EIRIK 7
Sleep eludes me as I sit through the long flight watching Siena rest. My head is starting to feel better with each hour that passes, but my emotions are in turmoil. Her jealousy is a natural factor when it comes to mates. Yesterday, when I finally woke up from my unconsciousness and Tal started to provoke me about how he was enjoying spending time with Siena, I was ready to kill him, even though I knew that he was just provoking me. The thought of Siena enjoying any time at all with any other man has me seeing red.
That fact alone confuses me, as I was never possessive of Isabela. If men spoke to her or flirted with her it didn’t bother me, but just the thought of any man looking at Siena has my berserker rearing its head, ready to kill.
She was angry at that woman throwing herself at me. How is she going to feel when she finds out that I married another woman? I don’t regret the fact that I married Isabela; I don’t regret the time I spent with her. She was a good, loving woman that gave me everything of herself. I close my eyes, leaning my head back as I think of the life I had before and how it has changed throughout the years.
I met Isabela in Italy; her family owned a little vineyard just outside of what is now Tuscany. For a short time, I thought that I could make a life there, that I could live a peaceful life among the humans that had taken me in, even though I was different. When Isabela died everything changed. I felt restless, so I brought her coffin to South Africa and buried her here among my brothers.
At the time it was just a handful of us, hiding from the world. We all have our crosses to bare, and even though we have fought together for many centuries, we have all in some way or another tried to live different lives.
I fought with Tor in many battles. We met when he was riding the seas looking for fortune as a Viking. Our bond solidified as we saved each other’s lives countless times throughout the years. The others started to join us as we travelled through life. Tor already knew Draco because they had met a century before I met him. Draco and Tor go back a long time, so when Draco started the Elementals MC for all the men out there that are lost, and fighting to keep their sanity—fighting not to turn into Keres, we agreed to join. But Tor, being the alpha that he is, decided to take his own chapter in Cape Town.
It hasn’t always been easy. We have lost men that submitted to their darkness and had to be killed, or they themselves took their own lives rather than becoming the monsters our darkness brings out in us. This was before Draco found a way to keep the darkness back by helping us hold on to our light until we find our mates.
When I returned to South Africa with Isabela’s coffin, it was Tor that kept me grounded. It was the fighting of evil—the fighting of darkness that kept me alive. Now that I have met my mate, I already feel a difference, a peace that I have never felt before, not even with Isabela. The fact that another woman has been able to touch me in a way that my wife never could makes me feel guilty. It feels like in some way I am betraying her memory.
I squeeze my eyes tightly, trying to shut out the anger building inside of me. The hopelessness at this situation, the hopelessness of disappointing yet another woman. Siena will hate the fact that I took another woman as my wife. She will not accept the fact that I loved another enough to marry her. I know that, because if Siena told me that she loved another man, I know I would lose my mind with rage.
Sighing, I open my eyes, turning my head I look at my woman sleeping peacefully next to me. I need to explain everything to Siena. I need to tell her what I am and that we are now mated. I know that after everything that has happened to her, this is the last thing I should be burdening her with, but I want her to know that no matter what she will be protected.
Sighing, I lift my hand to stroke her hair, then immediately drop it again. I need to get my head straight before I can be with Siena.
Einar is making his way towards us, his eyes on Siena’s sleeping form. “How is she doing?” he asks as he comes to stand next to my seat.
“She seems better.” At least she has some fire in her which last time she didn’t.
“And you?” he asks with a raised brow.
“I’m healing. Will be good by the time we land.”
“That wasn’t what I was asking,” Einar replies as he inclines his head towards Siena.
“It was unexpected, and it will be a change, but I will sort my shit out.” I rub at the stubble on my jaw, frustrated with myself and the situation. I don’t want to hurt Siena, and I know that her knowing about my relationship with Isabela will do that.
“In another couple of hours, we will be home, and then you will have lots of time to settle in,” Einar says as he looks towards the end of the plane and nods to someone. “We will talk later; I still need to meet your woman.” And with those words, he walks away towards the back, leaving me with my thoughts.
“What’s your name?”
My eyes snap towards Siena. Because of my conversation with Einar, I didn’t hear the change in her breathing announcing that she was waking.
“Eirik.”
She frowns. “Is that your name?” At my nod she asks, “what does it mean?”
“Eternal ruler.”
“And are you?”
Her question has my brows raising. “No, Tor is the one that rules our club in Cape Town.” My answer has her turning her head towards the front. I see her wince, but she doesn’t complain. “Are you in pain?”
“No, I just feel stiff,” she confesses. “Do you know what they did to my back?”
“No, but when we get to the club Bion will come out to examine you.”
“How long am I going to stay at the club?”
Her question has me stiffening. Does she have someone she wants to get back to? The thought has my anger rising.