Page 16 of The Hummingbird’s Gift

Chapter 5

Tier

Tier had never looked forward to a celebration more in his life. Not only had he missed Rohahen’s visit to his office today, but the man was actively blocking him from using his gift to determine his location.

He kept prodding at the place where Rohahen should be in the web of connections that represented the tribe within his mind. It was like poking the sore where a rotten tooth had been removed. It hurt each time, but he couldn’t stop doing it.

He hadn’t noticed how often he checked that link before. Whenever Rohahen was with him he was aware of exactly where he was and exactly how many steps it would take to reach him. Whenever Rohahen wasn’t with him, he was aware of him, too, their bond seeming to twist over itself and multiply as his awareness grew.

He’d known, on the day of the abductions, when Rohahen left the tribal lands to visit Declan and Geir, pushing just past the edges of his range. That was an expected sort of fading out with distance, though. Not this cut connection.

That was why he hadn’t known when Rohahen fell unconscious. He’d already been out of range, and by the time the missing children were discovered, hours had passed. It hurt just to think about.

To have Rohahen blocking him now had him almost in a state of frenzy.

He’d gone looking for Rohahen after the Council meeting, but wherever he went, he always seemed to just miss him.

He had heard, reliably, that he was coming to the celebration, so he’d been waiting impatiently for it to begin even has he used half his attention to finish up his work.

Now the tribe was celebrating the successful operation and the return of their children with dancing and endless food, their laughter and songs filling the plaza.

He just wanted to find Rohahen and talk with him alone.

He couldn’t get the whispered words of the kraken’s mate out of his head. The human had thought he was keeping a secret, but Tier—and all of the shifters who were with him—had heard him loud and clear.

Knowing that Rohahen had a crush on him had already made his pulse leap and his chest grow warm. Then the human had mentioned dirty, sweet things, about how proud he was of the kraken’s rings of bruises and tiny scratches decorating his body. It came with the implication that Rohahen wanted Tier to do the same. Declan had not-so-subtly hinted at it a few more times in the van, too.

The idea sent Tier’s blood rushing to his cock. If they had been doing anything less important than reclaiming the children of his tribe and tracking down the people who’d taken them, he would have dropped everything and run into the woods to find Rohahen himself.

But the two extra days of chaos and careful negotiations had given him time to think and talk with the Council of Elders. Now he had a plan. Of a sort. If only Rohahen would listen to him.

He poked around the gathering, always walking clockwise around the space. He greeted people and thanked them. He shared bits of news and got himself a plate of food. Mostly, he kept his eyes out for Rohahen.

Tier spotted his grandfather, curled up on a bench with one of the toddlers. There were only six kids left now, three whose tribes were so far away that transportation was taking a little longer, and three who he couldn’t place. Nina, the eight-year-old who’d handled the whole situation with remarkable maturity, thought that one of babies might be from her own tribe, part of a family who lived on the outskirts. The other one was a mystery.

This one was a small white boy, maybe two years old, who the tribe had started calling Mikinàkose. One of the heart-singers from an Ojibwe background had named him, and Tier believed it meant Moves Like a Turtle. It certainly described the sweet child, who was slow to move and quick to hide. If he couldn’t find a home and they kept him, he would get a new name to show his strength in surviving his ordeal and give him power for whatever he faced next.

It would likely be Rohahen finding them all homes, of course. He was always at the metaphorical center of the tribe.

He watched the unknown child for another moment, wondering what Rohahen would think of him. The boy looked content on the storyteller’s lap, his bright eyes watching the dancers with interest.

Tier turned to watch them as well. He had danced ceremonially at the beginning of the evening, absorbed in the hypnotic steps as he put himself back into alignment. He had needed that time more than he realized, sinking into his role as a conduit between Mother Earth and Father Sky, feeling the roots and branches of the Sacred Tree anchored in his body.

When the ceremony concluded, it only made him more aware of the lack of a mate at his side. That was what he really needed to keep in alignment, to lead the tribe from the past into the future while maintaining his own balance and connection.

He drifted toward the dancers, who were now blasting modern music from a sound system. This wasn’t a traditional feast day, just a celebration of life and triumph, and his tribe was bringing the old into the new.

He continued walking the circle, staying on the outskirts, and found himself next to Geir. He had been the tribe’s ally for hundreds of years and walked the earth for many centuries beyond that. He wanted to pay his respects and express his gratitude, but he’d interacted with the gruff man enough during that harrowing night to know that he wouldn’t appreciate any ceremony.

He quietly thanked him instead and confirmed their alliance. “Chief Kahshennenhawe said that you were a member of the tribe, and that hasn’t changed.” She was his great-grandmother, and the cultural lore had been passed down. “If Declan is your mate, that makes him part of the tribe, too.”

Geir was only half-listening to him, watching the dancers instead. No, watching one of the dancers. “My type doesn’t have mates like yours,” he grumbled.

Tier considered this as he turned to the dancers.

And there he was.

Once he spotted Rohahen, he couldn’t look away. He was taller than most of the others, his body corded with muscle and his shirt covering that soft belly that Tier so often wanted to kiss and bite. His dark skin shone in the fire light, and his teeth glinted when he threw his head back and laughed at something Declan said to him.