Loki's Wolves

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

CHAPTER 1

MATT

"CONFRONTATION"

Matt walked through the center of Blackwell, gym bag in hand, jacket thrown overhis shoulder. It was dark now, with an icy wind from the north, but the coldfelt good blowing back his sweat-soaked hair. After two hours of boxingpractice, he'd been tempted to take a detour and jump in the Norrström River,even if he had noticed ice on it that morning. Ice in September. Weird. Even inSouth Dakota, winter never came this early.

A muscle spasmed in his leg, and he winced as he stopped to rub it. The upcomingtournament might be for charity—raising money to help tsunami victims inHawaii—but Coach Forde still made Matt work as hard as he would before atitle match.

Matt started walking again, limping slightly. As much as he wished he could callfor a ride, he knew better. He'd made that mistake last winter, when Coach hadsaid a blizzard was coming. He'd gotten his ride—and a lecture on how hisbrothers had never needed one, even when it was storming. He couldn't catch alift with his friends, either—that was worse because it set a bad example.If Sheriff Thorsen's boys weren't safe walking through Blackwell at night, whowas?

Matt was reaching down to rub his leg again when something moved in the townsquare. His head shot up, eyes narrowing. Outside the rec center, two kidsclimbed onto the weathered Viking longship. Shields lined both sides as ifinvisible warriors rowed the old wooden boat, protection always within reach. Acarved dragon arched from the hull.

The kids were probably setting up a prank, trying to beat the one Matt had donewith his friend Cody at Sigrblot, the spring festival. The parade had arrived atthe longship to find it covered in a tarp ... and making honking noises.Underneath the tarp, they'd discovered a flock of geese wearing little Vikinghelmets.

Best prank ever, that's what everyone said. Unfortunately, Matt had topretend he didn't have anything to do with it. If his parents had found out ...well, they wouldn't ground him or anything. He'd just get "the talk." Howdisappointed they were. How embarrassed they were. How much more responsible hisbrothers were. Personally, he'd rather be grounded.

In a few more steps, he saw that one of the kids was a guy with shaggy brownhair that needed cutting and clothes that needed washing. With him was a girl.Her clothes weren't in such rough shape, but her blond hair needed a trim justas badly.

Fen and Laurie Brekke. Great. The cousins were always getting into trouble.Still, Matt told himself they really might just be pulling a prank ... until hesaw Fen wrench at one of the shields.

There were a lot of things Fen could do and Matt would just look away, tellhimself it was none of his business. That wasn't always easy. Being thesheriff's kid meant he'd had lectures about vandalism since he was old enough tocarve his name into a park bench. But this wasn't a park bench. It was an actuallongship—something the people in Blackwell were really proud of. And therewas Fen, yanking on it and kicking at it.

As Matt's temper flared, his amulet flared with it. He reached for the silverpendant. It was in the shape of an upside-down hammer and almost as old as thelongship. Thor's Hammer. Everyone in Matt's family had one. Thorsen wasn't justtheir name. They really were descendants of the Norse god.

As Matt looked at Fen and Laurie again, his amulet burned hotter. He was aboutto yell at them, then he stopped and took deep breaths, sucking in cold air.

He could hear his mother's voice. You need to learn to control it, Matty. Idon't know why you have so much trouble with that. No other Thorsen has thisproblem. Your brothers could handle theirs even when they were younger thanyou.

Controlling his temper—and Thor's Hammer—seemed especially hardaround the Brekkes. It was like the Hammer knew they were related to thetrickster god Loki. The cousins didn't know that, but Matt did, and he couldfeel it when he looked at them.

Matt took another deep breath. Yes, he needed to stop Fen and Laurie, but he hadto be cool about it. Maybe he could just walk past, pretend he didn't noticethem, and they'd see him and take off before they were caught.

Fen spotted him. Matt continued walking, giving them a chance to sneak off.Being fair. His dad would be proud—

Fen turned back to the longship and yanked on the shield again.

"Hey!" Matt called.

He didn't say it too loud, and he tried not to sound too angry. Just lettingthem know he saw them, giving them time to run ...

"Yeah?" Fen turned and stared straight at him, chin up, shoulders back. He wasshorter than Matt. Skinnier, too. The only "big" thing about Fen was hisattitude, which was always getting him into fights with larger guys ... not thathe seemed to mind.

Laurie stepped beside her cousin. Matt couldn't see her expression, but he wassure it matched Fen's. They weren't going to walk away. He'd been stupid tothink they would.

"You shouldn't be doing that." Even as Matt said the words, he wanted to smackhimself. It was exactly the kind of thing everyone expected the sheriff's kid tosay. By tomorrow, everyone at school would have heard Fen and Laurie repeat itwith a twist of their lips and a roll of their eyes.

Matt cleared his throat. "It's an artifact, and it's really important to thetown." Yeah, like that sounded better.

"Really important to your town," Fen said. "Thorsen-town."

"Just ... don't do it, okay?"

