Viking's Gift

by Anne Marsh

  To keep my mind off our unknown destination, I fall back on the car games my parents used to play with me when I was little. We’d always played with clouds back then, naming the ridiculous shapes we saw in the fluffy mounds, but snow really works just as well. Despite the wind’s best efforts, the drifts aren’t uniform. It actually isn’t all that hard to imagine shapes around us or overhead in the steadily darkening sky.

  “That cloud looks like a castle.” I point overhead in case Ake is an eyes-on-the-road kind of guy.

  He grunts. Guess he doesn’t have much imagination.

  “Moat,” I call out when we pass a deep, downward slide of snow. Not sure what’s at the bottom of that, but I don’t want to find out. Another grunt. I call out shapes, getting sillier and sillier. Ake doesn’t say anything. It’s like trying to cozy up to a cement wall. There’s not an inch of give in him and he excels at shutting me out.

  “Dragon. Apple. Pineapple tree.” I say that last one just to see if he’s still listening to me. I’ve never actually spotted a pineapple tree in the wild.

  He twists his head to glare at me. “You know how to shut the fuck up?”

  Yup. Definitely listening. Guess he wants to play the who can be silent longest? game that was also one of my parents’ favorites.

  I’m quiet for a while but now there’s nothing to concentrate on but my overflowing bladder. Shouldn’t have finished up that last pot of tea but dumping it out into the snow seemed wasteful. We’ve all gone without too many times for me to throw away perfectly good tea. When a stand of dark green trees pops into view, my bladder clamors for a pit stop.

  My knowledge of Greenland’s vegetation is spotty, but trees have branches and branches mean privacy. I really don’t want to piss in front of the entire pack.

  I tap Ake on the shoulder. “Pull over.”

  He grunts something that does not sound like an affirmative.

  “Pull over now unless you want me to pee on your seat.”

  Oh goody. That gets a reaction. Ake heads right, dropping behind our Viking guard with a muffled bellow of alone time. Maybe the threat of imminent pee really does scare him because he heads straight for my stand of trees, stopping ten feet away.

  “Go,” he grunts.

  I consider being difficult but I really do need to pee badly and I’m down to my last wolf here. Ake’s no prize but I need to make him like me. I have to make this work. No one picked me to be a part of this pack—I just came with the tents. Har har. Being grateful seems like the right next step. He does something for me. I appreciate him. Pretty soon we’ll have ourselves a real relationship.

  “Thanks.” I turn, intending to make for the relative privacy of some trees behind a nice, tall snowbank, but he reaches out and snags the back of my jacket. Before I can spit out a WTF, he spins me back around, grabs my face between both hands, and mashes his mouth against mine hard. Since he’s still on my list of potential mates, giving his kissing skills a quick trial run seems important.

  He licks at my lips—ewwww—and then nips hard enough to hurt. It’s also kind of gross. Unfortunately, it appears my list of potential mates just got shorter. Fortunately, I don’t think Ake is the thoughtful sort who believes in going down on a gal because his teeth are way too sharp for my comfort. I start counting. When I get to ten, he’ll let go. Twenty. At thirty, I jerk my head back because I have my limits. We’re so done here.

  “I have to—”

  He gives me a mean smile and shoves down on my shoulders. I land on my knees in the snow before I can stop myself. The snow is cold, seeping through my clothes and underneath what feels like several layers of skin and muscles.

  “Thank me,” he growls.

  He can’t mean—

  Oh God. He does.

  He cups the back of my head with one meaty hand while he pulls at the front of his pants with the other.

  Carr

  Greenland is fucking endless. Calder takes point, while Fell and I bring up the rear. Vik and Vikar hang left and right. The weather’s already shit, snow falling thick and heavy. We have the pack riding double on snowmobiles and a snowcat lumbers behind us hauling the boxes. Thirty wolves, most of whom can’t ride well, make for a logistical nightmare. Even before we pull away from the caves, I’m feeling frustrated. I’d like to open my ride up, push her fast and hard over the snow, but what if we hit trouble? Someone needs to watch Dee’s back, and if I’d like to volunteer to watch her front and every other part of her, that’s no one’s business but my own.

