“Loki took her.” The whole room fell silent, and I was suddenly painfully aware that all eyes were on me. This might not have been the right way to do it, but it was done, and I figured it out, didn’t I? “Who?” Tew´s voice sounded unsure, but I knew who I was talking about like everyone here knew, but it felt like he just could not believe me. Not so strange after all, I guess; I mean, come on! In my world, a claim like this would earn me a nice, snugly white shirt with my arms strapped around me. I saw Arcane from the corner of my eye, getting up and hurrying over to my side. I hated to admit it, but this guy seemed to do everything right for some reason. Make me feel safe, stand by my side, backing me up, always a little too close. Nah, who am I kidding? Too close? I shook my head as I sidetracked myself. Tew´s questions were still hanging in the air, and I was still staring straight at him. Tew exchanged glances with Hades, but he remained quiet, waiting for the outcome to play

This is amazing! No, it is freaking AWSOME! Not at all what I thought he talked about or what I was thinking about! Yes, he was shameless and clearly very comfortable with his own nakedness, but oh my god! Despite the awkwardness and my inner conflict when he demanded, I looked at him, even when he was naked! He shifted into a freaking dragon! When I finally looked at him, I was met with a wide grin before he bent his head back, stretching his arms out and up. Then I felt a slight sensation of fear, fear for what I was about to see. Expecting his skin to split, blood gushing out, and all that, but nothing of it happened. Yes, his skin broke and tore, but blue scales appeared instead of blood and bare flesh. Deep blue and the scales looked soft, moving in waves, taking over more and more of his body, which was growing at an incredible speed. Suddenly, all of the man I just saw was gone; all I could see were flashing and moving scales, deep blue with light blue patches dancing ove

Maya´s POV. I watched in a combination of awe, excitement, and a little fear as the massive fire sizzled in front of us. Nyx hummed and whispered in a foreign tongue, a strange language consisting of as many guttural sounds, clicking with her tongue and horror-like sounds from deep down in her throat as words. It all contributed to a mythical, almost magical night, dark magic, that is. The sun had gone down long ago; instead, the full moon cast cold, white light down at us in between the thick clouds. Nyx was an incredibly gorgeous woman, but now her eyes were almost black. She stared straight into the dancing flames reflected in her eyes' endless, deep darkness. Her facial features seemed to change, twisting into something unearthly, almost like she took on a different being. Some creature I’m not sure I should be scared of or fascinated by, but I was not so surprised; I didn’t even feel a little piece of that jealousy I felt towards her earlier. The volume in her voice increased

Eir´s Pov. It had been surrealistic for a while like I had fallen back into one of those dreams I used to have—that little happy girl and that massive black wolf. Slowly, reality snuck up in my head, and I recognized the wolf. The wolf dreamed about it so many times and blamed my imagination, for I even explained it as being fury for a while. Obviously, his beast recognized me or liked me or something. He kept walking around me in circles while everyone else just watched in silence. Brushing his thick fur against me, he sniffed my hair, neck, and even feet. It was weird, really, especially when I finally managed to relax and remember how to breathe again. I can’t claim I recognize him, not even his wolf, but Drifta does for some reason. She wasn’t even with me when I supposedly knew him, but still, she won’t budge. Drifta kept insisting that he was family, that this was our father, that she recognized this wolf as her family, and that I was still struggling with how to handle this.

Strange, maybe, but it was rubbing my ego seeing the Viking Alpha now all of a sudden begging for me to throw him a bone. No, that is not the right word, but it felt like it. But all in all, they started showing up for one reason, and one reason only: to make sure their pack, their future Alpha, would be promised to my little daughter. I know your mother equally understood and was horrified by their behavior. They all acted like you were a rare piece of meat or rock, like you would have no say in your future. It is not that this was uncommon behavior; it is just the first time I experienced it up close. I realized how wrong it was in so many ways. So, eventually, after conferring with your mother and my closest men, I even evolved the elders; I started turning all offers down. I suggested a mateing ball or gathering on equal ground when she was old enough so she could meet them all and decide for herself. Some understood, and others were outright furious that we could toss away such a