Claw and Crown Bundle

by Richard Lunch

  I saw them, and knew them in an instant. It was a memory I had lost for so long. I remembered playing amongst the legs of the great thrones while my mother and father held court here. I remembered running my hands on their clawed feet and making them out to be dread monsters that I would fell.

  I walked up the aisle to the sounds of throat singing and feverish drums, and ascended the dais. I heard a soft whimper and turned around. My son struggled in the arms of the nurse. I gestured her forward and she rushed him to me. I took the bundle and waved her back to her seat.

  My son curled into my chest and sighed. He was still. I watched his tiny eyelids flutter in sleep. This had to be the best moment of my life. I smoothed the hair beneath his little crown.

  The doors slammed open and the throat-singing of the wolves ascended into a howl. Ulfvaldr was framed in smoke and torchlight. His chest was bare and glistening with oil. It made his tattoos stand out, the hues of blue and green that depicted ancient battles of man and beast shone out from his skin. His eyes glowed beneath the wolf skull crown he had worn on that fateful night in the forest. He was majestic, and wild, and achingly handsome.

  Ulfvaldr strode up the aisle. With every step he took, I grew more and more certain that I wanted to spend each and every day that I had left with him. He reached the dais and took my hand. Together, we faced the room.

  The old witch came next, supported on Thannen and Finli’s arms. She beamed with wisdom and pride from underneath her mask of wrinkled flesh. She faced us, as we faced our people and raised her hands. The drums stopped. The only sounds were those of breathing and feet shuffling on stone.

  “Once, when I was a younger woman, this kingdom was as one. The old of you remember. The Wolf Tribe was not a tribe separate from us, but a clan that lived among our clans. We shared battle and beer and our beds with the wolves. Then, there was a hard winter, and then another. Fundinn saw his opportunity. He slew the Silver Wolf King, and his human bride, and took the young prince as an heir. Ulfi, father of Ulfvaldr, left with the few wolf men who escaped the slaughter. Today, our kingdom is whole again. Today, we join two kings, and like different irons, that when folded together make a stronger blade, so too, our kingdom only grows in strength through this union. Pledge your fealty now, for in good times and bad, you could ask for no better men to lead you. King Ulfvaldr, do you take the hand of King Varghoss in marriage, on this, Midgard, and in front of the gods?”

  “I take him.”

  “And, in front of your people, do you pledge your life to King Varghoss and to this kingdom?”

  “I pledge it.”

  “And King Varghoss, do you take King Ulfvaldr in marriage, on this, Midgard, and in front of the gods?”

  “I do take him.”

  “And in front of your people, do you pledge your life to King Ulfvaldr and to this kingdom?”

  I looked out at the room. It was packed with villagers and warriors alike. Old and young, man and woman, stood and stared, some smiling, hands clasped as in prayer. I would not let them down, I swore it.

  “I pledge it.”

  “Exchange your rings and clasp your sword hands.”

  When I slid the gold ring I had made onto Ulfvaldr’s finger, his face glowed with delight. We clasped hands.

  The old witch wound a saltwater soaked cloth around our clasped wrists.

  “They take the most sacred of vows, and with this water from the sea that gives life and takes it, I bind you together in this life and the next. Two souls, such as yours, bound by fate, are not to be broken by anything mere earth or mortal can bring against them in enmity.”

  She withdrew the cloth, “And I present to you all who gather here today, your prince, the heir, Prince Hafporir!”

  I held up my child for all to see. He stirred awake and gave a gurgle that was quite loud.

  Finli was the first to laugh, “He wants to make his own speech.”

  It broke the spell in a way that was good. All laughed and cooed at the babe. Women waved and men looked on with approval.

  “Thank you,” I whispered to the old witch.

  “It is a pleasure to see my kingdom whole again, and that will be another cask of mead.”

  “You shall have all you want,” I laughed.

  Ulfvaldr grabbed me and lifted me and the babe, “Enough talking! It is time for the feast!”

