The North

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Chapter 17

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The braid bounced against the bottom of my back with each hasty step, and each time it did, I caught myself thinking someone was tapping me for my attention. Astrid giggled as my head swivelled round again. It would be easily undone. The strip of cloth holding it together would slide off easily enough, but I wanted to see Hati’s face when he saw I’d done as he asked for once.

“I can find my way from here,” I said, spotting the familiar hallway that led to the main doors.

“I don’t mind coming with you,” she said.

Shaking my head, I took a few more steps. “It’s alright. I’m sure you have loads to do.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t want to be accompanied like a pup. The impression I made today was important, and it had to go better than every other opportunity I’d had to show the pack who I was.

Not offended by my refusal of her company, she smiled. “You will do fine.”

I hoped so.

Straightening my shoulders, I strode across the stone floor with the swish of my dress filling the still air. Outside was a different story. A harsh wind swept through the courtyard as I made my way to the wooden hall. The sun was blinding, glinting off the bright white snow that remained unmuddied by the passing of wolves. I paused at the doors, hearing the mumble of voices droning on. I knew I wasn’t late, Astrid had made sure to usher me out in good time, but the shut doors felt like a barrier.

A warning to keep out.

The wolves on guard at the gate and milling about made me feel no better. I could feel them group together, watching, and from the electric charge rushing over my skin, I could tell they were members of the Vargr. Hati had his best protecting the walls today.

Snow crunched behind me, and I spun to see two females making their way towards me. The elder stood tall, long mouse brown hair braided back in much the same style as mine. She appeared about my mother’s age, and walked with the surety all dominant wolves had. The other female had her face lowered so loose tresses of the same colour shadowed her face. I knew who she was anyway, Linnea. And as Caldar had told me the female had been on the list of potential mates to Hati because of her mother, I could guess who the other female was too.

For all they looked alike, their scents the same sweet lime tree fragrance, the way they held themselves was entirely different. Linnea’s mother nudged her pup and her head flew up, dark eyes widening as Linnea finally acknowledged me.

“Eabha,” she squeaked, and I felt even more sorry for the shy female as her mother cast her a disgruntled look.

“It’s nice to see you again,” I said, offering a smile to them both.

Linnea bobbed her head, and had to be prompted again to offer an introduction.

“This is my mother, Loa. She sits on council too.”

I stepped in to greet the new female, lowering my cheek to hers. For a brief moment, I worried she might be able to smell Hati on me, but she gave nothing away if she did. She eyed the door and then me with a smile that only tilted up on one side.

“There will be shouting and growling aplenty, but we don’t bite,” she assured me. “Will you walk in with me? It shall be us two females in a sea of peacocking males. We will need each other.”

“I fear I will be in need of your support more than I can offer,” I agreed, finding her easy humour relaxing.

Linnea fidgeted, casting a glance back at the castle doors as if she didn’t want to be caught. Perhaps with me. I understood. Though I had hoped to befriend her.

“Enjoy the meeting,” she said quickly, but before she could escape, I decided to take a chance anyway.

“Would you like to meet at noon? I would enjoy a meal and conversation without my siblings crawling all over me.”

At first she glanced at her mother, then to my surprise she gave the same crooked smile and nodded. “I would like that.”

More of the tension fled my body, and so did some of my determination to leave. She scuttled back to the castle and disappeared inside, leaving her mother tutting in front of me.

“I am trying to teach her to be more outgoing but she takes after her father more than she takes after me.” She eyed me carefully. “It is too easy for her to hide behind Ingrid. Your friendship will be good for her I think.”

It would be good for me too.

Pleased with my newly forged alliance, I followed after the older female as she hauled the doors open, enviable muscle flexing as she did.

It was the first time I’d seen the courtyard hall crowded. More chairs had appeared from somewhere, circling the long table that normally only boasted Hati’s throne. It was still there at the centre, it’s high back and intricate design marking it out from the others.

