by Lee Savino
“I left because Rosalind did,” I blurted and paused to see how they’d react.
“Rosalind left first?” Vik cocked his head. Both warriors’ faces were blank.
“She did. She left in the middle of the night and I followed.”
“She left,” Vik repeated. He and Thorsteinn exchanged glances. I could see the doubt in their eyes.
Rage flashed through me. “Why should I tell you anything,” I hissed, “if you’re not going to believe any of it?”
“Rosalind was in the lodge with her sister Aspen. Reports say she and Aspen were close. Why did she leave her sister on a fool’s errand?”
“I don’t know.” I wilted a little. “I didn’t ask her.” I had been too busy trying to keep us alive.
“Whereas you spoke openly of leaving, of heading into the wilderness to make a living as a hunter. That was your plan even when you were back at the abbey.” Thorsteinn prodded me. “Is it not so?”
“It’s true,” I whispered. Everything about me spoke against what actually happened. No wonder everyone thought I was lying.
I had hoped Thorsteinn and Vik would at least try to believe me. But perhaps it was easier if they did not. I could protect Rosalind and keep the secret of what she’d done.
“You followed her off the mountain for three days. Why did finally you strike her?” Thorsteinn shook me when I remained silent. “Answer me!”
“Thorsteinn,” Vik cautioned, and the enraged warrior released me. I slumped forward, right into Vik’s arms.
“Sorrel—” he started.
A twig snapped at the entrance to the clearing and Thorsteinn whirled with a roar.
Ragnar appeared between the tall pines, his hands upraised to prove he brought no weapons. “The Alphas will see you now. They’re ready to pass sentence.”
Thorsteinn snarled. Vik rose, a steadying hand on my back. “We’re coming. Tell the Alphas we will bring her.”
Ragnar nodded and melted into the shadows.
Thorsteinn dropped to his knees before me. He drew up my chin with one claw-tipped finger.
“You will say nothing, do nothing. Look at no one. Do you understand?” When I only stared at him, his features rippled with the power of the Change. “You will submit to us. Say it. Promise you will submit.”
“Sorrel,” Vik said more patiently. “This is a matter of life or death. The pack is calling for your blood. You must do as we say, nothing more, nothing less. If you do not,” he shot an amused look at his seething warrior brother. “Thorsteinn will Change into a beast and challenge all of the Alphas. All will be lost.”
“Promise,” Thorsteinn barked.
I looked from warrior to warrior. Faces so familiar but now so distant.
“I promise.”
A small smile touched Vik’s lips. “Good girl.” His eyes flashed with his usual humor.
Thorsteinn still regarded me like the enemy. With a grunt, he rose to his feet and strode ahead. Vik planted himself behind me, propelling me forward with his hands on my shoulders. I went willingly until we reached the edge of the fire and angry warriors.
“Look at no one but Thorsteinn or me,” Vik reminded me. I fixed my eyes on Thorsteinn’s boots. It had been a long time since I had to pretend to be docile. I was never any good at it.
“Murderer,” a warrior hissed, and I flinched. Vik snarled at him.
When we reached the Alphas, I started to walk towards the sentencing stone, but Vik stopped me with his hands securely on my shoulders. Thorsteinn stood before and Vik behind, blocking me from the pack’s gaze.
“Thorsteinn, Vik,” the head Alpha greeted them. “You’ve returned.”
“Just in time,” the tattooed Alpha muttered.
“Where have you been?” another Alpha asked.
“We traveled far on patrol, almost to the cave of the Corpse King. We spent days eluding the clutches of the enemy while spying,” Vik answered.
“Why would you accept such a dangerous patrol and leave behind the one you claimed?” Samuel’s eyes were bright.
Thorsteinn shrugged. “We are experienced scouts, too valuable to keep home. That is why we both went.”
“And the accused spaewife is your mate?”
Vik’s hands squeezed on my shoulders. I did not understand his reassurance until Thorsteinn said, “No.”
A loud murmur went up from the waiting crowd. Warriors muttering, protesting, calling for my blood.
“Silence,” one of the Alphas roared again and again. “Silence!”
