New Fiction - Grimm AU story "The Grimm of the Wolfheall" Part 1 of 2
Hi, I'm finally posting a new story, one I've been working on for over a year! It's not a festive story but there will hopefully be a number of those to follow during the next couple of weeks.
Title: The Grimm of the Wolfheall
Author: Clare_Lupin
Fandom: “Grimm” (TV series) and “A Companion to Wolves” novels by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
Pairing: Nick/Monroe with past relationships mentioned
Rating:
Word count: 10,900 words
Warnings: mild violence, mildly explicit sex scenes and a reference to violent group sex.
Disclaimer: The “Grimm” TV series and the “Companion to Wolves” novels are owned by various people who aren’t me. No copyright infringement is intended by me and I’m not making any profit from this piece of fiction.
Author’s Note: I based this story on the amazing world created in the two novels by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear. It makes sense without reading them but I recommend them very highly. I also think the “Grimm”/”Companion to Wolves” mix works really well so I would love to read other people’s stories in this AU world. Many of the “Grimm” names needed to be changed to fit in with the books so a cast list is included below as well as a few of the unusual terms used in the story.
Terms:-
Wolfjarl = joint leader of wolfheall who is bonded with dominant male wolf
Wolfsprechend = joint leader of wolfheall who is bonded with dominant female wolf
Wolfheall (plural: wolfheallan) = community of werthreat and wolfthreat
Werthreat/wolfcarls = people who bond with wolves
Wolfthreat = trell-wolves; a special, very large type of wolf that bonds with a person
Konigenwolf = dominant female wolf within a wolfheall
Cast:-
Portlandr Wolfheall
Wolfcarls
Nick Reidson (surname meaning: ‘son of Reid’), wolfsprechend
Skarlloskonmonrolfr (aka Monroe), wolfjarl
Ulfhank = Hank
Hollulfa = Holly
Olfbjur
Adulfr = Adam (referred to in series as a lover of Angelina)
Hapulf = Hap Lasser
Rolulfr = Rolf Lasser
Ulflina = Angelina Lasser (deceased wolfsprechend)
Staff at Portlandr Wolfheall:
Wu (housecarl at Portlandr Wolfheall)
Agrosla = Rosalee (cook and healer)
Wolves of Portlandr Wolfheall:
Bymarr (bonded with Nick)
Lotardr (bonded with Monroe)
Atolg (bonded with Rolulfr)
Elos (deceased konigenwolf, bonded with Ulflina)
Allatsfjoll Wolfheall:-
Klaursolf, wolfjarl
Cortholf
Baldrsford Wolfheall
Strovlsberg Wolfheall:-
Harllusulf, wolfjarl
Overall ruler of all wolfheallan:-
Renardolfr = Renard
Neyorkr Wolfheall:-
Ulfhank’s first wolfheall and the one near Nick and Marie’s home
The Grimm of the Wolfheall
Why was he doing this? Nick asked himself for the hundredth time. He was travelling to live in an unknown place where he would doubtless be exceedingly unwelcome. Why put himself through this when he had a good home with people he got along with and knew how to protect? What, by Odin, did he know about running a wolfheall?
Bymarr, loping along beside his horse, turned her head to gaze up at him. As soon as their eyes met he had his answer. He could feel the enormous trellwolf’s eagerness to reach their new home and her certainty that they would be good leaders and that reassured him. He was here for her and that was more than enough reason.
“That must be the wolfheall,” Ulfhank said, pointing at stone walls that were just visible through the trees.
“About time,” he said. They had been travelling for over two weeks and had been delayed by some trouble with a litter of klaustreich along the way. It would be good to sleep in a proper straw bed tonight and not have to worry about getting attacked or rained on. Assuming there were proper beds at the wolfheall: blutbaden were said to be little better than animals. On the other hand, he liked animals.
Two figures - man and wolf - appeared from the trees ahead of them and stepped onto the dirt track they were travelling along. Nick gently pulled his reins and his horse halted. Behind him he heard Ulfhank’s horse stop and the wagon creak to a stand-still. Nick dismounted and approached the man who was tall, bearded and wild-looking.
“I’m Monroe, wolfjarl of Portlandr Wolfheall and this is my brother Lotardr.”
Nick nodded to the man and to the large black wolf. The latter bounded up to Bymarr and tried to sniff her. Predictably she growled at him and he backed away, dropped his gaze and whined.
“That’s a konigenwolf,” the man realised, looking at Bymarr with new respect and interest.
Before Nick could reply the man changed to blutbad form, muttered, “Grimm!” and leapt at Nick, knocking him to the ground. In an instant Nick had his knife at the man’s throat.
“Yes, I’m a grimm. I’m also the brother of the konigenwolf, here to assume leadership of your wolfheall.” He paused and the man reverted back to human form, staring down at him with a slightly crazed gaze. “Can you get off me now? This feels a little too intimate for a first meeting.”
“Right. Sorry.” Monroe jumped up and held out a hand, pulling Nick to his feet. “I don’t know if my people will accept you, even with your sister, but you’d better come and meet them.”
Not the friendliest of greetings but at least it hadn’t been an absolute rejection. The man led Nick’s group into the compound of the Portlandr Wolfheall and assembled its inhabitants: thirty-six wolfcarls, women as well as men; thirty-three trellwolves; and half a dozen wesen thralls. The wolfcarls were a wild muscular lot, their hair and beards braided in warrior style and what could be seen of their bodies, beneath shirts, trews and tunics, covered in wode tattoos and scars.
“I’m Nick Reidson and this is my sister Bymarr,” he told the group. “We were told that your konigenwolf and her sister had died and we’re here to replace them.”
“A grimm as wolfsprechend?” a large ginger-haired man called out, derision in his voice. “Do you really expect us to accept that?”
There were grunts of agreement to this. Before Nick could speak Bymarr walked up to the man, leapt up onto two legs with her front paws resting on his shoulders. Her pale blue eyes looked into his and he immediately dropped his gaze. When she failed to move he bared his teeth and licked her muzzle, signalling his submission. She regally accepted the fealty then dropped back down onto four legs and walked amongst the rest of the wolfheall, people and wolves alike dropping their eyes; several of the youngest wolves rolled over to expose their bellies in nervous submission. When they were all thoroughly cowed she tossed a glance over her shoulder at Nick, filling his mind with her amusement and enjoyment of her position.
He bit back a smile and went on, “We were sent here by Lord Renardulfr.”
There were sounds of interest at this and expressions of resignation. Renardulfr was king of all the wolfheallan and when people and trellwolves died in battle he sent in replacements so the wolfheallan could continue running. He also had the power to execute wolfcarls and Nick could see that the king’s decisions were followed, even in the wilderness here. “Any other objections?” he asked.
There were none.