Seven wolves in all sat on the council, and as Loa had said, we were the only females. I counted two other members of the Vargr besides Hati, and was grateful that I also knew one of them; Magne. He was a good running companion, but I hadn’t thought him dominant enough to sit on council, he was a quite male who preferred the peace of patrolling over being a warrior.

Our arrival drew little attention, the small groups focussed on their own discussions which seemed heated and formal.

Loa made her way to the table and joined in one of the conversations happening while I tried to figure out where I was meant to go. No doubt everyone had their assigned seats; I imagined Gerlac managed to place himself close to Hati. Magne and his older companion were the first to spot me. I had to stifle my reaction when the Vargr wolf faced me and gave me a view of the startling split pupil in his right eye, it slithered, snakelike black, across the bright blue of his iris. Both bowed their heads but remained stood on the far side of the table, strategically further away from our Alpha so no favouritism could be claimed.

Where was my place? With the them? Or the wolves of this realm with no magic, or curse as I was sure was my case? There was a clear divide between the two groups despite Hati’s insistence we were all one and the same here.

And where was Hati?

It took all my will not to fidget, more so when steel grey eyes clashed with mine. Gerlac’s lip curled before he managed to smooth out his expression. He muttered something to the wolves around him who dispersed and took their seats, then with all the enthusiasm of Niamh when asked to leave the horses, he made his way over to me. Sharp eyes swept up and down, pausing on the hand Hati had cut. My fingers curled to hide my palm, my breath catching.

I should have bandaged it again, should have thought to hide how quickly it had healed overnight.

“I expect you thought my father would take my place today,” I said, distracting him from his intense inspection because I feared he saw more than others would.

“I’m not a bad man,” he grumbled, narrowing his eyes. “A bad male. I have my beliefs for what is best for the pack and I didn’t think you were it. My decision was overruled and here you are. I will be a good teacher to you if you let me be, but it starts with respect between us.”

At least he didn’t pretend to be concerned for my wellbeing after watching me collapse.

Considering him carefully, I found no really fault in his words. He’d had a different opinion, yes, perhaps had been swayed by Ingrid even if he didn’t think so, but he had backed down when it came to it.

“The respect has to go both ways.”

He smirked and nodded, both of us seeming to come to a final understanding. “Of course. However, I still outrank you.”

I rolled my eyes but bowed my head. If he wanted to make sure I knew my place, he’d find I wasn’t one to fight it. Usually. A bristle still went up my spin at the thought of giving into something simply because Gerlac was my teacher. If I disagreed, I disagreed. Nothing would change that even if I had to concede.

“You will sit at my side,” he said, a light touch to my arm enough to make me follow him to the table. And just as I’d guessed, he took the chair directly across from where Hati should be.

The chair on his right was taken by another male of this realm, with beautiful copper skin and eyes as dark as coal. His body, like most here, was covered in dark tattoos but the style was not like any I’d ever seen before, and I wondered how far Hati’s offer of protection had reached.

Dropping into the chair on Gerlac’s left, I made a proper study of those around us while we impatiently waited for our Alpha to show. He was late now. Murmurs coursed around the room and more than once I felt them pointed at me. I didn’t react, kept my gaze straight ahead and forced myself to answer politely if Gerlac posed a question my way.

Loa caught my gaze from the end of the table, and she tilted her chin up, a subtle lift of her finger urging me to copy her posture. I straightened in my chair, resisted the urge to let my eyes drift down to the table, and crossed my hands on my lap to stop then from fretting. The approval in the other female’s expression made me smile to myself.

The huge wooden doors behind us swung open, the horrid screech of the hinges bouncing around the stone walls. The sharp sound sent a shiver up my spine, and I didn’t need to turn to know who had just walked in. Silence fell, other wolves shifting in their seats as Alpha Hati’s steps echoed closer. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him round the table. Not once did orange eyes drift my way as he greeted his council with touches to their arms and shoulders as he passed.

