The Viking Wolf by J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory

Author:J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory [Rain, J.R. & Mallory, H.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rain Press
Published: 2021-05-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Torsten

Jovi looked up at me then, her eyes wide and so perfectly blue. Her eyebrows furrowed as she shook her head. “What you are? You mean a wolf?” She shook her head again. “I don’t care about that.”

“You should,” I started.

“No, I know what you are. I saw you change and I’m not afraid.”

“I’m not a good man,” I explained as I exhaled, the feelings of self-hatred and disgust tarnishing me all over again. Usually, I tried to avoid thinking about myself, about what I was, about my past. But the thoughts never left me, especially at night when I couldn’t keep my physical body active, so my brain took over.

And then it would be a flood of memories, a deluge of remembrances that caused me nothing but angst and fatigue. The memories of the past were ruthless, relentless, constantly beating down on me, night after night.

And after my stand-off with Skarde, what I was afraid of was already beginning to happen. Jovi had reopened a can of worms I’d buried in the deepest, darkest corners of my mind where I wouldn’t have to examine them in the harsh light of day.

“That isn’t true!” Jovi yelled at me, her expression one of pure defiance. “You are the reason I’m standing here right now and not missing or dead somewhere,” she continued as she took a quick breath. “You are a good man because only a good man would have done something like what you did for me when I got attacked by those men.” She took another big breath as her chest continued to rise and fall quickly. “You saved my life, Torsten.”

“I did, but...” I started, my voice coming out harsher than I intended. This was just a subject on which I wouldn’t be swayed. Jovi could say what she wanted, but she didn’t know the truth—the whole truth. Yes, she knew what I was, but there was more—more that even Skarde didn’t know. And if she knew that truth, she wouldn’t still be standing here. She wouldn’t want anything to do with me. “Saving you doesn’t make me a good man.”

“You risked your life for me!” she yelled at me, shaking her head like she was in disbelief as she shrugged out of my hold. “You protected me at the cost of your own safety!”

“Yes, I protected you!” I spat the words back at her. “And if I had it to do over again, I would do exactly the same thing! I will always protect you because you mean more to me than anyone does!”

Shit.

That wasn’t supposed to come out.

She looked surprised then and swallowed down whatever she’d been about to say. My chest was still heaving, and my heartbeat was pounding through me because I was still aggravated that she was even daring to argue with me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had an argument with someone.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d had a conversation with someone beyond mostly uneasy hellos and goodbyes.

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