Page 42

Jamie

Someone coughs. Anders growls, and I chuckle, looking over my shoulder at our spectators. Lyall’s cheeks are pink, but he’s smiling, and Wulfric doesn’t look half as grumpy when he’s hiding a grin behind his fist. Gunnar averts his gaze and scuffs the snow with his weathered boot.

Arlo exhales, smiling. “Thank Freya. I really didn’t want to have to do anything drastic like we usually do with berserkers. Welcome back, Anders!” Suddenly, he staggers. “Whoa. Feeling a bit dizzy… all of a sudden…” His eyes roll back.

My cry of warning has barely escaped when Gunnar swoops in and catches Arlo in his arms.

“I can take him,” Wulfric says as he approaches Gunnar. “He should lie down inside.”

A rumble like thunder fills the air, and I realize it’s coming from Gunnar as the man huddles over Arlo’s vulnerable body. Like a wolf protecting its prey.

“Gunnar,” Lyall says sharply. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Stay away from my mate,” Gunnar snarls.

Anders tenses beside me. “ Mate ? The witch is his—”

There’s a low laugh. “My, my. What big, strong arms you have, stud.” Arlo blinks groggily up at Gunnar. “I’m all right.”

All the tension drains from Gunnar’s body, his eyes widening as he seems to come to his senses. “I… what happened?”

No one speaks. I don’t blame them. I don’t know what to say either.

Arlo wets his lips. The two of them are so close together, a hair’s breadth away from kissing. It’s such an intimate moment I feel like I should look away, but I can’t. Anders’s family has more drama than a soap opera, and I’m addicted.

“You said that I was your mate,” Arlo says, eyes wide as he searches Gunnar’s face. “Did you mean that?”

The blood drains from his face, and he lets Arlo fall into the snow. Gunnar stumbles back, his chest rising and falling quickly. He says, “No. I have no mate. Not anymore.”

I can almost feel the devastation on Arlo’s face. It’s the look of a man whose heart has been broken.

Gunnar turns and takes off into the woods, leaving a heavy silence in his wake.

“Here you are, dear!” Helga rushes over with a change of clothes. She frowns at all our shocked faces. “What did I miss?”

“Thank you,” Anders says with a gruff clearing of his throat, accepting the clothes. “I’m going to dress, pet, but wait here for me. I have an evening planned.”

“Really?” I ask distractedly, watching Arlo as he stumbles up with Kieran’s help and quickly shoos him away.

“Aye. Wait for me, pet.” With a kiss to my cheek, Anders walks buck-ass naked to the longhouse. I shamelessly ogle him until he’s out of sight.

Lyall offers a smile. “Thank you for your help. We were worried about him.”

I shrug. “I didn’t do much…”

Wulfric snorts. “You saved him from his berserker rage and looked after him in your time.” My wolf instincts rush to the surface, and I bare my throat to the pack Alpha. He’s not my Alpha, but he’s pack. I can feel it. Squeezing my shoulder, Wulfric says, “You are welcome among us, always.”

“Thank you.”

Wulfric’s mustache tips when he offers a small but respectful smile. “Now, I’ve got to go find Gunnar and make sure he’s all right.”

“Are you hungry?” Helga asks Arlo. She’s eyeing him with interest behind her friendly smile, like he’s a species of bird she wants to observe.

“Huh?” Arlo looks away from the woods where Gunnar had run off. “Oh. Yes. Thank you.”

“Come in, come in. Have some mead and a meal. You need food to recover your magic, do you not?”

Arlo chuckles. “Well, food can help a little, but it’s the act of lovemaking that replenishes our magic quickly. A shame the man I’d love to have it with just rejected me in front of his whole family,” he adds in a mutter, then goes inside after Helga.

For a few minutes, I linger, watching the northern lights swirl.

An arm encircles me, and Anders rumbles, “Come. We can watch the lights anytime you wish, but I can hear your stomach growling from here. You must eat.”

I notice a basket hooked over his other arm. “What’s in there?” It smells good, like cheese, bread, and a bunch of other things.

Anders’s smile is mischievous when he replies. “You’ll see. Now, follow me.”

We leave the village behind and walk among towering pines. After some time, Anders stops in a clearing beneath the stars. A hot spring awaits us, the aurora staining the water shades of blue and green. Anders approaches with a playful smile and covers my eyes. “Close your eyes.”

Smiling, I obey even after Anders’s calloused palms slide from my face. There’s rustling and thoughtful mumbling. Curiosity makes it hard to keep my eyes closed, but I squeeze them tighter.

“All right! Open them!”

A blanket has been spread out on the forest floor, where a small banquet of food awaits us.

