Oathbreaker (30 page)

A shaking, sinking feeling filled the pit of my stomach, even as I rallied and swung my blade through his chest, cleaving his armor in two even though his chest healed almost instantaneously. He seemed to heal faster the more wounds he received and sharp frustration made my limbs shake. If he didn’t stay down, I wouldn’t win.

“
Starting to see the problem, Godhunter?” Balder’s grin was simply evil.

I shook with a rage that blinded me to all but him, my entire body going rigid as my lioness rose up in delight. She’d been pacing inside me, wanting nothing but to control the fight, the hunt, and I’d finally decided to give in. I threw my sword to the ground and yanked off my gloves, throwing them to Trevor.

Fur sprouted along my skin with an itching sensation that soon developed into pleasure. I dropped to my knees with the ecstasy of it, arching my back as my body twisted and changed, growing and lengthening into a lioness. The strength of my War and Victory magic seemed amplified in my new body and I gloried in it, stretching my neck and shoulders as I set my cat eyes on my prey.

Balder lost his cocky smile and started to back up but he was on the wrong side of the circle and his back was to my friends. The Intare especially, closed in, welcoming Balder’s proximity with low growls that were like a siren’s call to my lioness. Balder skidded to the side at the sudden realization that he was between a rock and her lions. The cat in me rejoiced in his fear, following him with my eyes before moving my body toward him sinuously.

I felt my tail twitch with the thrill of the chase, my muscles bunching for the leap, and my jaws aching to close around his neck. His blood was ambrosia on the wind, luring me with promises of pleasure, salty red pleasure. I gathered the strength in my hind quarters, swishing in preparation for the attack, as I tracked Balder calmly. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t kill him; in fact I’d have more fun if he didn’t die. It was every cat’s dream… an indestructible, living chew toy.

Before I even knew what was happening, I was sailing through the air. With the sweet sound of wolves and lions roaring in my ears, I caught my prey by the neck, throwing his body around as I shook my head violently. Savage delight coursed through me and I tossed up my toy before catching it around the middle and tearing into its soft underbelly. Rich blood flowed over my tongue, more delicious than any dessert made by the finest French pastry chef. Revenge was sweet but mix it with blood and the taste was literally to die for.

I felt a sharp pain in my side and looked down to see a small dagger protruding from my ribs. It was more of an annoyance than a hindrance. Did he really think a little blade like that could stop a lioness on the warpath? Hmph, silly god, tricks are for kids… and cats. I smiled as best I could in kitty form and set my teeth back to the task at hand but the body before me started to blur.

I wavered on my feet, backing up a little and squinting at the little dagger again. Something was wrong. I’d barely lost any blood and he hadn't even come close to hitting an organ, so there was no reason for me to be feeling so weak. I shook my head, feeling the fur rise up on my skin, as I sat back. There was laughter in my head, no, around my head, and I couldn’t get a fix on the source.

“I’ve drugged you,” Balder laughed again as he got unsteadily to his feet. “Did you get the brain of a cat when you took that form? Stupid whore, like I’d let you get the best of me.”

In a panic I reached out for the one power that I knew could drop him. I sent my magic searching for his energy, seeking to drain him of his own magic until he was dead if I had to. But I couldn’t reach him; I could barely keep my eyes open.

“Having a little problem with your magic, Godhunter?” Balder’s laugh was becoming more and more abrasive. “Welcome to the wonderful world of god drugs. You can’t use any of your powers when you’re under the influence of Net, it dampens magic completely. You’re mine.”

I heard howls and roars, screams and yelling, my people weren’t shy about protesting Balder’s tactics but when it came down to it, all’s fair in a battle with a god. The terms had been set and he was well within them. The funny thing was, the drug took away all of my concerns. I simply did not care that Balder won, that I only had a painful, slow death to look forward to. I felt good, good enough to lie out on the soft grass and laze in the sun.

Before I could settle in for a good nap though, Balder had me by the scruff, pulling my head up to look into my eyes with extreme satisfaction. I still didn’t care. I just stared back with a minor amount of curiosity, which seemed to make him even happier. The air around me was bursting with sound, horrible maniac cries and violent shrieking but my world had shrunk down to two glowing eyes and a malicious smile. I caught the glint of the insignificant blade as it came closer to my face but it didn’t seem like it mattered enough for me to move, so I just watched it come.

“
Maybe I'll just take a small trophy while you're still in cat form,” Balder purred. “Perhaps an ear.”

Before the blade could make contact with my skin, I saw those golden eyes widen in surprise and then fill with pain, before falling away. There was more shouting, someone coming closer, a hand reaching past my face to the body of the man before me. The hand took the shaft of an arrow in its grasp and pulled it free of the man’s chest, leaving a torrent of blood in its place. Way too much blood for a wound of that nature. I stared curiously at the growing puddle before me, half interested in a conversation taking place above my head.

“You had no right to interfere!”

“
Nothing stopped me, so the right must be irrelevant.”

“
This was a challenge fight, none were to meddle!”

“
I made no such oath.”

“
Why do you even care, Loki? It’s the Godhunter! How could you kill Balder over her?”

“
Well she is my granddaughter after all.”

I lost consciousness after that.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Tingles all over my skin. Faces hovering in and out of my vision. Memories rocketing through me. Or were they dreams?

I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. Everything was soft and hazy, turning my world into a wonderland of twisted familiarity. Recognition hovered just outside my grasp. Voices, muted but filled with strong emotions, drifted through my dreamland, demanding my attention and pulling me back from the darkness.

“You are not the only one who loves her, Wolf Prince.”

Vicious growling.

