Chapter 34

Kimble

Thyra sat with me for a long time and cried until she couldn’t. As for me—I didn’t know what to do. Finding people who belonged to you was strange. It was surreal and frustrating at the same time. I wanted to lash out at them for not protecting me, for being missing from my life when I wanted them the most, for Ayla giving me nightmares at every turn, and for not finding me earlier. But a feeling of belonging to someone, belonging to a family, bloomed like a flower in my chest.

An intimate but weak thread of love sprang to life, like something inside me was acknowledging the bond.

Thyra went to her room and showed me other photographs, toys, and tiny clothes that I used to wear. She had kept them safely tucked in her room. “Whenever I missed you, I used to embrace them,” she said with a fond smile. I was so moved that I couldn’t help crying silently. Alpha Frode came in, and I don’t know when, but the conversation turned casual and jovial. Except for Vandil, all my brothers came to my room in the morning with enough food for a picnic, and ended up making me eat lots of it.

“Can you call me mom?” Thyra asked, as everyone looked at me expectantly.

I nodded. “Yes…”

Thyra hugged me tightly as Alpha Frode came and wrapped his arms around both of us. To my surprise, my brothers also came over and piled on, crushing me in the middle. Goddess. Was this how siblings behaved?

My brothers left my room promising that they would take me out in the evening to meet some other pack members. But I was afraid. I didn’t have a wolf. I was an abomination.

‘No you’re not,’ a voice hissed inside me, making me squeak in fear. The voice subsided as soon as it came. It was probably my imagination.

My thoughts returned to Talon. What was he doing? Was he looking for me? I needed to call him, to listen to his voice just once. Did he think I had betrayed him? My heart thundered at the idea. It was a bitter feeling. Just when I was going out to search for a phone to call him, I saw Vandil coming to me with rage written all over his face.

“Talon’s here!” he hissed. “His warriors have surrounded the Viking pack, and he’s demanding you be returned to him by dawn, otherwise he will attack us!”

“Talon’s here?” Goosebumps prickled my skin as excitement and joy made me dizzy. “Where is he?” I started running toward the main door, but Vandil seized my upper arm and pulled me back.

“You won’t go to him!” he snarled. “He’s going to kill all of us whether you go to him or not. With you here, we’re still safe! There are thousands of werewolves surrounding our pack. But understand, Ylva, we’re going to fight every last one of them and die protecting our fortress.”

“Are you insane?” I shouted. “Talon won’t attack you if you return me to him. He wants me.”

“Oh, please!” Vandil scoffed. “Talon’s pissed off because I kidnapped you. You think he’ll spare any of us? He’s so fucking furious that he won’t listen to anyone, including you! He’s after me and Jackie.”

“No, you’re wrong,” I cried. But doubt crawled into my mind. Talon was the fiercest, most ruthless, and strongest werewolf. He could annihilate my entire family easily. My newfound family. “Just let me go and talk to him,” I requested.

“Shut up!” Vandil growled and dragged me back to my room. He shoved me inside and closed the door. “You’re staying in this room. Don’t you dare come out.” He locked the room from the outside.

I pounded the door with my fists. “Vandil!” I shouted. “Don’t be crazy. Let me out!” But the only response I heard was his fading footsteps.

This was plain stupidity. I wanted to talk to Talon, be near him, feel his body’s warmth. I’d never felt this desperate in all my life. Anxiety swarmed inside me like an angry hive of bees. “Thyra!” I shouted. “Please let me out!” But there was so much commotion on the outside that no one could hear me. I battered the door, hoping someone would hear, but everyone must have gone to face the enemy. The enemy which wouldn’t be an enemy, if only they’d let me out.

I slid down the door, sitting on the floor as a loud sob escaped me. Why was I so weak?

The commotion on the outside got louder, and panic rippled through me in waves. I wanted to get out and see Talon before he killed everyone in the Viking pack. Why was my brother so stubborn? Couldn’t he see reason?

Suddenly, the door opened and I was pushed aside. “Jackie?” I said in a raspy voice. “What are you doing here?”

She placed her finger on her lips as she closed the door. Her face was covered in sweat and she looked frightened. Then she whispered, “I’m here against Vandil’s orders. He wanted me to stay in the room, but as soon as he left to meet Talon, I rushed to you.”

“You’re Vandil’s mate!” I squeaked, surprised as hell.

“Yes, I am. But we can talk about that some other time. Right now you have to come with me.”

“Where?” I asked, wary of her actions.

“To meet Talon, silly!”

My eyebrows shot to my hairline. “Are you mad?” I scolded her in a low voice. “Talon’s going to kill you the moment he sees you!” I didn’t know why, but the moment I saw Jackie, all my anger toward her vanished. It was like seeing an old friend.

“I don’t care,” she said, her eyes turning moist. “But I can’t let anything happen to Vandil. He’s my mate. I’ve just found him, and I can’t—” She blinked the tears from her eyes. “I can’t lose him. I love him madly, and I know why he’s gone out to face Talon. He’s certain Talon blames me for your abduction and Liam’s fiasco.” She grabbed my hands in hers. “Please, Kimble. Do it for him, if not for me. He’s your blood brother.”

I stared at her as the weight of her words fell on my shoulders. My blood brother. Her mate. Talon. On an impulse, I made a decision. “Do you know where Talon is? I mean which side of the pack’s territory?”