  Dee’s not at the back of the pack. Part of me wants to ride up the line and pinpoint her exact location, maybe move her where I can see her. On the other hand, that means watching her ride with Ake. That wolf’s a mean son-of-a-bitch and he only looks out for himself. He’ll be no good if we’re attacked by dragons, snow giants, or trolls. Not sure there’s gonna be trouble, but the whole fucking Norse world’s seeing Armageddon signs and they’re jumpy as fuck. Since the ancient prophecies blame the end of the world on the wolves, it’s not a good time to be furry.

  Fell slaps me on the back as we move out behind the pack at a fucking snail’s pace. “Misplaced a werewolf?”

  I flash him the bird. The wind’s strong enough that cursing him isn’t worth the effort. I’d only end up with a mouthful of ice. Hope Ake’s got Dee wrapped up good, because it’s cold enough to freeze your tits off out here and she has a great pair. It would be a shame to waste them.

  We ride for hours, picking up the pace when the wind dies back and slowing down when so much snow fills the sky that you can’t see farther than the snowmobile in front of you. Otherwise, the ride’s pretty quiet. It’s just us, the ice, and the occasional tree. Around four, it’s already dark and the wolves are starting to grumble. Calder decides we should stop for a pee break and to let the girls stretch their legs. I straddle my snowmobile for a few minutes longer, watching to make sure everyone pulls over and counting heads.

  We’re fucking short.

  I count again. Not like math’s my thing, but when you get twenty-eight twice and you’re supposed to have thirty, you’ve got a problem. I make my way over to Calder, Fell hot on my heels.

  “We’re down two.”

  “Yeah.” Calder doesn’t look happy. “Ake took off. Said he wanted some alone time. Gonna have to kick his ass.”

  Since my thoughts lean more toward outright killing, I settle for grunting. I can do things my way and apologize later.

  I look around, still trying to make the numbers work. “Where’d he stash Dee?”

  She’s a tiny thing. It’s possible I overlooked. My dick twitches right on cue because it’s a fucking dowsing rod when it comes to her. Could find her anywhere.

  “Took her with him,” Calder growls.

  Fell fucking laughs. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to kill him because I have to go find Dee. Don’t like the idea of her being out there in this storm, let alone with a stupid dick like Ake. Fucking understatement of the year in fact.

  “Then I’ll get her back.” I wait a beat but all Calder does is nod. My brother reads between the lines just fine. I’m going for Dee, but Ake is about to become collateral damage. I grab some extra gear and stuff it in my saddlebags and then I’m off.

  The snow’s coming down hard now, reducing visibility to a few feet in front of me. The snowmobile’s tracks are barely visible, the treads filling up with fresh snow as I watch. Bears can track their prey silently for hours before moving in for a quick, hard attack, but I’m impatient to find Ake and Dee.

  I hear the snowmobile coming toward me before I see it. Ake’s ride is a big red machine. He guns it, hunching over the handlebars, face tucked low to avoid the driving snow. Maybe the stupid fuck realized he’d left the safety of the pack behind. Maybe he’s not as dumb as he looks.

  When he pulls even with me, however, I can see that he’s alone. The seat behind him is empty.

  My bear growls, seething beneath my skin. Yeah. I’m in total agreement—
Ake needs a painful lesson in what happens when you piss off a werebear. I let the claws sprout from my left hand and pluck Ake from his seat as he passes. A little one-two jab and my claws pierce his shoulder. He howls, the sound muffled by the falling snow. Who says I have no Christmas spirit? Just like hanging an ornament on a tree. The snowmobile plows into a snowdrift and halts twenty yards away.

  I stop my own snowmobile and give Ake a shake. Fucker howls louder and tries to shift. Did he dump Dee somewhere in all this snow? Leave her alone and cold? Fucking hell, I’ll put my claws through something more important if he did. Doesn’t matter that she’s not mine or that I can’t have her.

  Before I can disembowel the stupid shit, however, Calder pulls up behind us. He didn’t bring Tyra with him, so I guess he does take his Alpha shit seriously. If he’d just killed this stupid bastard when he took over the pack, we wouldn’t have this problem. After I’ve found Dee, I’ll have a little conversation with him about proper team management skills.

