16. Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Wulfric
Kieran’s bruised face and bloodshot eyes haunt me as I spend all day chasing down leads.
I checked the onion farmer’s home and found only his wife and children. She had no idea where he had gone. The innkeeper had been helping himself to his juniper ale and couldn’t remember who he’d served, so he was of no help. Two of the stablemaster’s apprentices were missing, a couple of men named Horri and Thorin. He didn’t know where they might be, though.
Fury thunders through my heart at the cravens who harmed Kieran, but so much of the rage I feel is at myself.
I never should have left him alone. Gods! What a fool I am. I must make this right. I will not rest until the godless bastards who harmed my mate beg for my mercy. And then… then I will confront Anders. This rivalry between us was fine when he was only snarling at me. But for him to have conspired to attack my mate… A part of me doesn’t want to believe it was him. Somewhere deep down below his grief and envy, the man I grew up with must still be there.
How could he have harmed me in such a grievous way? In attacking Kieran, he has attacked me. And if those men really attacked Kieran on his orders… then I will do whatever I must to ensure it never happens again.
In the center of the village, I howl to the skies above, calling all my people to me. In minutes, the streets are full of my kinsmen. I must learn all I can about the attack. There must have been witnesses. Someone must have seen where the bastards went. They wouldn’t stay in the village, not after attacking the Alpha-Mate. They’ll be on the run now.
“There are traitors among us,” I say to the gathered crowd, my hands in fists at my sides. “Four of them attacked Kieran and stole his furs so he can’t heal his injuries.” Gasps and alarmed whispers spread through the crowd. “I need to know if anyone saw anything. These men must answer for their wrongs against my pack.”
To my dismay, no one comes forward with any information, just murmuring to themselves in shock and confusion. “Please. Anything at all. What they looked like. Where they fled.”
Suddenly, a little boy stumbles from the crowd. His mother, Elisabet, grips his shoulders. Softly, she says, “Go on. Tell Alpha everything. It’s all right.”
Tears streak his face, and his little shoulders heave. Going to him, I kneel in the mud at his feet. “Something to say, lad?”
Gasping, the boy wipes his eyes. “M-my brother Olav made me do it. Told me he’d b-beat me if I didn’t.”
“Do what?” I’m careful to keep my voice calm even as the berserker within roars for blood.
The lad wipes his nose on his sleeve. “He and his friends were really angry at the Alpha-Mate. S-said he was changing things too much. So he made me lure Kieran away from the village and… and attacked him.”
Grinding my teeth so I don’t snarl my outrage, I meet Elisabet’s stony gaze. She says, “I knew nothing about my fool son’s plans, Alpha. I swear to you.”
“I need to find him,” I tell Elisabet.
“If I had to guess, he’s with a girl he’s sweet on in the next town over. Issfjord.” I’m pleased she doesn’t try and shield her son from the consequences of his actions. She hugs her little son to her. “Find him, Alpha. Make him pay. I don’t care what happens to that lout.”
With vengeance in my heart, I saddle up my horse. Gunnar and Lyall follow me to the stables.
“I’ve looked everywhere,” Lyall pants, sweeping his long blond waves behind his shoulder. “Anders is gone.”
I don’t like that his whereabouts are unknown when I’m about to leave the village.
“Will you need help?” Gunnar asks, leaning on a box stall.
“Yours, aye.” Gunnar’s an excellent tracker. “Lyall, I need you to stay with Kieran.”
Lyall thumps his chest. “You got it. I’ll look after him, brother. I promise.” He swallows thickly. “And if you find Anders, what will you do?”
Turning to him, I say, “I don’t know yet. If you catch even a whiff of Anders, you howl and I will return.” Slinging a leg over the saddle, I tug the reins and urge Fenna out the doors. Gunnar follows me on his black steed. Together, we ride to the edge of the village. I hate leaving Kieran again, but I know he’ll be safe with Helga and Lyall.
My brother rides up beside me, dark eyes fixed on the horizon. “Issfjord is a day’s ride from here. They’re ahead of us, no doubt, but they’ll have to stop and rest themselves.”
“We have to move quickly. We can sneak up on them at night.”
Gunnar urges his horse to move faster until we’re galloping down the road. “They will suffer for this, brother. You have my word.”
“I know. That’s why I brought you.”
