The sobs of the woman filled the clearing. I frowned.

I took care not hurt her. I barely spanked her.

It wasn’t you. She suffers because of her fears.

Remembering myself, I turned from the touching scene. Haakon could soothe our mate. I only frightened her. I should’ve kept to my vow, and never agreed to take a mate. Laurel deserved another, even if the thought made me sick.

Uncurling my hand from a fist, I caught a whiff of sweet musk.

“Well, that’s interesting,” I murmured.

“What?”

I lifted my hand coated with Laurel’s juices. Even across the clearing, the scent was clear.

Haakon’s eyes glittered. “Very interesting.”

* * *

I busied myself with chores until the woman calmed down. Once she no longer sniffled, Haakon sent her to bathe her face and hair. It killed me, but I pretended to ignore the splashing and soft sighs of our mate as she enjoyed the water I’d warmed for her.

You can watch, you know. She’s your mate as much as she is mine. The heat in Haakon’s voice told me he’d enjoyed the whole show.

Next time.

Once we have her in our lodge, we should keep her naked.

I couldn’t think ahead to a home with a mate. There was still so much danger. The Corpse King hadn’t found us yet, but if Haakon didn’t heal quickly, it was only a matter of time.

When Laurel stepped out of the bath, I was waiting for her. Steeling myself, I raised a new shift, woven from the softest linen and hemmed with beautiful needlework. Laurel’s wide eyes told me she’d never seen such a fine garment.

I motioned her close but turned her. “Bend down,” I murmured, and added when she sucked in a breath. “I only wish to check your bottom.” Her pale curves bore a lingering redness. I cupped a generous handful and massaged it, soothing her when she rocked from side to side nervously. There were a few raw lines from where my fingers had caught her sit spots. I grew hard as iron knowing my hand had made the marks.

At last I drew her upright. Her face was as red as her bottom.

“The beast within us longs for a mate to cherish, but also to discipline.”

“Please,” she whispered. “I’ll be good.”

“You are a good girl,” I praised her. “But we also will not hesitate to take you in hand, to teach you our ways. But after punishment, comes reward.”

I helped her dress into the shift, and then the red gown. The fabric flowed like wine around her legs. She looked like a queen with her long, dark hair braided into a crown.

“It’s so beautiful,” she breathed.

“Our mate will always be clothed in finery.”

“Unless she is at home alone with us,” Haakon corrected. “Then she must always be naked.”

Laurel rolled her eyes. A soft smile suffused her features. She looked at the ground before me, almost… shy.

“Will you thank Ulf for fetching you such a fine gown?” Haakon prodded. I glared at him.

Before I knew it, Laurel had curtseyed. “Thank you, Sir.” She came close and took my hand and kissed it. I stilled as her lips touched my rough knuckles, the beast inside me roaring to life.

She must have known the danger, for she trembled a little when she raised her eyes to mine. “I don’t deserve it.”

I just stared at her. She gazed unflinchingly on my ruined face.

“Of course you do, lass,” Haakon called. “Our mate deserves the best.”

A stubborn look came over her face, one that told me she did not accept that she was our mate.

“You’re welcome for the dress,” I told her. “Suits you better than a dirty shift.”

She bobbed her head again, and I cursed myself for insulting her old clothes. I almost drew away, but she kept hold of my hand.

“Wait,” she examined my grimy palm. “Do you want me to wash you?” Her cheeks were bright as robin’s breast, but her scent told me she didn’t loathe the idea.

As much as I wanted to say yes, I couldn’t bear to see her face when she touched my scars.

“No need, lass. I don’t need a nursemaid. I’m whole.” Cursing myself again for insulting my warrior brother, I snarled and strode away.

* * *

Night had fallen before I returned, a giant stag draped over my shoulders. The beast raved inside me, even after a long hunt and a few lonely sessions with my cock in hand. A fire now burned inside me. Only Laurel could put it out. So, after running the perimeter to check for signs of the enemy, I carried my game to camp.

The light flickering through the trees gave me pause, but I schooled my steps and ignored my old fear.

Haakon dozed, his arm propped under his head, as if he’d laid down for only a moment. It did me good to see him sleeping peacefully. A brush with his mind told me his pain was fading.

The woman sat near the blaze, poking it with a stick. She’d cut her old shift into an apron to protect her fine dress. A few dark hairs had fallen out of her braid, but other than that she looked as regal as ever. Her beauty almost made my heart stop.

“Ulf?” she looked worried. I must look a monster with the massive prey over my shoulders. More monster than usual.

“For you,” I told her and shrugged the buck down. The ground shook where it fell.

