Page 3 of Mated to Fenrir (Fated Mates Collection #5)

FENRIR

I watched the blonde woman run away from me, a little shocked at the turn of events.

I stepped forward to follow her, only for members of the crowd to get in the way.

I murmured my apologies to people as I stepped past them, though I doubted many of them were heard over the music and the shouts of people talking to one another.

My wolf howled away inside me, urging me on to go and find the woman he'd recognised as my mate. It had been a long time since I'd felt the reaction to anyone, and I didn't want to let her go without at least having a conversation where I could learn her name.

I finally managed to get to the edge of the dance floor, only to find that there were more people milling around, and none of them were the blonde whose kiss I could still feel on my lips.

A surge of disappointment came from my wolf, and it seemed like he curled up, accepting that he wasn't going to find her again today.

I let out a frustrated sigh. As quiet as he was now, I knew that there was going to be no stopping thinking about the woman until I'd seen her again, and found out more about what we could have.

With nothing else for it, I headed to the bar in the VIP section, which was thankfully a little quieter than the rest of the masquerade.

I ordered myself an akavit and sat there, swirling it around the glass but not drinking.

Someone sat down beside me and I looked up to find my sister joining me. Hel flipped her distinctive light-blue hair over her shoulder in a nonchalant way that I knew had taken her years to perfect. "You're acting strange, brother." She flagged down the bartender to get herself a drink.

"What do you know of strange?" I responded.

"I would argue a lot." She gestured to her half-mask, which was patterned after a skull, much the same way she could do to her own face if she used her necromancy.

The bartender set a drink down in front of her, and she smiled her thanks. I took a sip of my own drink, enjoying the distinct taste of caraway and dill seeds mixed with the spirit, and not really knowing what to do with myself otherwise.

"I didn't realise you were coming tonight," she said as she drank some of her bright pink cocktail through a straw.

"I wasn't going to," I admitted. "But Father got me a ticket."

"Mmm, I wonder what Father is planning for this evening," she mused.

"Best not to think about it too much," I responded.

"True. And Loki isn't really our problem," she pointed out. "So, what's bothering you?"

"How do you know that something is up?"

She shrugged. "I've known you for a long time."

I sighed. "My wolf responded to someone."

"Ah." Hel put down her cocktail glass. "I thought finding your fated mate was a good thing? You spent all that time writing poetry about how your mate would be like the moon back in the sixteenth century."

I groaned. "I thought you'd forgotten about that."

"I'm your sister, it's my job never to forget about that. Just like it's my job to remember the time you made a fool of yourself following that longboat captain around."

"My wolf liked him," I murmured.

"Like your wolf likes this person?" she asked curiously.

I nodded.

"All right, so why aren't you with them? Isn't your wolf responding some kind of sign that they're your fated mate?"

"Yes."

"So..."

I sighed and downed the rest of my drink, barely tasting it. "She ran away after we kissed."

"Never a good sign," Hel said.

I glared at her. "Unhelpful."

She shrugged. "But true. Did you ask her for her number? Maybe you can message her and suggest meeting up somewhere that isn't as intense as a Jinx Masquerade."

I grimaced. "I don't know her number."

"Okay, well, that's more of a problem. What do you know about her?"

"She's blonde, and her dress is silver."

"I thought you said you kissed her?"

"I did." I touched my hand to my head. "It's my wolf."

"Your wolf is why you kind of acted like an ass?" she asked.

"What? No. Yes. Kind of. It's hard to explain."

"I am so glad Loki had me with my mother and not yours," she muttered.

I snorted. "Necromancy doesn't sound that great."

"Neither does losing all rational thought because your wolf thinks someone smells nice, or whatever it is that sets him off."

"It's hard to explain." Especially when she didn't have an inner wolf trying to make decisions for her.

"Okay, so what you're saying is that your wolf responded to a woman you met here, and that she's blonde, and you kissed her?"

"Yes."

"And she didn't tell you her name?"

"Yes." I gestured to the bartender for another drink.

"Did you tell her your name?"

"No. I don't usually tell people I'm Fenrir the moment we meet."

"Maybe you should start. Especially if your wolf is going to remove rational thought from your head. I thought your dick would do that for you."

"Please don't talk about my dick," I murmured.

"Fine. Well, the good news is that there are only a few hundred people here, and you can rule out at least two of them for being related to you. Maybe three, I imagine Uncle Thor is here too."

My drink appeared in front of me and I resisted the urge to down it all at once again. "Good start."

"It's not as bad as you think," she said. "You can also rule out anyone that you've met before, and considering the number of gods who are currently in attendance, that's a good amount of people."

I shook my head. "That's not how fated mates work. It could be someone I've met before. If they weren't right for me then, but are right for me now, then my wolf would react differently."

"Wolf shifters," Hel muttered under her breath.

"Believe me, I feel the same," I responded.

"You'll still be able to rule out people you know if you talk to them tonight," she said. "So go forth and mingle."

"And if I can't find her again?"

Hel shrugged. "Then trust in fate."

"I don't know whether you're trying to help or not."

"I am. But isn't that the thing about fate? If it's something that's meant to happen, then everything will line up to make it happen."

"Hmm." I could see her point, but I couldn't help but think that it was more complicated than that. There were so many different parts that needed to come together for fated mates to work and have a relationship together.

Maybe this was one of those times where nothing would come of my wolf's reaction. It wasn't like it would even be the first time. Sometimes, even fate wasn't enough.

But I wasn't ready to give up. Not with the taste of her lips still on mine, mixing with the akavit, but somehow being even more heady and distracting than the spirit.