Page 5

Jamie

Holy shit.

Wolf shifters, I mean, ulfhednar , are real! Time travel is real! I decide to gloss over what Anders said earlier, something about me being ulfhednar too. Because that’s just not possible—I’d know for sure if I was able to turn into a wolf.

Except if he’s wrong, then how did he know my grandma? How could he possibly know she gave me her treasured furs?

I really don’t want to go there. A time-traveling Viking just flew out of the Hudson River, hit on me, and tried to rob me, only to end up saving my life.

Tonight has been crazy enough. Anders prowls around my living room, nose to the air, sniffing frantically.

It would be funny if it weren’t so strange.

Even with his odd antics, he is the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. Sure, he’s grumpy and hotheaded, but he’s not so bad. There I was, lamenting over my lackluster love life, and he burst out of the river and landed right at my feet.

When Anders plops down on the sofa, my little brother bombards him with questions, his voice high and squeaky with excitement. “Jamie’s a wolf shifter, right? Does that mean I’m one too? When will I shift?”

He’s taking this way better than I am.

For such a gruff-looking guy, Anders is quite patient with my brother, smiling good-naturedly as he says, “Aye, lad, you will. But not until your twelfth winter when you don your furs for the first time.”

“I’m almost eleven!” Grinning, Jace leans over the back of the couch and shouts, “You hear that, Jamie? I’m gonna be a wolf shifter!”

My head is freaking spinning as I lean on the kitchen counter. What shifter romance did I wake up in? “I heard you, bud. Would you like hot chocolate?”

“Yup, with lots of marshmallows,” Jace chirps.

Anders jerks his head toward me. “Chocolate? What is that?”

Oh, right. He doesn’t know what half the stuff from my world is. He’s probably so confused. Oh man. How do I describe chocolate to him? “It’s sweet. Mine comes in a powder, and I mix it into hot milk.” I make the powder myself at my café, so I know it’s good.

“A sweet powder?” He wrinkles his nose. “Fine. I’ll try it.”

“Do you want marshmallows or whipped cream?”

Anders looks bewildered. “What in Odin’s beard is a marshmallow?”

I don’t have the brain cells for this… “You know what, I’ll just give you some.”

Jace lightly punches Anders’s shoulder. “You’ll love it, trust me!”

Once I’ve mixed the drinks, I pop in some marshmallows and add a dollop of homemade whipped cream on top. Carefully, I carry the mugs into the living room. I join Anders on the sofa, Jace sprawled out on my left. “Careful, it’s hot.”

He gives me a narrowed look. “I know that.” After sniffing the rim of the mug, he takes a cautious sip. Whipped cream gets stuck in his thick mustache. He takes a huge gulp. “What witchcraft is this? It’s delicious!”

“It’s called sugar, dude,” Jace says, popping a marshmallow into his mouth.

Those bushy brows furrow. “My name is Anders. Not dude.”

“You’ve got cream in your beard.”

“Where?” He feels around, completely missing the spot.

Without thinking, I reach out and swipe my thumb over his upper lip. His sharp inhale makes my heart trip. Those dark green eyes glance at my thumb, and then, curiously, he leans in and licks the cream from my finger with a swift dart of his tongue.

“Eww,” Jace says, making a face.

Holy shit. I must be more pent-up than I thought because my dick jerks just from feeling another man’s tongue on even the smallest part of my skin.

I’m having hot chocolate with a Viking werewolf, and now he’s looking at me like he wants to devour me, piece by piece.

This is… normal. Completely normal.

“I quite like the cream, actually.” A heated smile lifts the corners of Anders’s mouth. “It’s delectable, especially on your skin.”

Oh hell. How did I go from getting no action to suddenly being the object of a Viking werewolf’s affection? I’ll take it. I’m not gonna complain. Even if the guy is obviously playing me to get my necklace.

“Uh, bud? How about you go brush your teeth, wash your face, and get ready for bed?”

Giving us a weird look that makes my ears burn, Jace goes into the kitchen and puts his mug in the sink. Before he goes into the bathroom, he looks back at Anders. “Will you be here tomorrow?”

I turn to Anders. “You’re welcome to stay the night. It’s the least I can do.”

Anders offers a smile. “Thank you.”

Jace closes the bathroom door.

“You don’t have sweet things where you’re from?” I ask, voice cracking from nerves as those emerald eyes gaze into mine.

That indulgent smile widens. “Nothing quite so sweet as you, pet.” Those low words, uttered in that sexy Scandinavian accent…

No, Jamie! Have some self-respect.

A flattering snort escapes me. “Oh, come on, man. Be less obvious, at least.”

Anders tilts his head. “About what?”

“We both know you really want my necklace.” I motion at the wooden necklace resting against my beige cable-knit sweater, the green collar of my plaid shirt flaring out above the neckline.

Anders frowns at me. “You think I am trying to deceive you?”

“I don’t think. I know.”

When Anders leans in closer, my heart jumps into my throat, but it sure isn’t from discomfort. As much as I wish I could have some self-respect, the fact of the matter is Anders is smoking hot, and I’ve been unintentionally celibate for weeks now.

“I don’t lie, pet. Nor do I waste my time on those beneath me.

And most everyone is beneath me,” he growls.

“I do want your necklace. However, I want to earn it. Normally, I would simply take it, consequences be damned. No one has ever come between me and something I want and lived.” A shiver runs down my spine.

He’s being completely honest; I can see it in the coldness in his eyes.

“But I can’t do that. Not with you.” He doesn’t sound happy about this at all and glowers at the floor.

