Between Gods and Lycans

6 - Time to think

Viggo

“This is crazy,” Kayson chuckles beside me.

My uncle arrived a few minutes ago with my aunt and their four kids. Kayson is my mom’s younger brother, and my Aunt Hel is my dad’s younger sister. Like me, their kids, Kaiden, Mason, and Hel grew faster than regular children, as is the way with most children of Gods and Goddesses. However, they didn’t grow as fast as I did. Their youngest child, Ingrid, didn’t grow as quickly.

Where there are five days between Kaiden and Mason – yes, I said that, they were born five days apart, and they aren’t twins– and a year between them and Helena, there are nine and eight years between them and their little sister. Ingrid is also much more childlike than her siblings ever were.

Sometimes, I wonder if there’s something wrong in Ingrid’s brain. I’ve never known a thirteen-year-old to act as childish as she does. I dare not say that to my aunt, though, she’d probably roast me!

“It was definitely something,” I mumble, leaning back so my shoulders rest against the rough bark of the tree Kayson and I are sitting under.

We stepped away from the pack for a break. Everyone is all over Arwen, wanting to know where she’s been all this time. I don’t need to be there to translate because Hel can do that.

Arwen fell asleep once she realized that she was safe with her father. However, she didn’t sleep for long before she woke up, rushing out of his cabin in a panic. Of course, Scott was right outside the door, sitting on his steps with Davy. She instantly calmed down and sat with them.

I stood and watched as Scott introduced Arwen to Linda, his mate. I watched her eyes widen when she met their sons, Lee, Reiss, and Lance. It was a lot for Arwen to take in, but she seemed to take it in her stride, even if her eyes did tell a different story.

Now, the whole damn pack is sitting around the fire, telling stories of things that have happened since Arwen has been gone.

Ciska was banging on about how amazing Arwen is for helping Maddie the way she did. Maddie couldn’t stop gushing over the gift Arwen had given her. Orion thanked Arwen for what she’d done, but the girl was so confused. She couldn’t understand a word Orion spoke. Hel translated, and Arwen simply tipped her head without so much as a smile.

“You really think she came back from the past?” Kayson asks.

I nod. “She’s dressed like it anyway. I did ask her, but as soon as she realized who I was, she slapped me and refused to speak to me.” I chuckle.

Kayson smirks while shaking his head. “You deserved that slap. Not just for slamming her against a tree, but because you were horrible to her when she was a child.”

I slam my shoulder against Kayson’s, knocking him sideways. He tips briefly before laughing and pushing himself upright, brushing dust off his pants.

“I was not! For f**k’s sake. I yelled at once, Kayson.” I huff. “She followed me into the woods. Sneaking around like a little stalker. If I hadn’t noticed the Rogue heading right toward her, she’d be dead now.”

Kayson nods. “True. But you still yelled and frightened her.”

I roll my eyes. “It was instinct. I wasn’t angry with her. Well, not about the Rogue. She was four years old and shouldn’t have been following me.”

“She had a baby crush on you!” Kayson laughs. “You might have been fourteen at the time, but you looked like a grown man. Many young girls had a crush on you.”

I shudder. “Yeah, older than four. Anyway,” I shake my head. “What the hell does it even matter now? She’s home, and Scott and Davy are happy. The question is, where the hell has she been all this time?”

“Maybe we should call Björn and Sigrid?” Kayson says, looking at me. “If anyone would know where Arwen has been, it’s them.”

I nod. “Maybe you’re right. Do you think Arwen’s mother was able to take her back in time?” I ask. “I mean, she’s part Elf, and they have crazy magic.”

“Yeah,” Kayson hums. “But does a half-Elf really have that type of power?”

“Anything is possible.”

“Look out,” he mumbles while tipping his head to the left. “Incoming.”

I roll my eyes when I see Arwen walking through the woods. She looks dazed, and she hasn’t noticed Kayson or me sitting here.

As I watch, she trips over a root and falls to her knees, grimacing. She pulls herself into a sitting position against a nearby tree, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her head back against the tree’s trunk.

