by Lee Savino
She panted, sagging to the pelts.
“Oh no,” Leif said and drew her hips up so her bottom strained towards the sky. He bent down to put his mouth on her. The night had just begun.
WE ATE and sucked her until dawn. When the moon fled and the morning star came out, Willow slept between us.
“It’s begun,” Leif said, passing me the mead.
I nodded. We’d waited over a century for this night, and now the day dawned on the rest of our lives. Would her love for us last?
“Oh no.” He shook his finger at me. “Stone Face, do not sulk.”
She roused. “Are you fighting again?
“No,” I bit out. “Come, let us wash you.”
“I want to sleep.” She burrowed back into the furs.
I lifted her, pelts and all, and strode down to the lake. She shrieked when I tossed her in, and came up glaring.
Leif laughed until I tackled him. We wrestled on the beach. He got me knee-deep into the water before I threw him in.
Then both Leif and Willow jumped me. I dared not fight, for fear of knocking Willow over, and this time they dunked me. She wrapped herself around me. Willow clung to my back as I swam about. I dove and watched her swim away, her hair spread out in a black web.
The afternoon passed as if a dream.
“What would you like more than anything, lass?” Leif asked we sat on top of the wall. She remained naked by our request, hair drying. I combed it with my fingers and braided it. I loved touching her.
I remember when you would not touch her. Leif raised a brow at me. I’d left my mind open to him. I ignored his comment but didn’t close our bond.
“Well, Willow?” I raised a brow. “Tell us your heart’s desire.”
“To make sure my friends are safe.”
“They are. I promise this. We will go to the mountain soon and see them.”
“Why do we wait?”
“There is one thing we wish to do before we leave.” I lifted the hair off her shoulder and touched the spot where we would mark her. “It will happen soon enough.”
“Is there anything else you wish for? Meat, fish, an apple, cheese?” Leif ticked off his fingers.
“Somebody’s hungry.” She laughed, but then grew sober. “There was a girl in the orphanage. A friend. Her name was Hazel.”
Hazel. The name is familiar, Leif said.
Yes. She is Knut’s mate. Out loud, I told Willow, “Hazel is well. One of our warriors rescued her outside the Corpse King’s cave. She accepted our friend Knut as her mate.”
Willow blinked at me, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“We should’ve told you earlier. She was going to send word to you, so you’d know we were coming, but the Corpse King grew strong, and we had only a few days to take the abbey.”
“Hazel’s alive?” Willow repeated as if she hadn’t heard anything else I’d said.
“And happy,” Leif soothed. “She’s at the mountain with her mate.”
She shook her head, tears in her eyes.
“Odin’s breath,” I muttered. “Come here, lass, before you fall off the wall.” I pulled her into my arms. She hugged me tight.
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you.”
“The Berserkers will watch over all your friends, Willow, just as we watch over you.”
WE MUST MATE and mark her, soon. Leif told me as the sun grew low in the sky. I feel my beast. I am at the edge of my control.
Very well. I ignored the anxiety stirring within. Leif was right. Better to claim her now, before it was too late.
You agree? Leif sounded surprised, and relieved.
She is the one for us. I said, and meant it. I’d fallen in love with Willow. I’d lost my heart when I first saw her on the road. She had frowned when we sandwiched her between us, but the air had filled with the tang of her arousal.
I swallowed hard. Love had crept up on me, sneaking past my defenses. It was almost strong enough to make me forget my old pain.
Almost.
I felt relief when my warrior brother went to get firewood, leaving Willow and I alone. Not for the first time, I cursed the brother bond. I had grown used to it over the years, but Willow made me remember my hate anew. Leif told me we would share her, but, in the past, when I shared, he took what was mine.
“The moon will be full again tonight,” I commented.
“It’s waning,” she corrected.
