Bitten & Beholden (Children of Fenrir Book 2)

by Heather McCorkle

A slightly crooked smile tugged his lips up in one corner. “I get that a lot. No, English is not my first language. But I like to think my grasp of it is not that atrocious.”

  I shook my head. “Not at all. It’s impeccable, which is how I could tell. That and the lack of contractions.”

  He let out a short, humorless laugh. “Yes, well, contractions are the downfall of any language. They are often not even a combination of the proper words one means to speak.”

  So many more questions burned in my brain, too many. If I kept asking them, there was no way I’d be able to concentrate on driving. Hence the whole detour into the language subject. But that was all the small talk I could take. I allowed a tense silence to fill the Jeep. Well, tense for me. Ty leaned back into his seat and watched the scenery pass by. After a bit, his manner started to relax me, too. It was nice to drive with a guy who didn’t feel a need to talk, or worse, to critique my driving. The universe was clearly against me ignoring my libido. I mean, seriously, what kind of guy could be so charming while not doing or saying anything?

  Over four miles later, we pulled into a parking lot within a grouping of trees. Through the open window I smelled water—a lot of it. A few people milled about carrying various bags, couples and individuals mostly, all going about their normal lives as if nothing were amiss in the world. But then, I supposed nothing might be amiss in theirs. I was the one who was about to receive news I didn’t want to hear. No matter if it was something from a horror movie like I suspected, or simply that I would never see Raul again and miss my chance to pulverize his scrotum.

  I leaped from the Jeep, walked around the front of it, and stood with my arms crossed, tapping a foot on the sidewalk. It seemed to take Not-Raul an eternity to unfold his huge frame from the Jeep and join me. I didn’t want to think of him as Ty. The name made it more personal, and I didn’t want to get personal with this guy. Well, part of me did, but I was ignoring that part.

  He moved with an air of confidence that suggested he was a fighter: slow, steady, and aware of everything around him. Not good. Yet very sexy. Swallowing down my impatience and sex drive, I followed in silence as he started down a tree-lined sidewalk. Questions burned my mouth but I didn’t dare ask with all the people milling about us. Everything I had to say was going to sound crazy as hell and I didn’t want anyone to overhear. He’d been right about that. But it freaked me out that he thought the answers would sound crazy.

  “I am sorry we had to meet this way, Sonya.” They were the first words he had said to me since I’d stopped asking questions.

  That he knew my name was only slightly disturbing considering all the other disturbing things that had been happening to me lately.

  “Me too. So what happened to you that night? You said you were coming back; when you didn’t, I figured you were a delusion caused by whatever drug Raul slipped me.”

  Delusion, yeah, fantasy was more like it, of the Thor in clingy Under Armor variety. But I wasn’t about to say that. Why did this guy affect me so much?

  “The authorities took me in, thinking I was the one who had attacked you. I set them straight and came back for you,” he said.

  “But I never called the cops.”

  No one did. I was sure of it. If someone had I wouldn’t have lain on the bathroom floor for two days in a pool of my own blood.

  “Not your authorities. Mine,” he said.

  The hushed tone along with the way he looked away from me made it clear he didn’t mean the Montana State Police versus the Idaho State Police. No, he meant something else entirely, something that had to do with the fangs that sprang from my jaw every time I got pissed. Just thinking about it made my heart race as though it were trying to escape the truth. A huge part of me fantasized that he was with the DEA and was after Raul because of some wicked new psychotropic drug he was pedaling. That would make far more sense to my scientific mind, which was exactly why I knew that wasn’t it. Being raised by a dad who practiced Odinism, and a Cherokee mom who believed in the old ways, meant sense and logic weren’t places I often got to visit.

  The sound of moving water drained some of my tension away as we wound along a riverside dotted with trees. The further we walked, the more scarce people became. Whether it was due to the lack of people, or the shadows in which I could hide, the trees soothed me, eased my anxiety. Once we reached a part of the path void of others, I stopped and moved into Ty’s way. We were alone and I was done with all the eluding. Damn, but he was tall. And that chest looked really hard. My fingers wanted to dance across it. I had to step back and crane my neck to see his face.

