Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 86(@200wpm)___ 69(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 86(@200wpm)___ 69(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
What I wanted was everything.
“It is her choice,” he finally said.
“It is,” I said. But I’d seen the desire in her face. I knew that she would give herself to me.
“And if she doesn’t want you?”
“Then I bring her home and I leave.” I didn’t admit that I couldn’t let her go. I’d already claimed her as mine whether she knew it or not. I couldn’t walk away from Greta, not when she was the only person to pierce through the wall I’d built around myself, to tame the wild beast inside of me.
Her father was silent for several long moments as he looked at his wife, then at his other two children. When he finally glanced back at me, I could see the acceptance in his gaze.
“Then I accept. If she wants you, you have my blessing.”
I looked over at her brother, wanting his approval as well. He was a little more hesitant, took longer to answer, but finally he gave a sharp nod as agreement. “If she agrees, then so do I,” he said. “Just bring her home safely and make Egil suffer.”
I didn’t say anything else as I turned and left their home, grabbing the supplies that I’d left right outside the entrance and heading into the woods. I’d track them, find her. And then Egil would die slowly by my hand.
Already I felt the beast in me rising, this fury filling me. It was always like this when I went into battle or hunted. But this time was different. This time it was stronger and I knew it was because of Greta, because she was mine even though she didn’t know it.
But once I had her, I would show her what it meant to be claimed by a berserker.
Chapter Six
Greta
We’d been traveling all day, and still I had no idea where Egil was taking me. He said little, but he watched me intently, his gaze raking over my body every time I looked his way. I saw the heat and lust in his eyes, a degree of degradation in the way he wanted me.
I wrapped the blanket more firmly around me and tried to sit as far from him as possible. The fire in front of us burned brightly, the warmth the only reason I hadn’t tried running from him in this moment. Winter was already here, the fall of snow, the bite of wind, enough to have my teeth chattering.
I thought about escaping, or trying to again. It was risky, almost pointless. When he’d stopped to water the horse, I’d run. I’d done everything in my power to escape.
The branches were like claws trying to stop me, scraping along my arms and face.
Even now with the memory, my skin burned.
But he’d caught me before I got far, grabbed me by my hair and yanked me back hard enough I’d fallen onto the ground, my head cracking on a rock.
Then he’d dragged me, the side of my face taking the brunt force of it.
Egil was the epitome of evil.
Although I knew something was off with him, I hadn’t imagined he’d go to these lengths.
He wouldn’t let me go.
He’d use me, break me.
And what could I do to stop it?
Ask for help?
We were far from the village and the chance of a stranger helping me was almost as low as Egil letting me go.
Egil stood and moved toward me, and I cowered slightly. “Eat,” he said, holding the fish he’d just cooked over the fire out to me. The white meat sat on a piece of smooth bark, its skin crispy from the flames, steam rising up from it.
I stared at him, refusing to take what he offered. I’d rather starve to death then take anything from him. I pulled the blanket tighter around me and stared at the fire, ignoring him. Thankfully he moved back to where he’d been sitting, growling out in annoyance.
“You’ll have to eat at some point.”
“I’d rather starve,” I said in a harsh voice. I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. I wouldn’t make this easy on him. “I don’t know what you expect to get from all of this. My compliance? My acceptance?” I shook my head slowly. “I’ll never be yours. They’ll come for me. They’ll find me.”
He showed no emotion, no remorse.
In that moment, I thought about Calder, wondering if my father would reach out to him, use the berserker to come find me. At this point that would probably be my best bet of getting rescued from Egil.
I couldn’t think of anyone else in the village who had the skill to hunt and track like Calder did. I felt myself deflating, this heaviness weighing on me. I tipped my head back and looked at the sky, the stars bright, questioning why the gods would do this to me.