Traveled: A Valkyrie Saga Book 4

Chapter 1 - Frozen

I am going to be a father. I am going to have a son. A little boy that is going to call me Dad and who I will be responsible for keeping safe, happy, and healthy. Oh my God. Con and I are going to have a son. And Ray is going to make an absolutely incredible mom. The image of Ray cradling a little black-haired boy with bright green eyes is the only thing keeping me sane right now. Not a single one of us knew what the fuck was going on. Ray just disappeared into a crack of light and hadn't come back to us. Mathis can't Track her, so we are confident that she isn't in this plane of existence, but beyond that we are clueless.

The one thing I did know was that Con was wrong about her not coming back. Ray wouldn't do that to us. She would never leave us and once she got back, I was going to explain everything to her. Yes, a baby was going to complicate things, but Madison being pregnant didn't mean that we were going to leave Ray to be with her. Quite the opposite actually. Once our son was born, a vampire would wipe Madison's memory and we would never see her again. Ray just needed to get her cute ass back here so that I could make things right. So that we could start building our family. So that we could live every dream I never really allowed myself to have.

-Blake Berg

Cold. Barren. Miserable.

As far as the eye could see was nothing but an empty, desolate plane of frozen nothingness that reflected the internal state of my soul. Madison was pregnant with the twins' baby and my transition had taken me as far away from that unbearable heartbreak as supernaturally possible. Taken me impossibly far from my other guys too. Now I was completely drained of power with no way home.

My body was wracked with another full-body shiver and I turned my face into Nahuel's burning hot chest. I knew that sooner or later he would be forced to return, stripping me of my last comfort as I face the very real consequences of my Traveling Gift. I didn't particularly want to die alone in this frozen world, but I knew that I could never ask Nahuel to stay with me. He had an entire village depending on him and had the ability to save himself. Not wanting to die alone wasn't enough of a reason for him to perish with me. Yet, I couldn't seem to force the words telling him it was okay for him to leave through my quivering lips.

"We need to find some sort of shelter," Nahuel murmured and because my head was pressed into his chest, I felt the vibrations of his words. I was ninety-five percent sure that a shelter would just prolong the inevitable, but I remained silent as Naheul's arms tightened around me and he stood with me in his grasp. Another shiver tore through me and I clung to Nahuel because he was radiating heat like some sort of furnace. His body wasn't shaking at all and when I peaked up at his face, he didn't look like the cold was affecting him even though he was wearing loose cotton pants and a simple t-shirt.

"Why arrrr-en't you cc-cccold?" I managed to say even though my lips felt stiff.

Nahuel cupped the exposed side of my face with one of his large palms and my skin stung from the immense heat of his palm. "It is my Fire Gift. The fire that the Elementals blessed me with lives within me. I do not feel the heat and it protects me from the cold. Once we find somewhere that can protect us from the wind, I will start a fire so you can get warm."

I expected him to either let me down so that I could walk beside him or for him to just start walking with me in his arms. I wasn't positive I could walk right now, but if he put me down I knew that I was too proud to physically ask him to pick me up again. Maybe if he was one of my guys, but I barely knew Nahuel and wasn't completely sure if I could trust him. Thoughts of my guys caused a searing pain to cut through my chest and my breath caught. I would never see them again. Never hear Max's loving and calming words. Never be comforted by Derik's steady confidence. Never be held by the twins or feel Elijah's gentle concern again.