The North

Chapter 18

The chapter warning a lot of you have been waiting for...

SEXUAL CONTENT WARNING
If you don't like reading this sort of thing, you can skip the end of the chapter and you won't miss anything important.

Chapter 18

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"Skoll and I are the reason there are Blood Drinkers."

Frozen where I sat, I waited for the words to change in my head, for me to hear what he'd actually said and not what I'd surely misheard. How could they be the reason? What had they done?

"I will tell you everything," he said, lifting his gaze to meet mine. The fire in them had dimmed, leaving them a dull burnt amber. "But not here. And not if you look at me like. . .that. I can bear the disgust of others, but not yours."

I couldn't find my tongue, and while there was a myriad of emotions building, I wasn't sure disgust was one of them. Confusion, certainly. Horror, perhaps. Disbelief.

A hand appeared in front of my face, and only then did I realise Hati had stood. He peered down at me with lips pressed into a tense line and shadows sculpting the strong lines of his face. My gaze moved to the outstretched hand. Taking it would mean more than accepting help to stand. It would be accepting I couldn't react until I heard what he had to say. It would be taking the final plunge into a world I wasn't sure I wanted anything to do with. Who was I to know about the machinations of gods? Who was I to even be near a wolf whose life's purpose was to bring destruction to these lands?

"Will you tell me about the other prophecy too, the one Eirny thinks is about me?"

He hesitated, but defeat came crushing down on his shoulders and he repeated, "I will tell you everything, Little Alpha."

My body protested as I tentatively placed my hand in his. Strong fingers curled around mine and he hauled me to my feet as if a weighed nothing.

Stood face to face, we could properly see the damage we'd done to each other. Claw marks sliced from the left side of his ribs down to his right hip, already scabbed over but still red and raw. He looked worse than I did, covered in splattered blood from head to toe, but I couldn't be sure whether most of it was his or mine. A few good bites littered my skin, but most of my injuries felt more like bruised skin, beaten bones, and strained muscles.

"Can you walk?" he asked gently.

"Yes. Your bark is worse than your bite."

He snorted, releasing my hand to watch me wobble as I tried to keep my knees from buckling.

"That almost sounds like another challenge."

I chuckled weakly, feeling queasy at the very idea of facing him again, and yet eager to do so at least once more in my lifetime. Not even before tragedy struck my life had I felt as alive as I did facing an Alpha truly worthy of the title by designs of brawn and strength. He had other good qualities too of course, but my submission would be enough of a boost to his ego for one day.

Staggering over to my dress, I grimaced as I picked up the now sodden garment from the slush we'd created in our fight. Astrid would not be impressed, especially if I got blood on it. In fact, she would be unhappy the efforts of her bath hadn't lasted so much as a day.

"Here." Taking the dress from me, Hati bundled it up and wrapped it carefully in his tunic. "We can hang it in front of the fire; Astrid won't know a thing."

"Can you read my mind, is that one of your powers?" I asked, only half joking.

He laughed and urged us on back down the road towards the castle as if everything was fine between us. "No. You just wear your every thought on your face."