“You cannot deny Vidar and Vali access to their mother.”

More growling, a yelp, and then a muttered curse.

“Please,” this one had a Russian accent. “You must leave him vith mate. He’s been parted from her too long and only she can calm beast now.”

“
Beast?” My voice came out a little gravelly but it seemed to be loud enough to draw everyone’s attention, because the room got suddenly quiet before erupting into a cacophony of shuffling. “Who you calling a beast?”

I lifted the massive weight of my eyelids and tried to focus them on the closest face. It was fuzzy, the face not my vision, and got closer quickly as I was lifted into a furry embrace. I concentrated on the wolf eyes, as I found my face bathed with a raspy tongue. The honey depths of his gaze held relief and a jolting recognition brought me fully awake.

“Trevor?”

“
Minn Elska,” the rich, sweet tenor of his voice wrapped around me like his body did.

“
I missed you, baby,” I snuggled deeper but my cheek shook as the chest beneath me started to quake.

I thought for a second that he was laughing at me, and I raised my head to berate him but instead, found the fur beneath his eyes flat and wet with his tears. I reached up to catch more of the precious liquid as it spilled from his glowing eyes. He caught my hand and held it to his muzzle, rubbing it and smelling me all at once, while making soft mewling sounds in his throat.

His wolf soul in me took over, bowing my head down to his and rubbing my body into his embrace. His tears wet my cheeks but were wiped away by his fur in the next instant. Warm, erotic tingling spread over me as the pieces of Trevor reconnected through my skin, leaving me feeling stroked by soft fur inside as well as out. My body heated in response.

Trevor inhaled sharply, his body going rigid and then shaking as he turned his head, “Get out, now.”

I heard a great many people exit the room and then the welcome sound of a door closing but I saw nothing except Trevor. I couldn’t focus on anything but my need for him, his need for me. His large paws stroked down my face, over my shoulders, around my breasts, and then down my stomach. I growled low in my throat, letting nature take over, the need for my mate coursing quickly through my blood.

“
Minn Elska,” a rough tongue lapped up my breast but was soon followed by the exquisite feel of wolf fur.

“
VѐulfR,” I held his soft head close to me, even when I felt the nip of teeth along the underside of my breast.

Then I was on my back, and he was rearing above me, piercing me with his honey wolf gaze as he spread my legs to pierce me with the slick length of him. I cried out at the sudden invasion, wrapping my legs around his hips to angle myself better and draw him deeper. It was so sensuous, the feeling of hot silky skin within me and cool silky fur without. I groaned as I pulled him closer, smothering myself in his thick pelt and spicy musk.

Trevor’s cry was all animal, wild and unapologetic, as his hips slammed faster, fur easing the tempo. I grabbed at his shoulders but he pulled back, his spine curving as he lapped my belly with hot swirling motions of his tongue. He licked every inch of skin, moving up over my breasts and into the hollow at my throat.

When I thought I could take no more, he pulled out and turned me over, shoving back into me instantly. I felt my legs shift wider to bring him in closer until each slam brought his pelvis into my sensitized flesh, fur clinging to me like a second caress as he pulled away. My legs were clenching with my second orgasm when he leaned over me, one paw on the bed beside me, the other clamped firmly to my breast as his teeth closed over the back of my neck. The sharp sting of his fangs gave wings to my pleasure and I crested through two more continuous orgasms as he plunged through my core, claiming my sex as he claimed my soul, with teeth and fur and flesh.

I roared through my release and his teeth slid out of me to allow him to mimic my cry. Passion filled my ears as he filled my body, hot, liquid, and rushing. I dropped like a stone when it flowed away, leaving me weak beneath a body shivering and changing from fur to skin. Trevor’s human arms wrapped around me and pulled me with him to the side, still joined in the most intimate of ways, and I fell back onto his chest, languidly.

He chuckled but it quickly shifted to a sob. “I have never been so scared in all my life,” he buried his face in my neck, inhaling deeply and wiping his tears away.

“Trevor,” I pushed up, reluctantly separating our bodies, so I could turn around and connect our eyes. “You should know, I’ll always come for you.”

He laughed, a sharp bark of a sound, “Not for me, Minn Elska, for you. I feared you’d come and I’d have to watch helplessly as Balder tortured you. Then you fought him and I thought he’d won with his cowardice. I was so enraged, I couldn't think straight. I barely understood when they told me you were only drugged, not dying.”

“Oh,” I said lamely as my heart melted and flowed down into my feet. “What the hell kind of drug was that anyway?”

“
It’s a god drug called Net,” he pushed the hair back from my face as he stared up at me, finally calm. “It pulls you down till you’re almost paralyzed, like being caught in a net.”

“
Is Balder…?”

“
Yes.”

“
Have you been in half form since the fight?” I was remembering the conversation I’d woken to, trying to make sense of it.

“
I was too far gone into my animal,” he smiled gently. “I was so scared for you, then all I knew was that you were in danger and I had to protect you. I’m afraid I didn’t let anyone else near you, and you just experienced what was necessary to bring me back.”

“
If that’s how you need to come down,” I smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss, “maybe I should scare you more often.”

“
Never,” Trevor growled and pulled me down for a punishing and much more thorough kiss. “Never make me feel that way again.”

“
Alright, baby wolf,” I snuggled down against him. “I’ll see what I can do.”

An anxious knocking drew our attention sharply to the door.

“What is it?” Trevor growled as he gained his feet and went in search of some pants.

“
If you two are done in there,” Pan’s otherwise calm voice seemed to be giving in to the emotion it usually inspired… panic. “We seem to have a situation out here that requires your attention.”