One or two chapters left, not quite sure yet, but it appears there will be a book three after all lol
Any book three name suggestions?
What's been your favourite part of the book 2 so far?
Is there a character who's been introduced in this book whom you really like?
Let me know in the comments!
Every one helps get the story get out into the Wattpad universe
Glossary/Pronouciation
Cac - shit
eldhúsfÃfl - a fireside layabout (eld-us-fife-al)
Chapter 25
Fionnlagh and his friends hovered at the far end of the hall, eager to catch sight of our guests. He only got to be here because of me. The way he'd puffed up his chest in front of his guests when I'd relented to his pestering. . .he should be worried about Ulli's brother taking another bite of him. Even from up here, I could see the reddened marks and fading bruises left from his fight with Ull. Ulli herself however, kept glancing at the wounds and smiling to herself.
If only the older ones were as at ease as they were.
If I thought the skin shifters would be nervous of our new arrivals, the Vargr were particularly hostile. Many took to fur and prowled the edge of the hall with glinting eyes and low growls that cut off whenever they got caught under my eye. It was amusing to watch towering wolves sulk after a non-verbal scolding, tails tucking, ears flattening. It was also good to know they were beginning to see me as their Alpha in the same way they did Hati.
I let out a soft sigh.
Maybe this would be harder to pull off than we thought.
When the parading arrivals stopped in front of us, an older male stepped forth, short and bulky in stature, with heavy brows and coal dark eyes that slowly scanned the hall. His beard twitched. "I can see why we were begged to help."
"This room isn't where we require your help," Hati replied tightly, barely concealing the way he bristled. "We have external walls that have crumbled, and the entirety of the Western Wing is unsuitable for me to house my wolves. You skill in weaponry would also be appreciated."
The male guffawed, eyeing the hall again with his nose scrunched in distaste. "If you insist. . ."
"Is it common to enter another's domain to insult it, even while proffering the hand of help?" I cocked my head and waved a hand before me. "At least offer a word of greeting first."
Hati went stiff beside me.
Maybe parrying back and insult was the wrong step to take.
The leather of the male's clothes creaked as he straightened up with a scowl. A few other dwarves stepped closer to him and cast me foul looks while the gods amongst their number appeared either uninterested or amused.
"You speak to one of the leaders of the Dvergr of Niðavellir," Hati informed me, his voice slightly strained with exasperation. "This is Sindri, one of the two brother's who created the Golden-bristled boar Gullinbursti, forged the ring Draupnir, and Thor's hammer, Mjǫllnir."
Oh. Cac.
I grimaced. Yes. Perhaps I could have used more tact.
"I'll forgive your new mate her ignorance" Sindri said, smug eyes shifting to me.
My mate snorted, walking forward and holding out his hand to clasp arms with the dwarf. "She does not need your forgiveness and you are wrong if you think being of legend will gain her respect."
It was I who was smug when Sindri's dark, indignant eyes met mine again.
I lifted my chin. "If you knew what I was, who I truly was, and the things I've done in the last few days, you may have decided to have more respect before insulting my hall."
I enjoyed the sudden uncomfortable look that creased Sindri's forehead. He knew enough about me to think about his attitude, obviously, for when he released Hati's arm, he deigned to bow his head and place a hand over his heart. "Alpha Female, forgive me. You are right, I am here to offer help not derision. . .however, there are a few changes I would make to your hall only to make it better, stronger even."
I couldn't help it, I laughed, which surprised him enough to jerk back and look at me as if I'd just bitten someone's head off. This male reminded me of Gerlac, and I knew how to handle him. With respect.
"You are the master in that area, I suppose, so we should defer to you, if it will make our home safer. However, your focus must be the areas of the castle that are crumbling. Our hall is fine as it is until we can get all of the pack inside our walls without cramming them into rooms on the brink of snapping. Until that is accomplished, maybe keep such advise about our hall."
Sindri's wariness turned into a light chuckle.
"You are not what we expected of the one called a Child of Ragnarök," a younger dwarf said. Sindri hushed him but the words were already out.
I shrugged. I wasn't what I expected of myself the year before. "Maybe because you're focus is on the word Ragnarök. You forget, I am what comes after."
Even Hati turned to look at me, a mix of awe and fear in his gaze. I took didn't know where the ferocity my statement had come from. It just felt right to say. And empowering to hear.
Clearing my throat, I attempted to ease the tension. "Now it's customary for the host to offer meat and mead." I motioned to the tables around the hall, a few filled with wolves we'd carefully chosen. Better we get a measure of our guests before unleashing the rest of the pack on them. "Sit with us and we can fill you in on where your help would be appreciated."
It was a god who was the first to sit, falling gratefully onto a bench to sip at the best of the wine Ingrid could dredge up.
