Vilja Chapter 2
Grunr - suspicion
None of her training with their families healer could prepare her for this. The smells and sounds of men after a battle. Wounds already festering, even in the below freezing temperatures. They were inadequately prepared for such injuries. Though only a handful of men even managed to receive a scratch.
"Show us your healing Kunnusta, vǫlva!"
Looking to Katsuki to translate, however, all he did was snarl at his subordinate, who dropped his gaze at the Alpha's attention. Without breaking his glare, he answered her finally. "Show us ya knowledge"
Knowledge, yes that made sense. But what else did the lesser Alpha call her. Vǫlva.
Pushing on she walked up to a man, still wriggling in pain. His arm obviously removed from its socket. She heard murmuring from the group that had gathered to watch her.
"Nei" The injured viking said through grunts.
Ochako looked to the Alpha. Pleading with her eyes. "Please tell him he doesn't need to be scared of me"
"I won't" Katsuki simply said. "Don't know that to be true"
Her hands clenched into a ball, she tried to funnel her exasperation. The man obviously thought she was going to harm him, like some sort of witch. Her mind flicked backwards in clarity. Vǫlva. Witch.
Initial fear of the Norse men subsided somewhat overnight, when she realised she may be able to seem useful to them. Moments passed by quickly however, her heat ever raging toward the surface with each thought. She needed to gain trust, enough to be able to escape. Her way out was her raun. Her test.
Well she would show them what she was capable of. Kneeling beside the large, hairy man with his shoulder hanging out of its socket. She clasped around his arms, feeling into his shoulder joint. Yelps and struggling started. Two Alpha's behind Katsuki went to move on her. His hand shot up and they backed up obediently.
"Hold him down"
She could see the disdain in their eyes as they pierced into her. Hate and mistrust. Of course, they thought she was a witch. Ignorant, vile, superstitious savages. The pack members complied with their Alpha's order. Hesitation tried to spring up from inside her stomach. She had not done this in a practical setting, much less on the spot with a real injury. No, she would need to fix this here and now, without fuss. No magic required.
Two men held down their comrade as her fingers continued to search and feel out. Grabbing his arm and lining the ball of his bone back into its socket, a swift movement and it popped back in with a crunch. Most likely damaging as it went. The Norse man cried out in pain.
Sharp hiss of air being sucked through teeth sounded around the vicinity. The sound was morbid, even for seasoned barbarians. Dangerously, she allowed her eyes to search for his. Not even his closest men in his pack dared. She was met with a penetrating red glare. Face unmovable as always. He would give her no indication of his thoughts. Feeling uncomfortable she looked away, her gaze falling down to the ground. Fear trembled inside again.
"Huræ?" A red haired viking asked her, his arms still holding his comrade.
How? Her blood boiled. "I told you stupid oafs, I'm trained in healing. I'm not a vǫlva!" She spat.
The air pressure hit her back, before the gripping pain. Her hair became entangled in his fingers as he wrenched her up to her feet. Clenching her teeth shut, she tried to stop the wails of pain escaping her. She shut her eyes and grabbed at his massive fist. Her heart was pumping blood and scent.
"látið eigi stórliga yfir uðr" Katsuki barked into her ear. "Watch ya sharp little tongue, and know ya place, Saxon bitch!"
Other bodies rose. Eager, no, exhilarated and basically drooling over their Alpha's aggressive actions. The air grew thick with testosterone, Katsuki's growling however, had subsided. He instantly let go of her, pushing her away from him in the process.
"Your raun continues"
His demeanor had gone back to being cold and distant. She dared not look him in the eye this time. Terrified her body would betray her secret, she lay still until he had turned and began walking away from her.