“Yes, he’s in the south,” she said, gasping when we heard the loud crash of a wall falling down.

“Fuck!” I knew Talon’s warriors had broken the south wall. “Okay, hear me out. Take me toward that side, and then stay back. I don’t want you to face Talon. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “But I want to be with Vandil!”

“No!” I snapped. “You’ll stay behind if you want this over quickly.”

Jackie was trembling so much that her teeth chattered. I could hear her loud heartbeat. “I’m scared, Kimble,” she said with a wobbly chin.

“I’m scared too,” I said, resting my forehead on hers. “This is so messed up!”

“Yeah!”

With Jackie, I sneaked out toward the corridor which led to the south exit. Alpha Frode, Luna Thyra, and my brothers were nowhere to be seen. They must have gone to fight Talon. Suddenly, I wanted to vomit. What if they attacked him all at once and killed him? My body shuddered in terror and I stifled a whimper. I silently prayed to the Goddess that if she let me see my mate, I was going to mark him with whatever human teeth I had.

“There!” Jackie pointed toward the exit. As soon as I opened the door, I saw numerous wolves fighting Talon’s warriors. It was complete mayhem. There was bloodshed everywhere. Wolves sank their teeth into each other while others were ripped limb from limb.

My insides twisted. Talon’s army had breached the pack’s territory and they were nearing the manor. I knew he wouldn’t stop until he found me. And vice versa.

“Talon!” I shouted. “Talon!”

A menacing growl erupted from somewhere. The wolves stopped fighting. Another menacing roar erupted, making me shiver all the way down to my toes. That was Talon. I couldn’t stop myself and started running toward the source of the roar. However, I hadn’t gone even thirty feet when a powerful hand grabbed me and pulled me back. The force was so strong that I reeled and stumbled, falling on the ground.

“Vandil!” I retorted when I whipped my head round to see him. “Leave me alone!” Beside him, I saw my father and mother standing with their claws protruded, their clothes bloodied.

He hissed, “What did I tell you, Ylva? How did you manage to get out?”

“Leave me alone,” I shouted, struggling to get out of his grasp.

“Go back!” he yelled. “You’re—”

“If you don’t leave her alone now, I’ll make sure your body is ripped into pieces and thrown to the vultures!” Talon’s rough, jagged voice reached my ears. I turned to look at him, and my happiness had no bounds. He was looking feral with a murderous glint in his eyes. His chest was rising and falling as he took shallow breaths. His clothes were tattered with blood sprayed everywhere over his body. And, Goddess, even like this he looked beautiful. His eyes were trained on me, on the place where Vandil had grabbed me.

“Talon!” I said through a choked throat.

“If you want her, retreat!” Vandil growled, clasping me tighter.

“I’ll take her with me, and I’ll kill you and Jackie!” Talon responded with hatred. “However, if you don’t let her go, or if you so much as harm a hair on her body, I will unalive every damn Viking wolf.”

“No, Talon!” I pled. “This is all a misunderstanding!”

“This is your last chance, Talon!” Vandil raged. “Retreat, otherwise I’ll kill you, even if it means my death.”

How could this turn into such a disaster? I hated the way Vandil said he would kill Talon. He had a mate. Didn’t he know about the mate bond? Or was he protecting Jackie? I was between two extremely dangerous wolves.

No. No. No.

Something inside me pulsed, hating that Vandil would hurt Talon.

I felt it first as a restless energy thrumming beneath my skin—a sense that something wanted to break free. It was subtle at first, an itch I couldn’t scratch, a nervous tension building inside my muscles. My heartbeat quickened, and my senses started to sharpen. There was a tingling in my limbs, and my body temperature started to rise. A dull ache formed in my bones, one that quickly grew sharper, like a growing pressure that demanded release.

The change began suddenly, violently. Pain lashed through my body as my bones shifted and elongated. My muscles stretched, pulling at my skin. It felt as though every part of me was being torn apart and rebuilt, reshaped into something else. There was a moment of white-hot agony as my skull reshaped itself. My senses exploded and so did my body. Before I knew it, I was running toward Talon on all fours. I shouted his name but it came out as an animalistic growl. I lunged at him and he caught me in his arms, surprise written all over his face. “Talon, Talon, Talon!” I think I said his name but all I heard were growls. I wanted to kiss him, but saw my long tongue licking his face.

“Goddess!” he said in a raspy voice. “You’re a white wolf!”

Wolf? Hell, no. But then I realized I was wagging something behind my body. It must have been my imagination. I yelped as I writhed and turned and squirmed in his grasp, so happy that it made me giddy. Talon burst out laughing as he cuddled me and gathered me close to his chest, kissing my… snout?

“You are a werewolf!” he said excitedly. “Goddess above!”

I stopped licking him and my gaze landed on my… paws. I shrieked but it came out as a yelp. What the hell! I’d shifted? How was that possible? I writhed in Talon’s grasp, wanting to jump out, but he clutched me tightly. “I’m not letting you go anywhere, Kimble. You’re coming with me.” He lifted his eyes to Vandil, and said, “I’m taking my wife back with me to my camp, just outside your border. Come and talk to me before the sunrise because I can smell you all over her.”

With that, Talon peppered kisses on my wolf and turned to leave. His warriors surrounded us as he made his way to the camp. “My Kimble,” he said proudly as I lay quietly in his arms, licking at every opportunity.