Untamed- House of Berserkers

by Lacey Carter Andersen

  She moves to him and fixes his tie. “There, perfect.”

  “I thought you were going to send her in.”

  The secretary’s bottom lip sticks out and begins to tremble. “I remembered to hang up the phone.”

  He sighs and smacks her ass, hard. “It’s okay, sweetcheeks.” Then, he turns to me. “Kiera…why don’t you head into my office.”

  I climb to my feet and smooth down my clean clothes. I’m glad I had time to shower before being dragged here. My new outfit has tall, comfortable black boots. Black, luxurious leather pants that are soft and smooth, not that shiny, gross leather, hug my legs like a second skin. And my black tank top fits snuggly and dips low in the back.

  My second favorite outfit.

  I walk past them, my long blonde hair still damp and hanging down my back. Entering his office, I’m surprised by how bright the room is. Big windows look down at the courtyard and the massive fountain in the center. The room is decorated like it came out of a “Modern Stuff Today” magazine, with only black and white furniture and accessories.

  I frown. It doesn’t have a drop of fur, leather, or touches of earth colors. So basically, just the kind of place any berserker would hate. I sit down in a white chair that faces the big black desk, with a clear plastic chair. Out in the secretary’s room, I hear her giggle, and what sounds like him slapping her ass again.

  To say I found the whole “create a perfect secretary with big tits and a tiny waist thing” a little gross was an understatement. I only hoped that the golem had some kind of freewill. The thought of him using her like his own personal blow-up doll was creepy as hell.

  Dean Aero walks back into the room and closes the door behind him, then crosses the room and seats himself across from me. “So, Kiera, you’re better-looking than I imagined.”

  Definitely a creep.

  “Thanks,” I say, wrinkling my nose.

  “I’ve been reviewing your file and trying to decide if you were going to be some hulking man-like berserker. And I have to say, I find muscular women a bit disgusting.”

  You mean you’re intimidated by them, asshole. “How nice,” I say, biting back my desire to add, you tiny-dicked womanizer.

  “So then, let’s talk. Your file says they weren’t sure whether or not you killed a room full of vampires. Given your tiny stature, and your lack of muscles or magical abilities, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you weren’t responsible for what happened in that room.”

  My teeth clench together, and it takes me a minute to relax my jaw enough to speak. “I said I killed them, so I killed them.”

  His eyes narrow. “Are you…mixed?”

  “Mixed?”

  “A mutt of some sort.”

  I bristle. “I am Kiera. My father is Lord of the Winter Berserks, and my mother is Lady of the Winter Berserks.”

  He doesn’t look impressed. “So just a purebred Berserker. A female. A nothing.”

  “I am not a nothing,” hisses past my lips.

  “So then…you went berserk?”

  “I didn’t,” I lie.

  He leans forward, lowering his voice. “I need the truth from you, Kiera, and the truth might very well set you free.”

  I draw myself up taller, and notice the way his eyes go to my chest. “I am Kiera of the Winter Berserkers, and I’m dangerous, as a female berserker alone. I do not need to go berserk to be dangerous.”

  “And yet if you could go berserker, the House of Berserkers has a deal for you.”

  I say nothing, just stare.

  His voice lowers further. “I can expunge your record and send you out of here, today, if you agree to be the bride to King Maxen of the House of Berserkers. You would be the queen to all the berserkers. You would have unimaginable wealth and privilege…”

  I lift a brow, completely unimpressed. “You’re aware that the only one that calls that asshole “king” is Maxen himself and his followers. He might be the lord of the largest berserker house, but that doesn’t mean he’s our king.”

  He laughs. “Are you stupid, girl? I realize you come from the Winter Berserkers, and you guys have a whole thing about your independence, but surely even you realize that this is your get-out-of-jail free card. Right?”

  This guy is a moron if he thinks being the wife to that asshole is better than being here. I’d never met him before, but my father ranted about him after every council meeting. Maxen felt that his voice should count for more because he ruled over more berserkers. Some of the council members agreed. But many of the lords, like my father, didn’t want the bloodthirsty monster ruling any of them.