My gaze flicked to the she-wolf sat at the other side of the hall, her usual straight posture slightly hunched and emerald eyes dim where they were usually so sharp and alert. I told her she didn't have to come, but she swore she couldn't spend another night alone next the room where her father once slept. I'd been secretly grateful, hoping her wit and charm might help us, now. . .now I wanted to watch her finish the food she was picking at then send her to a bed; one far away from where ghosts haunted her.
However, once again, I had underestimated her. The moment the young dwarf who'd spoken out sat across from her with an eager smile, she returned it with one of her own, so bright it was almost believable. I couldn't hear what she said to make the male laugh, but he poured her a drink that she took with a polite bob of her head.
Sindri followed by gaze and huffed. "My son, Eitri, always able to find the most beautiful woman in the room." He eyed me as I made my way to stand at Hati's side again. "Of course by that I mean the Most beautiful one he might get his hands on, for your beaut-"
"You really don't have to flatter me, swift work is all I need from you." Hati nudged me in the rib, prodding me to quickly add, "Swift work, and friendship. We are grateful you're here. It would be good to forge an alliance with the Dvergr so that we can one day repay you."
"If there is anything left of us after a Ragnarök to repay. . .though, I suppose if who survives is up to you, then an alliance would be beneficial."
"I'll try not to let the weight of that crush me," I muttered.
Many of those who would survive were named in the prophecy, surely that meant it had little to do with me at all.
Sindri snorted. "It would be a shame to fall to the weight of your duties now. If we survive this, our meeting will eventually be mentioned in one of the sagas. Let's give them a good ending, eh?"
My initial assessment of the dwarf shifted. He was worried for his people, just like I was.
I allowed a real smile and nodded. "Aye. We can aim for that at least. I suppose you'd rather see what you have to work with than sit and drink like the rest?"
"These young ones play the eldhúsfÃfl better than the worker, and will most likely wake with pounding heads, so I might as well make a start where I can. I will enjoy the hospitality of your food and drink when we feast to celebrate when the work is done.
As if our Winter stores could host a feast. We were already eating into what was to be saved for the next solstice; which I believed they called jól here.
"We will escort you tomorrow," Hati said, nodding to Caldar who rose from where he sat to bow his head. "This is my Beta, he will show your people where they can sleep once they are well fed. It won't be luxurious, I'm afraid."
Sindri waved a hand. "More than a few who joined me for glory could use some rough sleeping to bring their egos down, including my own lad. The gods however?" He eyed the tall, iridescent beings around the hall with a measure of disdain. "Some of them might kick up a fuss if their beds are not feathered."
"We know hardship as well as anyone else," a familiar female voice cut in, a spear clearing a path. "We have slept rough beneath the stars on hunts, fitfully next to battlefields, some of us in cells and prisons of magic that corrupts and tortures the mind and soul. Sharing a room, even if it be a bed on a stone floor, with a roof over our heads and warm food in our bellies, that will more than suffice."
Gná. Her spear clicked as she planted it on the floor, her gaze surveying the hall with less interest than Sindri had.
"To what do we owe the pleasure of your company, my lady," Hati asked, as surprised as I was to see her here.
"Freyja sent me to watch over your mate as I would any of her children," she replied, lips twitching as her glowing gaze met mine. "Especially as your mate has a penchant for traversing realms; I can at least follow her on Hófvarpnir."
Hati smirked, Sindri chuckled, and I felt my face go bright red. I couldn't argue her point however. It would be comforting to have someone capable of following me.
Slipping his arm around my waist, Hati tugged me close to his side and smile at Gná. "I will have to send your queen a gift of thanks. You presence means a great deal." He nipped at my jaw, inspiring the heat of my embarrassment to drop low between my legs. "I struggle to keep a close enough eye on my mate alone."
It felt like an age since Hati and I had connected in the way my body urged us to now. After our not so pretend fight and everything that had happened since, there was a gap between us we needed to bridge. I hadn't known how to do that until now. The reflection of brown eyes, nearly swallowed whole by dilated pupils, reflected in the fiery depths of Hati's.
His scent sweetened. My body swayed towards his.
I barely noticed that Gná and Sindri had left, Caldar ushering them away with talk of what to expect tomorrow. Not did I care that wolves were reacting to our mating scent with sniggers and scrunched noses.
"I miss you," I murmured, peering up at him.
He was right next to me but he felt miles away, had since he'd taken Sól's death onto his shoulders. I wanted him back.
Our meeting with the Dvergr and the few gods who'd joined them had gone well, the Vargr were behaving, we'd done a good day's work.
We could have one night, couldn't we?
Caldar could handle showing Sindri around until tomorrow.