“Close enough.” I lifted her, loving the feel of her soft, small body against mine. She trailed her hands down my arms, testing the smooth muscle, detouring to study a scar. I held my breath as her fingers found their way to my face, tracing my square jaw and heavy brows. I wasn’t a handsome man, but she touched me with the same reverence she had given Leif until I leaned in and kissed her.
When my lips left hers, she wound her arms around me with a sigh.
“Happy?” I asked her.
“I…” She hesitated. “Yes, I am. Are you?”
I grunted. “I would stay here forever, if it were safe.” Whenever Leif went off to hunt, I’d pretend Willow belonged to me, and me alone.
She frowned, and seemed to pick up on my thoughts. “Why do you fight with Leif?”
“What?”
“At first I thought you did not like me, but it is him you do not like.”
“You shouldn’t say such things.” I tried to brush her off, but she kept her arms locked around my neck.
“Why not?”
“It happened a long time ago, lass. It’s nothing.”
She snorted.
I stood and set her down. She let me go but followed when I took a few steps away from her. “I do not wish to speak of old wounds.”
“It has not healed,” she said softly.
“Very well.” Red roses grew along the castle wall. I plucked a few and handed her one. The rest I ripped apart, petal by petal.
“Before I turned into a beast, I loved a woman,” I said. “We planned to marry, but I put her off when I became a Berserker, for though I had great control over my beast, I would not risk her life. She also had an eye for Leif, as every woman does.” I tried and failed to keep bitterness from my tone.
“Once night, she convinced me to share her. I did not want to, but I would do anything to make her happy. She told me nothing would break her love for me. I watched them together…” My throat closed. I could not say anymore.
Willow came and threaded her arm through mine.
“Brokk, you are so alone. I know what it is like to be alone.”
I cleared my throat. “I will tell you the rest. One night I came back to my lodge, and she and Leif were lying together.”
“What did you do?”
“What could I do? I left.”
“You always leave,” Leif called, coming around the curved stone wall.
I whirled to face him, hating that he’d snuck up on me. I wanted to know how much he’d heard, but I would not touch his mind to find out.
“And you always lie,” I said. “I left because confronting you would call out your beast. I challenged you later, and you placed the blame on her. You were lucky I have so much control. If I hadn’t, we would’ve fought, and the Alphas would’ve killed us.”
“I did not—”
“Silence! I have born the burden of your beast all these years, as well as mine. I despise you,” I spat the words. “You are a coward.”
Leif’s face darkened. His skin rippled as if he might Change. “Careful, brother.”
“I am not your brother. The bond we share? I wish it didn’t exist.”
“Brokk,” Willow said. Her small hands tugged on my arm.
I ignored her. “I should’ve let you die. That would’ve been justice.”
“No,” Willow gasped in horror. “Brokk, you don’t mean it.”
“I do.”
“Please.” She reached for me.
“Go to him,” I pushed her away. She staggered at the force, and Leif caught her.
Shock glazed our woman’s features. I’d never lost my temper with her; I always had control. I felt ashamed.
“You will be happy with him,” I told Willow and left.
I HEADED for the mountain but then detoured and wandered without purpose until I came to the field of wildflowers.
I remembered it like it was yesterday, the battle that forged the bond. I’d been angry, eager to do battle. While I fought, surrounded by many men, a spear had arched towards me. It would’ve found its mark in my heart had not Leif flung out his shield and struck it off course. He’d winked at me, and I’d growled, not in thanks, but annoyance. I owed him a debt of honor and, a few hours later, I would pay.
We fought as mercenaries, serving the Northland kings who claimed the islands far north. The opposing force could not stand before us, but they had a giant, a man with great strength. He was no match for Berserkers, but they sent him along with many other warriors against our smaller band. They cast nets over Leif and trapped him. Leif fought not to lose control. In the last battle, five warriors had not been able to regain their minds. The Alphas had stopped their rampage—by ripping the warriors’ hearts from their chests. Only a Berserker can kill a Berserker.
