Page 4 of Berserker Devotion

An intricate rune tattoo encircled his right upper bicep. She leaned in closer and lightly traced the design with her finger. She could see now that the runes made up the body and head of Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, but it looked incomplete. The body ended abruptly. Why would this man have a Norse mythical snake etched into his skin? The Sagas, the old Icelandic records of the Viking age and Norse mythology, said that when Jörmungandr opened its jaws and let go of its tail,Ragnarök—the end of the world—would begin.

The man suddenly groaned, and she took a step back. Skye-blue eyes opened, and he stared unfocused at her. "Varg," he mumbled before lowering his lids again and returning to unconsciousness.

Nora frowned and leaned over to shake the man, but he remained frustratingly passed out.

Her pack’s alpha was Arek Varg. Was the man here because of him? Although he might have spoken in Swedish. Then the word meant wolf. Either way, combined with the Norse tattoo, there were too many factors to be dismissed as coincidences. Arek had recently had his Odin medallion—an artifact that looked like a wolf's head—stolen. The pack had gotten it pack and during that adventure, Arek had met his true mate. Was the man here to steal it again?

Her eyes fell on the shredded jacket and the pants drying on the chair next to it. She walked across the room and started emptying the pockets of both garments. Soon, she had a pile of granola bars and packets of trail mix on the table. In the inside pocket of the jacket, she hit the jackpot. She pulled out a wallet and opened it to find a few twenty-dollar bills, credit cards, and a driver's license. The name on the cards and the license was Ulf Stenrik, definitely Scandinavian, if not outright Swedish.And also ironic since ulf was another Norse word for wolf. It was like this guy broadcasted his intention of stealing a wolf medallion from a wolf pack.

It was time to reach out for help. She looked over at the man, but he was still sleeping. The egg-sized lump she'd found on the back of his head made her conclude he might be out for quite some time. And he would have a heck of a headache when he did wake up.

Nora went to the kitchen and opened the cabinet where her uncle kept his satellite phone. That he'd left it at the cabin and not returned for several days was another reason she worried about his well-being. As much as he hated modern technology, he listened to her when she said she worried too much when she couldn't reach him. Hence the satellite phone.

Nora had only used it sparingly since she got to the cabin because it was a pain to charge. Her uncle's only source of electricity was a solar panel hooked up to a small bank of car batteries. In winter, the sunshine hours were short, and sometimes days went by without the power source recharging.

She dialed the number of the packmate who was her closest friend.

Bolt Varg, Arek's adopted brother, answered after the first ring. "Nora, have you found your uncle?"

"Not yet, but something weird has happened."

"Weirder than your uncle going AWOL for several days?"

"Okay, so maybe weird is not the right way to describe what has happened. Suspicious is a better word, and it's probably related to uncle Karl's disappearance." She filled him in on the man's arrival and the name she'd found on his driver’s license.

Bolt listened without interrupting. "What do you mean about his scent? What kind of supernatural is he?" he finally asked.

"I don't know," Nora repeated. "He's not something I've ever smelled before."

"I don't like this," Bolt growled. "I should come out there and help you search for your uncle and question this Ulf."

"I've got things under control so far," Nora protested. "What I really need you to do is figure out who this guy is and if the name on his license is his true identity."

"I'm on it," Bolt said. "And if I can't figure it out, I'll get Magnus involved." Bolt was a technical genius in his own right and would find information in any database on the net. Magnus, on the other hand, ran a company that specialized in cyber security. No digital bytes could hide from him.

"Thank you." She felt confident she'd have an answer about her intruder soon.

"Any time," Bolt replied. "Call me in two hours and I’ll give you what I found. And you will call me before that if you need help." It wasn't a question, and he hung up without waiting for an answer.

Nora didn't take offense. She was used to hanging out with dominant wolves. She was one herself.

And as soon as her new houseguest woke up, he'd find out exactly what that meant.

She would make him answer her questions.

CHAPTER 4

Even before he opened his eyes, Ulf knew this hangover was far worse than anything he'd experienced before. He tried to remember the occasion for the drinking but couldn’t really recall anything from the night before. It must have been some party.

His whole body ached, and he couldn't feel his arms.

He slowly opened his eyes and found a rough-cut wooden ceiling above. It wasn't familiar, but he'd woken up in unfamiliar beds before. Usually with a new bedmate, but although he was naked, nobody shared the mattress with him this time. He tried to sit up but couldn't move his arms. They were stuck above his head. When he glanced up, he found his wrists tied to the headboard. He'd been in this position before as well, but usually, his partner would untie him before they went to sleep.

Waking up still in bonds was definitely a novel experience.He grinned. He couldn’t wait to meet the woman who’d made him fall asleep while tied up.

Not meet, get reacquainted, he supposed. He frowned. Somehow, he thought he’d remember someone who’d wear him out to where he’d pass out, still tied up.

Glancing around the room, he searched for whomever he'd played bed sports with the night before. A stunning woman lay on a couch across the room. Her chin-length hair was the color of fire, and her pale green gaze regarded him calmly. A white scar ran from the corner of her right brow, across her eye, and down to the top of her lip. The battle mark elevated her looks from beautiful to stunning.

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