I stood frozen under the weight of Vik’s hands. Thorsteinn stared ahead, his face stern and unyielding as the rock of the mountain. I wished he would look at me.
Vik squeezed my tight shoulders again.
“Explain,” the Alpha called Samuel ordered. “You claimed this spaewife in front of the pack and promised to keep her from all harm. Why do you say she is not your mate?
“Because it’s true. We claimed her and hoped the bond would form. But it did not. And so, we left her at the lodge of unmated spaewives and went on patrol. It was clear she had not bonded. And now we know for sure. Sorrel was plotting all along to escape us. She pretended to be close to us so we would trust her. But as soon as she could, she ran. We believe she convinced Rosalind to go along with her, but they quarreled at the last. Perhaps Rosalind wanted to return, and Sorrel disagreed. The fight escalated and grew violent. Maybe they knew the Berserkers were tracking them, and Sorrel grew desperate and struck Rosalind down.”
Thorstein’s story hit me like a blow. They didn’t listen to a single word I said. They didn’t believe me. I swayed and would’ve fallen if Vik hadn’t tightened his hold on me. The warriors around me rumbled and beat their shields, crying for my punishment and death. Thorsteinn never looked my way.
Why are you saying this? I wanted to scream. Of all the Berserkers, I would’ve thought Thorsteinn and Vik would not think the worst of me. If they would not believe me, who would?
“We knew something was wrong, but we did not suspect this level of planning,” Vik added.
“Sorrel never bonded with us. We did all we could, but she never was truly ours. That is why we sent her to the home of unmated spaewives before we left for patrol.” Thorsteinn turned his head, and in an awful finality met my gaze. “Sorrel was never our mate.”
* * *
I don’t know what happened after that. The warriors shouted, the Alpha’s couldn’t keep order. The smoke rose up and choked me until I coughed, unsteady on my feet. My eyes stung and the world turned grey. I could no longer see the tall form of Thorsteinn, his broad arms crossed over his tattooed chest. Or Vik, rubbing his beard, no sign of his usual good humor.
Never our mate. Never our mate. The echo rose up with the hellish flames, drowning everything else out, stabbing me in the chest. I gasped against the pain.
“Take her away. Hold her until sentencing,” one of the Alphas ordered. Someone grasped the rope tying my arms and pulled me off the stone. The angry voices faded as I was tugged out of the clearing. I staggered and a hand came to my side.
“Easy,” a deep voice murmured. Vik. I jerked backwards, away from him. My body and soul were alive with pain, shredded by what they’d said. All the time in our home together. All the sweet moments I’d had with them. All the trust I’d given, pieces of my heart I’d sacrificed. In the span of one short speech, everything we’d given each other was destroyed.
You told them we weren’t mated, I wanted to scream. Why would you lie?
“Sorrel,” Vik started, but Thorsteinn raised a hand to silence him. “Not here.” Thorsteinn tugged on the rope binding my hands. “Come,” he said to me, but I planted my feet, glaring at him.
“Sorrel,” Thorsteinn’s tone when he said my name was nothing like Vik’s. The grey-eyed warrior matched my glare, his lips pressed together and heavy brows slanting down. “You will obey,” he growled.
No. I didn’t have to speak aloud for him to hear my answer. Power poured i
nto Thorsteinn’s gimlet glare and calcified, turning his eyes gold. Beside us, Vik sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.
There was a long pause. My stomach flip flopped but I held my ground. They knew how stubborn I was. It probably wasn’t wise to bait these warriors, but when had that ever stopped me?
Thorsteinn straightened. “Very well,” he ground out, his eyes glowing with uncanny light. “We do this the hard way.”
I stepped back as he crowded me, but didn’t get far before I was up, up, tossed over his shoulder with my stomach in my throat and hair in my face. Thorsteinn clapped a hand on my bottom and tightened his grip on my legs. I couldn’t kick and punching his back would do as much good as a pebble bouncing off a mountain face. I fisted my hands in his jerkin, hanging on as he strode down the path.
When I raised my head, Vik had a hand over his mouth as if smoothing his beard. His eyes crinkled as if he hid a smile. When he dropped his hand, his face was solemn, but he winked at me.