  Out in the castle yard, great bonfires burned brightly. Some men jumped over a smaller one, seeing how far above the flames they could go. The mead was tapped and the drummers were loosening the drum skins in the cold. The stars burned above in the clear sky. One shot across. Ulfvaldr saw it, as well.

  “That is a good sign, my King,” he said, clasping my hand.

  I leaned into him, “Let us not stay too long at the feast.”

  His wolfish grin told me he could not wait to get upstairs.

  Chapter 9

  Ulfvaldr

  Mine. Varghoss was mine. The ring on his finger sparkled in the light of the bonfires. It stirred something in my loins in the way that nothing else had.

  It was that he was mine, for once and for all, mine. I possessed him and if it was one thing my wolfish mind craved, it was to possess a mate. I could wait no longer. The babe had gone upstairs with the nurse long ago. The mead swam through my body, making me lustful with its heady embrace.

  He followed me upstairs with eyes that were glistening, and eyes that never wandered from me. Having his complete attention thrilled me, and when we were almost out of sight of the feast, I swept him into my arms and ran. The wedding revelers caught on and cheered us. I flew up the stairs, taking in his scent, feeling his weight, listening to the bell chimes of his laughter. I brought him to our chambers and kicked open the door before the guards could even reach a hand to the handle. I tossed Varghoss onto the bed and rounded on the guards.

  “We are not to be disturbed.”

  One guard put his hand to his mouth and blushed. The other, a much calmer man named Irin, closed the door and whispered, “Of course, my king. We will see to it.”

  The doors clicked shut behind me and I turned back to Varghoss, “Now, I believe I have some things to do.”

  Fear and anticipation glittered in Varghoss’s eyes. I saw him shiver, and that is when I pounced. I wrapped my arms around his neck and took in the delicious smell of his arousal. His body was different since he’d had our son, in smell and feel. He was the same strong, handsome man, but the scent of milk lingered around his chest and he seemed always on the verge of arousal. His skin was softer, too.

  With care, I took off his father’s cloak and his armor and cast the items aside. I saw his eyes look up and down my chest and grinned. My markings were something to be proud of. They had taken a skilled artisan a great deal of time, and they were one of my proudest possessions, of the few I had, that was, until tonight.

  The rest of his clothes found the floor with ease. He looked at mine with expectation and reached out, but I pinned Varghoss’s hands back and drank in the sight of his naked body. His chest heaved, the scent of milk coming off it more and more heavily. His hips wriggled on the furs, and between his legs rose his hardening length. I licked my lips.

  I put my mouth to his neck and sucked. I marked him and let my fangs come out, trailing raised scratches down his gorgeous flesh. The moan that escaped from his throat told me that he enjoyed it. That was a good thing, because all I had wanted since I saw him was to have this man under me, moaning and begging for more.

  I clasped my teeth around one of nipples and worked it until a drop of milk spilled. He was writhing beneath me. His cock dripped. The slippery liquid ran down it and pooled at the base. I stayed above him, refusing to touch his member even as it twitched and he moaned and rocked his hips into the air. I moved my hands from his wrists to his inner thighs and rubbed them, spreading them open.

  “Ulfvaldr, just take me!” he groaned.

  “Not yet.”

  I went back to his nipple and sucked.

/>   “Aaaah!”

  Warm, sweet milk that tasted like it could have been cooked with honey flooded my mouth. I drank it down and sucked until he was dry. Varghoss’s moans echoed around the room. I turned to his other breast. I ran my hand up his body. He groaned and let out a flood of liquid when I grazed past his cock without touching it.

  I pinched his nipple and enjoyed the way his blue eyes begged me to stop teasing him at the same time that they begged me for more. The way he dragged in ragged breath when I squeezed his chest muscle told me I was on the right track. His nipple oozed honey-sweet milk down his chest. I swept it up in my hand and brought it back to his hole.

  I pressed a finger against Varghoss’s entrance and enjoyed the look that flashed over his face. He was already loose from the mead, and my milk coated finger slipped in with ease. I spread his thighs apart and he seemed to enjoy the sensation of being opened so wide.