The smell would not subside. Wild berries, the longer it surrounded him the more it evolved. Increasing from the moment he had grabbed her hair. His legs stretched out over the roots of the tree he stalked around. His vision locked onto the Saxon bitch. His distrust for her had made his instincts erupt. She was hiding something from him and he would not rest until he discovered what. Trying to detect her scent again, he searched with his sense of smell. Still her indicators told him Beta. Was she hiding her scent? They had remedies in the homeland to subdue scent. However, the drug came with side effects. None of which she displayed.
Maybe she was something else entirely? A new secondary gender.
Suspicions of her being a spy were fading in his mind. He believed she was a skilled healer. She had not lied about that fact. But something else was amiss. It was too convenient of a story to place her in that village. Being of a pedigree that she was, surely she should have been married off by now.
For a moment her amber eyes reached his, darting away the following moment. He found himself confused. With any one in his pack, he would dominate such a stare into submission. But with her, it excited him. Confusion turned to anger, such an insignificant little Saxon woman had commanded so much of his attention. Even when his Omega's slipped into heat, he had still been in control of his Alpha side. Ruling over his instincts with great skill.
But this little bitch was ruining him. And he was letting her.
He growled viscerally, the rumbling rocking his entire torso. He hated feeling like he was being tricked. Especially by such a weak thing.
"Tell me Saxon, why are you yet to be married off?"
Her body jolted and stopped in its tracks. So there was something to his thoughts after all. She remained facing away from him. Without further hesitation she answered. "I'm promised"
"Promised?"
Her head turned slightly. "Svarði"
"An oath? To another?"
"Yes"
"Why wait, you're in your prime breeding years. You should be seeking many male partners"
Flushing she snapped her head back around. "It doesn't work that way here"
"Then how does it work?"
She reached down and plucked a plant out by its roots.
"I'm to finish my… study, then I'll be married" She said, standing up straight.
"I don't believe you, you're lying to me" He sniffed the air again. "And it's somethin' to do with why you were in that village"
"You don't understand anything about our culture, that's why it doesn't make sense"
"I understand the stuffy rules behind your frail religion"
At the close of his comment she finally spun around. Locking her gaze with his, daringly.
"My God is not frail"
Without thinking he stepped toward her, pressing his body into hers. His Alpha running a muck inside of him, firing up and hell bent on making her submit. The challenge too strong to pass up.
"Then why can't ya fuck before marriage? Too many rules, not enough free will" He said. "Our gods allow us to enjoy the pleasures of life"
Wild berries entered the air again as she shrunk from him, eyes leaving his.
"You are just a savage" She muttered.
Muscles in his face activated and he grinned wickedly.
"You say that sif it's a bad thing. And Comin' from a virgin, that's a compliment"
Pouring her concoction down the incapacitated man's throat, her hands shook, full of adrenaline and anxiety. If this did not work, she would be in trouble. Ochako didn't want to think about what that meant. This man could still die of the fever, even if her concoction was made perfectly. It was all up to him now.
"If he survives the night, your raun will be completed" Broken English came from one of the lesser Alpha's mouth.
She looked around for his blood red eyes, but she found nothing.
"D'ya understand Saxon bitch?"
"Yes I understand"
The group left her, standing next to the fever-drunk Norseman. His soft murmuring in his native tongue made her shiver.
She should go and pray for him, for his and her sake. Leaving the man to his dreams she retreated to the small tent they had allocated for her. Trusting her far more than her own people would trust a Norseman. She couldn't run though, not from so many Alpha's, the chase would instinctively trigger her heat. Which she was trying desperately to quell.
A short time after arriving and changing her clothing, a lesser alpha of the pack turned up. Commanding her to his tent. Begrudgingly, she followed the male viking. His scent of smoke, like charcoal was intense, but nothing like the intoxicating scent of Sandalwood belonging to his superior.
The pack member just snarled at her as they arrived, a familiar tent residing behind him. One last glare and he was gone from sight. She looked around, unsure if she should wait or enter the tent. As she searched her mind for decision, the tent flap was pushed aside. Two topless women emerged.
Omega's.
