by Mia Harris
“That’s true. So we’re more than friends now?”
He leaned down and kissed her again, before pulling back and stroking her face as he looked down at her.
“I’d say we are more than just ‘more than friends’, Megan,” he said.
“That barely makes any sense.”
“If you don’t stop teasing me, I might just leave.”
Megan knew that he was joking and snuggled up into his arms, content in the knowledge that for once, she wasn’t just ‘the friend’. Earlier tonight, she had been so certain that he never wanted to speak to her again, but everything had turned out far better than expected. Now, she was finally ‘the girlfriend’ – to a sexy werewolf, no less...
***
Taken By The Viking Werewolf
A cool sea breeze ruffled Adeline Smith’s long blonde hair as she returned to her father’s house from the village square. The air was fresh, and she took in a deep breath as she walked, stopping to let a brood of chickens cross her path. She loved living in this little village, but sometimes she wondered if there was anything else out there in the world for her. Besides, it wasn’t likely that she was going to get married as long as she stayed here, anyway. She had just reached her eighteenth year, and was yet to receive a single marriage proposal.
Almost all of the other girls her age had long since been married, and some were even pregnant with their second or third child. No one ever said anything to her face, but Adeline knew why she had never had any marriage offers. She was different. While the other girls were petite and slim with shiny dark hair and twinkling brown eyes, she was the complete opposite.
She was tall for a girl and very buxom with fair hair and blue eyes – a very rare combination in these parts. She didn’t know why she looked so different, and whenever she saw the slimmer girls walking around, she desperately wished that she could be like them. The men here seemed to prefer that, although she had seen a few people admiring her voluptuous curves before. That had made her feel slightly better.
When she was young, she had heard some of the villagers whispering about how she looked just like one of the ‘Northmen’, but she had never known what they meant. Until recently, anyway. A few weeks ago, she had heard whispers in town of the terrifying Northmen; a warlike people who apparently came from lands to the north to attack and pillage villages along the English coastline.
From what she had gathered, the Northmen, or ‘Vikings’ as some of the men called them, had never come near their little village. They were situated on fairly fertile lands and visible from a great distance, so they were all unsure as to why they had never been attacked. Every other town or village within a huge radius had been taken at one point over the last twenty or so years, but they had remained unscathed.
As she stepped into the home she shared with her blacksmith father, she put down the basket of bread and vegetables that she had just bought to make dinner, and went out to the back where her father was sitting, having just finished his work for the day.
As far as Adeline was concerned, her father was the best thing in her life. He had always been kindly and supportive of her, and even after her mother had died he had raised her all alone. She didn’t actually remember her mother dying, because it had apparently happened when she was just a babe in arms, but her father had always given her his full attention and done a fine job of parenting her.
“Father, may I ask you something?” she said.
“Of course, my sweet child,” he replied, his brown eyes twinkling. “What is on your mind?”
“I’ve been hearing more whispers around the village square about the men they call the Vikings. I heard Tommy saying that the reason they are such fierce warriors is because they turn into some sort of fearsome wolf-monsters when they attack. Is that true?”
“My child, there are many things in this world that we do not know of. The Vikings are a frightening lot, that is for certain. We are blessed that they have never come here.”
“But are they monsters?”
“There were rumors that there is a certain type of Viking warrior called the Úlfhéðnar, who don wolf pelts when they go into battle, in order to channel the beast’s spirit to make them better fighters. That is probably where the rumors of them being monsters come from,” he said.
“How did you know how to pronounce that strange word?” she asked.
He smiled and patted her head.
“Before you were born, I accompanied my own father to the north lands. He had been asked to craft some weapons for a very important man who was trading with the north men for a while. That was before they began to attack our country, of course. But I picked up on bits and pieces of their language.”
“Oh. I never knew that you had traveled, Father.”
“I would like to go again one day, but alas, it is too dangerous. It is a great shame, because I would have liked to take you with me. The north lands are a beautiful place, filled with all kinds of wonders.”
“Then why do they need to come here and attack our people?” she asked, confused.
“Because from the dawn of time, man has had a strange need to control and dominate everything on God’s earth, and that includes the lands. The Vikings want our lands for what they can provide; extra food, people that can be taken as servants… things like that.”
“Why don’t we attack them back?”
“Well, certain people from our country do fight them back. A small village like ours wouldn’t be able to do that, though, especially when they are such fearsome warriors.”
“Father, if they were wolf-monsters… would that make them the Devil’s work?”
Her father took her hand and looked her in the eyes.
