Chapter 22
MAZE
Night had fallen when we walked through the portal and came out in the center of the Steele Clan compound.
The courtyard sprawled wide, stone set in circles that echoed out from the fire pit at its heart.
Moonlight picked out the battered bodies of shifters and Valkyries, scattered across the space like survivors of a siege.
Valkyries slumped in loose huddles, their skin streaked with dried blood. Some bandaged one another, others braced against stone benches, eyes hollow but unbroken. The shifters gathered near the fire. Every face marked with a fresh wound or the distant stare that came after violence.
A handful of my sisters moved through the crowd, hands aglow with healing magic. Rina leaned over a groaning shifter, her palm pressed to a gash that curled over his ribs. Sybil conjured a thin thread of blue stitching to close the slash on Nicky’s thigh.
Winter and Candra stood just off to the side, eyes sweeping the crowd. Winter’s face looked drawn, the skin under her eyes shadowed with fatigue. Candra tracked every movement, posture still rigid from battle. They kept their distance, but it was the kind of vigilance that never truly shut off.
Talon broke off from my side the instant we landed, already moving to check his kin.
His steps carried the ghost of battlefield urgency.
I watched him cross to Shaw, who nursed a twisted arm, and saw the tension radiating through his shoulders as he braced the wound and checked it himself before letting Sybil set the bone.
He spoke to them in low, clipped sentences, never once letting his guard drop even as the wounds closed under quick, expert hands.
He made his way through the crowd like a force of nature—never rushed, never soft, but always present.
The way his hand landed on the back of a shifter’s neck, thumb digging in just enough to pull focus and calm the beast beneath the skin.
Each man he touched looked him in the eye.
My chest tightened as I watched him. This was the Alpha in his element, responsible for every soul under the moon and never once letting the distance grow.
Around us, the wounded settled. Groans faded into the low mutter of conversation as the worst of the blood disappeared beneath the blue-white shimmer of Valkyrie magic.
Even the most stubborn shifters stopped resisting when Rina or Sybil crouched beside them, muttering old words that forced flesh to knit and bruises to fade.
I stood in the shadow of an arch that overlooked the courtyard. I couldn’t drag my eyes from my mate. There in the bloody aftermath, among the men he’d nearly died to protect, Talon carried battle on his skin like it belonged to him.
He turned and found me instantly. Amber eyes locked on mine, fierce and bright despite the bruises lining his jaw. The air between us tightened, but no one else existed in that moment. Just me and the Alpha, who’d always known how to look past the mask I wore for everyone outside my inner circle.
Something inside me snapped. No more hiding behind ritual or purpose where I pretended my heart beat only for the cause.
Every step across the courtyard felt deliberate, senses tuned to the taste of his attention. The bonfire flared as I passed, throwing harsh light up over the faces that turned to follow my path.
My sisters noticed first. Candra’s eyes narrowed, reading the current of will that drove me toward Talon.
Winter glanced at her, lips twitching in a smile that threatened to break free.
Jenson and Larc waited near the far side, both clocking the shift in the room: Jenson’s eyes full of wry understanding, Larc’s eyebrow arched as if to say he’d seen this coming from the start.
I reached Talon and stopped inches from him. “I want you. Not just as a strategic mate, or to complete some ritual.” I forced the words out, throat rough. “I’ve loved you since we were young on Vanaheim.”
The world stood still for a breath.
The sharpness in his expression softened, replaced by something raw and so open it nearly dropped me to my knees. He reached for my hand, palm rough and alive with memory, and caught my fingers in his. The contact sent the ghost of a lightning strike all the way down my arm.
His mouth curved, not quite a smile. There was nothing tactical in his response—just the truth. “I’ve loved you since we first met as teenagers. When you ordered me around and I pretended like it wasn’t the hottest thing ever.”
I felt the heat burn up my cheeks, but I didn’t look away.
Jenson barked a short laugh, shaking his head at the obviousness.
