ChapterForty-Five
ALEK
“Tor is concerned about you.” My mother’s voice was calm and measured, but I knew her. She wasn’t happy.
“Tor believes it’s his gods-given right to worry.”
Usually my dry insults made her laugh. Not today. “Quinn’s report has everyone worried, including me.”
I stared at her in the mirror, catching glimpses of Aunt Quinn as she paced in the background, the familiar walls of our family home making me long for the quiet peace of Novasgard.
“We’ve been over this. I’m not leaving her. Where would you be if Father took off at the first hint of danger? We don’t leave when things get rocky. We protect. It’s in our blood, Móðir.”
“It’smyjob to protectyou.”
“I don’t require protecting.”
“You might be six-plus feet of Novasgardian ego, but you’re still my baby. I will always protect you. I may be retired, but I can still kill a man with my bare hands.”
“And I can killeveryman using only my words. Don’t forget who raised you, Tiny.”
I flinched at Aunt Quinn’s use of my nickname. The woman had called me that from the day I was born, simply because I’d been a few ounces lighter than my brother. She never let me forget it.
“Maybe it’s time you trust in the man you helped raise and stop doubting my ability—”
I cut myself off as the scent of rotten eggs cut through the clean pine smell of the forest.
“Aleksandr.”
Something was amiss. The air felt... wrong. I closed my eyes and searched for Sunday’s presence. It was a sensation I felt constantly, just a little tickle in my heart where she’d stolen a piece without even knowing.
Instead of the soothing warmth I associated with my Sunny, there was a frantic tingling like the anxious buzz of bees or the angry hiss of a serpent.
“I have to go.”
My mother’s face went pale at whatever she saw in my eyes, but I snapped the mirror closed and was running before she could give voice to any more protests. Sunday needed me. I would not fail her.
I ran through the brush without care for whether there was a path or not. The quickest way to get from point a to point b was a straight fucking line. I moved so fast I was barely aware of the forest around me. A massive tree loomed straight in my path, but with my current speed, there wasn’t a chance to dodge it, so I simply shoved it down, felling the ancient pine with what seemed like barely any effort at all.
Every cell in my body felt charged. Adrenaline coiled in my gut, swelling with each step that brought me closer to my mate. My skin was too tight, stretching taut over muscles that trembled with unreleased energy.
“What are you doing?” Sunday’s voice hit me in the chest, her scream ratcheting up my fury.
“Come on, Sunday. I thought you were smarter than that. Don’t go and play stupid on me now. I don’t have time to explain.”
Who the hell was this sonofabitch, and what was he doing to my mate? As the bastard continued with his speech, I placed the voice, and my understanding of the world around me fractured. All I knew as the filth before me came into view threatening to rape my woman was white-hot, blinding rage.
As he continued to spew his foul words, I rushed forward, my body acting before my mind could register what it intended to do. I stepped around him, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him until his beady eyes were level with my own.
“You. Hurt. Her,” I growled, not recognizing the voice that escaped my throat.
“Alek!” Sunday’s panic-laced voice cut through the night, but I couldn’t look at her. The glimpse of her splayed on the ground, blood pouring from a wound bearing my name, was already more than I could comprehend.
Chad drew his nails down my hand, but the scratches only fueled my need for vengeance. His skin turned a mottled purple as he gasped and gurgled in my hold, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to inflict greater pain. I needed to make it hurt.
With a roar that continued to vibrate in my chest long after the sound shot through the night, I swung his bulk down toward the ground, smiling in primal satisfaction at the crack of bones breaking.
Chad screamed, his twisted body still twitching as he called on his gift to try and heal himself. I crouched down, putting my lips beside his ear. “It’s too bad I can only do this once.”