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Volken hit me from the other side like a freight train. His arms locked around my torso, crushing, trying to pin my arms. His voice thundered in my ear, deep and commanding, but I didn’t hear words. I heard resistance.

I fought them all. Claws tore free, muscles burned, rage drowned thought. Every instinct screamed at me to tear through them, to get back to her, to stand over her body and kill anything that moved.

Roman’s power pressed harder. It wasn’t pain, it was weight. Like the sky itself was lowering onto my spine, forcing my knees to bend, my breath to stutter. It wrapped around my thoughts, shoving logic and memory back into place whether I wanted them or not. I resisted; I clawed at it with everything I had. My mind splintered against his will, sparks of agony flashing behind my eyes as I tried to break free. Berserkers didn’t submit, we tore ourselves apart before we bowed.

Lucien shouted something. Draugr’s grip tightened. Volken growled low, bracing his legs as I bucked and twisted, dragging all of them a full step forward through sheer force.

Roman didn’t move, not an inch. He stood there, calm in the middle of my storm, eyes locked on mine, power rolling off him in waves that crushed and constrained and stripped away movement inch by inch.

I felt it start to paralyze me. First my hands, fingers locking, claws retracting against my will. Then my legs, muscles still burning with fury but no longer obeying it. My chest heaved as breath turned shallow, the roar ripping out of me breaking into a ragged snarl. Still my senses strained toward her.

Even now, even restrained, even half-lost to Roman’s will, I could feel her like a beacon tearing at my insides. Alive, bleeding, fading in and out like a flickering flame.

Roman didn’t flinch, not when I fought to get to him. Not when my power smashed uselessly against his. Not when my rage howled for blood. He met my gaze, held it, and then released everything he had.

Power slammed through me in a crushing wave, ancient and absolute, driving me to my knees, forcing my head down, locking my body into stillness. Darkness rushed in at the edges of my vision. The last thing I felt before it took me was the bond pulling tight in my chest, screaming one command over and over again like a prayer and a curse.

Mine. Protect. Then the world went black.

***

I came back swinging. My body surged upright, snarling, ready to tear apart whoever dared restrain me.

“Where is my mate?” I roared.

Hands held me down. Strong. Familiar. “Easy,” Lucien said urgently. “Easy.”

I thrashed. “WHERE IS MY MATE?”

“She’s alive,” Roman said calmly. The word cut through the haze. Alive. I froze. Roman stepped into my line of sight. “She’s being treated. The doctor is with her now.”

My chest heaved. “Let me go.”

“Not yet,” Volken rumbled. “You’re not stable.”

“LET ME GO!”

“I know your fury brother,” Roman stated. “But she needs you sane.” That hit harder than any blow. I sagged slightly, fury still boiling, but held in check by sheer will.

“Take me to my mate,” I demanded.

“We will,” Roman said. “When you won’t kill the doctor.”

I roar in rage, and then by sheer will dragged a hand down my face, shaking. My hands were still stained with her blood. My mate was shot, because of me, because my world followed her now. I looked up slowly, voice breaking into something dangerous and quiet. “I want to kill.”

Lucien’s grunted. “You will brother, we have the shooter.”

Roman’s eyes were cold. “No one touches what belongs to us. You will get your revenge.”

I closed my eyes, breath shuddering, the bond screaming inside me. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Because if I lost her… There wouldn’t be a world left to stand in.

Control didn’t come easily. I dragged it back inch by inch, like hauling a wild animal by chains. The berserker state prowled just beneath my skin, furious at the delay, furious at the restraint, furious that I wasn’t already tearing something apart.

Roman watched me closely, measuring, weighing. “Look at me,” he said again, quieter this time. “Not with rage, but with reason. I can see you in there Viking, take control brother.”

I forced my eyes open. Lucien stood to my left, hand hovering close but not touching, ready to jump if I snapped. Volken loomed behind me like a mountain, a living barrier. Draugr was directly in front of me, pale eyes sharp, reading every micro-shift in my posture.

They weren’t restraining me anymore. They were guarding everyone else from what I might do if I didn’t take control.