Prince's Mate

Chapter 9 - Sky

Sky hadn't remembered passing out, but she must have, because the next thing she knew, she was waking up on a much softer object than she'd remembered last being on. She was also back in relatively human form. She had definitely been in raven form the last time she remembered anything. Loki. Loki had forced her into raven form when he'd saved her.

Loki had saved her, even though he was mind-controlled and that was definitely not part of his mission. Not that Sky would be complaining about that.

But she had to find out what was going on. And that meant she had to open her eyes and deal with whatever situation she now found herself in. All part of an Alpha's job: doing the difficult things that needed doing, no matter how much she didn't want to do them.

Sky forced her eyes open and bit back a groan. Even that seemed like too much effort. That wasn't a good sign. She was lying on her stomach and realized there was a couch under her that she was lying on. That definitely wasn't there when she passed out. She started to force herself into a sitting position, then felt a cold hand plant itself on her back between her shoulder blades, holding her down.

"Easy, Lady Valkyrie," Loki's distinctive cultured voice was sexy as Hel, and way sexier than it should have been in the situation. It wasn't an order, not really. Even under mind control, an Omega could only stand so far against an Alpha. "Your wings are still healing and it would be a shame if you were to reinjure them," he explained his words.

Now that Sky was a bit more awake, she could feel the foreign magic around her wings. Loki's magic. It was healing her, just as he'd said. She shifted and Loki let her, loosening his hand on her back, now that he was sure she was being careful. It was only when she tried to move that she noticed the rune covered manacles around her wrists. No wonder she was so groggy and out of it. Those runes were severely inhibiting her magic. She glared at the manacles and Loki chuckled, drawing her attention back to him, to the smirk on his face. "I can't have you interfering with my plans, little Alpha, even if you did save my life," Loki wasn't going to hurt her. He would have done so already if he were going to. He'd saved her life. They were technically equal on the saving each other front. She finally sat all the way up, careful of her wings. It wasn't as easy with the manacles on her wrists and her wings being injured.

Sky gave him a wary look. Loki was standing in front of the couch she was sitting on, towering over her, his scepter in hand and armor in place. He was clearly expecting the battle to arrive there shortly. The building they were in looked modern, state of the art. Especially with all the tech around. She glanced out the giant windows around the room. They were in a city, clearly. It didn't take her long to put together where they were from the view and the technology around. Stark Tower. There was only one place that could be as ostentatious about being rich and full of tech. Too bad Jarvis didn't know her or like her well enough to help her. She knew about Jarvis, of course. It was important to keep up with any technology that could out her or her family. Keeping an eye on Stark and what he was doing was just common sense.

"So what happens now?" Sky asked. Get the villain monologuing, that was always the best course of action in these kinds of situations. Sky couldn't come up with a plan of her own until she knew what Loki was up to.

"Now, I will bring my armies to Midgard, and you will stay here safely out of the way," Loki informed her, his smirk remaining in place. He reached up, seemingly absently, and touched the mark Sky had left on his neck, the one that put him under her protection. They were bound to each other now. No wonder he wasn't risking her in his plans.

"You know I can't just let that happen," Sky replied, steeling herself to fight him, to stop him, much as she hated it; hated the thought of having to hurt someone who was under her protection.

Loki's smirk grew more predatory, his eyes shining a brighter unnatural blue. His look was dark, unnatural for an Omega. It was a look that should have been at such odds with his nature, but the dark prince of Asgard wore it so well. "You do not have a choice in the matter, little bird," he purred. He moved quickly, taking the last stride toward Sky.

Sky jumped to her feet, shifting her stance to prepare to fight. Before she could so much as move, Loki grabbed the links of chain between the manacles on her wrists and dragged her to the side of the room, out of the way. She struggled, but couldn't break free from his grip, not without her magic or weapons. Even with all her training, she was weakened from her injuries and from her magic being bound.

Loki's magic wrapped around her. A comfortable chair appeared out of nowhere. The chair was in the style the valkyrie preferred with only a short back for support that would accommodate their wings easily. She was shoved onto the chair and magic chains bound her to it. A green bubble shield appeared around her as Loki stepped back. She wasn't getting off of the chair or getting out of Loki's shield. "You'll be perfectly safe," Loki purred possessively "And once this battle is over, we can rule Midgard together,"

Rule Midgard together??

Where in the Norns had that come from?