* * *
“You have siegbarste-gift!” Monroe exclaimed. “We really could have used that last year.” Ulflina and Elos, her konigenwolf sister, had died over six months ago, along with many others, in battles with a group of siegbarsten. The ogres were one of the few wesen races stronger than blutbaden. “What else do you have?”
The grimm smiled at him and opened a trunk full of weapons. Monroe examined them as the man continued to unpack. Sword, axe, longbow, mace: everything was here.
They were in Ulflina’s old room, the wooden shutters propped open to let in light and relieve the mustiness. She had once shared a bed with Monroe but they hadn’t remained lovers for long and she had returned to her old room.
Bymarr was curled up on top of the straw pallet, head on her front paws although her eyes followed every movement in the room. It would be good for the wolfheall to have a konigenwolf again, and a wolfsprechend. Monroe had been impressed with the way they had handled the wolfcarls and hoped the man and konigenwolf could get the wolfheall under control again.
He and Ulflina might have had a troubled relationship but she and Elos had been strong leaders. Stronger than him in a lot of ways. Since their deaths, Monroe had barely managed to keep blutbaden and trellwolves from killing each other. Blutbaden as a species were quick to violence and although the trellwolves calmed them, they still fought amongst themselves a lot. The wolves too had feuds and because of the blutbaden/trellwolf bonds the wolves got caught up in the wolfcarls’ feuds and the blutbaden got caught up in the wolves’ feuds. So Monroe would be really happy to leave that to the man and konigenwolf to sort out from now on and just stick to his own job.
A grimm though. It seemed incomprehensible. His scent was human and, when Monroe looked at him, he saw a beautiful fragile creature who looked incapable of fighting and couldn’t imagine him staying in the tough dangerous world of the wolfheall permanently. “How is it you even want to be here with us?” he asked the man. “Your people hate wolfheallan.”
“I don’t. I lived near to a wolfheall all my life.”
“Let me guess,” Monroe said with disgust. “A human wolfheall.”
Nick smiled. “A lot of the men were human; one was skalenzahnen …” Monroe snorted but Nick ignored him, continuing, “… and a couple were lowen.”
“And the trellwolves actually bonded with them?” He shuddered on behalf of the trellwolves who had been stuck with that feeble collection. Well, all right, lowen weren’t exactly weak but lions and wolves were hardly an ideal combination. His own people were the only ones to traditionally bond with wolves, working together to protect a wesen community while a grimm protected a human community, wolfheallan and grimms often fighting each other. But the numbers of both grimms and blutbaden had fallen drastically over the last century - too many killed in battle. Also, some humans and wesen had managed to finally reach a truce, living in peace together. If they didn’t have a grimm to protect them a human or human/wesen wolfheall might be formed, although in Monroe’s opinion these weren’t proper wolfheallan. Blutbaden and trellwolves had a shared ancestry that meant they could form the strongest of bonds; what sort of bonds could humans or wesen or a grimm possibly have with trellwolves?
Nick closed and locked the weapons trunk again then tied the key on its leather thong around his neck, where it nestled against the unblemished milky skin. He answered Monroe’s question: “The wolfheall managed just fine.”
“And you decided to leave your grimm world of killing wesen to join a wolfheall?”
“Like your people, grimms kill dangerous wesen so I can do my job just as well in a wolfheall. I wasn’t living in one when Bymarr chose me, though. I was never part of one before.”
Monroe was curious despite himself. “What do you mean?”
“Bymarr was badly injured in battle, her human brother killed. I found her and my aunt and I healed her. It was then that she chose to bond with me. The fighting was still going on so we couldn’t get word to the wolfheall that she was alive and then my aunt died, so it took time before I could resolve my responsibilities as a grimm to the local community. When we returned to the wolfheall three months had passed and they had assumed her dead. Her daughter had taken over as konigenwolf and, despite her youth, was doing a good job. It wouldn’t have been fair on her or anyone else to make her submit to Bymarr again so Bymarr and I decided to leave for a new wolfheall. Renardolfr made the decision to send us here.”
“Are you intending to change your name, as is the custom?” Wolfcarls picked new names for themselves when they bonded with a wolf in a wolfheall; a name with ‘wolf’ or at least ‘olf’ or ‘ulf’ in it.
“I’m thirty years old, not a tithe boy of sixteen. My family chose my name and since my father and aunt are dead, it honours them to keep that name. People can call me ‘Nickolf’ or ‘Ulfnick’ if they really want to.”
“It’s supposed to be a new name to symbolise this new part of your life.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “I don’t hear the ‘wolf’ in ‘Monroe’.”
“My full wolfheall name is Skarlloskonmonrolfr. Feel free to use it.”
Nick laughed. “I think I’ll stick with Monroe.”
He returned the smile, unable to maintain his hostility in the face of Nick’s good humour, then felt his brother approach and turned to see Lotardr push the door open with his nose and pad inside. The dark trellwolf immediately headed for Bymarr again although this time he did so more cautiously.
“Lotardr seems to be growing on her,” Nick said as they watched his brother gently licking the muzzle of the konigenwolf. “Perhaps she’ll choose him as her mate.”
Perhaps? The word hit Monroe like a slap in the face. He had been wolfjarl for nearly two decades and had almost forgotten that he was leader only because Ulflina’s konigenwolf had picked Lotardr as her mate. If Bymarr picked another then Monroe would instantly stop being leader.
* * *
Nick pulled his shirt over his head, tossed it onto the bed and poured a jug of warm water into a large clay bowl. He washed his hands then the rest of his body, happy to get rid of the grime of the journey.
Although it was good to be here he still had doubts about being able to make a life for himself in the wolfheall. Monroe had left shortly after Nick mentioned Bymarr choosing her mate and kept away from him the rest of the day. Nick could see that the man hadn’t previously taken in the fact that he could lose his place as wolfjarl and was sorry to have mentioned it as Monroe was the only person here to have shown any willingness to get to know him so far. Monroe might have concerns about him but was willing to hear Nick’s side of things. Nick wasn’t entirely sure how to talk to any of the other wolfcarls.
Nick had known peaceful wesen his whole life; half the local town of Neyorkr was wesen and the other half human. He had also always known all the wolfcarls of the Neyorkr Wolfheall. His mistake had been to assume that this wolfheall would be at all like the one he had known.
Monroe was the first blutbad he had ever encountered. Normally when blutbaden came together in a pack their violent instincts took over and they slaughtered everyone they encountered, until stopped. The trellwolf bond had a calming influence and in a wolfheall like this blutbaden could act as protectors to those around them. In theory.
Nick hadn’t seen much sign of control since his arrival. The evening meal earlier had been full of arguments and outbursts of temper with constant glowers aimed in his own direction. Bymarr had kept order amongst the trellwolves but Nick knew he would have a tough time with the wolfcarls.
