Viking's Moon (Children of the Moon Book 6)

by Lucy Monroe

  Einar must have read Artair's expression correctly because he frowned in confusion. "You can't think to best him? Dag is my best warrior."

  "And you thought I was better placed with your unseasoned soldiers to train."

  Einar grimaced. "Clearly that was in error—"

  "Nay, poorly conceived, but not in error." Artair wanted to train these young soldiers. In a few years, he was confident he would have them besting even Dag.

  "I will not allow you to fight him," Einar said stubbornly.

  "On what grounds?" Artair asked curiously, but with no doubt to the outcome and let his tone say as much.

  "You are new to the holding, to the Pride."

  "But I am a member of the pride, your father, the jarl himself, has said so."

  "I am second only to the jarl and I forbid it."

  Artair smiled, but he knew it wasn't a very nice smile because his intended winced and even Dag looked a little worried. "Olaf, please go tell your jarl there is a matter of law only he can settle."

  "My father does not need to be bothered with this matter," Einar growled.

  "I disagree. If we do not settle it now, we will settle it before any mating ceremony takes place."

  "You would delay our mating?" Einar asked furiously.

  "To be sure that I go into it with the full protection of the laws of the pride, yes."

  "I am trying to protect you."

  "I concede you believe as much. I do not agree."

  "And if I do not allow you to be beaten into the ground by my second, you do not think I am allowing you to be protected by our laws?" Einar demanded with disbelief.

  "I am a soldier, not a craftsman, untrained in the art of war. I have killed." He gave Dag a look. "And I have faced adversaries a hell of a lot more intimidating than your second-in-command."

  "I will not stand the insult, Lord Einar. Your mate," the man spit out the word, "is right. Our laws dictate that as a full member of our holding and pride, he has the right to make a challenge and I have the right to accept that challenge."

  Einar puffed up his chest and opened his mouth to speak, but Artair forestalled him. "If you threaten him in any way or try to protect me by ordering him not to fight with all he has, I will not soon forgive you and I will never forget the insult."

  Einar stared at Artair, his mouth snapping shut. Hurt warred with worry in his gorgeous blue gaze, but he nodded. Just once. "So be it."

  He turned to walk away.

  "You will watch, mate. Despite all your prejudices and preconceived beliefs, you will believe in me. I will settle for no less."

  Einar spun to face him, his glare sulfuric. "You would ask me watch you get hurt when honor will not allow me to step in to save you?"

  "Nay. I demand you watch me wipe that superior smile right off your second's face."

  Artair's wolf was close to the surface and he wanted blood. He had been insulted not only by the Lynx they would fight, but by their mate.

  Artair would stop short of killing the other Chrechte in the challenge, but how short he was not sure. His wolf demanded retribution.

  "You said you never participated in position challenges back in your clan." Einar's confusion and worry was there for all to see.

  It was equal parts annoying and endearing. There could be no doubt in anyone's mind that Einar cared for his mate, but neither could they doubt that the tiger doubted his wolf's strength.

  And that Artair would not abide.

  "And I did not." He'd never had to fight for respect and he had not wanted position.

  He could sense the satisfaction his response had given to Dag. Which would make the man's defeat all the sweeter for Artair and his wolf.

  "You will trust me," Artair informed his mate, unwilling to accept any less.

  Theirs would be a mating of equals, or there would be no mating.

  "I do not want you hurt."

  "And I will not accept the place your second would relegate me to."

  "I should have challenged him on your behalf, at the first insult," Einar said as if he just now realized that showing solidarity with his mate might have been a better course of action than the one he took.

  But even so, Artair did not agree. "He would have learned nothing."

  "And you are so sure he will learn something from this challenge you are so intent on fighting in?"

  "There will be a lesson." For both his mate and Dag. "Whether he learns from it, only time will tell."

  Olaf laughed, along with some of the other soldiers, which gained them a glare from their current second-in-command. Other soldiers fidgeted with a nervousness he wasn't sure even they understood.

  But Artair's wolf would make them uneasy, even if they did not understand why.

  The beast was out for blood, more than Artair ever would be without the wolf's fury.

  The humans especially wouldn't understand the danger charging the air around them like lightening during a storm.

  "You realize that once you win this challenge, you will be my second, with all the responsibilities that entails."

  "What did you think taking me to be your mate would mean?" As he'd already reminded Einar, Artair was a soldier, not a craftsman.

  As Einar's mate, he could be nothing less than the man's second and one day, he would rule right beside Einar when Artair's mate became jarl.

  Understanding flashed in Einar's gaze, his blue eyes widening. He had not considered Artair's role beyond them becoming mates and making a family with Jorgen and Marie, but Einar was no ordinary pride member. He was in line to be alpha, and that truth defined Artair's future role as well.

  Artair would have been happy to wait to take his place as Einar's second, but Dag had challenged him and his place by Einar's side in all things. There would be no waiting now.

  Artair held back his annoyance at his mate's shortsightedness. It was on Artair not to shirk his own destiny, but it was entirely Einar's responsibility to support Artair as he and his wolf followed the path destiny had laid down before them.

