Claimed by Her Viking Wolf (11 page)

“
Come
with me,” she said. When Kim hesitated the older woman tugged on her arm. “Come
with Helga.”

“
Err,
okay. I’m Kim.” Kimberly felt the need to say that, as she followed Helga out
of the homestead and behind the dwelling.

“
I
know who you are,” the other woman said and pointed to some bushes. Taking the
hint, Kim poured the dirty contents behind the foliage that seemed to surround
the village.

A surprisingly busy village, as she discovered when
she followed Helga. The writer in her catalogued all the fascinating
sights
 
in front of her for future
stories, and a bubble of excitement burst inside her at the fact that she was
truly here.

Before she could think about it too much, she was
surrounded by several young women and carried away in the chattering throng.

Resistance was utterly futile, so Kim simply went
with the flow. It was only when they entered another, much wider building in
the middle of the village that she dug her heels in.

Laid out in almost identical fashion as the one
she’d woken up in, this was far grander. The long fireplace still dominated the
middle of the open space, but partitions had been put up separating the areas,
and right in front of her stood several fur covered chairs. The excited crowd
pushed her forward, and fell silent when the silver haired Viking sitting in
the tallest chair held up his hand.
 

Kim’s heart beat faster when she looked into
Asger’s
eyes. This man was older, his face lined with age,
but she would recognize those deep amber orbs anywhere. This had to be her
Viking wolf’s father, and Kim straightened her shoulders, and raised her head
higher under his silent scrutiny.

“
Step
closer, child,” Lord
Liufr
said. He smiled his
approval when Kim complied. She didn’t miss the way his eyes narrowed when his
gaze fell on
Asger’s
mark on her neck, and she barely
resisted the urge to bring her hand up to cover it. His nostrils flared,
seemingly sniffing the air, and Kim lifted her chin higher. A glimmer of
amusement showed in this man’s eyes, and he nodded once.

A commotion outside shifted his attention away from
her, and Kim breathed a sigh of relief, only for her heart to turn into a
jackhammer when she saw the pack of wolves sprint into their middle. Led by an
enormous grey/brown wolf they spread out into a semicircle, as the villagers
gave them room, and Kim couldn’t suppress a gasp when the lead wolf padded up
to her.

Asger’s
scent invaded her
nostrils ten times stronger in his wolf form, as he came up right next to her
and nudged her legs. The action was enough to ensure that her wobbly knees
would not support her, and Kim simply slid to the floor in an undignified heap.

****

Asger’s
wolf whined
sensing the distress in his mate, and getting to his haunches to make himself
seem less threatening, he waited for her next move. His
kona
would have no idea how important this moment was. If she showed fear, or
Odin
forbid, rejected him in front of
his father and the entire pack, Lord
Liufr
would not
only not give his permission for their wedding, but she would also lose the
respect of the pack.

While
Asger
would never
give up on her, unless she didn’t want him, life would be far easier if this
went smoothly. Inwardly he cursed the timing of the rival clan’s raid. They had
beaten them back in the attack which had seen
Asger
injured and catapulted forward in time to meet Kimberly, but his presence had
been required in the hunting party. He hadn’t wanted to leave a slumbering
Kimberly, especially when she’d been asleep for well over a day.
Guta
had promised to look after her, however, and he had a
duty to perform. As his father’s son and acting Lord in battle, he had to
ensure the safety of the hunting party.

Until either a truce or their utter defeat had been
established the neighboring clan was a danger to them all. Newly mated or not,
he had to protect his village. His breath huffed out of his chest in relief,
when Kim ran her hands over his fur. Hesitantly at first and then with firmer
strokes that made his wolf want to expose his soft underbelly.

“
Asger
, is that you?” she whispered, and her eyes widened
when he nodded and pulled away. Concentrating on his human form he shifted with
ease, bowed to his father, and then held his hand out to Kim.
 
Still sitting on the floor she was eyelevel
with his cock, and close enough for her rapid exhalations to whisper across his
shaft with predictable consequences. Heat rose in her cheeks when she noticed.
Relief coursed through
Asger
when she slid her
fingers into his outstretched hand. Helping her to her feet, he pulled her in
front of him, to hide his obvious arousal.

A snigger went up behind him, and he knew he would
be in for a ribbing from his men, for not being able to control his urges like
some
sveinbarn
.
To soothe his wolf, he
nuzzled into his mate’s neck. A shiver went through her as she sagged against
him. Ignoring their surroundings, he licked his mark on her shoulder and
growled into her ear. His animal didn’t like the bubbling anger he sensed in
his mate.

“
I
am sorry I had to leave you. I will get you out of here as soon as I can.”

Kim nodded, as
Asger
brought his attention back to his father when
Liufr
cleared his throat.

“
Bring
my son some clothes to wear. I can see he would rather drag his woman off somewhere…”
He paused for the inevitable round of laughter. Kim stiffened in his arms and
pushed away from him. “We have things to discuss, my son.”

 
Asger
tightened his hold on her. A fresh wave of her anger hit him straight in the
gut. Oh, yes, his
kona
was pissed off with
either him, or this whole situation. He couldn’t be sure, which, and when a
slave girl approached with his clothes he reluctantly let go of Kim. She
wrapped her arms around herself and glared at him. It made him supremely
grateful for the leggings and tunic he now wore, as he hardened to the point of
pain. His fingers itched to put her over his knee for that open defiance, even
as she forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

To avoid the temptation of doing just that, he
bowed his head toward his father.