“When I say I like the way you taste, it is not a lie. Nor is it a lie when I say you’re the most breathtaking creature I have ever laid eyes upon. It is simply the truth.”

My mouth goes unexpectedly dry. It’s overwhelming, being someone’s sole focus like this. But I really like it.

“Oh,” I say, too flustered to speak. “Well, uh… You’re pretty breathtaking yourself.”

“So I’ve been told.” He smirks.

This fucking guy…

“It appears I must… earn your necklace.” He looks physically ill at the thought. “And then I shall leave for my home. So, tell me what I must do to earn it. I can work well, and I’m skilled with a blade.”

I gawk at him. “What do you think I’m going to ask you to do ?”

He shrugs those big shoulders. “Whatever it is that needs doing. I’m a skilled hunter, so I can provide you with any game you need.

I can also work. Household chores are usually attended to by my thralls, but my fool brother and that pup of his freed them.

Mayhap it is good that I left.” Disgust curls his lip.

“I am not above doing simple chores if that is what you’d prefer.

” He looks like he’d rather throw himself back in the river than subject himself to menial household chores.

I suck in my lips so I don’t laugh. Is this guy for real? He wants to cook for me? Clean for me? Hell yeah. “Let me think!” I flop back on the sofa, pondering all the things I could ask him to do. “So many tasks! How can I possibly choose?”

He scowls. “Don’t look too pleased about it. If you were anything other than my mate, I wouldn’t even consider stooping so low as to indenture myself to you.”

“You could do my laundry, color-code my bookshelf, vacuum… Oh! Maybe you could—wait, whaaat ?” What did he just say?

If I weren’t such an avid romance reader, I wouldn’t have even picked up on what he’d just said.

He’s a wolf shifter, ulfhednar, whatever you want to call it.

And in every paranormal romance I’ve read, wolf shifters have—

“Mate?” I croak, edging farther away from him on the couch. “As in… fated mate?” That explains why he’s so fixated on me, so attentive, why he stuck out his neck for me. Wait. Why am I acting like any of this bullshit makes any sense! It doesn’t! At all!

Anders sighs like he’s on his way to the gallows. “Aye, lad. It would seem I arrived in your timeline for a reason. The Norns themselves preordained our meeting. The ladies of fate and destiny wished for us to meet.”

Oh my god. If I hadn’t seen this guy shift into a huge wolf, I would be calling 911 right now. Maybe I should do it anyway. “Wait. Hold on a sec!” I lurch from the couch and nearly knock my drink off the coffee table.

Anders pursues me, his nostrils flaring, eyes dark and fixated. It should be fucking creepy, and yet some animal instinct deep inside is preening at the knowledge that this strong, gorgeous Viking wolf has picked me of all people.

“I’m human,” I finally say, as if that makes any sense.

Anders growls, “No, pet. You’re not. I’ve told you, you’re ulfhednar. As am I. The Norns would not be so daft as to pair me with my kind’s greatest enemy.”

Anders corners me against the TV stand and lowers his head, breathing in deep.

Oh god. Do I have some special scent to him, like in the books?

And wait. He also had some weird scent when I first saw him.

That moment replays in my mind, and I remember how everything in my world narrowed down to him the moment I caught his scent.

“Do you doubt our bond, pet?” Anders rumbles in my ear. “Must I prove here and now that you’re meant for me as I am for you?” Big, warm hands glide down my sides and grasp my hips, urging me closer. “The effect you have on me… it’s unlike anything I’ve ever known.”

And he isn’t lying. The proof is pressing hard against my hip.

To my dismay, my own body is reacting right back.

His scent is spicy with desire and longing, so potent and overwhelming that it makes my brain go all fuzzy.

An odd, low whimper escapes me, and to my horror, I tip my head back and show him my neck. Like I’m… submitting to him.

Oh no. Is he right? Ever since my eighteenth birthday, I’ve had an odd sense of smell and been in tune with others’ emotions because of the change in their scents.

Did something about that day change me? I think back.

“Wait… my gran gave me wolf furs for my birthday. Furs that look a lot like yours.”

I wore them to make her happy that day, but I’d internally squirmed at the thought of wearing fur. So I’d put them in my closet and never wore them again.

“Oh shit…” I whisper, knees shaking. “I… oh my god. I think you’re right.” His scent and the heat of his body are like a magnet, urging me closer, but I jerk back and stumble to the couch. Collapsing, I fold over and hide my face in my hands, trying to think rationally.

“I’ve had dreams,” I say at last, “where I’m running as a wolf.

Not all the time. Always on a full moon.

I hear another wolf howling to me. I run to them, because I have to.

Because I know that the moment I see them, smell them—the loss, the guilt, the damn grief will all go away, and everything in this fucked-up world will finally make sense.

I’ll finally be whole.” My eyes sting, the longing in my dreams so visceral, even in my waking moments.

“It’s not a dream, pet.” Anders’s fingers card gently through my hair, and his touch calms the storm in my head. “It’s your wolf, crying out to be set free.”

“Can I free him?” I lift my head, gazing up at Anders with a desperation I’ve never felt before. “How?”

“I will show you. Is there a forest around here? Somewhere we will be undisturbed?”

I snort. “In New York City? Not likely… Although we have a few large parks. I’ll take you in the morning after Jace has gone to school.”

Anders grins. “I can hardly wait. Your wolf will be as beautiful as you are.”

Nerves ripple through my stomach. I woke up this morning thinking I was just a normal guy. Turns out, I’m ulfhednar. I have so many questions. Will it hurt? Are there any complications? Is it dramatic like in the movies?

I guess we’ll find out.