Given to the Berserkers

Prologue

Prologue

“Muriel,” someone was calling my name and tugging on my arm. I opened my eyes, squinting against my throbbing headache. “Wake up,” my sister said in a trembling whisper.

“What is it, Fleur?” I groaned. “Did the fire go out? Where’s Sabine?”

“She disappeared, remember? We have not seen her for a day and a night.” Fleur was speaking, but I barely heard her as I sat up and stared through the bars of a cage. Where I expected the walls of our home and the stone hearth, there was only forest.

“What is this?” I whispered. We sat in the center of a wooden cage made of branches as tall as a man and twice as long, lined with fur pelts. Beyond the bars, figures moved around a bonfire. A few men accompanied by giant dogs.

Fleur huddled closer to me. “They came in the night,” she whispered. “Do you remember? They burst into the hut and grabbed us.”

“I remember.” My head ached but I recalled the dark shapes looming over us. I’d leapt to my feet, wielding a small knife my older sister Sabine made me carry. One of the warriors had caught the blade in his hand.

“Careful,” he had laughed, wrenching the weapon from me even as blood dripped from his palm, “this one is a fighter. She has a little tooth.”

“Get away from me,” I’d shrieked. My defiance lasted as long as it took for one of the huge warriors to catch and force me down. I struggled on the floor, craning my neck to look back at Fleur. My twin sister was often sick, and weaker than I was. She’d shrunk back on the bed when three warriors converged on her. “Leave us alone!”

“Be quiet, and we won’t hurt you.” The warrior binding my wrists had covered my head with a sack and hefted me up. We were moving, moving, out of the hut and into the night. I’d screamed and struggled with all my might. The warrior carrying me slung me down, and—

Blackness. I remembered nothing more.

“What happened?” I asked my sister without taking my eyes off the men in the clearing. The huge warriors were cutting down more trees and adding logs to the fire.

“I don’t remember much after they came in and took us. I must have hit my head.”

“The man struck you so you slept,” Fleur said. “But I stayed awake the whole time. They carried us here, faster than any man can run. I know you won’t believe me…”

Fleur often had visions and dreams during the day, fantastical things she shared only with me. Often she saw things that weren’t real, and asked me about them. With my help, she didn’t speak of things that no one else saw. Otherwise, the villagers might call her fey, and kill her for it.

“I believe you,” I said, holding her tighter. “This is real. This is happening.” The men at the bonfire were more frightening when they stepped into the light than when they stood in shadow. Massive and muscular, they wore the garb of warriors and carried great weapons, from axes and bows, to daggers and swords. Though larger than any man I’d ever seen, they moved like predators, with smooth, quick grace. One of our captors walked out of the woods wearing only a loincloth, and carrying a giant log over his shoulder as if it weighed no more than a stick. He shrugged it off onto a growing pile, and joined a group that stood studying us in the cage. Amid the men roamed a few giant beasts that I thought were dogs, but for their size and the intelligence in their bright gold eyes.

Fleur and I huddled together amid this nightmare.

“Who are they?” I asked in despair. My teeth chattered, more with fear than cold.

“Wolves.” Fleur pointed out two of the warriors standing guard. Not more than a minute passed without them glancing back at us. I noticed they seemed particularly interested in Fleur, and I squeezed her tighter. “See those two? They took turns carrying me. They told me a witch cursed them with great strength and speed, but with the curse came the rage of a ravening beast. I didn’t understand until I saw one of them, that third one, there, turn from man into a wolf.” The beast she pointed out was massive, bigger than any dog or wolf I’d ever seen. With its midnight fur and eyes shining in the firelight, it seemed a demon creature.

It hadn’t stopped staring at Fleur.

“What do they want with us?”

“The warriors told me they have no women. They took us because they need mates.”

I forced my disbelieving gaze from the giant beasts and warriors, to stare into Fleur’s pale eyes. My normally pale sister looked even more wan and tired, with great circles under her eyes. But I knew she was telling the truth.

“How is this possible?”

“A prophecy foretold of a race of women they could mate with. Muriel… they have Sabine.”

“She’s here? Alive?” Our older sister had disappeared a few nights before. I sagged back onto the pelts, overcome with the first good news I’d had all night.

Fleur nodded and lay down with me. “They took her first. She’s to mate with the two Alphas.”

My forehead wrinkled. “Two of them?”