Strutting past her like elegant wood nymphs of the old gods. Peaches and lavender followed them as they passed her. Disdain in their eyes. Ochaco sunk back against a nearby tent, praying again they did not scent her secret. Disappearing into the night, the omega's scents lingered, strong and thick. Now on edge, she fingered for her suppressants, which were hidden inside her clothing. He had just fornicated with them, she didn't understand much about sex. But that much she could tell. Unsure of how her body would react to the smells inside that tent, she quickly nibbled on the crushed and dried medicine.
"I can smell you Saxon" Rumble from inside the tent. "Komask" He ordered.
Sudden panic erupted at the sound of his voice. Chewing quickly and swallowing what was inside her mouth, she slipped the remaining suppressants back into the sewn in, hidden pocket.
A few steps and she was at the entrance. Already the smells were mixing and aggressively pulling her attention to them. She took one last breath in and pushed open the material.
Past instances of her own heat had produced a similar smell. But nothing prepared her for the scents covering the atmosphere inside the Alpha's tent. Sandalwood encompassed the entire area, dominantly pushing everything else aside.
She knew nothing of sex, of what it entailed or what smells she was taking in. But the Omega inside of her did, and it was gnawing at her to escape. She prayed once more that she could hold out until the drug began to work.
Amongst all the sensory overload, she had not noticed him, facing away from her. Licking at his hands, he was completely naked. Glancing for a moment at his bare ass, she darted her attention away. Her heart leapt into her throat and pounded, she was deafened by the rush of blood to her head. His body was covered in different shaded scars. Ones he had no doubt collected over his lifetime.
Like a miracle, the heightened feelings faded as quickly as they came. The suppressant had started to take effect. Racing into her bloodstream from receptors inside her body. Pressing down her Omega once more. She thanked her Lord and savior, for acting before her core could begin to pump further scent outwards. Unmasking her.
All of the distractions had again pulled her attention from the Alpha, he had slipped pants on in her minds absence. But his sizable chest glistened with sweat, heaving still from the stimulation he had just received, more thoughts threatened to make her mind wander once more.
Making a point not to meet his eyes she wrapped her fingers through each other.
"You called for me?"
"Tell me, do you Saxon's have Alpha's?"
A lump appeared in her throat. Mind racing for the best way to answer him without betraying herself.
"Mærr?" He demanded.
"Yes"
He began to trace around her, observing every aspect of her. "I am yet to meet one"
Against her better judgement she looked into his eyes. "You will"
He scoffed and made a move behind her. "Really? And would you speak to one this way, Beta?" A fist grabbed at the scruff of her dress, pulling tight across her windpipe.
Beta, he thinks I'm a Beta? Or was it another test, purposely feeding her wrong information in hopes she would slip up.
She would not defy a Saxon Alpha the way she did with him. But she had never been in the presence of one, other than her father. It was painfully obvious to her that she lacked the adequate knowledge about the Alpha and Omega dynamics. So little information to work with, to be able to make the right choice with him. She was acting completely blind.
This Norseman seemed to command one thing from his pack, obedience. But when she instinctively defied him, trying desperately to save her own life, it had worked. So she kept going, kept pushing. Even when she just looked up at him, which his pack seemed to refuse to do, he lit up. She pushed him and he pushed back. But he had yet to hurt her. If she had been subordinate, would it have changed the outcome?
"No"
He bent down and growled low into her ear, making her tremble. Even through her semi drugged state, Sandalwood, mixed with peaches and lavender broke through and teased her Omega, deep inside. Confusingly, jealousy flooded her.
"Then why do you disrespect me?"
"I'm not yours"
He pushed her down onto her knees with a punt. "No, you are not a part of my pack. But ya'd be wise to respect my dominance here"
As she heard his feet slap on the ground beneath them, stalking her again she shivered. Cursing her body, she wanted to remain strong in his presence, but she found it increasingly hard. Especially with such a strong, attractive scent invading her mind.
"Ochako, you will teach me to read your language"
