Page 138 of The Hunter

Yet one spot was different. The path there, which resembled a tunnel through the undergrowth, became evident only when Telok was lined up with it. Patches of dirt lay bare along it, smooth and packed down. This hadn’t been created by careless damage, but by gradual wear.

Telok sank low, brushing aside some fallen leaves from the path to reveal a clawed print on the ground.

This was the thread connecting the kurghests’ feeding ground to their den.

His chest tightened, making it difficult to draw breath. He’d known all along that they were closing in on the kurghests, but this was much too close, much too soon, and there remained too many unknowns.

All the answers lay ahead, but if the group pressed on now, it would be no different than striding right into the kurghests’ open maws.

He beckoned Garahk and Tas over. After pointing out the trail, he drew the two vrix close, himself and the thornskull hunching to better match the winddancer’s height. Voice low enough to barely be considered a whisper, Telok said, “Tas, with me. Garahk, pull the others back.”

The thornskull nodded and straightened, throwing his arms out in exaggerated waves to get everyone else’s attention and guide them away from the depression.

At the edge of the feeding ground, Lacey looked at Telok, her features set in worry.

With a soft clicking noise and a pointed finger, Tas sent Swiftclaw to join the others.

Lacey walked backwards for a few steps, gaze locked with Telok’s until she turned to follow Garahk. Telok watched her careful progress, and his legs itched to go after her.

No.

The sooner he found the den, the sooner they could return to the village. The sooner his mate would be out of danger.

Telok pried his attention from her, shifting it to Tas. They nodded to each other, and he led the winddancer to the nearest tree, which they ascended swiftly and silently.

From the branches, Telok could just make out the kurghests’ trail below. That invisible tether tugged on his hearts as he moved forward, urging his gaze back toward his mate, but he resisted. He would see her again in a short time. A very short time.

Following the trail on the ground, Telok and Tas crossed into the boughs of the next tree. Telok’s hearts quickened with each step. Doubts and fears scratched at his mind from all sides, eating at his soul. He refused to acknowledge any of them.

He and Tas had traveled close to one hundred and fifty segments before he glimpsed the kurghest den ahead. The unnerving stillness and silence gripping the Tangle settled inside Telok, pushing away his thoughts and clarifying his focus. Staying low to the branch, he and Tas crept to a better vantage point.

At least twelve adult female kurghests and numerous young, male and female alike, lounged in a patch of sunlight on the jungle floor. They were languid, hardly moving but for lazy flicks of their tails and ears and the rise and fall of their chests. The ground beneath them had been trampled clear of vegetation, making their mosslike fur stand out against it. A short, gentle slope beyond them led up to a huge fallen tree, partly sunken into the ground, with a gaping hole in its side like the mouth of a foreboding cave. Even from this distance, Telok could tell by its rough edges that the opening had been expanded by tooth and claw.

Within the gloom of that opening lurked a mass of shadow far larger than any of the kurghests outside. It swelled, and when it relaxed, it let out a low, rumbling breath that seemed to reverberate through the tree. A huge tail swept out into the daylight. Each of the wicked spines on its end must’ve been as long as Telok’s forearm.

The prime kurghest. Mate to all the pack’s females, sire to any young they spawned.

Memories echoed in Telok’s spirit, but he forced them down, preventing them from rising to the surface. He ran his gaze over the deceptively peaceful scene before him again, absorbing every detail.

Even without the prime, that many kurghests would be exceedingly dangerous to confront—and he was certain there were more of them out hunting right now. How could Telok and his companions eliminate this threat without significant loss? How could he lead the others to this place, knowing that no one was likely to return unharmed?

Ketahn had been forced to make many such decisions during the war, but Ketahn was not here. Could Telok make them now?

A light touch on his shoulder drew Telok’s attention to Tas, who was crouched beside him. Unease gleamed in the winddancer’s eyes, but there was something hard, something determined, beneath it. Tas tipped his head in the direction from which they’d come, toward their companions.

Toward Lacey.

Telok nodded, and the two soundlessly withdrew.

There was much discussion to be had and planning to be done…but it could wait until they were back in Tovuunshai. Until Telok’s mate was safe.

CHAPTER 33

Spitted meat sizzled over the fire bowl, filling the air with its aroma. Lacey, Cole, Sophia, and Shir sat around it on cushions, with platters of fruit and vegetables arranged on the platform floor before them.

Lacey bit a piece of cooked meat off her stick and chewed, enjoying the savory spices as she closed her eyes and hummed. “So good…”

“I hear you,” Cole said around his own mouthful of food. “I’m starving.”