Untamed: House Of Berserkers
Wicked Reform School
Lacey Carter Andersen
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
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Copyright 2020
Published by Lacey Carter Andersen
Cover art and design by Silviya Yordanova of DARK IMAGINARIUM Art
Editing by Michelle Lobo
Formatted By: Kassie Morse
This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All characters are over the age of eighteen. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.
To my kids-- Staying inside together has had its challenges, but thank you for giving your mama time to write.
~ Lacey Carter Andersen
Chapter One
Kiera
The music pounds all around me and every drunken twenty-something year old in our berserker community drinks from red plastic cups as they shout along to the song. Outside the windows of the house, bonfires burn in every direction, lighting the night in a fiery orange glow, and the heavy scent of burning wood and smoke fills the air.
The fires were a reminder to us all that this wasn’t just a celebration. It was a night when the line between us and the spirit world was thin…thinner than any other day of the year.
A night where anything could happen.
I grin as I push my way through everyone. But each time someone spots me they drunkenly scream, “Happy graduation!” Or “Happy Walpurgisnacht!”
I thank everyone I pass, smiling so much my face hurts. In the eyes of our community, I wouldn’t be seen as an adult for another ten or more years, but this was the closest that I’ve gotten. I’d passed out of our tiny community college, and soon I’d be assigned a position.
No more classes. No more grades.
I was ecstatic!
And what was more, this day was special. Starting today, all berserkers would celebrate Walpurgisnacht for the next two weeks. It would be a time of drinking, laughter, and relaxing. A time when graduates got a break before real life began. A time when the adults in our community got to relax and just be people.
It was my favorite celebration of the year, despite the strange prickling of magic that always seemed to fill the air. Despite the fact that it was the only time when the branding on my arm tingled at midnight, awakening me from my sleep. Ignoring the feeling was a small price to pay for Walpurgisnacht. Every berserker simply knew that this was a time of fun, and only dangerous if you were dumb enough to engage the spirt world.
Shoving my way through the massive guys, I roll my eyes. Over the years, I’d mostly gotten used to the fact that I was one of the only petite berserkers in our community. Even compared to the women, I was small. But when I had to make my way through crowds of guys, it was almost impossible. Every fucking berserker male was built like a bus, even when they weren’t in their other form, which made it hard for me to get anywhere.
Unless of course I went a little crazy and started punching them in the dicks.
I think about it for a second, then sigh. It was a happy day. I shouldn’t ruin it by going on a dick punching rampage. That always put the fellas in a bad mood.
One berserker draws my gaze by itching around the outside of the blood-red symbol burned into his arm, a symbol that every one of us had. Busted.
“Charlie…”
His gaze jerks up, and I see it in his eyes. He knows he’s been caught. As the daughter of the Lord of the Winter Berserkers, I usually tried to uphold the rules of the community. At least with the younger, more vulnerable members of our house.
“Should you really be here?” I ask, lifting a brow.
He blushes and draws his hand back from his new branding, running his fingers through his dark hair. “I’m not drinking. Honest.”
Berserkers got their brands at sixteen, so Charlie was way too young to be at a party with all of the graduates, and those that had long since been branded. And yet, our people were different than most. A family. And we looked out for everyone, old or young.
“Just get home before things get too crazy.”
He smiles. “Will do.”
The music suddenly cuts off, and I push past more massive men to spot Charlie’s older brother on the small stage in the living room. He lifts a beer to the crowd. “Tonight we drink in celebration!”
Everyone cheers and lifts their own drinks.
“We, the children of the Vikings, we, children of the bear, we drink because we live!”
More cheers.
And then his gaze searches out his brother in the crowd. “Tonight, my brother became one of us. He now wears the brand of a berserker, the axe. It will remind him of our heritage. It will remind him that a berserker can never be stopped. That we can cut through anything and everything to reach what we need.” Then his gaze ran over the crowd. “It stands for the strength and bravery that must burn within all berserkers, but especially the Winter Berserkers. Long live the House of Winter!”
This time, even I cheer. Charlie’s brother could be a drunken fool, but his words awakened within me the pride I felt the night I was branded. The pride all of us felt. My hand strokes the marking on my arm…two diamonds on top of each other, and the line that slides through the center of both. Beneath my touch, I felt it. The magic that always hummed just below the surface.
And then the music was turned on once more, and the spell was broken. We were no longer the proud children of the Viking berserkers. We were just a bunch of crazy youth celebrating all the accomplishments of the year.