Thorsteinn picked up his pace. The dark settled over us as the warriors left the path and plunged into the forest, weaving through the trees.
I was tired and dizzy by the time Thorsteinn set me down at the base of the massive tree that held our home. Their home, I corrected myself. If I wasn’t their mate, I was no longer welcome.
I huddled on the ground as Vik climbed the footholds and tossed down the rope. Thorsteinn attached the rope to the basket I hadn’t seen since I first laid eyes on the tree.
* * *
Then
“What is this place?” I asked.
Vik grinned, flashing white teeth. “We call it ‘Yggdrasil’. The tree that holds the worlds.”
I squinted up at the giant ash. The canopy spread larger than the roof of any building I’d seen.
“He jests,” Thorsteinn shook his head. I was used to their rhythm. Vik joked, and Thorsteinn pretended to disapprove, keeping his smiles to himself. “The real ‘Yggdrasil’ is the tree of life, or the world tree. It holds the nine worlds, including Asgard, home of the gods.”
“There’s only one God,” I corrected automatically, and covered my mouth, horrified to hear the teachings of the nuns spilling out of my mouth.
“Really?” Vik cocked his head. “Is that what you believe?”
I gulped, but both Vik and Thorsteinn watched me closely, as if truly interested in what I had to say. It was stupid to argue with these warriors after all we’d been through, but I’d never been good at holding in my thoughts. I had the scars on my back to prove it.
“I don’t know what I believe.”
The warriors shrugged and went back to what they were doing, rigging some sort of rope system over one of the high branches. They’d nailed boards to the trunk, too. Thorsteinn climbed up and attached the rope to a basket hidden by the leaves.
The wind came and the tree tossed its green head, the canopy rustling like a thousand birds. High above us, nestled between the thickest branches, freshly hewn boards made a platform. When I backed up, the rest of the structure came into sight—a house, built from wood and thatch and lashed to the living tree.
When I thought of it, sawdust had littered the path leading to the ash.
“Did you build that?” I pointed.
Vik nodded. “Do you like it?” He took a handful of my hair and tugged playfully. “We thought you would, little squirrel.”
I swatted at him and he laughed. I shouldn’t be so comfortable with my captors, but Vik was easy to talk to, easy to like.
“I’m not a squirrel,” I mumbled.
“And yet you always seem to be climbing trees,” he said, amused.
Thorsteinn jumped down, holding the basket. It’s wide and deep, big enough to fit a small body. Like mine.
“Please,” I backed up, stopping when I run into Vik’s legs and looking up. “Do I have to ride in the basket? Can you teach me to climb instead?”
“You wish to climb?” Thorsteinn asked. Of the two warriors, he most intimidated me, but now his voice was gentle. He squatted before me, so tall our heads were almost level. For once, he’s looking up to me with his serious grey eyes.
I nodded.
“All right, little warrior. You may climb, if you go slowly and follow instruction. And—” he held out his hand and Vik passed him a free rope. “You must wear a harness. We’ve come too far and gone through too much to risk you falling now.”
I nodded again, resisting the urge to squirm or rub my leg. It was healed, the skin unscarred and unbroken, but I remembered the crack of bone, the blinding pain and bright blood slipping down my thigh.
Vik cleared his throat and I realized I had raised my hand to my shoulder, unconsciously rubbing the marked skin.
Thorsteinn’s brow furrowed as he lifted my makeshift jerkin to check the spot I rubbed. “Does it still hurt?”
The bite marks on my neck throbbed at the question, sensitive but not painful. Thorsteinn studied the mark, the skin smooth and healed, a red shiny weal the only evidence of the two warrior’s savagery. “No.”
Thorsteinn and Vik exchanged glances. There was a long pause while they seemed to communicate silently.
Finally, Thorsteinn rose.
“We’ll teach you to climb. First the rope.” He wrapped the long rope around me, looping it around my waist and over my shoulders and around my legs. I held still, breathless at his touch. When he was done his eyes were bright gold. He was affected too.
Vik joined us, running his hands over my body and testing the harness.
“You will follow our lead and do as we say,” Thorsteinn lectured me. He often gave the orders while Vik made the jokes.
Sure enough, as Thorsteinn frowned at his knots, Vik caught my eye and winked at me.