  “Your authorities, Montana police, you mean? If the police knew about the attack, why didn’t anyone contact me?”

  Blond brows rose. “Those are the first questions you have for me?”

  My patience wore as thin as rice paper. “Yes.” It came out sounding like a growl, a growl that freaked me out more than a little.

  My gaze flicked to the nearest couple walking some distance away on the path. Maybe coming all the way out here with him had been a bad idea. I took a step back in the direction of the oncoming people.

  He held his hands up in surrender then leaned against the trunk of a tree. “As you suspect, the police do not know. I meant my kind’s authorities, not Montana’s. What Raul did to you broke our laws. He will stand trial for it. I was sent by them to be your kennari.”

  I swallowed hard and decided to go for the first tough question I could take. “What exactly did he do to me?”

  Guarded eyes shifted from the undulating green river to me. “What do you think he did to you?”

  One side of my top lip curled up, exposing the fangs that had sprung forth on an instinct that I could only assume was born of my anger and fear. “Don’t play games with me,” I snarled.

  His gaze didn’t waver from mine. “I am not. I need to know how much you are ready to accept so I know how fast to take your instruction.”

  So much was wrong with that. But the words confirmed my suspicions. I was going to have to sound like a crazy person and see where this led. “He bit me and it…changed me. I thought he had drugged me at first, but then…” I motioned to the fangs.

  The world started to sway a bit, growing fuzzy around the edges as it closed in around me. Tears stung my eyes, again, dammit. I couldn’t explain it away with science and that made me feel crazy, made my world feel crazy.

  “Look, I’m ready to hear it. I need to know what’s happening to me. It’s just all a bit insane, you know?” My voice broke, making me want to crawl into a hole and hide. I hated letting others see when I felt weak.

  “I know. I am sorry.”

  Suddenly Ty stood before me. His big arms wrapped around me, pulling me in against his chest. Going stiff, I held my breath. The warmth of his hard body soon melted through my resistance. Without meaning to, I relaxed against him, sinking into his arms and molding myself against his chest. The scents of sweet pine and an aloe glycerin soap enveloped me. The tide of my troubles receded. Somehow this stranger put me at ease in a way no one else ever had besides my dad. Something about him tugged at something inside me. I both loved and hated the feeling at the same time. After a long moment, I forced myself to pull away.

  The thoughtful, surprised look in his eyes suggested maybe he had felt the tug too. I lifted my chin and crossed my arms beneath my breasts. His left hand opened and for a second I thought he was going to reach out to me, but then his arm dropped to his side.

  “Aside from the fangs, your senses are also stronger—smell, hearing.”

  Though it wasn’t a question, I nodded. The fact that he went on while I was so obviously close to losing my shit made me like him even more. A guy that respected a lady’s wishes even if he didn’t agree with them couldn’t be all bad.

  “Did he tell you anything? Did he ask your permission?”

  In the shadows it was difficult to tell, but his expression looked serious, as though my answers held a lot of weight. Suddenl
y that weight pressed down on me as I realized the unfathomable depths of what I had gotten myself into. I had an overwhelming feeling that the world—mine in particular—was about to get far more complicated and interesting.

  I had to take a long breath that shuddered through my chest before I could go on. “Not much. He said he wanted to see the world, travel, and that I seemed like someone he could do it with. As for permission, why the hell would I give him permission to bite me? I’m not into that kinky shit.”

  Sighing, Ty ran his hand through his hair. “So he did not tell you anything about what the bite meant? He did not ask you if you wanted it?” The precise way he worded things told me the answer would be important.

  Blood scorched its way up to my face. Normally I wasn’t one to blush, but the flashback of Raul’s body pressed against mine, hands all over me as he asked me if I wanted it, was too much. Or maybe it was the hot mountain of a man standing next to me asking about it that really did it. I turned my own gaze out over the slow-moving water so I wouldn’t have to face him. The attraction to Ty was starting to bug me. Sure, Raul had left me far from satisfied, but I wasn’t one to drool after a man because he was hot as Hades.