I’d watched as the giant snared Leif and fought to his side. As the giant’s axe swung down, I blocked the blow. Leif’s sword ripped through the net and took the giant’s head. He’d saved my life. I’d saved his. The bond formed, linking us forever. My enemy, my comrade in arms whom I despised, now could reach into my mind.
Brokk, come back. The cry came so faint, it could have been an echo, my own mind trying to tempt me. Brokk, please. We need you. We cannot survive without you. Lies, all lies.
I roamed over the heather-covered slopes, and Leif’s call faded away. I could run back to the cliffs and reach out to the Alphas. I’d tell them to send me into battle again. I’d find the Grey Men and kill as many as I could before I fell. Willow would be fine with Leif. Perhaps that was why the mating bond formed between a triad—if one Berserker died, the other would care for his mate.
Brokk…no…
From the highest hill, I watched the mist closing in. I squinted. It headed for the ruined castle.
And then I knew I did not need to go and hunt the enemy. The enemy had come to us.
I RAN AS FAST as I could. The mist closed around me like a fist. At times, it choked me like thick smoke, but I pressed on, reaching for Leif. Brother? Where are you? Get Willow out!
The broken tower loomed ahead, and I heard a scream break out. Willow was in trouble.
I doubled my speed, and bounded onto the parapet in time to watch Leif attack.
Backed into a corner, Willow held a branch she’d plucked from the fire. She screamed again, waving her fiery weapon at the monster Leif had become.
“No, Leif!” I bellowed as he advanced on Willow. I opened the bond between us. Do not lose control. Not now. We have waited so long.
Cowering, Willow shook her makeshift torch at the monster, and Leif swiped the stick out of her hand, his claws extended to rake down her defenseless flesh. I tackled him, the force carrying him across the yard. We both ended up rolling, snarling. The very air around us crackled as I fought Leif, and the Change. The mist seeped into every corner, covering the keep with a thick blanket. The Corpse King’s spells controlled the very weather.
“Willow,” I shouted as I faced down my warrior brother, nothing but madness burning in his golden eyes.
Leif’s claws swiped at me, and caught my shoulder, leaving great bloody furrows along my arm. I roared in pain, and the beast took hold.
WILLOW
I cowered against the wall, pressing into the stones so hard my spine hurt.
“Go!” Brokk ordered, but I could not move. He ducked and wove, fending Leif off. I cried out as the black beast that had been Leif rushed Brokk, who fell to his back before him. Brokk’s powerful legs kicked up, sending Leif flying into the thick fog, out of sight.
“The mist,” Brokk shouted. “It is the Corpse King’s making. It attacks the mind.” His human face disappeared, jaw elongating, fur covering his skin as he turned into a monster. “The beast,” he barked. “Run.”
Leif’s growl echoed around the keep. I whirled and ran, ignoring the agonized snarl of a predator missing its prey.
I disobeyed and paused to glance back. On the castle wall, two men stood locked in combat as the mist swirled around them. They were equally tall and equally strong. Equally matched. One or both would not survive the fight.
And I would be alone. Alone as my mother had left me. Alone forever. Even if I found my way back to the abbey, I’d live among its ruins and haunt the empty village…
The Corpse King…attacks the mind. These were not my thoughts. Or if they were, the despair was of my own making. I could just as easily will it away.
My mind cleared.
Well done, Willow. The dulcet voice belonged to the Lady of the Lake. The water—it had stopped the Grey Men. Perhaps I could take shelter there.
The fog followed me, descending like a cloud from the keep. It overtook me, and I coughed as it clogged my nose and throat.
Behind me, an eerie howl rang out.
Quickly, Willow. The lake.
With new purpose I stumbled over a few bird carcasses on the sand. The mist poisoned everything it touched. Stripping off my garments, I ran into the water and plunged in.
THE WATER PARTED, even as it reflected the terrible events on the shore—two men, closer than brothers, fighting to kill one another. The worst had happened. They’d lost control. The Corpse King would pick off my guardians and then come for me.