Hati was doing his best to breathe through his mouth, ignoring what called to him.
Fingers gripping his woollen tunic, a soft, tempting rumble rolled from my chest. That was all it took. Whatever hesitations Hati had were swept away with a rough answering growl. The arm around my waist shifted, and suddenly the cool stone floor disappeared from beneath my feet as Hati swept me up to cart me away. I should have been humiliated at being treated so, but a spark of pride filled my chest as wolves hollered rude jokes and raucous encouragement.
"Really, Hati, in front of our guests?" I nuzzled at his throat, then nipped at the lobe of his ear.
"Be pleased I did not simply bend you over the nearest table after teasing me so."
I choked on an outraged gasp, unable to point out this situation was entirely his fault. He was serious. If it weren't for our guests, he would have done what he said. Wolves weren't prudish by nature, but the thrill I got at the idea of Hati taking me before our pack still shocked me. Yes, the things I envisioned with quickening breaths certainly would have scandalised the more modest sensibilities of the gods and the Dvergr.
However, we didn't quite make it to our den either.
"Your scent. . ." Hati groaned, stopping his stride so he could squeeze a handful of my ass.
Retaliating with a harder bite to his jaw, I smirked at his pained yelp and made sure he wasn't under the impression this was all about desire. "Don't you ever use my age against me again, and don't you ever compare your suffering to mine. I may have lived a different life to you, Hati, but that doesn't mean I've had it easy. I've had to make hard decisions about those under my care too. You need to trust me as I trust you."
He didn't say anything, didn't try to argue that what he'd said was a lie to fool the pack or thrown out in the heat of the moment.
When he did speak, he looked down at me with such endearing hurt that my heart skipped a beat. "Do you really think I am not a worthy Alpha?"
"No, my mate, no." Cupping his cheek, I searched his expression, seeing the echo of the lost pup Hati once was. "You are a wonderful Alpha, and you would not be so without your flaws."
His touch grew cold. "You think I am flawed."
"We are all flawed. Every single one of us from human to divine. Striving for perfection is not the goal, overcoming your flaws and doing your best every day is. The pack don't want some image of idealism as their leader. They want a friend, a brother, a father, someone to show them making mistakes is alright, and how to fix them. I should never have brought your father up in our fight, I am sorry."
He turned his head to kiss my palm, closing his eyes for a moment to relish in my touch before sighing softly. "I hear you. I know have an ego to shrink."
"Well. . ." I gave him a wicked grin and pressed close so he could get a glimpse down the front of my dress where my breasts rose and fell asleep I nuzzled against him. "Don't let it shrink just yet."
He gave a deliciously husky laugh and pressed me up against one of the tapestries, softening the rough stone of the wall while also causing it to wiggle dangerously on its peg. Not that either of us cared much about that. Setting me back down on my feet, deft fingers tugged my dress up over my hips, nails grazing over the soft flesh of my thigh. It tickled and electrified, urging me to shuffle my legs further apart for more. Another chuckle sounded at my ear. Then, sparks. Like the strike of flint, He set me alight with a teasing stroke over the most sensitive part of me.
Slick heat welcomed him as he pressed the digit into me.
He breathed in on a groan, eyes fluttering as my body gave off the pheromones that drove him to claim.
Maybe I was closer to being in season than I thought.
Hati was ravenous.
Any qualms I might have had about us being caught mating in the hall were wiped away by the swipe of his thumb over the bundle of nerves throbbing between my legs, the mounting pleasure causing me to rise up on my toes. When he dropped to his knees with a grin, hunger burning bright in his eyes as he gently placing my thigh over his shoulder, I was his to mould any way he pleased. He could have asked anything of me on that moment and I would have obeyed.
My fingers gripped his hair tight after the first flick of his tongue, my hips rocking to set the pace I wanted. His chuckle was a delicious vibration that set every nerve alight. He yanked me closer, hands massaging my rump as he feasted like a starving wolf until my legs trembled and nails raked across the woven fabric of the tapestry. At the pinnacle, he stood and turned me around, my cheek pressed to the wall so he could fill me, one rough thrust that crushed his body against mine.
This was what we'd both needed, I thought as his hands covered mine. Dress torn loose, Hati tossing his tunic away, skin on skin, we desperately ground together as if trying to merge into one body. I didn't care that it hurt, that the weight of him with every thrust forced the breath from my lungs. Pressing my hips back, the stretch of him and the way he slid against a sweet spot inside me drove me higher than I'd ever been.
"Mine," he growled at my ear before nipping his way down my throat hard enough to leave marks on my skin.
The pressure of his growing knot, and his thumb on my nub shattered my existence.
I screamed so loud it rang down the hall and bounced off stone walls, alerting every wolf for miles just how good their Alpha was to his female.