Page 167 of Moon Chosen

“Did he rape you?” Mari asked softly.

Sora shook her head. “No. Nik stopped him.”

Mari breathed a long sigh of relief. “Good. That’s really good. Okay, I’m going to get a wash ready to clean those bite wounds. Your skin is only broken in a few places, but you’re going to bruise badly, and you’ll be sore. I’ll brew a tea for you that’ll help with the pain and make you sleep.”

“I don’t want to sleep. Wash the wounds, but sleep won’t make me better. And I have a turkey to roast. I’m sorry about the wapato and lavender. I should have gathered it before I played in the stream. I should have—” Sora broke off, putting her face in her hands while she sobbed.

Mari wrapped her arms around her friend and held on tight. “None of this was your fault. None of it.”

“I—I led Nik here. I’m sorry, Mari,” she said brokenly.

“She had to, Mari,” Nik spoke up. “We didn’t know how many more of them might be lurking in the forest. And the wounded one could have returned. I did swear that I would never betray your home to anyone in the Tribe. I meant it, Mari. You can trust me to keep your secret.”

“It’s okay—it’s okay,” Mari said to them both. “I believe you, Nik. What’s most important is that we are all here and safe. We’ll figure everything else out in time.”

“He brought Jenna home,” Sora said, raising her tear-streaked face and looking at Nik.

Mari had to blink hard to keep from crying. “Which means you need to consider two more mouths to feed for dinner,” she said instead of dissolving into half-hysterical, half-happy tears.

Sora smiled tentatively. “It’s good that the turkey is big and fat.”

“It’s good that we’re all together.” Mari hugged her. “Do you think you can brew us some tea while I check Nik’s back and grind some goldenseal?”

Sora nodded. “You’ll need more boiling water for the wash, won’t you?”

“I will.” Mari went to the empty pallet and got a blanket, giving it to Sora so she could wrap herself in it. Then, as Sora chose herbs for the tea and filled the pot, Mari went to Nik.

She stood in front of him and held out her hand. “Hello, Nik. Nice to see you again.”

He grinned up at her, took her hand, turned it, and, as if he did it every day, kissed the pulse point on her wrist. “Hello, Mari. Nice to see you again, too.”

Though her cheeks were flushing so much that they felt on fire, Mari somehow managed to speak calmly—as if she was used to Nik kissing her. “You need to take off that shirt so I can see how badly you’ve messed up my work.”

“Sorry about that, but it was a little tougher getting Jenna free and getting here than I thought it was going to be,” Nik said, as he pulled off his shirt.

Mari stepped behind him, frowning at the bleeding wound. “Well, there’s no sign of infection, and you didn’t completely rip out the stitches. It’s going to be sore, but I’ll clean it and bandage it tightly enough that it should continue to heal—though it is going to leave a pretty nasty scar.”

“Scars add character,” Nik said.

From the hearth Mari heard Sora snort, which made her smile. Sora was going to be just fine.

“Okay, just relax while I get what I need for the both of you together.” Mari paused and then added, “Is Jenna hurt, too?”

“No. She was pretty bad last night when I took her from the island, but the closer we got to here, the better she’s been,” Nik said.

Mari smiled with relief. “That’s good to hear.” She made a mental note to be sure to Wash Jenna as soon after moonrise as possible. Then she put her hand on Nik’s shoulder and looked into his green eyes. “Thank you for saving Sora.”

“I couldn’t have done anything else,” Nik said.

“Yes, you could have,” Sora said.

Mari and Nik turned to face her. Sora was standing by the hearth with a blanket wrapped around her, bruised and bloodied, but whole.

“If it had been up to me, that day we found you I would have killed you and left you for the roaches. You knew that, but you saved me anyway. I was wrong about you. I ask you to forgive me for that, Nik,” Sora said.

“I willingly forgive you, Sora.”

Sora blinked, wiping new tears from her cheeks, and turned back to the hearth fire.