Ragnarök Rising: The Omega Prophecy I Read online

  “Stop brooding and come help me look. You were always better at this damn thing,” Bjarni called. He’d cracked open the chest hidden deepest in the barn and unfurled the large, yellowed map over a bale of hay.

  I sighed and crossed the room. Whatever my reluctance to mate the girl, there was no other way. We had to find her, and Saga as well, if we wanted to survive. In the end, it was simple.

  Death, or my immortal life.

  At least by sharing her with Bjarni and Saga I would have no need to tend to her, after. They could coo and pet and dote on the omega if they wished—I had nothing to give her.

  I flattened the map with a brush of my hands and looked at the flat representation of the Nine Realms for the first time in centuries.

  None of which I’d ever wanted to see again, really. They held no promise of home for me. Midgard had its faults, certainly—namely, that the end was nigh—but at least here, the feud between the gods was far enough away that my brothers and I could live our lives without the specter of our father’s misdeeds looming over us.

  “There.” I brushed my fingertip over the aged parchment, placing it on top of the rivulet of ink promising a thinning in the fabric of reality. “The gateway is there.”

  “Then let’s go get our brother.”

  11

  Saga

  Thor’s son was an idiot. Hotheaded and lost on instincts, he’d told the little omega everything she didn’t want to hear, and then proceeded to force her back in his arms and over his shoulder, where she now hung in his unyielding grip, misery and fury in her brown eyes. But he couldn’t see that—he’d slung her over his shoulder as he pushed up the mountain with all the furious intent of an alpha determined to force his will through. And he didn’t see the steely determination forming in my pretty mate’s gaze.

  Right then, she hated him, and I knew she’d do anything to get away from him and his demands of surrender. She may regret it later, when his blasted mark on her neck called out for him, but by then it’d be too late.

  He’d only had a short time with Annabel—while she’d been in the throes of her heat and as submissive and eager for dick as any other omega. He didn’t know what she was truly like—hadn’t had the short introduction to her willful personality as I and my brothers had gotten. We’d come on strong as well, eager to claim our promised mate and high on her enticing scent. Even Grim, unhappy about the prospect of a mate as he’d been, had been aching to mount her. But now, after how thoroughly she’d drained my balls in that cave, it was easier to think clearly again.

  She hated me for what I’d done. But she was lost in a foreign world, and if I played my cards right, she would soon come to see me as the lesser of two evils. As much as my own instincts roared to rip her from the other alpha and ensure she understood who was her true mate, I had to keep them contained.

  In the end, Annabel would think she chose me of her own free will.

  The air was cooler up on the cliffside, and I shot my mate a concerned look. She might’ve been wrapped in my clothes, but her bottom half was still bare, and even I felt the chill as we climbed. Humans were so damn frail, especially the females. But one glance at Annabel, and it was clear her seething anger was keeping her plenty warm.

  I smothered a smirk at the fury in her chocolate eyes. That idiot Magni had no clue what he’d done.

  His naked ass flexed below her scowling face, his own annoyance at the situation apparently keeping him warm, too. Not that he was in any danger of dying from hypothermia, what with his divine lineage. Didn’t stop me from wishing he’d get a nasty case of frostbite on the dick, though.

  He’d had the omega meant for my brothers and me before we did, tried to take her away from me and use her to salvage his own pathetic family while putting a serious kink in our carefully laid plans. And now he’d gotten me stuck in Jotunheim with an omega carrying a god’s claim, risking her life as well as that of my brothers.

  Yeah, he was going to regret what he’d done—but right now I needed him to help me protect our shared mate. It was plenty obvious from the fact that he hadn’t tried to zap me with lightning again that he was tapped out, but having him by my side in case I needed to defend Annabel from Jotunheim’s more savage inhabitants was vital. Until my brothers found us.

  I didn’t know how long it’d take until they came for us, but I knew that they would. And when that time came, I needed to have convinced Annabel that I was the better choice. If she came willingly, it’d be so much easier to settle her into her new role as omega and mother.

