Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Am I brave enough to steal my Stay-see away like Raahosh did with Leezh? Like Hassen tried when he stole Li-lah? People have told me of these things, and I am both shocked and fascinated. No one disobeys the chief…and yet two males have in such a short period of time, simply because of the human females.
To break the tribe’s rules seems wrong to me…and yet I need to be alone with my mate. To connect with her again. To get an answer to this problem between us. But just running away does not seem to be the answer. I think of Rokan’s words, of how the weather will be clear.
Do I dare…? It would be an easy thing to let the sled drop back behind the others in the midst of the snow, to veer off the trail and take her toward the hunter cave. But the hunters would follow us. And my chief would be furious. I think for a moment…and then I stand.
I will not run away like a coward. I will let my chief know my wishes. Surely if I go to him first, he will understand.
I check the tent, but Stay-see is still sleeping. Good. I have time to speak to my chief, then. I jog through the encampment, a fire burning in my belly. The more I think about this decision, the more it feels right. I can keep my mate safe. All I need is a handful of days for her to rest, for us to establish ease between us once more. Then I can take her on to join the others.
I find Vektal breaking down his tent with his mate, Shorshie. She is bundled heavily against the weather, the furs making her body seem twice as round as it is. The chief gives me a curious look as I approach. “Is all well?” he asks. “You look… troubled.”
Shorshie is watching me with great curiosity. “Did you remember something?”
I shake my head, hating that I will see disappointment in their faces. “My chief, I must speak with you. I have a request.”
Shorshie puts down the corner of the tent she is holding up. “Why don’t you two talk and I’ll go grab Talie from Asha.” She gives her mate a meaningful look and walks away, hugging the hood of her cloak tighter to her face.
I watch her as she leaves. “Does your mate struggle with the cold?”
“All the humans struggle,” Vektal says, picking up one corner of the tent again and gesturing for me to take up Shorshie’s place. “Some more than others. I think my Georgie hides it because the other females look to her for strength.” He pauses. “Stay-see suffers?”
“She does.”
He looks thoughtful. “Some of the females have taken to hiking or learning to hunt. Stay-see has always been content to remain in the cave and look after the others. She cooks for them, you know.”
“She does?” I am surprised. Stay-see has not shown much enthusiasm for any of the soups doled out on the journey and little interest in the meat, raw or charred. I grab the side of the tent and pull it from its moorings. “What does she cook for them?”
“All kinds of terrible things.” Vektal gives a full-body shake, as if even the thought disturbs him. “Cakes and meat rolled between cakes and roots added to it. The humans are fascinated with these cake-things. I tasted one once and it was sickly sweet, like bad meat.” He reaches forward and grabs a knot, untying it, and the tent collapses. “The females love it, though. They always come to Stay-see and ask her to make things for them. And she does. She is very kind, your mate.”
I do not know if I am upset at this information or pleased. I knew my mate had a big heart—I have seen her be gentle and pleasant to others even when she is tired. But I have also learned more about her in the last few moments than I have in the last hand of days.
All because Stay-see does not talk to me. She does not share her thoughts with me. She does not cook for me. I would eat everything she put in front of me, even her terrible cakes that taste like meat gone bad. “She is the reason I have come to speak to you, my chief.”
“Then speak.”
“I want to take Stay-see away.”
His face grows thunderous. “Explain yourself.”
“She will not talk to me. She carries her hurt like a cloak and will not let me see what is underneath.”
“And you think taking her away will solve this?”
“I think if she has no one to talk to but me, perhaps she will choose to speak to me more.” I can see my chief does not agree, so I rush on. “The more I try to talk to her, the more she pushes me away. I could live with that, I think, and be a patient male…except the travel is hard on her. It pains me to see her suffer.”