Between Gods and Lycans

Welcome to book 14 in the Lycans of Lykos series!! How are we here already?! This is Viggo and Liv's story, and it's going to be a wild ride! I'm posting the first chapter so you can get a glimpse into Liv's life. However, this story won't start until Wolf Bound is complete, which shouldn't be much longer. (I'll delete this section once the book starts updating properly) Remember to add this book to your library, and don't forget to comment! :) P.S: thank you so much for all your support with this series. It has meant so much to me. I am incredibly grateful to all of you! Liv - Norvegr 1017 Today, I am to marry an Alpha from the west. My stepfather, Alpha of our pack, has given me no choice. I have not been allowed to find my own mate. This marriage has been arranged as an alliance between the Stormhold Pack, my pack, and the Firehelm Pack. Alpha Bode is not my idea of a husband. He’s cruel and vicious. His last three wives died on the wedding night. Is that what I have to look forward to? Will tonight be the end of me? Panic claws at my chest, icy and relentless. I am a trained warrior. That means nothing against a powerful Alpha like Bode. His other wives were warriors too, but they stood no chance. He killed them because they weren’t what he wanted. So, why did he marry them? I have asked myself that question more than once since I found out that I would be Bode’s fourth wife. Why did my stepfather agree to this marriage? Does he not care for me at all? Mother does not approve of this marriage, and she has made no secret of it. However, Bode is the Alpha, and what he says goes. Ever since the King and Queen were killed, and Frost Fang Pack was wiped out, all rules for Lycan and Werewolf packs in Norvegr have meant nothing. Alphas took it upon themselves to make their own rules. As there was never a new King appointed to watch over us, no one could say it was wrong. The two maids finish the four braids on either side of my head, ensuring the golden rings sit correctly. This is likely the last time I’ll wear my hair like this. From now on, I’ll be expected to wear it in a bun—the mark of a married woman. Not that it matters; I won’t be alive tomorrow. The maids move away from me, and I stare at myself in the mirror and sigh. Is this as good as it gets? Why have I been forced into this elaborate maiden’s dress? Why have I been dressed up like this when I won’t be alive much longer? I don’t want to die. I have so much life left. I want to return to my own time and find my birth father and big brother. Thirty years ago, my mother met my father. They weren’t mates, but they fell in love. She moved to his pack, but after only a few years together, he met his second chance mate. My mother didn’t let my father choose her; instead, she grabbed me and ran. I was five and didn’t understand. I lost my father and big brother in moments, as my mother opened a portal with her magic and brought us so far back in time that I couldn't understand the world. My mother is part Witch, part Werewolf, Part Lycan. She’s a tribrid, but her magic is powerful. That’s how she could drag us back in time to a place that was unfamiliar and scary for a child. Mother met Alpha Ivar in the forest soon after we arrived. She used magic to make him believe she was his mate. Although it was wrong, Mother liked him instantly. She stole his chance at a second chance mate, and she didn’t care. Ivar’s destined mate had died years earlier, leaving him with five sons. All Mother thought about was finding a strong Alpha to protect us. Once she met Ivar, that’s who she wanted. He even took me on as his own, though he’s never treated me as such. His sons were all that mattered to him, though he was never physically cruel to me. I have lived in this place for eighteen years, forever the outcast. And all this time, I have missed my father and brother. I wish for nothing more than to go home to them, but I know that can never be. Mother told me as much when I was a child. She had hoped I would forget them in time, even casting spells to wipe them out from my memory. However, no spell could do that; they just didn’t work on me. I could fight Alpha Bode, and maybe I would kill him before he killed me. But his pack would never let me live. Yet I am not willing to simply give up—if I must go down, I will do so fighting for my life. Mother sends the maids away. Once they are out of our longhouse, Mother takes my arms and lifts me to my feet. “My sweet daughter,” she says while cupping my cheek. Mother looks so very sad. “I haven’t been the mother you deserve all these years. I stood by while Ivar treated you less than his sons. I stood by while he arranged this marriage to Alpha Bode. But I was wrong, I know I was.” “What’s all this about?” I ask. Mother sighs. “ I have one chance to get you out of here.” I furrow my brow. “Mother, what are you talking about?” My heart leaps into my throat. It has been hidden from the pack all these years that Mother is part Witch. Alpha Ivar knows. Mother couldn’t keep it from him forever. She told him years ago, but he did not want the pack to turn against his Luna if ever they found out about her true origins, so he kept it a secret. Witches are not welcome within Stormhold Pack. Alpha Ivar should never have taken Mother as his mate, knowing what she is. But he loves my mother more than anything, even though the bond is fabricated, and he would never reject her. In fact, he would murder the entire pack if they ever hurt her. I’m not sure if it’s true love or the spell she put upon him. But it’s kept her alive all these years. Mother takes my hand, opens my clenched fingers, and places a yellow jewel inside before closing my fist. I am incredibly confused by this. “Take this stone, Liv. I am going to walk you into the forest. No one will think anything odd about this, as it is my right as your mother to walk with you one last time. When we get there, I am going to send you to a place no one will find you.” I shake my head. “Mother, I