Weaving Fate (The Omega Prophecy Book 2)

by Nora Ash

  “Thank you,” I gushed before either of my alpha companions could ruin Heimdall’s goodwill with more posturing. “A million times thank you, Great Guardian. You have done for us what no one else could.”

  Heimdall bowed his head in acknowledgement of my flattery and opened the port to its full width. As he turned, he slipped his hand to my hip.

  “Come, little human. The splendor of Bifrost awaits.”

  Bifrost was indeed splendid. Heimdall’s boasting about how he could see "one hundred leagues," however far that was, and hear the grass grow, and how the big horn—named Gjallarhorn, because of course his trumpet had a name—atop the tower would sound through all the realms when the Jotunns approached… was less splendid.

  But I kind of had it coming, given how I’d buttered him up, so I smiled and fawned as he let us through to the great rainbow bridge, where I promptly lost the ability to care about the god by my side.

  It was wide—at least sixty feet—and cut through the night with its bright ribbons of color. But where from the ground it had looked like it curved against the night sky, from its glowing foot it arched into the celestial sphere itself. Stars twinkled in the distance, and where the bridge dipped from view, a swirling galaxy embraced it.

  “Is that… the Milky Way?” I breathed.

  “That is what you humans have named it, yes,” Heimdall said, pulling me closer to his strong body. “This bridge is not without its dangers for one such as you, little omega. Perchance you might stay behind while your companions carry out their task? I shall offer to be your caretaker myself while they are away, if you so desire.”

  Alphas. I cringed, wetting my lips while I searched for a gentle letdown.

  “Sorry, the girl’s coming with us,” Bjarni said, snaking his huge hand around my waist and effectively yanking me from Heimdall’s grip and into his own. “Her mates have placed her in our care. Come along, Annabel. No time to waste on idle chitchat.”

  “Mates?” Heimdall’s obvious surprise made me surreptitiously push my braid out of the way, revealing both claiming marks on my neck as I offered him a final parting smile.

  “Plural?!”

  “Goodbye, Heimdall. And thank you again for your help.” I gave him a wave before Bjarni pulled me onto the bridge and away from the guardian, his arms wrapped possessively around me.

  I spent the first two hours of our trek on Bifrost staring openmouthed at the universe above, below, and around us. Stars shimmered in the inky blackness, planets swirling around them, colored in reds, blues, and grays.

  And through it all, Bifrost lit our way with its Technicolor beauty, allowing me to see the vastness gaping below our feet through its semi-transparency.

  It was the sort of experience no human could ever hope to have, and yet here I was, flanked by two gods as they walked me through the wonders of the universe.

  But even the beauty of Bifrost gets kind of monotonous after several hours of hiking.

  “How much longer? My legs are killing me, and I’m hungry.”

  I was fully aware how much I sounded like a petulant toddler. I also didn’t care. We’d been walking since forever, and though it was impossible to tell time in whichever dimension we were currently in, I knew it was edging into humans-should-be-sleeping o'clock.

  The ache in my chest intensified for every step, not yet as soul-breaking as when Magni had swept me through the portal, but that could easily change once we set foot in the human realm.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie,” Bjarni said, immediately coming to a halt as he eased his pack off one shoulder so he could reach into it. “I should have fed you after we fucked. Sometimes I forget you’re just a human and need a bit more care.”

  The sparkle in his eye as he handed me what looked like a cloth-wrapped sandwich told me that he thought he was complimenting me.

  I was too exhausted to complain about being called "just a human," so I took the offered food with a mumbled “thank you.” Compared to my two companions, my human shortcomings were becoming pretty clear. Neither alpha looked like they were the least bit tired from our long day—or in Bjarni’s case, the sex that’d definitely drained my muscles of energy, even as it had refilled my magic reserves.

  “We’re not stopping until we reach Midgard,” Modi said, and when I looked up at him, sandwich already halfway inside my mouth, he had a distinct no-nonsense frown on his face.