“My sweet child, I do not believe so. Even if they were capable of transforming into a monster during battle, then that wouldn’t necessarily mean they were evil and a progeny of the Devil himself.”
“Why not? They lay waste to every town they come upon,” she said. “That’s what I’ve heard.”
“Do we not do the same? We need to eat, so we work the lands and slaughter animals for that purpose. In the process, we are hurting the land and also hurting animals, but we see that as tolerable because we need to eat, don’t we?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we are all animals. Maybe the Vikings are a different sort of animal… God only knows. But they are just trying to survive. In a different way than us, but still… that’s all. It’s about survival.”
“Oh. That makes sense. So we shouldn’t hate the Vikings, then?”
“You shouldn’t hate anyone, Adeline. Only love. That is what God wants,” he replied.
Suddenly, they were both startled by the sound of the bell in the village square, tolling wildly. Adeline and her father leapt to their feet and ran outside, and a neighboring man called out to them.
“We must all get to the church to hide. Viking warships have been spotted off the coast. They are nearly upon our village!”
Terrified, Adeline raced to the church with her father and the rest of the village’s inhabitants. Everyone cowered in the back with the priest, who read prayers from a book and tried to comfort the petrified villagers. I was just talking about the Vikings. Did I somehow bring this upon the village? Adeline wondered, her heart racing in fear.
“Why are they here? They’ve always left us alone!” a woman cried from somewhere to her left as she comforted her crying children.
“It was only a matter of time before they came,” another woman said. “We’ve been lucky so far, but our luck has run out. God help us.”
Adeline had no idea how much time had passed when a man stood on a pew and looked out of a window that overlooked the seaside.
“They’ve landed,” he said quietly.
The villagers shrank back even further into the back of the church, knowing that this might be their last few minutes on earth. Women sobbed quietly, trying to hide their tears from their children and babies as they clutched onto them.
Moments later, a deep masculine voice boomed out, speaking English with a very thick accent that sounded strange to Adeline’s ears.
“People of this village, come out!” the man said. “We are not here to hurt anyone. I am here to get what is mine. Send her out!”
The villagers tittered nervously, not understanding what the man was talking about.
“Now!” the voice boomed again. “Or we will start burning your houses down. We do not want to do this, but we will take her back by any means necessary. I know she is in there. I can smell her.”
Adeline felt a strange sensation in her belly, as if her heart had just dropped right into her stomach. She didn’t recognize the voice that was calling out, but it was affecting her in a very strange way; one which she had never experienced. The village priest put his hand on her father’s shoulder and spoke gently.
“John, it is time. You have done a wonderful job. We all have the utmost respect for what you have done, but you must let her go.”
“No!” her father said, his eyes and voice panicked. “She is my daughter!”
“You must let her go. It is where she belongs. You know this, John,” the priest replied, his eyes filled with commiseration.
Adeline’s mouth dried up.
“What are you talking about, Father?”
Tears filled his eyes as he looked down at her, and he grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Adeline, my sweet child, it will all be explained to you eventually. You must go with the Northmen. Father Benedict is right; it is time. Just know that I always loved you, and I always will. You are my daughter,” he said, his voice choked with emotion.
One of the village men opened the church doors, revealing around fifteen Viking warriors standing outside, looking as if they were ready to fight if need be. They looked completely and utterly terrifying with their strange appearances, odd-looking helmets and colored clothing and armor. Adeline thought that they looked familiar for some reason, and then realized why. They look like me! I have those same eyes and hair.
Since the doors had opened, the man who had spoken earlier hadn’t said another word, but she immediately knew which one he was. He was the tallest one and obviously in charge, standing in the center while the other men surrounded him, and Adeline’s insides started to do strange things as she took in his chiseled features, bright blue eyes, light brown hair and strange black markings on his muscular chest and arms. Despite how afraid she was, she couldn’t help but notice that he was incredibly handsome.
It felt as if her stomach was actually flip-flopping around inside her, and she wondered what was happening. She was scared, but these sensations weren’t from fear. They were like nothing she had felt before, and as her father gently nudged her forward through the crowd of villagers, they only grew stronger.
A thin smile crept across the handsome man’s face as he regarded her, and without warning, he reached out and grabbed her by one arm. Pulling her close, he stared down at her, his blue eyes seeming to bore a hole right through her.
“I’ve waited many years for you to come of age. You’re coming home now, my sweet girl,” he said.
Adeline gulped in fear, and tried to squirm out of his grip.
“Father!” she cried. “Please don’t let them take me. This is my home!”
