Pack (The Ulfhednar Saga bk 1)

Mate

When Torstein awoke he was completely happy. He couldn't recall the last time he felt this way. He knew that in a matter of months they could both be dead and that hoping for any future was an impossible dream, but in that moment he felt like he had the world at his fingertips.
Val was still sleeping, so he decided to shift. He left her head on his side and just stroked her fur. She really was a spectacular creature. Her white fur had hints of the same yellow of her hair. Just as lean as she was in human form and probably as underestimated, he thought. After a few minutes she woke as well, shifting forms.
"We should go back and fill you in on what we are planning." He really didn't want to move but knew they needed to head back before people started to worry.
She gave him a very unhappy look and crawled her way up his torso to kiss him deeply. Every part of his body was on fire and he wanted nothing more than to forget the world and revel in her kiss. With a growl of regret he pulled away and helped her to her feet alongside him.
"I know" he reciprocated. "Want to race?"

She smiled at him and took off towards the village. Laughing to himself he leapt off after her.
Within minutes they stormed into the mead hall laughing and panting from their race. She won and would probably never let him live it down.
"Well, if it isn't the princess and her hero" snapped a voice he didn't recognize. He heard a growl come from Val and a look of disgust washed over her features.
He turned to face another male wolf. One he did not know.
"And you are?" He asked, an angry edge to his voice. His emotions were feeding off of hers. Waves of disgust were filling him.
"Nobody really, right Val?" The stranger replied. She shifted and was baring her fangs at him, moving her body closer to Torstein's. Her sentiment causing him to become angry and agitated. 
"My name is Søren, and that is my mate you have been out frolicking with." His voice was like acid and his words burned through Torstein like such. He looked to Val who was whimpering at his side in disgust.
"Is that true?" He asked Val using their internal link.
"No, well kind of. My parents want us to wed. His family holds some power and they want his family's money."
"Arranged marriage then?" Feeling a little better knowing it wasn't by choice. But there wasn't any way he was going to allow him to take what was his.
"Yes, but I told them I would never, I hate him. He is evil. I would go back to the draugr before marrying him."
A sneer washed over Søren's face. He was watching them as if he knew about their internal discussion. That did it for him. Søren would never come near Val again.
"She isn't yours Søren. You can leave, no one needs your family's wealth here."
"I am sorry to say that it isn't your decision to make. It was decided when we were pups. My family has already given them wealth and ships. So they are in indebted to us and the only way to pay the debt is to give her to me." His black eyes were fixed on Torstein, piercing into him as if they held blades.

"She isn't going with you" he growled. It seemed the whole village had come into the hall by then. News of the comotion traveled fast. The two wolves were challenging each other for Valdis' future. Torstein stood tall with Val beside him, her gaze fixed on Søren's throat.
"Søren, my dear boy! When did you arrive?" Cara's voice rang through the hall, breaking the wolves of their silent battle. She moved toward her throne and sat. Reluctantly, both of them looked to the Queen. Torstein thought it odd that she already seemed back to full health within just a few days of lifting the curse.
"Lady Cara, I arrived this morning to see my mate" Val growled again at the word, "to find her off with another wolf! What kind of disrespect is this? Her lack of honor is disrespectful."
Cara gasped and looked to her daughter. The look on her face seemed fake to him, like she was putting on a show.
"Val! Is this true? You ran off with another wolf when you knew you belong to another? I knew you had an attachment to that wolf" Her voice was filled with hatred. "However, I didn't think you would disrespect your pack by running around with him!"
Valdis shifted to speak with her mother, he could tell is reluctant however, she felt safer as a wolf.
"Mother, I will not wed him. I have told you this for years. Whatever debt you owe his family, you can pay another way." She was now glaring at her mother in human form with just as much disdain as she had given Søren.
Cara stood from her throne, wearing regal emerald gowns, looking as though she had never been ill like the rest of them, and walked over to her daughter. She stood tall and slapped Valdis hard across the face. Torstein was shocked and glad to find that he was not the only wolf to have a problem with her actions. Bran, Ulric, his father's men, and a few other members of her pack had growled in response. Murmurs made their way trough the hall.
Cara stood tall, rubbing her hands together. The smile on her face told everyone that she couldn't care less about their feelings.