  When I pushed the second finger into him, and watched him groan and press himself deeper onto my hand, I felt my cock harden beyond anything I had felt before.

  Chapter 10

  Varghoss

  He pressed his fingers into me. I rode wave after wave of longing as he impaled me. Ulfvaldr returned to my chest and squeezed more milk from my nipple. I gasped.

  “Please…”

  I wanted him to fuck me, to touch my cock, anything, but all I could manage was a pitiful cry. Ulfvaldr pulled his fingers out. My hole felt gaping and cold.

  “I want to hear you say that pretty word again,” he spread my legs farther apart.

  “Wha-?”

  He looked down at me and gave his huge cock a stroke. The sight made my head spin. I rolled back and looked up at his eyes. They were dark.

  “Please-”

  Before I could finish the word he was on me. Every thrust was deeper. I grabbed at his back, letting my fingers dig into his flesh. The muscles in his armed, pinned on either side of my head, strained with the effort. I could feel every inch of him.

  “How...do you like that?” Ulfvaldr hummed into my ear.

  “I love it when you fuck me,” I groaned.

  “If you can still speak, then my skill is lacking.”

  Ulfvaldr dug his claws into my hips and thrust upward. With every movement, he hit my inner gland. I cried out. The world was as white as snow.

  I came back to the sound of screaming, and Ulfvaldr, pounding into me. His cock rubbed my insides with fierce unforgiving strokes. I clenched around him. My orgasm came in wave after wave. My body tried to draw his cock deeper into me.

  Ulfvaldr panted and sped up his thrusts. He bit his lower lip and threw back his head with a howl. I realized I was the one screaming. I lowered my voice to a moan. He rammed into me, eliciting sounds with every movement, and then I saw it.

  I saw what I had seen the first night we were together. The wolf’s shadow on the wall, Ulfvaldr’s silhouette framed in the firelight.

  His voice cut into a pure animal growl. He spilled his seed within me. It was hot, and thick, and filled me. He slowed to a stop, staying in me, and he wrapped his hand around my cock, milking the last bit of seed from my tip. I reached up and took his cheek in my hand. When I rose up to meet him in a kiss, I caught my shadow out of the corner of my eye.

  It, too, was a wolf’s.

  I knew in that moment that we had both found home, here, and in each other, and in our son, forever.

  Epilogue

  I plucked another gray hair from my head, and settled my crown back down on it. The mirror of polished copper did little to ease my mind, as I looked at the lines that had begun to form at the corner of my mouth. Soon, I would not be able to do that without creating a patch. Ulfvaldr wore his with pride, but I could not quite yet admit that our time was passing, even if it meant our son was coming into his own.

  “Varghoss,” Ulfvaldr leaned on the doorway, still handsome and muscular, even after nearly twenty-one years, “Our son’s name day feast is going to start, and you are still in your room.”

  “Do you think your fathers would be proud of him? He is so, so smart.”

  “And he is a rascal.”

  “He gets that from you, that I have no doubt. I was a well-behaved child.”

  “I would never call a healthy appetite for fun not well-behaved. Getting into minor trouble is a child’s way of learning, but…”

  “But what?” I moved toward him and wrapped my arms around his wide shoulders.

  Ulfvaldr looked at me with those golden eyes that only seemed to brighten with age. I kissed him, warm and deep, and let myself nibble his lip just a bit. He responded with a bite of his own and a growl from deep in his belly that told me I was in for it later.

  “But…” He held me apart from him by my shoulders, “Varghoss, the teacher sent us another message. He says that he gladly awaits the honor of taking our son on as a pupil.”

  My heart panged with guilt and fear, “But Ulfvaldr, is he not too young?”

  “He is twenty and one years of age! I would have sent him a year ago. Two years more and he would be your age when you stormed this castle, seized power, begat him, and married your king.”

  “Your point is a good one, Ulfvaldr, but still...it is so far from the castle.”