  “You insisted you come, and so come you will. I will not let you slow us down—my brother’s life is on the line, and in case you’ve forgotten, the Jotunns are marching on Asgard. I have duties back home, and I will not let a petulant omega slow down my return.” Modi placed his hands on his hips, widening his already intimidating span as he glowered down at me. “Get moving.”

  If I’d been alone with the redheaded god, I’m pretty certain my first instinct to his commanding presence would have been intense fear, followed by immediate obedience. But I wasn’t.

  Bjarni was a sweetheart, and a formidable fighter, and as much as my time with the Lokissons had been fraught with uncertainty and danger, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he’d back me against this haughty bastard any time. So instead of cowering at Modi’s words, I glared right back. And then I plopped down on my ass on Bifrost, crossed my legs, and took an enormous bite from the sandwich.

  The redhead’s pale skin turned blotchy and red with anger at my open challenge, his blue eyes narrowing to slits as I held his gaze. “Get. Up.”

  “The girl needs to eat,” Bjarni rumbled, his tone much more unconcerned than I’d expected in the face of Modi’s aggression. “And rest. She won’t be doing any magic tricks if she’s passed out from exhaustion.”

  Modi continued to stare at me, and I got the distinct impression he was considering if he could somehow use my magic while I was passed out. But then he sighed, and a jolt of victory fizzed in my gut when he bit out, “Fine.”

  What I wasn’t expecting was for him to grab me under my armpits the next second and swing me over his shoulder, the joint colliding with the singular bite of sandwich that’d made it into my stomach.

  “G-hngh—what!” I groan-yelped, narrowly catching the rest of my sandwich before it fell. “Let me down!”

  He locked his other arm across my hamstrings, keeping me from kicking him in the gut, and grunted, “Let’s go,” in Bjarni’s general direction.

  Fucking alphas! Always with the goddamn manhandling!

  “Seriously? What the fuck?” I snarled, beating at Modi’s back with my sandwich-free hand. “This is not rest! This is goddamn kidnapping! Put me down!”

  Modi ignored me, his strides long and steady. Bjarni fell in next to me, bag once again slung over his back, not looking the least bit upset about my current predicament.

  “Do something!” I snapped at him.

  “Like what? I’d be happy to carry you myself, if you’d like.” The gleam in his eyes as he let his gaze sweep over my upturned ass was decidedly lecherous. “But he is right—we have limited time, and this way, you get to rest.”

  I glared up at him. This was almost as bad as when Magni had dragged me up Verdandi’s mountain like a sack of potatoes.

  At least I was wearing pants this time. But I wasn’t the same woman anymore, either. I wasn’t a scared, helpless human girl lost in a strange land at the mercy of strangers. I had power. I had agency.

  I had goddamn dignity.

  Closing my eyes, I reached inside for the golden light, not entirely certain what I was going to do, but damn sure it was going to make Modi put me down instant-fucking-taneously.

  But before the shimmering magic so much as connected with my mind, a sharp zing zapped my ass, making me scream and drop my focus, my eyes popping open with a start.

  “Ow! What the hell?!” I shrieked, reaching back to rub at my sore rump. My muscles there spasmed as if they’d been electrocuted.

  “The next time you try to use your magic against me, little human, it’ll be significantly more painful
for you,” Modi gruffed, clenching my hamstring harder when I squirmed. “You may be touched by Fate, but I have centuries upon centuries of experience on you. And the blood of the thunder god in my veins.”

  He'd lightning-bolted my ass! He'd fucking lightning-bolted my ass!

  I hung over his shoulder in stunned silence for several seconds while the humiliation and sheer audacity sunk in. And then, just like that, whatever grip I’d had on myself despite everything that’d led to this moment vanished into thin air.

  “You goddamn piece of shit, I swear to fucking god, I’m gonna murder you!” I shrieked, throwing the sandwich at Bjarni’s stupid, laughing face before I started beating at Modi’s back with both fists

  Modi scoffed. And then he kept walking as if he didn’t have a furious human over his shoulders, not even flinching at my continued assault.

  Enraged, I screamed and swung at him until I didn’t have the energy any longer. But in the end, it didn’t do a thing except drain me of my already flagging strength.

