In fact, his eyes are focused on me and me alone, as if that open wound is nothing more than a bug bite.
Which is creepy enough, but then FJ does the same thing, coming to stand beside his brother. They both stare at me, their combined gazes making my skin feel like it’s on fire. Even my wolf is crouched back in fear now, not nearly as curious as she was on top of that operating table with Olafr.
“We would talk to this she-wolf now,” the new wolf announces, without taking his eyes off me. “Alone.”
He says this very calmly, but nothing about this situation feels calm. Especially since one of them is still completely naked.
“Yeah, that’s a pass for me,” I say, slowly moving towards the door. I’d run if it were up to my human, who prefers her scary shifters on an LCD-screen where she can easily press pause if the fighting gets too intense—or if she has to, like, go to the bathroom.
But my wolf is telling me this would be a very bad idea. That if I run or make any sudden moves, at least one of these big-ass guys is coming after me.
Also, Cousin Alisha says, “Tee, don’t,” under her breath. “Running will only make it worse. Let me handle this.”
Then she comes to stand a little in front of me and says with her usual brand of Team She-Wolf, “Boys, you are out of your wolf-ass minds if you think I’m going to leave you alone with my cousin.”
But unlike her sons, who I’ve seen her quell with nothing but a look, this new wolf doesn’t seem the least bit intimidated.
“Aunt Alisha, we are boys no longer,” he says. And my veins fill with icy fear because his voice somehow manages to sound both respectful and threatening at the same time. “I am five-and-thirty winters. My brother is two-and-thirty. We would talk with our she-wolf now. After she is made to understand what happens here, then will I meet with you about the siege that has befallen our land.”
His words stop me in my “edging the hell out of here” tracks.
“What do you mean ‘our’?” I ask at the same time Alisha’s asks, “What siege?”
16
C razily enough , the new Viking decides to answer my question first.
“My brother and I have both to this land traveled to make union with our fated mate,” he tells me, his gray eyes burning into mine. “And we both knew you to be ours as soon as our eyes upon you lay. And so will we both give you claim.”
My mouth drops open because he explains this to me like we’re talking about a simple platform upgrade and not a completely new game. One in which both he and his wolf-bound brother are my fated mates…and will therefore be sharing me.
“Whoa! Well, um…” Rafe clears his throat and puts a hand on Alisha’s shoulder. “Stay calm,” he says to her in a low voice. “We’ll get this figured out.”
Of course, Alisha ignores him.
“Okay, are you kidding me!?” she all but shouts at the new wolf. “With all due respect, FJ, that ain’t going to fly here. I lived in Norway and I never saw anything like what you’re talking about go down—”
“With respect to you and your fenrir, Aunt Alisha, you were in our land but four summers. You know not that of which you speak,” FJ responds evenly, his eyes still glued to me. “In our land, if two warriors give claim for one she-wolf’s hand, they fight. However, if bonded brothers or fast friends give claim, they may both take the she-wolf to mate.”
Aaaaand …cue me sliding even closer to the door.
Alisha, however, shifts from avenging she-wolf into academic mode in less than a nano-second, pinching her chin and saying, “Really? I didn’t know that. I mean, I’ve read about a few ancient societies with that rule, especially during times when she-wolves were in low supply, but I didn’t realize the Viking wolves allowed it. How did it work when the she-wolf went into heat? Did the bonded brothers, or ‘fast friends’ as you called them, take turns? Like, one claimed her for the first heat and
Which is creepy enough, but then FJ does the same thing, coming to stand beside his brother. They both stare at me, their combined gazes making my skin feel like it’s on fire. Even my wolf is crouched back in fear now, not nearly as curious as she was on top of that operating table with Olafr.
“We would talk to this she-wolf now,” the new wolf announces, without taking his eyes off me. “Alone.”
He says this very calmly, but nothing about this situation feels calm. Especially since one of them is still completely naked.
“Yeah, that’s a pass for me,” I say, slowly moving towards the door. I’d run if it were up to my human, who prefers her scary shifters on an LCD-screen where she can easily press pause if the fighting gets too intense—or if she has to, like, go to the bathroom.
But my wolf is telling me this would be a very bad idea. That if I run or make any sudden moves, at least one of these big-ass guys is coming after me.
Also, Cousin Alisha says, “Tee, don’t,” under her breath. “Running will only make it worse. Let me handle this.”
Then she comes to stand a little in front of me and says with her usual brand of Team She-Wolf, “Boys, you are out of your wolf-ass minds if you think I’m going to leave you alone with my cousin.”
But unlike her sons, who I’ve seen her quell with nothing but a look, this new wolf doesn’t seem the least bit intimidated.
“Aunt Alisha, we are boys no longer,” he says. And my veins fill with icy fear because his voice somehow manages to sound both respectful and threatening at the same time. “I am five-and-thirty winters. My brother is two-and-thirty. We would talk with our she-wolf now. After she is made to understand what happens here, then will I meet with you about the siege that has befallen our land.”
His words stop me in my “edging the hell out of here” tracks.
“What do you mean ‘our’?” I ask at the same time Alisha’s asks, “What siege?”
16
C razily enough , the new Viking decides to answer my question first.
“My brother and I have both to this land traveled to make union with our fated mate,” he tells me, his gray eyes burning into mine. “And we both knew you to be ours as soon as our eyes upon you lay. And so will we both give you claim.”
My mouth drops open because he explains this to me like we’re talking about a simple platform upgrade and not a completely new game. One in which both he and his wolf-bound brother are my fated mates…and will therefore be sharing me.
“Whoa! Well, um…” Rafe clears his throat and puts a hand on Alisha’s shoulder. “Stay calm,” he says to her in a low voice. “We’ll get this figured out.”
Of course, Alisha ignores him.
“Okay, are you kidding me!?” she all but shouts at the new wolf. “With all due respect, FJ, that ain’t going to fly here. I lived in Norway and I never saw anything like what you’re talking about go down—”
“With respect to you and your fenrir, Aunt Alisha, you were in our land but four summers. You know not that of which you speak,” FJ responds evenly, his eyes still glued to me. “In our land, if two warriors give claim for one she-wolf’s hand, they fight. However, if bonded brothers or fast friends give claim, they may both take the she-wolf to mate.”
Aaaaand …cue me sliding even closer to the door.
Alisha, however, shifts from avenging she-wolf into academic mode in less than a nano-second, pinching her chin and saying, “Really? I didn’t know that. I mean, I’ve read about a few ancient societies with that rule, especially during times when she-wolves were in low supply, but I didn’t realize the Viking wolves allowed it. How did it work when the she-wolf went into heat? Did the bonded brothers, or ‘fast friends’ as you called them, take turns? Like, one claimed her for the first heat and
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