  Einar stepped back, signaling to the rest of the soldiers to do likewise, creating a wall of men in a circle around them.

  Dag handed his sword to another kotrondmenskr soldier with an arrogant smile. Clearly, he believed that because of his size, he had the advantage in the more close-proximity fighting required with knives.

  Artair handed his sword to Einar without demur. Einar frowned, but took the weapon in silence.

  Finally, he was showing some confidence in Artair, or at least enough self-control not to express his doubt.

  Einar put his fist in the air. "This is a challenge for position. Winner will be the first to draw blood three times or force their opponent to yield. This is not a death match."

  The idea of fighting to the death for position considering how hard the kotrondmenskr found it to procreate, was abhorrent to Artair. And the expression of distaste on Dag's face said he felt the same, despite his foolish arrogance.

  Good. Artair did not want to have to kill one who was not his mortal enemy.

  Artair dropped into a fighting ready stance, remembering all that his laird and laird's second had taught him about fighting. As Olaf said, Artair had been taught to fight with subterfuge and the unexpected as much as with the skill of a sword, or knives.

  Dag tossed his knife back and forth between his hands, in a show of confidence.

  Artair effected a spinning kick that sent the knife sailing off toward the circle of onlookers on the next toss. He then tossed his own knife to stick in the dirt in front of Einar, a standing symbol of how little Artair himself feared the big Lynx warrior.

  Dag laughed as if Artair had done something very stupid and rushed him. Artair's wolf howled in glee inside him and he leapt and rolled right over the back of the attacking Norseman.

  Einar realized a few minutes into the fight that his mate was playing with Dag. Artair moved with blurring speed and such skill, Einar was not sure even he could best his mate withou
t shifting. But Artair made no move to end the fight quickly, as if he wanted all who witnessed to see that his skill in battle was no fluke, that the place of second-in-command, he would take, was earned.

  He did not need a knife to draw blood. A kick to Dag's jaw, left his mouth bleeding. Dag managed to draw blood by scratching down Artair's chest and Einar's tiger roared inside him, but Artair just laughed, swiping his fingers through his own blood and licking it. His eyes flashed amber, showing just how close to the surface his wolf was, but he did not shift.

  He could have. The humans in their clan knew of the Pride that lived among them, but Artair was following the intent of the law. Einar knew he would not shift unless Dag did first.

  And as fast and fierce as he knew his fellow warrior to be in his Lynx form, Einar was now convinced Artair's wolf was even more so.

  Dag was a superior fighter and he showed himself well, but Artair was better. Faster. More ruthless.

  It was clear that Einar's mate was not going for the easier way to win the fight by drawing blood three times. Artair would accept nothing less than Dag's submission.

  Dag tried his own blow to Artair's face with a hand adorned with the large silver rings they were wont to wear, but Artair ducked, laughed and moved so fast Einar nearly missed his mate delivering a blow to the other soldier's gonads.

  Dag shouted in pain, not doubling over, but not moving as quickly as he had been either.

  Artair laughed again, the sound filled with joy and a wolf's bloodlust.

  Atavistic chills ran up Einar's spine. In this moment, his mate was pure predator.

  "You fight like a cur!" Dag threw the insult out venomously.

  "And you fight like a man who does not know what it means to face a mortal enemy in battle. You think the Fearghall will stay in Scotland once they learn of your existence? You think they are the only enemies you must fear?"

  Artair glared all around the circle and even at Einar. "You take your safety for granted because of your isolation. When was the last time any in your pride or the humans you live among had to kill to protect what you hold dear?"

  It was true, there hadn't been a raiding party for several years. Haakon had dealt with the offenders before they could even reach Einar's father's settlement.

  "All Chrechte and those they live among are at risk in these days, or do you think your Seer's words are only for other packs and prides, not your own?" Artair asked with derision.

  Dag growled and leapt toward Artair, his desire to shut the Scotsman up obvious to all.

  But Artair was ready for him, using the bigger man's momentum to flip him and then land on his back, putting him in a hold that would choke the life out of Dag.

  Dag struggled, but Artair was much stronger than his smaller stature might imply, and he could not be shifted. Dag's face turned red.

  He looked like he was going to pass out, but Dag tapped the dirt three times, indicating he yielded.

  Artair released his hold, but suddenly his hand sprouted claws and he pressed them to Dag's jugular. "If I wanted your death, I could have had it many times over."

  Dag coughed, dragging in gasps of air, but nodded.

  Artair gave his own nod and then stood. "You are good soldiers, good fighters, and even better hunters, but you must start training to fight with intent."

  And then he looked first at Olaf, and then each of the other of the newer trainees. "I have chosen the men I will train, but as second I will spend time weekly with each of the groups." He turned in a circle, giving each of Einar's soldiers a chance to meet his gaze. "May Providence help you if you do not train seriously and with the knowledge war may come, because only divine intervention will save you from my wrath."

  Einar had never considered how lax they had become, training for battle more in sport than intent. The holding and Pride had relied on their asmundr and Einar. They had believed with an asmundr and a Siberian tiger protecting them, they were safe.

  He thought Artair had been right as well, when he accused them of growing complacent because of and the safety of their location.

