Saoirse's heart pounded in her chest as she watched Sirius reach for the cup. Horror twisted through her—this was exactly what Nanna wanted. No. She couldn't let it happen. She had to stop it.
Desperation surged through her, fueling a raw, primal fury. She threw herself against the chains with feral force, her body twisting and straining as though sheer willpower could break the unyielding iron. The cuffs bit into her wrists, drawing blood, but she didn't stop. She snarled and thrashed, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Sirius tipped the cup towards his lips.
"No!" she roared, her voice breaking with rage. Her vision blurred as hot tears mixed with sweat. She yanked harder, her muscles trembling, the pain only sharpening her determination.
"Do not drink the blood!" Sroka cried below, echoing the thought on nearly everybody's mind, and repeating what she had told Sirius earlier.
"Raaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Saoirse let out a yell of intense ferocity and anger as her body began to shift. Fur erupted from her as her muscles bulged and the power of her wolf surged through her. The chains groaned under her might as she pulled, her movements precise and calculated. Her growls grew louder, more feral, as the iron links trembled. She was a force of nature now, an unstoppable storm. She braced herself and lunged, pulling with everything she had. "I will not be caged!".
Then, under the immense strain, the glass floor below her began to crack.
———-
Sirius could smell the blood in the cup as he brought it towards his lips. It was potent. This is werewolf blood his mind cried out. What would happen if he drank it? Would he be able to contain his newfound power? Last time he had werewolf blood, he blacked out. The power it possessed had driven him absolutely feral. Fear crept into him. He looked towards the Beta.
"DRINK!" Odin commanded.
"But my Allfather, it's werewolf blood!" He cried.
The Beta and Nanna exchanged fearful glances, had Sirius once again escaped their plans? They hadn't expected that he could smell that, or even distinguish between different animal's blood.
"I SAID DRINK! I DONT CARE ABOUT YOUR PREFERENCES IN FLAVOR; DRINK IT NOW OR IT WILL BE OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"
"Mead!" Sirius exclaimed, "Allfather, I can pledge with Mead instead!
"No!" Nanna cried out, losing her composure.
Everyone turned towards her, "What do you mean no?" Odin asked, forgetting to yell in that moment as he was surprised that Nanna would interfere. But Nanna wasn't saying no to Sirius choosing mead instead of the drink provided, her attention was to the ceiling, where her hidden room overlooked the scene below, the glass had begun cracking and the magic maintaining it hidden had failed. Above them, nearly twenty feet in the air, was a white and blue wolf, chained to the floor, and tugging herself free with all her might.
"SAOIRSE!!!!" Sirius cried out in horror as with one last tug, the chains that bound her broke free and the entire glass box shattered. The floor and walls around her burst into a thousand prismatic shards.
For a moment everyone stood there in shock. Millions of tiny shards of glass seemed to be suspended in the air where they were and Saoirse lost her balance, her arms shooting upwards to grab at something, the chains on her wrists floated upward as her body began to fall. And then, time seemed to recal it had a job to do and the wolf fell towards the ground below, her body closing the distance with the floor as fast as the blink of an eye.
Sirius unfurled his eight-foot wingspan and shot forward, putting all of his soul into catching her. The whole world closed in on the one thing in front of him, the falling figure of his mate.
The Valkyrie gasped, their wings unfurling instinctively, but hesitation rooted them to the spot. He was Loki's spawn, a creature of chaos. Should they help him? They didn't know if they were allowed to help since he was still a spawn of Loki and they had no idea who this wolf woman was, was she his wife? Why was she here?
In a desperate attempt to reach her, a second pair of wings sprouted from Sirius' sides and propelled him forward even more frantically. "Faster." His beast screamed, taking possession of his voice, "I have to be faster!"
Finally, her weight crashed into his arms, sending a shockwave through his body like a bolt of lightning. Relief surged through him, but it was short-lived. Her momentum yanked him downward, the force too great to counteract.
They fell out of control, plummeting toward the floor. Sirius didn't have time to protect her. He didn't know how he could shield her as they hit the ground with crash, cracking the floor with a sheer force that sent them skidding across the marble floor, sparks flying as his wings scraped against the stone. The feathers on his wings began to burn intensely, being exposed to the aura of Odin, which was also like the sunlight. Their momentum didn't stop until they collided with the far wall, a deafening explosion of white stone and debris echoing through the hall.
Dust filled the air, and silence fell like a shroud. Sirius groaned, his arms tightening around Saoirse. His body trembled from the impact, but he didn't loosen his hold. She was in his arms. That was all that mattered.
The Valkyrie stood frozen, their eyes wide with disbelief, the weight of what they had just witnessed sinking into the room like a heavy fog.
Then Saoirse began to burn. The pain of their bond returned to him, whatever was blocking it out had been broken.
"The baby!" He cried out in despair. "Have we harmed the baby?!"
He pulled the cloak off of himself and threw it over Saoirse to protect her from Odin's aura. Relief came over her, but it was short lived because now Sirius was burning. His wings had become bone at this point and did nothing to shield him as the pain washed over him. He did the only thing he could do and grabbed the cup of blood and drank it, hoping to heal himself with its power.
As soon as he had the power of the blood in his system, scales covered his body out of instinct. It was something that he hadn't thought to do, but his beast was trying to save his life.
His wings regrew a fireproof skin. The power of the curse no longer affected him. His eyes changed to those of a demon beast.
"Impossible!" Odin yelled, "Has Loki had another son?! This power cannot come from the seed of Fenrir! Neither could he be the son of Jormungander, his spawn do not drink blood!"
With the werewolf blood coursing through his veins, Sirius had shielded himself from pain and now turned his demon eyes on Nanna.
"Who has tied up my wife!" His demon inside of him cried in anguish at the state of Saoirse, who lay unconscious in his arms, "You lied to me—you didn't need to find her! You didn't need me to pledge to anyone, you snake! You might have killed my baby!"
Pain and fear and anger surged through him, but the only thing he could do was hold Saoirse and cry.