Page 70 of Moon Chosen

“No, Sora. You’ll have to figure this out yourself. I watched you at the last Full Moon Gathering. You should have been studying Mama, but you thought flirting with Jaxom was more important. You were wrong.” Mari paused and then added, “Remember,youwere Mama’s first choice as her successor—not me.”

“We all know Leda chose me over you only because there’s always something wrong with you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me! I’m different from the rest of you, that’s all. Different doesn’t mean wrong or sickly or less than. It just means different!” Mari realized she was shouting at about the same time she realized how good it felt to say what had been bothering her for years.

Then Sora spoke, and Mari wished she’d kept her mouth shut.

“Different? What do you mean? I thought you were sickly.” Sora studied Mari. “What’s wrong with your hair?”

Mari stifled the urge to lift the hood of her cloak and cover her hair.

“Nothing is wrong with my hair. What’s wrong with yours? It looks terrible.”

Sora put her hands on her curvy hips. “Mari, I have been hiding in a tree for days! What’s your excuse?”

“My mother died,” Mari said flatly as she walked away.

“Wait, Mari! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you,” Sora said.

“I’m done with this conversation. Do not follow me.”

“Or what, you’ll kill me? I don’t believe you’re a killer.”

Mari turned to look at Sora. “There were only two people in this world I cared about—my mother and Jenna. Mama is dead. Jenna is worse than dead. I have nothing left to lose. Don’t doubt that I will kill you.” Then Mari kept walking, quickly, as she sent Rigel the release image.

As soon as Mari rounded the bend and was out of Sora’s sight, she left the path, cutting down the ridge. Rigel burst through the underbrush beside her.

“Stay with me. Let’s put some distance between us. Sora’s never been much for physical exertion. No way will she catch us, even if she is stupid enough to try to follow me.”

Mari clutched the rabbit snare and they ran, weaving a sinuous, convoluted path. It was a simple thing for Mari to make her way through the forest she knew so well, eventually entering the low-lying ash grove from the southern, instead of the northernmost edge of it, where she finally collapsed on a bed of moss with Rigel panting beside her. She petted and made a fuss over the pup, telling him how clever he’d been, staying hidden so well. Rigel whined and sniffed her all over, especially where Sora had touched her.

“Don’t worry. We’re not going to have anything to do with her—or with any of the Clan. We’re our own Clan now. We’re all each other needs.”

After they’d rested for a little while, Mari went to the stream, which bubbled musically through the grove, and after she and Rigel drank deeply she began to seek the best place to set her live trap.

“Yes! I knew I remembered right. Look at this, Rigel—spring watercress, lots and lots of it.” Excited, Mari moved quickly along the edge of the stream. “And see these,” she pointed, even though Rigel was busy tossing a stick in the air and catching it. “The two little tracks, one right after another, and the two bigger ones next to each other? Those are definitely rabbit tracks. And here are more, and more! This is the perfect place to get our rabbits.” Humming to herself, Mari set about pulling handfuls of wild grasses, which she rubbed all over the woven trap, hoping to dilute her scent. Then she placed it facing the watercress, backed to a hedgerow-like line of young blackberry bushes.

Wiping her hands on her cloak, she called to Rigel, who galloped to her, stick in mouth. He skidded to a halt in front of her, sat, and, wagging his tail enthusiastically, offered her the stick, obviously hoping to lure her into a game of catch and toss.

“All right, but just for a little while. Mushrooms are waiting to be found, and you—my sharp-nosed boy—are going to help me find them.” Mari took the stick from the pup and threw it across the stream so that Rigel had to leap over it. She watched him with pride as he easily found the stick, and then vaulted over the stream again, returning to sit in front of her.

Mari gazed down at him. He was getting so big! Sure, his paws still seemed awkwardly large for his growing body, and his face still had a puppyish look to it, but he must weigh fifty pounds—he sure felt like he weighed at least that much. Mari could see him changing, turning into a Shepherd who was majestic and handsome—smart and loving. She could see the adult canine he would become, and suddenly overwhelmed by the future vision of Rigel, she went to her knees, pulling him into her arms.

“I love you! I’m sorry it’s just me, and that I’m not like I was when Mama was alive. But I’ll try harder, Rigel. I’ll try to make us happy.” The young Shepherd dropped the stick and crawled onto her lap, though a good portion of him wouldn’t fit. He lay his head against her shoulder, filling Mari with a flood of unconditional love.

“Get away from her you monster!” Sora’s voice echoed through the grove. “Run, Mari! Run!”

Rigel reacted before Mari. He spun out of her lap to face the young woman, who was holding a stick over her head and brandishing it at him. He backed protectively against Mari, lifting his lips in a ferocious snarl, growling low and deep, and sounding nothing at all like a pup.

“Great Goddess! He’syourmonster!” Sora’s voice was tinged with hysteria. Her gray eyes had gone huge. She dropped the stick and started to back away, but Rigel’s growling increased, freezing her in place.

Mari felt numb. When she spoke her voice was utterly normal.

“He isn’t a monster, but he is mine, and I am his.”

Sora’s wild-eyed gaze went back and forth between the canine and the girl. “Goddess be damned, that’s what’s wrong with you. You’re a Companion!”

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