Page 2 of Baldr's Secret Mate

“Here it is,” Heimdall said, stopping in his tracks.

“Uh… where?” Loki asked, looking side to side.

“Give me your hand.”

Loki raised his hand willingly, and Heimdall took it softly. His fingers laced through Loki’s from the back, maneuvering his palm until it was resting against the dome. The gesture was soft and intimate, much more than I would expect between two sworn enemies. Something had happened and I didn’t quite understand what just yet.

“The dome is nearly a quarter mile wide,” Heimdall continued. “It takes up most of the forest on the northern side of the village. Everyone knows it here because they’ve run into it at one point or another, but they don’t know what it’s for. Tyr just tells them it’s a secret and they believe him.”

“You called him by his first name,” Loki said, looking up at Heimdall with a smile. “You haven’t done that before.”

Heimdall sighed, shaking his head. “It’s hard to call someone my father when I’m no longer a son in his eyes.”

My curiosity was piqued. I leaned forward, trying to get a little closer to hear every word they were saying. Not only had Loki joined the enemy, but it seemed the enemy wasn’t feeling very good about the situation with Tyr either. As I leaned around the tree, I caught Loki’s scent on the breeze and my heart skipped a beat. It was his, but different than I remembered. It was intertwined with Heimdall’s scent in a way that could only mean one thing.

They were a mated pair.

What the fuck was Loki doing?

Just as I was about to take a step forward, the wind shifted, carrying my scent toward them. A second later, Loki’s head snapped up, his gaze sweeping toward me. I managed to duck out of the way just in time to avoid being seen.

“What is it?” Heimdall asked.

“It… It’s nothing,” Loki replied. But his tone suggested otherwise. “I thought I smelled something, but I think it’s a deer.” He paused for a long moment. “We should head back. We need rest and time to plan.”

“Right. There’s an empty house at the edge of the village. We can take that so we don’t have to be near him.”

Loki grabbed his hand. “Lead on.”

I watched the pair of them trudge away through the snow, heading back to the village, my brows furrowed in thought. What were they planning? Why was Heimdall being shunned by his father? And why the fuck had Loki mated with him? As far as I knew, Loki wasn’t into guys at all. Then again, neither was Thor until Flynn came along.

“Any idea what they’re talking about?” I asked Mist through the bond.

“Tyr was very excited this morning when he came to see me,” Mist replied, his voice barely above a whisper. I could hear the pain behind his words, and I already knew what he was about to say. “He… He burned me again to try to get me to lash out.”

Immediately my attention was drawn away from Loki completely and fury filled my chest. “Are you alright?! What happened? Do you need help?!”

“I’m fine–”

“Fuck, I want to kill that guy,” I spat, venom filling me from head to toe. “I really want to ring his fucking neck but…”

“Your visions,” Mist said knowingly, his head nodding on the other side of the shield. “It’s not your destiny.”

“No,” I conceded, hating how helpless it made me feel. “My visions are never wrong… so I know I won’t succeed if I try to kill him. I just wish I knew who would.” I walked back up to the edge of the dome, placing my hand on it. A complicated tempest of emotions filled my mind, the strongest of which was sorrow. “I’m so sorry you have to endure all this. I wish… I wish I could break this spell and get you out of there.”

“I wish you could too,” he replied softly. “And I know you would if you could. I… I know you’re my only friend in this whole world.”

“Don’t hate me, alright?” I added, my voice barely above a whisper. “My mother left me all this power and I can’t even help a person I… that I care about.”

I had to stop myself from saying the words I wanted to say. Even though there had been a shield separating us for all these years, I could still feel the spark of something between us. It had been there since the beginning, an invisible pull that I could never quite escape, always bringing me back to the heart ofenemy territory just for a few exchanged words and a smile that I couldn’t even see. I’d known since the beginning that Mist was my mate. But I’d never told him. And I was glad I didn’t because my visions showed me a dark future and I couldn’t inflict that kind of pain upon him when the time came.

No. We would have to remain friends with this wall between us. It was for his sake, anyway. And, since my visions were always correct, I knew there wasn’t a way out of it. It was just the way things had to be. Besides, even if I wanted to be his mate, how would we ever be together? He was trapped, and I was too weak to help him.

“I don’t hate you,” Mist replied, his voice soft and affectionate. “You’re my best friend.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked again, trying not to show how much I loved hearing those words from him.

“I’m okay, Baldr. Promise.”

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