Rescued by the Berserker: A shifter romance

by Lee Savino

  His hand came down again, but this time massaging the sore flesh, soothing the ache. All the hurt spiraled away, leaving an intense throbbing, almost pleasurable.

  “Oh, no,” I whimpered.”

  “Trust me.”

  My bottom throbbed, sting penetrated the very core of me. My sex ached, longing for his touch.

  “This is how wolves discipline their naughty mates,” he told me. “Will you be good from now on and listen to me?”

  “Yes,” my voice came in a breathless rush.

  His palm caught the underside of my bottom and I squeaked. “Yes, what do you call me?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good girl.”

  He busied himself laying down a volley of swats, covering every inch of my bottom. I danced on my toes, whimpering. It was just on the edge of what I could take.

  I stopped trying to fight it and surrendered.

  I lay limp over his legs by the time he stopped.

  “And now punishment for hesitating to come to me just now,” he said. “You will learn to obey immediately and run into my arms or to lie over my lap when I give the order. Open your legs, Hazel.”

  Slowly I widened my stance, head hanging down and hand clutching his leg, I closed my eyes for what I knew was to come.

  First though, he only cupped my sex. He paused to squeeze my bottom and his fingers slipped lower to handle my slippery folds.

  “Ooooh.”

  He swatted once, twice, light slaps that didn’t sting but reverberated through me in a different way. I gasped as heat rushed through me.

  “Just a few more,” he murmured.

  A pause and then a heavy impact on my center. The force of it rocked me forward, but I pushed back again, eager for more. The tissues between my legs were lighting up, tingling, and coming to life with each smack. He swatted me again and again, until I gasped and bucked. The coil tightened inside me snapped, pleasure flooding my body.

  “There you are,” he said, stroking my back.

  When I pushed up, he helped me to my feet and straightened my shift.

  “You all right?”

  I nodded. He cupped my cheek and I couldn’t keep from leaning into his touch.

  “So sweet,” he murmured. “Such a fighter, but your body knows to whom it belongs.”

  I jerked back. I hadn’t fought him at all. I was supposed to be stronger than this. To set my own course, go my own way. Not trust so freely or bend to a man’s rule. Had I learned nothing from my time in the abbey?

  Knut let me go. His cock pressed against the front of his breeches when he rose, but he ignored it.

  “I’m getting more firewood.”

  As soon as he left, I felt his loss. I almost followed him. Instead, I moved to the window overlooking the garden.

  The moon had risen. It would be full soon. That would bring a whole other host of trouble.

  I kept my back stiff as he entered and tended the hearth. The feelings Knut sparked during my spanking swirled through me. I barely knew this warrior and my body already responded to his touch. I’d never felt such pleasure. Already I craved more. I was warm, fed, and safer than I’d ever been. I’d all but forgotten my plans to escape. Instead of the warrior, my own desires kept me here.

  “Hazel, come.”

  There was nowhere to run, but my feet dragged as I went to him. Immediately he took me onto his lap, on the blanket in front of the fire.

  “Sweet little one.” His thumb rubbed my cheek. “I know this is new and hard, but we will make it through. And you will learn the ways of being my mate.”

  Despite myself, I sighed and melted into him.

  “I know I am rough with you. All my life I’ve been at war,” he murmured in my ear. “When we are back at the mountain that is my home, you will meet the other females who’ve become Berserker brides. They will help explain what I cannot.”

  “Are all the pack women treated this way?”

  “Yes, when they earn it. There are only four—all sisters. And now you. I do not know what I did to earn such a treasure, but I will spend my life in gratitude for it.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. He knew his course. He was a warrior. It was so simple for him—he killed his enemies and took what he wanted. I was the one fighting battles within myself.

  Knut

  I turned my woman to face me, only to find her eyes brimming with tears.

  “Oh, little one.” I was undone. I possessed no weapon to fight her sorrow. Her body responded to me as mine did to hers, but she was resisting her desires. I did not know why. I’d slay all her fears, if I could.

