Valkyrie Destined

VALKYRIE DESTINED A LEGACY WORLD NOVEL VALKYRIES RISING BOOK 1 ALLYSON LINDT ACELETTE PRESS This book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2023 by Allyson Lindt Cover Art by Romancepremades.com All Rights Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. Manufactured in the United States of America CONTENTS 1. Azzie 2. Zeke 3. Davyn 4. Azzie 5. Zeke 6. Azzie 7. Azzie 8. Zeke 9. Azzie 10. Zeke 11. Azzie 12. Davyn 13. Zeke 14. Azzie 15. Davyn 16. Azzie 17. Zeke 18. Azzie 19. Davyn 20. Zeke 21. Azzie 22. Zeke 23. Davyn 24. Azzie 25. Zeke 26. Davyn 27. Zeke 28. Azzie 29. Davyn Epilogue - Loki Other Valkyries Rising Books For my own personal dragon And my ultimate amazing assistant I couldn’t do this without your support ONE AZZIE Forged steel, cheap beer, and sexy romance novels. These were a few of my favorite things. I frequently loved a good sparring match, too. I’d been raised on them. Throwing kicks and dodging punches was practically in my blood. All of that thanks to the man—the Berserker—who refused to give me a good fight now. Davyn charged me, his shoulder down, driving at me with more agility than a being who could turn into a bear at will should be able to. Despite the leaves under our feet, he made no sound. It was an obvious attack; the kind of thing he taught me when I was seven. Back then, he moved more slowly on purpose—albeit with reluctance—because I was learning. The fact that he wasn’t running at full speed now, twenty-three years later, was frustrating at best. I rolled aside at the last second, kicking up dust from the packed ground, and tapped his back in a spot with a move that would have sent him rolling if I’d put my full weight into it. He pulled up short and spun to face me. “You’re holding back.” “So are you.” There was no accusation in my voice. In fact, there was no emotion at all in my voice. I was supposed to stay removed and objective during the fight. I squared off against him in the forest clearing, ready for his next move. “Because my not holding back will hurt you.” Davyn spoke coolly, repeating the line I’d heard hundreds of times before. Sure, he was thousands of years old and made to survive ancient wars, while I was a mortal woman who was barely thirty. I also wasn’t going to get better if he kept treating me like I was still the kid he aband— stopped teaching, years ago. “What is it you always tell me? Never let personal feelings get in the way.” Not compassion or rage or irritation. “Nothing that will jeopardize my chances of survival.” A light breeze brushed my skin, kissing away the sweat of our afternoon workout, but not cooling my temper any better than my thoughts did. He clenched his jaw, and his silence spoke louder than any retort. We’d had this conversation enough times that I knew his reply would be, which is why I’m holding back. I couldn’t actually face a bear—or a man who turned into one—if he were fighting at full strength. I didn’t have the ability to heal in a blink, the way he did. Not yet, anyway. My mother had visions her entire life. They drove her to insanity in the end, but before that, when she still had her mind and I was young, she was lucid enough to distinguish the difference between the future and the present. Several of her visions featured me. Even before I was born, she saw my future and that one day I’d become a super-powerful being. A god. If I’d learned that for the first time as an adult, I suspected it would sound ridiculous to me. But as a child, it was as much a part of my upbringing as learning my ABCs. I’d never questioned it. It wasn’t the kind of information I went around sharing with random people, though. Mom never questioned it. She’d treated me like a goddess from day one—a goddess of war, who would need to be tough enough to vanquish her enemies, and be kind to those who needed her compassion. She saw massive destruction in my future and had never stopped reminding me of that fact. Davyn lunged without warning. Or at least, there was no verbal let’s go again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the subtle twitch of his arms. The way he moved his weight from one leg to another. I was ready when he pushed off from the ground with a flying kick. I ducked under his leg, and when he dropped his weight mid-kick to catch me, I rolled to the side, struck his ankle, and knocked him aside before he landed. He caught himself without pause, springing upright again and swinging a fist at me. I let his arm sail past my head, close enough I felt the air around his punch. Grabbing his forearm, I used his own momentum against him, to throw him. Davyn growled. I shrugged. “You’re getting predictable.” Not his fault. He had thousands of years of training ingrained in him, and he’d passed that along to me. Except that I recognized the patterns and refused to get stuck in that rut. I’d asked him to teach me new things. To introduce me to someone who could. To push me harder, please. He continued to pull his punches, because after