As if I wanted to leave Magni and Saga behind.
I rubbed at my ribs where my two ties squirmed for every step I took, increasing the distance between us. Every newly awakened omega instinct in my body screamed at me to turn around and run until I was once again wrapped up in their embrace, safe in the arms of the two men who’d shown me that the only place I’d ever feel whole again was between them.
But I couldn’t. Not if I wanted them to live.
I didn’t understand much about my new powers, but the sensation echoing through my entire being had been clear: I had to go. It had to be me. Even if doing so meant leaving my mates behind.
“I’ll get you home to them soon, I promise,” Bjarni rumbled, his bear-sized hand patting my feathered shoulder as he looked at my fist pressed against my ribs.
Weakly I smiled up at him. Unlike Modi, he’d taken up pace by my side, allowing Magni’s brother to take the lead so he could keep me company.
“I hope so. This sucks.”
“Not so long ago, you were moaning about how much you hated both Saga and Magni,” the blond giant teased. “Pretty sure you were hoping to find a way to get rid of both of them.”
“Yes, funny how being torn apart from the inside makes a girl change her mind,” I replied, though without malice.
Out of all the stupid alphas I’d been saddled with, Bjarni was the easiest to like. He was gentle and sweet, and he didn’t try to boss me around every other second.
And he seemed to actually care if I liked him or not. As much as my heart panged with longing for Magni and Saga, I couldn’t exactly say they’d gone out of their way to endear themselves to me. They hadn’t seen the need.
I smiled a little more warmly, remembering the hot cocoa with little dots of marshmallows Bjarni’d made me back on their farm. It felt like decades ago.
He breathed in deeply and squeezed my shoulder. “You can make a man forget the end of the world is here when you smile like that, sweetie.”
I flushed and batted his hand off with a snort. “You just had to go and ruin it, you cheesy goof,” I chided, refocusing on Modi’s figure up ahead. “This is no time for flirting.”
“Saga told me to take care of you,” he hummed, seemingly unconcerned with my brush-off or heated cheeks. “And when your next heat comes, I will claim you for my own. I figure it’d be nice if I can tell you I love you afterwards without having you squirming to avoid answering me, hmm?”
This time, the flood of heat to my cheeks came from an entirely different type of embarrassment, and I straightened my back and increased my pace, not wanting to dwell on the images his suggestion conjured up. I’d learned the hard way that once my heat struck, I didn’t have much of a choice in who I let mount me. So far, realizing I was an omega hadn’t been super fun.
Bjarni chuckled behind me, but he let me put a bit of distance between us—yet another difference between him and my mates.
“This is odd.”
I looked up as Modi came to a halt, his head swaying from one side to the other as he took in the view of the lush valley sprawling out along the gravelly path we’d been following.
“Hmm?” Bjarni rumbled behind me.
“I’ve never seen Folkvangr so… quiet,” Modi answered, twisting around to frown at Bjarni. “You said you passed through here when you first entered Asgard, right? Where were the warriors?”
I bit my lip to stop the bubble of annoyance from spilling out in a snarky comment. I’d told the idiot that there weren’t any warriors in Folkvangr when we came through, but he’d dismissed me. Apparently he’d even take the word of his sworn enemy over a human omega.
But as much as I wanted to remind him that I’d fucking told him so, I was trying to conserve the amount of bullshit I called him on. He might be an insufferable jerk, but he was still one of the two men tasked with helping me save my mates. Ideally I wouldn’t piss him off to the point he’d tell us to sort it out ourselves before we’d even left Asgard.
“Yeah, no warriors. Figured Odin had called on them, now that Ragnarök is here. That not the case?” Bjarni said, crossing the distance to Modi’s vantage point in a few long strides. “Yup, looks pretty much like it did when we got here.”
I made my way to them and peered around Bjarni’s shoulder. Freya’s temple-like home stretched toward the sky in the valley below. The only difference from when we first visited was that the setting sun was now drawing long, dark shadows around the structure and the surrounding woodland.
“No. Her warriors aren’t in Valhalla,” Modi mumbled, his frown deepening. “It seems the good goddess may have a few more questions to answer than I'd first thought. Come.”
He led us farther down the path and into the valley surrounding the splendorous Folkvangr. Everything looked exactly as it had when we’d first arrived in Asgard, except…
“Where are the birds?” I asked, tilting my head to stare up at the silent trees. “And the insects? Everything is… quiet.”
Neither alpha answered me, but both looked around, shoulders tensing when they found the same lack of life as I had. Without a word, they both slid their weapons free from their belts.
“Stay between us, Annabel,” Bjarni murmured, his free hand coming to rest on my shoulder once more.
“So, this isn’t… natural, right?” I pressed. “Something’s going on?”
“Perhaps.” It was Modi this time, his distracted tone reflecting his focus being on the building ahead. “We won’t know until we speak with Freya. Let’s move on.”
Nothing jumped out at us as we made our way to the beautiful temple, but the sense of foreboding itching up the back of my neck increased for every step—and judging from the way the warriors flanking me moved, I wasn’t the only one.
Bjarni stuck to my ass like glue, grunting at every gust of wind rustling the leaves and swaying the grass, and Modi tensed every few seconds, whipping his head from side to side as he scanned our surroundings until we finally entered Folkvangr.
“Freya?” the redheaded god boomed. “Reveal yourself, woman!”
I arched an eyebrow at his less than respectful way of addressing the goddess—maybe his surly demeanor had less to do with me being a human than I’d originally thought. Maybe Thor’s legitimate son was just your run-of-the-mill sexist prick.
Fab.
“Freya?” I called out, keeping my tone infinitely more polite. “Please, goddess. We need your guidance.”
Modi snorted by my side. “Please, don’t give her a big head—she gets difficult if she knows you need something from her.”
I shot him a glare out the corner of my eye. “She was trying to help us—somehow I doubt she’s gonna play games when it’s about the goddamn end of the world. Freya!”
A low howling through the wooden pillars holding up the temple roof was the only response.
I shuddered despite my leather outfit, but in defiance of the niggling at the back of my skull that wanted to get out of the eerie structure and away from the deathly quiet valley, I continued deeper.
The great hall where Saga and I had saved Magni lay blanketed in shadow, no fires lighting up the altar this time.