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 hear a human female crying, complaining about exhaustion. Her mate soothes her, and her tears are quickly silenced. No fire is made, so meat is eaten raw. Some cry over that, too. I watch Stay-see but she does not seem to have much of an appetite. She feeds her son, lingers near Jo-see and Shorshie, and then gets to her feet, stretching.
I watch her as she stands. She does not move like a sa-khui female does. Her movements do not have a hunter’s grace. Her hips are, well, they are more rounded, her teats fuller. I watch them jiggle as she flexes one arm over her head, talking to Salukh’s mate. I should not be staring at her teats. I should not.
Nor should my body be responding.
I force myself to look away. If I am to admire her body, I should remember it, should I not?
“Time to go again,” Vektal calls out, moving toward his sled. “Make ready!”
Stay-see shrugs on her carrier, adjusting the straps over her shoulders. She tugs her cloak on tighter and begins to walk, but her steps are slower than before. I hesitate, then abandon my sled, jogging to her side. “Ho,” I call. “Stay-see, wait.”
She stops and turns to me. The look on her face is wary. “What is it?”
“You look…tired. I wish to help.”
Her brows draw together. “Help?”
“I will carry your kit. Or let you sit on the sled as I pull it. Come.”
The expression on her face is not friendly. Her eyes narrow. “My kit? He is yours, too.”
I have made a mistake. “Of course.”
She presses her fingers to her mouth and gives a deep, tired sigh. “I…actually I don’t think I want to talk to you right now, Pashov. I’m sorry. Please leave me alone.”
“But you are tired—”
She puts a hand up, pushing me away. “Not that tired. I’m fine. And I’m going to carry my son.”
“Very well.” I watch her storm away, pulling her fur wraps tight around her body. The low feeling in the pit of my belly is guilt, and I ignore it. It will do me no good right now. I march back to my sled and pick up the leather straps, tugging it forward. I will keep pace with Stay-see even if she does not want me around. It is the least I can do.
Time passes. The afternoon suns grow high in the sky and then disappear behind clouds. Stay-see walks on, but she is slowing down. First, she walked near Shorshie and Vektal. Then she was in the middle of the pack. Now, she hangs at the outskirts, and her steps grow slower all the time. I am careful to keep my sled a safe distance behind her so she does not feel like she is slowing me—or the tribe—down. But my steps have been growing smaller and smaller, and I have been pausing, waiting for her to catch up to the others. I am not tired. I can run all day. My arms ache from pulling the sled, but it is a good ache.
But Stay-see is exhausted. I watch her struggle, frustrated.
I am concentrating on her and do not notice when a figure rushes up to my side and bangs one large hand against my broken horn. It startles me so much that I fling myself to the side, only to topple over one of the handles of the sled and collapse on my back into the snow.
It grows deadly quiet. Someone gasps.
“Pashov!” Stay-see screams. She rushes forward, even as Harrec appears at my side, a sheepish look on his face.
“I am sorry,” Harrec says, looking at the frantic human moving to my side. “I was not thinking clearly—”
I ignore him, because as I lie on my back in the snow, Stay-see leans over me. Her mane tumbles around her pale face, and she is suddenly…not so strange. Her flat features become appealing, and I remain still as she runs her hands over me, worried.
Well, most of me remains still. My cock responds to her touch, eager for a caress.
I suddenly realize that she is carrying my kit on her back. I have seen her carry him plenty of times, but it has never sunk in until now: we are mated. I am Pacy’s father.
That means I have mated with a female and forgotten it.
This is terrible.
“I am fine,” I murmur, my tongue feeling thick in my mouth. All of the blood in my body seems to have surged to my lower half. “I was merely startled.”
She swipes at her face, and I can see her cheeks are damp. “Right. Fine.” She jerks to her feet and huffs away, her kit wailing in his backpack.
My kit. My son.
My mate.
I am truly cursed if I cannot remember such things.
I watch her leave, and Harrec shakes his big hand in my face again. I grab it, haul myself to my feet, and then punch him in the shoulder. “You startled me, fool.”