“They sometimes mate with women in pairs.”

I closed my eyes. My head hurt again, and not because of the tender bump on my skull.

“Do you think she’s all right?” I’d often been at odds with my older sister, but she’d always looked after us since our mother died. We had another sister, Brenna, older than all of us, but she, too, had disappeared.

“I think Sabine is fighting them. But they laughed about it and said that one way or another, the Alphas will tame her. And then…” Fleur’s voice died away, but she didn’t have to finish the sentence.

After Sabine was mated, it would be our turn.

Dawn came, and despite fear churning in my stomach and a raw feeling in my gullet, I dozed.

When I woke, the crowd of warriors had thinned. There were only three warriors left—the men who had carried Fleur, and their companion in wolf form.

Someone had left a skin of water just outside the bars. I waited as long as I could, but finally threaded my arm through the bars and took it. I sniffed it carefully but smelled no taint or poison. If these warriors had any reason to kill us, they could simply snap our necks. With that bleak reasoning, I didn’t hesitate to drink from the skin.

The wind shifted and the smoke blew into our cage. Fleur started coughing in her sleep. I moved to block the foul breeze, but she kept coughing. Her lungs had never been very strong.

Would that Sabine were here. She was smart and brave, and had a little magic. She would demand our captor bring her what she needed to make Fleur medicine, and would not stop standing up to them until we were all free.

I’d wrapped my arms around my legs and pressed my head to my knees., when a voice hissed close to my ear.

I raised my head and looked straight into golden eyes. A reddish wolf, so red I would’ve thought it was a fox if it hadn’t been so large, sat panting not five handspans from where I sat within the cage.

I watched in wonder as a ripple of magic split the air. The beast’s form shimmered, and then in place of the wolf crouched a man, naked but for a loincloth.

If Fleur had not explained the night before, I would’ve thought I was crazed or still dreaming, but the man looked real enough. He was young and sturdy, with a pale muscled chest and legs. The only resemblance to the wolf was his tousled red hair.

He grinned at me, and placed a finger to his lips, gesturing for me to stay silent. I glanced back at the warriors guarding us, and they all were focused on the fire. The smoke still blew in our direction. Turning my back on them, I nodded to the red-haired warrior. For some reason he didn’t want to be seen, and his secret was safe with me.

His grin widened, displaying sharp incisors. He beckoned me closer.

For some reason, I obeyed, sliding on the pelts to tuck myself against the side of the wooden prison.

“Muriel?” His low voice was rough, but I recognized my name when he repeated, “Are ye Muriel?”

Gaping at him, I nodded.

“Are ye sure, lass?” he asked. “I have a message for Muriel, and I dinnae want to tell it wrong.”

Licking my lips, I found my voice. “I am Muriel. Who are you? What’s going on?”

“You’ve been taken by Berserkers, warriors cursed to live as beasts. Ye were stolen by the Lowland Pack. I am Fergus of the Highland Pack. My pack and this pack dinnae get along.”

That explained his secrecy.

“You have a message for me?”

“Aye. My Alphas promise ye that ye will not be harmed. Soon ye will be free.” He crept closer, crouching next to the bars. If I put my hand out, I could touch him.

“‘Tis not wise for me to come out of hiding, but ye looked so sad. I wanted to reassure ye.” He had a splash of light freckles across his nose.

“Thank you. That’s very kind.”

“I cannae stay long. I’m only here because the wind shifted. They willnae scent me as long as I’m downwind.”

“Please, will you let us out?”

“I cannot. Not until I know ye are safe. Do ye know why you’re in a cage?”

I glanced back at the fire, but our guards were still distracted. “To keep us from getting out?”

“No, to keep the monsters from getting in.”

I wanted to close my eyes, lie down and go to sleep, and forget all this as a dream. Instead I studied Fergus. With his freckles and teasing manner, he could be a youth from my village, except for his rugged, handsome looks, and the magic that made him a wolf.

“Why did they take us? Why are we here?”

“They need brides.”

Fleur had relayed the truth. I gripped the bars harder, and clenched my jaw to fight the tears.

Fergus looked stricken. “Now, lass, don’t cry,” the warrior crooned. “”Twill be all right.”

“I don’t know how…I don’t know what to do.”

“Help is on the way. I swear on my life, I will get ye out. Dinnae worry your wee head.”

After a shuddering breath, I nodded.