“I wonder what’s wrong with her?” Kayson says. “She looks like she’s about to have a panic attack.”

I shrug.

It’s not that I don’t care. But Arwen has nothing to do with me. It’s not my place to interfere.

‘You can be a right asshole sometimes, Viggo.’ Bard huffs inside my head. ‘Checking on someone who is clearly having a hard time isn’t interfering.’

I roll my eyes. ‘I know that, Bard. But…’

‘But nothing!’ He snaps. ‘Look at her. There’s something wrong, Viggo. Be a friend to the girl. That’s all I’m asking.’

Kayson sighs and gets to his feet. I watch him walk over to Arwen and crouch beside her. Arwen doesn’t look at him; her head is still leaning against the tree.

“Arwen, are you alright?” He speaks in Old Norse.

Arwen doesn’t answer. But I can hear her ragged breath from here.

“Would you like me to get your father?” Kayson asks.

I sigh and get to my feet. Kayson can’t get through to Arwen, and there’s something clearly wrong. I’m surprised Scott or Davy hasn’t come looking for her by now.

“Arwen?” I say her name softly so as not to scare her. “Did something happen?”

‘I can’t feel my mother.’ Her voice whispers in my head, and Kayson’s head from the way he’s looking at me. ‘I’ve never been without her before. I’m glad to be back with my father and brother. I’m happy to have met my new brothers and stepmother, but I don’t know what to do without Mother.’

“Your mother didn’t return with you?” Kayson asks.

Arwen closes her eyes and shakes her head. ‘She wouldn’t leave her mate. She sent me back to save me from the Alpha her mate was forcing me to marry. Mother said she would find me again, but I don’t feel her anymore. Mayhap she is dead.’

Kayson sighs, obviously feeling Arwen’s sadness. I understand how she must be feeling. If I ever lost my mother, I don’t know what I’d do. However, if Arwen’s mother ever turned up here, Scott would rip her apart for what she did in taking his daughter from him.

“So, you did come back from the past?”

Arwen nods at Kayson without looking at him. ‘From many moons ago. I lived through the fall of a kingdom, the death of a King and his Queen, and the end of the most powerful pack in Norvegr.’

What the?

“Frost Fang Pack?” Kayson asks, even though he knows, as I do, that’s exactly what Arwen is talking about.

Arwen furrows her brow as she looks at Kayson and nods. ‘You know of this?’

Kayson smiles. “Everyone knows the story.”

Arwen nods again.

I blink, a little shocked that Arwen lived through Björn and Sigrid’s demise at the hands of Björn’s insane younger brother. It’s surreal to say the least. This young woman was born in this time, taken back a thousand years to live among the Vikings, then sent back here as if nothing happened. She must be all sorts of confused, and I haven’t helped any.

“Did you ever meet Björn and Sigrid?” Kayson asks.

Arwen nods slightly. ‘My stepfather was an ally of the King. Ivar took me to Frost Fang Pack a few times with my mother and stepbrothers. Queen Sigrid was so fierce,’ she smiles. ‘But she was so nice to me. She said that if I ever needed her for anything, all I had to do was call.’ She reaches into the neckline of her dress and pulls out a chain with a wolf tooth hanging on the end like a charm. ‘King Björn gave me this. He said it would protect me against foes.’

Interesting.

‘I hoped to use it against the man whom my stepfather was selling me off to.’ Arwen continues. ‘I thought it would keep me safe. However, the King and Queen were killed weeks before my marriage, and I knew I would die by Alpha Bode’s hands. That’s why Mother sent me back here. She promised that we would see each other again, but I can no longer feel her. She must be dead.’

Arwen lowers her eyes while tucking the chain back into her dress.

‘She doesn’t know that Björn and Sigrid have been reborn, or that Frost Fang Pack is still around.’ Kayson tells me through the mind link. ‘Not that she would.’

‘Kayson, can you give us a moment? Go back to the pack and tell your dad that you’re calling for Björn and Sigrid. I’ll stay here and speak with Arwen. See if I can calm her down.’

