smell the desire on him every time we fight. He wants me, and I would kill for one night with him. “When the full moon rises, neither of us will be able to resist the urge.”
“That sounds horrible.”
“Far from it. A mating between two chosen by the Norns is said to be the most intensely pleasurable experience in the world. You can refuse. But why would you want to?”
Rising, Kieran hobbles a few steps, running a hand down the bronze stubble on his jaw. “That’s it? Have sex with you, and you’ll let me go?” He barks a laugh. “How considerate of you. Meanwhile, I have to do some life-or-death Hunger Games bullshit just so your pack doesn’t make kibble out of me. Cry some more about how your life sucks.”
Gnashing my teeth until it feels like they’re breaking, I pace away from him. “If the gods had chosen wisely, you would have already been one of us. Ulfhednar, like me. You would not have to prove a damn thing, or fight for your survival.”
Kieran taps his chin thoughtfully. “You know, maybe being killed by a wolf won’t be so bad after all. That’s more than I can say about being stuck with your moody ass for the rest of my life.”
Balling my hands into fists, I whirl around and snap, “Then go ahead and run into the wolf’s jaws! You’re the very last man on this earth I’d ever choose as my mate!”
Immediately, I want to take the words back. Just because he is being cruel to me does not mean I need to return his barbed remarks. But it’s too late. Our bitter words heat the air between us.
Gripping his chains, I urge him toward me. The breathless sound he makes when our bodies come together has my cock thickening. “Despite what you may think of me, I am not a monster. You will want my bite. I will make certain of it.”
Kieran swallows audibly, eyes wide and fearful. “How can I trust you?”
Gripping his jaw, I angle his head and bring my lips to his neck. I breathe in his mountain flower scent, rubbing the bridge of my nose over his skin. “On my hands and knees, I will devote myself to your pleasure.”
Closing my teeth around his earlobe, I apply just enough pressure for him to gasp, his lithe body arching against me. “Tell me what you need, and I will worship you, heedless of my own wants and desires. I will only have you when you beg me to. And you will beg. I will not take you until you do.”
Curling my fingers in his hair, I pull him in closer, rocking my aching cock against his own arousal. “And I will not give you my seed until you’ve spilled yours first. Between our bodies. In my mouth. Between my fingers. As many times as I can make you. Even if I have to keep you in my bed until sunrise. By the time I’m through with you, you will be begging for my bite.”
I’ve seen the sun rise over the snow-capped mountains, watched the northern lights dance across the sky, and thought those were the most beautiful sights I’d see in this lifetime. Until him. Everything from his eyes, blue as the ocean, to his freckled cheeks flushed pink when our eyes meet, to hair as bright as the fires of Muspelheim, captivates me so. Even for a human, he is beautiful.
Our arousal makes the room smell like a damned whorehouse. Kieran’s panting against my neck, his cock as stiff as iron between us. I’m no better, barely holding back my claws and teeth. I want him beneath me, against a wall, anywhere I can have him—it doesn’t matter. Not as long as I have him, speared on my cock, howling with pleasure as I claim him. I have to shove him away from me before my berserker takes over.
“Let me know in the morning if you’ve made your decision.” I turn away.
“W-where are you going?” His voice is rough, like he’s already been screaming my name for hours.
“I don’t trust myself to be in the same room as you. Not smelling like I’ve already had you beneath me all night.” I have to squeeze the doorknob to anchor me, damn near crushing it between my fingers. “Make your choice.”
I throw open the door and leave my mate in the bedroom, smelling like every temptation known to man.
It is the single hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I am certain the anguish will be worth it when I finally get him beneath me.
When I finally make him mine.