The Wolfskin Series - Book cover

The Wolfskin Series

A. Makkelie

The Rune-stone

MERA

“What the fuck are you doing on the couch?”

Mera shot up and fell off the couch onto the ground. She groaned as she hit her forehead on the coffee table.

Sighing, she looked at her human alarm clock and saw her dad with a surprised look on his face.

“Thanks for the concussion, Dad,” she said as her head pounded and she sat back on the couch again.

He snorted and removed her hand from her head. “Are you dizzy or feeling nauseous?”

She shook her head and grimaced.

“It will leave you with a nice bruise and a headache, but you don’t have a concussion. What were you doing sleeping on the couch?” he asked.

She sighed as she rubbed her eyes. “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I came downstairs and watched a movie. I guess I must have fallen asleep on the couch.”

Her dad hummed in response. “Well, go get a shower and get dressed. Your mom wants you to get some groceries, and we’re invited to the mayor’s house for dinner.”

Mera paled at the last sentence. “We’re going to eat with the mayor and his family?”

Her dad narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.

I can’t exactly tell him I can’t stop thinking about the mayor’s son.

“Yes,” he said slowly. “Viggo and his family will also be attending, and so will the two interns. Why?”

A wave of relief washed over her when she knew she wouldn’t be alone with him.

“Nothing, just surprised,” she said in her best normal tone.

“They are different here, Esmeralda. People actually take an interest in you, so you better get used to it. Now go before your mom has your head,” he said as he pushed her off the couch.

She groaned and walked toward her room. Things were definitely different here, but whether she would get used to it was still a question she couldn’t answer.

She opened the door to her bathroom and screamed as she saw her naked brother.

“Seriously, dude, lock the fucking door!” she shouted as she closed the door behind her.

She sighed as she walked to her mirror and looked at the bruise on her head.

Great! I’m going to eat at the mayor’s house tonight, with a bruise on my forehead. What will Killian think? Will he think I’m ugly because of it?

What the fuck! Why am I thinking like this? I don’t even know him, and thinking about him like this will only get me further into trouble! He’s the mayor’s son, for crying out loud!

“The bathroom’s yours!” Mitch yelled through the door.

Mera rolled her eyes, opened the door, and went in to take a long shower.

After she was done, she put on some fresh black underwear, ripped jeans, a blue tank top, and a black hoodie.

She knew she would be hot later, but she didn’t want everyone to see her scars.

She tied her hair in a messy bun, put on her flip-flops, and walked downstairs.

Mitch and Mera glared at each other; he was about to say something when their mom cleared her throat.

“Esmeralda, these are the things I’m going to need to make my famous cake for the mayor and his deputy tonight.”

Her mother handed her a note and some money.

“You’re going to make your chocolate and strawberry cake?” Mitch asked while drooling.

Mera rolled her eyes at her brother.

“Yes, but it’s for them and not you, so behave! I don’t want you eating the entire cake before they even get one piece!” Dina told him.

Mitch pouted like a little child before he took an apple and went to bite into it. Before he could, Mera grabbed the apple and took a bite out of it.

“You know those are poisoned, so only I can eat them, right?” Mitch said.

Mera chuckled and rolled her eyes as she took another bite.

“If I die from eating an apple, give me a glass coffin so my prince can wake me up with a kiss, and I can kick your ass.”

Mitch grabbed another one and threw it at her.

Mera yelped and dodged it as she ran to the door.

She took another bite before she ran out the door as her brother yelled something she couldn’t understand.

The sun was already out, and it was starting to get warm. She seriously hoped she wouldn’t have to take off her hoodie in town.

Pity and questions were two things she didn’t need right now.

The town was already busy with people doing all kinds of things. It was a Saturday, so most people were shopping and doing all the errands they couldn’t do during a workweek.

On the way to the grocery store, she came across a large stone with some sort of writing on it.

She hadn’t noticed it before because of the market, but now it was something she couldn’t look past.

Even though she couldn’t understand what the stone said, it somehow drew her in. It was like the stone had a magnetic pull on her.

Mera stepped a little closer to it, and without her own doing, her hand started to move toward the stone.

“It’s a rune-stone.”

She was pulled out of the trance and looked at the male standing next to her.

Aksel smiled. “It was put here by the Vikings that used to live here.”

Mera looked back at the stone. “What does it say?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he said with a small chuckle. “I can’t read runes,” he added with a shrug.

Mera also chuckled and looked at the stone once more before they both started walking toward the grocery store.

“So I guess you also heard about the dinner?”

Mera nodded. “My dad told me this morning,” she said.

“Mine too. They just decided this morning. Your family must have impressed the mayor.”

She gave him a small smile.

“Nervous?”

Mera had to keep her cool at his question because she was so nervous that she could literally have a heart attack from worrying too much.

