Mastered by the Berserkers (Berserker Brides #8) - Lee Savino Page 0,5
feast four nights from now. In celebration.”
I hid a sigh. “Perhaps we could go for the day and help with the preparation.” Meadow and the rest would be in ecstasy. Rosalind hated leaving the lodge and would sulk for days.
“That can be arranged,” Jarl said.
“Juliet.” Fenrir flowed to my side, frowning. “Where are your boots?”
“I gave them to another girl.” All the girls had grown since coming to the Berserker’s mountain. Here we had food every day, and often it was meat. I could not fault the warriors for that. Little Clover and Aspen’s eyes were bright and their cheeks rosy. Juniper had grown a foot in less than two moons. I’d given my boots to her.
Jarl tsked. “We would give you what you need. You’ve only to ask.”
“I wouldn’t dream of disturbing you with such a request. Surely you have more important things to do.”
“Nothing as important as seeing to you.”
Jarl moved in front of me on the path. I halted before I slammed into him. To my surprise, he knelt and set the bucket aside. His hand closed around my ankle and tugged. I went off balance and would’ve landed on my behind if Fenrir hadn’t caught me in his arms.
“What are you doing?” I squawked.
Jarl frowned as he examined my feet. “You need to wear your boots. It’s not summer anymore.”
“Don't touch me,” I snapped.
“You care so much for others, Juliet. But who will care for you?”
He let me go and Fenrir helped me to my feet. I moved away, clutching my cloak around myself as if that would protect me.
“Calm yourself,” Jarl had the audacity to chuckle. I clenched my fist to keep from slapping him. “You have nothing to fear.”
“No?” I rounded on him, snarling. “Then tell me, what is the purpose of holding us? Why did you bring us here to this mountain?” I knew the answer, of course, but all the anger I’d felt since that night in the abbey bubbled over.
“We seek women who can break our Berserker curse. You know this. Without a mate, we will go mad.”
“And if we do not wish to be mates?”
Jarl cocked his head to the side. His gaze roamed up and down my form, and heat filled me, unbidden. “Give us a chance, little wife. You will be wanting and willing in no time.”
I drew on my rage and let it armor me.
“You invaded our home and took us for brides,” I snapped. “Some of these girls are no older than eight or nine summers. You would join them with warriors thrice their age?”
“There are many places where this is the custom,” he chided, and I flushed. I knew that was true. I’d lived all my life in the abbey, but I knew the ways of the world.
“They are so young.”
“Never fear, Juliet. The young ones are safe. You are safe.” He drew close. If I wanted, I could reach out and touch him. Trace the lines of his tattoos up his arms, and see how much skin they covered.
I locked my hands under my arms. I’d vowed to remain chaste and pure. Why, oh why did my palms ache to touch him?
“We wait until the spaewife is in heat,” Fenrir explained. “Then the warriors will be allowed to court her.”
“In heat?” I wrinkled my nose, unsure what he meant.
Jarl grinned and started to answer, but Fenrir cut him off. “The heat comes when the spaewife is ready to mate.”
“And if the spaewife is never ready?” I asked quickly.
“Then she need not fear.” Fenrir shrugged. “No warrior will touch a spaewife without permission. On pain of death. The Alphas have decreed it.”
I blinked and all my ire left in a rush. “Well, then, that is good.” The spaewives had told me this before, but I doubted them. Hearing Jarl and Fenrir confirm the Alphas’ decree calmed me.
“Is that all you wish to rant about, little wife?” Jarl’s eyes sparkled. “Or do you still wish to do battle?”
“Why do you call me wife? I am not a wife and never will be.”
“No?” Gold flared in Jarl’s eyes. He raised his head and sniffed the air in a smooth movement that reminded me of an animal. A wolf on the hunt.
My stomach fluttered and I smoothed my hands over my dress.
“I have a question,” Fenrir said. He rarely talked, but his deep voice commanded attention.
I turned to him. “Ask.”
Out of the corner of my eye, Jarl’s jaw hardened. I took perverse pleasure ignoring him in favor of