  Calder takes one look at Ake bleeding all over the place. Then his gaze moves to the empty snowmobile. “Where’s Dee?”

  Ake twists, fur rippling over his face. “Left the disrespectful little bitch behind.”

  “Where?” My own face is none too human.

  Ake shrugs. “Dumped her ass in a snowbank.”

  Calder swings off his snowmobile. The crack of his knuckles is audible even over the howl of the wind. Normally I’d take care of this myself, but sometimes you have to outsource. Dee isn’t here—which means she’s out there somewhere… and that somewhere has to be cold, alone, and icy. She could die.

  I could lose her too, like I did…

  Fuck no.

  Calder rips Ake off my claws, blood spurting out of the wolf’s new piercings. Bastard can wear him some chains. “Why?”

  Ake makes an obscene gesture, punching his fist out from his dick, thumb out. “Told her I had better uses for her mouth than back talk. The bitch bit me when I put her on her knees.”

  The wolf pack is a fucked up thing. Calder knows this. I know this. The only asshole that doesn’t understand you don’t put your dick where it’s not invited is Ake. I can’t help wondering what went down out there in the snow. Did he choke her? Force her to open up for him? He doesn’t get to do that. No one does. Damned glad she bit him too, because if she wasn’t out there alone and unprotected, I’d feed him his balls right now.

  Unfortunately, there’s no time for a beatdown. Calder growls when Ake tries to surge to his feet—my brother might not have planned on being a werewolf Alpha, but he looks after his girls. Losing Dee in a snowbank courtesy of Mr. Dick Wolf? So not making him happy. Ake’s only just figuring that out because he starts spewing more crap about how Dee should have been glad to suck his dick. He then seals his stupidity by declaring her a useless piece of pussy. As if she’s nothing more than a vagina and a convenient place for Ake to stick his dick.

  She’s so much more.

  She stands out from the other wolves in the pack. She’s a curvy little thing, which is kind of surprising since the last Alpha kept them all on starvation rations. Still, compared to the other girls, she’s all sweet curves and soft, lickable skin. And while the other female wolves are submissive, either by choice or experience, Dee’s still fighting it. She’s got some snap to her and a steel backbone. She’s smart too, and just the thought of her choosing to let me touch her, to let me in, makes me hard as fucking iron.

  “Choose,” Calder snaps at me. “Find the girl. Kill the wolf. You can’t do both.”

  He’s right. Dee’s out of time—and Dee always comes first.

  “Make him hurt,” I snarl and head in the direction Ake came from. The wind’s picking up, driving the snow thick and hard against my face. Fuck. I need to find Dee quickly. I calculate how long it’s been since Ake left the pack. Our tracks are still visible—surely she would follow them, hoping to catch up, knowing that we’d come for her. Unless he’s hurt her too badly. Unless she can’t walk or she’s too scared.

  Five minutes later, I hit pay dirt. Dee’s crouched down behind a drift of snow that doesn’t quite conceal her. Big brown eyes peer out from the fur-lined hood of her parka, her nose pink-tipped with cold. Silvery tracks streak her cheeks and the telltale sign of tears cuts me somewhere I didn’t know I could be hurt. She looks pale and tired and so damned edible. But she’s vulnerable and hurting, which means I need to protect her, not spend time thinking about all the places I could be licking her.

  I leap off the snowmobile and vault over that stupid pile of snow, scooping her up in my arms. She only struggles for a moment, before she looks up and realizes it me. Maybe she thought Ake had come back for her because that would explain the fear and resignation that flashes across her face followed by all sorts of pissed off.

  “You,” she snaps. Of course she’s not glad to see me.

  “You want a different rescuer, pick a different day.” I know I’m supposed to be nice to her, to hold her close and make promises about how this shit will never happen to her again. And it won’t because I won’t let it. Still, life has a way of shitting on everyone and even if I permanently remove Ake from the equation, there are a million other things that can and will go wrong. So I squeeze her closer, burying my face in her hair and breathing in her scent. I can smell Ake on her skin and that just pisses me off.

  “Thank you,” she says way too meekly. Then she sort of pushes up in my arms and brushes a kiss across my cheek.