I love Lyall, but his heart has always been the softest of us all. It’s his greatest strength, but not one that suits my needs now. Gunnar, though… ever since he lost his chosen family, his control has dangled by a thread. I need his cunning, his brutality.
“These bloody cravens don’t know who they are messing with,” Gunnar growls, leaning forward in the saddle. “They think we’re weak, but what they don’t understand is that the losses we’ve endured have hardened our hearts. Father. Mother. Leif and little Bjorn.” His voice shakes when he mentions his chosen mate and his child. “Our losses have only made us more protective of what is ours.”
He’s right.
“Leif was a good man.”
Gunnar doesn’t speak. I can still remember the dark days after Leif’s and Bjorn’s passings like they were yesterday. Gunnar disappeared into the wilds for a whole winter and when he returned, he was a different man, one who smiled less, laughed little, and was ready to rage at the slightest threat to those he cared for.
I don’t know if he will ever move on and find another who speaks to his wolf, but I hope so.
We ride on until the skies darken and the moon glows full.
“Do you see that?” Gunnar points west.
A column of smoke rises over the woods.
“Fools,” I growl. “They truly believe they aren’t being followed.”
Gunnar bares his teeth in a smile. Hitching the horses to a tree, Gunnar and I descend into the darkness of the woods. The distant light of a crackling fire gets brighter. As the scent of the traitors gets stronger, my blood burns hot with fury. We approach from downwind so they won’t scent us, our steps quiet. They are gathered around a fire, laughing and drinking ale. Unaware that tonight is their last night in this world.
Gunnar’s voice echoes in my mind. “How do we play this? Do we wait until they’re asleep or strike now?”
My wolf hungers for blood, but these cravens are not worthy of an honorable death. They will not earn their place in Valhalla. They will die choking on blood while they sleep.
“We wait,” I tell him.
Gunnar nods, then settles back on his haunches.
The clouds roll by, concealing the moon. The men disperse one by one to their bedrolls around the fire. When they begin to snore, I know the time has come. A single look at Gunnar and he is on his feet, his claws sharp. From the shadows, we advance on the campsite. With a jerk of my head, I motion Gunnar left. I will go right. We will each take two.
Turning my back, I prowl toward my prey.
Behind me, there’s a wet choking sound, and blood sours the night air. Looming over one of my targets, I raise my claws to his throat. He is not Olav, but I can see him across the fire, sleeping unawares. And they call themselves ulfhednar. Pathetic.
With a single slash, I split the craven’s throat open. His eyes go wide, and blood bubbles from his mouth. He clutches his neck but cannot stop the flow of his life’s blood as it oozes between his fingers. Behind me, Gunnar deals a killing blow to his final target. I set my sights on Olav. He begins to stir, his brows furrowing.
I throw myself upon him, claws at his throat, my other hand grabbing hold of his balls. He wakes with a shriek, freezing when he sees me. The fear in his eyes gives me such a thrill.
“Don’t bother screaming for help, Olav. All your friends died choking on blood, and you will be next.”
A whimper escapes him.
“Do you know why I’m going to kill you, Olav?” I twist his balls between my claws, and his agonized howl shatters the night air.
“S-stop. Please! I didn’t do nothing! Honest, I swear, Alpha! It was them who did it. They wanted your mate dead, n-not me!”
“I can hear your cowardly heart thundering beneath all that meat and bone, Olav. You lie. ” I dig my claws into his throat, drawing beads of blood. “Someone threw powdered silver in his eyes. Could have blinded him. Broke the fingers on his right hand. Was that you?”
“N-no. I swear! It wasn’t!”
But oh, how his heart trips in his chest. I don’t know if he threw the silver or broke Kieran’s fingers. It doesn’t matter.
“Too bad I killed your friends, Olav. You’ll have to bear the punishment for all of their actions.”
His begging is cut off when I pull him to his feet by his neck and drag him to a boulder.
“Hold him,” I snarl at Gunnar. “Lay one hand flat on the stone.” Gunnar pins him down just like I asked. Ignoring Olav’s pitiful screams, I seize a rock from the forest floor. Weighing it, I decide it’s heavy enough. I draw it back and smash the stone down against Olav’s right hand. I crack his fingers beneath the stone again and again until his hand is nothing but mangled, bloody flesh.
Grabbing his jaw, I give his face a few smacks so he doesn’t pass out. “Did Anders put you up to this? Hmm?” I shake him roughly. “Answer me!”
Eyes rolling back, Olav nods. “T-told us to beat him up. Wanted to piss you off.”