  “You’re so strong,” I crooned. “I watched you face the Grey Men. Sweet and so brave, my lovely little mate.”

  Wrapping my arms, I drew her down on the bed I’d made before the fire.

  After a few more shuddering sighs, she slept.

  I nuzzled her neck, breathing in the scent of her hair.

  My beast knew she was mine, I knew she was mine. Her body knew as well.

  Her mind still had to decide.

  I slept lightly, and in the morning left Hazel curled in front of a cold hearth. The day was bright and fine, though storm clouds still swirled in the far away sky, right over the cave of the Corpse King. The mage was angry at the loss of his potential bride.

  As I fetched water, found more firewood, and lay a few snares to catch our dinner, my head throbbed with a call coming over many leagues.

  Berserkers under attack. Return home.

  The many leagues between me and the mountain was enough to mute the pack bonds, but the Alpha bond was stronger. The old Knut would run through fire and death to obey the command. But now I had Hazel.

  Return home.

  My feet started west, the direction of the mountain. I found myself at the river before I could stop myself. When I did, my head pounded until I put up a shield in my mind.

  I’d spent a lifetime obeying the Alpha’s commands. But now I would resist them.

  Letting Hazel sleep, I searched the grounds thoroughly, pleased when I found a root cellar with a few apples and potatoes still fresh in the cool space. If we stayed another night, I could hunt as a wolf and make sure she was well fed. As lovely as she was, I wouldn’t mind plumping her up before the winter. The thought of curling up with her during the cold months, sating myself with her curves had my cock pressing against my breeches. My teeth gritted against the ache.

  Detouring into the forest, I leaned against a tree trunk and freed my raging cock. A few minutes recalling Hazel’s plump bottom upended over my knee and I spurted so hard I almost fell to my knees. Gasping, I sagged against the trunk, and fought for control. My vision flickered as the beast howled, trying to break free.

  The Alphas on one side, the Corpse King on the other. And the beast within, testing my fragile control. But I must risk it all to claim my mate.

  I would defy the Alpha’s command. I would not return to the mountain until she bore my mark and accepted my bond.

  There was a cold scent on the breeze as I returned to the farm, carrying a new staff I’d cut from a tree and shaved clean. The clouds were drifting closer, the Corpse King searching for what he had lost.

  I stilled as Hazel appeared, pink-cheeked and lovely, rubbing sleep from her eyes. My cock came to life all over again.

  “Come,” I rose and held out my hand. Pleasure curled through me as she obeyed.

  After making sure there were no splinters left, I gave her the staff.

  “What is this?”

  “I am going to teach you to you to spar,” I told her.

  “Here? Now?” She glanced at the coming storm.

  “To pass the time. We stay here until tomorrow. Tonight, you will eat well and rest again. This morning you will learn to fight.”

  She gnawed at her lip, holding the rod uncertainly.

  “Shouldn’t I just use the witch’s staff?”

  “That sort of power is best used sparingly. If it belongs to the witch
I know, she will one day want it back.” Truth was, I didn’t even want my woman handling the scary stick. Magic always had a price.

  “If you are quick enough, you may learn to best me,” I told her.

  She scoffed, but brightened a little, excitement creeping into her scent. She was so lovely, her limbs smooth and sturdy, her bare neck and shoulder calling for my mark.

  A flush rose in her cheeks at my scrutiny and I grinned broader.

  “Come, Hazel.” I motioned to a spot in front of me. “Unless you are afraid?”

  Hazel

  I frowned as I weighed the staff on my palms. Insufferable warrior. He stood bare-chested in leather breeches, perfect lips curved and mocking. A breath-taking array. My body had tingled as I woke surrounded by his scent. I’d lain there awhile, dreaming of the ghost of his hand playing over my eager flesh. The memory of him spanking me was enough to make me long to touch between my legs.

  A tilt of his head told me he scented my arousal. Jerking up my chin, I resolved to hit him with the staff as much as I could.