  “No, he didn’t ask if he could bite me, or if I wanted him to. And he definitely didn’t say anything about what it would do to me.”

  A low, rumbling growl unlike anything I’d ever heard come from a human throat issued from Ty. The glow of the distant streetlights was barely enough to gleam off the edge of what I thought might be fangs exposed by his curled upper lip. Knees growing weak, I stumbled back heavily against a tree. Part of me wanted to get as far away from all this craziness—and Ty—as fast as I could, while a much bigger part wanted right back in his arms. Whatever was wrong with me, was wrong with Ty as well. It made me afraid of him and drawn to him at the same time. Hell, I was kidding myself and it was getting old.

  “That bite changed me into something, something both you and Raul are, didn’t it?” I asked. Voicing it made it hard to breathe. I became light-headed and things began to blur and sway.

  From behind a fringe of blond hair that reached below eyes filled with concern, Ty’s piercing blue gaze found me. He smiled, the hint of fangs gone save for a few pointy canines. “Yes, you are in the process of changing. You seem to be taking this rather well.”

  “Sure, if you consider being on the verge of a panic attack well.” My voice shook as much as I did. I sucked in a deep breath to give my brain some air so I could think. “I’ve seen a lot of things as a med student, some that couldn’t be explained away. And I’m not naive. I know even more exists in this world than I have seen with my own eyes.”

  The reality of that statement made it easier to breathe and stopped things from swaying a bit. Some part of me had always known there were worlds within worlds, things that couldn’t be explained away with logic. The self-preserving instinct in me made me hold my tongue about my dad. I didn’t know this guy from Raul, so there was no way I was going to tell him that my dad had told me stories about Viking werewolves my whole childhood. He didn’t need to know my dad had believed the stories, talked about Loki and his wolf-child Fenrir as if they were real. If Ty knew something about my dad, I wanted him to be the one to say it. I wasn’t about to give him any information about me he didn’t need.

  Ty made that low, rumbling sound again that vibrated through my core in a very pleasant way. “Hmm, wise and beautiful. No wonder he chose you.”

  Stifling the feeling both the rumble and his words awakened, I fought the impulse to turn away. Such feelings were what had gotten me into this mess in the first place. Well, not quite. With Raul it had been more about how terribly long it had been since I’d had sex. That and his slippery charms, if I was going to be completely honest with myself. I opened my mouth to ask my next question but promptly shut it when I heard footsteps on the bridge. A glance back toward the parking area revealed a couple stepping onto the bridge some fifty feet away.

  “Shall we walk over to the park where we can find more privacy?” Ty asked.

  With a nod, I shoved my fisted hands into my pockets to keep from looking like I was itching for a fight—which I was at this point—and followed him. What could I say? It was a defense mechanism of mine that reared its ugly head when I got stressed.

  The questions burning a hole through my tongue had to wait as we walked farther down the path and wove our way through couples and a few families. After walking beside a bend in the widening river, we veered off onto one of the paved paths that led deeper into the trees. Soon we were shrouded in shadows even the distant streetlamps didn’t reach. Ty stopped and sat down on a bench that looked out over the river, inviting me to sit beside him with a wave of his hand. Getting as far to the opposite end of it as I could, I sat, turning sideways with one leg pulled up partially beneath me. The position not only gave me a good view of his nice profile, but would help launch me to my feet faster should I need to run.

  “What do you mean ‘in the process,’ and what am I changing into?” I asked. The world started to close in again. Recognizing the signs this time, I took several deep breaths to stave off the tunnel vision that came before a panic attack. It worked, a little. The dark tunnel trying to close around me opened up.

  Even in the dim light I could see the calculating look in his eyes as they met my gaze. He stretched an arm up onto the back of the bench, fingers just barely brushing my shoulder. The light touch banished my panic far better than a few calculated breaths ever could. “Your DNA is changing; that takes time. You are changing into a varúlfur, but you will still be you, only enhanced.”

