"I believe you are trespassing, Jörmungandr." a velvety voice greeted the two by the front entrance.

Jörmi and Fergus halted, watching as the tall figure emerged from the shadows as if he had been waiting for a long time.

Augrímnir looked past Fergus, almost as if he was having a stare-off with Jörmungandr. "I believe your information is obsolete." his tone was cocky, baritone and there was a victorious gleam in his eyes as he crossed his hands over his chest.

"It is an order given by the Queen, Jörmungandr." his wings were visible and slightly spread, making him look larger and taller.

"He can stay, it's alright." Although Jörmi beamed at Fergus' words, they tasted bitter on his tongue. He wasn't too keen on the whole idea but he couldn't deny his curiosity.

"No, he cannot, my Lord. The Queen's word is law." Augrímnir finally tore his gaze from Jörmi, looking at Fergus, his tone softening as if he was talking to a child. Seeing the ticked jaw brought a satisfied smile to Augrímnirs face.

"But she wanted to send him away because I had asked her to." Fergus was startled as he threw his head back and barked out a laugh as if he had just heard the joke of the century. He shook his head, for the first time in forever, amusement was plainly visible in his guarded eyes.

"The Queen does not ask advice from Midgardians, even less from the likes of children, Lord Fenrir." Augrímnir leaned in closer, for the first time Fergus noticed the annoying glimmer of mockery in his eyes. Fergus did not like that, it felt as though the man was challenging him. Never before had he had any trouble with people who were above him, but somehow this bothered him.

Bothered him so much that he started to feel his nails turn into claws as they sunk into his palms. He watched Augrímnir tilt his head up, as if he was bored. The plain dismissal made his heartbeat race even faster, Fergus' eyes burned with anger at the disrespect.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, nearly making him lash out at Jörmi who was just trying to calm the agitated beast within.

“There there, no need for the ruckus, brother.” he said lowly, patting his shoulder although Fergus tried to sidestep him.

“Don't call me that.” he growled under his breath, eyes glowing with venom.

“If, the young Lord has changed his mind, the Queen has two conditions for the stay of Jörmungandr.” Augrímnir said, nearly hissed slyly, reminding Fergus that none of these creatures were human. Although many of them possessed humanoid traits, there was nothing normal about them.

“Deal.”

Augrímnir held out his hand, Fergus clasped his cold hand, feeling a weird, painful jolt go through his chest as Augrímnir released his hold.

“Fenrir.” Jörmi warned him, obviously knowing more about Hela than the wolf did. Augrímnir looked slightly impressed. The boy was either brave or a fool.

“Very well then, he may stay.” With that, the Queen's right-hand man turned around and started heading towards the castle, dismissing the two completely.

“Hey! What are the conditions?”

Fergus demanded after he had shrugged off Jörmis hand that was supposed to be comforting. This man had some serious issues.

“Nothing too troubling, my lord. Just that you are banned from changing into your wolf skin for seven moons. And by the end of the seventh circle, you shall be a part of the fighters that attend the monthly fight in Goners Lair.” Fergus had no idea why, he thought it'd be something along the lines of you shall be thee Queen's slave or you have sold your soul to the Devil herself.

Although he did feel uneasy when he felt Jörmi's anger flare beside him.

Augrímnir waved his hand delicately as if he was searching for the right words. “The Queen is simply...” there was a dramatic pause as his eyes flickered from the cloudy sky to agitated Fergus. “curious.”

He bowed, but Fergus could tell it was more in a mocking manner than anything else.

Besides, he didn't understand that bowing shit, he just wanted to beat the guy up. He growled under his breath, but before he could take a step closer to strangle him, Jörmi had brushed past him.

“You cannot do that, the wolf is part of him, it'll eat him alive.” Fergus blinked in confusion, looking at Jörmis back as he tried to analyze his tone.

He hadn't heard the man speak like that yet, when he had spoken with Fergus, he had just talked softly and his tone had been light, filled with peculiar wonder and friendliness that agitated Fergus to no end.

But now his voice was baritone, nearly hissing and had a dangerous edge of a bear ready to bounce without any last warnings.
The man was intense, and Fergus didn't like it. Not one bit.

“it's a sealed deal, nothing you can do now. Have a great evening.” he said, turning around as he stealthily made his way back towards the castle, ignoring Jörmi's angry shout at him to break the deal.

The Goddess never breaks her deals.

Fergus dapped on his shoulder, making him turn around. Like a flash of lightning from the clear sky, Fergus' fist collided with Jörmis sharp jaw, making him stumble back in surprise rather than pain.

“Don't you ever step into my business like that ever again.” he growled under his breath, eyes blazing with venom as he glared at Jörmungandr.

The man looked stunned, but not mad. Why wasn't he mad?

“But you're my-”

Fergus pointed a shaking finger at him. He was that mad. “Don't you dare to say brother, don't! I am not your brother, you hallucinating oaf!”

Jörmi just blinked down at him slowly, holding up his hands in surrender as his brother snarled at him to back off.

“Well, you-”

“No, zip it! Just shut up!” he spat out, making his way towards the castle because he couldn't be near Jörmi any longer.

What was wrong with him?! Fergus didn't need saving, he didn't need someone to step up for him or hug him or hold him or pretend to be friends with him. And Jörmi was just... Just too much of everything. Too emotional, too friendly, too protective. And Fergus barely knew anything about him. 

He threw the ebony door open, making a small, point eared maid nearly fall on her arse as he stormed inside, hands balled and eyes burning with fury. The rest of the beings hovered near the walls as they felt his anger, a few shuddered as he passed them.

Pushing the door to his room open, his eyes snapped on the maid in his room who was kneeling next to the fireplace, poking the fire to keep it going. Her eyes widened as he snarled at her to get out. She scrambled up, running past him to get as far away from the wolf as possible.

He breathed heavily as he locked the door, he didn't want to see anyone or even hear from anyone. Instead, he started pacing back and forth, sliding his hands through his hair as the tightness in his chest grew.

He felt the need to shift, to run and to do something. To hurt someone. But before his blunt, human nails could turn into piercing claws, he felt unimaginable pain rip through his chest, making him gasp for air as he stumbled back slightly. He leaned against the wall, the redness around his vision decreasing as he was grounded by the pain that was gone as soon as he stopped trying to shift.

He sat on the bed, hand still pressed against his chest as he tried to take in everything that had just happened. So, the deal had been sealed with magic.

His breathing calmed down as he fell on his side. His eyes were wide open as they started at the green embers of the dying fire in the open fireplace.

He slowly looked up on the windowsill, reaching for the red bandana. He clutched it between his fingers, pressing it against his chest as he tried to stop his racing heart.

He felt angry, he felt betrayed, he felt fury bubbling deep inside.

Because anger was so much easier to deal with than fear. And Fergus couldn't allow himself to be afraid.

⚠️  ATTENTION ⚠️
as the book progresses, the themes turn darker. That includes mature themes such as:
Sex, violence, gore, toxicity, and flaws in characters.

You have been warned.

Moving on, I just wanna say that my characters are always flawed. Because they learn and move on just like you and me.

Anyways, now that I've scared everyone off, I just wanna say that I, myself, just grow to love Fergus more and more after every chapter. I don't usually talk about my characters like that, but I feel like there's something in Fergus that a lot of people can relate to. Whether it's masked emotions, uncertainty or loss of a family member/friend.

I also wanna say that this here, is a safe zone. You're all loved, and I hope you stay safe.

Until the next chapter,
Take care xx