Valkyrie

Chapter 23

I stepped out of the trees, silent on my four feet. The sheer size of them were like snow shoes, keeping me above the snow on the frozen crust on the top. A flash of something came and went in my peripheral vision on both sides but I ignored it, focusing on Sterling as I tucked my wings back along my spine and stalked further into the clearing.

"Oh wow," he said with what looked like a smile, shaking his head as he looked me up and down, his eyes sliding from the tip of my nose to the tip of my tail. "You are gorgeous. It's a shame you have to die. We'd make beautiful pups. Could you imagine? It would have been great if they were born with wings like you." His smile dropped away as his white eyes flashed. "If you hadn't been marked, we could have, anyways." He tsked and my hackles rose. "But, too late now. Maybe it's for the best anyways. I'm still not really sure what you are but I know you're not human or shifter."

"You're absolutely right," Alexi's voice called from behind Sterling. "She isn't human or shifter." The vampire stepped out of the shadows cast by the trees and into the clearing. He looked like a ghost. "She's Valkyrie." His eyes were nothing but red, the bloodrage filling them as his eyes dropped to a growl. "A goddess. You should be worshiping her. Kissing the ground at her feet."

Sterling stepped to the side, trying to keep both of us in his sight but jumped back when my father came flowing out of the trees behind him and growled, low and menacing. Sterling spun and backed away from all of us. He was brave when he thought it was just me. Now, not so much. I could smell his fear like a bitter perfume filling the cold air. Judging by the flare of Alexi's nostrils, so could he. The smell of it excited the wolf that I'd become. I wanted to pounce on him and pin him down so I could fill my nose with that bitter scent. I lifted my lips and growled out a low sound that echoed around the clearing and rattled the branches on the trees.

"Now, this just isn't fair," Sterling whined. "It was just supposed to be us, Hannah. No one said you could invite friends." He reached up to his neck, a finger hooking through a thin chain that I hadn't noticed and pulling it down. The smell of burnt sugar and rotten meat filled my nostrils when I breathed in.

The sliver.

It was around his neck. He was going to use it to escape! I couldn't let him get away again. I had my mate back but I wanted my revenge for him and for Mischa and for what Sterling had done to me all those many years ago. I gathered my muscles to leap but stopped when a flash of light and the smell of ozone filled the clearing. Everything was still, including Sterling, Alexi, and my father. I tried to move but couldn't. The asshole had frozen me, too.

"Now, now. Talk about not fair." Loki said as he strolled toward Sterling like he didn't have a care in the world. The other man's eyes followed the divine but otherwise he didn't move. "You wanted a fight and now that you've gotten it, you're going to tuck your tail and use the sliver to run away and deny my little bird her chance at revenge." I growled out again at the use of the nickname but the divine just winked at me. Loki shook his head, long black hair slithering around his shoulders. He came to a stop in front of Sterling, one elegant hand reaching up and yanking the sliver from around the werewolf's neck. "I'll be taking this, thank you." He tucked the sliver into a pocket on his soft leather breeches before he turned to me. He let out a low whistle. "Well, well, well. Seems you do have claws, after all, little bird. Or should I call you little wolf, now? It's hard to know since you have wings and claws."

"Fuck off, Loki," I thought at him since I couldn't move my mouth or vocal cords to talk.

"And here I am trying to help you," he said, sounding hurt.

"You're only here to get the sliver back."

He looked off in the distance for a moment before he focused on me again, a bright smile on his painfully handsome face. "That's true. Thank you for finding it for me." He winked and then was gone in a flash of light and a puff of ozone. I blinked hard and shook my head, trying to clear it. The bright flash dazzled my eyes and all I could see was spots.