DEVOUR ME

He let her go.

The wolf that had chased her across the sky, since her very existence… let Sól escape.

One moment he was a nip away, and the next, he was gone.

Not today.

That was all she could think at the time. A thought she’d had a million times before…

But now, back in the safety of Aesir, Sól could see that he had let her go.

Why?

Why didn’t he kill her?

What did the Jötnar have planned?

Letting out a deep breath, Sól moved from the window seat to her bed.

The faint sound of her brother Máni and his kids taking off into the sky was her only warning of the sleep to come.

Easing into her bed, Sól found herself fighting the sleep that always took her over when Máni took flight.

But fighting her sleep was perhaps like fighting their destiny…

Pointless.

Yet images of her brother’s smiling face as their pinkies locked flashed through her head. The promise they had made played through her mind.

We would only look out for each other.

No, she may not be able to fight the sleep of night, but her fight was not pointless.

Not when she could see the look of fear and loneliness on her niece and nephew’s faces.

Making a promise for two became a promise for four.

And she would not break it.

“For them… I must survive,” Sól muttered, as her eyes started to flicker closed against the unstoppable sleep of night.

Paying no mind to the shadow of a wolf creeping through her window.

Sköll smiled as he watched the sun goddess Sól fall into a deep sleep.

Information that had been “given” by his father, Fenrir. A wolf who believed that information, like life, should only be given to the strongest.

Though knowing had been half the battle.

Finding a way into Aesir unnoticed had been the real challenge.

With a silent laugh of triumph, Sköll leaned away from her, letting his eyes take her in from up close.

So often, she had felt out of his reach…

But now, he needed only to reach out and touch her.

An unknown force nudged at the back of his mind, telling him to move closer. A nudge he had to beat down.

To Yggdrasil, she was beautiful.

But she was also the enemy.

Sure, he had done what others had failed to do. Even his brother Hati had said it was impossible.

Yet here he was.

At the thought of his brother, Sköll hardened his face and crushed the spark of triumph that had come from finding her.

This was his duty.

This was his destiny, a destiny shoved down his throat from birth.

Kill her, free his father, and lead Aesir to destruction.

Yet here he was…

Sköll the Treacherous, adoring the golden tint of her tanned skin. Longing to run his hands over her soft thundercloud of dark gray and pale white hair.

She had made him hungry, in a new and confusing way.

No, not new… at least not completely.

The memory of the first time he had seen her played through his mind.

She had been younger then, but still a little older than him. Her long gray and white hair whipped behind her as she rode recklessly through the sky.

It had been a sight to behold.

But the phantom-like feeling of his grandfather’s hand on his head had pulled him from the mesmerizing sight.

As Sköll’s grandfather told him to look at his prey. To not just study her movements, but predict her patterns.

Yet, at the time, all Sköll could see was her beauty. All he could hear was her enchanting laughter vibrating through the air.

Looking at her had filled his young belly with a warm, fluttering feeling.

That was until the phantom touch of his grandfather grew painfully abrasive, filling a young Sköll with fear as he looked up at his grandfather.

Only to find himself locked in place as an uncontrollable rage filled him.

“Kill the girl, free your father, and free ME!” Loki had yelled, enforcing the need to obey into Sköll’s mind.

It had felt like small needles were probing him, pushing a toxic rage through his blood.

A rage so powerful, Sköll had ripped himself from his grandfather’s grasp and raced into the atmosphere.

His teeth and claws bared as he turned her screams of joy into ones of terror.

Body tightening with the memory of his childhood and the dark rage that had filled him, Sköll stilled himself.

Taking a moment to breathe in her sunflower-filled scent.

No, this wasn’t about his grandfather.

This was about the warm feeling he now had.

Though it was more like an intense heat. A heat that had moved from his belly to his throbbing manhood.

Leaving him wanting to taste her…

To feel her.

When did this hunger for her touch start?

When would it end?

As a wolf of the Jötnar, Sköll had been born and raised to hate her kind, to hate all the Aesir gods.

Not crave their touch. Not dream of making her scream with pleasure…

And yet he did.

All he wanted was a taste.

Was that too much to ask?

He would be done with her after that, having satisfied the hunger that seemed to burn at him.

He would then kill her, free his father, and bring forth Ragnarök. Ending Odin and all the other gods.

Leaving only his grandfather and the Jötnar to rule.

Moving over to her bed, Sköll shifted into his human form.

Yes, he had wanted her from the moment he saw her.

Reaching out, Sköll ran the back of his fingers against her arm. Her skin was soft yet warm to the touch.

Would she taste of fire?

Would she be just as hot and passionate in his bed as she was on her chariot?

A deep, wolfish growl came from his throat at the thought.

Picking her up, Sköll carried Sól to the window before jumping into the sky.