Page 19 of Blood Red Rage

I stared at her for one hard, brutal second. Then I turned and stormed out. The door slammed behind me hard enough to rattle the walls.

The corridor outside was dim, silent, the mansion sleeping around me like a beast. I walked fast, fury rolling off me in waves, my skin still humming with her scent, her taste, her blood.

I wasn’t wearing a damn thing, but I didn’t care. I barely made it ten steps before I saw Draugr. He stood at the end of the corridor like he’d been waiting all along, arms folded, expression unreadable until his gaze dragged slowly down my bare body. Then he lifted a brow. “Is this the new fashion at home?” he asked dryly. “Because if it is, I’m burning my wardrobe.”

I stopped so abruptly the air snapped. “Don’t,” I snarled.

Draugr’s mouth twitched. “Don’t what? Look at your scrawny ass? Hard to miss. It’s practically begging for attention.”

I shot him a glare of such pure violence that most men would’ve died on the spot. Draugr only looked amused. “Speak,” he said. “You didn’t come out here naked and murderous for nothing.”

I dragged a hand down my face, trying to hold onto the last threads of control. “She doesn’t listen.”

Draugr nodded as if I’d told him the sky was blue. “Yes. I noticed she has a spine.”

“She says she’ll leave,” I growled.

Draugr’s eyes sharpened slightly. “And you told her no.”

“Yes.”

“And she told you to go to hell.”

“Basically.”

Draugr hummed thoughtfully. Then he stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Viking. She is human. You cannot treat her like one of our men.”

My jaw clenched. “She is my mate.”

“And she’s still Bryn,” Draugr said, calm as stone. “She isn’t one of the women who would kneel because you demanded it. She will fight you until you either break her…or learn patience.”

Patience? The word tasted like ash. “I don’t have patience,” I snapped.

Draugr shrugged. “Get some.”

I glared at him. “Easy for you to say.”

“It is,” Draugr agreed. Then his eyes flicked down again, very deliberately. “Also, put some clothes on. Your scrawny ass is haunting my mansion.”

I scoffed. “I am not scrawny.”

“You’re right,” he said solemnly. “You’re enormous. Like a tragically overconfident Ox.”

My lips twitched despite myself. Rage and affection and frustration braided tight in my chest, turning into something that made me want to throw a wall through a window.

Draugr smirked. “Go cool off. Then go back in there and try again.”

I stared at the door behind me, feeling her inside. Feeling the bond, feeling her anger like heat against my skin even from here. My mate, my weakness, my everything. And tomorrow, when the sun rose, I would sleep. But I didn’t want to sleep without her in my arms. I exhaled slowly.

“She’ll fight me,” I muttered.

Draugr nodded. “Good.”

I frowned. “Good?”

“Yes,” he said. “Because if she fights you, it means she’s still here.”

Then he turned, walking away, calling over his shoulder…