  “The work we have done uniting the Wolf Clans has paid off. So much of our heritage was lost in the war with Fundinn and our fathers. Let our son learn what he can and bring it back to our kingdom. Besides, I think he could use to live beyond the comfort of these castle walls for a time. It’s not good for a body to have never slept on the ground.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Just because you spent your youth on a bed of pine needles does not make it the end all be all.”

  “I asked that witch you’re so fond of, and she told me to do it.”

  I paused, “How is she?”

  “Defying all laws of nature and sense, as usual. Terrifying. In her cups, but never dull. Somehow still alive. You know.”

  I nodded. I did know.

  “Shall we tell him?” I asked, resting my hands in Ulfvaldr’s strong ones.

  I turned them over and looked at his gold ring. It gleamed beautifully.

  “We can wait until the morrow,” he smiled, “let him have this night with his friends.”

  I sighed, “At least I shall have his sisters.

  “Those she-wolves adore you more than the earth does the sun and stars. Your son will be king, but you’ll be hard-pressed to marry those two off without your coming along.”

  I smiled, “It is true. The twins adore me.”

  “Unusual for women of eighteen, I’ve heard.”

  “You’ve heard. It’s a wonder they’ve not chopped their pretty heads off with those swords you gave them. You raised them like boys.”

  I shrugged, “Because you knew how to raise girls?”

  “I had no idea,” he laughed, “Come, they will be sour if we miss their archery demonstration. Apparently they have some entertainment worked out.”

  I followed him out the door, “So long as it is not shooting apples off each others’ heads again, I can’t imagine wanting to miss it.”

  Ulfvaldr took me by the back of the head and pulled me into a long, deep kiss. He tasted of wolfish musk and honey mead, and was, I thought, after over twenty years, still my one true love.

  End

  Claw and Crown 2

  Chapter 1

  Varghoss

  The feathers floating downwards in the hallway told me that the news did not go down well. The shredded remains of a pillow followed the feathers. Then, came a chair. It shot out of the doorway to Hafporir’s room and broke against the wall.

  “That is ENOUGH!” Ulfvaldr stormed past me and into our son’s chambers.

  I hurried after him, “Let us stay calm!”

  The room was a mess. Hafporir tore his second pillow in two and stomped on it, color rising in his face. The feathers floated up through the room, catching the sunlight that streamed in through the window. It was a s
unny midwinter day, and only a few days after his name day celebration.

  “You are twenty and one years of age. I will not have you throwing a fit like you are two!” Ulfvaldr crossed the room to Hafporir who stood defiantly, arms crossed.

  He stuck out his chin and leveled his sharp blue eyes at his father.

  “If I am twenty and one, and a man for some years now, methinks you should not tell me what to do.”

  I sighed. Our son was taller than I, but not quite Ulfvaldr’s height. With his tousled white hair and his brilliant eyes, he turned heads, whether they were male or female. The problem was, with all that attention, the opinions of his old, battle-worn fathers seemed to matter less and less. Maybe Ulfvaldr was right. Maybe we, maybe I, had coddled him too long.

  “Unlucky for you, I am not just your father, but King of the Wolf Tribe and this kingdom. You will go to this teacher, and you will learn about your heritage, and you will prepare for the throne you will one day sit on. That is an order.”

  His blue eyes flitted to me. I remembered giving birth to him as clear as if it was yesterday, but the realization that the day was over two decades ago, and here, today, he acted still a child, haunted me. He needed to go see a teacher.

  “When I was your age,” I said, looking past him, out the window to the shining snowy land below the castle, “I would have given anything to learn more about my parents. I still know precious little. You have the opportunity to learn, to grow, to gain knowledge of your people. I must insist that you go. I love you dearly, my son, but I need more than a son, I need a worthy and ready heir.”

  His hardened stare told me that I had lost my position as the favored parent. Almost as if he sensed the pain in my chest, Ulfvaldr took my hand.

  “You heard your father,” he said, “your bag is packed for you. We will see you off.”

  Without a word, Hafporir threw on his cloak and stormed out of the room. I looked to Ulfvaldr. The lines around his golden eyes seemed to have deepened in just these few moments.