“The wind is shifting. If they scent me, I’ll be caught.”

“Don’t go,” I begged.

He tilted his head. His shoulders were also dusted with freckles. “Ye aren’t afraid of me, wee one?”

I didn’t know what to say to that. “Please.”

“I won’t stray far. I’ll make sure ye dinnae come to harm. This pack is dangerous, but the more unstable wolves have orders to stay away from ye.”

He changed before my eyes, the masculine features distorting into the maw of a reddish wolf. I jerked back, but he was already gone, only the tremor of a leaf on a low-hanging branch evidence of where he had been.

I clutched at Fleur, but she was asleep, her cheeks wan and pale, her body shaking with coughs. Tears streamed out of my eyes--from the smoky air, I told myself. Not because I was afraid.

A warrior walked into the clearing. Pale and blond, he stood a head taller than the others, and towered over them when they bowed their heads.

“Arne, Erik,” he greeted the men, and then the wolf. “Gunnr.” He had a strange accent but spoke in a level, cultured voice. I’d almost think him a lord from some far off court, but he tilted his head and sniffed the wind, and I saw the predator in him.

“Alpha,” the warriors greeted him, and his head jerked towards our cage.

“What is this?” the blond Alpha asked his men. “I smell a wolf. And not one of our pack.”

“I smell it too.” The warrior named Arne growled.

Fear flashed through me. They would track Fergus, and all would be lost.

I moved to the far side of the cage, opposite where I had sat with Fergus.

“Hey,” I cried out. “You there.” Gripping the branch bars, I tried to shake them. Fleur coughed again in her sleep, the perfect distraction.

The warriors’ attention swung to me. My body was numb with fear, with cold, and now with anger.

“My sister is sick. She may be dying, if I cannot get her the herbs she needs.”

The tall blond approached. Crouching he ducked his head to meet my gaze. His eyes were bright gold.

I waited for him to speak but he only c****d his head to the side.

“Did you hear me?” Fury supplied my words. “You captured both of us—and soon one will die. If she goes…I will make you pay.” I did not know how. My cheeks were frozen from my old tears, or were they new?

“Threats for your captors?” the Alpha murmured. “I wonder what makes you so bold?”

“It’s the enemy, Ragnvald,” answered one of the guards—Erik. The second and third, in wolf form, stood at the forest edge, whining and pawing the earth where Fergus had been.

They paced along one side of the cage, and shivers worked up my spine.

“He was here. One of the Highland Pack. If we go now, we can track him.”

I stared up into the leader’s face, silently pleading.

“No,” he said finally. “Let him go. If plans hold, the Highland Pack will not be our enemies for much longer.”

I held the leader’s gaze for a moment longer, then a sharp pain flashed in my head and I dropped my eyes. Power rolled through the clearing, beyond my mortal understanding, and the hair on my arms stood on end.

Fleur coughed again, breaking the spell.

“Please, my lord,” I said. “My sister truly is ill.”

“Do you know what will save her?” Erik asked in a harsh, almost guttural voice. He stalked towards the cage, eyes on Fleur’s limp body. I shrank back, but the warrior stopped when his leader lifted a hand. Every muscle in Erik’s body was taut, ready, as if at a word he would jump forward and rip apart the wooden structure.

“Yes,” I gulped. “I can find the herbs to make medicine, if you let me out.”

Fleur coughed and one of the wolves whined again.

“Alpha, please,” Erik asked in a quiet voice. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he waited for his leader to give the order.

“Very well.”

Erik reached out and sliced the bindings on one branch, so the side of the cage swung open.

“Take Gunnr and track our red intruder,” Ragnvald continued. “When you catch him, do him no harm. Tell him I wish to meet under a branch of truce, to negotiate peace with his pack.”

I did not breathe until the tense warrior was gone.

“Be at peace, Muriel,” the Alpha said. “Your sister has told me of you and your bravery. It seems even Fleur has charmed my men in less than half a day.”

The bare blue sky called to me from beyond the wooden frame, yet still I hesitated. The Alpha beckoned. “Come forth, little sister. I am Ragnvald, Alpha of the Lowland Pack. I swear I will not hurt you.”

“I am not your sister,” I said.

“No,” Ragnvald said, amused. “But when Sabine accepts her place at my side, you will be.”

Heart beating fast, I ducked through the opening. The Alpha of the Lowland Pack swept out his hand, ushering me into my new life.