Olafr’s mind and body wage a mighty war as he watches his brother and their she-wolf upon the stage. Oh, how his cock gives dark pulse at the sight of their she-wolf so thoroughly claimed in front of her pack. It is right for his brother to take her this way with his wolf burning angry and bright inside of him, Olafr thinks to himself. No longer, Fenrisson, Ever the Man, but a glowing-eyed proxy of their double claim. So no other wolf could ever imagine he could please her as well as her mates.
Yet does Olafr struggle mightily with what is to come after. And when the Detroit beta hands his brother the branding iron, glowing orange with heat, Olafr forces himself still. It is all he can do to keep himself from leaping to the stage and tearing out the throat of his own brother.
Yet, he knows he must allow this act to take place.
It might not look like it to the crowd, who see naught but a new fenrir, almost haughty in his command of their new queen’s body. But their she-wolf’s betrayal has cut his brother deep as a sword. The very fact that he did refuse to connect his mind with that of their mate’s until she was so claimed, speaks volumes of his anger in that regard.
Her betrayal still burns inside him, and only this act of claiming will cease his pain. This Olafr well understands, having felt the same compulsion with her upon arrival in this land. Barely making it to the tree before he gave her body, ripe with their child, its claim. It’s a wonder to Olafr that his brother was able to withhold this own claim for as long as he did. So yea does Olafr fully understand the need to mark their she-wolf in front of her pack.
And does he also understand his brother’s wish to burn their she-wolf so she will be tamed. So she will never put herself in harm’s way as she did when she left them in Alaska.
But understanding a thing is a much different matter than witnessing it. Olafr finds himself heavy of heart as he watches his brother push their mate to her knees.
The Detroit fenrir assured his brother that their she-wolf knew this ritual well. He did say their she-wolf did not even cry when she received her first mark.
Indeed, he sees no tears in her eyes now as she looks at the wall beyond the strange hitching post. Yet the dull resolution written across her face is to Olafr even worse.
And he finds himself pushing into her mind. “Be at ease, Varra,” he tells her. “It will soon be done.”
Her head turns then, her eyes finding him in the crowd, as if just now realizing he is still there, among her pack.
“I thought you needed me to keep you safe from my father,” she says inside his mind. Her voice is flat, like something broken.
And that, in turn, breaks Olafr’s heart. “No, Varra. Never would we depend on our female to protect us from an enemy. ‘Tis our work to do this for you. To protect you in all things.”
“Yes, I see I made a mistake.”
Finally the concession they’d wanted from her. And Olafr can see the fight has finally left her, exactly as they’d wanted from the beginning of their journey here. Why then does it bring him no joy?
“Varra, what he did, he did for you,” Olafr feels compelled to explain. “To keep you from the people who would use you and our pup to their own purpose. We will always protect you and keep you safe from harm.”
But instead of understanding dawning over her broken eyes, her face suddenly hardens as she says, “Oh, is that why he’s choosing to fuck and burn me in front of my pack—because he cares about me so much? Not because his ego is running the show?”
Olafr does not know the words “ego,” which he’s learned by now means there is no equivalent in his own language. Yet he senses the words have something to do with their mate believing FJ is treating her thusly because of his pride. And his pride alone.
Which may very well be true.
Still, the fact remains… “He truly does have love for you. Too much. It scares him and that is why he must do this thing.”
Though even as he says the words, Olafr knows not who he tries to convince of this truth: himself or their mate.
Then she once again appears in his mind, her flat eyes burning a hole through his soul.
“Olafr, do me a favor. Just let him do it, okay? Don’t keep trying to convince me he’s going to burn me like I’m an animal because he loves me. I’m never going to believe that and you making excuses for him only makes it worse.”
And then her head turns away from him, her mind becoming silent in the same way FJ made his mind silent to him. Locking him out, not only from her sight, but also from her thoughts.