Page 5 of Thor's Unexpected Mate

I just shook my head. The things that came out of this woman’s mouth. “I will keep that in mind,” I replied at last, stifling a smile. “Bye Nana,” I said, kissing her on the forehead.

“Don’t be out past dark,” she added as I stepped off the porch. “And don’t go east!”

“I know.”

“And stay on the path!”

“Bye!”

I gave her one last wave before I jogged across the farmyard and slipped into the woods. As soon as I was out of sight of the house, I let out a big sigh. That woman was paranoid. I’d been hiking the mountain almost every day since I arrived nearly two months ago. There were never any wolves, any crazy people, or even semi suspicious people. The most I’d ever run into was a person or two out on a walk. We exchanged a friendly greeting and kept to ourselves. Besides, they were anything but intimidating, dressed in stark white tennis outfits that looked too clean to be allowed outside.

Nana lived practically at the bottom of the mountain. However, there were several well-worn paths that led further up and over the peak. On the other side was a hot spring resort, which is where all the fancy dressed people came from. The resort owned the majority of the mountain, and they maintained the paths for their guests to use. I’d never been there, but I doubted anyone running a resort had time to worry about little old me. All I ever did was hike to the top to sketch, journaled a bit, and went back down without ever leaving a trace that I’d been there.

I think a part of me hoped that I might meet a hot resort goer on the mountain. He’d be a doctor, of course, and fabulously wealthy. Then he’d fall head over heels in love with me and pay for everything so I could live my life making art and working on my Nana’s farm. And of course there’d be a big white wedding. He’d treat me like I was a prince, and everything would be perfect forever after.

Except my life wasn’t a Hallmark movie and the only guys that ever showed interest in me were the ones who had nothing and liked to treat me bad. Not that I needed a rich guy, but if I was going to fantasize, I might as well have everything, right?

The truth was, I’d be happy to find anyone that simply treated me right, rich or poor. But being twenty-two, gay, and living in the foothills of Appalachia wasn’t doing me any favors. I’d had enough hookups in college to last me the rest of my life, and I was starting to crave something more meaningful.

But there was no fucking way I was gonna find that in Fenris.

No, it was best to just enjoy my time here while I could. I’d spent so many summers visiting Nana in her little house on the mountain that I practically jumped at the opportunity to come live on her farm. My mother didn’t like the idea, but she also wanted to shove Nana in a home as soon as possible and sell the farm. I wouldn’t hear of it, so I took the leap and moved down from the city to live with her. And in exchange for keeping everything running smoothly, she kept me fed and housed, giving me all the time I wanted to work on my art. Nana thought my drawings were amazing. My mother, on the other hand, thought I’d wasted four years of my life and a lot of scholarship money pursuing something useless.

Maybe she was right. But I wasn’t ready to give up just yet. I’d had my whole life to dream up what I wanted to be, and I wasn’t going to abandon it the moment I left school just to appease my parents. If this dream of mine was going to come true, I had to work at it. And that’s exactly what I planned to do.

Now, if I could just find some hot guys to draw, my life would be a million times better. Hopefully, they liked to get paid with blowjobs, because that was the only currency I had to offer at the moment. And well, maybe Nana’s chocolate chip cookies. She made the best cookies in the entire world.

With my mind completely filled with images of hot men and chocolate chip cookies, the hike slipped by quickly. I was at the top of the mountain before I knew it. I left the path, taking a secret game trail down to the edge of a cliff face where a big boulder sat that was perfect for drawing. Crawling on top of it, I sat cross-legged and took out my sketchbook.

In front of me, the mountains undulated to the horizon and beyond, their hazy outlines turned blue by the humidity in the air. I was facing due west, the sun barely touching the peak of the nearest mountain as it headed down for the night. I took out my pencil and began to sketch

quickly, knowing I only had a few minutes before the scene would change completely.

The drawing I came up with wasn’t half bad, but it was a bit uninspired. There was something missing, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Landscapes always felt like that for some reason. I could never really figure out why.

With a shrug, I tucked my sketchbook back in my bag, took a drink of water, and just as I was about to zip my bag up, I saw them. Reaching in, I pulled out a small container of Nana’s cookies and smiled. She must have slipped them in my bag without saying anything. She’d been on a rampage about how skinny I was lately, so this was probably her way of fattening me up.

I couldn’t help but smile as I held one between my teeth and put the rest back in my bag. Hopping off the stone and shouldering my backpack, I headed back to the path. The sky was growing dark quickly and I wanted to be home so Nana didn’t worry.

Munching happily and humming to myself, I didn’t notice the wrong turn I took until it was too late. Suddenly I was surrounded by trees and the path below my feet had disappeared. The forest was growing dark quickly and while I wasn’t panicking, I knew I needed to get back on it before I really got lost. Taking out my phone, I flipped on the flashlight and started to walk.

However, the moment my foot landed, the ground gave way and I fell.

???

I didn’t know how long I was out, but when I came to consciousness at last, it was well past dark. A searing pain tore through my body and a quick glance explained it all. The sharp edge of my broken tibia was sticking out of my skin on my right leg. I must have broken it when I fell. Not only that, but my phone was nowhere to be found.

“Fuck…” I muttered, forcing myself into a sitting position with my back against the wall. “This is bad…”

It was much colder now that the sun was gone, and I was wearing nothing but a sleeveless hoodie and some skimpy shorts. I pulled the hood up over my head, knowing it wouldn’t do much to help me stay warm. Thankfully, it was high summer, so I’d probably survive the night if I didn’t bleed out first.

What if a predator smelled the blood?

Thankfully, my backpack was still on my shoulders. I pulled it off and dug around inside. Pushing the water and crushed cookies aside, I found what I was looking for. With a silent thanks to my Nana, I pulled out the pocketknife she’d given me. It wasn’t much, but at least if something came after me, I could defend myself. I just had to make it until morning. Nana would have people combing the entire mountain by then. There was no way they wouldn’t find me.

But I was so cold. Probably from the blood loss and I didn’t have anything to help with that.

I found myself more irritated than fearful as I sat there, staring up at the full moon. I’d come to Nana’s farm to help her out, not break my fucking leg and be useless for the rest of the summer. How was she supposed to keep up with everything without me? Now my mother was going to come down and tell me this was what I deserved for not just getting a normal job. Then she’d stuff Nana in a home and drag me back to Asheville.

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