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 think of Rukh, the newcomer, and his mate Har-loh. Out of all of the tribe, they seem the most tightly bonded. He hovers over her obsessively, and she seems to need him as much. Harrec told me they spent the last brutal season in a cave down by the great salt lake. It makes sense that they are so close. After moons and moons of time alone together, of course they are intertwined like roots.
I am jealous, though. Did I have that with Stay-see before? I want it back. And if it takes spending the brutal season alone with her, I am willing to do so. It will be lonely without my family and tribe nearby, but I crave closeness with my mate more than I crave my mother’s herbal teas or the company of other hunters.
I have not told Stay-see of my plans yet. She will not like them, I suspect. She will want to return to the tribe for fear that I am still too injured to hunt. I feel fine, though. I am fit and capable. There is nothing wrong with my body, and I can only hope my memories will return in time. Until then, I must be patient.
The only problem with this plan that I can see is that my chief will not be happy. Vektal said he would send a hunter out to bring us back if we did not show up at the scheduled time. I can talk a hunter into seeing the reason behind my decision, though. He will have to go back empty-handed, and by the time that happens, the brutal season will be upon us and the weather will be too bad for others to venture after us.
Stay-see will be mine and mine alone throughout the cold months. I like that thought. I can hold her in my arms by the fire, and she can tell me of more memories until my mind is so full that I cannot help but be the male I once was.
Even though I am occupied by these thoughts, I am so attuned to my mate that when I hear her voice drift outside of the cave, I stiffen.
“Are you done eating?” I hear her murmur. “Leaving soon, I hope?”
A bolt of jealous anger surges through me. Is one of the hunters here? Did Vektal lie to me and send someone after us sooner than he said? Is it Harrec? Is he flirting with my mate even now?
I’m so occupied by this that I don’t notice the smell emanating from the cave. I fling the dvisti down on the ground outside the cave and stalk inside. It barely registers in my mind that the privacy screen is pushed aside until I enter.
And then I see the creature.
It crouches near Stay-see, my mate strategically blocking the entrance to the next chamber of the cave with her body. The cave is a mess, baskets of food strewn about, and as I watch, the metlak shoves a mouthful of not-potato into its maw. Crumbs and filth litter the thing’s coat, and it turns to look at me, hissing its anger as I enter.
All I can see is that it is too close to my mate. My precious, fragile mate.
I growl at the sight. I am both shocked and full of fear that a metlak would dare to enter my cave and approach my mate. It is bigger than Stay-see, for all that it is thin with hunger. The look in its eyes is dangerous, and I pull out my knife.
“No,” Stay-see calls to me, raising her hands. “Don’t! Pashov, it has a baby.”
The metlak hoots angrily, slapping Stay-see’s arms aside. I surge forward at that, determined to protect my mate. I will kill it for touching her.
It scrambles over her, a sharp cry of surprise escaping Stay-see as the thing climbs over her lap and then scurries past me and the fire, rushing out the door of the cave. The smell of singed fur chokes the cave, and I realize it must have burned itself as it ran.
I turn and chase after it, just long enough to make sure it does not come back. My heart is pounding in my breast, and all I can see in my mind is the creature hissing at Stay-see. Clawing at Stay-see.
My mate was in danger and I was not here.
What if I had stayed out longer? The image of the metlak striking Stay-see goes through my mind again, and my body goes cold with fear. What if it had harmed her? Or my son?
The creature races through the snow frantically, darting away from the cave. I watch it go, my knife held in my sweaty hand. I want to chase it down and ensure it does not return…but I do not want to leave Stay-see unprotected again.