Gunnar growls low in his throat. “He’s challenging you, Wulfric.”
I had my suspicions, but knowing my brother would stoop so low makes me see red.
“Where is he?” I scratch my razor claws against the thin skin of his throat.
“D-don’t know. I swear. He… he just said he’d be waiting ‘where the end began.’”
At first, I think maybe he means the beach where my father met his end, but we haven’t returned to the land we were born and raised on since Father’s death.
Gunnar meets my gaze, and understanding passes between us.
The burial mound.
“L-let me go. Please. I promise I’ll never hurt your mate again.”
A dark laugh rumbles from my chest. I tighten my grip on Olav’s throat and smile through a mouthful of fangs. “I’m not finished with you, Olav. My mate’s eyes have yet to fully heal. Mayhap I’ll pluck yours from your skull and give them to him as a gift?” His pleas cut off as I dig my claws deeper into his throat, piercing the skin. “No one harms what is mine and walks away alive.”
What Anders has done can never be forgiven.
His betrayal haunts me as Gunnar and I ride back toward the burial mound where Anders awaits us. The only outcomes are death or exile. Even through the red haze of fury that clouds my eyes, I doubt if I will have it in me to kill my brother.
When I voice these thoughts aloud, Gunnar sighs. “He is not the boy we once knew. Father’s death changed him.”
“It changed all of us.” Once I might have been more empathetic. I can’t find it in me to make any more excuses for Anders.
Gunnar nods grimly. “Aye, but it changed Anders especially. He has to be stopped.”
I stroke the white wolf fur in my lap, Kieran’s fur I took back from the cravens who stole it. “Should I kill him?”
“Do you want to?”
I almost say yes, but the word gets caught in my throat. I want to hurt Anders, yes, make him suffer as he made Kieran suffer. But kill him? As furious and betrayed as I am for the wrongs he committed against my mate, I don’t think I could end his life.
Sometimes, I look at him and remember the boy who comforted me after a nightmare. The boy who taught me how to catch a fish, who helped me practice my sword work. The brother who helped me through my first shift and held my hand through the pain. However, those fond memories are tinged with cruel, biting remarks and sudden bursts of violence that only got worse over the years.
“What do you plan to do?” Gunnar asks.
I grip the reins tighter, the dried blood cracking on my knuckles. “I will challenge him to a duel. If I win, then I will decide his fate.”
“And if you lose? It’s too risky. Let me fight him in your place.”
I shake my head. “I have to make him pay for what he did to Kieran. I won’t lose.”
I can’t afford to.
The village comes into view, but we detour and gallop toward the barrow where our parents are entombed. Anders’s scent hits my nose, and fury boils my blood. I leap from Fenna’s back before she has completely stopped and barrel toward the barrow. Gunnar runs after me.
The door crashes open and I stumble into the barrow, claws out and fangs sharp. “Anders!” My roar bounces off the walls and fills the chamber, ringing in my ears. “Come out, you skirt-chasing craven! Can you smell the blood of your lackeys on me? I cut their throats and now they rot in Hel’s domain. Don’t make me do the same to you.”
A low chuckle echoes in the dark. “You should have been a skald, brother. Why don’t you take out a lyre and strum me a little song to go with your dramatics, aye?”
“Do not test me,” I snarl at the shadows. “Come on. Now. ”
He glides from the shadows, teeth bared in a grin. With a little flourish, Anders bows. “At your service, Alpha. Took your time to find me. I was getting bored in here. Started eating the offerings.”
He dares to stand before me cracking jokes when he ordered my mate bludgeoned near to death?
Anders cocks his head. “Oh. Are you expecting an apology? Did my men go too far? I told them to bloody him up, not kill him.”
My claws snap around his throat, and Anders grunts as I slam him against the wall. “You will never hurt him again! You have wronged me for the last time.” Tightening my hold on his neck, I stare into his wild green eyes and snarl, “You have challenged me, and I accept. Tomorrow at sunrise, we duel.”
A vicious grin slashes across Anders’s face. “And if I lose? You won’t have the stones to kill me. You’ve always been soft, but that mate of yours has weakened you even more.”
“No,” I growl into his face, “he’s made me strong enough to recognize that I don’t need anything from you. Not anymore.” Letting go, I turn and stalk from the barrow.
Come tomorrow, this life-long rivalry of ours will finally come to an end.