  Hopefully Loki would be able to help us get rid of Magni’s mark. Despite Annabel’s current levels of anger, I still felt the redheaded buffoon in our bond, like a warm buzz cocooning the fresh connection between my mate and me. His anger, his frustration… his urge to protect the small woman currently wrapped over his shoulder. It was all there, etched into the sacred space that was supposed to be for just me and her. And, later, my brothers.

  Mating the same omega had always been in the cards for Bjarni, Grim, and I, ever since our father tracked down that prophecy. And we didn’t mind—well, Bjarni and I didn’t mind. Grim was another story. But if I had to share this vulnerable elation with anyone, it would be my brothers. I’d die for them, after all.

  Magni… Magni not so much. And yet there he was, an uninvited interloper, my enemy laid bare in ways I’d never wanted to see. I wasn’t going to pretend not to know that, on his end, he saw me as I did him. Felt my heart stutter in my chest whenever I laid eyes on Annabel. The most private and personal of moments, shared with a man I hated just as much as he did me.

  And I hated him all the more for having ruined my bonding with my omega.

  “Not much further,” Magni grunted from ahead of me, probably more for Annabel’s benefit than mine. No matter how boneheaded he was, he had to be aware of the gnawing presence of her anger in our shared bond.

  I held back a snicker. He might not want to admit it, but I knew he had to be squirming, instincts neither of us could control pushing him to please his omega despite his own annoyance. It was a bit of a shock, this insistent tugging from behind my ribs to pet and soothe my unhappy mate.

  I’d fucked many a woman over the years, mortal and otherwise, and never had my interest in their mood stretched beyond getting them willing to take my dick. When I first saw Annabel, my cock had ached for her so intensely I hadn’t been able to think about much else. Until she was stuck on my knot, and all I wanted to do was purr for her and promise her that I would protect her and care for her until the end of time.

  I’d never not loved being an alpha. The strength, power, and status it brought made life easy, betas and omegas alike bending readily to our natural superiority. Except I was starting to think that maybe I’d gravely miscalculated a mate’s impact on instincts I had no control over.

  At least there was some pleasure in watching Magni struggle with similar emotions. And so long as I could manipulate my mate into thinking she was choosing her place by my side, there would be no need to deal with the unsettling sensation of her unhappiness humming out of tune in my chest.

  Annabel ignored the redhead, and he grumbled something under his breath I didn’t quite catch but had her eyes narrowing even further. Odin’s beard, he was a moron.

  “Verdandi has a long history of meddling in the affairs of gods, but she’s also been known to help show the path that must be taken. If she’s in the mood,” I said. It was becoming increasingly clear that Annabel’s greatest desire right about now—maybe except for pants—was to feel like she had some say in what was going to happen to her. She didn’t, of course. And she wouldn’t, ever again. That was the lot of any mated omega, and most especially one whose fate had been interwoven with gods. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t share a few things with her along the way, to make her believe she did.

  Annabel gave me a hesitantly interested look. “Is she a goddess?”

  “Not really.” I grimaced. “But don’t tell he
r that. She’s one of the three main Norns—she and her two sisters weave the fates of men and gods alone, and my father swears he’s seen her snip a man’s life-thread short because he didn’t show her proper respect.”

  “And you think she’ll be able to tell us where to go to get to safety?” Annabel asked, eyebrow raised.

  “Well, that… and hopefully explain how exactly you can help us protect our families from Ragnarök.”

  Her eyes widened in outrage. “How? I thought you wanted to knock me up and that was magically gonna fix everything? Are you telling me you mated me and kidnapped me, and there might not have been any fucking reason?”

  For an omega, she sure had a nasty temper.

  “No, the prophecy was very clear on that part. The joining of our bloodline with yours is the answer. But prophecies tend to come with a certain lack of… shall we call them general instructions, and since Verdandi seems to want to speak with us anyway, we might as well ask her for a few pointers.” I reached out and stroked my hand over her chin, reveling in the electric buzz my digit had with the contact with her skin. “Maybe we can ask that she helps you understand, too.”

