26 - Welcome home

"The second fishing boat is almost ready," Faste said happily and proud. "We'll have a good stock of food next winter."

We were both seated in a room full of barrels with dried fruits and sacks of wheat and grains. The old man had been going through our food reserves for the last couple of days and was looking pleased with the outcome.

"Good." I said, knowing how distracted I sounded, but Faste didn't seem to mind. He kept telling me of all the preparations that had been made, how the fields had been growing so much better now since Bjarke was gone and that the families seemed more healthy. The weird sickness was gone, and it was all thanks to me, he said.

"Thanks to the Hamarr-pack," I corrected.

"Well, yes," he agreed, "but they were asked here by your order."

"They were asked by my partner," I clarified over my shoulder and sighed, leaving the warehouse to walk back to the hall. But instantly regretted my decision as I walked inside. Liv sat by the fire, and by the looks of her, she was not happy.

"Tyr! Where have you been?"

I furrowed my brow and ignored her, deciding to walk past her to the table and pour myself a mug of water. "Why are you sitting here doing nothing?" I countered as she kept shooting daggers at me.

"We need to talk."

"So talk," I muttered and sat down on the edge of the table.

"When are they leaving?"

"Who?" I asked, pretending to be clueless.

"The wolves, of course," she muttered and stood up to walk closer to me.

"They already left. They are out there hunting down the threat to our village while you are sitting on your ass and arguing with me," I hissed.

"I mean for good," she clarified and narrowed her eyes.

"I might ask them to stay," I said, taunting her to see her reaction. Her face was blank, but I knew there was a whirlwind of thoughts spinning through her head.

"Why? Don't they have a pack to look after?"

"We do," a dark voice boomed towards us and both pairs of eyes shot up at Vidar who was entering the hall with long strides.

I couldn't help but smile and raised to my feet to greet him, but I didn't manage to walk far before he reached me. And to my great surprise he grabbed me by my waist and pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips against mine with a passion I wasn't prepared for.

I could hear the low gasp behind me, knowing Liv must be shocked by the sight, but in his arms I couldn't care less. Instead, I let my hand move up to his hair, tugging at it as I parted my lips and met the kiss.

"Welcome back," I mumbled as our lips parted, and the blue eyes locked with mine.

"Thank you," he replied before casting an annoyed eye at Liv. "Leave. The jarl and I have matters to discuss." His tone made her face turn red, but one look from me and she ran out the door. "That woman is trouble," Vidar said seriously but decided not to speak more of it. Instead, he gave me a warm smile and concluded, "You've missed me."

I could feel my cheeks warm up and my heart flutter at his awareness. How was I supposed to react to that? "Yes," I told him softly, embarrassed by my sudden shyness.

"I've missed you too," he said with a smug smile and leaned down to kiss my lips once more and I took the opportunity to fill my nose with his scent. "But I'm afraid I have bad news."

"He's not dead," I declared and received a nod from him.

"We tracked him all the way to the mountains in the west, but the signs stopped there," he said, looking calm but his breathing told me otherwise. "We stayed put, searching for clues, sniffing the winds and asking for guidance by the spirit-wolf." He sighed and moved a hand through his hair, "but she told me to go home to you and Freke."

"I'm glad you listened to her advice," I told him, "Freke needs you."

"Where is my maður?" he asked and peered around. I could sense his concern, so I took his hand in mine and led him through the village and towards the spot where Freke and I had spent the last few nights together, away from people's eyes and expectations. Surprisingly Vidar held my hand throughout the whole walk, but stayed silent.

"Freke won't talk to me as they used to, and for the first time since we were teenagers the only thing we do is argue," I sighed, "there's so much they won't tell me, and they keep pushing me away."

"I've noticed," he said calmly, "did you tell your friðr about my proposal?"

"Not really." He raised one of his eyebrows and peered down at me, asking me to continue. "I told them I enjoy your company, and I want to go with you when you two leave."

He chuckled. "You enjoy my company?"

I ignored his question and felt my cheeks heat up when I continued, "I thought it would be best if you were here when we talked about it." I could hear the uncertainty in my own voice and I cursed myself and the insecure child I was in his presence. "And there's something else."

He stopped me abruptly and a hint of concern flashed in his eyes, "tell me."

"It's probably just a bad dream," I began, but instantly felt the palm of my hands starting to sweat. Knowing Vidar would sense my anxiety, I peered up at his face and was greeted with a thoughtful wrinkle between his eyebrows.

"Something bad happened in this dream? Were you asleep or was it more of a vision?"

"I was asleep," I mumbled low and took a step closer to him realising I was about to gather strength from his presence – like Freke used to do with me. The thought made me flinch and I instantly backed away. But before I had thought twice about it two hands pulled me closer and soon my entire torso was pressed against his chest.