Larc made a sound—half scoff, half resigned chuckle—and folded his arms as if this confession proved every suspicion he’d ever had.
From the sidelines, Candra and Winter swapped glances.
Their faces went slack with surprise for a heartbeat, then both grinned, not even bothering to cover their satisfaction.
The rest of the clan caught on quickly. Some straightened from their seats, eyes wide. Others smirked, passing comment without a word. For the first time, I didn’t care what anyone thought.
Talon’s grip tightened on mine. The bond between us pulsed with the same current that carried through battle, now anchoring us to the moment and nothing else.
No one spoke. The hush built around us, every pair of eyes fixed on the two at the center of the storm.
I refused to drop my gaze or step back. This was a fight neither of us could ever win or lose. We just kept choosing it, again and again.
A small, private smile formed on my lips. “So now what?”
He looked down at our joined hands and then up, his eyes unguarded. “Now we finish the soulbond ritual.”
Talon’s hand gripped mine. Together, we stood in the courtyard’s center. The world faded until only the two of us remained.
A shudder rolled through the air, as if reality itself braced for what came next. He drew a breath, and I matched it, our chests rising in perfect cadence.
“Freya,” we called, voices sharp and clear, braided together for the first time in centuries.
The sound cut through the night. Every shifter, every Valkyrie in the circle waited for the goddess’s answer.
She did not make us wait.
Then the air thickened, charged with the power that stripped every lie from the bones. The courtyard trembled. Time seemed to shiver as Freya emerged at the heart of the light, a presence so absolute it crushed every other sensation into background noise.
Freya’s black hair fell loose around her shoulders, and her green eyes were alive with mischief and something sharper. She wore a simple gown in midnight blue, but the fabric rippled with its own current, starlight stitched down every sleeve. Even standing still, she vibrated with life.
For a moment, silence reigned. Then Freya’s attention snapped to our joined hands, and her face split in a smile that could have split the world.
“Finally!” she crowed, clapping her hands once, then again. The sound echoed between the arches, joy crackling through every nerve in the compound. She pivoted, voice carrying with the force of command. “Who’s ready for the soulbond ritual?”
Everyone clapped and cheered, and my heart filled with the support while guilt settled into my bones. I should have done this two centuries ago. But there was no going back to change things now.
Freya waved a hand in an arc, magic flaring from her fingertips. The world exploded with beauty.
Stone arches erupted from the ground, fueled by nothing but her will.
They curved overhead, perfect as ancient bones, every surface carved with runes that surged with blue light.
The glyphs pulsed down each pillar, their pattern echoing the old compacts of Vanaheim.
As the arches settled, their glow painted every face in the crowd.
Above, lanterns shimmered into being. They drifted higher, their light pooling in liquid patterns across the courtyard. In the wake of the magic, flower petals filled the sky in colors of white, blue, and gold.
Freya’s gaze landed on me, then Talon. Satisfaction radiated from her in waves.
She rolled her shoulders, conjuring a thread of star fire that wrapped around her wrists. The magic leapt from her palms and wrapped us both.
The transformation hit without warning. My battle clothes shredded away, and in their place, a navy-blue gown poured down my skin, the fabric shimmering with pinpricks of light like a sky full of promises.
My collarbone and arms lay bare, cool air licking at new, sensitive skin.
My feet were bare against the cold stone, every nerve ending alive.
At my side, Talon’s ruined shirt vanished. He stood in loose navy-blue pants, chest sculpted and bare, feet unshod. The pale stripes of old scars and new bruises etched him into something primal, something worthy of legend. When he looked at me, the gold in his eyes flickered with raw hunger.
The crowd let out a collective gasp. For the first time, the Valkyries and shifters were united by more than oath or convenience. They watched, open-mouthed, some with hands caught tight over their chests or clasping each other’s arms.
Freya prowled a slow circuit around us and the ritual’s circle. Every footstep re-ignited the runes at the base of each arch, sending new ripples of blue across the stone. Petals caught in my hair, starlight gleamed at my throat, and for the first time since exile, I felt like a true Prime Matron.