“Should I be?” she countered while she looked at him.

He shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets. “Besides the fact that there will be boring conversations, it’s just like any other household,” Aksel stated.

Mera gave him a small smile when his phone rang.

She took a few steps forward to give him some privacy when suddenly her attention was drawn to the fountain in the middle of the square.

Some children were yelling at someone else, and she could see a little girl in the middle of a group of five boys.

She recognized one of them as Ruben, who was trying to stop one of the other boys.

What’s going on?

“Sorry about that—”

Before Aksel could finish his sentence, they saw Ruben being roughly pushed away, and the girl had been thrown into the fountain; one boy was holding her under the water.

Without a second thought, Mera ran toward the group with Aksel close behind.

“Aksel!” Ruben yelled as he cried and ran toward his brother.

The group saw Mera running toward them. They ran away but were stopped by Ken, Edvin, Killian, and Synne.

Mera jumped into the fountain and grabbed the girl.

Killian also jumped in and helped get the girl out, and they laid her on the ground.

Mera crouched down next to her and listened closely with her ear to her mouth.

The girl wasn’t breathing.

She placed three fingers on the girl’s chest and one hand underneath her head.

Mera pushed once, and the girl immediately coughed up the water in her lungs.

Mera breathed in relief and helped the girl sit up as she coughed up the rest of the water and caught her breath.

She glared at the boys, who looked at her with scared expressions.

Since when did bullying become killing?

The girl was shivering, and without thinking, Mera took off her hoodie and placed it around the girl’s shoulders.

Still crying, Ruben fell next to the girl and hugged her. “I’m so sorry, Kim!”

Mera looked at Killian, who sighed in relief as he met her eyes. He gave her a small nod.

Mera looked at the two kids in front of her and sighed as well. “What happened?”

Ruben looked at her. “Kimmy wasn’t born here. Her family moved here a couple of years ago, and they told her she doesn’t belong here. That she doesn’t deserve to be here.”

Mera clenched her jaw and looked at Aksel, who had clenched his fists and was looking at the boys.

Before she could say anything else, the girl wrapped her arms around her neck and sobbed. “T-thank y—you.”

Mera smiled and hugged her back. “No need to thank me, Kimmy.”

She pulled away and dried her tears.

Right then, a female came running at her with tears in her eyes; she grabbed Kimmy in a tight embrace.

Viggo walked up behind her and gave Mera a small nod.

The woman also looked at her. “Thank you for saving my daughter.”

The woman and Kimmy walked away as the boys’ parents scolded and grounded them.

They should have gotten a harsher punishment than grounding, but I guess it’s not up to me.

The parents led the boys away, and Ruben immediately hugged her legs.

She looked with surprise at the boy and crouched down to be at the same height. She wiped a tear from his face and gave him a small smile. “Are you okay?”

He smiled at her and nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said.

She gave him a questioning look, but when she saw him looking at her arm, she knew what he meant.

She sighed and closed her eyes as she pulled her arm toward her body.

“Shit,” she whispered.

“What the fuck happened to you a few years ago?”

She looked up at Ken and saw them all looking at her arm.

She sighed as she got up and knew that the questions and pity were just about to start.

“It’s a long story,” she said as she looked around the group.

Her eyes were drawn to Killian’s, and she could have sworn she saw hurt and sadness in them.

He gulped as he met her eyes and looked away from her.

Synne stepped forward. “You saved Kimmy. We can’t thank you enough for that.”

Mera looked at Synne and smiled. “If you ever want to talk about this”—she motioned to her arm—“my door is always open.”

Killian grunted and walked away.

Mera watched his retreating figure and couldn’t help but feel sad, damaged, and hurt.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Thanks, but I’m fine. I just hate the pitiful looks I get every time people see my arm.”

It wasn’t a lie. She really did hate it, but she really didn’t want to tell them what had happened to her.

“Does it still hurt?”

Mera looked at Ruben and saw him staring at her arm.

“Every day. I lost fifty percent mobility that day, and every time I move my arm, it hurts, but I’ve learned to live with it, so don’t worry, kiddo,” she said as she brushed her hand through his hair.

“That’s why it hurt you so much when I wrapped my arm around you.”

She looked at Ken and nodded.

“So it wasn’t muscle ache?”

She chuckled and looked at Viggo. “It also is, but mostly it’s pain caused by my damaged nerves.”

She felt a sensation on her arm, and as she looked at it, she saw Ruben running a finger down her scars.

“Ruben!” Aksel scolded.

“It’s fine, Aksel,” Mera said.

She crouched down to look at the boy.

“Can you still feel your arm when I touch it?”

She nodded. “I can, but it’s not like my normal arm. It feels like my arm is sleeping, and when it’s touched, it feels numb.”

When she was done talking, he wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her.

Mera smiled and hugged him back.

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