  I could only imagine how miserable the people in his lands were. I’d heard he ran things like a dictatorship. His word was law. And anyone who spoke up against him ended up dead.

  “Like I said, I didn’t go berserk,” I say, emphasizing each word.

  His eyes narrow. “You realize that surviving here isn’t guaranteed. And that berserkers almost never make it to the cullings.”

  Ah, yes. The cullings. An Enforcer had explained the basic details of the school on my ride here. Cullings happened almost at random at the school, while the big ones were at the end of each “term.” Certain students were evaluated. Those that were deemed reformed were set free. Those that were deemed incapable of reforming were killed.

  It sounded like a good time…

  “I’m not worried about it,” I lie.

  “Well, I guess if you don’t go berserk, you should be okay. But if you were lying to me…and you loose control here, well, that would pretty much sign your death certificate.”

  My heart races, and I actually feel my body start to swell for a horrifying moment before I push my fears and frustrations aside and gain control of myself again. “I understand,” I say, sounding breathless.

  He scowls at me and waves me away. “Go. Get out of my sight. Apparently, I have King Maxen to call.”

  I rise.

  His next words are soft. “But don’t be surprised if those that are loyal to him make things very hard for you around here.”

  Hell, did I really just make such a powerful enemy? I open my mouth to say more, but I glance out the window and stiffen. Near the fountain, the man who saved me is being dragged down the path by four men…shifters or berserkers, I couldn’t tell for sure.

  “Thanks,” I mumble, then rush out of the room.

  In the waiting room, the secretary leaps to her feet. “Do I need to call Henry to come get you, or do you know where to go?”

  “I got it,” I say, sprinting from the room.

  I rush down the hall, half-run down the stairs, and explode out of the building, glancing toward where I saw the man who saved me. But he’s no longer there. I try not to look suspicious as I jog after him. When I leave the courtyard, I see him and the four men turn a corner between a collection of small buildings.

  Rushing after them, I turn the corner and stop short. The alley just…ends.

  Where the hell did they go?

  I walk slowly around it, touching all the walls, touching all the stones. The only thing I can imagine is that there’s a secret room or a secret passageway, but I find nothing. When I circle back, my foot comes down on a gate. Frowning, I look down. It’s big enough for the giant berserkers to climb through. But is that the direction they went?

  Kneeling down, I lift the grate, and it easily opens on hinges. Hinges on a grate? That’s not normal.

  Below the grate, there’s just darkness and the sound of water dripping. I nibble my bottom lip. Dropping through some dark sewer grate is just the kind of thing I’d normally want to do, to follow some strange man who’d saved my life, but then Lucy was around to tell me not to be an idiot.

  I feel tears sting my eyes. Hell, every time I thought of her it felt like someone had punched me in the gut, but I couldn’t do anything to bring her back. But I could follow the guy who had saved me and make sure he wasn’t in trouble because of me.

  Taking a deep breath
, I let my muscles tense, then jump into the darkness below. For a second I’m simply falling into nothingness, and then I hit the ground, falling perfectly. Rising to my feet, I give a silent prayer of thanks for all my years of training, then peer into the darkness. For several long seconds I can’t make anything out, and then my eyes adjust.

  I’m in the center of a big tunnel. One way leads into shadows. The other way is lighted every so often by what I imagine is the outside light leaking in through the slits of grates. My ears strain to pick up any sounds. Anything that might tell me what way to go. But all I can make out is the slow dripping of water.

  And then I hear it. Low talking. Feet splashing through the couple of inches of water on the tunnel ground.

  Turning in the better-lit direction, I start walking. Completely unaware of what I’m walking into. Years of training means that even though I move through water, I mostly keep my feet from splashing. I wasn’t silent, but I was as close to silent as a person could be, creeping through a disgusting sewer tunnel.