"Oh, did I do something to upset you all?" She was laughing. Cara's voice suddenly took on a new tone, as if somethimg from inside was speaking for her. "Last I checked I was her mother, your alpha and Queen of these lands!" She was yelling now.
Val was on her human feet running towards her father.
"Father, please, I will not marry him!" Rik looked saddened but he also seemed to have lost his resolve. Whatever fight he used to have, whatever gave him the power to be the ruler he was, had left him now and Torstein was sure it was because of Cara.
Cara gave Rik a look that spewed hatred causing Rik to sit up taller and respond. Up until that point he looked like a statue, unmoving.
"Valdis, I am your father, listen to what I am telling you. she is your mother and your queen. You will do as she says."
"Father, I will not. This isn't even important! We need to train and defeat the Draugrs. Who I wed isn't what we need to focus on right now!" She was so angry, he could feel her pain and anguish as if it was his own.
"It does matter! You will wed him tomorrow night and you will not fight the Draugrs. This village will not go to war, it isn't our war to fight." Cara's voice was raised but she wasn't yelling anymore. Torstein was trying to think of anything he could to help Val, to save her. Then it hit him.
"I challenge Søren." He yelled. He wasn't going to lose her again.
"Excuse me?" Said Cara, shocked. Her face was a mask of anger. Val turned and was staring, her emerald eyes were wide and afraid.
"Torstein, what are you doing?" Her voice was soft, anguished.
"I will fight Søren for her. If I win, she is mine and he has no claim. Debt paid. If he wins, she will wed him." In his head he told her "I am sorry Val, it's all I can think of."
"What if you lose?"
"I won't" He replied, winking at her. "Remember who I am sweet wolf, I am Torstein Thorsson of Ulfrheim and I am a Berserker." He smiled when he saw her relax. A look of pride lit her face. He would be lying if he didn't admit that that made him feel good.
"Søren? Are you willing to fight Torstein for her?" Cara asked.
"Yes, I am prepared to fight for her." His slimy grin spread across his face and went ear to ear in a grotesque way, features contorting as if it hurt him to smile.
"Let's move this outside then." Stated Cara, rolling her eyes.
The whole village moved outside and towards the water to a large open patch of beach. Ulric moved forward and assumed position at the center of the practice ring of spectators before he spoke.
"We all know the rules, no weapons except what you were born with. We want you both alive, fight until one gives in to the other. Are we agreed?"
Both Torstein and Søren nodded.
Torstein removed his weapons, giving them to Val. She placed her hand on his cheek, it was warm and smelled of the earth and the wildflowers healing her wounds.
"You will win this Torstein Thorsson or I will have to beat you myself" she smiled then leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Please don't lose, I can't be with him, he will destroy me. More importantly, I don't think I can live without you."
"I won't lose" He told her and kissed her full on the mouth trying to pass everything he was feeling to her. Letting her know that he wouldn't ever leave her. He put everything into that kiss. When they came apart her eyes flashed with the knowledge of what he felt for her.
Shaking his arms out he made his way to the circle that the villagers bodies had created. He pulled his long hair back and out of the way with a piece of leather and stripped off his heavier gear and shirt. It was a sign of intimidation, showing all of his broad chest, complete with scars and tattoos of battles won.
He looked deep into Søren's eyes and caught only cruelty in them. His black hair hung in a greasy braid down his back. His skin was pale and he had a patchy beard growth on his face that made Torstein think of a pup. He smiled at that, knowing that this would be relatively easy.
He stepped towards his opponent remembering that this was for her. To keep her with him and to set her free from her mother's rule. He watched Søren, watched him move, observed the way he moved his feet and that he wasn't too aware of protecting his throat. He knew killing him would be easy, not killing him was another thing.
Søren lunged forward shifting as he did. Ah, Torstein thought, he can't fight as a human. Even better. He rolled to the side easily, Søren missed him by inches. Torstein saw Søren move, rolling back to his feet. Just as he readied to leap again, Torstein jumped grabbing the gangly black wolf around the torso. Human hand locking on human hand, crushing Søren's chest. Søren tried to throw his head back in an attempt to bite Torstein, but he was too fast. He leapt onto his back and squeezed his arms together, collapsing a lung. He could feel a rib break, puncturing the lung. It wouldn't kill him, he knew that, not with their healing abilities. But it would hurt a bit.
