My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 67

Fenris

The boy’s head hit the frozen dirt.

It was barely dawn. The sun was still trapped behind the jagged eastern peaks, casting a flat, grey light over the fortress. The air was thin and bitingly cold, carrying the sharp scent of pine needles and fresh ice. My breath plumed in thick white clouds in front of my face.

I stood at the edge of the secondary sparring ring. Yvara leaned against the heavy wooden fence post next to me. We were watching the morning drills.

"You took her to your den last night," Yvara said.

She didn't look at me. She kept her eyes on the two twelve-year-old pups circling each other in the packed dirt.

"She was bleeding," I replied. My voice was completely flat.

"We have a healer's wing, Alpha," Yvara pointed out. "We also have a guest wing. And she has her own room."

She let out a low grunt. I looked at her. I saw the faint, mocking smile pulling at the scarred corner of her mouth.

I shifted my weight. The cold wind whipped at the edges of my heavy fur cloak. I was uncomfortable with the underlying meaning in her tone. I spent the entire night sitting in a hard wooden chair, fighting my own primal biology, listening to Sera breathe. I didn't need my second-in-command analyzing my choices.

"Is there a problem, Yvara?" I asked.

Yvara shrugged her shoulders. The thick leather of her armor creaked. "None here. I am just surprised you actually carried her up there yourself. I didn't think you would start to care this early."

I looked back at the ring. "She is my mate. Why wouldn't I care?"

Yvara nodded slowly. "Yes, yes." She turned her head and looked directly at me. Her dark eyes were entirely serious now. "Fenris. I saw her face when she looked at you yesterday after she broke Taya. She’s starting to adore you. She is entirely open to you. I can already smell an undying loyalty building in that girl."

She glanced around the empty sections of the yard. She stepped a fraction closer to me and brought her voice down to a low, rough murmur.

"In a place where that commodity is getting incredibly scarce, you need to keep her very close."

I heard the warning. I understood exactly what she meant.

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