Meet The Character | The Pierced One

I’m the Toy Maker. Not really, that’s just what the pup calls me. Who better to play the villain to his superhero? Kid’s imagination is bigger than he is, but not as far fetched as he’ll hopefully never know. I’m the cool uncle, all tatted up and pierced to the nine. It would break my heart for him to see me any other way.

I love being here, love being in this crazy pack of a family, but love is a doubled edged sword when you’re only half of who you’re supposed to be. I’m a framer by trade, hacker for fun, and Úlfr by birth. Odin’s wolves, that’s what we are; hiding in plain sight as humans in Midgard. Since the dawn of time, we’ve had our share of ups and downs as a species. Hunted alongside our wild cousins by those who didn’t know any better, hunted for being exactly what we were by those who did. Witch hunters, determined to rid the earth of all things non-human.

But nothing hurt us the way the first Fenrisúlfr did when he sent out an army of human-turned vargar to slaughter us with no warning. Entire packs wiped from existence overnight. Bloodlines lost. From Elders to pups, no one was spared. By the time the survivors managed to destroy him and his army, our numbers had been severely depleted.

I watched my entire family perish before my eyes; shredded, bleeding, left for dead and unable to stop any of it. Now, he’s back and I’m just as helpless to stop him today as I was forty years ago. Only, the horrible, fucked up truth of it is this time, it’s by choice.

I’m the pierced one, not for all the superficial hoops, studs and barbells decorating my skin: but for the two posts of Dvergur Járn impaled in my shoulder blades. Dwarf Iron, a powerful Asgardian metal that keeps my wolf caged, unable to escape. I’m a shifter who can’t shift. A wolf trapped in a human’s body. And I asked for it. Hell, I begged for it and you don’t want to know what I endured to finally get it. But it was worth it, because my wolf is ravaged with bloodlust. He’s feral for the taste of his enemy’s screams, hell bent on retribution above all things…even love. The love of my packmates, the Elders. The bond of my Alpha Pair and worst of all…my mate.

How can I keep her safe like this? How can I help any of them, when to become whole again would mean becoming no better than the Fenrir, himself?

~ Shayd Eklund