To Rule the Alpha's Heart

16. A New Beginning

EINARR FJERSTÄD

Einarr did not sleep that night.

Even when he tried to rest beside Calla, he could not bear to close his eyes and risk losing sight of her. They were sleeping in hostile territory, after all. In truth, Einarr worried that, if he dared to tear his eyes from his human mate, the Moon Goddess would steal her away.

He couldn't bear that. Not when he'd only just found her.

And so he watched her. He sat by the entrance of their small tent and tended to the fire when the flames began to dwindle, intent on keeping Calla warm. She seemed to have no interest in sharing his body's warmth, so he focused his efforts elsewhere. When the fire did not need tending, he kept his watchful gaze on her back.

Almost immediately after Einarr had planted his seed in Calla's womb, the white-haired girl crawled to the furthest corner of their tent. She curled into a ball, turning her back to Einarr like she could not bear to see his face.

It... confused him.

Hadn't she insisted on the Joining? Hadn't she declared that the Moon Goddess desired their coupling? Einarr thought that Calla wanted to be claimed– to show to King Rangvald and the world that she was a mated woman. To bind their bodies just as the heavens had bound their souls...

And, Moon Goddess, Einarr had been certain that her body desired him. He nearly came undone at the mere sensation of her round, modest breast in his palm– her nipple tightening beneath his fingers. And, when he touched Calla's center, a layer of slick arousal had coated his finger. They had both been ready...

Einarr began by gently nudging just the tip of his cock between her virgin folds. He saw her back muscles become rigid, so he stopped and allowed her to grow accustomed to his entry. He ran a single hand down the length of Calla's spine, massaging until the muscles relaxed, externally and internally. Only then did Einarr slide deeper.

Throughout the entirety of their joining, Calla scarcely made a sound. Occasionally, she gasped. Once, when Einarr's shaft filled her half-way, she whimpered. But it was mainly Einarr's own grunts that filled their cliffside campsite.

Calla did not move from her hands and knees until Einarr released himself inside of her impossibly tight womb. When he pulled out of her, she collapsed, refusing to face him. She immediately drew a blanket around her blessed body and shrunk into their tent, where she remained throughout the rest of the night.

Einarr watched her, contemplating their night, until the first tendril of dawn peered over the horizon. Finally, he felt confident that the Moon Goddess would not descend to steal Calla from him. With only an hour until the sun broke clear over the horizon, Einarr slept.

☽☽☽

When they returned to the heart of Roandör, King Rangvald observed that Einarr had, indeed, sufficiently claimed his mate. Through gritted teeth and with a murderous gaze, the Alpha King allowed the Onyx Craven Pack to return to their home territory. Having completed their tribute to the ruler of Nortend, Einarr could finally lead his warriors and his new Luna home.

They spent the next several days at sea. The longships traveled at a considerably faster pace than before, given they had left a majority of their raiding loot in Roandör. Every day, they traveled closer to the Onyx Craven territory on the easternmost coast of Nortend, and Einarr could feel it in his bones. His wolf had grown restless at sea, and he chose to focus on the prospect of digging his claws into the dirt of his home soon.

He longed to reach his pack, almost as much as he longed for Calla.

She spent their days at sea tucked inside of Einarr's cabin with the other human girls. She only left the cabin for short intervals, to eat or speak to the translator. Einarr did not speak to his mate throughout the days.

At night, however, she shared his tent.

When he finally retired after a long evening of battling the ocean's currents, he entered their shared tent. Oftentimes, she fell asleep long before Einarr arrived, but he was anxious for an heir. He knew that the Onyx Craven Pack would more readily accept their human Luna if she carried their Alpha's heir in her womb.

And so, night after night, Einarr shook his white-haired beauty awake and mounted her, again and again, praying for his seed to take root.