  “Fat chance of that,” Magni muttered, taking a few steps forward at a quicker pace so my fingers touched nothing but air. Fucker.

  “You don’t know if you don’t ask,” I sing-sang, keeping my urge to growl at being separated with even a few feet from Annabel down.

  “How long as it been since you spoke with a Norn?” Magni asked as he finally made it to even ground. “They come up with half of these stupid prophecies. Good luck getting a clear answer out of her.”

  “If you don’t think she’ll help, why did you drag me up here?” Annabel bit. I smirked at her irritation.

  “Because I have to try,” he growled. “I need to bring you to safety, and if my bracelet isn’t working the only other way is to hike across enemy territory. Verdandi may be playing games, but she’s a Norn. She can tell me how to protect you. I just need to ask the right way.”

  I rolled my eyes at his possessive alpha bullshit, but some of the anger in Annabel’s eyes seemed to soften. Shit. Apparently the little hypocrite liked some aspects of having an alpha mate.

  My cock gave a needy spasm at the memory of how she’d milked my knot despite her anger at being mounted against her spoken will. Yeah. She may not like getting bossed around, but she couldn’t get around the fact that she loved alpha dick and alpha protection as much as any other omega. And I could use that to my advantage… so long as I didn’t allow Magni to win her over using the same tactics.

  Magni finally made it to the top of the cliff, and I climbed up after him just as Annabel let out a startled gasp.

  The black rock had looked like any other form below, but from here it was carved into the very realistic portrayal of a black dragon. Its open maw was just over eight feet tall, and through it lay the cave we sought. I remembered my father taking me here when I was still green. The Norn hadn’t been present that day, but the eerie quietude of the place had still chilled me to the bone. There was magic, and then there was magic. The kind these creatures of Fate wielded was most definitely in the latter category.

  “Was that… Was that alive, once?” Annabel breathed as Magni slid her off his shoulder. She was staring wide-eyed at the stone dragon, carefully reaching out to trace the scales etched into the side of its face.

  “No one knows for sure,” I said, stepping forward so I could put myself between her and Magni. I placed my hand on her lower back, ignored the redhead’s warning growl and guided her toward the entrance. “But it’s been stone for eons. I wouldn’t let you walk into danger, sweetling. It’s quite safe.”

  Magni shot me a dirty look, but for once decided not to argue. Instead, he pushed in ahead of me, leading the way through the dragon’s gaping maw. Undoubtedly an attempt at showing our mate he was the alphaest alpha of them all, taking the lead and having us follow, but it left Annabel in my care.

  I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. For once, she didn’t object, seeming almost grateful for my attention.

  The throat of the stone beast was dark. The wind whipping through it birthed a hollow shriek, a bloodcurdling wail far more terrifying than the low and grinding roar a real dragon could produce.

  “It’s so dark,” Annabel whispered by my side. “Why is there no light?”

  “Because some of us are trying to sleep,” a hissing voice rasped too close for my comfort.

  Lights flickered in the cave, like a bright candle in the wind, and suddenly the large room was illuminated by a myriad of golden orbs attached to the black stone walls.

  Right on top of us a woman hung from the ceiling like a large bat, her blonde hair dripping from her skull in thick locks. Her black as midnight eyes were much too wide for her face, and her thin lips revealed sharp pointed teeth.

  Annabel screamed and jumped back, jerking hard on my arm—and on Magni’s. She’d clasped on to both of us, evidently trying to pull us away from the monstrosity but failed due to the difference in our body mass to hers.

  A flicker of something warm and confusing bloomed in my chest.

  “What the hell is that?” she shrieked, batting wildly at me as I tried to pull her back into my arms—and closer to the blonde woman.

  “‘That is Verdandi,” Magni said. He turned to the broadly smiling Norn. “We have come to seek your guidance, wise one.”