I hid a giggle as Thorsteinn straightened.
“Promise me, Sorrel.”
“I’ll be good. I promise.”
“Good girl.” The nerves in my belly lessened at his soft praise.
We faced the tree. Vik climbed the first rungs, pointing out the footholds as I watched. The bearded warrior was all seriousness.
Thorsteinn’s hands rested around my waist, holding me back until Vik finished his instruction.
“Ready?” his breath stirred my hair.
I swallowed. I’ve travelled with these warriors for days now. We’ve hiked and hidden from our enemies, ran and made camp in dark shelters. We’d gone through many perils and almost didn’t survive. They captured me and took me from my home but kept me safe.
Now we were safe in Berserker territory, and they showed no sign of letting me go. And a part of me didn’t want them too. With them, I had more freedom than I’d ever known. They were my captors, but treated me like an equal, a sister, a friend.
I didn’t understand how I felt about them.
“I’m ready.” I placed my hands on the holds above my head and waited for Thorsteinn to boost me up.
“Go slowly. Wait for Vik,” he went on ordering me.
“I will.” The less I argued, the more I obeyed, the more independence they allowed.
“Good girl.” He lifted me into place, and I clung to the tree trunk, pressing to the bark and gripping the holds like a squirrel.
“Sorrel,” Thorsteinn called and I twisted to meet his rare smile. For once he’d lost his stern look and his happy look did things to my insides I didn’t want to think about. “Welcome to your new home.”
* * *
Now
I shook my head at Thorsteinn as he drew near with the basket. “I will to climb up as I did before.”
Thorsteinn studied me. “Do you promise to obey my commands? Do as we say from now on?”
In answer, I just glared at him. I should promise and be done with it, but if they renounced me, what life did we have together?
“Very well,” Thorsteinn growled, and tossed me in. I thrashed but as soon as I found my feet, I was already aloft.
So, I was not to be trusted with a climb I’d made many times before.
I glared at the enclosure of woven rushes, wondering what they’d do if I wrenched myself up and threw myself to the ground. Probably leave me there for the night, broken bones at all.
So much had changed…
“Here we are,” Vik leaned over me, guiding the basket onto a sturdy wooden ledge. He’d climbed ahead as Thorsteinn had pulled me aloft. I peered over the side of the basket to the warrior far below, gripping the rope. Once the basket was secure high in the tree, Vik helped me out. “First things first.” His knife flashed and my bonds fell away.
I rubbed my sore wrists as Vik tossed the rope aside.
“Let me see,” He raised my wrist, grimacing at the chafed skin. “These should be healing.” The mating bond allowed me to share the Berserker healing power.
I stared at the raw wounds. First, they denied our bond, then they expected it to heal me.
As if understanding my thoughts, Vik tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “The bond worked, once.”
The spot between my shoulder and neck twinged, and I covered it with my hand.
“What bond?” I snapped. “You heard Thorsteinn. There is none.”
Vik frowned. “Thorsteinn said that for a reason.”
“What reason?”
“We’ll tell you,” Thorsteinn’s voice boomed through the tree lodge. He pulled himself onto the platform and drew up the rope ladder behind him. “But first you must answer our questions.”
He stalked towards me and my heart pounded faster. I wasn’t afraid of him—I’d never been afraid—but my body couldn’t help recoiling from him, falling into old roles. He the predator, me the prey.
“Why did you run, Sorrel?”
I pressed my lips together. Thorsteinn’s eyes sparked.
“Why would you leave the mountain? What reason could you possibly have?”
I looked to Vik for defense, but the bearded warrior stood back, face inscrutable, arms crossed over his chest as his warrior brother plowed on.
“Do you have any idea how it felt to learn you had run away?” In the darkness of what used to be our dwelling, I couldn’t make out Thorsteinn’s expression, but there was no mistaking the rage in his tone. “To know you were off the mountain, away from the boundaries that kept you safe. After all we had given you. After all we had done. Do you know how it feels,” he advanced on me, the floorboards shaking as he stomped to loom over me, “to know the woman you fought for, cared for, coddled and claimed had rejected your protection and run into the arms of the enemy?”