He’d changed clothes since he’d seen me too, had he had the same sorry about our scents lingering in each other? A long sleeved blue tunic trimmed in a darker shade covered most of his skin, and his hair was free of braids and beads, instead tied back so for once I had a clear view of his face. Stern as ever, he didn’t give away a thing. No sign last night had been full of revelations, or that he’d kissed me.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as he took his throne, right in front of me so I finally had no choice but to look at him straight on. Piles of parchment rested on the table before him, his eyes scanning briefly over what rested on the top.

“Before we begin.” He looked around the council members, stopping at me. I froze under his gaze, certain the wolves would be able to figure out every little thing between us as he stared so intently. “I’d like to welcome Eabha to the council. She will be speaking on behalf of those from Alba, and any others who arrive here from the countries across the Southern Sea.”

Forcing a smile, I met the curious looks from the wolves I’d yet to meet.

“I am to see to her tutelage. She has much to learn but I am eager to teach her the way things work here,” Gerlac added, puffing up in his chair.

I wanted to roll my eyes again, but couldn’t with so many watching. The ways here might have been different, but I understood well enough what was done here now.

Was that the slightest hint of a smile on the Alpha’s face as he caught me holding myself back? It was gone before I could be sure, and orders of business were quickly gone through with a fine toothed comb.

I didn’t completely understand all the language used, strange words and phrases flying over my head. I caught onto other things though; talk of food stock for winter, monetary problems, correspondence with human farmers for milk which was, in my opinion, an odd luxury to have. None of Hati’s promised answers to my many burning questions were revealed however, and I found I had little input to give to the topics.

Gerlac was pleased with that at least, glancing at me now and again in approval at my apparent rapt attention.

“Shelter is going to be our biggest problem with the coming blizzards and storms, I fear,” Loa said. “Many rooms in the castle have roof damage, leaks, or unstable beams. We need to see to that. The berries appeared on the trees early this year and the birds flew South with haste. It will be a bad year for snow and the cold will creep into any crack it can find.”

Back home, the pack often spent the heart of winter in a sheltered den, leaving only to hunt and relieve ourselves. I’d seen the many broken walls, holes and creaking rafters myself. Snow would certainly be heavy enough to make the roof crumble in places.

“We may have to rearrange rooms and have mated couples share. Those in the dens outside the walls might be better within the walls too until spring returns,” the male next to her agreed. “Boarding up holes and a good fire might be the best we can do for keeping out the cold in damaged rooms. Roof damage we won’t be able to see to until spring as well.”

And I had a room all to myself. I’d yet grown accustomed to sleeping alone, so might be glad of company through the long dark nights that steadily drew in. I’d also grown rather territorial too though, and the thought of letting anyone into my den, the only place I could be myself, was difficult to swallow.

“What news of our border?” Hati asked, turning to yet another order of business.

“Last patrol said it was clear, but the group returning from the port with winter supplies mentioned that the stench of those abominations was all around the village,” Magne replied, venom coating his tone.

A murmur went around the table, and my own palms began to sweat, clenching on my lap. Was that my fault too? Had they caught my scent there? Surely not after so long. But it was a big coincidence, and Hati didn’t believe in coincidence.

For the briefest moment, orange eyes darted to me before focussing on Magne again, but it was obvious enough that Gerlac caught it. The side of my face burned as he looked down at me with a furrowed brow, but I kept my gaze on Magne, pretending I was hearing a word he said.

“Maybe we should place wolves there,” Loa suggested, only for another to rebuff it just as quickly.

“The mortals are not our concern. Things are precarious here already without us sending wolves into needless danger.”

Hati growled, turning on the male. “Might I remind you, that village supplies us with food, grain, blankets, tools, and offers us the opportunity to trade in turn for coin. Tell me, Ivor, who will sail the ships or trade with us if the mortals residing there are all drained of blood?”

That silenced us all.

Even I had been inclined to agree the mortals could fend for themselves, but now I sat with my head ducked down, feeling the scolding as much as the male it was directed at. Other did too as they shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. Gerlac smirked though, and I wondered if he’d played a hand in us forging alliances with unwitting humans. Maybe I hadn’t given him enough credit. It also explained how the human female at the inn had known Hati.