  After a good half hour, I hung limply in his grip, exhausted and miserable, but resigned to my fate.

  “Are you quite done?” Modi’s haughty tone made me grit my teeth, but I didn’t have it in me to bite at him. Instead I remained silent.

  The air cracked somewhere close to my ass, the unmistakable sound of electricity sparking. “I asked: Are you done?”

  I gasped in a breath of air, eyes widening in outrage and shock. He wouldn’t!

  But yeah, he would. He’d already proven as much. And he’d thoroughly won the battle of wills that followed.

  Stupid goddam power-tripping alpha!

  “Yes.” I was going for terse, but my throat was raw from screaming, so it came out as a broken whisper.

  “Good.” He relaxed his hold on my hamstrings, only to pull on my legs so I slid down and into his arms, bridal-style.

  I blinked up at him, suspicious of the motives behind this more comfortable position, but he didn’t so much as look at me. Instead, he glanced at Bjarni.

  “Feed her.”

  Bjarni arched an eyebrow at the command, but his features softened when he looked at me. “You done throwing away perfectly good food?”

  I glared at him. He was so not forgiven for just standing by while Modi asserted his dominance over me.

  The blond giant cracked a half-smile and swung his backpack off one shoulder to rummage through it for more food. “How about I take that as a yes, hmm? Here you go, sweetie.”

  It was a sandwich identical to the one I’d tossed at him before. I ate it in silence, wincing with every swallow. He gave me a leather jug of water to wash it down with too, followed by a golden apple that turned out to be so sweet and delicious I couldn’t hold back a hum of appreciation at the first bite. Even my aching mate-bonds seemed slightly less painful while I ate it.

  “Is that…?” Modi began as he stared at the apple between my lips.

  “Mmhm,” he confirmed with a relaxed rumble.

  “She is mortal!” For the first time since he’d picked me up, Modi stopped, and abruptly so. His fury was palpable.

  “She’s the mate of gods,” Bjarni said with a shrug. “Do you wish for your brother to have a mortal lifespan?”

  Modi blinked, redness rising in his cheeks. “I… Of course not! But—they’re sacred!”

  Bjarni snorted. “Not that sacred. How do you think my brothers and I haven’t aged all these years we’ve been in exile?”

  The redheaded god stared at him. “Loki,” he whispered, his voice low and angry.

  “Mostly,” Bjarni agreed. “Idunn has a weakness for flattery.”

  “Idunn?” I croaked I remembered some of the more obscure texts I’d read on Norse mythology. “The goddess of youth? You gave me one of her apples? Am I… immortal?”

  “Well, you shouldn’t age, so long as you eat an apple once a year,” Bjarni said. “Idunn wasn’t sure about the effects on a human. Made me swear I’d never offer one to a human to find out. Of course, I didn’t give it to you specifically to find out what would happen.”

  He looked very pleased with himself, but I was still too busy processing having just eaten a fruit that would potentially keep me alive for eternity to praise him for his wit.

  Besides, if we didn’t manage to stop Ragnarök, no one was going to live for that much longer. Not even the gods.

  Eventually even the concept of immortality drifted to the back of my mind as exhaustion and the rocking motion of Modi’s gait lulled me to sleep.

  Ten

  Modi

  My kidneys still ached as we made our way off Bifrost and into Midgard, high on a windswept mountainside in the land I knew as Norge.

  Bjarni insisted we call it Norway, reminding me how Annabel spoke English and so should we when we were around her. I didn’t care enough to argue, even if a spiteful part of me wanted to take every opportunity to make the feral little omega as uncomfortable as possible.

  She wasn’t particularly strong, but during her tantrum as she hung over my shoulder screaming like a banshee, she’d had impeccable aim. I grimaced and shifted the sleeping girl in my arms, momentarily considering placing her back over my shoulder so I could rub my back where bruises from her tiny fists were undoubtedly blooming. But that would mean placing her sweetly perfumed nethers within scenting range once more.