Kayson nods. As Arwen silently leans her head back against the tree and closes her eyes, he offers me a brief smile, clasps my shoulder, and quietly stands up to head back toward the pack.

I move and sit beside Arwen, resting my arms on my knees. “Is it just that you think your mother is dead that’s bothering you, or is it something else?” I ask.

Arwen opens her eyes and looks at me. I can see the sadness in those icy blue eyes.

‘I felt her when I arrived. Why can’t I now?’

“I don’t know,” I sigh. “There could be a number of reasons, Arwen. The magic your mother used to send you back could have worn off. She could be thousands of miles away.”

‘Or she could be dead.’ Arwen whispers. ‘She promised we would be together again, that she would find me. Father said that if mother came looking for me, he would kill her.’

I furrow my brow. “How do you know what he said?”

‘Hel told me.’ She swallows hard. ‘I know that Mother did a bad thing when she stole me from my father. She hurt him badly because he had found his mate. Mother didn’t give Father a chance to choose. I understand his fury, but she’s my mother.’

I can’t imagine how conflicted Arwen feels right now. This poor girl is being pulled in two different directions. She loves her father, but she also loves her mother. Arwen isn’t making excuses for the woman who gave her life, but only an i***t would believe she would turn on her.

“Did your mother give you a good life, at least?” I ask.

Arwen sniffs. ‘As much as she could in that place. Alpha Ivar wasn’t her mate, but she wanted him the moment she set eyes on him. Mother bewitched him into believing she was his second-chance mate. Even though I knew Mother was Elven kind, she convinced me that she was a Witch.’

I shake my head. “What? Why would she do that?”

Arwen shrugs. ‘I do not know. She would never tell me. Mother swore me to secrecy. She said that if anyone found out the truth, they would kill us. Mother ensured to terrify me into believing Ivar would kill me if I ever slipped up. Alpha Ivar was not always nice to me, but he never physically hurt me.’

“But he treated you differently from his sons?” I ask.

Arwen nods. ‘Yes. I was not his child, and he never let me forget it. When he told Mother that I had to marry Alpha Bode, she did not agree. But Ivar did not care. Even though he knew that any woman Alpha Bode had married previously all died before the next morn, he did not care, Viggo. So, Mother did the only thing she knew how to do to save me. She sent me home to my father. But now, everyone wants to kill her, and it hurts my heart.’

She swallows hard, tears filling her eyes.

Why does seeing her cry bother me so much?

I blow out a breath. “I’ll talk to your father and brother and make them understand how you feel.”

‘Thank you.’ She whispers. ‘Viggo, I’m sorry that I slapped you.’

I chuckle while shaking my head. “It’s fine. I probably deserved it.”

‘You didn’t.’

I chuckle. “For throwing you across the pack grounds, I did. I am sorry for that, Arwen. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Arwen smiles slightly. ‘I know. You thought that I was hurting Maddie.’

I nod.

‘Viggo, why were you so mean to me when I was a child?’ She asks.

I blink and lean my head back against the tree. “I wasn’t mean to you, Arwen. I know that’s how it came across to you. I’m sorry for that. I’m ten years older than you. The incident in the forest, when I yelled at you, I didn’t mean to upset you. But there was a Rogue, Arwen. He would have killed you if I hadn’t stopped him. I was fourteen, but I looked like a man. You were four years old, following me around all the time.”

Arwen laughs softly. ‘I only did that because I liked you. I thought you were a superhero. You were so strong.’

“So was everyone else,” I mumble.

‘No like you.’ She touches my hand, and my eyes widen.

What the fuc.k was that?!

Arwen gasps and pulls her hand away from me sharply. I look into her eyes. Hers are darting from side to side.

Bard growls lowly inside my head. Then he chuckles. ‘Oh, this is priceless.’

‘Shut the fuc.k up!’ I yell at him.

Arwen jumps to her feet and runs from me faster than her legs can carry her. I watch her retreating form and smirk.

Dad, you son of a bitc.h.

Well, it looks like things are about to get very interesting.