Playing a noble lord was good cover for our residing here, I had to admit.

An elbow sharply poked my side, nearly knocking the breath from me. Baring my teeth at Gerlac, I rubbed the tender spot, but he didn’t care. Jerking his head up, he silently urged me out of my thoughts to pay attention.

“I can arrange a group to hang around the village, I take it you want only Vargr on duty?” Magne asked, and not one wolf reacted to the mention of mythical wolves. It made my whole body reel on the spot to hear it so openly used.

Hati nodded, rubbing his jaw. “We can’t risk any Midgard wolves touching their blood, the wounds are hard to heal and the poison lingers.”

A shudder went up my spine.

Once again he couldn’t seem to avoid looking at me, and I could see the question in his eyes. It was the same question in mine. What would my reaction be to their blood? My nose scrunched. It wasn’t something I wanted to test, and almost as if he could hear that thought, his fingers splayed to hide a grin.

“Are we still planning to hunt them in the summer?” Gerlac leaned forward onto the table and clasped his hands together. “It will be hard to send parties of only Vargr, it leaves us more vulnerable.”

“It is our duty; I won’t force that onto those of this realm who aren’t bound to shoulder it.” Hati paused, contemplating something before adding begrudgingly, “But I won’t stop any from volunteering to go, as long as I deem them sufficiently skilled.”

I frowned. Hunting parties? Duty? Protecting our borders seemed to be task enough without actively searching for demons in the night. Yet, at the same time, new bloodthirsty instincts reared to life. I wanted to find a way to avenge the deaths of my packmates, and this was it.

“I will go.”

The words escaped my lips before I could stop them, and Gerlac scoffed at the same time Hati let out a husky laugh of disbelief.

“You will not.”

Sitting up, I affirmed, “I will. You said you won’t stop anyone from volunteering-“

“As long as I deemed them sufficiently skilled,” he cut in, arching a brow.

“You don’t think I know how to fight? Besides that, I’m a good tracker, and you said yourself last night that I am. . .good at finding the Blood Drinkers.”

Gerlac grumbled unhappily beside me but I didn’t care if I was making a scene, daring to argue with our Alpha in front of others. Hati was questioning my abilities and my worth in front of some of the most influential wolves after he’d made a point of telling me I needed them to see a use in keeping me around once the truth got out.

“We will discuss it later, Eabha. Now is not the time.”

“It’s never the bloody right time with you,” I muttered, my words immediately followed by the screech of Hati’s chair as it was forced back.

I stiffened in my seat as he stalked slowly around the table, cheeks flaming as he stopped behind my chair. Gerlac looked fit to burst with rage next to me, shaking his head and still grumbling while others watched on in near silence.

Goosebumps pebbled my skin as he lowered his head, his voice soft by my ear. “I warned you. You can follow me out quietly or you can make a scene.”

A wave of heat washed over me, the quiet order having the opposite reaction I wanted. It should have me bristle, not melt. Bracing my hands against the table, I pushed myself to my feet with all the dignity I could muster when it was obvious to everyone what was about to happen. So why wasn’t I afraid of facing Hati’s teeth for finally crossing the line one too many times?

I was nervous, but for the wrong reason.

Daring to meet his gaze as I turned to step around my chair, I could see no tell of what he was thinking. His expression was stoic and unreadable, which only made me feel more flustered. He took a few steps then turned back to address the watching council.

“Gerlac and Magne will lead things until I return. If I don’t make it back before you finish, I will look over final decisions tonight.”

I blinked. How long was he planning on drawing my punishment out? Maybe I should have been worried. Gerlac’s fearsome glare was enough to spark a little terror, and Loa’s dark eyes and sly smirk made me worry she might see more between the Alpha and I than I would like.

I scurried after Hati’s longer strides already forming an apology that might satisfy the wolf in him. Once the doors were shut behind us, he grabbed my arm and all but dragged me across the courtyard towards the gates, in full view of working wolves and those on guard. I tried to dig my heels in when it was clear we were leaving the walls but it didn’t slow us down.