  The. Fuck?

  Our relationship dynamic could best be described as: She snarls. I snarl back.

  “Ake’s a dick,” I growl and stomp back toward our snowmobile.

  “Couldn’t agree with you more.” She wriggles in my arms. “Can you put me down now?”

  “Nope.” Mean it too. She fits where she is and she just gets in trouble when she’s not around me—so she’s stuck with me. It’s the safest plan of action. “You really done with him?”

  Because I have to hear her say it. Because I have to kiss her now. And because I’m the fucking idiot who needs to wipe Ake’s scent from her skin and replace it with mine.

  Mine.

  That’s what I need her to be.

  I lean in a little, scooting her closer, and I’m in no rush to make it back to the snowmobile. My mouth brushes the top of her head, breathes her in, moves closer…

  She squirms in my arms, reaching inside her parka to pull out her notebook. Uh-huh. Figures she’d have a list. The woman loves writing shit down. She flips through the pages and then holds one up for my inspection. It’s a list of crossed-off names.

  “He’s officially off my list,” she announces.

  I pluck the notebook out of her hand, ignoring her protests. She’s a possessive little thing. Sure enough, Ake’s name is the fourth name and he does indeed have a line through him. Not as satisfying as killing the stupid fuck but Dee isn’t the bloodthirsty sort.

  That’s okay. Anything, anyone that needs killing? I’ll handle it for her. Except…

  Wait.

  “Why is there still a name on your list?”

  She smiles happily. “Because there is one other unmated wolf in the pack. Maybe Even will be a better fit.”

  Fuck.

  No one’s good enough for her. It’s that simple.

  She frowns, her face clouding over. “But I think he might already have fixed his interest elsewhere.”

  The werewolves run through bachelors faster than a reality TV show.

  “I don’t see my name on your list.” Crossed out or otherwise, I’m completely absent from her little notebook. She blinks up at me, confused.

  “You’re not a wolf.”

  “You got something against bears?” I could give her a dozen reasons why I’m no good for her. Should make her a list of my own.

  But I don’t.

  Her heart beats harder against my chest as she stares at my face, adding two and two and coming up with four. Dee’s smart. She knows I’
m going to kiss her. She sort of holds her breath, her eyes dipping to my mouth and sticking there.

  That’s not a no.

  I dip my head, pulling her as close as I can get her. She feels so soft, so small and delicate everywhere we touch—her hands pressed against my chest, the sweet length of her legs, her tits against my chest. Her ass rests on my arm.

  “I’m kissing you,” I tell her. Thank Christ that shuts her up. Sure, she saw it coming—but now she knows and her head’s going a million miles a minute trying to figure out what she wants to do about it. About me. But I’m not some logistics problem she gets to solve. I’m all kinds of fucked up, but she can’t fix me.

  I cover her mouth with mine.

  Talking’s overrated.

  Not like I have words to describe how she makes me feel. And since she opens her mouth—to protest, to breathe, to goddamned talk about this shit between us—the kiss gets hot, fast. I fist her hair. I tighten my grip on her gorgeous ass because she’s not going anywhere, not now. Shove my tongue into her mouth, taking, tasting, learning each sweet inch. She makes a stunned sound but then her head falls back on my arm and she relaxes. I’ve kissed my share of women, but none of them have ever felt like this. Dee feels—right.

  I belong here.

  We belong together.

  Our mouths fit together like the pieces in a puzzle, all the funny shapes and mismatched pieces aligning, the rough edges smoothing out. I lose myself in her, kissing her deeper, harder, until I forget that we’re outside in a goddamned blizzard. That the world’s a dangerous place and I have one job—to get her home safely. Her hands come up and clutch at me. Her fingers slide beneath the edge of my jacket, find the bare skin of my throat, and stroke. She learns me inch by inch and it’s so fucking good. I groan and move against her.

  Wanting more.

  My bear barrels to the surface, tearing at my skin. It wants out. It wants to be skin-to-skin with Dee, rubbing, marking, taking. I’ve never lost complete control of my bear, but I’ve had close calls. That last time… No. That doesn’t happen with Dee. I won’t shift when I’m holding her in my arms.