  But the way Artair had just made sport of a superior fighter like Dag said much about the way they had to train in future.

  "Your enemies will not fight for sport, but to spill your blood." Artair said, indicating his thoughts ran side by side with Einar's. "It is time you remembered your fathers were Vikings."

  Einar was so proud of his mate, he wanted to grab him and kiss him, but wasn't sure that was the message Artair was trying to get across to his soldiers.

  Artair walked up to Einar, grabbed his knife from the dirt and carefully cleaned the blade on his kilt, then tucked it back in its small scabbard before taking his sword and placing it in the one across his back.

  Einar grabbed Artair's wrist and raised his arm. "My second, my mate!"

  A loud cheer went up, even Dag joined in.

  He and his mate were returning to the Long House later, when Einar remarked, "You said you never fought for position in your old clan."

  Einar's gaze dropped to Artair's plaid and wondered just how much loyalty remained to his former clan.

  Artair shrugged. "I never did. I did not care about position and frankly, I was a good trainer, but there were better, stronger, warriors more suited to the pack positions worth fighting for."

  "Dag is a formidable fighter."

  "He insulted me. He insulted my wolf. And he questioned our place at your side. With that provocation, there is no way he could win against me."

  "That is a position you consider worthy of fighting for?" Einar asked, liking the idea that his normally even-tempered mate would react so strongly.

  "Don't you?"

  "Ja." But Einar had no former mate and lifelong friendship to contend with.

  "You would fight for your place by my side?" Artair pressed.

  Einar growled with the deep rumble of his tiger at the very idea. "I would not allow it."

  "Nor would I."

  "You made that clear to all." Einar could not help the satisfaction that filled his voice at that knowledge.

  Artair smiled, but the happy expression soon slipped from his features. "You doubted my strength. I could not allow that either. My wolf wanted to come out so badly and teach you all a lesson."

  Einar had realized that, but he'd been surprised too. "Your wolf is much more vicious than I would have ever expected."

  " I am a wolf and you are my mate. In blood lust, a wolf is a formidable foe. Make no mistake, if the Fearghall make their way here, they will show no mercy."

  "We have grown complacent." It wouldn't thrill his father to hear Einar say so, but he would not lie to his mate.

  "It's living so isolated for so many generations. Few challenge you. The settlement on the other side of the island is more at risk."

  "It is better known for its tradable goods," Einar agreed.

  "But your father is prosperous, as are his people."

  "Destiny knew what she was doing when she brought you to me as my mate. Our Pride needs you."

  "And you, do you need me?" Artair asked.

  Einar stopped before they entered the longhouse and met his mate's beautiful golden-brown gaze. "I needed you most of all."

  "I think Jorgen and Marie need me even more. You're like to spoil them rotten without some tempering."

  "I am not the pa at risk of spoiling them." Artair had shown an instant affinity to the two small children, insisting on their moving into the jarl's longhouse that very night.

  "Yes, well, the jarl enjoys being a grandfather very much."

  Which completely ignored Einar's accusation, but he let his mate's change of direction for their conversation pass. "He has always been good with the Pride's children despite how harsh he can be with the adults." Einar asked the question he'd been putting off. "Are you ready for our mating tomorrow?"

  "I'm not sure…"

  Einar's stomach plummeted.

  "Do you see me as an equal now, or do I need t
o challenge you for my place beside you, too?" Artair's expression said that he would accept nothing but the full truth and that that truth was incredibly important.

  But Einar had not questioned his mate's place at his side. He did not understand the need for this question. "I never—"

  "It was your decision to put me with the most untried soldiers. You never wanted me to train at all."

  "My nature is to protect you," Einar acknowledged. "But that does not mean that I do not see you as my equal."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Can you have any doubt after the lesson you gave us all today?" Learning that his mate, a man who had made it clear he didn't care about position for position's sake, would fight so fiercely and so well for his place at Einar's side had been a welcome shock.

  "And?" Artair prompted. "Are you going to accept me fully as your second?"

  It was a fair question and deserved for Einar to think before he answered, which he did. Finally, he shared the truth that was in his heart. "It will always be a challenge to let you go into danger beside me, but I am not weak-willed. I will stand proudly beside you as you take your place."

  Artair's smile squeezed at Einar's heart while making his prick hard as stone. "Then I am ready for our mating tomorrow."

  #

  Artair had only been witness to a couple of matings between sacred mates, and none among the Paindeal of course.

  So, he had no idea what to expect.

  He asked the ancient Seer that evening, as the old man had decided to share the meal with them. Apparently, he dropped in for either the midday or evening meal several times in a sennight.

  Artair liked the irascible old man and found it amusing how the Seer and the jarl interacted. Einar treated the Seer with great respect and never pressed for more information than the old man was willing to give.

  Artair liked that too.

  "We will travel to the sacred cave as a Pride."

  "Where is your sacred cave?" Artair asked, not having run across any caves in his runs as a wolf.

  "It is a half day's walk north from here, toward the coast."

  Since theirs was a coastal community, most things were "toward" or "on" the coast.

  "Does the Pride stay the night in the caves as well?" He could not imagine them trying to walk back in the dark.