"But I want to. And if you want to stop me ..." Fen stepped forward, giving agrin that was all teeth, and for a second, Matt thought he saw—

Matt shook it off. "Look, I'm just asking—"

"The answer's no." Fen jumped out of the ship with a leap that would make anOlympic athlete proud. "So what are you gonna do about that, Thorsen?"

Matt's amulet heated again. He took a deep breath. Cool it. Just coolit.

He remembered something Coach Forde had said during practice. He'd been tryingto teach Matt how to intimidate an opponent. You're a big guy, he'dsaid. Use that.

It was hard for Matt to remember how big he was. At home, he only came up to hisbrothers' shoulders. But he was the tallest kid in eighth grade.

"What am I going to do?" Matt squared his shoulders, flexed, and steppedforward. "Stop you."

Something flashed in Fen's eyes, something cold and hard that made Matthesitate, but only for a second. He finished his step, stopped in front of Fen,and pulled himself up to his full height.

Laurie climbed out of the ship and moved up beside her cousin. She leaned in andwhispered something. Egging him on, Matt was sure.

Fen waved her off. When she hesitated, he said something so low it was almost agrowl. Laurie looked at Matt, then backed into the shadows of the longship.

Fen moved forward. "You think you can fight, just because you've won a few inthe ring? That's not real fighting. I bet you've never thrown a punchwithout gloves on."

"Then your memory sucks, because I'm pretty sure I beat the snot out of you andHunter when you two ganged up on Cody."

Fen gave a short bark of a laugh. "That was what? First grade? I've learned afew things since then, Thorsen."

Matt took another step. He was sure Fen would back down. He had to. Taking onMatt was crazy. He hadn't just "won a few in the ring." He'd made it all the wayto the state championship.

But Fen just planted his feet far enough apart to keep steady if he got hit. Hewanted to fight. Really fight. Matt should have known that. Mom always said thisis what got him into trouble—he never thought things through.

If he got into it with Fen, his dad would ... Matt inhaled sharply. He didn'teven want to think what his dad would do.

The power of respect. The power of authority. That's what let Thorsens walkthrough Blackwell at night. Not the power of violence. If he fought FenBrekke, his dad would haul him in front of the council and let them handle it.The humiliation would be worse than any punishment they'd order.

"You really want to do this?" Matt asked.

Fen cracked his neck, tilting it side to side, and said, "Yeah, I do."

"Well, too bad. I've got a big match coming, and I need to save my strength fora real opponent."

Matt started to turn. As he did, he heard a growl like a dog's, and he saw Fenlunge, eyes glinting yellow, teeth bared. Matt wheeled. The heat of the amuletflared in a wave of fury that turned his world red.

He felt the power surge down his arm. Heard the crackle. Saw his hand light upand tried to pull the power back.

Too late.

The white-hot ball shot from his hand and exploded with a boom and a blast ofwind that sent Matt tripping backward. Fen flew right off his feet. He hit thelongship hard, his head whipping back, striking the side with a thud. Then hecrumpled to the ground.

Laurie yelled something, but Matt couldn't hear the words. She raced to hercousin. Matt did the same. Laurie dropped beside Fen, took him by the shoulder,and shook him. Fen groaned, his eyelids fluttering.

"Is he okay?" Matt said, crouching beside her.

She stood up, lifted her bag like she was about to slug him with it. "Youknocked him out."

"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. I—"

"I don't know what kind of trick that was. Throwing that light thing to blindhim before you hit him? You call that fair?" She scowled. "Exactly what I'dexpect from a Thorsen."

"I didn't—"

"Whatever. Just go. Fen's not swiping anything tonight." She looked at him. "Ordo you want to call your dad to lock us up?"

"Of course not. I just—" Matt swallowed. "We should get him to thedoctor."

"You think he can afford a doctor?"

"I can. I'll—"

"We don't need anything from you. Just go away," Laurie snapped.

"But if he's—"

"Go. Get out of here."

He pushed to his feet and hesitated, but she was still glaring at him, and Fenwas coming to. Matt probably didn't want to be around when Fen woke up. So hemumbled another apology, backed away, and left them alone.

CHAPTER 2

LAURIE

"CHANGES"

Laurie helped Fen up from the ground. Her cousin wasn't ever good at acceptinghelp, and being knocked on his butt by Matt Thorsen of all people wasn't helpingmatters. The two of them had a natural dislike of one another that she didn'talways understand, but this time, she got it. Matt was a jerk.

"I'm going to kill him," Fen snapped for the third time in as many minutes. "Hethinks he's so special, but he's just a spoiled rich kid."

"I know."

"I could take him." Fen climbed back over the side of the ship.

She didn't tell Fen he was wrong. She wasn't going to be disloyal, but they bothknew Matt was a better fighter. Matt was like a Rottweiler to Fen's back-alleymutt: the mutt might try its best, but the bigger, stronger dog was the onelikely to win.

All she said was, "We need to get out of here before he tells his dad and we getarrested."

He ignored her and continued ranting, "We'll see who's smart when I find himalone after school."