  “Want me to take her?” Bjarni asked. “You’ve carried her for hours, and the trek down this mountain isn’t gonna be easy with this storm.”

  I glanced from the howling snowstorm around us to his bearded face already covered in flakes of snow, entertaining an errant thought that I should have let mine grow too.

  “No. You’re carrying our supplies. I’ll carry the human—at least until we find civilization.”

  Under normal circumstances I’d have suggested we make camp and wait out the storm, but this was Ragnarök. There would be no respite until the world had ended.

  For a moment the blond man’s eyes narrowed, his face growing taut as if he were going to protest. Surprisingly anger rose in my gut, making me clutch the woman in my arms tighter without meaning to.

  We stood in silence for a long, drawn-out breath, until finally my brain kicked back into gear as I realized what the Hel I was doing.

  Idiot!

  I practically thrust the sleeping female at Bjarni, ripping his weighty backpack off his shoulders in the same movement. She mumbled at the rough pass, moving weakly in protest, but the other alpha cooed and cuddled her in his arms as if she were an oversized baby until she settled down again.

  “Pass me one of the blankets,” he said, not looking up from her sleeping face. “I don’t want her to get cold while we descend.”

  This—this right here was why I’d never taken a mate.

  I dug out the blanket from the backpack and tossed it at Annabel, letting him figure out how to wrap her up himself.

  Weak and demanding as omegas were, the real problem with them was how they affected otherwise sane, battle-hardened warriors. I’d fought Bjarni more than once, and he was a formidable foe, powerful, strong, and commanding. Yet now he was fucking swaddling a grown-ass woman, doing his very best not to disturb her sleep, purring like some absurdly overgrown cat tending to his kitten.

  Not to mention how my own brother had lowered himself to mate a human and share her with our sworn enemies, all because of that sweet call from her cunt.

  Sure, he’d claimed it was about some noble quest to save our family, but the moment he introduced her, I knew the truth. She might be human, but her scent was ensnaring on a level unlike any omega I’d experienced before. I was as much an alpha as my stupid brother—I knew exactly what had drawn him to her, despite the ridiculousness of such a low match. I felt it tug on me too, that delicious urge to give in to primitive instincts interwoven with my very DNA.

  That was the danger of omegas—they could take a loyal, dedicated, honorable man and twist him until he was nothing but a slave to her cunt. />
  I’d seen firsthand what damage a honeyed snatch could do, and I was still young when I swore I’d never answer an omega’s call.

  I’d stuck to that oath right up until Magni needed me to protect his ill-gotten mate, and I would continue once I ensured she was safely by his side once more.

  Regardless of how much my muscles twitched at how Bjarni embraced her.

  It was only natural, I assured myself. She was my brother’s mate, and it was my task to protect her. Seeing her fondled by another alpha was bound to aggravate every defensive instinct in my body.

  “Doesn’t it bother you?” I asked as I began our descent, my voice more acrid than I’d planned. “Doting on a woman who doesn’t carry your mark?”

  “I’ll mark her soon enough,” Bjarni said with a shrug as he followed, his steps more careful now he was carrying the omega. “I’ve waited for her for a thousand years. She’s here now—why would I not care for her just because my claim has yet to mark her neck? She was mine from the moment she was born.”

  He sounded so completely at ease, as if there was nothing wrong with this entire, insane prophecy they were all yammering about. As if sharing a mate with his brothers—and my brother—wasn’t a problem at all.

  “And the fact that she already carries two mate claims is just fine and dandy? Or that on top of the alphas who’ve already taken her, she’ll happily welcome you and that cold brother of yours between her thighs, and who knows how many more?”

  I continued as I ducked under a fir branch laden with snow, holding it aside for him so he could pass without dropping Annabel. “It doesn’t strike you as a strange idea that Ragnarök itself, which was foretold before either of us were in existence, can be averted by a little human girl—so long as she ties five gods to her side? Not to mention no one has heard of this prophecy before now. Why are you blindly okay with this insanity?”

  He was quiet for a little while, and I wasn’t entirely sure if he was trying to control his temper or considering his answer.