Page 18 of Thor's Unexpected Mate

“I came to talk to you about Tyr,” he huffed. “He was on the march again last night and he came into our territory.”

“I know. Baldr and I were out scouting last night. We saw them coming.” I furrowed my brows. “But I didn’t know he came into Hati territory.”

“You know that’s an act of war, right?” Loki snapped. “We need to do something!”

“It was an act of war when he killed our father, Loki. We’ve been at war the whole time.”

“Then why the fuck haven’t we killed him yet?!” Loki threw his arms wide. “You’re so worried about this fucking resort that you don’t do anything! We need to take them out! We need to get revenge!”

“Loki…” I sighed. “You know it’s not that simple. I can’t just ask our wolves to sacrifice themselves because the Skoll Alpha killed our father. They have families and pups to take care of. We live nearly normal lives here.”

“You mean human lives.”

“The world is not as big as it used to be, Loki. We have to adapt to survive.”

“I suppose next you’ll want us all to wear collars and take ourselves on walks?” He jabbed a finger into my chest. “Those wolves lost their Alpha too, you know? Our father was a great leader and you’re shaming him by being such a fucking coward.”

“Now wait just a minute–”

But he was already gone, storming off across the gardens back toward the hotel. I stood there for a long moment, a mixture of anger and sadness clawing its way through my chest. Loki and I had been such friends as children but since our father died… well, it had hit him the hardest. He’d been fighting me every moment since. I had a feeling he would’ve made a stronger Alpha than me, but he would have marched us straight into battle. And I just didn’t think that was the right way to go.

The Skoll Alpha needed to be punished. But I wasn’t going to sacrifice the wolves that followed me to do it. If it ever came to blows, it would be just me and him.

And then I’d tear his throat out.

Chapter Seven: Thor

It was going to be another long night. Loki hadn’t been joking when he said there were things that needed my attention. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one upset about Tyr wandering onto Hati territory the night before. Baldr had kept his mouth shut, but the info still spread through the pack like wildfire. By the time I got to my office, there was already a line forming at my door.

Most of the wolves that came to me wanted to know what I was going to do. A few of them demanded to know why I hadn’t made a move in retaliation yet. Instead of hearing them all one by one, I ordered everyone to one of the larger meeting rooms and addressed them as a group.

The first order of business was to assure them I was taking the matter seriously. The second was to explain to them that an all-out werewolf war was not the answer to our problems. In the old days something like that might’ve worked. But now we were in a modern world and that required a more delicate touch. The Skoll pack might be separated from all the rest of humanity on purpose, but that didn’t mean nobody would notice if we just marched over there and killed them all. Besides that, their pack was strong and taught to fight since they were pups. The Hati pack, by comparison, was a bunch of pampered dogs. But that was a hard thing to say politely, so I tried to avoid it.

In the end, the pack filtered out, grumbling under their breaths about me, the situation, and anything else they could think of. I wasn’t a fool. I knew the pack wasn’t exactly thrilled with my leadership. But while a fair few of them were ready to go to war, they knew little in the ways of actual combat. Most of them had watched a few videos online and thought they could take another wolf on, relying on their supernatural strength to save them. But that wouldn’t be enough. I’d already gone face to face with a couple of the Skoll wolves and they were scrappy. I had the scar on my left thigh to prove it.

So, all that was left was Loki, Baldr, and myself sitting around a large table. Loki had his arms crossed, a look of dissatisfaction as always on his face. Baldr looked like he was somewhere else entirely, thinking about wherever it was he went on his wanderings. And me… well, I was looking for someone to throw me a fucking bone because I didn’t know what the hell I should do.

“We need to make a stand,” Loki said at last. “This fake peace you’re trying to keep was broken the moment Tyr killed our father.”

“Stop saying his name,” I growled. “I can’t stand the sound of it.”

“Then fucking do something about it,” Loki snapped back. “You wouldn’t have to hear his name if you put his ass in the ground for good!”

“Violence is not the answer,” Baldr added, finally coming back down to earth. “An eye for an eye leads to nothing but blindness. We need to find a different way to handle this conflict.”

“And what way is that all-seeing one?” Loki sneered. “Come on! Whip up one of your stupid visions so we can try to decipher your bad attempts at poetry.”

“I know you don’t believe in my gifts,” Baldr shot back. “But that doesn’t mean you have to be an asshole about it either.”

“I wouldn’t have to be an asshole if you weren’t so fucking useless!”

“I’m useless? Who’s the one that let Dad get killed while he was out on patrol?!”

“STOP!” I roared, pushing myself up from the table. Loki was on his feet already. “Sit down, Loki!”

“I’m not going to–”

“YES, YOU ARE!”

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