I swam and swam, the mist over me, a never-ending veil. I would swim until I sank, and die like my loves. The Corpse King would not take me.
I almost cried out when my feet struck ground. I crawled onto the shore of the small island surrounded by mist—the island from my dream.
The fog didn’t follow me as I stumbled onto the lichen-covered rocks. I shook with cold. I had to get warm. A hundred paces took me to the center of the island, empty but for a few trees and low bushes. I heard no birds.
I pushed through the brush and came to the circle of rocks surrounding one giant flat boulder. I staggered to it. The stone hummed under my touch like an old friend, warming me. I bent over the dimple in the rock that held a thin layer of rainwater. The liquid rippled and stirred, but, when it smoothed, I saw the woman from my dream. She looked younger, but it was her.
“Help me,” I begged. “I am not strong enough to stop them.”
“Who told you that?” she asked, her voice musical, melting, and oddly familiar.
“Please. They are hurting each other. Give me something to fight the fog and make them stop.”
“The fog’s only weapon is your mind. Clear it of everything but love, and you can triumph.”
“I don’t know how.”
“You do, Willow. All your life you have craved this love. Do not cut yourself off from it.”
The reflection clouded and cleared again. My men still fought on the beach, claws ripping at each other’s skin, blood dripping from the wounds.
As I watched, Leif roared and attacked. I gasped. At the last, Brokk fell to his knees and thrust upwards. The redhead warrior stopped, mouth open in a silent cry. The beast receded as Leif met his brother’s eyes. Brokk’s face was a terrible mask as he faced his brother, arms outstretched in an almost embrace. He rose, and Leif sank down before him. Blood gurgled from his mouth. Brokk’s claws had pierced through him, a fatal blow.
“No!” I screamed, and scrambled away from the pool. Enough hiding. I belonged with my warriors, even if only to hold Brokk as we watched Leif die.
Without a thought, I raced into the water, skidding onto the moonlight path as if the lake was solid, like black glass. I ran straight back to shore. The mist parted before me.
The bond, Willow. Link to them.
I opened my mind. A second later, all the pain poured into me. Agony. Not Leif’s. Brokk’s.
Forgive me, my brother. The blunt-faced warrior knelt at his handsome comrade’s side.
“You saved her.” More blood bubbled out of Leif’s mouth. His hair was wet with it.
I skidded to shore. “Oh no,” I sobbed. Up close, Leif’s wound looked so much worse. Blood soaked both men. Brokk’s hands were stained dark like the heart of a rose. His claws had gone deep enough to carve Leif’s heart out of his chest. What man could survive such a wound?
I threw myself to my knees, my hands over the wound. “No. No.”
“I’m sorry.” The corner of Leif’s mouth jumped, as if he tried to smile.
“No, no, shhh,” I hushed him, weeping. The mist swirled around us, blown back by an icy wind. Snow fell from a broiling sky, the strange weather fitting for a world gone mad.
Brokk. I wronged you many years ago. Leif’s voice sounded in my head, though his lips did not move.
Brokk shook his head.
Your woman did not even want me. She wanted to make you jealous. That is why she seduced me. I was weak. Leif’s eyes widened, and he gasped in pain.
“It’s forgotten, brother. Forgiven. I resented you too long. For that, I am sorry.”
Do not close your heart to love, Leif told us both. Promise me.
“Brother, please.” Brokk knelt. “You cannot die. You will not. The healing will begin. I have opened up to the bond…it will be enough to save you.”
Keep Willow safe.
“Leif, no, stay with me.” My hands were too small. I couldn’t stem the flow of blood. “Help,” I cried. “We need more help!”
“Well isn’t this a pretty picture.” A blonde woman appeared through the fog, walking briskly. She was short and ordinary-looking until she came closer. Her face was abnormally smooth and unlined, her expression fixed like a mask.
“Who are you?” Brokk snarled, and lunged towards her.
A flick of her hand, and he froze in place.
“Stay away,” he roared, but couldn’t seem to move.