He dried his body on a rough linen towel and got into bed, shoving Bymarr over so he could fit in. She made a grumbling noise, stood up, turned round then flopped down again, large head on his chest. He scratched her behind the ears and felt her sleepy contentment. He smiled. He had got a proper bed to sleep in after all. Maybe life here wasn’t all bad.
* * *
Nick had to admire the way the attack was carried out. Bymarr was lured away from him under guise of a fresh bone to eat. Monroe was in the roundhall so couldn’t help even if he wanted to, which Nick wasn’t certain about. So he was alone outside with a dozen wolfcarls who looked extremely unfriendly.
He had expected that something like this would happen, though, his relative youth and slim build often having made people think he was weak. He just hoped he could do what was needed to prove himself a worthy leader to the wolfcarls.
“Are you still so certain you can lead us without the konigenwolf to give you strength?” a man asked, blond with attractive features, or he would have been handsome without the sneer.
“I’m pretty confident. Are you sure enough of your own strength to take me on by yourself or do you need the aid of a group?”
The man made a gesture to the others who moved back. Nick grinned. Now he felt more confident. He grabbed the knife from his boot and waited. The man changed to blutbaden form - eyes glowing red and features becoming more lupine - then lunged and Nick side-stepped, landing a deliberately light wound on the man’s arm. The wolfcarl snarled and charged again, grabbing his knife arm but Nick used a technique he had learnt years ago to toss the man over his body and onto the ground.
At this point Bymarr raced over to him, flanked by several other trellwolves who had clearly warned her what was happening. Apparently they had more loyalty to the konigenwolf than to some of the wolfcarls. As did Monroe who was running just behind and came to a halt as Bymarr whined at Nick and licked him.
“What, by Odin, is going on here?” Monroe demanded as the fallen blutbad got to his feet.
“Nothing,” Nick said. “Just a harmless demonstration of grimm fighting techniques.”
Monroe glared at the other men. “Do any of you have anything to say?”
They all looked uncomfortable and no one said a word.
* * *
Monroe watched the grimm over the next couple of days. Nick checked the stores of food for the winter, put his friend Wu in charge of the household then had the entire wolfheall cleaned and reeds put down on the dirt floor in here, the main hall. He had helped with the work himself and been friendly to everyone - wolfcarl, trellwolf and thrall alike - even in the face of rudeness or angry expressions. There were no more challenges made to Nick - Monroe had made sure of that although he got the impression that his warning wasn’t actually necessary. That was good. Although Monroe’s support was largely to the konigenwolf, he was glad to learn of the man’s strength.
Bymarr was also doing well keeping order, although that was to be expected. Still there were leaders and leaders; she was the strongest-minded konigenwolf he had ever encountered and he had seen around two-score. Monroe had hopes that Bymarr would litter equally strong puppies that would further increase the effectiveness of the wolfheall.
The knowledge that Monroe could lose his position as wolfjarl at any time was a constant worry to him. If it happened he knew he wouldn’t leave but there were enough people who resented his power that it would be difficult staying, trying to find a new position that suited him. Trying not to interfere in the new leader’s decisions. Despite the problem arising with Nick’s arrival with Bymarr, he reluctantly found himself liking the man. He suspected he wasn’t the only one.
Tonight, before the evening meal began, Nick called for quiet and said, “Bymarr tells me that the trellwolves aren’t happy about the wolfcarls’ level of cleanliness so I’m setting weekly baths as a necessity for everyone here.”
Weekly? Monroe thought in horror. Surely that was a bit much. The grumbles around the hall said that he wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“The trellwolves or the delicate grimm mind the smell?” Adulfr muttered and Monroe glared at him. He hadn’t liked the tall blond man even before he had become Ulflina’s lover and suspected Adulfr only regretted her death because it lessened the standing she had given him in the wolfheall. He was the one who had fought Nick and Monroe had been delighted to see him beaten by Nick.
“Where does your wolf sleep, Adulfr?” Nick asked in a companionable tone.
The man looked confused. “Outside.”
“Because?”
“He likes the fresh …” The man tailed off as he clearly realised what Nick was saying.
“He likes the fresh air. That’s wolf language for ‘you stink’!” A few of the wolfcarls chuckled at this while Adulfr flushed scarlet and glowered.
The tense atmosphere having faded at the joke, they settled down to begin their meal and Monroe, catching Nick’s eye, smiled at him. He received a warm grin in return then they both concentrated on filling their trenchers with food.
* * *
Nick stroked Bymarr’s silky white fur and she licked his hand before settling down for the night in the middle of the bed. She was beginning to get to understand the trellwolves of this werthreat now and, through their bond, Nick was not only learning about the trellwolves but was also seeing their perception of the wolfcarls. The images the wolves had of the people was fascinating: Monroe was thought of as a good playmate, easy-going and good-humoured (not what Nick would have expected in a leader); the enormous Hapulf was considered an overgrown puppy; blond Adulfr was not surprisingly known for his vicious temper and grudges. Between Bymarr’s help and Wu’s gossip, courtesy of the thralls who served here, Nick was starting to feel as if he knew what he was doing managing the wolfheall.
He couldn’t help but miss his old life though on occasions, particularly his aunt with her wisdom and affection. He would have been content living as a grimm and protecting the people - human and wesen - of Neyorkr. But he had met Bymarr instead.
He looked over at her and her pale eyes sparkled with love for him. He smiled. No matter what happened to him now he could never regret bonding with her.
There was a knock on his door and Ulfhank entered the room. Nick grinned at his friend, glad of the opportunity for a private chat. He sat down beside Bymarr and gestured for Ulfhank to take the bench opposite. “How are you getting on with the other werthreat?” he asked. The human had been his first friend at the Neyorkr Wolfheall, the two of them having met a decade before when Aunt Marie worked alongside the wolfheall to defeat a pack of lausenschlange. Ulfhank and he had become instant friends and when it was decided that Nick and Bymarr should come here Ulfhank had at once offered to join him. The loyalty had meant more to Nick than he could express.
“You mean, what’s it like to be the only human - other than you - here?”
“And Wu,” Nick corrected him. Wu had run his family’s keep and had also undertaken the journey here, taking over the day-to-day running of the wolfheall. That should have been part of Nick’s job but for once no one was complaining; Wu was good at fitting in. Better than him or Ulfhank apparently.
“Everyone loves Wu,” Ulfhank said with a smile, reflecting Nick’s own thoughts. “But I constantly have to prove that I’m not a weakling human …”
“… Which, technically, you are.”
“Thanks for that!” Ulfhank laughed. “Give me a few more weeks and I’ll show them I can be as useful here as anyone.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Is Bymarr forming any particular friendships amongst the trellwolves?”
“You mean, has she made my life easier by deciding on a mate yet?” He looked down at the now snoozing konigenwolf. “No, she hasn’t. Monroe can continue as wolfjarl until she does and maybe beyond that.”
“You want Bymarr to choose Lotardr?”
“Monroe is good at his job. It would be tough on the wolfheall to have to get used to two new leaders.”
