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“Obviously,” Dessin says.
“Well, I followed you—” Warrose’s attention shifts to a focal point over my shoulder. Ruth sighs shakily, trembling against my back at the sting of the winter winds. I look back at her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder. Warrose continues to stare. “Let’s get them in the cave. Before the small one loses her toes.”
Dessin nods, signaling for us to step over the piles of bodies to the cave up ahead.
“We’re going to stay here for the next couple of days,” Dessin informs us as we step through the threshold of the darkness made of stone and hard shells of ice.
“What happens after a couple of days?” Ruth asks.
“After a couple of days, we come to a final decision on what we’ll do from here. We’ll have a plan on how we’re going to handle what comes next.” He sets down his bags and clears his throat. “I need to catch Warrose up. Get warm and we’ll go collect what’s salvageable to cook.”
After they leave the cave, the four of us sit on the cold stone floor with our hands outstretched to the wild lickings of the fire. There are long sweeps of silence while we all enjoy the warmth spreading to our toes and fingers. The rush of tingling goodness caressing our insides and melting away layers of ice clinging to our skin.
“I’ve been thinking…” I say to the others. “There’s a way we can get the three of you out of all of this.”
Ruth picks her head up.
“My childhood home and Kane’s are off the grid and unoccupied. They’re completely empty. Maybe we could show you the way, Kane could teach you how to hunt, and you could live there freely. Then you all don’t have to be dragged down with whatever Kane and I have to do. You won’t be hunted anymore or at risk of being thrown back into the asylum.”
My friends sit quietly, staring in different directions. The marmalade-orange light paints new shadows around the peaks of their faces. The cave’s opening whistles and hums with the warrior winds that sprint to battle. Our fire pops and the cozy aroma of burning wood mixes with frozen pine trees.
Chekiss speaks first.
“We’re not going anywhere without you, dear.” His statement is final. Unwilling to negotiate or fold in any which direction.
I feel the movement in the air to my left as Ruth nods.
“We’re a family now. Family sticks together,” Niles adds.
Ruth’s arm stretches around my shoulder and her head leans gently in the crook of my neck. I breathe in her sweet scent of strawberries and rainwater.
“I know we are. But I couldn’t sleep at night if anything happened to any of you,” I say.
“And we couldn’t sleep if anything happened to you.” Chekiss rubs a hand over the side of his head, his light-brown skin changing shades in the shadows. “We’re going to keep each other sane by staying together. One wolf can’t survive alone without its pack. It would die of starvation or be hunted down by a predator. We’re stronger as one.”
Except Dessin. He’s stronger and faster when he only has to worry about himself.
“It’s just… Demechnef has more weaknesses to hold against Dessin now. Before it was just me, now he has four of us to watch over. I can’t imagine how much of a burden that is for him.” I think about the guilt that bound Kane in his own personal hell when he found out what Albatross had done to me. He blamed himself and as much as I’d try to convince him otherwise, I believe that remorse will stay with him for the rest of his life.
Ruth’s small hand slides up my wrist to hold mine. It’s warm and soft, like it has just been freshly lathered in lotion.
“Then how should we settle this? Because if it were up to us, we’d stay with you. But we don’t want to make this any harder on either of you than it is already. Truthfully, we don’t even know why you two are running and what Demechnef wants with you,” Ruth says.
I think about this carefully, like her question is made of glass, wobbling on the surface. I want them to stay and to keep us company during this journey. I want to watch Chekiss’s face as we travel through the shade of the trees. I want to hear Niles complaining about something trivial. I want to hear them argue. I want to keep talking to Ruth about Kane and hear her opinion on what I should do about my feelings for him. I really want them to stay.
“I think it’s only fair that Kane decides. He’s the one we’ll all have to rely on for safety. He should be the one to decide if we stay together or not,” I answer with confidence.
We tense as Warrose steps through the veil of cold dust, carrying a mountain cat over his shoulder with a pinched brow that indicates he’s cold and maybe a little grumpy. I stand, racing to the mouth of the cave in search of Dessin. The shrill wind slaps against my skin like a wet towel. The white blinding flurries and harsh gray lighting of the sky make my eyes water, but I see him approaching, DaiSzek trotting alongside him.
He meets my eyes as he slips out of the storm, tossing the dead animal in front of the fire.
“Hi,” I utter.
“Hi.” He smiles, warm and deep, hitting the pit of my stomach.
Kane.
I look back at Warrose who is watching me from over the flames, skinning his mountain cats as if he could do it with his eyes closed. “Hard to keep up, isn’t it?”
