Page 1 of Wulver's Flame
Prologue
Vargr
1075 Years Ago
Sköll lunged for my father’s neck, but instead his claws raked across my face. With one swipe, I was thrown against the tree. His Alpha command no longer controlled my actions. Sköll wanted more. We were Alpha and would never bow to any wolf or mortal. We lay dazed, but that was all the time they needed.
The iron chains were around my neck, and the etched runes on the collar and chain links burned my flesh. The seeress had painstakingly crafted my prison well. Thevölvawho once foresaw my fate must have smiled in triumph.
Three suns rose and fell as they kept me chained in the longhouse. I heard the whispers and knew what my inner beast, Sköll, had done—a massacre of teeth, blood and bone. Not a mortal man, woman, or child was spared. I was bound to the beast through body and mind. He was a blessing and a curse to me.
When judgment came, it wasútlagr—outlawed and exiled.
Never to set foot on my homeland again. To see my kin. To breathe the same air as them. My father never met my eye as they carried me to the longship. My mother silently wept. The voyage would take me to theHjaltland. I was no longer their problem.
We don't need them. Sköll snarled, but I didn't respond.
The damage was done. My feral beast’s bloodlust never let up. The burning rage was a constant flame within me until I did not know if it was his or mine.
Odin, help the Picts.
We were coming to their shores.
Chapter 1
Vargr
Two winters passed for Sköll to mark his territory. The Alpha within me needed to carve out our place on the island. We chose the highest peak,Røni, the stony slope with a cliff that reminded me of the fjords from my home. My skill as a warrior and Sköll’s aptitude in night-watching terror created a stronghold that would never be challenged. No one would dare.
My laws were obeyed by my men and thralls alike. The longhouse I built was equal to my father’s. Nothing less would do. With my home in place, Sköll became uneasy—a strange occurrence for him since he was content with our territory.
We often ran for hours. He craved freedom, and during this time, we connected long enough for me to reach him and understand him. I could not repeat the carnage we had previously caused.Hjaltlandwas now our home.
And his restlessness was not a good omen.
???
We lay in the midday heat after cooling off in the rock pool. While I planned the next trade gathering with the islanders, Sköll’s head snapped up, and his body followed. He lunged across the pool, darted beneath the waterfall, and raced toward something.
No more killing.
I raged, ready to push through and force him to retreat.
Then the aroma hit me. From the tips of our ears to our tail, our body lit up like a raging long-fire in the dead of winter. I pushed him faster to reach the scent of wildflowers blooming in spring, and a sweetness unlike any other. Sköll opened his mouth to taste her, but she was still too far away.
By Freyja’s will, we had found our mate—another like me on this land.
How could this be?
Was she outlawed?
Disgraced and thrown from her pack?
The scent became more prominent. Wildflowers, when Harpa blessed us. A touch of salty smoke that made my mouth water. Destruction. The kind that left soil fertile and wombs full. She would be a strong breeder. A daughter of Freyja, even if she didn’t know it.
The sweetness of honey came last, making Sköll growl.
The decadent scent of our mate’s honeypot.
