Oathbreaker (3 page)

“
Then you and Thor had a falling out,” Odin prompted.

“
Yes, and Trevor took care of me,” I shook my head. “I’m making it sound like he wheedled his way into my life and took advantage of me.”

“
And he didn’t?”

“
No, he was just there to help me. At one point, he used the bond to transfer my pain to himself. He literally carried the load for me. He camped on my porch for three days, waiting for me to let him in. He's been amazing. Then we got together and Fenrir started pushing for babies. Can you believe that? He’s like an annoying mother-in-law.” I pounded my head back against the couch. “Trevor gave me half of this club and we’re living together but he still says I’m pulling away. Now he wants marriage. He told me before, that he’d be around no matter what, even if I were to leave him for someone else. So why has it all suddenly changed?”

“
The Froekn can be very psychic,” Odin shifted to lean against the couch beside me. “Something about their ties to the moon. Maybe he senses something coming.”

“
Nothing’s coming,” I looked around at the beautiful club he’d created. All the work he’d put into giving the Froekn legitimate jobs so I’d be happy. “I love him. Maybe I should just marry him.”

“
No,” Odin sat up straight and then relaxed back when I looked at him sharply. “I mean, don’t give in to him just because he’s insecure. You should marry him only if you want to, not because you feel like you have to.”

“
Maybe you’re right, I don’t know, maybe it’s a moot point and I’ve already lost him.”

“
He’ll never be lost to you,” Odin’s voice wavered. “He’s a bonded Froekn, nothing you do will ever keep him away.”

“
Yeah but you forget that I'm part lion now,” I grimaced. “The cat has changed things. There are times when I feel like my lioness wants me to be with a lion. I get strange urges, focus on things I shouldn't. I can feel her pushing at me like an instinct, like an animal conscious telling me I'm going against the laws of Nature by mating a wolf. It's like she doesn't care about my feelings, there's no compassion to it, just right and wrong.”

“
You don't give her enough credit,” he cocked his head and looked at me over the top of one leather-clad bicep perched on his knee.

“
My lioness?”

“
Aren't you a cat lover?” He frowned at me.

“
Yes,” I thought about Nick, my gray tabby. I'd never accuse him of being heartless. “But a house cat is a lot different from the wildcat its descended from.”

“
The cat was born when the lion sneezed,” Odin said with a smile. “They are very alike.”

“
Yeah they hunt and kill things for fun,” I smirked.

“
Saved by the Lioness.”

“
What?” I frowned at him now. “Are you speaking in code?”

“
It was a show on Animal Planet the other day,” he grinned and I had the oddest image of Odin sitting in front of a TV, in a EZ chair, watching Animal Planet.

“
You have a TV in Valhalla? How exactly does that work?”

“
I have something even better,” he grinned like a two-year-old with a puppy. “A device called Hlidskjalf which allows me to see into any realm. It also catches cable.”

“
It catches...” I blinked several times. “Holy shit, you're Santa Claus!”

“
Hardly,” he made a face and looked over his excellent physique.

“
You can see anywhere?”

“
Yes.”

“
And you have a beard.”

“
Yes.”

“
Asgard does get pretty cold.”

“
Yes but it's not the North Pole.”

“
Do you own any reindeer?”

“
No.”

“
Elves, red suits, a sleigh? Do you ever have the urge to make toys or fill socks with candy?”

“
No, Vervain,” he chuckled(rather like Ol' St. Nick). “You're getting me off track.”

“
Oh right,” I thought back. “Back to your Santa-esque ability to see all over the world and also catch cable. I'd like to point out that I don't even catch all the cable channels and I actually live in this realm.”

“
If you're finished griping about your lack of channel choices?” He looked at me with a raised brow. It was raised over the missing eye so it was a little disturbing.

“
Of course,” I waved my permission, “please proceed, Santa. Or would you rather I called you Nick? Like my cat.”

“
Keep it up and I'll start calling you Vivian,” he warned.

“
Damn you, how do you know about that? You
are
Santa!”

My biggest pet peeve was when people insisted on calling me Vivian instead of Vervain. The friendly and helpful(by that I mean, rude and unaccommodating) people of the DMV were constantly trying to correct the typos in my name.
Yes, my name is actually Vervain Alexandrite Lavine. No, not Vivian Alexandra. Yes, I know it's strange, it's my name. No, I don't want to change it to make your life easier. Could you please just print up my driver's license?

“
I told you,” he smirked at me and tapped his one eye. “I see all.”

“
You perv.”

“
I beg your pardon?”

“
You should, you big perverted Santa Claus.” I glared at him. “You better not have ever watched me in the shower.”

“
Vervain!”

“
Okay, okay,” I sighed but inside, I was giggling. Odin could actually be fun. Who knew? “Tell me about the Disney Channel.”

“
Animal Planet,” he sighed right back. “There was this show where they follow some poor creature around, filming its life but not interfering.”

“
They call that reality TV,” I patted his head like he was slow. “Was it the cooking one or the sewing one? There's lots more but those are the really good ones. Oh, I do like the ghost hunting ones too. There's one with this really buff host who always ends up screaming like a little girl in pigtails. Oh yeah and there's a new Southern version of it with guys who look like they're in
ZZ Top
going around saying things like
My ghost radar is goin off like a buck in ruttin season
.”

