Chapter Twelve Mist

A s I crested the hill, my heart leapt into my throat. Baldr was no longer lying motionless where I'd left him. Instead, he was sitting up, looking around with a dazed expression. Relief flooded through me at seeing him conscious, quickly followed by embarrassment as I realized I was still completely naked. I froze, unsure whether to call out or try to cover myself up. I wasn’t embarrassed by my body, but somehow flashing the man that I knew I had feelings for seemed a bit extreme. There were more subtle ways of getting his attention than waving my dick in his face.

Before I could decide on what to do, Baldr spotted me. His eyes went wide, a blush creeping across his cheeks. “M-Mist?” he called out, his voice hoarse. “Is that you?”

I felt my own face grow hot. “Uh, yeah. It's me. I, um... I found a river and decided to wash up.” I shifted awkwardly, trying to use my bundle of wet clothes to preserve what little dignity I had left. I was pretty sure he’d seen it all already now. “I wanted to bring some water back for you but I didn’t have anything to carry it in.”

Baldr stared at me for a long moment, his eyes wide. Then he quickly averted his gaze, looking down at the grass. “Oh, uh... that's okay. I'm just glad you're alright. I woke up and you were gone - I was worried.”

I felt a pang of guilt. “I'm sorry, I should have waited for you to wake up. I just... I didn't know how long you'd be out.”

I took a few steps closer, still trying to keep myself somewhat covered with my damp clothes. “How are you feeling? Your shoulder...”

Baldr glanced down at his bandaged shoulder, grimacing slightly. “It hurts, but I'll live. My werewolf healing has already got it sealed up. And the bullet went clean through, so at least we don't have to worry about digging it out.” He looked back up at me, his eyes inadvertently roaming over my body before settling back on my face. “Are you okay?” he asked, reaching up and lightly tracing the bruise on my cheek. “Tyr hit you pretty hard.”

“I’m fine,” I nodded, savoring the touch of his fingers against my skin. I wanted to lean into him, to let him touch me more. But that simple thought shot straight to my cock, and I had to hike up my wet clothes to hide my excitement. “I’ve had worse.”

“Well, now you don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Baldr smiled, pulling his hand away. “Tyr won’t ever lay a hand on you again. I’ll make sure of that.”

I smiled, still too focused on my dick to do much else. “Do you know where we are?” I asked, desperately trying to change the subject. “I thought maybe you teleported us to the southern hemisphere of the planet or something because of the season.”

Baldr’s smile faltered. “I… uh… didn’t teleport us anywhere.”

“But the portal…”

“That was a realm gate,” he said, anticipating my question. “And it was an emergency one. I have no idea where it took us.” He lifted a hand to shield his eyes as he looked skyward. “But I don’t mind the change of weather, that’s nice at least.”

“Realm gate?” I repeated. “What does that mean exactly?”

“It means we’re technically only about six feet from where your hut used to be. Just in a completely different dimension.”

I stared at him in utter confusion.

He just laughed. “So basically there are nine realms. They all sit in exactly the same place, stacked on top of one another. The one we live in, Midgard, is the mortal realm. That’s our home.” He looked around, taking in the scenery. “I can rule out a few of them just by the weather and the greenery. But that still leaves two or three possibilities.”

“Are we in danger?”

“Not at this moment,” Baldr answered honestly. “But in a few minutes or an hour? Maybe.”

I felt a chill run down my spine despite the warm sun on my skin. “What kind of dangers are we talking about?”

Baldr's expression turned serious. “It depends on which realm we're in. Could be anything from wild beasts to malevolent spirits to... well, gods themselves.”

My eyes widened. “Gods? Like the ones in the stories you read me?”

He nodded. “Yeah. My mother used to tell us her own stories about the other realms. Some are beautiful and peaceful, others are harsh and unforgiving. And in some, the gods of old still walk among mortals, doing whatever they please. Some of them can be helpful, while others are tricksters or terribly selfish.” He shook his head. “My brothers and I are actually named after them. Everyone with Alpha blood in the Hati and Skoll packs are.”

I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling very exposed and vulnerable. “Maybe we should find some shelter then and figure out our next move?”

