Chapter 3: Run!

Valkyrie

I couldn’t move, though every instinct screamed at me to do so.

Ragnor’s claws sliced through the air, time seeming to stretch, his fury pressing against me like a suffocating weight.

The air crackled with power, thick and heavy, but he didn’t strike.

Instead, his claws halted mid-swing, trembling as though something unseen held him back. The tension was palpable, a razor’s edge between control and chaos.

“Ragnor,” I whispered, my voice barely a breath but filled with fragile hope.

His crimson eyes snapped to mine, wild and unrecognizable. Beneath the feral glow, a flicker—a trace—of the man I once knew.

“Stay back!” Duncan’s voice was sharp, commanding. But I couldn’t obey.

I stepped closer, ignoring the enforcers who struggled to hold him down.

Their breath was labored, each of them feeling the weight of his thrashing strength.

My body screamed at me to run, but my heart betrayed me, pulling me closer, urging me to bridge the chasm between us.

“Let me try,” I said, my voice steady despite the storm raging within me.

“What?” Duncan barked. “He’ll kill you!”

But I didn’t answer. My focus was on Ragnor alone. The bond between us thrummed faintly, like a melody clawing to be heard over the tumult.

His growl deepened, a guttural sound that vibrated through the air, his claws flexing, as though fighting against the very blood in his veins.

"Don’t,” Ragnor rasped, his voice raw and desperate. “Don’t come closer.”

But I did.

I reached out, my fingers trembling as they brushed against his hand. The moment our skin made contact, his entire body stilled.

The growls faltered into shaky breaths.

“You’re not lost,” I whispered, the words coming from a place deeper than thought. “I know you’re still in there, Ragnor. Fight this. Fight for me.”

His crimson gaze narrowed, the war within him reflected in every flicker of light and shadow. “You don’t know what you’re asking,” he said, his voice breaking. “You don’t understand.”

“I understand more than you think,” I said, stepping closer. My palm cupped his cheek, the heat of his skin searing against mine. “You don’t have to do this alone. Let me in.”

A shudder rippled through him, and for a fleeting moment, his claws retracted, the redness in his eyes ebbing just enough for his true self to emerge.

The tension in his body eased slightly, a crack in the storm that allowed the enforcers to loosen their hold on him.

“Valkyrie,” he whispered, his voice so faint I almost didn’t hear it.

“I’m here,” I replied, the weight of those two words carrying everything I couldn’t say, the unspoken promises and fears binding us in the quiet.

His hand rose slowly, shaking, as though unsure of the path he was about to take. His fingers brushed against mine, the barest of touches, as though testing if I would disappear at the slightest wrong move.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, the anguish in his voice undeniable.

“But I am,” I insisted, my voice firm, and I leaned closer, my forehead touching his, grounding him and myself in the moment. “And I’m not leaving.”

The world seemed to hold its breath as he closed his eyes, the war within him settling in a fragile truce.

His body trembled, as if caught between two worlds—the one that demanded he destroy, and the one that begged him to save.

“I’ve pushed you away,” he murmured, his voice cracked and broken. “I’ve hurt you. I don’t deserve this.”

“You deserve to be saved,” I whispered, my tears slipping down my cheeks, each drop a promise. “Let me save you, Ragnor. Let me be enough.”

His breath hitched, and when his eyes opened again, they were no longer the fierce crimson of a creature bent on destruction. They were stormy gray, filled with confusion, pain, and something deeper. Something vulnerable.

“You are,” he said, his voice trembling as his hand cupped my face. “You’ve always been.”

I didn’t know who moved first—whether it was the pull of the bond between us or the unspoken need to bridge the chasm that had grown between us—but suddenly, his lips were on mine.

The kiss was desperate, raw, filled with a hunger that matched the depth of the emotions crashing through us.

It wasn’t gentle.

It wasn’t soft.

It was an eruption, a collision of everything we’d held back.

It was the sound of breaking, of the walls we had built around our hearts crumbling.

When we pulled apart, our breath mingled, ragged and uneven. His forehead rested against mine, and for a fleeting moment, the world faded into nothing but him and me.

“You’ve brought me back,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “But I’m not sure I can hold on.”

“Then I’ll hold on for both of us,” I replied, my voice steady despite the storm of emotions within me. My heart pounded in my chest, but I didn’t let go.

Not this time.

For the first time, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer, anchoring me to him, to the moment, to us.

The storm within him began to settle, and I could feel it—his humanity returning, piece by piece, with each breath we shared.

I thought, for a moment, that we had both crossed a line we could never uncross. That this was our beginning, not the end.

But then, as the silence stretched between us, something changed. His body went rigid, his breaths stuttering.

Before I could react, his weight collapsed against me, his eyes closing as he sank into unconsciousness, leaving me in the whirlwind of everything we had just shared.

A voice rang out, low and full of disdain, snapping me from the haze of our moment.

“Enjoying your night, Valkyrie?” The Luna Dowager’s voice, deep and filled with annoyance, cut through the tension like a blade.

I pulled away from Ragnor, my heart skipping a beat as I jolted back, disoriented.

His limp form was being gently laid down by the enforcers, but my focus was now on the woman who had spoken.