Epilogue
Wulfric
After an amazing dinner with Kieran and his friend Amanda in the future, I’d thought my spirits would be lighter as I climb the familiar hill leading to my parents’ barrow. Instead, my heart races. The scents of my brothers carry on the wind, and nervous sweat breaks out over my brow. I’m telling my brothers everything today. They deserve to know what really happened the day Father was killed. I need to know if they’ll really blame me for his death. I can’t bear the agony of guessing any longer.
Kieran convinced me this is the right thing to do. He also promised me a reward, something to look forward to when I finally get this weight off my chest. Of course, he was willing to give me this special gift even if I didn’t tell them. But then what would be the point of the reward?
No, I’ll tell my brothers everything, and then I’ll go home and treat myself to my mate.
If I’m still in the mood, depending on how well things go.
Gods, I hope they won’t hate me. The very idea of losing my brothers, my closest friends, eats away at me. If they do hate me, surely it can’t be forever, can it?
Ahead of me two figures sit under the shadow of a standing stone: Gunnar and Lyall.
My stomach twists into knots and I wonder if I’ll be sick. By the time I reach them, I’m out of breath, panting like I’ve been running. Gunnar acknowledges me with a tip of his head and a grunt. Lyall frowns, tilting his head. “Are you well, brother?”
“Aye,” I lie, and they can tell from my scent and the way my heart trips.
When Lyall pats the grass, I go and sit between them. The wind blows, rippling the brown grass like waves. Curling my fingers, I take in a breath and let it out. I almost find my words but change the subject at the last second. “Did you hear? Kieran says he saw Anders in the future.”
Lyall whips his head toward me at the mention of his twin, his blond hair blowing in the wind. “Really? Was he well?”
“Aye, seemed to be.”
Gunnar narrows his eyes. “What was he doing, planning another attack against us?”
“No, no.” A laugh escapes me. “He worked in a bookstore.”
Lyall chuckles. “A… bookstore? I can’t imagine that! Did Anders look well?”
“He looked different, Kieran said. He’d shaved, and his hair was short. Apparently, this book merchant managed to talk him out of starting a fight with Kieran and his companion.”
Gunnar leans back against the tree. “Sounds like he’s settling in. Mayhap this will be good for him.”
Now’s the time. The words try to stick in my throat. “I should have done better by Anders. He blamed me for so much of our childhood. I never knew how hurt he truly was. During our fight, he told me he blamed me for our mother’s death and for stealing Father away from him.” Balling my hands into fists, I ask, “Have either of you ever felt that way?”
Gunnar takes in a thoughtful breath. “It saddens me I never got to know Mother, not really. I was too young to remember her or even miss her when she passed. But I can’t say I blamed you. Death is a part of life. It wasn’t your fault.”
Lyall smiles sadly. “She was beautiful and kind and strong. I’ll always regret that our time with her was cut short. But Gunnar’s right. And as for Da, well, he had to teach you how to become an alpha. You needed that time with him to grow into who you are now. It was necessary.”
With a nod, Gunnar says, “True as well. Although I wish we could have helped you carry that burden.”
There’s a lump in my throat. They don’t blame me for Mother, but they might change their mind. “Anders also believes that if he’d been on that beach, F-Father would still be alive.” I swallow hard. I can no longer hold their gazes. My skin’s buzzing. Sitting still is too hard. Rising, I walk away from them, far enough to have distance but close enough for them to hear me say, “And he’s right.”
Gunnar growls. “He’s an ass for saying that to you. We were overwhelmed.”
“You did everything you could to save Father,” Lyall argues.
“I didn’t.” Closing my eyes tight, I force the words out. “It was my first real battle and it was… it was too much. I collapsed. Couldn’t move or even breathe. I thought if I just lay down and stayed still, I would be able to go home alive.” My eyes sting with shame. Grinding my teeth to hold back the flood of emotions, I drag the words out. “I did nothing but watch as our father was butchered in front of me.”
There. I’ve said it, confessed my deepest, most shameful secret. I feel no better for it. My brothers are silent behind me. I can’t bear to face them, to see the shame and fury in their eyes. Head bowed, I turn in their direction, then drop to my knees. “I’m so sorry. If I’d been stronger, braver, he would still be here.” A gasp saws out of me, and tears spill down my cheeks, dampening my beard.
The grass rustles as one of them comes toward me. Lyall—I’d know his scent anywhere. He kneels beside me and leans in, grabbing the back of my neck. I flinch, expecting a blow. Then he touches his forehead to mine and exhales shakily against my skin. “Gods, little brother. How long has this tormented you?” The pain in his voice nearly tears me apart at the seams.
I can’t speak, shaking against him.