“Where are we going?” I hissed. “I’m sorry I didn’t hold my tongue, alright? You weren’t against using my blood to catch Blood Drinkers last night.”

He said nothing, didn’t so much as tip his head to show he heard what I said. Sighing heavily, I resigned myself to following him with my head hanging low. It flew back up again when his hand slid from my upper arm down past my elbow before catching my hand in his. I thought about wrenching myself free, and he gripped tighter.

This didn’t feel like being led off to face a punishment. Staying on the snow sprinkled road, I found I was glad to have him there to steady me when I slid on a patch of ice. I wanted to kick the damn shoes off; being unable to feel the ground properly underfoot was a pain.

When even the small dens housing wolves outside the castle disappeared behind us, I began to grow restless again. I had the strange notion that he was going to haul me all the way to the border and leave me there.

“Now you choose to be afraid of me.” He stopped dead and rounded on me, nostrils flaring. “Your scent reeks of fear. Is that the way to your submission after all? Are you thinking about what I might do to you for arguing with my decisions in front of my own council?”

“Is your council’s table not the place for debate?” I rebuffed, finally yanking my hand free from his. “I was going to give you my neck weeks ago and you told me you didn’t want it.”

“Didn’t want it?” He barked an incredulous laugh that was tight with frustration. “I wanted it given for the right reasons. I thought you would find one by now, but apparently you find I hold no redeemable qualities as an Alpha. While I understand the newfound need for you to test your boundaries is confusing, and you’ve yet to learn to control new instincts, but you’re going to need to start learning quickly.”

He startled me as he reached for the hem of his thick tunic and began to peel it off. I averted my gaze, then found it snapping right back to take in muscles that rippled as he moved. I licked my lips, taking a slow step back.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t want to tear my clothes when I shift. If you tear that dress, Astrid will be livid, so I suggest you do the same. I will wrap it so it won’t get ruined should it snow.”

Shaking my head, I continued to watch him strip with my mouth nearly hanging open. “But why?”

“You want to be allowed on a hunt; you’re going to prove you can keep up.” Straightening slowly to his full height, he smirked as he caught me studying every inch of him my eyes could reach. When he began to turn slowly as if to offer more to my gaze, I sucked in a sharp breath and whipped my head away.

“This doesn’t sound like a punishment for calling you in front of an audience.”

Crunching snow brought him closer, and I could hear the smile in his voice as he drawled, “You won’t be saying that by the end of it.”

A tug against one of the laces at the back of my dress nearly toppled me against him.

“Surely your meeting is more important than proving a point, Hati,” I choked, both wanting to see where this would lead and wanting to dart back down the road to the safety of my den.

“I know what will be spoken about, I know what decisions will most likely be reached, and any I don’t agree with I can see to fixing tonight. Nothing is put into motion without my final approval.” He grumbled and kept tugging until I felt the laces give. I didn’t notice how tight the dress had been until the moment it felt like my ribs slotted back into place. “You are going to learn your place, one way or another.”

I shrugged the dress off and turned on him much like he had me once it pooled at my feet, shoving myself into his space. “I think we have very different ideas about where my place is.”

“Your place is learning to be a member of my council, not throwing yourself into danger because you feel you need to make up for deaths that weren’t your fault, deaths you couldn’t have changed even if you prove you can face those creatures with teeth instead of fleeing.”

I flinched, and the lines around his eyes creased. “Eabha, no, I didn’t mean-“

“You want me to show I can handle what’s out there, what you’ll be hunting? Fine. I did things your way. Gerlac’s way. I sat and listened to the politics and the bribery and the arguing. Now we’re going to do things my way, my pack’s way.”

My shift too fur had never been so smooth as I lunged forward. I didn’t feel the slightest pinch, unleashing pent up emotions into movement. I’d hoped it would make Hati stagger back but steel shone in blazing eyes and he stepped forward instead. My fur stood on end as the electric current of his magic strengthened, nearly causing my stride to falter. He met me head on, his massive wolf twice my size an intimidating sight, more so as his growl thundered in the air, revealing a row of sharp teeth.