  I marched to face him.

  “First we work on stance.” He instructed me to stand with legs apart, planted firmly but lightly on the balls of my feet, ready for me to rock back or leap forward. He moved around me, positioning my arms and shoulders.

  His touch had my body heating from more than the morning sun.

  “The Grey Men are strong but do not anticipate the blows. You can rush them. Aim for their legs, do not try to overpower them. Use your speed. Your slight size. Duck and weave. Use your wits more than your brawn, and you can confuse them enough to have a chance to get away.”

  “You know this just from fighting them a few times?”

  “Aye. Lives are lost in the seconds it takes to learn your opponent, long before he strikes the killing blow.” He had me thrust and parry until my arms ached. As the sun rose high, he fetched the water bucket, and made me stop to eat some apples and dried meat, insisting when I refused.

  “You are a good teacher,” I told him between chewing.

  “I was called upon to teach the young warriors.”

  “It is more than that,” I guessed. “You are a good fighter. One of the best in the pack.”

  He inclined his head, a gracious movement followed by a sudden grin. “I will teach our sons to fight.”

  My brows lifted.

  With swift steps, he closed the distance between us. As he bent down, his hand settled on the back of my neck, a possessive touch I liked far too much.

  “Soon, I will mark you properly, so the pack knows you are mine. We will return to the mountain and celebrate our union for a whole moon. You will spend your nights on your back beneath me and your days in my arms, too sore to walk. Within the year, you will give birth to our first child.”

  My mouth dropped open.

  “Tell me you don’t want this,” he challenged, raising his chin.

  I could not answer. My cheeks heated and my body shook with desire. Fluid trickled between my lower lips. I was hot and ready for him.

  But I shook my head. “Am I to have no choice?”

  “You do not want one. Your body has chosen me,” he said smugly. His gaze dropping to my nipples, which were pointing through the dress I wore.

  I put my hands on my hips.

  “You said the many in pack need mates. Maybe when you bring me to the mountain, I will meet them all and then decide--”

  My head snapped back as his hand fisted in my hair. “You are mine,” he growled.

  His eyes flared with gold light and I froze, pulse leaping in my throat, I stared down the predator in them. His fingers tightened in my hair, all gentleness gone. “If you run, I will chase you. If you resist, I will overpower you. Push me and I will take you to bed and spank and stimulate you over and over until you are hoarse from screaming my name.”

  His mouth slammed on mine. He turned me to him and held me fast, lips ravaging mine over and over. My knees buckled as heat blazed between our bodies, bringing every nerve ending to life. His fingers delved under the hem of my short dress and thrust into my wet sex. I arched up, my cries swallowed by his ruthless mouth.

  My body went limp in his arms; I barely knew when he took his mouth away. He dragged me up against his hard chest, locking me against him.

  “Do not tempt me, Hazel. I will use all my power to make you admit you are mine.”

  Knut

  Late in the day, I washed my face in the stream. My head still throbbed with the pressure of resisting the Alpha’s call. I was running out of time.

  All afternoon Hazel had been quiet. I hadn’t meant to scare her, but my control was so thin. It was all I could do not to pounce, drive her to the ground, and bury myself deep inside her. I’d fuck her hard and long, until she forgot everything but the feeling that we were one.

  She deserved a stronger mate. I was stronger than most living things on earth, but I was not strong enough to let her go.

  I dashed my reflection, marring the image before I headed back to the hut.

  The storm had died away but the day was still cold, an unseasonal chill for the middle of summer. The smell of smoke on the wind made me uneasy. The Grey Men would not be able to cross the river, but the Corpse King might have other weapons.

  Soon we’d have to return to the safety of the mountain. It was reckless to stay away from the pack, and dangerous. The pack bonds helped control the beast. But I could not face my warrior brothers until I’d fully claimed my mate.