Ulfhank looked questioningly at him. “Is that the only reason?”
He knew at once what Ulfhank meant. The bond between trellwolf and person meant that when the konigenwolf and dominant male wolf mated their wesen or human partners mated too. He’d had a couple of male lovers in the past but in this strange place there was no one he felt a strong attraction for, although Monroe’s dry wit and unexpected kindness appealed to him. “I like Monroe. I haven’t got to know him or anyone else well enough to want them for a lover, though.”
* * *
“My uncle’s been murdered.”
Monroe listened to the young woman, Nick beside him. Her uncle had lived on the outskirts of the local wesen community. When she had visited him this morning she had found him lying on the floor, suffocated. She thought some of his store of food might have been taken.
“Could be a lausenschlange,” Nick said.
“Could be anything,” Monroe answered. “I’ll get a party together to go there. That is …” He tailed off and said uncomfortably, “Of course, I’m not really wolfjarl at the moment.”
“Yes, you are.” Nick spoke in a low voice so the nearby wolfcarls couldn’t overhear. “If anyone else needs to take over at a later time then we’ll deal with that but for the moment you’re definitely still wolfjarl.”
Monroe nodded, relieved. He assembled a dozen wolfcarls, including the new human Ulfhank, and happily agreed when Nick politely requested to accompany them. It was an ideal chance to see what the men were like in a fight. Even with the extra strength a grimm possessed he was unsure about the slender Nick and he suspected Ulfhank might be more of a liability than a help in battle. There were two unbonded wolfcarls within the group as well, awaiting a new litter of trellwolf puppies: Hollulfa and Olfbjur. Neither had experience of fighting as part of the wolfheall; Hollulfa had lived much of her life as a feral blutbad in the wild, so it said a lot for her self-control that she hadn’t become one of the killers they had to hunt down. The youngsters needed to learn and this experience would hopefully not be too dangerous.
The group walked first to the cottage where the man had been killed. The one-room wooden hut was filled with the stench of death and, from the bruises around the man’s throat and his protruding eyes, his niece’s verdict of strangulation was correct. They easily got a scent to follow - lausenschlange, Nick had been right - and headed out.
Once they began to hunt, the blutbaden changed to their non-human form and Monroe caught Nick studying his new appearance and watching with curiosity as people sniffed about with the trellwolves, to get the scent. He didn’t know how Nick would feel about this side of him and he was suddenly self-conscious. But there was at least one killer about, maybe a whole group, so it wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
“Over here,” Hollulfa called and pointed out the direction of the scent for the two non-blutbaden.
They followed the trail to a small camp where two lausenschlanges were cooking something that smelt as if it had once been human. The creatures were as strong as blutbaden so the element of surprise was important. Monroe led his group silently downward, only moving in for the attack at the last moment.
The reptiles jumped to their feet, hissing. Monroe grabbed one and ripped out its throat in a single bite. He turned to see Rolulfr fight and kill another.
“Let’s make sure there aren’t any more,” he told them.
Too late. From off to the right of him flames burst out and Hapulf yelled in pain and threw himself to the ground to put out his burning clothes and flesh, worry pouring through the pack-sense from his trellwolf brother. Another volley of flame shot out near to Monroe but didn’t hit him and he caught a glimpse of their new enemy. A daemonfeuer amongst lausenschlanges? A movement caught his eye and he saw Nick grab Hapulf and get him to safety behind a large oak tree.
Something leapt on him and began to crush his body. He used his claws to slash the face of the new lausenschlange but it maintained its grip. He couldn’t breathe. He heard Lotardr attack the creature then a thump and whimper that made him panic for his brother as well as himself.
Then the grasp loosened and the creature fell half across him. He pulled away and saw an arrow in its back, following the missile to its source: Ulfhank. He looked about for Lotardr and, to his relief, saw his brother on his feet again, shaking himself, apparently all right.
He lurched to his feet towards the daemonfeuer. Worry shot through him as he saw Nick taking on the creature with a sword. He dodged the bursts of flame, movements fast and practised. The other blutbaden were closing in, ready to help, but Nick didn’t need them, cutting the daemonfeuer’s head from its shoulders.
“That was good fighting,” Monroe told the group. They had all proven themselves today although, with the second attack, it had been a close call.
“A daemonfeuer working with three lausenschlanges,” Nick commented in mystification, wiping his sword clean on a patch of moss. “That’s the most bizarre and unlikely combination of creatures I’ve ever encountered. Is there some reason you know of why they might work together? Could their homes have been threatened?”
“Daemonfeuer tend to move about or live in caves and there aren’t any caves around here. As for the lausenschlanges, there certainly aren’t any living anywhere locally - we make sure of that.”
They headed back to the wolfheall, Nick and Rolulfr supporting Happulf, who had been badly burned. Luckily blutbaden healed quickly so he would suffer no permanent damage and he might be left with a few scars, which were always good for boasting purposes. Monroe sent out a second group to check the area in case they had missed anyone but several hours later Adulfr reported that there were no more of the killers about.
Later in the evening Nick came to Monroe’s room. Monroe hid his surprise at the visit and watched with embarrassment as Nick examined the musical instruments and animal carvings he had made. Making such things wasn’t usually considered a ’proper’ blutbaden hobby. Ulflina had been particularly scathing over it.
Nick picked up a small carving Monroe had made of Lotardr in all his shaggy glory.
“These are beautiful.”
He sounded as if he really meant the praise and Monroe was unaccountably pleased. “Just a hobby. You did well as part of the group today. Did it, um, disconcert you seeing us in blutbaden form?”
“Not at all. Through the pack-sense I felt the change too, like a wildness sweeping over the group.”
Monroe grimaced. “Our instincts can be like that. It can be tough to maintain control sometimes and not lash out at friends.”
“It felt as if you were in control.” Nick’s tone was approving and Monroe was glad of the reassurance that Nick would encourage him to act the way he wanted to and not give in to his instinctive side. “I wish we knew what made that unlikely group come together, though.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Me too.”
Nick put down the carving he had been holding and met Monroe’s eyes. “Bymarr has made her decision.”
He realised at once what Nick was talking about and his stomach lurched.
“She’s chosen Lotardr.”
Monroe looked down at the trell-wolf who was currently asleep and drooling on Monroe’s left foot, hardly looking like the most dashing choice. He hid his overwhelming relief behind sarcasm: “Why wouldn’t she?”
Nick grinned. “I’m glad you’ll be continuing as wolfjarl here.”
“So am I.” But it struck him now that the bonds between the trellwolves meant more than him keeping his job. It meant that he and Nick could be getting a lot closer in the future …
“Is something wrong?” Nick asked.
He took in the man’s handsome features with those large eyes, slender nose and perfectly shaped mouth; the slim body with its long legs and compact muscles; and the smooth, pale skin that looked as if it would taste like cream. This was a man he could easily care about as well as feeling lucky beyond words to share a bed with him. “Nothing at all.”