  For a time, I just kept moving. Every time there is a divide ahead, I hesitate, listening until I hear a sound that I think might indicate people ahead. Slowly, the tunnels seem to open up. I’m able to step out of the water onto one of two concrete paths that line each side of the water. The tunnel curls downward. Less light reaches this part of the tunnels, but small red lights also begin to line the path, casting everything in an eerie scarlet glow.

  I’m so preoccupied trying to take in my surroundings, that when I hear a loud voice far too close up ahead, I only have a minute to flatten myself against the wall or risk being seen. Breathing hard, heart racing, I cling to the wall for far too long. Watching. Waiting. Wondering if the loud voice just a few feet in front of me, just around the next bend, will take a few steps back and find me.

  And I wonder what will happen if I’m seen.

  But slowly, the low talking begins again, and I listen as the steps continue once more. A light flashes on somewhere ahead of me, and I inch around the corner and peer ahead of us. It takes a long second for my eyes to adjust to the brightness again, but then I spot the men, including the berserker who had saved me. One of the men slides aside one of the concrete walls to reveal a hidden room beyond.

  I duck back, afraid one of them might turn and spot me, and count to ten before looking again.

  All the men are gone.

  Creeping forward, I reach where the concrete wall has been opened and peek inside.

  To my shock, I discover a massive room that screams of a guys’ hang out. Big televisions sit on nearly every wall, along with couches. One side of the room is set up like a gym, with weapons hanging off the walls. On the other side is a bar, complete with snacks.

  What the hell?

  The strange berserker who saved me is shoved into a chair that faces me. The other men take their seats on a big couch that faces him, their backs to me, and one man sits on a large chair across from the strange berserker.

  At last, the strange berserker sighs. “What do you want, Mario?”

  The dark-haired man in the chair across from him grins. “You know what I want.”

  He leans back, looking casual, even though I can sense the tension in his movements. “I’ve said everything I need to say.”

  Mario grins and reaches for a bottle of liquor on a small table next to him. He pours two glasses of the dark liquid and hands one to my bearded berserker. The berserker takes the drink, but I notice he waits to sip from it until Mario does.

  The other man smiles. “We just want to know the truth about the female.”

  “I already told you. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I got angry with the vampires and snapped.”

  Mario laughs. “I’ve seen what your brother has put you through. I’ve watched you whipped and beaten. I’ve watched you burnt, spit on…hell, I’ve watched him urinate on you. And you never broke. So what the hell did the vampires do that made you snap? Huh?”

  He sips his drink slowly and runs a hand through his dark hair. “Does it matter?”

  Mario leans forward and even I can sense the unspoken threat in his movements. “You know what I think? I think you’re protecting her…because of the prophecy. And if you are, I want you to know it’s a mistake.”

  Is he? My stomach twists. I hadn’t had time to think about all this prophecy shit, but I knew for a fact that no man was going to marry me and suddenly fart out a crown. It was something made up by bored people. And yet, logic wasn’t going to save me.

  Or, apparently, the bearded berserker.

  “I’m not protecting her.”

  “You better not be, because your brother has a new job for you.”

  My berserker stiffens. “I’m locked up here. I’m not getting out any time soon.”

  Mario grins. “Your new job is to get the female to the school gates. He’ll get you out from there. Then your brother will test her. If she goes berserk, he’ll marry her. If she doesn’t, he’ll kill her. But either way, you’ll be free.”

  A chill moves beneath my skin, and I feel every hair on my body stand on end.

  Mario’s grin fades. “Emory, you know damn well that King Maxen will have her if he wants her, with or without your help.”

  Emory. The name of my best friend from childhood echoes through my mind. Surely this man is another Emory…the name is uncommon, but this can’t be him.

  My gaze runs over the massive berserker, his face covered in a wild beard. My eyes lock onto his uncommon blue eyes, a deep blue that almost seems impossible. The same deep blue as the little boy who held my hand, who laughed easily and promised me his heart.