The circle tightened. Valkyries shifted closer to the shifters nearest them. Every face caught in the web of gold and blue, all anticipation, all awe.
Freya paused before us, green eyes gone sharp with purpose. Her magic braided around our limbs, binding the sight of us—the Alpha and the Matron, flawless in midnight and raw power—into the memory of every being in the compound.
Freya’s focus landed on us. The courtyard felt smaller now, closed in by arches and the weight of hundreds of stares. The glow of lanterns painted the world in gold and sapphire, forcing every shadow back from the center.
Talon’s hand gripped mine, fingers cold but unflinching. My breath hitched, the sudden awareness of every scar and failure in my history trying to crawl back up my throat. Beside me, he stood like carved stone, unreadable except for the pulse at his neck and the heat in his eyes.
Freya smiled at us as she spoke. “Mazelina Valen, do you stand as the new Prime Matron, the anchor of your sisters’ will?”
The sisters Freya was talking about went beyond my blooded siblings. All the Valkyries were my sisters because we shared a sisterhood bond. That was why Byrna’s betrayal hit me harder than it should have.
But being Prime? That has always been my mother’s title. As the heir, I knew I would step into that role. Something else I had run from after my mother was killed. Not anymore. There was no more running.
I glanced at my kin, at Candra and Winter, and saw their pride mirrored back without apology. Then I focused on Freya and gave her my answer. “I will stand as Prime Matron.”
Freya turned, gaze burning into Talon. “Talon Steele, do you stand as Alpha of all your brotherhood, the shield that guards the wild soul of our kind?”
He didn’t blink. “I do.”
She moved to face us both, the command of the situation absolute. “Tonight, you bind yourselves as one. Will you open your will and soul to each other—the Valkyrie to anchor the Shifter’s beast, and the Shifter to shield the Valkyrie’s warrior?”
Together, Talon and I said, “We will.”
Freya nodded once, the approval in her eyes ferocious.
“Then speak the rite. Let the old law hold.” She threw magic into the air. It crackled loudly, filling the arches overhead with blue fire.
She guided us through the words, line by line.
“By blood, by breath, by ancient right, the bond awakens this night.”
We echoed her. “By blood, by breath, by ancient right, the bond awakens this night.”
The circle around us erupted, Valkyries and shifters responding in perfect unity.
“The soulbond is restored. Realms secure. Seven bonds shall rise! More will follow in their own time as the Norns see fit.”
The magic didn’t wait. Something hot and blinding lashed out from my chest—a thread of pure gold, lighting straight to Talon’s heart.
For a second, I felt everything: his pride, his rage, the hungers he’d hidden from every soul except me.
The thread pulsed, then detonated in a wave that washed over the courtyard.
I saw it hit our inner circle first before touching everyone in our collective clans. The wave swept every pair, every doubt, every bitter memory into a single flash of possibility. I’d never seen power move like this. The old rituals had been cold, transactional. This felt alive. Relentless.
Freya seemed to drink in the sight. Her body glowed as if she’d been waiting a thousand years for this exact moment.
“Let the vows seal,” she commanded, voice low. “Let their souls weave as one, their strength double against all shadow, their love to endure beyond death.”
I reached for Talon and didn’t just hold his hand but locked my fingers with his and drew him close. The gold light pierced straight to my core, burning away every hesitation I’d ever allowed to slow me down.
I leaned into Talon close enough for only him to hear. “I’m glad you made me take the slow road,” I whispered, voice gone hoarse from the charge of it.
He grinned with that crooked wolf smile and bent his forehead to mine. “Me too.”
Then he kissed me. The crowd cheered, and someone turned on music. Breaking the kiss, Talon scooped me up in his arms and walked to his house. Which was our house now. For the first time since my mother was murdered, I felt like I was home.
Whatever Balder threw at us, we would handle. Together as the new Valen-Steer Clan.