Berserker

"Not now!" Brodolf called to the gods for mercy, though they had never shown him any before. His shoulders continued to hunch, bones cracking, muscles growing and changing. "Kelda!" he roared, his voice contorting with the changing shape of his jaw.Kelda threw her hands over the tortured man, chanting the ancient words that were the only thing standing between her alpha and the curse that threatened to take over his body and his mind. If the alpha was lost, so was the clan."Keep fighting, Alpha!" Kelda, the pack's shaman screamed over the rising wind and the crack of lightning crossing the sky.Brodolf threw his head back and howled, the sound long, loud and dripping with pain. Suddenly, he felt a pop, weak as a soap bubble, but a sign that he had won this round. They had once again beaten back the berserker that lived within him. Slowly, his body righted itself until finally he was left lying on his side, naked and spent, upon the frozen ground. Kelda sat next to him, murmuring non

Brodi - present dayBrodi stood on the ridge with Finn, his closest advisor, and surveyed the landscape. He felt he could breathe when up high over his pack lands watching the sun sinking toward the trees in the valley below, the stress of leadership melted away, if only for a few minutes."There, Brand's truck." Finn pointed to the small road at the head of the valley that led into their compound set deep into the National Forest. When they had arrived in the late 1800s, Bridger had been just acres and acres of wilderness. They had slowly purchased as much as they could, working as loggers and opening one of the few sawmills in the back country. When the government had bought up the land to create the National Forest, Brodi had refused to sell, and they had been grandfathered in. Now they were surrounded by government forest. The forest service kept the area pristine, and left them alone for the most part, so Brodi couldn't complain. It gave them plenty of room and privacy to run - t

Liv tossed and turned restlessly in her down sleeping bag, her eyes moving rapidly behind her eyelids. She was caught in a dream. A dream about wolves. Wolves with bright, ice blue eyes. Suddenly, the eyes were no longer in a white wolf’s face, but a man’s. A man’s face, all planes and angles; the only thing saving it from being cruel looking was a wide, sensuous mouth. He had some kind of fur thrown over one shoulder and tattoos covered his upper chest and arms. Long blonde hair was braided up in hundreds of tiny braids that were gathered atop his head leaving the sides bare except for more strange but beautiful tattoos. Somehow, she thought she should be able to read them. Were they letters? In the haze of the dream, she couldn't tell. As if feeling her scrutiny, the Viking – yes that's what he was, she could tell now – turned to meet her gaze. His eyes locked onto hers and she forgot how to breathe. Her body thrummed under his scrutiny. Her mind gave her a vague impression of dan

Liv checked the supplies in her day pack for the third time. After last night, she wasn't sure she trusted her own judgment. She wasn't planning on going very far today, not with two large male wolves stalking her campsite. She'd almost convinced herself she had dreamed the whole thing. Surely, she hadn't been snuggling with a giant white wolf with ice blue eyes. She chalked the experience up to too much caffeine, too close to bedtime. She was probably sleepwalking and dreaming. That scenario still didn't make her feel too good, but it was better than believing she had hugged a wolf. Though she was choosing to believe it hadn't been real, she still packed her dart gun and her bear spray in her pack. She was just being smart.By the third day of hiking through the woods, following trails and making notes without any further sightings of her imaginary wolves, she started to relax. This was just like any other assignment. She scribbled in her notebook as she stopped to sit on a rock shel

By the time Liv made it back to her camp, she was chilled, and the sun was almost setting. She quickly built up the fire and started some water to boiling. Her mind was reeling. What was going on? She had no frame of reference to go on to explain the interactions she'd had with this wolf. She couldn't pawn it off to some waking dream anymore. It had been real. He had been real. Even now, she felt the overwhelming desire to go back out into the forest and search for him. To be near him. A wolf. Her hands shook as she tried to scoop coffee into her French press. What was wrong with her? Despite her lack of progress on her job so far, she decided she'd better go back to town tomorrow. Get back to civilization. Get her head back on straight. Try to feel normal again. She sat next to the fire, watching the woods, for the rest of the night. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or heartbroken when dawn broke without any more sightings of her wolf.Liv was packed up and ready to leave by the