* * *
Title: The Grimm of the Wolfheall
Author: Clare_Lupin
Fandom: “Grimm” (TV series) and “A Companion to Wolves” novels by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
Pairing: Nick/Monroe with past relationships mentioned
Rating:
Word count: 10,900 words
Warnings: mild violence, mildly explicit sex scenes and a reference to violent group sex.
Disclaimer: The “Grimm” TV series and the “Companion to Wolves” novels are owned by various people who aren’t me. No copyright infringement is intended by me and I’m not making any profit from this piece of fiction.
Author’s Note: I based this story on the amazing world created in the two novels by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear. It makes sense without reading them but I recommend them very highly. I also think the “Grimm”/”Companion to Wolves” mix works really well so I would love to read other people’s stories in this AU world. Many of the “Grimm” names needed to be changed to fit in with the books so a cast list is included below as well as a few of the unusual terms used in the story.
Terms:-
Wolfjarl = joint leader of wolfheall who is bonded with dominant male wolf
Wolfsprechend = joint leader of wolfheall who is bonded with dominant female wolf
Wolfheall (plural: wolfheallan) = community of werthreat and wolfthreat
Werthreat/wolfcarls = people who bond with wolves
Wolfthreat = trell-wolves; a special, very large type of wolf that bonds with a person
Konigenwolf = dominant female wolf within a wolfheall
Cast:-
Portlandr Wolfheall
Wolfcarls
Nick Reidson (surname meaning: ‘son of Reid’), wolfsprechend
Skarlloskonmonrolfr (aka Monroe), wolfjarl
Ulfhank = Hank
Hollulfa = Holly
Olfbjur
Adulfr = Adam (referred to in series as a lover of Angelina)
Hapulf = Hap Lasser
Rolulfr = Rolf Lasser
Ulflina = Angelina Lasser (deceased wolfsprechend)
Staff at Portlandr Wolfheall:
Wu (housecarl at Portlandr Wolfheall)
Agrosla = Rosalee (cook and healer)
Wolves of Portlandr Wolfheall:
Bymarr (bonded with Nick)
Lotardr (bonded with Monroe)
Atolg (bonded with Rolulfr)
Elos (deceased konigenwolf, bonded with Ulflina)
Allatsfjoll Wolfheall:-
Klaursolf, wolfjarl
Cortholf
Baldrsford Wolfheall
Strovlsberg Wolfheall:-
Harllusulf, wolfjarl
Overall ruler of all wolfheallan:-
Renardolfr = Renard
Neyorkr Wolfheall:-
Ulfhank’s first wolfheall and the one near Nick and Marie’s home
The Grimm of the Wolfheall
Why was he doing this? Nick asked himself for the hundredth time. He was travelling to live in an unknown place where he would doubtless be exceedingly unwelcome. Why put himself through this when he had a good home with people he got along with and knew how to protect? What, by Odin, did he know about running a wolfheall?
Bymarr, loping along beside his horse, turned her head to gaze up at him. As soon as their eyes met he had his answer. He could feel the enormous trellwolf’s eagerness to reach their new home and her certainty that they would be good leaders and that reassured him. He was here for her and that was more than enough reason.
“That must be the wolfheall,” Ulfhank said, pointing at stone walls that were just visible through the trees.
“About time,” he said. They had been travelling for over two weeks and had been delayed by some trouble with a litter of klaustreich along the way. It would be good to sleep in a proper straw bed tonight and not have to worry about getting attacked or rained on. Assuming there were proper beds at the wolfheall: blutbaden were said to be little better than animals. On the other hand, he liked animals.
Two figures - man and wolf - appeared from the trees ahead of them and stepped onto the dirt track they were travelling along. Nick gently pulled his reins and his horse halted. Behind him he heard Ulfhank’s horse stop and the wagon creak to a stand-still. Nick dismounted and approached the man who was tall, bearded and wild-looking.
“I’m Monroe, wolfjarl of Portlandr Wolfheall and this is my brother Lotardr.”
Nick nodded to the man and to the large black wolf. The latter bounded up to Bymarr and tried to sniff her. Predictably she growled at him and he backed away, dropped his gaze and whined.
“That’s a konigenwolf,” the man realised, looking at Bymarr with new respect and interest.
Before Nick could reply the man changed to blutbad form, muttered, “Grimm!” and leapt at Nick, knocking him to the ground. In an instant Nick had his knife at the man’s throat.
“Yes, I’m a grimm. I’m also the brother of the konigenwolf, here to assume leadership of your wolfheall.” He paused and the man reverted back to human form, staring down at him with a slightly crazed gaze. “Can you get off me now? This feels a little too intimate for a first meeting.”
“Right. Sorry.” Monroe jumped up and held out a hand, pulling Nick to his feet. “I don’t know if my people will accept you, even with your sister, but you’d better come and meet them.”
Not the friendliest of greetings but at least it hadn’t been an absolute rejection. The man led Nick’s group into the compound of the Portlandr Wolfheall and assembled its inhabitants: thirty-six wolfcarls, women as well as men; thirty-three trellwolves; and half a dozen wesen thralls. The wolfcarls were a wild muscular lot, their hair and beards braided in warrior style and what could be seen of their bodies, beneath shirts, trews and tunics, covered in wode tattoos and scars.
“I’m Nick Reidson and this is my sister Bymarr,” he told the group. “We were told that your konigenwolf and her sister had died and we’re here to replace them.”
“A grimm as wolfsprechend?” a large ginger-haired man called out, derision in his voice. “Do you really expect us to accept that?”
There were grunts of agreement to this. Before Nick could speak Bymarr walked up to the man, leapt up onto two legs with her front paws resting on his shoulders. Her pale blue eyes looked into his and he immediately dropped his gaze. When she failed to move he bared his teeth and licked her muzzle, signalling his submission. She regally accepted the fealty then dropped back down onto four legs and walked amongst the rest of the wolfheall, people and wolves alike dropping their eyes; several of the youngest wolves rolled over to expose their bellies in nervous submission. When they were all thoroughly cowed she tossed a glance over her shoulder at Nick, filling his mind with her amusement and enjoyment of her position.
He bit back a smile and went on, “We were sent here by Lord Renardulfr.”
There were sounds of interest at this and expressions of resignation. Renardulfr was king of all the wolfheallan and when people and trellwolves died in battle he sent in replacements so the wolfheallan could continue running. He also had the power to execute wolfcarls and Nick could see that the king’s decisions were followed, even in the wilderness here. “Any other objections?” he asked.
There were none.
* * *
“You have siegbarste-gift!” Monroe exclaimed. “We really could have used that last year.” Ulflina and Elos, her konigenwolf sister, had died over six months ago, along with many others, in battles with a group of siegbarsten. The ogres were one of the few wesen races stronger than blutbaden. “What else do you have?”