"Getting arrested or getting detention isn't going to make you seem verysmart," she said, as calmly as she could.

"Maybe I won't get caught." Fen stared down at her. He had the bag in one hand,and the other hand rested on the shield he'd been prying loose when they'dgotten to the park.

Laurie dropped her gaze to the weathered ship that stood outside the ThorsenCommunity and Recreation Center. "What were you thinking? We could've ducked. Iknow you saw him."

"I'm not afraid of him." Fen stood aboard the ship and stared out at the town.

Laurie shivered. It wasn't hard to think of Fen as a Viking Raider. She wasn'tshaking as badly as she'd been when she'd told Matt to shove off, but she stillfelt all twitchy, like the time she'd grabbed a frayed electrical cord in UncleEddy's garage. She stared up at Fen. "His dad is the sheriff. He couldsend you away ... or tell the mayor. You know Mayor Thorsen hates our family."

"I'm not afraid of any Thorsens." Fen straightened his shoulders and gave her alook that reminded her of Fen's dad, her uncle Eddy, which wasn't a good thing.Uncle Eddy never backed down from a challenge. She might not know exactly whathe'd done to end up in prison, but she'd bet it had started with a challenge.

He tugged on the shield. "I can't get it loose."

"Just leave the shield alone!" She rubbed her hands again.

"Fine." He hopped over the side of the ship and came to stand beside her.

Laurie didn't always understand her cousin, but she knew that he had a stubbornstreak that led him—and often her—into trouble. That wasn't whatthey needed. "Matt's not worth the hassle."

With a soft snort, Fen said, "You got that right."

"So you'll stay away from him and the shield? I don't want you to getinto anything." She looked at him, hoping for a promise that didn't come, andwhen he stayed stone-silent, she gently bumped her head into his shoulder andimmediately felt silly.

But then Fen butted her head with his and said, "I'm okay."

She paused. That's what she'd meant, some combination of I'm worried, youfool. Are you okay? and Talk to me. Fen got it. Her dad's side ofthe family always seemed better at communicating without words. Her dad did,too—when he was around, at least, which these days wasn't very often.

"Come on," he said. "You need to get home anyhow."

They started toward her apartment building. She wouldn't have time to walk Fenhome, but even if she did, he wouldn't let her. He was the older brother shedidn't have, determined to protect her even as he drove her crazy. Most of theBrekke side of the family treated her like she was something to be shielded.Even though she didn't see them, she knew they watched out for her. No one atschool ever gave her grief, and she was pretty sure that Fen had let it be knownthat he'd pummel anyone who started anything with her.

"I miss seeing everyone," Laurie said quietly. Aside from Fen, she only reallygot to see her dad's family when she passed them in town. Fen was in her class,so they saw each other at school, but there were no family barbecues, noparties, no even stopping by for a chat. Her mother stayed clear of the Brekkes,and since her dad was off on one of his never-ending trips, Laurie wasn't ableto be around the family, either.

"Everyone misses you, too ... and Uncle Stig." Fen didn't mention her halfbrother, Jordie, or her mom, of course. The Brekkes hadn't quite rejectedJordie, but he wasn't family to them. He was proof that her mother andfather had separated, that her mother had tried to move on, but that hadn'tworked out. Now, her mom let her dad move back in every time he came to town.He treated Jordie like a son, not as much as he did with Fen, but stillhe accepted Laurie's brother. The rest of the Brekkes weren't that cool.

"Has Uncle Stig called lately?" Fen asked. There was so much hope in his voicethat Laurie wished, not for the first time, that her dad would try to rememberto call Fen, too. Of course, he didn't remember to call her most of the time, soexpecting him to do much else was silly.

"A few weeks ago. He's coming to see me soon. That was what he said, at least."Laurie ducked her head.

Fen nudged her with his shoulder. "He'll come."

"Unless he doesn't," Laurie added. Both were equally likely. Her father came andwent as the mood struck him; he called or sent presents if he thought of it.

"Maybe he'll stay for a while," Fen suggested.

And Laurie knew the part he didn't say, and then I can stay with you.Fen had no real home. Uncle Eddy had been locked up the past few years for somecrime no one would talk about in front of either of them, and Aunt Lillian hadpacked her bags years ago. Fen moved between the relatives like a bag of hand-me-down clothes. When Laurie's father was around for a while, he was likely toinvite Fen to live with them. Once he left, Fen moved out. Laurie's mother neversaid he had to go, but Fen always did—and her mother never stoppedhim.

"Can you just try not to fight with Matt? Or anyone?" she blurted.

Fen stopped, gave her a look, and then resumed walking.

"It'll be easier if you don't fight with him." She grabbed Fen's forearm. "Momworries about your influence on Jordie, and if Dad does stay, it'd be nice ifyou came home, too."
(Continues...)Excerpted from Loki's Wolves by K. L. Armstrong, M. A. Marr. Copyright © 2013 K. L. Armstrong M. A. Marr. Excerpted by permission of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
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