“What am I to do with that?” She gawked at the giant body. Tip to tip, the antlers stood as tall as her.

“Cook it.” I knelt and split the chest cavity with my claws. Too late I remembered I should hide the beast from our woman. She averted her eyes as I carried the buck’s heart to Haakon.

“Here, brother.”

Thank you. Haakon said, not wasting breath to speak before he tore into the raw meat. If you didn’t return soon enough, she threatened to feed me onions.

I chuckled and strode back to the fire, licking blood from my fingers. Laurel sat with her hands folded in her lap. Sure enough, there were a few wild onions cooking in the embers. At least it wasn’t cabbage.

Once Haakon finished the heart, I gave him a few more organs and ate my own share of the offal. Blood smeared the prone warrior’s body. As he ripped into the liver, Laurel made a distressed sound.

“Don’t worry, lass,” Haakon said between chews. “You can always wash me again.”

Scoffing, she turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. Gone was the meek thing I’d left with a reddened bum. In her place was the fighter with the queenly mien I remembered from the kitchens. I raised a brow at Haakon, who shrugged.

Using saplings that I’d cut earlier with my axe, I built a giant structure to spit the meat. Before I went on the hunt, I’d stripped off my clothes so I could Change at will. The magic left me a loincloth about my hips, but otherwise my body was bare. The fire that ruined my face left a few scars on my arm and side, but nothing too ugly. Unlike my face.

Once the buck was cooking, I washed in the stream, returning with my clothes in hand. Several times I glanced at the woman, daring her to look at me. She kept her eyes on the ground, but I knew she noticed. The color in her cheeks matched her dress.

Seating myself close with the good side of my face turned to her, I took up the stick Laurel had and poked her onions.

“Did you venture far into the forest to find these?” I asked.

“Not far. Haakon could see me the whole time.”

I rolled an onion out and regarded its steaming form. “You were worried Haakon would need food before I returned.”

“Yes.”

Using a few wet leaves, I picked up the steaming onion and peeled it gingerly. “I suppose I will not leash you, then.”

“Thank you.”

“I will not have to leave again to hunt. You may have lost your last chance to escape.”

She didn’t reply. I studied her stiff form. Her punishment hadn’t softened her. Instead, our mate had put up walls.

“There’s plenty of meat, if you’ll accept it from my hand.”

“Thank you,” she said again, as her stomach growled.

She is determined to be polite, I noted to Haakon.

Mmm. She thinks she can control her desires by pretending to be civilized. But they claim her all the same. Haakon grinned. Can you smell it?

Raising my head, I sniffed the air. There it was—under the thick scent of roast meat, and onions—a woman in heat.

She is ripe for the plucking, Haakon smacked his lips. Laurel seemed to know we communicated silently, for she glared at him. I noted how she kept her legs pressed together.

I’m surprised she is so calm.

She is not. She is frustrated. The slim fingers gripped her new gown as if her world were tilting, and she tried to hang on. Feed her, Ulf. Fill her belly. Then perhaps we can convince her to sate her second hunger.

I tossed the onion on the fire and saw to the buck, slicing into the browning meat. The woman’s squeamish look told me she required more cooking time.

“Thank you for looking after my brother,” I said.

“I do very little.”

“Still, he’s healing well.”

“You know as well as I, that is the magic, not I.” She pursed her lips, as if talking of magic left a bad taste in her mouth.

“You do not like our magic?”

“It makes you very powerful.”

I examined my fingers. The blood had washed away easily but my nails were still a bit long. The beast was close to the surface. “It does, until it drives us to madness.”

“I think you are already quite mad,” she muttered.

“What was that?” I raised a brow, but tonight she had no fear of me.

Anger flashed in her eyes. “You attacked a defenseless abbey. This is civilized country!” Her bosoms heaved.

“We will never be civilized.” I sat down beside her, close enough for my bare leg to brush her clothed one. She stiffened again, but after a moment, relaxed closer. Interesting. She resisted until she forgot herself and leaned into me. She didn’t seem to know she was doing it.

“When you attacked the abbey, you committed a crime against God.”

“We do not worship your gods.”

That shut her up. She jerked back, cheeks flushed, mouth open. I’d rise and feed my cock through her plump lips, If I wasn’t so sure she’d bite me.

With great reluctance, I stood and paced to the other side of the fire.

Haakon chuckled.

You better heal soon, I told him. Controlling myself was becoming harder with the beast enticed by the heavy musk of a woman in heat.

I closed my eyes and breathed it in. How long had it been since I’d lain with a woman?

“I can’t believe I am trapped with such heathens,” Laurel muttered under her breath.

“Oh, and you’re a right proper miss,” I observed. “Cooking in your shift?”