The grimm smiled at him and opened a trunk full of weapons. Monroe examined them as the man continued to unpack. Sword, axe, longbow, mace: everything was here.
They were in Ulflina’s old room, the wooden shutters propped open to let in light and relieve the mustiness. She had once shared a bed with Monroe but they hadn’t remained lovers for long and she had returned to her old room.
Bymarr was curled up on top of the straw pallet, head on her front paws although her eyes followed every movement in the room. It would be good for the wolfheall to have a konigenwolf again, and a wolfsprechend. Monroe had been impressed with the way they had handled the wolfcarls and hoped the man and konigenwolf could get the wolfheall under control again.
He and Ulflina might have had a troubled relationship but she and Elos had been strong leaders. Stronger than him in a lot of ways. Since their deaths, Monroe had barely managed to keep blutbaden and trellwolves from killing each other. Blutbaden as a species were quick to violence and although the trellwolves calmed them, they still fought amongst themselves a lot. The wolves too had feuds and because of the blutbaden/trellwolf bonds the wolves got caught up in the wolfcarls’ feuds and the blutbaden got caught up in the wolves’ feuds. So Monroe would be really happy to leave that to the man and konigenwolf to sort out from now on and just stick to his own job.
A grimm though. It seemed incomprehensible. His scent was human and, when Monroe looked at him, he saw a beautiful fragile creature who looked incapable of fighting and couldn’t imagine him staying in the tough dangerous world of the wolfheall permanently. “How is it you even want to be here with us?” he asked the man. “Your people hate wolfheallan.”
“I don’t. I lived near to a wolfheall all my life.”
“Let me guess,” Monroe said with disgust. “A human wolfheall.”
Nick smiled. “A lot of the men were human; one was skalenzahnen …” Monroe snorted but Nick ignored him, continuing, “… and a couple were lowen.”
“And the trellwolves actually bonded with them?” He shuddered on behalf of the trellwolves who had been stuck with that feeble collection. Well, all right, lowen weren’t exactly weak but lions and wolves were hardly an ideal combination. His own people were the only ones to traditionally bond with wolves, working together to protect a wesen community while a grimm protected a human community, wolfheallan and grimms often fighting each other. But the numbers of both grimms and blutbaden had fallen drastically over the last century - too many killed in battle. Also, some humans and wesen had managed to finally reach a truce, living in peace together. If they didn’t have a grimm to protect them a human or human/wesen wolfheall might be formed, although in Monroe’s opinion these weren’t proper wolfheallan. Blutbaden and trellwolves had a shared ancestry that meant they could form the strongest of bonds; what sort of bonds could humans or wesen or a grimm possibly have with trellwolves?
Nick closed and locked the weapons trunk again then tied the key on its leather thong around his neck, where it nestled against the unblemished milky skin. He answered Monroe’s question: “The wolfheall managed just fine.”
“And you decided to leave your grimm world of killing wesen to join a wolfheall?”
“Like your people, grimms kill dangerous wesen so I can do my job just as well in a wolfheall. I wasn’t living in one when Bymarr chose me, though. I was never part of one before.”
Monroe was curious despite himself. “What do you mean?”
“Bymarr was badly injured in battle, her human brother killed. I found her and my aunt and I healed her. It was then that she chose to bond with me. The fighting was still going on so we couldn’t get word to the wolfheall that she was alive and then my aunt died, so it took time before I could resolve my responsibilities as a grimm to the local community. When we returned to the wolfheall three months had passed and they had assumed her dead. Her daughter had taken over as konigenwolf and, despite her youth, was doing a good job. It wouldn’t have been fair on her or anyone else to make her submit to Bymarr again so Bymarr and I decided to leave for a new wolfheall. Renardolfr made the decision to send us here.”
“Are you intending to change your name, as is the custom?” Wolfcarls picked new names for themselves when they bonded with a wolf in a wolfheall; a name with ‘wolf’ or at least ‘olf’ or ‘ulf’ in it.
“I’m thirty years old, not a tithe boy of sixteen. My family chose my name and since my father and aunt are dead, it honours them to keep that name. People can call me ‘Nickolf’ or ‘Ulfnick’ if they really want to.”
“It’s supposed to be a new name to symbolise this new part of your life.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “I don’t hear the ‘wolf’ in ‘Monroe’.”
“My full wolfheall name is Skarlloskonmonrolfr. Feel free to use it.”
Nick laughed. “I think I’ll stick with Monroe.”
He returned the smile, unable to maintain his hostility in the face of Nick’s good humour, then felt his brother approach and turned to see Lotardr push the door open with his nose and pad inside. The dark trellwolf immediately headed for Bymarr again although this time he did so more cautiously.
“Lotardr seems to be growing on her,” Nick said as they watched his brother gently licking the muzzle of the konigenwolf. “Perhaps she’ll choose him as her mate.”
Perhaps? The word hit Monroe like a slap in the face. He had been wolfjarl for nearly two decades and had almost forgotten that he was leader only because Ulflina’s konigenwolf had picked Lotardr as her mate. If Bymarr picked another then Monroe would instantly stop being leader.
* * *
Nick pulled his shirt over his head, tossed it onto the bed and poured a jug of warm water into a large clay bowl. He washed his hands then the rest of his body, happy to get rid of the grime of the journey.
Although it was good to be here he still had doubts about being able to make a life for himself in the wolfheall. Monroe had left shortly after Nick mentioned Bymarr choosing her mate and kept away from him the rest of the day. Nick could see that the man hadn’t previously taken in the fact that he could lose his place as wolfjarl and was sorry to have mentioned it as Monroe was the only person here to have shown any willingness to get to know him so far. Monroe might have concerns about him but was willing to hear Nick’s side of things. Nick wasn’t entirely sure how to talk to any of the other wolfcarls.
Nick had known peaceful wesen his whole life; half the local town of Neyorkr was wesen and the other half human. He had also always known all the wolfcarls of the Neyorkr Wolfheall. His mistake had been to assume that this wolfheall would be at all like the one he had known.
Monroe was the first blutbad he had ever encountered. Normally when blutbaden came together in a pack their violent instincts took over and they slaughtered everyone they encountered, until stopped. The trellwolf bond had a calming influence and in a wolfheall like this blutbaden could act as protectors to those around them. In theory.
Nick hadn’t seen much sign of control since his arrival. The evening meal earlier had been full of arguments and outbursts of temper with constant glowers aimed in his own direction. Bymarr had kept order amongst the trellwolves but Nick knew he would have a tough time with the wolfcarls.
He dried his body on a rough linen towel and got into bed, shoving Bymarr over so he could fit in. She made a grumbling noise, stood up, turned round then flopped down again, large head on his chest. He scratched her behind the ears and felt her sleepy contentment. He smiled. He had got a proper bed to sleep in after all. Maybe life here wasn’t all bad.