Another hand grips the back of my head, ruffling my hair as Gunnar sits beside us. “It was not your fault.” I’ve never heard Gunnar’s voice so rough before. “Father would have wanted you to live. Your survival was not a mistake.”
“If we’d lost you, too, it would have broken us. I’m glad you’re here.” Lyall tugs me into his arms and holds me fiercely.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Gunnar says, and he puts his arm around my shoulder. “Not a thing.”
And I break. Years of guilt and grief erupt from me like water from a dam. I can’t stop it. All I can do is let my brothers hold me tight until I have room in my aching lungs to breathe and compose myself. I never imagined they could forgive me, but oh, how I’ve yearned for it. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself, but with my brothers beside me, I won’t ever be alone.
My heart is lighter on the walk back to the village but when I open the door to the longhouse and see Kieran playing the lyre with ease for an eager crowd, it all but bursts from joy in my chest.
Kieran smiles big and bright, his eyes closed as he strums. He’s a natural, as comfortable with the instrument as I am with my axes. Since he started taking his medication again, he’s been much happier and less anxious. It brings joy to my heart to see him so confident.
To think I once looked at him and scoffed, dismissed him as weak and soft. He is soft, but he doesn’t chafe with my hardened edges. We fit perfectly. The gods chose the perfect man for me.
Kieran finishes playing and the crowd cheers. A few kids even beg him for another song, but when he meets my gaze, he politely excuses himself and comes toward me. His worry is apparent in his scent, but I smile at him and push waves of comfort and peace through our bond. Kieran’s tense features relax into a smile, and he welcomes me into his arms.
“How’d it go?” he asks.
I kiss his hair, squeezing him close. “You were right.”
He grins, pushing himself onto his toes to kiss me. “I usually am.”
“Thank you.”
“For?”
“Giving me strength.”
Kieran nuzzles into my chest. “It’s an honor.”
“I think I’ve earned my reward, don’t you?”
He chuckles, low and raspy. My cock takes interest. “Yes, you have.”
“Tell everyone to leave. Can’t have them hearing you when you get too loud.”
Kieran shivers. Taking my hand, he says, “All right, everybody, time to clear out! Come back tomorrow!” The crowd disperses, and I lead him to our bedchamber. The moment the door has closed, my back is against it, and Kieran’s mouth slams, eager and hungry, against mine.
“So… fucking… proud of you,” he pants before his tongue is in my mouth, licking and stroking. I tangle my fingers in his hair, working open his pants with my other hand. He bats my hands away and focuses on getting my lower half undressed. “I’m going to suck the hell out of your cock.” Kieran drops to his knees and throws my undergarments across the room, exposing my hard cock. “And then I’m going to sit on it.”
“Gods, you’re filthy.”
He winks up at me. “Only for you.”
“Damn right,” I growl, fisting his hair and tugging him toward my cock.
He sucks me down, moaning around me. The wet suction of his lips is pure bliss, and I grip onto his hair so I don’t thrust too deep and choke him. When Kieran’s on his knees before me, I feel like Odin himself, worshipped and revered.
“Gods, you look so good on your knees.” I give a tentative thrust, sinking deeper into his mouth, then pull out and slide right back in. We find a rhythm, him bobbing his head in time to my rocking hips. With every suck, he goes lower and lower down my length.
“You want it deeper, don’t you? Want to choke on my cock, is that it?”
He moans around me, the sound traveling straight to my balls, making them ache. Gripping his hair, I yank, and he grunts in surprise before he gags on my cock. He grips my waist, nails biting in, but I know he isn’t at his limit. He’s told me before how he loves it when I’m rough with him. If it’s too much, he’ll let me know by pinching my waist, and he hasn’t done it yet. I let go, pumping my cock into his mouth, using his lips like I’ll use his hole later.
Fucking his mouth feels so damn good, I could do it forever, but I pull out and leave him gasping and coughing. His face is wet with tears, his lips glossy with drool. Gripping my cock, I slap it against his cheek. “Didn’t tell you to stop,” I growl, then grab his hair and shove my cock back down his throat where it belongs.
A raspy moan reverberates around my aching shaft. I could watch my cock disappear in and out of his beautiful swollen lips for hours. As he rolls my heavy balls, his tongue flicking the vein that runs the length of my shaft, my release barrels toward me. “Let go,” I pant. “I want to see you swallow every drop.”
He pulls off with a moan, eyes dark with lust. “Please, Alpha. Give it to me.”
So fucking good.
I grasp myself and stroke fast, grinding my teeth as I start to spill. With a snarl, I stroke myself through my release, pumping rope after rope of seed over his tongue. Some of it streaks his cheek. He looks utterly debased. Claimed. Mine.
“Swallow,” I command.
Kieran sticks his tongue back in, throat bobbing as he takes my load.