don’t understand.” With tears in her eyes, Mother strokes my cheek and smiles. "You are my only daughter, Liv—my last baby. I cannot stand by while your stepfather sells you to an Alpha who kills every wife he touches. I just cannot." “I could place a spell on Ivar to make him change his mind, but he’s already given your hand to that monster. I don’t have the time or resources to create a potion to feed your supposed betrothed, something that would stop him. Believe me, if I could, I would. “If I let you go to him, I will never see you again. If I send you away, we will be together again one day. I promise.” Fear knots my stomach. “But what if someone realizes what we are up to?” Mother shakes her head. “No one will know anything until it is too late. Please trust me, Liv. This is the only way I can save you from this fate. I will not wait until news reaches me that you have died. I cannot, and I will not do it. Come with me now, my daughter. Let me save you.” My mother is my anchor—my only trust. If the truth comes out, they’ll kill me, but death is already closing in. Either way, all roads lead to darkness. So, what do I have to lose? If my fate is sealed either way, I choose to face it on my own terms, with courage. Mother won’t die. She’s a Witch and will be able to protect herself. She would protect me also if she needed to. So, again, what do I have to lose? With my hand in hers, Mother walks me toward the forest. She was correct when she said no one would notice anything. Not one person pays us any attention. Maybe we will get away with this after all. I am nervous. I breathe deeply, in through my nose, out through my mouth. The farther we walk, the more anxious I become. Mother gasps and drags me deeper into the forest. We stop next to a massive oak tree. Mother turns to me. “Ivar mind-linked to say we must leave. We cannot dally, Liv. Keep the stone with you at all times for the next three moons. It will keep you safe.” “Mother?” I swallow hard. Mother takes my face in her hands, tears falling from her eyes. “It will be many moons before we meet again, Liv. Where I am sending you, women have the right to choose their own fate.” “But where are you sending me, Mother?” “I am sending you to the future.” My eyes widen. “I’m sending you home, Liv. Back to your father.” A storm of fear and wild hope batters me, as if my insides are splitting apart. “Really?” I’m confused because she said I would never see my father again. Mother nods her head. “There is no time to explain, Liv. You must go now. Find your father; he will take care of you. I can say no more. But I will tell you this, by sending you home the way I am, it will take your voice for a while.” “What?” I gasp. “How am I meant to find my father if I cannot speak?” Mother waves her hand over the bark of the oak tree. A multicolored swirling light appears, and my eyes widen again. What is this? “You’ll find him because I’m sending you back to the place I took you from. I know you don’t remember much about that place, but you do remember your father. You’ll know him when you see him, and you’ll be safe.” Mother pulls me into her arms. “I love you, my daughter. We will find each other again one day. But in the meantime, be safe, and don’t let anyone tell you what you must do. Be your own person and show the world how brave you are. Never give up, Liv. And if you come into any trouble, run and don’t look back.” “I love you, Mother.” I sniff while holding onto her tightly. “Goodbye.” She whispers and pushes me toward the tree. I scream, my eyes wide, as I fall through the swirling light. I see my mother growing smaller the further I fall. Then, Mother disappears, and the lights disappear along with her. I feel like I’m falling forever, screaming in fear. But then, I land on the ground with a thud. That hurt! I flex my fingers into the grass. My eyes find the blue sky, then I look around. It’s warm—unlike back home, where it was winter and snowing. The sun is bright, and I feel its warmth on my face. I’m still in the forest, but this place looks different. Where did Mother send me? She said to the future, but I do not know where. I groan in pain while pulling myself into a sitting position. My eyes widen when I see a man with a bow and arrow pointed right at me! He says something in a language I do not understand. However, somewhere inside me, I know that I should. Then, there are three more of them, all with weapons pointed at me. What do I do now? I do not know how to communicate with these savage looking men. But as I look closer, they resemble Vikings. Mayhap I am not too far in the future. No, that’s not right. Mother said she was sending me back to my father. He wasn’t a Viking. He didn’t live in that era. My father was a Wildman. These men look familiar, or at least the way they dress, and their hairstyles do. They look like hunters. It could be that they are searching for food, and I have stumbled upon their pack. They are Werewolves, I can smell it upon them. I hurry to get to my feet. I do not know if these men mean to harm me, but I will not die without a fight. Mother told me not to give up and to take care of myself, and that is what I intend to do. I open my mouth and try to speak, but no words leave my throat. Oh, that’s right. Mother said I would lose my voice. How am I supposed to communicate without my voice? The men look at each other before the one in the middle, a tall, built man with superlong hair and strange eyes, looks at me. He says something, but I do not understand what he says. What am I going to do now? Will they try to kill me? I have no weapons about my person. I cannot fight these men hand-to-hand. They have bows and arrows, and they would kill me before I even thought about ending them. No, I must run. So, I turn and run. The men call after me, but I do not stop. I will not stop. I will run for my life, just as Mother told me to. I only hope I can get away from these men before they kill me. If that happens, all that my mother did to save me would be in vain.