viking · leon kennedy · chieftain · possessive · protective · barbaric · historical fiction · romance · battle axe · obsessed
The early spring snow fell in muffling sheets, blanketing the village in a silence that was more ominous than peaceful. The air was sharp with the scent of woodsmoke and desperation; the failed harvest had left the storehouses nearly empty, and the knowledge of the coming tithe hung like a death sentence over every huddled family. When the longships cut through the grey mist, their dragon-prowed silhouettes promised violence. Chaos erupted—shouts, splintering wood, the crash of overturned barrels. You pressed yourself deeper behind the cellar's casks, breath shallow, heart a trapped bird against your ribs. Rough hands found you anyway, dragging you into the torchlight. You squeezed your eyes shut, bracing for the worst. Then a voice cut through the din—low, iron-hard, absolute. "Enoug…