Torstein let go long enough to grab Søren's throat and roll him into the wet sand, landing on top of him. His fangs bared but still in human form as he held Søren down. He could feel the blood moving through his veins as his muscles flexed to hold the wolf down. A partial shift like this took a lot of energy, one only few Wolves possessed. Torstein was showing them all just who he was. Søren attempted to rise and that only angered the dominant wolf that held him by his throat.
"Stay down" he growled as lightning struck. It was one of the gifts he was given by his father's blood. One he didn't much like people to know about. The village gasped and he heard his father chuckle.
"Okay, I give" Søren gasped. Barely able to breathe and back in human form. Torstein released him, blood on his hands, from the lung, he figured.
"I don't want filthy trash like her anyways" Søren sneered. Within a moment Torstein had gone from human to wolf and had Søren's throat in his mouth. He started to bite down when he felt hands on his back.
"Torstein, no. You cannot kill him, we don't need any more enemies." Val instructed.
She was right he realized. He released the greasy wolf and let him stand.
"It's too late, there will be war between us Princess. Just you wait." And with that he shifted and ran towards the beach, where he noticed a Drekkar waiting.
Torstein was shaking with anger. How dare he say those things about Valdis. Chest heaving he turned towards her. Her eyes reflecting his own, her hair was free and flowing and in that moment Søren didn't matter. He knew none of it mattered. He had her and he wasn't ever going to let her go.
"Well son, you didn't have to put on a show!" His father was laughing so hard he thought he might explode.
"How much mead did you drink Father?" He chided.
"Not enough to ignore that lightning you cast. I don't think many noticed though. Or perhaps they thought it was me." He chuckled. He didn't look to see what everyon's rections were, but he heard little talk of it.
"I know, I was angry and lost control a little." He never lost control before, not since he was a boy.
"Well, you've never had to fight for a lady's honor before. The fairer sex often does that to us." He laughed again and walked off with his friends.
"That was you?" Val asked. "The lightning?"
"It was, it's not something I like people to know. They tend to act funny around me once they do. Some of us, children of Gods, are able to cast galdr, some can heal people, and I can summon lightning like my father. It doesn't make me special, it's just another tool." He hoped she didn't think differently about him.
"I understand, you're just another Ulfhedinn that can battle just about anyone and win, you are practically fearless, fast, strong and kind. OH and you can summon thunder and  lightning. Totally just like any other Ulfhedinn." She laughed S she threw her arms around him. He reveled in her embrace.
"You're right, I am not like the others, I have you and they don't." He kissed her hairline and led her back to the mead hall.
"Go sit, I'll grab some food and drink." Val told him and walked towards the fire. Their happiness was short lived.
"Well, Valdis Riksdottir, how do you feel now that you have condemned your pack to death?" He heard Cara snap at Val.
"Quit being dramatic mother, they agreed that the debt was paid."
"You're a fool girl. You care so much for this strange wolf that your lust has blinded you from the truth. Whoring yourself to him and turning your back on your family? His family will not just give up. They will come after us." She went to slap Val but before she made purchase, Val grabbed her hand, crushing the bones as she pushed her to the ground. He hesitated, wondering if he should step in. Thinking better of it, he stayed put. Valdis can handle her own mother., and this was a battle she had to fight.
"No mother, I am no fool." Here it comes, the wolf that he knew was inside of her was making herself known. "I am relieving you of your throne and title. Bran and I will rule until this is over, then the throne will be his as is his birthright."
"You cannot remove me from the throne! I am your mother!" Cara was shrill now. She shifted, an odd shade of black fur, almost slick with grease,  gracing her wolf body and was lunging for her daughter. For a moment he thought it was odd that she was black and not red but turned his attention to what was happening. Val grabbed her mother midair by the throat and slammed her to the ground. Human hand gripping wolf throat. He mother squirmed as everyone in the room stood.
"I am taking your throne and if you want to try and keep it you can deal with me. Now, go sit and eat or leave." Her voice was full of power, she was tapping into the power she was born with. Not merely a shifter, but an Ulfhedinn.
Cara shifted back and left the room clasping her hand in the other. As she escaped their hateful glares, Torstein heard his father mumble something about obviously she hadn't "whored" herself to him. Not sure what his father meant he forgot it quickly.