Reluctant Berserker: Isaacson Trilogy Book One

Chapter 30

A horrendous boom reverberated through the house, rattling the windows and causing the walls to shake. Gunnar raised his head, gasping for breath. But his mind was still muddled and demanded to know what he was doing ending so abruptly what had been a most enjoyable kiss. Nora glanced up at him, her eyes still dazed with passion and her mouth red and glistening.

Esmund and Ulric raced down the hall, emerging into the kitchen area, wearing ratty long johns and half-buttoned pants.

Gunnar asked, "What was that?"

Ulric slid to a stop. He glanced at Nora long enough for Gunnar to notice a flicker of emotion in his eyes before it went blank. Turning his attention to Gunnar, he said, "Sounded bad."

Esmund was the first to make it to the door, but when he pulled it open, they all saw that the midnight sky shone an eerie orange, and smoke slowly crept up to greet them while they stood on the porch.

Another explosion, this one closer, shook the earth so forcefully it knocked Nora off-balance. She grasped for the railing but fell backward against Gunnar with a muffled oomph and covered her head with her arms when shards of rock, dirt, trees, and mangled bits of furry flesh rained down upon them, pelting the roof with the force of a torrential hailstorm. Fire lit up the sky as far as the eye could see, casting shadows upon the clouds.

"Damn it all to hell," Ulric gasped. "The whole town's on fire."

Gunnar glanced at Nora and Esmund before settling his gaze back on Ulric. "What's our plan?"

"Why are you asking me? When did I get put in charge?" Ulric growled, pacing back and forth. "I don't know our plan, Neeners, because there isn't a plan. I was sleeping, and now there's a pack of rabid Berserkers tearing apart our town-" he abruptly cut himself off and punched the railing, breaking it apart. Taking a deep breath, he snapped, "Damn those murdering-inbred-goat-ropers."

Esmund pursed his lips—a thoughtful expression on his face. He looked at the carnage littering their property and staining the snow. "We have to assume it's them."

"Who's 'them'?" Nora asked, shuddering from the cold as she stared at Gunnar.

"The Angry Wolf...if that's who it is that's doing this. For all we know, it could be someone altogether different."

"Are you serious?" Ulric asked, incredulous. He motioned angrily to the area around them. "Who else is it gonna be, Neeners?"

"Shhh..." Esmund held up a hand for silence and cocked his head. "You two get the weapons...I'll go get Father." Seconds later, he ran barefooted into the shadows.

The hairs on the back of Gunnar's neck and arms rose in warning while fat snowflakes fell at an increased rate, blanketing the ground in pristine white.

Furious shouts mingled with Berserker roars all around them. Ulric and Gunnar raced from the house to the barn. Snow crunching underfoot added a discordant note to the shouting echoing through the night. He glanced back to ensure Nora was behind him and slid to a stop.

Thirty feet away, a man held Nora by the neck, choking her. She clawed at his hands and kicked her feet as the Berserker lifted her off the ground. He wielded such unnatural strength there was no question he was berserkering, intent on killing her.

A growl escaped Gunnar, followed by a bellow of rage as his Berserker rattled inside, screaming to be released to protect his mate. Running forward, Gunnar shouted and popped a berry into his mouth. The Berserker threw Nora aside like a rag doll. After she crashed into a tree ten feet away and fell to the ground motionless, he spun to face Gunnar.

Power surged through Gunnar's body with violent force seconds before he grabbed the man's feet out from under him and bashed him against the ground.

The Berserker clawed at the mounds of snow-covered land, attempting to tear himself free, to no avail. As though he were little more than a rag doll, Gunnar slammed him against the soil until his head struck a boulder with a sickening 'crack.' Blood spewed from the Berserker's split head, coating the stone and melting the snow. Flinging the man's lifeless body aside, Gunnar scanned the area.