Bowls of stew, hunks of meat and cheese, a loaf of bread, and two mugs of mead make my stomach roar in anticipation.

The clouds part, revealing the full moon above.

It’s so damn romantic, tears sting my eyes.

“Anders,” I say but can’t find the words.

“Come, sit.” Anders takes my hand and guides me to the picnic. We kneel on the blanket, and I try again to find the right words. Nobody has done something like this for me before. Anders squeezes my hands. “Happy birthday, Jamie.”

I blink fast. I can’t crumble. “I don’t—” I bite off the words, knowing I probably should save my future therapist some time by stopping with the negative self-talk.

But Anders growls, “You don’t what?”

“Deserve this.”

A muscle ticks in Anders’s jaw. “Listen to me.” He takes my hands and holds on tight.

“I understand why you feel that way. But it’s time to stop blaming yourself for something that was never your fault.

I wished every day for years that I had been the one to die instead of my father.

I know now that is the last thing my father would have wanted.

It’s time to start living, Jamie, and there’s no one else in all the world I want by my side but you. ”

I want to believe him, I do. Just as he wants to overcome his past and be better for me, I too want to be a man deserving of his love.

No.

I am worthy of his love.

I am worthy of life.

I deserve happiness.

I deserve him .

And I’m going to fight for him, for us.

No matter what.

Reaching out, he wipes away a tear that’s escaped down my cheek.

“I want to live with you. Every day, for the rest of my days, until we both leave this world and Odin welcomes us into Valhalla.” Anders frames my face in his hands.

“You are not undeserving of love, Jamie. I am living proof of that because I have never loved another like I love you.”

“I love you too.” Anders is it for me. This man is my ride or die, now and forever. “Claim me,” I whisper.

Anders’s eyes darken, arousal spicing his scent. “Are you sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“There’s no going back.” His hands slide down my chest and settle on my waist. My jeans tighten as my cock thickens. “Once we’ve claimed each other, you’re mine in body and soul. No one else can have you. I will kill them if they try.”

My wolf growls low in my chest. He feels the same way about Anders. He’ll be mine and mine alone, forever. I angle my neck, exposing my throat to the only man I’ll ever submit to. “Please, Alpha. Make me yours.”

When Anders snarls, eyes blazing, I know we’ve passed the point of no return.

Good. Black fur covers Anders’s hands, which are suddenly fitted with claws.

With a swipe, he cuts open my shirt without leaving a scratch on me.

It falls open to expose my chest, and when Anders’s mouth attacks my skin, my eyes close in bliss.

His fangs dimple my neck, and I groan, needing him to bite down and temper the fire burning beneath my skin.

“Please,” I whimper, but he leaves me hanging and mouths his way up my neck. His fangs nip my skin, leaving behind little love bites. Clawed fingers curl in my hair and tug, and our lips mash together. His tongue teases my lips, and I open to him, moaning as our tongues tangle.

With a shove, Anders pushes me down onto the blanket.

He grips my waist and tugs, and I lift my hips.

My pants and underwear slide down past my thighs.

I wriggle out of them, and Anders’s dark eyes comb over every inch of me.

Reaching down, I tug on my cock, biting my lip as pleasure arcs through me.

Anders’s low growl raises the hairs on my arms. “Gods, but you are eager, pet, aren’t you?”

I grin. “Only for my Alpha.”

“Do not touch yourself,” he growls and grabs my wrist, stilling my hand. “The only one to make you come tonight will be your Alpha. Am I clear?”

I squirm, trying to free myself. “Then less talking and more doing.”

Anders brings his lips to my sternum, then licks and kisses a trail down my body, inch by inch.

He sucks on one nipple, encasing it in his hot, attentive mouth, then pinches the other so hard I gasp like I’ve been electrified.

He goes lower, nipping my hip bone. My cock twitches and throbs with anticipation.

When Anders’s hot breath hits the sensitive head of my cock, my hips jerk.

He grabs a vial off the blanket and coats his fingers with the oil inside.

“Open for me,” he commands, and I obey, spreading my legs wide for him. “Good.” A shiver runs through me as those dark eyes take in every exposed inch of my skin. Just knowing he’s seeing me, every piece and part, makes me pant and tremble.

“Fuck, I need you,” I whimper.

He leans down and claims my lips, long and sweet, until we’re both breathless. “You have me,” he whispers, “all of me.”

His finger presses in. Just the tip, but I moan as my body opens to him like he never left. He swirls his finger, crooking it, and I writhe beneath him. I roll my hips, and he slides deeper into my body, up to the third knuckle, as deep as he can go.

Anders breaks the kiss, panting. “Gods, you are so perfect.”