  “Wait, I’m changing into a…varúlfur? What is that, even?” Coming out of my throat it sounded like a completely different word.

  Half of his mouth quirked up into what I had to admit was a handsome grin. “Varúlfur, or in English…” He paused and stared hard at me before finishing. “A werewolf.”

  Though I had been expecting something like it, the words hit me like a hard slap. It explained the fangs, and it meant some of my dad’s old stories were true. I’d always written them off as the ramblings of an overly religious man. Head dropping into my hands, I leaned forward until my elbows rested on my knees. It was too much. Could my dad’s stories seriously have been true?

  It had never bothered him that I didn’t embrace his religion. He always said I’d understand someday. Was this what he’d meant? More than ever, I wished I could talk to him again. Tears began to drip between my fingers. Jeans brushed against steel as Ty slid over next to me. His arm came to rest on my shoulders, warm and heavy. He didn’t pull me in against his chest this time, but I wanted him to, oh how I wanted him to.

  That was twice tonight I had let a practical stranger see me weak. I leaped to my feet and began to pace before the bench.

  “That bastard. All the leading questions and conversation... Dammit!” It served me right for being attracted to a man with a fast car. Whether all this shit was true or not, and I wasn’t sure it was yet, that I had made a colossal mistake with Raul was clear.

  Spinning on Ty, I fixed him with a hard look. It might not be his fault, but he was the only one I had on hand to focus my anger on. “Why would he do this to me?”

  Sadness filled Ty’s eyes. “To make you his.”

  A feral-sounding growl tore from my throat, frightening me almost as much as the fangs that sprang forth. Now I really, really wanted to hurt this bastard. Moisture stung my eyes. I looked down before Ty could notice. Pinecones and goose droppings littered the sidewalk, but I was able to avoid them by mostly smell alone. This fact only disturbed me more. My mind searched for conditions and disorders that heightened senses, but everything I came up with was almost as improbable as becoming a werewolf. I kicked hard at one of the pinecones, sending it flying off into the night. It took a lot of deep breaths to get my fangs to go away.

  Fangs. Fucking hell.

  In mid-pace, I stopped before Ty. “I’m going to turn into
a monster on the full moon?”

  He shook his head. “You will still be who you are. If you are not a monster now, neither you nor your wolf self will be a monster. Forget the legends. Very little of them are true.”

  Resuming my pacing, I took a few strides to breathe before asking my next question. “So I won’t feel the overwhelming urge to eat people?”

  Laughter erupted from Ty, the deep kind that vibrated along muscles at my apex of my legs. “Gods, no. Can you imagine how bad humans must taste? With all the garbage they put into their bodies?”

  I was not convinced. “No overwhelming urge to feed every full moon? You’re sure?”

  “Do you have an eating disorder now?”

  “No,” I snapped.

  Was this a game to him? The touch of humor in his voice suggested it might be. Just when I thought this might all be some big joke, my teeth began to ache again. “What about these fangs growing every time I get mad?”

  He shrugged one broad shoulder. “Emotions evoke instincts in your wolf. You must simply learn to control them.”

  I ran a hand through my hair, forcing myself not to clutch at the long black locks and pull. It wasn’t easy. The struggle made me remember something he said. “You mentioned you were here to be my kennari. What does that mean?”

  “Roughly, it means teacher. I am here to help you through the verða—becoming—then to take you to Raul’s trial, if you wish to go.” The guarded tone in his voice made me stop and take a long, hard look at him.

  My mind spun with a million different thoughts, questions. Even though I had suspected such creatures existed for years, it was too much to take in, too impossible. “I take it there’s no cure.”

  “No.”

  Hands gripping my hair, I sat down on the bench—hard—and rested my elbows on my knees. “Of course there isn’t. Just my luck.”

  No tears would come, though it felt like I should lament the life stolen from me. Crying wasn’t working, so there was no point. Screaming…now that I really wanted to do, and was close to it.