Broods Of Fenrir - By Coral Moore Page 0,14

heartbeat slowed.

The Call came from a place inside that he couldn"t point to or identify, and it resonated, long and low. Alice"s response 38

was immediate. He forged a link between them and sent the command to transform. The air around him heated. He waited with his eyes shut, gradually calming as her terror waned. He opened his eyes.

Alice was a diminutive wolf, white as the snow-capped hills. Her eyes reflected pearly and opalescent in the winter night. He smiled. “You"re lovely.” He gestured her forward with one hand.

She sat next to his foot and, with a deep sigh, put her chin on his knee. The wolf was a creature of the present and didn"t dwell on her earlier trauma. Her contentment filtered through him, a warm and gentle touch. The link between them bypassed the effect of his protective barrier, but he didn"t mind.

He rested his hand on her head. “It"s been a long while since you"ve transformed, hasn"t it? I hope it wasn"t unpleasant?”

She shook her narrow, white muzzle from side to side, a curious gesture from a wolf.

“I"ve never felt it before. No one can Call me.” He stroked her smooth fur for several minutes, then put his hand under her muzzle to scratch her chin. “You aren"t going to like this part, but I"m not going to let you transform back for a while.” Her lips pulled back into an approximation of a fierce snarl that made him laugh.

“Like this, you"re safe from me. More importantly, you"re safe from Ingrid. I have some unfinished business with her, and I can"t take you home until it"s been tended to.” He frowned as the weight of responsibility asserted itself on him again. “She knows if she so much as rubs the fur wrong on a wolf I"ve Called, I"ll tear her apart.” Alice whined briefly, but inclined her muzzle once. She licked his hand, her warm tongue a comfort.

The bond with her was strong, and he gained strength from being linked to her. He"d forgotten how wonderful such a connection felt. He ruffled her fur again, then pushed to his feet.

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Chapter 5

Brand approached Ingrid"s small cabin, Alice trotting at his heel. Ingrid stood in her open doorway. “Clever of you to transform her.”

Still naked, Ingrid had at least cleaned some of the caked-on mess from her skin. When he stood before her, she shook her head. “Under the moon.” She pointed to the left, around the side of the cabin.

Brand nodded at Alice. “She waits inside, and you don"t touch her.”

Ingrid let out a brief cackle. “I wouldn"t dream of harming your one subject.”

As long as Alice was safe, what happened to him didn"t matter. “Let"s get this over with.”

“There"s a clearing around the side. Wait for me there.” Brand walked around the cabin. A wooden post a foot thick stood in the center of a circle thirty feet in diameter. By the smell, the circle was cast in ewe"s blood and wolf piss.

Something moved under a canvas tarp just inside the far curve of the circle. He sat down with his back to the post, eyes locked on the tarp.

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Ingrid approached and dropped an array of straps next to him. Whistling a carefree tune, she crouched and began to sort them into piles.

He watched her for a while in silence before he said,

“You know I won"t allow you to carry an offspring of mine regardless of my oath, so what"s this really about?” She lifted her face to regard him. “Retribution.” Her lips pulled back into a savage grin. She held out a leather cuff.

He stared at the cuff. As always where Ingrid was concerned, guilt and confusion prevented him from defying her. A part of him thought he deserved every moment of pain, even welcomed it. He placed his wrist inside without argument.

She bent his arm around his back, and he offered the other wrist so she could fasten it as well. She lifted his elbow, and said, “On your knees.”

He shifted awkwardly, bringing his knees under him.

Ingrid fastened his hands to the post, then stepped in front of him. She gestured to the tarp behind her. “You"ve seen your present? That"s where your seed will be sown. My daughter by Hildigrímr. Dagny is the last of that line.”

“I have not the slightest interest in becoming part of whatever breeding program you"ve dreamed up.” She snorted. “Pain worked well enough to pique your interest in the past.”

He looked away from her and she laughed. Try as he