This was a bad idea. I had no chance. So why wasn’t I stopping?

His body curved to avoid us colliding head on, but I already knew what he would do. I had no way to topple him over, no way of bringing him down even if I could get on top. And if he got a hold of me, it would be over. Dropping low the ground the second I felt a shift in the air signalling he swung his head round, I still felt fangs skim the thick fur around my neck. Shoving myself forward with my claws, I snatched his front leg between my jaws and bit down until I felt bone crunch. A snarl of irritation followed, but I was already rolling out of the way and scrambling to escape his next strike.

I paused when he didn’t come after me, tail flicking at the expression in his eyes as he tested his weight on his injury and snapped his jaws in pain. He’d underestimated me. Underestimated what Mànas had taught me. One of the best ways to defeat an opponent that outweighs you in size and brute strength? Hobble them. Bring them down to your level.

Blood coated the darker grey fur of his leg, and the scent only forced logical thought further back. But primal pride became bruised when he gave me a wolfish grin and began to lope easily towards me without the slightest limp. His whining had been a trick. It didn’t deter me. I pushed on, diving in for quick bites and darting away from his attempts to roll me with a speed he might have envied. I began to suspect what he was doing when he allowed me to rear up and sink my claws over his shoulder joint, his bite to my ear nothing but a half-hearted nip.

He was playing with me. Holding back. I didn’t want him to. I wanted him to take this seriously and give it his all. Hel, maybe all this time I had been pushing for him to take my submission instead of waiting for to give it, just so I could watch him prove he could.

Furious he treated my attacks like he was fending off an unruly pup, I planted myself firmly before him and growled from deep within my chest. The sound bounced around for ages after I finished, and exhilaration flooded my veins. I felt the flow of my power thrumming through my body and understood this was what Hati wanted me to learn to control. Right then, it was what I was going to use against him.

It was easy to give in to the unfamiliar urge to seek another’s submission, even if there was no hope of obtaining it.

Hati’s ears flattened and he widened his stance into a fighting posture, his hackles bristling as he realised, I had every intention of seeing this through. His growl should have made my legs give out beneath me with my tail tucked, and while it did feel as if I was bearing his weight on my shoulders, it only fed the wild urge demanding he prove he was my Alpha.

Standing my ground, I grunted as he barrelled into me, sharp pain blossoming across the left side of my ribs. It ripped my breath away but that didn’t matter much when I had a mouthful of fur anyway. Hati had a hold of my scruff, but a deep rake of claws over his belly forced him to release me.

Fangs and claws released my emotions in a far more satisfying way than words ever could, especially against a male who held himself as well as Hati did. He didn’t allow my quick-fire nicks to his legs now, had a paw pushing me down or fangs in my face before I could get close. I was still quick enough to pounce away before he could get hold of me, but it was exhausting. My legs wobbled unsteadily beneath me, my tail swaying to keep be upright, and various bruises and cuts screamed to life.

The only light I had was that Hati panted nearly as heavily as I did as we slowly circled around each other. Red speckled his fur in various places but his wounds healed far quicker than mine. Already the first I’d inflicted had stopped bleeding.

Faking a lunge towards me put me off pace, and as soon as I stumbled, he took his moment. The damn male had me on the ground so fast the world span, but my wiggling fumbled his grip. Lashing out with my back legs, I managed to dig into an already open wound, but my freedom only lasted a second. Before I could get back up, a heavy paw planted itself on my tender ribs and pushed.

A sharp whine sliced out, my body stilling in fear he might break a bone. I was willing to push myself, but I’d seen from Father how long broken ribs took to heal. Caught between defeat and needing to test my own strength, Hati simply let me tire myself out as I went between slumping and twitching with snarls. His low rumbles demanded my neck, more pressure applied to my ribs to send blinding flashes of pain across my chest, but still I kept my chin stubbornly tucked in.