* * *
Nick had to admire the way the attack was carried out. Bymarr was lured away from him under guise of a fresh bone to eat. Monroe was in the roundhall so couldn’t help even if he wanted to, which Nick wasn’t certain about. So he was alone outside with a dozen wolfcarls who looked extremely unfriendly.
He had expected that something like this would happen, though, his relative youth and slim build often having made people think he was weak. He just hoped he could do what was needed to prove himself a worthy leader to the wolfcarls.
“Are you still so certain you can lead us without the konigenwolf to give you strength?” a man asked, blond with attractive features, or he would have been handsome without the sneer.
“I’m pretty confident. Are you sure enough of your own strength to take me on by yourself or do you need the aid of a group?”
The man made a gesture to the others who moved back. Nick grinned. Now he felt more confident. He grabbed the knife from his boot and waited. The man changed to blutbaden form - eyes glowing red and features becoming more lupine - then lunged and Nick side-stepped, landing a deliberately light wound on the man’s arm. The wolfcarl snarled and charged again, grabbing his knife arm but Nick used a technique he had learnt years ago to toss the man over his body and onto the ground.
At this point Bymarr raced over to him, flanked by several other trellwolves who had clearly warned her what was happening. Apparently they had more loyalty to the konigenwolf than to some of the wolfcarls. As did Monroe who was running just behind and came to a halt as Bymarr whined at Nick and licked him.
“What, by Odin, is going on here?” Monroe demanded as the fallen blutbad got to his feet.
“Nothing,” Nick said. “Just a harmless demonstration of grimm fighting techniques.”
Monroe glared at the other men. “Do any of you have anything to say?”
They all looked uncomfortable and no one said a word.
* * *
Monroe watched the grimm over the next couple of days. Nick checked the stores of food for the winter, put his friend Wu in charge of the household then had the entire wolfheall cleaned and reeds put down on the dirt floor in here, the main hall. He had helped with the work himself and been friendly to everyone - wolfcarl, trellwolf and thrall alike - even in the face of rudeness or angry expressions. There were no more challenges made to Nick - Monroe had made sure of that although he got the impression that his warning wasn’t actually necessary. That was good. Although Monroe’s support was largely to the konigenwolf, he was glad to learn of the man’s strength.
Bymarr was also doing well keeping order, although that was to be expected. Still there were leaders and leaders; she was the strongest-minded konigenwolf he had ever encountered and he had seen around two-score. Monroe had hopes that Bymarr would litter equally strong puppies that would further increase the effectiveness of the wolfheall.
The knowledge that Monroe could lose his position as wolfjarl at any time was a constant worry to him. If it happened he knew he wouldn’t leave but there were enough people who resented his power that it would be difficult staying, trying to find a new position that suited him. Trying not to interfere in the new leader’s decisions. Despite the problem arising with Nick’s arrival with Bymarr, he reluctantly found himself liking the man. He suspected he wasn’t the only one.
Tonight, before the evening meal began, Nick called for quiet and said, “Bymarr tells me that the trellwolves aren’t happy about the wolfcarls’ level of cleanliness so I’m setting weekly baths as a necessity for everyone here.”
Weekly? Monroe thought in horror. Surely that was a bit much. The grumbles around the hall said that he wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“The trellwolves or the delicate grimm mind the smell?” Adulfr muttered and Monroe glared at him. He hadn’t liked the tall blond man even before he had become Ulflina’s lover and suspected Adulfr only regretted her death because it lessened the standing she had given him in the wolfheall. He was the one who had fought Nick and Monroe had been delighted to see him beaten by Nick.
“Where does your wolf sleep, Adulfr?” Nick asked in a companionable tone.
The man looked confused. “Outside.”
“Because?”
“He likes the fresh …” The man tailed off as he clearly realised what Nick was saying.
“He likes the fresh air. That’s wolf language for ‘you stink’!” A few of the wolfcarls chuckled at this while Adulfr flushed scarlet and glowered.
The tense atmosphere having faded at the joke, they settled down to begin their meal and Monroe, catching Nick’s eye, smiled at him. He received a warm grin in return then they both concentrated on filling their trenchers with food.
* * *
Nick stroked Bymarr’s silky white fur and she licked his hand before settling down for the night in the middle of the bed. She was beginning to get to understand the trellwolves of this werthreat now and, through their bond, Nick was not only learning about the trellwolves but was also seeing their perception of the wolfcarls. The images the wolves had of the people was fascinating: Monroe was thought of as a good playmate, easy-going and good-humoured (not what Nick would have expected in a leader); the enormous Hapulf was considered an overgrown puppy; blond Adulfr was not surprisingly known for his vicious temper and grudges. Between Bymarr’s help and Wu’s gossip, courtesy of the thralls who served here, Nick was starting to feel as if he knew what he was doing managing the wolfheall.
He couldn’t help but miss his old life though on occasions, particularly his aunt with her wisdom and affection. He would have been content living as a grimm and protecting the people - human and wesen - of Neyorkr. But he had met Bymarr instead.
He looked over at her and her pale eyes sparkled with love for him. He smiled. No matter what happened to him now he could never regret bonding with her.
There was a knock on his door and Ulfhank entered the room. Nick grinned at his friend, glad of the opportunity for a private chat. He sat down beside Bymarr and gestured for Ulfhank to take the bench opposite. “How are you getting on with the other werthreat?” he asked. The human had been his first friend at the Neyorkr Wolfheall, the two of them having met a decade before when Aunt Marie worked alongside the wolfheall to defeat a pack of lausenschlange. Ulfhank and he had become instant friends and when it was decided that Nick and Bymarr should come here Ulfhank had at once offered to join him. The loyalty had meant more to Nick than he could express.
“You mean, what’s it like to be the only human - other than you - here?”
“And Wu,” Nick corrected him. Wu had run his family’s keep and had also undertaken the journey here, taking over the day-to-day running of the wolfheall. That should have been part of Nick’s job but for once no one was complaining; Wu was good at fitting in. Better than him or Ulfhank apparently.
“Everyone loves Wu,” Ulfhank said with a smile, reflecting Nick’s own thoughts. “But I constantly have to prove that I’m not a weakling human …”
“… Which, technically, you are.”
“Thanks for that!” Ulfhank laughed. “Give me a few more weeks and I’ll show them I can be as useful here as anyone.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Is Bymarr forming any particular friendships amongst the trellwolves?”
“You mean, has she made my life easier by deciding on a mate yet?” He looked down at the now snoozing konigenwolf. “No, she hasn’t. Monroe can continue as wolfjarl until she does and maybe beyond that.”
“You want Bymarr to choose Lotardr?”
“Monroe is good at his job. It would be tough on the wolfheall to have to get used to two new leaders.”
Ulfhank looked questioningly at him. “Is that the only reason?”