  Emory…it can’t be him.

  My stomach lurches, and I feel bile rise up. Emory was the brother of Lord Maxen of the House of Berserkers? The same Lord Maxen who wanted me as a bride? No, it couldn’t be.

  Could it?

  “What do you say, Emory? Will you serve your king?”

  I hold my breath.

  Emory slams the rest of his drink and sets his cup down on the table next to him, his eyes dead. “I live but to serve my king.”

  No. I take a step back, then another. The man who saved me was my enemy. The man who saved me was the boy I grew up with. If these people found me here, would they rush me right out? Would they serve me up to the king like some kind of non-virgin sacrifice?

  Suddenly, my foot sloshes loudly into the water as it leaves the concrete path, the sound loud in the silence. Every head turns slowly toward me, and Emory’s eyes widen as they fall on me. Time stands still, and then Mario shouts, “Get her!”

  I turn and start running, but in my frantic state I take a wrong turn. I slam into the dead end, hitting the stone hard, before realizing that I was screwed. Turning back around, I hear the footsteps of the men.

  My heart races, and I bunch my hands into fists, knowing there’s nowhere left to run, and also knowing that I’d rather die in these dark tunnels then be turned over to be the bride of my enemy. My heartbeat fills my ears. I count the last seconds before I have to fight a group of male berserkers.

  A fight I have no chance of winning.

  And then a hand wraps around my mouth and pulls me into the darkness.

  The stone wall closes once more in front of me, and I’m suddenly trapped in the darkness, sandwiched between stone and a hard body. Hot air breathes onto my throat, and fear squeezes my soul.

  My enemies are on the other side of the wall.

  A stranger holds me captive in the dark.

  What should I do? And will either choice save my life?

  I doubted it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Adam

  I should kill the woman. Even though she smells of flowers. Even though her hair is the color of purity and goodness. She comes from above. She will hurt me, beat me, be cruel to me.

  She is one of them.

  It would take nothing at all to snap her neck.

  And yet, her body feels small and
fragile pressed up against me. Feminine and soft. And as much as I want to curse the smell…not just of flowers, but of earth and leather, it tickles my nostrils in the most pleasant of ways.

  I’m surprised when I feel my cock harden. Has it ever hardened before? I frown, trying to imagine a time when it could have done such a thing, but my memories are filled with pain and torture.

  Hard cocks are for pleasure…and I’d certainly never felt pleasure before in my life.

  I lean down and taste the skin of her throat. She shudders before me, and I continue to taste her neck, drinking in her scent. Drinking in the softness of her skin beneath my lips. I bite lightly and feel her shudder again.

  Does she like what I do? Or is it fear that makes her react so?

  Females find me frightening. Disgusting. Strange and unworthy. Likely this woman of brightness and flowers feels the same, and yet, I don’t release her. My hand stays across her mouth, and I hear the sounds of the fucking berserkers on the other side.

  Does she know I saved her life? Does she know that the men who were chasing her wanted her blood? I don’t know. Always there are so many questions and so few answers.

  “You’re sure she went this way?” a harsh voice asks.

  The woman in front of me trembles. Does she think I will reveal her? Perhaps. But I never would. Not just because some strange instinct made me save her, but because I would have to reveal myself too.

  The berserkers are killers of anyone they find in these tunnels. Even though these tunnels belong to me.

  I run my lips against her neck again and feel her soften against me. It’s not a response I’d ever expect from a woman. Not one that I touch.

  I’m curious if the woman reacts to me out of fear or pleasure. For some reason, it’s very important to me to know. In the tunnels, I hear and see many things. I’ve witnessed sex. Fast sex. Slow sex. Hard sex. Soft sex. I’ve learned many things, things that never mattered to me before, before when my cock remained soft.

  Letting my free hand trail her arm, I run it across her belly, then lift her shirt to touch the soft skin there. At last she tries to look back at me, but I know it’s too dark for her eyes to see me. But my eyes…my eyes see her.