“
How does anyone finish a conversation with you?” He looked truly baffled. “It's an animal show. I told you it was called
Saved by the Lioness.
Are you doing this to torture me or do you find this subject completely boring?”

“
I'm sorry,” I let one little giggle out and he shook his head at me. “Go ahead. I just have to say first that I hate those shows. They follow an animal around and when it gets into trouble, they're all like
Oh this poor zebra is gonna drown but we can't help it because that would be interfering
, how messed up is that? You know that zebra is like
Hey, a little help here? You've been filming me all day but you can't even toss me a rope?
”

“
I quite agree,” he patted
my
head. “Now shut up. This particular show was following a baby wildebeest around
and it got lost from its mother.”

“
See, I'm already depressed.”

“
If you would allow me to continue?”

“
Sorry.”

“
In the process of trying to make its way back to its mother, it got surrounded by a pack of hyenas.” He narrowed his eyes when I made a face at him so I kept quiet. “It looked as if the show was going to be quite a short one but along comes this lioness and she saves the little wildebeest from the hyenas.”

“
Not,” I said, dumbstruck.

“
Yes, indeed.” Odin looked thrilled to be finally impressing me. “She ran off the hyenas, and the baby, who was too young to know that it should fear this predator, followed her and cuddled with her a bit before he went on his way.”

“
That's amazing.”

“
Yes, but what does it say to you, Lion Queen?”

“
That a lioness can show compassion.”

“
Exactly,” he nodded like he was a professor and I, his worst but somehow finally cogitating, student. “It isn't simply compassion though. She shows mercy to an animal she would normally hunt. She has compassion for her prey. Just because your lioness has personal views on who she believes you should be with, it doesn't mean she has no understanding of love, or sympathy for your views. Give her some respect and maybe she will help you with your hyenas. Metaphorically speaking.”

“
Wow,” I frowned, fighting the urge to make another Santa joke. “That's kind of beautiful and really insightful. Thank you.”

“
Of course,” he reached over and took my hand.

“
Well isn’t this sweet?” Thor was suddenly standing over us, glaring at our joined hands. What the hell was he doing here? “Is this why I saw Trevor stomping off?”

Odin started to get up and I could feel his anger like a drop in barometric pressure. I squeezed his hand and when he looked at me, I shook my head. This was my battle. He leaned back and inclined his head to me.

“Odin’s just offering some comfort because Trevor took off on me.” I was used to Thor’s rudeness, so I could keep calm. Some small part of me actually welcomed it after the strange way Trevor had been acting.

“
So why did Trevor run off?” Thor sat down on the end of the couch.

“
We had a disagreement.”

“
About what?”

“
About none of your business, that’s what,” I raised a brow at him.

“
Yet it seems to be Odin’s,” his eyes were starting to fill with lightning.

“
Ah fuck, Thor,” both men stared at me with wide eyes. “Trevor proposed okay? I said I wasn’t ready and he got pissed. You happy now?”

“
Why aren’t you ready?” The lightning immediately started to die down to little sparks.

“
It’s only been a year,” I dropped my head to my knees.

“
More than that since you bonded,” Thor corrected me and I looked up at him in surprise.

“
I’m just not ready.”

“
You’ll never be ready,” Thor’s voice was too sad to be concerned over Trevor.

“
What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
You pick things apart, Vervain,” Thor glanced at Odin uneasily but continued. “You need to find things to blame in case something does go wrong. Then you can say
I told you so
and be done with it.”

“
I didn’t pick
us
apart,” I felt my teeth clench.

“
Vervain,” Thor rubbed his forehead, “I came here to apologize to you tonight. I love you. I miss you but I want you to be happy. Why don’t you let yourself be happy?”

“
So you think I should marry Trevor?”

“
No,” Thor sighed. “Yes. Whichever makes you happy. Stop worrying about ifs and whens. Just do what feels right.”

What makes me happy. What did make me happy? I frowned as I considered. Trevor made me happy when he wasn’t acting like a jealous idiot but would marriage to him make me happy? Maybe. Did I want little werewolf babies? Maybe not but then I wasn’t sure if I wanted
any
babies, werewolf or otherwise. Would waking up next to him every morning for the rest of my life, make me happy? I suddenly thought that it might.

“
Alright,” I got to my feet.

“
What are you going to do?” Thor’s face twisted into concerned lines.

“
I’m going home,” I leaned over and hugged him tightly, letting myself remember us in a good way for moment. It had been so long since I held him. I inhaled his wonderful scent, felt the massive muscles under my cheek tense, and then I let him go. In every way I could. “Thank you, Thor and thank you too, Odin.” I turned and looked down at the one-eyed god who was still lounging against the couch.

“
Before you go,” Odin got up, brushing off his jeans. “I was wondering if I could speak with you later.”

“
Tonight?” I squeaked a little in surprise.

“
No,” he smiled. “I was thinking later this week. I have something I need to discuss with you. It’s actually why I came down here in the first place.”

“
Sure,” I nodded. “Um, why don’t you come by Moonshine on Thursday?”