My wolf? Like, my own? A mixture of fear, adrenaline, and the freaking need to jump up and down while screaming, “ Yes! Woohoo! IIIIIIH! “ rushed through me while I took in the massive white wolf. Her fur looked so smooth and soft, gently waving in the wind. To say she was beautiful was a clear understatement. But she didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm; while I felt like a bubble about to burst, her eyes still followed the dancing northern light. So far away now, I could only imagine where it had been. The woman, Selene, suddenly smacked the beast’s shoulder, and her head snapped in her direction with a low growl. My breath stuck in my throat; of course, she didn’t want me. Who wanted to be dealt the weak human girl? “Dirfta! It is not her fault! “ She scolded, and the beast answered with a heavy huff and nodded. Then her eyes found me, and time stopped. It was the moment I've seen in so many films—love at first sight, where everything suddenly became unimportant. It was this mom
Toke´s POV. “Is that necessary? “ “Yes, she is strong. I can feel it.” “But she will want to hear what we know; you said so yourself!” “Yes, but we also need her calm enough to listen to us. Just a drop, it will be enough to keep her calm without slipping into a deep sleep.” He croaked in my mind and peeked at her from behind the three. She looked different; her skin had a new glow to it. Warm sunbathed skin with a soft spread of freckles over her tiny nose. Her hair looked thicker and shinier. Even her smell was more pungent, spreading out with the wind, seeping in between trees, dancing with the wind, and brushing past me like a taunting seduction from Mother Earth herself. “We are stronger. You are more robust now. It makes it easier for us to stay calm, even when her beast so clearly calls for us. You see, even if her human is stubborn and scared, her wolf knows what she wants. Know what she needs to be whole and feel good.” I nodded; he was right. The bond between beasts is
“ It started way back, in a time when the barbarian and the Vikings pack were still on friendly terms. They often had competitions the weeks before the big hunt, picking out contestants from each side worthy of attending. Because it was seen as a great honor, and still is, by the way, not anyone can attend. They are given an opportunity to find a mate, and since our world is what it is, there is no other way of finding a mate. We are talking about the year your mother attended.”I paused to see I had her full attention and smiled for myself before continuing. “Like the rest, she had been hand-picked for a reason. There are different reasons for each one, of course, but anyway. She was there. From what I’ve been told later, she fell into one of the fey traps early on, but for some reason, she didn’t trigger the magic string that alerts the fey king. That means the trap did not seal shut, and someone helped her up. That someone was the son of the barbarian´s alpha. I am unsure how or wh
Eir´s POV. “He is hiding something.” Drifta muttered in my head, and I agreed. Something was off about Toke; he didn’t seem like himself. Hearing my mother’s story was heartbreaking and admirable at the same time. A part of me that died long ago, that voice inside my head that made up excuses for her to make myself feel better, stirred in the back of my mind. It told me she had a valid reason for trying to avoid reality, that it could be understood that she drowned herself in liquor and eventually became unable to stop. But her story also made me angry. I wanted to shake my mom and yell at her. I demand she get a grip. How could she go through so much to save me and still treat me like I meant nothing more than the dog shit she stepped in? She left her friends, her new family, and my family and chose a life all alone. She decided for me to be all alone. I would have been okay with that; I would have no problem with that whatsoever. I would have accepted having only one parent, a ti
The last thing I wanted was to go to sleep. Like I didn’t feel vulnerable enough already, but I was exhausted, and my eyes betrayed me quicker than I liked to admit. I was drifting into a deep sleep, revisiting the memories of where I first met Drifta: the beautiful northern light and Selene. Only in this dream, I sat next to Drifta after Selene left; together, we watched the magical scenery before she turned to me; “Wake up. I’m almost ready.” In the blink of an eye, the dream was gone. My eyes fluttered, and bright light burned my eyes when I tried opening them. About to rub the sleep out of my confused face, I heard the door slide open slowly, and my body froze. I could feel him there, lingering in the doorway, watching me, so I didn’t move a muscle. Then I remembered he expected me to be able to sit up by now, so I needed some progress. I huffed and groaned as I lifted my head; I could feel my muscles working, aching but responding, so I stopped myself. Better I have some progre
I didn’t know what to say if I was supposed to say anything at all. But there was no doubt in my mind that this was real; this was not Toke. I saw it, felt it, and smelled it. Loki, what a strange name. Suddenly, my eyes widened; Loki! Like the freaking trickster god Loki? He chuckled, leaned back, and started dragging his fingers through his hair. Looking down at himself, he wrinkled his nose while trying to adjust the collar of his shirt—or rather, the missing collar of his shirt. “The god, like the trickster god?” “Ah, please! Don’t use that degrading profanity! It was all a joke from Thor, and of course, his words are etched with gold, so that is the name that stuck in the books! Ridiculous if you ask me! But yes, I am a god!” Pride was not enough to cover this man's sense of self-love, even when he was so obviously uncomfortable with Toke’s choice of clothes. “Why are you here? Don’t you have better things to do?” Even the way he arched his brow was different, even when usi
I scrambled to get to my feet just to hunch forward and empty my stomach all over the floor. All that tossing and turning, all the while, everything around me spun like a raging hurricane. Every muscle in my lower abdomen tightened again, and the rest of my dinner decorated the dark and lifeless floors. First, Loke’s laughter taunted me as I fell to my knees, but as I continued, hunching over and clenching my stomach, he stopped. Mumbling something I didn’t even bother to hear as his steps walked away behind me. Eventually, there was nothing left, and I managed to get myself up again on shaking legs and look around. We arrived in what looked to be a massive cave, and from the amount of water dripping from the ceiling and trickling down along the walls, I would say we were currently beneath the sea or something. That, though on its own, made my stomach jerk, but I held that burning stomach fluids down. Swallowing and swallowing while I studied the cave. With small steps, slowly walkin
The pain was immense, not only because rows of teeth flared up my skin and flesh but also because of the burning sensation. Hidden beneath the pain was my conscious being, unable to scream or object; I just was. I expected her to drain me, like a vampire from the movies I’ve seen, sucking me dry. But instead, a burning liqueur surged through my veins, tearing through every inch of my body, boiling me from the inside, and for a second, I panicked; what if she was killing Drifta? I didn’t know how this wolf thing worked, and I was unsure if she could be found inside me, like any other organ. My fingers were trembling, and a spasm-like sensation attacked my muscles. I felt that I was losing control of myself bit by bit. But despite all the pain, despite that Nida was the one to inflict all this on me, her arms reached around me and carefully helped me down when my knees gave in. Kneeling on the wet and dark floor, all that kept me up now was her tight embrace. The tunnel vision shrank