Mare in the Pack

Chapter 4

It had been a few weeks before William decided that it was time to move on to where he was headed. He never told me where it was he was going, just that it was on the far side of my parents' pack lands.

Galloping would have been much faster, but I had to hold Eliana and Arianna in my arms. Which meant I was either walking beside Ellanna or riding on William's back. It was oddly uncomfortable riding on his back. I mean, I'm female holding two infants while sitting on the back of a male.

Don't get me wrong, William is handsome, but my birth mother told me, and I remember, that I am to marry Odin's youngest son. I don't know if most know this, but his youngest son is, Váli. He is a God of vengeance, killing his half-brother's murderer. Apparently, he is unkempt and unruly. I wouldn't know, though. I've no memory of ever meeting him. Just that I am to marry him when I return to the immortal realm.

While sitting on William's back, I closed my eyes and attempted to open a link with my birth mother. "Mother? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, my sweet girl. I can hear you loud and clear. What is wrong?" Mother responded quickly.

"I want to meet my intended mate. When can I meet him?" I asked. I had now picked up on the way Mother spoke. No one seemed to mind it, though. I mean, it was how I was raised the first time.

"I do not know, my child. I will speak with Odin about it."

"Thank you, Mother."

I felt the link drop, and I opened my eyes to see Ellanna staring at me expectantly. I furrowed my brow and tilted my head to the side. "We could hear you, but not who you were talking to. Some of us older mares are curious about what you were talking about."

I couldn't help but smile. "I was asking my birth mother if I could meet my intended mate. We were betrothed the day I was born. Mind you.. he is about 900 years older than me." I giggled at that last part.

Gasps and oos and aws could be heard from the mares, but William just snorted his disapproval. "Is there a problem, William?" Ellanna tilted her nose up at him.

"All mares within a herd led by a stallion are the stallions mares. Meaning, no matter if Mira has been betrothed, she is mine." William snorted in jealousy.

I burst into a fit of laughter. "You'll have to take that up with my birth mother and Odin himself. They arranged this marriage when I was just a few hours old."

"Minutes, actually my daughter." Mother spoke in my mind.

"I stand corrected. It was mere minutes after I was born." I paused and closed my eyes, trying to focus on just my mother. "Have you spoken to Odin already, Mother?"

"Yes. Váli is on his way to you with his older brother, Thor. Thor can not stay, though. He is to return swiftly."

I felt my heart skip a beat. I was going to meet my mate! Taking a deep, calming breath, Eliana began crying. Eli, as I called her, was the gassy one. She was always swallowing air for no apparent reason. William stopped the herd, and I gotta down to care for Eli as I had been for weeks. It was clear to anyone outside the herd that I was the girls' mother, but only the important people knew the difference.

Eliana took a bit to get the gas out and then be fed, and by the time she was done, Arianna or, in my case, Ari, wanted to be fed and changed as well. As I was just finishing up with Ari, I felt the ground rumble under me. The herd started to panic, thinking it was an earthquake.

"Settle down. This is no earthquake. Something is coming." William's voice echoed through my mind.

I handed Ari over to a mare and stood on guard to protect not only the herd but the twins as well. The ground shook as I watched something hit the ground in front of us.

As I am about the shift, the dust clears, and I see him. Dark hair, bright ocean blue eyes. Muscles in all the right spots. The blond man standing next to him points to me, but my eyes are locked onto Váli's blue ones.

He returned my stare, and as if in some trance, he and I said the same word at the same time.

"Mate."