Her father tried to step forward to give her a last hug before they dragged her away, but two large blond men stood in his way, threatening him with swords. Two more powerful-looking men dropped a large chest in front of him and opened it, displaying an enormous amount of gold and jewels.
“For your trouble,” one of them said in a thick, gruff accent.
“No! She wasn’t any trouble. I love her. She’s my daughter!” her father cried.
When he realized that they weren’t going to let him hug his daughter one last time, he called out to her.
“Remember what I told you, Adeline! You’re my daughter, and I will always love you.”
Hot tears sprang to Adeline’s eyes as the strange man started to pull her down to the beach and onto the strange-looking longship. She kicked and screamed as tears flowed down her cheeks, and the man scooped her up in his arms and held onto her, saying something in his foreign, guttural tongue as he stroked her head. Finally seeming to remember that she didn’t understand his language, he switched back to English and addressed her.
“My name is Alrik. I am from the north lands. You were promised to me a long time ago, and I’m taking you back to where you belong. You belong with me, Adeline,” he said.
“I don’t understand!” Adeline cried. “Please let me go home to my father. Please!”
Alrik set her down on the wooden floor of the ship, and then barked some gruff orders to his men. They set sail moments later, and more tears streamed down Adeline’s face as she watched the village slowly disappear from view the further out to sea they headed.
Finally, Alrik turned his attention back to Adeline.
“We have a long voyage ahead. I suggest you go and get some rest while your body adjusts to being at sea. I will explain everything to you later,” he said, pointing to the back of the longship.
“No! I want to know now!” she replied.
His eyes blazed with fury as he advanced towards her and grabbed her by the arm again.
“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m in charge here. None of these big, strong men that you see on this ship would ever talk back to me or disobey a direct order. Go and sleep. Now!”
Adeline was terrified, but something in the man’s face told her that he would never hurt her despite his anger towards her. The feeling from earlier had returned, and she felt her underclothing getting strangely damp as a tingling sensation spread through her belly and between her thighs.
Confused and distressed as to what was happening with her body and her life in general, she retreated to the back of the ship and curled up on a blanket that appeared to have been set aside for her. She could tell this because it was clean and finely-made compared with the others, and right next to it sat a small half-open chest, filled with women’s clothing.
Thinking of her father and wondering if she would ever see him again, Adeline drifted off to sleep, hoping that when she woke up, this would have all been some cruel nightmare and she would be happy and safe back in the village.
***
Several hours later, Adeline awoke with great chagrin to find that she was still on the ship, gently swaying and rocking as it crossed the vast seas. Rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the darkness, she saw several men sleeping not far from her, snoring loudly. At least they left me alone, she thought gratefully. She couldn’t see Alrik anywhere, and realizing that she was desperately thirsty, she climbed out from under the blanket and looked around.
It was dark outside, but the stars and moon bathed the ship in a dim light. Looking around for someone or something to give her water, Adeline headed around to the other side of the ship and froze in horror at what stood before her.
Only yards away stood some kind of terrifying beast. It was facing away from her, but she could still tell what it was; a tall, powerful creature with the body of a man and the head of a wolf. At least, it mostly had the body of a man – its hands and feet appeared to have sharp claws, and its back seemed to be covered in dark fur.
Without thinking, she let out a gasp, and then her hand flew to her mouth as she realized that it had heard her. It turned to her, its yellow eyes blazing with some unfamiliar expression as it regarded her, and then it charged towards her, its teeth bared as it growled.
Adeline turned and ran, not quite knowing what exactly she was doing. Where am I running to? Overboard? Please, God… help me! she prayed, before screaming as she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist. Looking down, she saw that the two arms were human with no claws, but she continued to scream anyway.
“Be quiet! You’ll wake everyone!” a deep, familiar voice hissed in her ear.
Sobbing and shaking, Adel
ine turned around as the arms released her from their grip. Alrik stood behind her, his usually blue eyes flashing yellow… the same yellow that she had just seen in the creature’s eyes. He was shirtless, and she wondered how on earth he wasn’t freezing.
“I…. you…. what…” she stammered incoherently, realizing that the monster was in fact Alrik, the man that had taken her from her father.
As fear flooded her mind, she turned and ran to the edge of the deck, and then placed her hands on it as she stared overboard, trying to muster up the courage to jump. She couldn’t swim, but surely drowning in a freezing ocean was better than being torn apart by a terrifying wolf monster.
She heard a soft laugh behind her, and Alrik’s heavy footsteps pounded on the wooden deck as he slowly approached her. Still not brave enough to jump, she turned around and stared at the powerful man, her eyes wide with fear. He grabbed her by the shoulders like he had done earlier and held onto her tightly.