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)
I swallow my questions as Pashov appears again with several bundles of furs. He sets them at the cave entrance and disappears into the snow again. I make myself busy with Pacy, feeding him before he gets fussy and letting him play in my lap near the fire. The heat feels wonderful, but with it comes guilt. The others are out there in this cold. They’re suffering, traveling on, because it’s important that we all stay together.
As much as I would love to sit by this fire for the next few hours and roast myself into oblivion, we don’t have the luxury. If we’re going to catch up with the others, we need to get back on the trail soon.
The next time Pashov comes in, I stop him. “Don’t unpack more,” I say, getting to my feet. “We need to get back out there.”
“No,” he says, stubborn. “You are cold. Sit down and warm yourself.”
“The others are still out there. We can catch up with them. I can’t sit here by the fire while they’re out looking for us.”
“They will not be looking for us,” Pashov says firmly, moving to my side. He presses a gentle hand to my shoulder. “Sit. You are tired. You are cold. Rest and warm yourself.”
I watch him, skeptical. “You don’t seem very nervous for someone who’s just been lost in a blizzard.”
“There is no need to be nervous.” Pashov pulls the privacy screen over the cave entrance, leaving just enough room to let the smoke trickle out. “I will care for you and Pacy. I can hunt. There is a cache nearby if the weather is too foul. We have fuel and blankets. All will be well. Rest and recover, Stay-see.”
He’s very calm for someone that has been left behind with his mate and child in a snowstorm. Too calm. I study his face. Pashov has always been a terrible liar, and when he won’t look me in the eye, my suspicions are confirmed. “This was intentional, wasn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” He feeds a bit more fuel to the fire. “Relax, Stay-see. Would you like some tea? I can dig out your tea pouch.”
“Uh huh,” I say warily. “You’re offering me tea when we should be getting out there, catching up with the others.”
“Too much distance between us,” he says stubbornly.
A worrying thought occurs to me. He’s had no trouble keeping up for the last few days. “Are you feeling all right? You’re not too tired, are you?”
“I am fine.”
“But you would tell me if you were struggling, right?” I can’t help but be anxious over him. He’s just recently recovered from a devastating injury. If we hadn’t had the healer…
“Stay-see.” Pashov moves to sit next to me. His hand falls on my shoulder, and he gives me a patient look. “All is well. Please do not worry.”
“How can I help but worry? We’re left behind—”
He sighs and rubs his forehead. “Stay-see, please.”
“Pashov,” I say, a warning tone in my voice. “Either tell me what is going on, or get back out there so we can catch up.”
His mouth flattens, and his tail does that hoppy little flick at the end that tells me he’s lying. I raise my brows at him, waiting. After a moment, he grimaces. “Very well. I admit…no one will come looking for us.”
“Because…?”
“Because I spoke with my chief and convinced him he should let us stay here in the cave for several days. We will catch up with them at the new home-place.”
I stare at him, horrified. “What? Why would you want us left behind?”
“Because you struggle in the cold, and it causes me great pain to see it.” He pulls the wrap off his shoulders and dumps it over me, tucking it close like I’m a toddler. “Because I cannot watch my mate suffer in the ice and snow for one more day.”
I’m warming, and it’s not just because of the fire. It feels like something is thawing in my insides as well. Is this the first time he’s referred to me as his mate since the accident? “Everyone is struggling,” I murmur. “It is just something we must endure—”
“No, it is not,” he says in a flat voice. “I do not care if the other humans struggle. I care if you struggle.”
I blink, because I don’t know what to say to that. I want to protest that, of course, he cares if the others struggle, because we’re a tribe and a family, but…he has no memory of them, either. Why would he care? “You really, really want to be left alone in a cave with me for the next few days?”
“Of course.”
“Why?” I spread my hands, perplexed. “Pashov, you and I haven’t been on easy ground since the accident. I haven’t been nice to you, and I know I haven’t. So why trap yourself in a cave with no one but me for company?”