Page 42 of Moon Chosen

Nik couldn’t get the image of Jenna’s face out of his mind. It stayed with him as he jogged with the Hunters back to the Tribe and the sanctuary of their homes in the sentinel pines.

It stayed with him after he had said a weary good-bye to O’Bryan and collapsed upon the sumptuous pallet in his cozy bachelor’s nest. It haunted him as he closed his eyes, hoping that escaping sleep would claim him. But instead of sleeping, Nik sat abruptly upright; finally realizing what it was about Jenna’s face that he couldn’t forget.

The rain had washed away the dirt and blood from her cheeks to reveal the mystery beneath. Jenna’s skin had been pale—almost as pale as moonlight. It hadn’t been the gray color every Scratcher’s skin turned from sunset to sunrise.

“What the hell is going on?” Nik spoke aloud to himself as he raked his fingers through his tousled hair. Had he been imagining things?

Nik’s mind searched back through the events of the night, this time paying attention toeverythingand not just to the small, but real signs of his pup.

He hadn’t put any real effort into chasing Scratchers. He truly had used the need for a few more captives as an excuse to join the Hunters out in the forest—and to encourage them to seek farther to the south than they usually hunted. He hadn’t really cared whether they captured the female who had struck Miguel—he’d used that as an excuse as well. Not that Nik was ashamed of what he’d done. He’d do it all again and again. He’d do whatever it took to keep searching for the pup. Even if it meant killing more Scratcher males and capturing more females.

Nik stared down at his hands, suddenly not liking the feeling in his gut. “He was her parent—her father,” he said softly. “Jenna’s father.” He cringed as his memory replayed the small girl throwing herself on the big man’s bleeding body. She’d keened and cried as if her heart had broken. And her father had been protecting her. Nik realized that now. He remembered the Scratcher male standing in the middle of the path, covered by spiders, but not moving. Not attacking. Not until they’d grabbed Jenna.Thenhe’d charged them.

And as he sifted through his memory another vision had him sitting upright and shaking his head in disbelief—the big male had been bloody and pale,but like his daughter his skin had not been Scratcher gray.

13

Nik got almost no sleep that night, which was fine with him as it allowed him to be awake well before sunrise. He did spend a good amount of time on making himself presentable. Sol was his father, but he was also Sun Priest, Leader of the Tribe of the Trees, and to present himself disheveled and sleepy-eyed would not impress Sol or put him in the right mood to hear what Nik needed to say to him.

Freshly washed and groomed, Nik made his way along the suspended bridges and graceful wooden walkways to the heart of the Tribe and the large, beautiful nest that housed their Leader, the Sun Priest. Everything the Tribe created was made with an emphasis on form as well as function—artists were as revered by the people as were Hunters and Leaders, perhaps more, and that reverence had produced generation after generation of talented artisans—who had, in turn, created a city in the trees filled with beauty and grace.

In the dove-colored predawn Nik paused just outside the closed door of his father’s nest, collecting himself and appreciating the glorious carvings of guardian Shepherds and beaming suns that decorated the arched entryway. Almost of its own accord, Nik’s hand lifted so that he could stroke one of the carvings. His smile was poignant as he remembered his mother’s golden head bowed over this very piece of wood that she had, two decades ago, so lovingly crafted for their home. Though she had been gone for many years, Nik often missed her and wondered how his life might have been different had she not died that terrible day ten winters ago.

“Oh, Nik! You startled me. Good morning.”

Hand still raised Nik stood there blinking in surprise, hardly knowing what to say or do, as Maeve and her pup, Fortina, filled the doorway in front of him. The older woman’s hair was long and loose, spreading down her slim back, and she was wearing only a thin sleep shift. As he stared at her, Maeve’s cheeks flushed a bright pink.

Fortina’s young voice warbled, as if to ask Nik a question, and that had him unfreezing. “Oh, sorry, Fortina. You must need to go out.” Nik stepped aside so that Maeve and Fortina could move past him.

“Thank you, Nik,” Maeve said, then she hesitated and added, “Did you find sign of the pup during last night’s hunt?”

“I did,” Nik said.

“Oh, I am so pleased for you! I don’t care what anyone says. I think he’s still alive, too. Keep looking, Nik.” Then Maeve patted his shoulder gently and followed her impatient canine.

Nik watched her go, his feelings warring between embarrassment at catching his father’s lover leaving his nest, and pleasure that she actually agreed with him and believed the pup was still alive.

“Are you going to stand there forever, or are you going to come in?” Sol’s voice boomed from inside the nest. Nik drew a deep breath, and stepped into his father’s home, and the home of his childhood.

The Sun Priest’s nest was larger than any other single-family home. Like the other nests, it had been beautifully woven, form following function, into a great, round structure. But unlike a normal family nest, Sol’s had three levels to it. The entry room was outfitted with a gleaming pinewood table and benches that hugged the curve of the room and allowed an area for more intimate meetings with Tribal members than would take place in the public Forum. Curving stairs led up to the second-level landing, off of which had been Nik’s sleeping room until he had passed sixteen winters and graduated to his bachelor pod. It was now his father’s library, and held the largest private book collection in the Tribe. From the second-floor landing another stairway slanted up, wide and sturdy enough for a massive canine to traverse, and it was from the top of those stairs that Laru sounded three welcome barks and then hurried down, wriggling like a pup, to greet Nik.

“How are you doing, big guy? You’re looking pretty spry for it being so early,” Nik said, stroking the Shepherd lovingly and enjoying the feel of his thick, soft coat.

“Don’t let him fool you. He’s tired. Maeve’s pup kept him up most of the night. If you come back by after midday you’ll find him curled in a sunny spot sound asleep.” Sol chuckled as he emerged from his third-floor bedchamber pulling on his shirt.

Nik slanted a knowing look at his father. “You’re looking a little tired, too. DidMaeve’s pupkeep you up as well, and will you be napping with Laru later?”

“That is none of your business, Nikolas.” His father’s widening grin took the sting from his words and Nik returned the smile.

“Hey, you know I don’t want you to be alone,” Nik said, still petting Laru. “And Maeve is nice.”

“She is, indeed. Tea?” Sol asked as he moved to the small brazier that had been carefully situated near the corner of the nest. Lined in shale the coals and tinder were in a miniature upraised brazier, over which hung one of the Tribe’s most cherished artifacts, an iron pot.

Nik nodded. “Absolutely. I’ve missed your tea.”

“You should visit my nest more often.” Sol smiled over his shoulder at Nik before going to one of the small openings woven in the upper side of the nest. Though the sun had not yet risen, the sky was already blushing with dawn, and as Sol stared at the sky, his father’s green eyes began to glow amber. He lifted his hands, and with a deft, practiced movement, flicked his fingers at the tinder, and small sparks, like tiny fireflies, leapt and crackled, lighting the coals and merrily burning the tinder pile.

Nik liked living on his own, but his bachelor’s nest was definitely lacking the luxury that filled his father’s home, especially as only a Sun Priest had the ability to harness the might of the sun as a fire starter. Lulled into relaxation by his father’s familiar morning routine, Nik settled on a bench seat and Laru stretched out beside him, resting his head on Nik’s lap.