Finally he grew tired of my determination to defy him. He clamped his teeth firmly around my neck and bit down. My lungs burned as I gasped past my crushed windpipe, flailing instincts giving way to clearer thoughts. He moved his paw from my ribs when I stilled, loosening his jaw so I no longer struggled to breath. Low growls rattled through my body, and as I lifted my chin to finally give my throat, that timbre softened to a gentler purr. A lapping tongue replaced teeth, making sure he hadn’t broken skin, and once he was certain I was okay, he flipped onto his side to pant in the snow.

We shifted to skin in the same second, though neither of us moved. Sweat glistened on our skin as we both caught our breath, and I swore I could even see steam rising to swirl in the freezing air.

What a sight we must have made, both of us sprawled out naked, beaten and bloody in the middle of the road.

It was done. I’d submitted. I’d accepted him as my Alpha. It was such a relief, and yet the knowledge I was nowhere near top of the pack made my teeth grind together. Pushing away thoughts of rising in the hierarchy, I slowly moved each joint to make sure nothing was sprained or worse, broken. My fingers prodded tentatively at my neck before moving to my ribs, and from touch alone I knew I’d be greeted by a sight of mottled black and blue already.

“I only saw Fenrir, my father, once,” Hati said out of the blue, his eyes on the tartan of skeletal branches topped with snow overheard. “Skoll and I were brought up amongst the Vargr in the forests of Asgard, where my father once ran too as their Alpha. They say my mother was a she-wolf who visited my father where he was kept bound on the island of Lyngvi.”

I frowned, rolling carefully onto my side to see him better while wondering why he’d decided to talk now of all times. “I assumed your mother was Eirny’s sister.”

He smiled and tilted his head to meet my gaze, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Glancing back at the sky, he heaved a breath and shook his head. “She is not my real aunt, but she might as well be. The village of the Vargr lay deep within the forests of Asgard, far from the worries of Gods and Giants. Until one day, my grandfather, Loki himself, appeared with twin pups in his arms and a prophecy from The Norns, the weavers of fate themselves. He entrusted us to Eirny to bring up, and I only saw Loki again when he returned to show us to our father, I imagine unbeknownst to the other gods.”

It was hard to take his words as true when they sounded like further stories from mythos, but he spoke them with such emotion, that I knew they were true.

“Why would he show you your father in that state?”

It was Hati who frowned this time, sitting up as though I’d said something confounding. “You know the prophecy, that I am destined to devour the sun, in what ever interpretation that could possibly mean. You must know the prophecy of my father too, that he will be the one to kill the All Father, Odin. And you’ve just found out the gods are real, but your concern is the effect seeing my father chained to a rock had on me?”

“I have never met any gods,” I said quietly. “It’s still a foreign concept. However, I do know what it’s like to see your father hurt.”

“He is not my father in any way but blood,” he said bitterly. “Fenrir did not raise me or Skoll. Eirny did. The elders of the Vargr did. Whatever my father once was, whatever good might have been in him, it was not there any longer. We were still pups, eleven summers old, and in those years, he had been bound and went mad. The gods created the very thing they were so afraid of.”

My heart clenched as I studied the pain etched into his face, the scowl he aimed at the heavens as if the gods might be able to see us here. Or was it his father he held such fury for?

I wasn’t the only one grieving, but I wasn’t sure Hati understood what he was feeling.

“Gods or no gods, weavers of fates or the flip of a coin, I don’t believe anyone’s future is set in stone. I don’t believe yours is either.”

He chuckled, but the sound was empty of humour. “You are naïve. The sun may still light the day, and the moon the night, but Skoll and I have already begun to fulfil what was prophesied. We’ve already brought destruction to Midgard. Maybe there is no stopping what we started now, no matter how much I wish it.”

Sitting up slowly, it felt as though I’d been doused in a bucket of ice water. “What do you mean? How have you already brought destruction?”

“Skoll and I are the reason there are Blood Drinkers.”