Page 117 of The Hunter

But all he could do for his mate now was walk away and grant her the solitude she needed.

Turning away from her, he strode to the doorway. The threads binding their spirits drew taut, making each step more of a struggle than the last.

They’d mated. His place was at Lacey’s side. He wasn’t meant to leave her alone, not after what had happened, not with her in this state.

Telok grasped the doorframe, dipped his head, and pulled himself through, having to tear several of his claws free of the wood in which he’d unintentionally buried them with his crushing grip. He felt Lacey’s presence behind him, beckoning him to return.

Do not look back. Must not.

Just go.

With fists and jaw clenched, he strode forward. His wounds throbbed dully and distantly with each thump of his legs atop the platform, and his hide heated and tingled at the remembered feel of her hands upon it as she’d cleaned him.

Telok and Lacey had shared each other’s bodies and souls, had joined in the deepest intimacy and shaped bliss beyond description. But had it been tainted for her by what had occurred in the aftermath? When she recalled mating Telok, would it be the passion and pleasure that came to her mind, or the terror and embarrassment that had followed?

As he crossed the bridge to the neighboring platform, he barely felt it swaying beneath him. He was far more aware of the expanding distance between himself and his mate, of the strand around his hearts gradually constricting. Instinct commanded him to go back to Lacey. His traitorous body rippled with tension, seemingly eager to deny his will in favor of those primal urges, making each of his legs feel as heavy as a boulder.

Somehow, he continued to the next platform.

Because this is what she needs of me.

Indistinct voices drifted to him from the heart of Tovuunshai, accompanied by bits of music that rose and fell hauntingly, not holding any particular melody or rhythm for long.

The winddancers seemed to come together often, and they considered their whole village one family. Their Nedrayas. The thornskulls were similar in their frequent gatherings for games and celebrations. And long ago, back in Takarahl, Moonfall Tunnel had felt the same for Telok. A larger family who had accepted him as one of their own, who’d helped him when he’d had nothing…

“Ah, good. This spares me a few strides.”

Despite its gentleness, that voice jarred Telok from his thoughts. He swung his gaze up to find Wen’Xal Tas standing in front of the next rope bridge ahead, his furry mandibles raised in a smile.

Telok narrowed his eyes. “I do not understand.”

Chittering, Tas moved closer. “I was coming to see if you and Lacey were well. You have shortened my journey.”

Tas’s mandibles drooped as his blue eyes swept over Telok. “You took so many wounds that I could scarce tell which blood belonged to you and which to the kurghests. I am glad they have been tended to.”

Again, ghostly echoes of Lacey’s touch flitted over Telok’s hide. He dipped his chin in a nod. “Nothing dire.”

“Good. And Lacey?”

“She was not harmed.” At least not her flesh and bone. “She… Her head aches, so she is resting in the quiet.”

The winddancer sighed, posture relaxing. “I would give thanks to the Protector, but I doubt your survival has much to do with the gods.”

“If the gods were interested in shielding us, they might have offered warning of the kurghests sooner.”

Tas chittered once more. “Those beasts chose the wrong prey this day.”

Anger warmed in Telok’s gut, a smoldering ember that would’ve required little coaxing to be worked back into a flame. “A lesson they will be unable to take to heart. We will have to teach it to the rest of their pack.”

The winddancer’s gaze changed, weighted by a tinge of sorrow. “Will you not let these wounds heal before you seek more?”

“They will be healed enough by suncrest.”

Lifting all four hands, Tas turned his palms skyward. “Then let us speak no more of tomorrow before it comes. This day, there is joy to be had.”

Telok glanced past Tas, toward the central platform, which was out of sight from here. “Is it not early for a celebration? The prime yet lives, and the beasts remain a threat.”

Releasing a thoughtful hum, the winddancer moved to stand directly before Telok. “I do not know when that threat will be ended, save that it will not be this day. But this day, all who joined the hunt have returned safely, there are three fewer kurghests prowling the jungle around Tovuunshai than there were when the sun crested, and my Nedrayas is here, together, alive.