“Good idea,” Baldr agreed. He started to push himself up, then winced, grabbing his injured shoulder.

Without thinking, I rushed to his side to help him, dropping my wet clothes in the grass. I worked my arm under his good shoulder, helping him to his feet. His knees shook as he stood and I suddenly recalled the reason he’d passed out in the first place. He’d spent all his energy creating the realm gate to save us. What he needed was a good meal and some rest.

But when I glanced over at him, I saw his eyes were trained on my half-hard cock. He swallowed hard, and I felt my cheeks start to burn in embarrassment.

“M-Maybe I should get dressed,” I said, unable to look him in the eye.

“Y-Yeah.” He stared for another long moment before he finally snapped out of it. “Yeah. Good idea.”

I retreated a short distance away, using the tall grass for cover as I pulled on my damp clothes. They clung uncomfortably to my skin, but it was better than being naked. At least with them on I could try to hide my excitement around Baldr, although I sorta felt like that cat had already been let out of the bag. Maybe I could just blame the breeze on my halfy? I wasn’t sure. Either way, once dressed, I made my way back to Baldr.

He was still on his feet thankfully, looking a bit unsteady but otherwise okay. His eyes scanned the horizon as if searching for something. “We should find shelter first,” he said. “And food. We have no idea how long we'll be stuck here and I need to get my strength back if I’m gonna heal the rest of the way. I’ll need at least a couple good meals before I can do any real magic again.”

I threw my own bag over my shoulder then leaned down to pick up Baldr’s. He held a hand out to take it, but I shook my head and put it on my other shoulder. He was in no condition to be carrying anything around right now. He could barely stand under his own weight to begin with. I glanced down to make sure we hadn’t missed anything in the grass and spotted his mother’s spellbook next to the indent where he’d been lying. I picked it up and turned it over, realizing part of it was missing.

“Oh no,” I said, holding it in my hands delicately like an injured bird. “What happened to your book?”

“Tyr…” he muttered, shaking his head. He reached out, taking the book from me and examining it. “He grabbed a hold of it as we went through the gate.” He turned it over, looking at the torn spine. “It looks like he got a good chunk of it too.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching out and placing a hand on his good shoulder. “I know it belonged to your mother.”

“It’s okay,” he replied, doing his best to give me a smile. “I’ll get it back when we get home. Now that you’re free and I’ve got this spellbook, it should be no problem to take it back from Tyr. Besides, I doubt he did more than toss it into the snow next to your shelter. It’s not like it’s any use to him. He’s not a witch and the one he had on call is dead.”

“Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For what?!” I scoffed. “For saving me you dummy!” I wrapped my arm around his waist, pointing us back the way I’d come from the river. “I’ve been trapped in that fucking bubble for years! You saved me from that, from that witch, and from Tyr. I owe you my life.”

“I don’t know about that…”

“I do,” I replied, not giving him a chance to argue. I felt a strong sense of protectiveness wash over me, my fingers tingling where I touched him. “And I’m gonna make sure Tyr never gets a chance to hurt you again. I’ll protect you.”

Baldr just looked up at me and I swore I could feel the affection radiating out from him. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Either way, the sensation was wonderful. Of course, we both knew he was the stronger of the two of us. Being a witch and a werewolf at the same time made him almost impossible to hurt in the first place. But somehow, Tyr had managed it. And I wasn’t gonna let it happen again. Not when now, standing here with my arm around him, I was more sure than ever how I felt about him. He was mine and even if we never became more than friends, I would make sure he stayed safe.

“Come on,” Baldr said at last. “Take me down to that river and then we’ll get under the trees. Hopefully we can find some food in the forest.”

I held him tighter, trying to lend him my strength as best I could. “Maybe you can sniff us out a wild pheasant or something.”

“Was that a dog joke?” Baldr asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“No?” I said, not really sure if I’d offended him. “I just thought… you know… werewolf nose and all, that you’d be good at finding wild game.”

“I’m not a Labrador Retriever,” he scoffed. A playful smile filled his face. “And I haven’t been trained for that sort of thing.”

“Bad at fetch?”

“Honestly? Yes.”

We just laughed, our arms around each other as we headed down the hill.