Her Viking Wolves: 50 Loving States, Michigan by Theodora Taylor Read Free Book Online

ripping.
    For a brief moment, hope surges within his chest. Perhaps he sent Olafr away too hastily.
    But his hope instantly drops like a stone when he looks in the direction from whence Myrna and the archer came. There are five more naked archers sprinting towards them, and one has an arrow notched and aimed at his sister.
    “Myrna!” he yells.
    But it is too late. Her wolf lets out a sharp yelp as the silver-tipped arrow grazes hard over her back, only just missing her head before lodging with an audible thunk in the semi-frozen ground below.
    Fenrisson has no time to feel relief. He can smell the scent of his sister’s burnt flesh, and he knows her pain is great when she lets out cry and shifts before his eyes, her human mouth rimmed with the enemy’s blood.
    “Myrna!”
    “FJ?” Her voice is hoarse with pain.
    Fenrisson peers beyond his sister to track the archers only to find one of the beasts upon the field is no longer fighting. Not simply because the wolves have withdrawn, but also because he now seems more interested in Myrna and Fenrisson than spraying more flame upon the fleeing Vikings.
    The serpent’s size is great and he is dark blue with golden eyes, much like the one Fenrisson did slay. A father or a brother perhaps?
    Fenrisson does not realize the accuracy of his guess until the beast is fully turned around and headed toward he and his sister along with the archers. But at a much faster killing speed.
    He picks his sister up, cradling her in his arms. And then he runs for cover into the nearby trees. It seems a cowardly act for sure. Especially for Fenrisson, who like most Vikings, wished to die either of old age or in battle.
    But he must run now. In order to keep his vow to his brother, he must survive. And as little as he has ever wanted a mate, much less a fated one, he knows now he must locate the she-wolf with whom he’ll spend the rest of his life.
    For he can see clearly that his Aunt Bera was correct. The future of his North Wolves depends upon it.

Part 1- WOLF LAKE

7
    “ G ood , you’re finally here. We need to talk, Tee.”
    I just about jump out of my skin when I walk into the darkened kitchen in the wee hours of New Year’s morning to find Janelle and Alisha waiting for me at the table. And I do mean that literally. I barely stop myself from shifting when Alisha unexpectedly calls to me.
    “What in the hell!?” I whisper-shout at them, clutching my chest. “I nearly went wolf!”
    “Oh I am sorry, Tee,” Janelle says, her voice sincere with apology. She reaches over to the nearby wall and flips on a few more overhead lights.
    I nod, waiting for my pulse to slow down to a comfortable trot.
    “Okay, but why are you two sitting here in the dark? And wait, how did you even know I’d be down here tonight, anyway?”
    Alisha waves my questions away with a quick swish of her hand. “Look, Tee. This is the only time Janelle and I can really talk to you without worrying about Mama eavesdropping. And we figured you’d eventually come down to steal more of Daddy’s junk food stash.”
    Caught red handed.
    Not that I didn’t love long walks down snowy, barely paved roads in order to replenish my own junk food stash. But oh wait , I don’t. And Wolf Lake only has one convenience store with weird, unposted hours, so you never know if the place will even be open when you trek all the way into town to re-up on your Mountain Dew and Hostess supplies. So yes, in an act of sheer desperation, I have resorted to stealing from the stash of junk food I discovered way in the back of the walk-in pantry, behind several jars of what look like some sort of pickled Inuit delicacies.
    Alisha answers my guilty look with a sympathetic one of her own.
    “The holidays are tough all around, Cousin. We all have to depend on Daddy’s stash for our late night snacking,” she says with a grin. “But Janelle and I guessed it would be even worse for you. Good luck trying to work on your presentation with Tu