  I’d always been respected in the pack, strong enough to stand alone when others succumbed to the Berserker rage. Berserkers like Leif and Brokk formed brother bonds between them, to aid each other’s control. They’d share everything, even a mate.

  I had never bonded with another warrior. I had no need of help--and I was glad of it, for I would not tolerate another man touching Hazel. But a lone wolf is a dead wolf. Too long alone, and the beast would claim my mind forever. Keeping away from the pack, resisting the Alpha’s call, I risked both Hazel’s life, and mine.

  I had to find a way to woo this woman. I had to convince her she was mine, before it was too late.

  I strode back to the hut. The girl was in the root cellar, choosing what vegetables to eat.

  “Hazel,” I bellowed. “Come inside.”

  She trotted over, potatoes gathered in her arms. My heart and cock leaped as they had the moment I first saw her. She looked at home here, hair in a thick braid, smooth, tan skin speaking of many hours working under the sun.

  Arousal blazed in her scent as she grew closer to me. Her heartbeat thumped as loudly as mine.

  She responded to me so well. Which made holding onto my control pure torture.

  Her cheeks were bright red as she stopped on the doorstep.

  “I am leaving to hunt,” I told her. “You will stay in the house.”

  She nodded, unwilling to cross me after our last battle. I’d won her compliance with a kiss, but I’d not won the war.

  I moved out of the way so she could enter the hut. She kept her eyes down until I caught her chin and forced it up.

  “If there is danger, I will return quickly. You will heed my commands.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good.”

  I ducked close to fill my lungs with her delicious scent. My cock fought to get out of my breeches and I let out a growl. Go inside. I sent the thought into her mind, testing the new bond between us. She must have heard it because she scuttled into the hut and slammed the door.

  I waited a moment, fighting the the beast. It would be so easy to tear the door off its pegs and ravage her.

  My hand slammed the side of the hut, making it shudder. The beast within me prowled, scenting my weakness. How many hours, how many days before it broke free?

  Forcing myself away, I stripped and Changed into the wolf. I’d hunt until dark and return with a brace of prey. Nothing said ‘I will be a good mate’ like a gift of dead rabbits.

  Life was simple
r as a wolf.

  A few hours later, pleased with the results of my hunt, I followed a pleasant scent home. The woman must have put some herbs on the fire, for the smoke smelled sweet.

  I took the time to wash in the stream and prepare the game I’d caught. The hunt had been long and successful. For now, the beast was quiet.

  A large summer moon lit my path as I came through the garden to the hut. I stopped to add a few sprigs of a herb that would go well with the rabbits. The Change from wolf to man left me with another large, white pelt slung about my shoulders. Another gift for Hazel. The wolf liked her waking surrounded by its scent.

  She met me at the door, cheeks flushed, almost glowing in the moonlight. I would’ve dropped to my knees and worshiped her as a goddess, if I hadn’t been holding the rabbits.

  “Knut,” she gasped. Under the floral smoke, fear tinged her scent.

  My instincts hummed to life. “What’s wrong? Where is the danger?”

  “No danger,” she shook her head, but she was trembling. I went to gather her in my arms, chastise her for not keeping warm, and she jerked back. “Don’t touch me.”

  “What is this? Are you all right?”

  “It’s nothing. Just my…sickness. It comes and goes with the moon,” she clasped her hands in front of her, gave me pleading look. “You have to take me back to the abbey.”

  Hazel

  Frowning, Knut pushed me inside. He set what he was carrying on the table—a gruesome bundle of headless game.

  When he faced me again, I noted that he was between me and the door. It did not matter; I could not fight him or escape, but I had to make him see.

  The fever had started as soon as the moon rose. It came over me every full moon, but something—maybe the time spent in the warrior’s embrace—brought it on early.

  Knut loomed over me. “Tell me about this sickness.”

  “It is a curse, much like yours. It comes over us...a few of my abbey sisters and I.” I wrung my hands. Just the sight of him made my mouth water, my sex dampen, my insides tighten with longing.