PROLOGUE: The Grounding
[ He calls her 'Little Bird'] [ She calls him 'Puppy']
The air in the Aegis Vault didn't just feel cold, it felt like needles pressing into my pores.
It smelled like ancient ozone and the musk of a man who had been caged for a thousand years.
"You're shaking, Little Bird," Fenrir rasped.
His voice was a low, vibrating growl that settled right in my lower belly.
He was pinned to the black stone wall by glowing blue runes that bit into his wrists and ankles, but he still looked like he owned the room.
He was massive—easily 6'7"—with shoulders so broad they blocked out the light behind him.
He was completely naked, his body a map of hard muscle and silver scars.
"I'm not shaking," I lied, gripping the hilt of my sword. "I'm adjusting."
"Liar." He flashed a grin, showing teeth that looked just a little too sharp for a human. "You're terrified. You saw what happened to the Valkyrie before you. They carried her out in a bag because she let go for three seconds."
"I won't let go, Puppy," I snapped.
The insult made his eyes flash a dangerous, molten gold.
The room suddenly lurched. The floor groaned, a deep, tectonic shift that sent a vibration through my boots. Dust fell from the ceiling.
The Wolf was waking up.
"It's happening," he whispered, his chest heaving. His muscles bunched and rippled as the divinity inside him fought to tear out of his skin. "The chains aren't enough today, Little Bird. I can feel the sun. I want to swallow it. I want to swallow everything."
The ground shook again, harder this time. A crack appeared in the stone floor.
If he shifted, Niflheim would collapse. The world would follow.
"Get over here," I commanded, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Then touch me," he snarled, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "Before I tear this vault off its hinges and eat your heart."
I didn't hesitate. I stripped off my leather armor, dropping my tunic to the floor until I was as bare as he was. I stepped into the circle of runes, the magic stinging my skin.
I pressed my body directly against his.
The contact was like hitting a live wire. His skin was burning hot, a violent contrast to the freezing vault.
I felt his thick, heavy cock already rigid, pressing hard against my thigh.
My large breasts were crushed against his washboard chest, my nipples instantly peaking against the rough hair of his torso.
"Gods," he groaned, his head falling back against the stone as my skin grounded his power. The shaking stopped instantly. "Your skin... it's so cold."
I wrapped my arms around his thick neck, pulling myself flush against him.
I could feel every inch of him—the sheer weight of his manhood, the twitching muscles of his thighs, and the way his heart hammered in sync with mine.
"Keep it together," I hissed in his ear, even as my own body betrayed me, my pussy folds slicking with heat at the sheer primal power radiating off him. "You stay in this skin, Fenrir. You stay human for me."
He looked down at me, his golden eyes dark with a hunger that had nothing to do with the end of the world. "If I stay human, Little Bird, I'm going to ruin you. I'm going to make you forget you ever belonged to Odin."
He leaned down, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin of my neck.
"The world stays alive," he whispered against my pulse. "But you? You're mine to break."