He knew at once what Ulfhank meant. The bond between trellwolf and person meant that when the konigenwolf and dominant male wolf mated their wesen or human partners mated too. He’d had a couple of male lovers in the past but in this strange place there was no one he felt a strong attraction for, although Monroe’s dry wit and unexpected kindness appealed to him. “I like Monroe. I haven’t got to know him or anyone else well enough to want them for a lover, though.”
* * *
“My uncle’s been murdered.”
Monroe listened to the young woman, Nick beside him. Her uncle had lived on the outskirts of the local wesen community. When she had visited him this morning she had found him lying on the floor, suffocated. She thought some of his store of food might have been taken.
“Could be a lausenschlange,” Nick said.
“Could be anything,” Monroe answered. “I’ll get a party together to go there. That is …” He tailed off and said uncomfortably, “Of course, I’m not really wolfjarl at the moment.”
“Yes, you are.” Nick spoke in a low voice so the nearby wolfcarls couldn’t overhear. “If anyone else needs to take over at a later time then we’ll deal with that but for the moment you’re definitely still wolfjarl.”
Monroe nodded, relieved. He assembled a dozen wolfcarls, including the new human Ulfhank, and happily agreed when Nick politely requested to accompany them. It was an ideal chance to see what the men were like in a fight. Even with the extra strength a grimm possessed he was unsure about the slender Nick and he suspected Ulfhank might be more of a liability than a help in battle. There were two unbonded wolfcarls within the group as well, awaiting a new litter of trellwolf puppies: Hollulfa and Olfbjur. Neither had experience of fighting as part of the wolfheall; Hollulfa had lived much of her life as a feral blutbad in the wild, so it said a lot for her self-control that she hadn’t become one of the killers they had to hunt down. The youngsters needed to learn and this experience would hopefully not be too dangerous.
The group walked first to the cottage where the man had been killed. The one-room wooden hut was filled with the stench of death and, from the bruises around the man’s throat and his protruding eyes, his niece’s verdict of strangulation was correct. They easily got a scent to follow - lausenschlange, Nick had been right - and headed out.
Once they began to hunt, the blutbaden changed to their non-human form and Monroe caught Nick studying his new appearance and watching with curiosity as people sniffed about with the trellwolves, to get the scent. He didn’t know how Nick would feel about this side of him and he was suddenly self-conscious. But there was at least one killer about, maybe a whole group, so it wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
“Over here,” Hollulfa called and pointed out the direction of the scent for the two non-blutbaden.
They followed the trail to a small camp where two lausenschlanges were cooking something that smelt as if it had once been human. The creatures were as strong as blutbaden so the element of surprise was important. Monroe led his group silently downward, only moving in for the attack at the last moment.
The reptiles jumped to their feet, hissing. Monroe grabbed one and ripped out its throat in a single bite. He turned to see Rolulfr fight and kill another.
“Let’s make sure there aren’t any more,” he told them.
Too late. From off to the right of him flames burst out and Hapulf yelled in pain and threw himself to the ground to put out his burning clothes and flesh, worry pouring through the pack-sense from his trellwolf brother. Another volley of flame shot out near to Monroe but didn’t hit him and he caught a glimpse of their new enemy. A daemonfeuer amongst lausenschlanges? A movement caught his eye and he saw Nick grab Hapulf and get him to safety behind a large oak tree.
Something leapt on him and began to crush his body. He used his claws to slash the face of the new lausenschlange but it maintained its grip. He couldn’t breathe. He heard Lotardr attack the creature then a thump and whimper that made him panic for his brother as well as himself.
Then the grasp loosened and the creature fell half across him. He pulled away and saw an arrow in its back, following the missile to its source: Ulfhank. He looked about for Lotardr and, to his relief, saw his brother on his feet again, shaking himself, apparently all right.
He lurched to his feet towards the daemonfeuer. Worry shot through him as he saw Nick taking on the creature with a sword. He dodged the bursts of flame, movements fast and practised. The other blutbaden were closing in, ready to help, but Nick didn’t need them, cutting the daemonfeuer’s head from its shoulders.
“That was good fighting,” Monroe told the group. They had all proven themselves today although, with the second attack, it had been a close call.
“A daemonfeuer working with three lausenschlanges,” Nick commented in mystification, wiping his sword clean on a patch of moss. “That’s the most bizarre and unlikely combination of creatures I’ve ever encountered. Is there some reason you know of why they might work together? Could their homes have been threatened?”
“Daemonfeuer tend to move about or live in caves and there aren’t any caves around here. As for the lausenschlanges, there certainly aren’t any living anywhere locally - we make sure of that.”
They headed back to the wolfheall, Nick and Rolulfr supporting Happulf, who had been badly burned. Luckily blutbaden healed quickly so he would suffer no permanent damage and he might be left with a few scars, which were always good for boasting purposes. Monroe sent out a second group to check the area in case they had missed anyone but several hours later Adulfr reported that there were no more of the killers about.
Later in the evening Nick came to Monroe’s room. Monroe hid his surprise at the visit and watched with embarrassment as Nick examined the musical instruments and animal carvings he had made. Making such things wasn’t usually considered a ’proper’ blutbaden hobby. Ulflina had been particularly scathing over it.
Nick picked up a small carving Monroe had made of Lotardr in all his shaggy glory.
“These are beautiful.”
He sounded as if he really meant the praise and Monroe was unaccountably pleased. “Just a hobby. You did well as part of the group today. Did it, um, disconcert you seeing us in blutbaden form?”
“Not at all. Through the pack-sense I felt the change too, like a wildness sweeping over the group.”
Monroe grimaced. “Our instincts can be like that. It can be tough to maintain control sometimes and not lash out at friends.”
“It felt as if you were in control.” Nick’s tone was approving and Monroe was glad of the reassurance that Nick would encourage him to act the way he wanted to and not give in to his instinctive side. “I wish we knew what made that unlikely group come together, though.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Me too.”
Nick put down the carving he had been holding and met Monroe’s eyes. “Bymarr has made her decision.”
He realised at once what Nick was talking about and his stomach lurched.
“She’s chosen Lotardr.”
Monroe looked down at the trell-wolf who was currently asleep and drooling on Monroe’s left foot, hardly looking like the most dashing choice. He hid his overwhelming relief behind sarcasm: “Why wouldn’t she?”
Nick grinned. “I’m glad you’ll be continuing as wolfjarl here.”
“So am I.” But it struck him now that the bonds between the trellwolves meant more than him keeping his job. It meant that he and Nick could be getting a lot closer in the future …
“Is something wrong?” Nick asked.
He took in the man’s handsome features with those large eyes, slender nose and perfectly shaped mouth; the slim body with its long legs and compact muscles; and the smooth, pale skin that looked as if it would taste like cream. This was a man he could easily care about as well as feeling lucky beyond words to share a bed with him. “Nothing at all.”
* * *