“
We,
do my lord, but let me get my
kona
settled
first. Our way of life is new to her, so—”

“
I
can see that, my son.” His father interrupted him and frowned at
Asger’s
wolf’s threatening growl in answer. “Believe me, I
am making allowances for that.
Guta
will continue to
look after her, if you wish.”

At the mention of his sister, Kim’s tense frame
relaxed, while
Asger’s
chest tightened with affection
when he saw Kim rush toward his sister to help her walk. That
barn
of hers really needed to be born
soon. He could read the same worry in his father’s expression when he looked
over to him, and with a sigh stepped up to sit in the chair next to him.

Sure enough his father’s next words said loud
enough only for him to hear confirmed it.

“
She
should have had that child by now.”

“
I
know, Father. I wish there is something we could do.
Ralloph
should have never got her with child again.”

The chair protested under his father’s hands as his
knuckles turned white in response.

“
I
never should have agreed to the union in the first place. That clan cannot be
trusted.
Ralloph
least of all, it seems. Tell me what
you found out.”

Asger
narrowed his eyes
and searched the crowd, while he filled his father in on the strengths and
weaknesses of
Ralloph’s
clan. His brother–in-law was
right now in their midst, supposedly on a mission to return peace to the land.
For a brief interlude that peace had existed. Marrying
Guta
off to the neighboring Alpha’s son was supposed to have been the solution.
 
However, when
Ralloph’s
father had died, and his older brother had become the Alpha, they had once
again protested against the leadership of Lord
Liufr
.

“
What
are you not telling me about
Ralloph
?” he finally
asked after he filled his father in on the intelligence he had gleamed.

A deep sigh escaped Lord
Liufr
,
and
Asger
followed his gaze to where
Guta
and Kim seemed to be deep in conversation. Some of his
worry lifted when Kim laughed at something
Guta
had
said. The smile lit up her face, and his father cleared his throat.

“
Just
a feeling. A foreboding if you will.”

A chill ran up
Asger’s
spine. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the two women in his life who meant
the world to him. The truth hit him square in the chest and made breathing
difficult. What he felt for Kim went deeper than the mere lust brought on by
the mating bond.
 
He’d known that on some
level deep down since he’d first caught her scent, but here in his world, he
couldn’t deny the truth.

“
It’s
a strange feeling, is it not?”

Asger
frowned and briefly
glanced at his father, before staring back at Kim. She was either oblivious or
purposely ignoring him. He suspected the latter, because
Guta
smiled at him, and nudged Kim. His
kona
’s
spine stiffened, but she
didn’t turn around and
Guta
laughed.

His wolf grumbled and paced under his skin.
Asger
would have shot out of his chair, had it not been for
his father’s steadying hand on his arm.

“
Leave
her to cool off. For what it is worth, you have my blessing.” Those words made
Asger
swing his head toward his father. Lord
Liufr
smiled at him and nodded.

“
She
will not be an easy mate, but then neither was your mother. Your chosen woman
has a strong spirit, just like the ancient one predicted. Which makes me more
concerned for your sister.”

Asger
glanced across the
crowded room again.
Guta
leaned back in her chair, a
pained expression on her face as she rubbed her belly. Kim’s hands joined in
the soothing circles over his sister’s abdomen. The hand on his arm tightened,
and his father’s claws ran out.

“
You’ve
consulted the ancient one over
Guta
?”
Asger
asked, and his father’s scent grew acid with worry.

“
I
consulted with him over your sudden disappearance.”
Asger
hung his head, and his father patted his arm and let go of him. “I knew you had
been to see him before the battle, so when you didn’t make it home, and there
was no sign of your body, I had to find out what he knew.”

“
I
am sorry, Father. I should have warned you, but I did not want to believe the
ancient one’s prophecy. It has not happened in such a long time…” He let his words
trail off, and his wolf whined when he saw
Guta
struggle to her feet with his
kona
’s
assistance. His sister
looked worn out, and his chest grew warm with the affection he could read in
Kim’s scent right now. The fact that she already cared about his sister’s
wellbeing so much meant a great deal to him right now.

As though he had read his thoughts, his father
cleared his throat.

“
Like
I said you chose well, or rather the gods chose well for you. I must admit I
was worried when the ancient one said you had been hurled through time to claim
your
válað
.
”

Asger
tore his gaze away
from the departing duo, to glance at his father.

“
It
was not an easy task. My
kona
’s
time is strange and full of modern inventions that are
bewildering at best.”
Asger
ran a hand over his
beard, and suppressed a grin as he recalled running his sword through the
intruder
in her house, which had turned out to be something called a
television.
He was still not entirely sure how those worked, but he knew they weren’t a
threat.

“
You
will have to tell me about them sometime,” his father said, and
Asger
nodded.

“
Ja
, but we were
talking about the ancient one and his prophecy for
Guta
.
I am assuming he had one. Father?”

Lord
Liufr
pinched the
bridge of his nose and sighed.

“
Yes
and no. You know how vague he can be, but when I asked him about you, he said a
time of great change and danger was upon us. Loyalties would be tested, and
family relationships changed forever.”

Asger
dew in a sharp
breath, and beat down the immediate guilt assaulting him. He had been disloyal,
had held out on returning to his time, because he hadn’t wanted to force the
issue with Kimberly. Much had occurred in his absence it seemed. Before he
could voice those thoughts, however, his father spoke again.