Continuing through the living room, I search for my best friends but find them nowhere, so I switch directions. When I reach the kitchen, I finally spot my closest group of troublemaking buddies pulled off to one corner, talking in low voices. Oh, this should be good. I sprint over to them.
“What are we plotting?”
They look up, and Keith and Peyton grin when they see it’s me. Most brothers in our community looked similar, but Keith and Peyton could’ve passed for twins, with their heads of shaggy brown hair, big brown eyes, and disastrous taste in clothes.
“We want to have a good time,” Keith whispers.
Lucy, a stunning woman with a huge mass of dark, curly hair, and the most flawless dark skin, leans down and whispers in my ear, “We’re going to hit a human club.”
My lips spread into a smile. It wasn’t that we weren’t allowed to go to the human town not far from our small community, it was simply strongly suggested that we stay away. The adults came and went as they pleased, but with the yo
ung men’s abilities still so strongly tied to their emotions, our age group mostly stayed here.
“I think,” I begin slowly, and they all watch me, “that sounds like an awesome idea!”
Lucy squeals, and then we’re laughing and racing out the backdoor.
Even though females don’t “go berserk,” we tend to be faster and more agile than our male counterparts. So while Keith and Payton start out leading us to their dad’s truck, Lucy and I quickly overtake them as we race through the woods. I hear the boys shout their protests, but we just keep going, grinning ear-to-ear.
Beneath the shadows of the woods, I feel the spirits. They race along beside us, howling their eerie songs, their dark hands reaching for us out of the protection of the fire light.
But we are berserkers…we’re untouchable.
And so even though they howl, even though the forest is alive with them, we’re not afraid. The branding on my arm burns when they draw too close, but I push down the pain. Let them come for us! Even without my axes, I have the blood of my Viking ancestors running through my veins.
I roar as a spirit blocks our path and dive through the shadowy being. Lucy roars beside me, and we keep going, without hesitation. Like the bear, we fear nothing.
Exploding out of the woods, we spot the boys’ cabin. Tonight, all the adults celebrate in the great hall. And the elderly watch the young together. The rest of our town…it belongs to us. So, we don’t bother hiding, we just circle toward our escape vehicle.
When the boys arrive, Lucy and I are stretched across the hood of their truck, trying to look like we hadn’t just barely beaten them. Our breath still comes out fast and our hearts pound.
“What took you so long?” I ask.
Payton rolls his eyes. “Just get in the car.”
Lucy and I climb into the bed of the truck, and I knock the top of the roof, telling the boys to get going shortly after they slam the door. Payton starts the engine, and then we’re squealing out into the night, taking the back roads out of town, our enthusiasm palpable.
I lean over the side of the truck, letting my long white-blonde hair fly wildly around me. Part of me wishes that I’d chosen a different outfit for a night spent with the humans. Our people tended to stick to wearing a lot of leather and fur, being natural-born hunters and all, so my current outfit wasn’t exactly nightclub trendy. I wore brown leather pants that were so well-worn that they were soft as butter against my skin. My top was my favorite style, a leather vest, backless, strung together by leather cords of string.
My dad hated this outfit. My brothers threatened to burn it.
I smile into the wind. So maybe it wasn’t human club appropriate, but hopefully that meant it was sexy.
“Did you see that?”
I turn to face Lucy. She’s staring out at the woods, concern on her face.
My gaze moves to the trees that whip by. “I don’t see anything.”
She runs a hand nervously through those amazing dark curls of hers. “I thought I saw a bear.”
I stiffen. Seeing a bear was usually a good sign. But on Walpurgisnacht, it was sometimes a warning. A warning of death to come.
“Do you want to go back?”
The air seems to fly around us, and my best friend’s gaze meets mine. For a second the world fades away around us, and it’s just us. Whatever she decides now, I’ll do. Berserkers trust their gut, and I trust Lucy’s instincts as much as I trust my own.
And then she smiles. “It was probably nothing. Just a shadow.”
“You sure?”
She laughs. “The spirits always love to mess with us.”
I smile and lean back against the side of the truck, feeling the tension in my body ease. She was right. The damned spirits would try to ruin our night of fun.
She kicks the bottom of my foot. “Did you talk to your dad about spending a couple weeks traveling before real life begins?”
I sigh and let my head fall back, drinking in the light of the full moon above us and the sea of stars. My father was Lord of the Winter Berserkers. He expected me to help lead the people of our town. He expected me to represent our family well at all times. When I spoke about leaving, even for a little while, his knee-jerk reaction was to say no. I had long ago accepted that he was worried I wouldn’t come back. He didn’t understand that I wanted to see the world, but that the Winter Woods would always be my home.