Gods. What a sight he is, on his knees, his lips swollen, covered in my cum. I swipe my thumb over his cheek and collect my seed, then rub it over the scar from my bite.
“Mine,” I growl.
He shivers. “Yours, Alpha.”
I smile, heart squeezing. “Now, get on our bed. It’s time to reward you.”
I meet him at our bed and layer by layer I undress him until he’s bare before me. Shoving him down to the bed, I blanket his body with mine and kiss him, tasting myself on his tongue. His cock is a hard line against my stomach, sensitive to even the slightest touches as I stroke and squeeze him. “Put your knees up,” I say and he obeys. “It’s my turn to worship you now.”
A gasp escapes him as I flick my tongue over his entrance. “Could do this all day,” I tell him earnestly, then lick even deeper inside him. I suck at his rim, scrape my teeth over his plump ass cheek, then spear my tongue deep inside. Moaning, Kieran rubs my shoulders with his ankles, his hands fisting the bedsheets.
“Fuck, Wulfric… So good.”
Hearing his little moans and praise sends blood rushing south again, and I harden inch by inch with every lick over his tight hole.
“Lube,” I say.
Kieran opens the drawer by the bed, rifling through it. He brought quite a few toys back with him along with lube, which is even better than oil, and something he uses to make himself clean for me before we fuck. I can do without all the conveniences of modern living except for his sex toys. Those I’m very grateful for. Everything else is too complicated.
Slicking my fingers with lube, I sink them deep inside his tight, velvety heat. He gasps as I stretch him open, then rolls his hips to take me even deeper. My own cock twitches, remembering how he fucked me after that feast we had with his friend Amanda. Seeing Kieran’s world for myself was amazing, though not as amazing as having his cock inside me or one of those vibrating toys he pleasured me with. Now that I know how good it feels to be filled by his cock, I can relate all too well to his pleasure.
Stretching him wide open for me, I lean down and flick my tongue between my fingers. He writhes above me, cursing me as I fuck him with my fingers and my tongue.
“Gonna come if you don’t cut that out and fuck me already,” Kieran pants.
Chuckling, I switch positions with him so that I’m on my back while he straddles my waist. He grips my cock, already hard and eager for the hot clutch of his body, then bends his knees. My eyes roll back as I sink inside his tight, perfect heat.
Biting his lip, Kieran bounces on me slowly, sinking down and then up, down and up. Stars burst behind my eyes as I roll my hips to help him along, and together we find a rhythm that takes us to a place that is ours alone.
“Feel like a god when I’m inside you.” I groan, grabbing the perfect mounds of his ass and squeezing as he rides my cock faster. “Don’t need Valhalla. Not when I have this tight, perfect hole clenching around my cock.”
Kieran moans, sweaty and flushed. “Take me there. Take me to Valhalla.”
Snarling, I buck my hips relentlessly, pounding up into his body.
“Oh fuck!” Kieran grabs onto my shoulders, holding on tight. His lips crash against mine, our tongues tangling, our fangs scraping. “Wulfric. God. Wulfric!”
The way we move together is indescribable. I never knew it was possible to love another not just with my heart but with my body, but that’s just what we do. I move with him, and he moves with me, taking me to a place of pleasure beyond anything I’ve ever known.
“You own me, mate,” I pant against his mouth. “This body, heart and soul, belongs to you. Move. Faster. Own me. Claim me.”
Our lips collide, and his fingers curl in my hair as he rides my cock harder and faster. When my knot swells and catches on his rim, filling him to the brim, he breaks our kiss, groaning against my shoulder as he shudders and clenches around me. His seed paints my stomach as I fuck into his rippling channel. A roar escapes me and I find my own release, filling him with my seed.
We gasp together, arms locked around one another.
Kieran brushes my hair away from my face, a satisfied grin tilting his lips. “Did you really mean that? My ass is better than Valhalla?”
A bark of laughter escapes me, and I kiss him. “May the gods forgive me, but yes.”
Kieran chuckles, and the sound makes me warm inside. “Tell me something else you mean.”
Propping my chin on his shoulder, I kiss the bite scar I left upon his skin many moons ago when I bound his heart to mine. “Wherever we go, no matter where we are, in your time or mine, you are my home. My pack. My heart and my mate. I love you, little rabbit.”
Kieran touches his forehead to mine, his sky-blue eyes dancing with tenderness and warmth. “And I love you. My warrior. My mate. My Alpha.”
Once, I felt so undeserving of that title. A shadow of the man my father was. Now, when the man I love calls me Alpha, I feel as if I could conquer the world and lay it all at his feet.
In Kieran’s arms, our hearts and bodies made one, the pain of my past at rest, there is truly nowhere else in all the nine realms I would rather be.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Wulfric and Kieran’s story.