Rune
I knew I'd made a mistake right away, but it was too late. I moved, lunging for my mate, but she'd already hit the floor. The momentum was too much, I lost my balance, landing on top of her. I barely managed to keep my weight from crushing her.
I rolled to the side immediately, an instinctual move ingrained by decades of warrior training. I was on my feet again in an instant, ready to witness the damage I'd wrought. Laurel looked shocked, but she didn't seem injured. No blood, in any case.
"What's happening over there?" Njal's voice came from the speakers. "Do I need to send Klav?"
"Are you injured?" I asked my mate, ignoring the Captain.
She winced and rubbed her thighs. "Ouch. I might end up with a bruise on my bum. You can't just drop me like that."
A bruise. I wouldn't have that. I'd take her to the medpod and get it to fix her. Again. Why did my mate keep getting injured? Maybe Njal and Steff were right. Maybe it wasn't safe for me to be around her.
I reached down to scoop her up again, but she held out her arms in protest. "No. I can walk myself."
Yes, she could, but why would she want to when she had a mate who could carry her?
Unless she was afraid of me. I'd dropped her. That was unforgivable. And now that she knew about the fýst, she had to be scared that I might hurt her further. They'd made it sound like I was about to go on a crazy rampage any click now. Was I? Could I guarantee that she was safe with me? I wanted to believe that I'd never hurt her, but I'd seen how Njal had acted when he'd been in the grip of the fýst. He'd blindly swung his axe, not caring who he'd hit with it. He could have easily injured his mate, if the rest of us hadn't restrained him.
And I was stronger than Njal.
Skitr. I'd been selfish. I'd been so happy to finally have a mate that I'd not thought it through. She was in danger, from me.
"Steff, I'll bring her to you," I said quietly. "And she can stay on the Valkyr with the other females after. You're right. It's not safe."
Those had to be the hardest words I'd ever said.
Inside, I was roaring with fury, anger, despair. Outside, I was cold as I led her out of the storage room and towards Steff and Njal’s living quarters. I allowed her to walk by herself, even though every suppressed groan from her made me want to punch the wall. She was in pain. And it was my fault.
Njal agreed to leave his mate for an hour. That was the longest he could do. He wasn't feeling the fýst any longer, but now that Steff was pregnant, the urge to guard her at all times seemed overwhelming for him. I knew Klav was studying the couple so that the rest of us could learn from them. Vikingar were always fiercely protective of their mates, but Njal was taking it to a whole new level. Nobody knew whether it was a rare occurrence or whether it would be the same for any Vikingr matched to a Peritan. They seemed to get under our skin more so than the females of our own species.
The Captain led me to a meeting room near the bridge and had the ship materialise two horns of mead. I gave it a quick sniff. One of Errik's latest brews. He'd taken inspiration from Peritan culture, creating a new range of drinks with the ridiculously expensive brewing system he'd installed on the Valkyr. Not that it had made even a dent into his wealth. All of us had more credits than we could ever spend in a lifetime. At the cost of our planet.
"This is good." Njal smacked his lips appreciatively. "He can make more of that."
I didn't respond. I had nothing to say. My thoughts were with my mate. Laurel, a Peritan with hair as blue as mine. Was she talking to Steff right now? Were they mentioning me? I wanted to hear what they were saying. For a moment, I was tempted to send a surveillance drone to Njal's quarters, but he would have probably demoted me for that. Or worse.
My mating axe ached with renewed fervour. I didn't think the pain could get any worse, but I also knew it wasn't over until I claimed my mate. From how it looked just now, I'd have to cope with the pain for some time longer.
"Are you listening to me?"
Njal was staring at me with disapproval.
"Sorry. I got distracted. How bad does the pain get?"
Sympathy replaced my Captain's sour expression. "The mating axe? By the end, I was willing to chop it off. I'm glad I didn't, because Steff says it's the best thing that's ever happened to her, but you can prepare for days of torture."
"Days? Do you think she'll take that long?"
"Honestly, I don't know. Every Peritan female has been different, you've seen that yourself. I think Steff would have hesitated for a while longer, if the fýst hadn't made her act. Do you think your female will let you claim her if you lose control? Publicly? With a lot of drama?"
He wiggled his bushy eyebrows. It was a message.
"Obviously, I don't want you to end up in the same state I was," he continued. "I wouldn't want any of my crew to experience that, least of all my friends. But all I can say is that it helped in making Steff see that she really, really wanted me." Njal laughed, slamming his drinking horn back on the table. With a flash of light, it refilled.
While he drank, I mulled over his words. It could work. If I made a big enough scene, acted as if I was losing my mind, threatened a warrior or two... Yes. She'd never have to know that I was still in full control of my faculties. It was manipulative, but it was the only way to speed up the process. I couldn't bear the thought of her being on a different spaceship, unable to see, hold, touch, smell her. My cock pushed uncomfortably against my breeches. And yes, fuck her. My mating axe wasn't the only part of me ready for the claiming.
"It would be good training for the crew," Njal mused as if to himself. "We've not had a good fight in a while. The unmated males are getting restless. Fighting with a berserkr might be just what they need. All completely hypothetically, of course. Steff would kill me if I suggested something like that."
"She would." I chuckled. "Both our females are very strong. Their bodies aren't, but their minds are."
"Yes, they are more breakable than I thought. And don't get me started on all the things that change once they're in breeding mode. Steff gets these awful moods, followed by strange cravings."
I stored that information back for a later time. Breeding wasn't a priority for me yet. Eventually, yes. It was our duty to produce offspring, to save our species from extinction. There were only about a thousand Vikingar left in the galaxy, so it was essential that we all reproduced. But first, I had to convince Laurel that she was my fated mate and that she wanted me to claim her.
We drank in silence. The mead was good, even after the fifth horn.
"Food will be served in thirty clicks," Njal said eventually, checking his communicator. "The mess hall will be busy. It would attract the most attention there. But-"
A message appeared with a beep and he stopped to read. His smile disappeared. Bad news. I leaned over to decipher the message, but he pocketed his communicator and turned to me.
"There's no easy way to say this. Laurel has left."
My heart sank. "Left for the Valkyr?"
Njal's pained expression opened a rift in my stomach.
"No. She's back on Peritus. She's decided to go home."
I simply stared at him. It didn't make sense. I couldn't understand. Home? But her home was with me. She couldn't have left. It was impossible. She had to feel what I did. The bond was there. I smelled her arousal earlier while I'd carried her. She felt the same way. So how was she gone?
She'd left me.
Confusion turned into sorrow.
And then into unquenchable fury.
"... need some assistance," I heard Njal say from far away.
Njal. The traitor. He'd lured me here so his female could send my mate away. He'd planned this. It was his fault.
I stood, facing him. My muscles tensed. He'd pay for it. I didn't care that he was my Captain. He'd destroyed my life. So I would end his in return.
"Rune, you need to calm down, you're not thinking clearly-"
I attacked.