  Verdandi’s smile widened further, revealing even more sharp teeth and then skittered across the ceiling and down the side like a spider, limbs inverting in wholly unnatural ways. Annabel shuddered in my grasp, halfway trying to bury into my side and halfway attempting to disappear behind me. I’d never admit it out loud, but seeing the Norn up close like this didn’t exactly do wonders for my gut, either.

  Verdandi finally landed on the floor, looking somewhat less like an oversized spider when upright. She pulled a hand across her face, and her features melted underneath her fingers.

  “Oh, God,” Annabel croaked, horror plain in her shaky voice, but when the Norn removed her hand, her eyes were normal sized and a pale blue, and her teeth looked humanly blunt.

  “Which one?” Verdandi asked, head crocked to one side as she stared unblinkingly at my mate.

  “W-what?”

  “Which god are you invoking?”

  Annabel blinked, taken aback by the curiosity in the Norn’s voice. “I… no one in particular.”

  “Huh. How odd.” Verdandi broke out in a smile again. It was still somewhat too wide for a human face—it’d clearly been a while since she’d had to to conceal her true form. “It’s been a while since we last met, little omega. How are you?”

  “I’m very sure we’ve never met before. I would remember you,” Annabel said as she stared at the Norn, and I quelled a grin. Even Magni’s lips twitched.

  “I was there when you were born,” Verdandi said, unfazed by the Annabel’s denial. “You found me frightening then, too.” And then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, she reached out and pressed a finger to my mate’s nose.

  “Boop.”

  “That’s enough,” Magni said, pulling Annabel from my grasp and tucking her against his own body. “She’s mortal. She scares easy.”

  I snarled at having my mate taken from me, the sound rumbling through the cave before I could clamp my teeth shut around it.

  Annabel shot me a glare. “Stop that,” she hissed, before she pulled away from Magni enough that her side wasn’t smushed against his. “Both of you.” Then she refocused on Verdandi. “You were at my birth? How? Why?”

  “The prophecy, of course.” The Norn blinked, a puzzled expression on her face. “Someone had to shield you until you were ready.”

  “Shield me? How? From what?” Annabel’s eyes were almost as wide as Verdandi’s had been before she changed her form. “I don’t understand what any of this has got to do with these idiots thinking I’m their broodmare.”

  Th
e Norn turned to stare at Magni and me, the jerk of her neck too sharp. “Does she not know? Have you not told her?”

  “Told me what?” Annabel insisted, the quiver in voice complete gone now, wiped away by thirst for knowledge.

  Verdandi closed her eyes and hummed, before her face fell solemn.

  “On the day the first snow falls,

  And Ragnarök looms dark,

  To save the kin of gods,

  Their sons must ride to find,

  The mortal omega with fate divine,

  And bind her to their side.”

  She blinked her eyes open, smiled wide and booped Annabel on the nose again. “That’s your prophecy, little omega. You are the one with fate divine.”

  “What?” Annabel said. “It doesn’t say one word about it being me! It could be any omega.”

  Verdandi’s brow creased in a frown. “No, no, no. Not any omega. You. I weaved your fate myself.”

  “That’s some bullshit,” Annabel growled. “What kind of a prophecy is this anyway? It doesn’t explain anything. It doesn’t even say anything about me having to pop out some demigod to save the world.”

  “That’s seers for you,” Magni said with a shrug. “And Mimir always gets kind of poetic about his prophecies. That’s why Loki went to Verdandi—to get her help interpreting it.”

  “And how do you know what my father did?” I asked, eyes narrowed at the redhead. “He told no one but my brothers and I.”

  “Oh, that was me.” Verdandi shot me a brilliant smile.

  “What? Why?” I blinked at her in shock. “That twat kidnapped Annabel before Grim and Bjarni could mate her!”

  The Norn looked from me to Magni, eyebrows raised in surprise, as if I was asking the most obvious of questions. “For the prophecy.”

  “It doesn’t say a word about Thor’s bastard needing in on this,” I gritted out, only narrowly managing to keep my tone above insolence. “You told my father that Grim, Bjarni, and I needed to claim the omega as our mate.”