The blush spread over her. “It was hot in the kitchen.”

“I wasn’t complaining. You’re welcome to strip down to your shift anytime you like. Though out here you might catch a chill.”

She snorted.

“Don’t worry, lass.” Haakon said. “I’ll keep you warm.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

When she pointed her nose in the air, I couldn’t resist goading her. “When we are returned home, Haakon thinks we should keep you always naked. I am considering the idea.”

“Surely not!” she gasped.

I gave her a wide grin, showing my teeth.

She fell silent, shrinking in on herself.

Not too harsh. Haakon admonished. I like it when she speaks her mind.

Most men would prefer a quieter mate. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her as she trotted across the clearing, hips swaying under the gown. The movement made my cock leap in my breeches.

Good thing we are not most men, Haakon chuckled, and winced.

“Come, lass,” I said when the meat was done, and I’d carved a pile onto a flat stone we’d use as a plate. “Time to eat.”

“I’m not hungry,” she said.

“Stubborn,” I mouthed to Haakon. Instead of arguing with her, I made short work of the meat and carved another platter, then took a seat where the breeze might waft the juicy scent in her direction. The wind was strong that night, and sure enough, soon after I sat down, her stomach growled loud enough to hear.

“Enough,” I told her. “You must remain strong if you are to fight us.”

A pause, and she jerked from her seat, and sat down beside me. The beast crowed in triumph, even though I knew she would not sit so close if she wasn’t so hungry. She reached for the meat and I tutted. “No, lass. From my hand.” I held up a piece of meat.

Closing her eyes, a resigned look on her face, she closed her lips around it.

Red claimed my vision as her hot mouth sucked the juices from my fingers. “Mmmmm,” she moaned at the second bite, her head tipped back and face suffused with bliss.

I growled.

“What’s wrong?” the woman sat back, licking her lips. My cock tightened painfully. “Did I do something?”

“No, lass. Not your fault.” As I shifted in my seat, I caught a small smile on her face. “Take care. You tempt the beast.”

“Do I?” She purred. “I only wished to obey.”

She leaned in again, her bosom full on display, and I caught the back of her neck and leaned in. I breathed in her scent still sweet and rich as a honeyed fruit, ripe for plucking. “Careful, Laurel,” I whispered in her left ear. “You play a dangerous game.”

Her legs shifted restlessly. I sat back, the beast in me enjoying the glazed look on her face. But I forgot myself and let the light of the fire illuminate the hideous mass of scars that was my right cheek.

Her breath caught.

“It’s all right, love,” I quickly angled the right side of my face away. “I know you would never want one who look like me.”

She blinked and drew back, her gaze falling on the ground.

Ulf—Haakon began.

I threw up a hand to silence him. I don’t wish to hear it. Carving another plate of meat, I set some beside Laurel and took the rest to Haakon.

I was only to make a jest. Between my face and your body, we make one whole man.

It wasn’t the same and he knew it. Soon you will be whole again.

I disassembled the spit and hung the carcass from a high tree to deter animals from stealing our meat. At least, any animal that dared come close to Berserkers. Drawing aside my loincloth, I marked our territory, spraying an arc around the tree with the game. As soon as Haakon was well we’d be gone from this place. We’d take care in our journey, and with any luck, the Corpse King will have forgotten us.

It wasn’t until I was walking back that I caught a whiff of something rotten. The last time I’d smelled it—

“Laurel!” I shouted, racing towards the fire. Cold wind swept through the camp ahead of me, a gust catching the fire and sending flames licking towards our mate.

She screamed, and I reached her side and hoisted her up, pushing her away from the showering sparks. Whirling, I kicked dirt over the fire, but it wasn’t enough. The wind whipped the flames to a frenzy.

The woman crouched near Haakon, leaning over him to protect him from the wind.

“What is happening?”

“The Corpse King. He has found us.” I ran to the two of them. “Haakon, I must move you.”

He nodded stiffly.

“Look out,” Laurel cried as a rock came whizzing towards me. I turned and it struck me in the arm.

“Now!” I shouted.

There wasn’t time to make a travois. Seizing Haakon under his arms, I dragged him to a small gully, protected by great boulders.

“Laurel,” I called and reached for her. She raced and clung to me as we squeezed under a rocky overhang protecting us from the rocks and clumps of dirt rolling down from the cliff. The Corpse King shook the very earth.

A boulder smashed not a foot away from us. Laurel sucked in a breath and hid her face in the crook of my neck. “Why does he do this? Why does he not leave you alone?”

“He wants you.” I hugged her as the wind howled above us, and buried my face in her hair. “He cannot have you.”