Then slowly—very slowly—understanding spread across his face.
His eyes snapped toward Menon.
Holy shit.
“You’re Menon Blau?”
The tension around us sharpened immediately.
Students nearby had started openly staring now.
Of course they were.
Apparently the future celestial guardian prince of Asgard threatening a Fenrir Alpha in the middle of the Spring Equinox Festival counted as entertainment at Runevald.
The hatred I’d sensed from Gunner since arriving at the Institute suddenly made awful, perfect sense.
Descendant of Máni.
Descendant of Fenrir.
Moon versus Wolf.
Ancient instinctive rivalry embedded directly into supernatural bloodlines.
Divine predator chasing celestial prey.
The old Norse legends flashed through my mind suddenly.
Sköll and Hati.
The wolves destined to chase the moon and sun across the heavens until the end of the world.
And Menon—Gods.
Menon carried the blood of the moon itself.
No wonder Gunner reacted to him instinctively.
No wonder Menon’s presence made the Wolf restless and angry without understanding why.
Biological.
Ancient.
Primal.
Menon inclined his head once.
“Yes.”
Gunner dragged one hand down his face roughly.
“Well,” he muttered. “That explains a fucking lot actually.”
The tension shifted strangely after that.
Not gone.