“Earth to Kiera!”
I laugh and look back at her. “Not yet, but I will.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She claps her hands together, her dimples appearing. In that moment, she reminds me of when she was a little girl. Before she threw out her dresses and started spinning her swords. “We’re going to see the ocean! And surfers! We’re going to climb mountain tops, and fuck hot boys.”
I laugh. “And more.”
“And more,” she repeats.
And, I swear, this night can’t get any better. It’s…perfect. The end of one chapter in our lives and the beginning of so much more.
It takes us about thirty minutes to reach the human town. Winter Bend isn’t exactly a big city, but there were two clubs and three bars open late at night, and the humans tended to drink enough not to ask too many questions about the strange people that came down every so often from the Winter Woods, all with a matching symbol burned into their arms.
Not that they know the symbol is an ancient one, burned into every berserker at the age of sixteen. When people ask about it, we just distract them from the topic. Even though they probably thought it meant we were some kind of fucking cult.
After driving along the outside of our favorite club, we find it packed and have to circle around and park in the back. I leap from the car in one smooth motion, giddy with excitement, before Lucy climbs down and kicks my shoe lightly.
“Humans don’t leap from cars like the hulk,” she scolds me.
I lean closer. “Humans don’t talk about humans like they aren’t humans either,” I joke.
She smirks, and the boys climb out of the car and look at us.
Keith wiggles his brows. “What should we do first?”
“Dance!” I shout, then amend my answer. “Drink a ton, then dance.”
He grins like a fool and holds out his arm. “My lady.”
“Good sir,” I say, tilting my imaginary hat to him and taking his arm.
And just like that, the four of us saunter up to the club like we have a dozen times before. The bouncer takes one look at Lucy and I, then gestures for us to go right on in. I toss my white-blonde hair over my shoulder, trying to look all hot and badass, and then we walk, our super cool walk, right on inside.
Two guys send drinks my way before I even get the chance to order. I share them with my friends, then grab the shots we ordered and down those too. By the time we do a second shot, we’re all pretty damned wasted. You’d think with how much we ate, and how great our metabolisms were, that we’d handle alcohol well.
It's the opposite though. We’re freaking light weights.
Suddenly some asshole crashes into Keith, then hits on me. Keith’s smile fades and he gives the guy his “don’t mess with me” look. Every single berserker knows better than to push us when we are mad. We were taught from an early age about meditating, breathing deeply, and walking away. But the human pokes his finger at Keith, and there’s one god damn second when the music melts away, and I swear Keith’s muscles start to swell.
And then Lucy presses herself against him, and his size seems to deflate in an instant.
“Come on,” I tell them. “Let’s get some air on the balcony.”
We hurry outside, and for the millionth time in my life I try not to be annoyed that the guys around us seem to go berserk at the drop of a hat. Yeah, maybe I’m not very sympathetic, but having five older brothers means that I am forever reminding them to go meditate, practice their breathing, or take a break.
And sometimes a girl just wants to h
ave fun.
As we push through the crowd to reach the balcony outside, a man slams into me, and I have to turn to avoid the half a dozen tall men that follow after him. Some instinct in the back of my mind, a weird prickling of the hairs at my neck, makes me pause and watch them as they start to blend into the crowd. There was something about the men…something not human.
Yeah, we have vampires, shifters, demons, and even the occasional fae that make their way through this town, a pit stop before they get to a big city, but something about those men set me on edge. There was just something off about them.
And the more I stared after them, the more I was sure of it…they weren’t human.
“Kiera?”
I look back at Keith. “Did you see those guys?”
He frowns. “There’s a lot of guys.”
Turning around, I see that the strange group of men is gone from view. And yet, the lingering feeling that something’s wrong remains. It’s probably just Walpurgisnacht and the damn spirits, I tell myself.
“You coming?” I hear Lucy say behind me.
I shake off the weird feeling and go to enjoy life with my friends. They salute my graduation. Lucy grumbles about how she has another year of schooling, and the boys cheers themselves for finishing last year and still managing to maintain their social lives.
All and all, we sit at our table, with the night’s temperature perfect beyond words, and the scents of the city and the forest around us. I smile so much my face hurts, and when Lucy heads for the bathroom, I lean in conspiratorially with the guys and finally ask Keith if he has a thing for her.
Untamed- House of Berserkers Page 1