"What did I do to you in this dream?" he asked with a gentleness he usually only showed Freke.

I bit my lip and avoided his examining eyes, "I saw Garm, and Fenrir by the gates of Niefelhelm. And then suddenly they were you."

The tall wolf chuckled, "I'm honoured to be compared to the mighty guard and giant-wolf." I was stunned as he leaned down to kiss my lips gently, "I wish I was as strong as him, then I would take down all of your enemies in your name. Tyr wolf tamer."

I rolled my eyes as a feeling of hopelessness started to grow inside me. "Please, Vidar, this is serious."

"I will not kill you, nor will Freke. So, this dream is about your own insecurities, and that is something you need to deal with on your own."

A low chuckle suddenly interrupted us. "Now that's a sight I'd never thought I'd see," Freke laughed as they passed through a few bushes and walked up towards us.

I could feel Vidar's arms holding me even tighter as Freke walked closer, as if he thought I'd let go of him. "There you are, love," he said, leaning to the side to kiss their cheek, "I missed you." Freke did not hesitate, but threw their arms around Vidar's neck to hide their face in his hair. The taller wolf sighed and let me go to keep his balance from the sudden weight. "We have much to talk about. Do you need to rest first?"

"No," Freke whispered, "just hold me a little longer and I'll be fine." Then the orange eyes turned to look at me and began to explain, "Vidar's magic strengthens me, when he holds me his magic flows freely through me and I feel better."

I gave them a smile and took a step forward to move a string of hair from Freke's face, "You don't have to explain, Skatt, we all need each other in different ways."

Freke nodded and took a step back to peer into Vidar's eyes, "I don't want to sound rude, but what do you want from Tyr?"

The taller wolf laughed out loud, his deep chuckle vibrating around us. "How suspicious of you, Love."

Freke shrugged. "Well, I understand what Tyr sees in you, and he's always been driven by emotions. But you are more practical Vidar, you always think rationally and clearly about things, and the three of us together will bring a lot of confusion to Tyr's family and our pack will not accept him as your partner. Our lives won't be easy."

"Since when were our lives ever easy," Vidar chuckled and touched Freke's face. "When I was searching for Bjarke the only thing that kept me going was the thought of you and what he'd done to you." I watched as his thumb caressed Freke's cheek. "You are more important than anything to me. And Tyr is the most important person to you in your life," he said with a sadness that made my heart ache. "So that is why I am prepared to form a bond with Tyr and merge our families."

"I told Freke the exact same thing, and then he yelled at me," I laughed dryly to Vidar's great amusement.

But Freke just looked at me with concerned eyes. "You need to think carefully about this too—pray to the gods and ask the oracle for guidance. There's so much at stake here."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Käreste, this is what I want. It won't matter what the gods tell me, they won't change my mind. And besides, the spirits have already told us that we belong together, the three of us."

"We are here for a reason, Freke," Vidar agreed and guided us through the vegetation towards the spot where Freke had slept all day. "Now, let's enjoy this moment and rest and heal your heart. Listen to the spirits of the trees and plants around you my love, they all agree with us. So does the Great mother. Relax in that thought."

Freke sniggered and dragged us both down on the textiles they had laid out, curling up between our bigger bodies. "Fine, I won't let it bother me anymore."

"Knowing you, you will write a long list of every possible outcome, my love," Vidar chuckled ironically.

"Think of it this way," I said and leaned closer to kiss Freke's temple. "There's nothing we won't be able to accomplish together. The three of us will be unstoppable."

"I know that already," the smaller wolf argued, "my point is, I don't know what the both of you are willing to sacrifice to get what you want."

"As I said, love, the only thing that's important to me is you, and now Tyr," Vidar said and glanced at me telling me it was my time to answer.

"You, Vidar and my son, nothing else matters, not even the village or my home town. Freke, I don't care if I have to leave them all behind and live as the only human in your pack."

"And what about your wife?" Freke whispered and my heart sunk in my chest.

"I'll ask her to move back to my parent's hall so that I can be close to Ari. I'll even ask Ivar and a few others to come back there with her." I sighed and let my back fall down on the blankets. "You two will have to leave before me. It will take me a while to arrange everything."

"Don't worry," Vidar said and undid my long braid to comb his fingers through my hair, "while you do that, I will take care of the pack, preparing them for your arrival. And our maður will have time to heal."

At those words Freke sat up straight and turned to look down at both of us, "wait, what?" they gasped, "what did you just call him? Did you two do something without me?"

But Vidar only chuckled and pulled them back down between us. "No, not yet, but we should. Tonight."

As I heard those words my pulse increased with anticipation and excitement filled my body. Whatever ceremony we were about to perform, I longed for it.

Freke was right, everything had happened so quickly but I did not care, it felt right. I wanted them, and I wanted this life we were planning together.