“Huh. I never thought of it like that.” Fen winced as Jeff, human and deliciously naked, stepped into the home. His body was rimmed in a faint glow and his hair blew in an unseen breeze. “Hello, Grandfather.”
“Jeffrey. You disappoint me, boy.”
Fen tried to free his leg to no avail. Grimm was going to rip Jeff apart if he couldn’t get free. He had to save his mate before Grimm sprang the second half of his trap.
“Ditto, Old Man.” Jeff smiled at Fen, his fangs long enough that they were below his bottom lip. “You okay, lover?”
Fen growled his displeasure, hoping against everything he knew his mate would back off before it was too late.
So of course Jeff didn’t do what he should. His mate kept coming, as determined to free Fen now as he had been in the cave. “When he’s free he’s going to eat your face off. You know that, right?”
The ice had covered his groin. Fen couldn’t seem to break free no matter how much he pulled. Slashing at the ice with his claws only seemed to hurt his claws.
His fingertips had gone numb trying to rip through the hardened ice.
Shafts of light blinded him. Pain nipped at him, and he was free, the ice a steaming puddle beneath his feet. He stared at Jeff, who shrugged. “New trick.”
New trick indeed. Fen turned and howled his delight before charging Odin, eager to rip his tormentor to shreds.
Jeff stepped back and watched his lover fight his grandfather. He had to admit, the Old Man had some moves on him, but Fen was bigger, faster and stronger than Odin. There was no way Grimm could survive Fen’s brutal assault.
He winced in pretend sympathy as his grandfather sprayed arterial blood across the room, decorating the already funky walls. “Oh. That had to hurt.”
Suddenly his twin was beside him. Jamie had a— “Is that popcorn?”
Jamie shrugged. “Want. Wish. Have. Here.” She held out the bowl and he took a handful of hot, buttery goodness before turning back to the fight. She flinched when Fen kneed the Old Man right in the jewels. “Ouch. I’m a girl and I want to cross my legs after that.”
A huge hand grabbed some popcorn from over Jamie’s shoulder. “You think he’ll win, pumpkin?”
Jamie grinned up at Uncle Val. “I’m just waiting for the TKO.”
Jeff tilted his head, grinning when Grimm bounced off the wall hard. “Think we can make glowing letters appear over his head? Something like Finish Him! ”
Jamie giggled and nearly dropped the bowl.
Odin lay bleeding on the floor, one of his arms at an odd angle, his head bleeding profusely. He was no longer the old man they’d loved nor the young one they’d feared. He was just a battered, evil bastard who was going to get what was coming to him.
Jeff almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Then something happened that had Jeff dropping his popcorn and Jamie dropping the bowl.
The bastard started to heal.
“No. No!” Jeff shifted and raced forward, his wolf bathed in his inner light.
He went right for Grimm’s throat, tearing at the jugular, trying to prevent the son of a bitch from healing.
It wasn’t working. Every time Jeff ripped into him another wound closed.
“What the fuck?” Logan’s furious voice was followed by a blast of heat that singed Jeff’s fur and forced him back. “I’m just going to incinerate him. Let’s see him heal from fucking ashes.”
Grimm opened his eyes and chuckled weakly. “It won’t work, Loki. I’ve won.” He laughed, the sound becoming stronger. “I’ve already won!”
And Oliver Grimm disappeared before their eyes, swallowed by the shadows of the house.
“Fuck me gently with a chainsaw.” Val stomped through the blood Grimm had left behind. “Neat trick, asshole.”
Fen shifted back to human, pale and shocked. “Why didn’t it work? I’m supposed to kill him.”
Logan was staring at Uncle Val. “Maybe you were closer to the truth than we thought.”
“That Fen isn’t the wolf who will kill Odin?” Val sighed wearily. “Shit. I really hate it when I’m right.”
Jeff stared up at his mate and tried not to laugh. Fen hovered over him, arms caging Jeff in his chair, his expression furious, and all Jeff could think of was Fen as a furry. If he laughed in his mate’s face right now he’d be in even more trouble, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to hold out.
“You deliberately put yourself in danger.”
“I had good reason.”
Fen’s jaw clenched. His arms trembled. Jeff figured he was holding off a shift. “Grimm could have killed you.”
Jeff nodded.
“Killed. You.” Fen’s eyes closed, the fear and anger mingling in his expression killing some of Jeff’s laughter. “I can’t lose you. ”
“You won’t.” Jeff reached up and caressed Fen’s jaw. “I knew you’d come.”
“You don’t understand.” Fen opened his eyes, picked him up and carried him to bed. Jeff had never enjoyed being carried before, but Fen somehow managed to do it without making him feel like a total twink. “How do I make you understand?” He curled up around Jeff, spooning him close. He buried his nose in Jeff’s curls and breathed deep. He shuddered, and Jeff could sense his mate’s fear slowly draining away.
“Stay.”
The word was whispered so softly Jeff almost couldn’t hear it. So Jeff gave his lover the one thing no one else could. He picked up Fen’s hand and kissed it, hoping it would convey the sentiment he still had trouble saying out loud.
“Forever, elskede.”
Epilogue
“We’ve won.” Grimm laughed and spun Rina in his arms. “We won!”
Rina giggled like a young maiden and clutched him for dear life. “No one can defeat the mighty Odin!”
He set her on her feet and kissed her, ravaging her mouth until she was reduced to nothing but moans. “I want inside you.”
Rina nodded eagerly, her hands on the zipper of her pants. Who cared if they were in some disgusting old house whose walls dripped with his blood? He’d won! The wolf had done his best, but Odin was still here.
Still alive.
And if the wolf couldn’t kill him… Grimm laughed again and thrust into Rina hard and fast, taking and giving in equal measure.
As Grimm reached his climax in the heated embrace of his lover, he’d never felt more in control of his destiny. Gungnir would be his again, as would the Aesir.
Rina was right. No one could defeat him.
Morgan stared at the two women currently sitting under Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Both were beautiful in their own way, but they seemed to be missing something.
Oh yeah. Their third. Where was the Norn of the Future?
“We cannot give you that which you seek, Son of Thor.” Redheaded Urdr didn’t even look up from the root she was examining. The Norns of Fate were responsible for keeping the World Tree healthy, and they took their duties very seriously. “We cannot see the future without Skuld present.”
Magnus cursed, earning a glare from Urdr. “I’m sorry, but why isn’t she here?”
Morgan winced at his brother’s cry. His twin’s temper was legendary. For some reason people were more afraid of him than they were of his older brother, but Magnus took temper tantrum and turned it into an art form.
Dark-haired Verdandi, Norn of the Present, shrugged, staring sheepishly at her sister. “I have no clue.”
“She is lost to us.” Urdr sighed and patted the root. “We know not where she is.”