Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Ponytail groaned, and I scrambled to check on him. A pulse! I tugged off my sweater to press the material into his wounds, which shrank before my eyes.
He blinked and frowned, confused. “What happened?” he demanded.
“Tavish switched bodies with your pal. Someone switched with Angus, too.”
His attention shifted to the snarling, fighting men. I zoomed my attention to the combatants as well. Tavish dodged Callen’s next series of strikes, doing his best to lick blood from a gash in his arm. Took me a moment to reason out why. The potion in Buzz’s blood. The wolf king was trying to switch souls again. Tavish’s body must be nearby.
Fake Buzz went still. Callen landed a punishing blow, shattering the other man’s face. If he wasn’t stopped, he would kill his soldier and hate himself.
“Callen!” I sprang from the car. Ponytail reached for me, but I avoided him, sprinting over. “Callen,” I repeated. “Help me. I need you.”
His head whipped in my direction. Utter stillness came over him, different tendons stretched to the max as I approached. I threw myself at him just as before, putting myself between him and his opponent, who collapsed.
“What’s wrong?” Callen demanded, his gaze darting. “Threat?”
“Calm down for me,” I said, stroking his cheek. “That’s what I need you to do. The danger is gone, Buzz has switched back. I’m all right.”
“I’ve never been calmer.” He brushed the tip of his nose against mine. “You are good?”
“Sore in a couple places but otherwise tiptop.” I rose to my tiptoes and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Where’s Sorcha?”
“Long gone, I’d bet. I left her as soon as I heard your scream.”
No doubt she would return. Like Tavish, she treated her selfish desires as a treasured lover.
“Elle,” Callen rasped, bowing his head. “You’ve been hurt on my watch again and again and again. If you wish to leave me, I understand. I will follow you wherever you go, no matter who I must defy, but I will understand and protect you with my life for the rest of yours.”
I poked him in the shoulder. “I’m staying. You are mine, and don’t ever forget it.”
A smile broke free, lighting his entire being. “I donna deserve you, but I’ll cherish you always.”
“What will we do about Buzz and Angus? And me! We have an ingredient for the soul switching potion in our blood.”
“I will never harm you,” he vowed. “I’ll reassign the men, keep them and others safe…and I’ll keep you by my side forevermore.” He held out his hand to me. “Come, let’s go home.”
I twined my fingers through his. “Home. Yes.”
For now, Tavish was defeated, and Sorcha was out of the picture. Soon, I would marry the billionaire berserker king who’d fallen in love with me. I would build a life here, standing with my husband, making every day better for our people. I’d get to watch Mirren grow up and maybe, just maybe, welcome a few more wee little ones–that’s what the Scottish say, right?
Would there be problems? Yes. I doubted Buzz and Angus were the only soldiers Tavish and Sorcha had tainted with the potion. And how many other sentinels also hid potions? How would anyone know who to trust?
Measures must be taken. What, I didn’t yet know. But every fiber of my being understood my new life started today. Our forever had just begun.
Epilogue
Fury Forever–When Passion and Chaos Collide
From A Beginners Guide to Berserker Bliss
Author Unknown
The final toast had been offered and the last guest finally left the ballroom well after two in the morning. I, Elizabeth Darcy-Bruce, had married my berserker. Again.
This time, I remembered everything.
Now it was just the two of us, and instead of sweeping his new bride up and into his arms, Callen tugged me outside into the cool air.
“My mother adores you,” I said, resting my head on his shoulder.
“She’s a force of nature.”
What a kind way to put it. “That she is.” I laughed with abandon as he led me across the grounds and into the puzzle garden shrouded by the hedgerow. My elaborate train would be a mess, but I didn’t care.
“What are we doing out here?” I asked, running my fingers down his chest when we halted in the center. Honestly, I’d been unable to stop myself from touching him since we said our “I dos” in front of family and clan.
The moonlight cast delightful shadows over my husband’s face. Love and tenderness etched each of his features. “In all those history books, did you read how an ancient berserker claims his firebrand and makes her almost immortal?”
I bit my lip to keep from grinning like a weirdo. Nope. Too late. “If by claiming you mean...”
“I do.”
“Then no,” I said, my grin widening. “Am I about to find out firsthand?”
“You are,” he told me in a husky tone. “But first, give me your vow again.”