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“Then what sort do you use?” Mia asked. “Isn’t one trap as deadly as another?”
“My warrior hunters use traps that kill instantly,” Wolf Hawk explained. “Ours do not maim and leave the animals to die slowly.”
“But how can you be certain?” Mia prodded, feeling that one trap was as bad as the next.
“I will explain and then you will understand that our way is humane while the white man’s steel traps are not,” Wolf Hawk said. “And our traps would never catch humans in them as the trappers’ did.”
“I’m certain they did not mean to kill the braves,” Mia murmured.
Wolf Hawk’s insides tightened. “You are defending the trappers?” he asked thickly. “Perhaps you really do know them and approve of what they are guilty of having done?”
Mia gasped at what he was implying. That was the last thing she wanted Wolf Hawk to think!
“I am not defending them, for I think what they did was horrible, and, no, I do not know them,” she blurted out, her face hot with a nervous flush that she wished wasn’t there.
She had to prove to this Indian that she was innocent of the trappers’ crimes and that she did not know them. She also had to be more careful what she said to him. Her life might depend on it.
“I hope that what you speak is truth, for I am beginning to trust that you are what you say you are,” Wolf Hawk told her. “I am my people’s leader. They depend on me to choose the right path. I have seen much innocence in you, and loneliness. You have known deep sorrow at the loss of your parents, and now you are alone. Remember this…if you wish to allow me to help fill that lonely space inside you, I would be happy to.”
“But…I…am your captive,” Mia blurted out, stunned at his suggestion. “How can you help me feel less lonely? Why should you care?”
Wolf Hawk wanted badly to reach out and touch her face, which had become flushed. “Just trust that I do care and I will not allow any harm to come your way while you are with me and my people. Did I not feed you well? Are you not in a safe place with comforts all around you? Is not the fire warm against your flesh?”
“Yes, you did all of those things for me, yet…I…am still a captive,” Mia said, slowly lowering her eyes. “That word…captive. It fills me with dread.”
He reached over and dared to place his hand beneath her chin. Slowly he lifted it so that her eyes were level with his.
“You are not a true captive,” he said, surprising himself that he would admit such a thing to her.
But he was now sure that she had had nothing to do with the evil men he hunted.
“If I am not a true captive, why not let me go now and allow me to find my own way in the world?” Mia said, all the while fearing that he just might take her up on the suggestion.
If so, where would she go?
Who would she ask for help?
While here with Wolf Hawk, she at least felt safe, for she now knew that he would never harm her. She could sense that he had feelings for her, just as she did for him.
When she sat with him, it was easy not to see him as an Indian, but instead, a very handsome man who was treating her ever so gently!
“It is too soon for you to be thrust out into this cruel world, alone,” Wolf Hawk said, searching her eyes. “I promise you, white woman, that while you are with me, no harm will come to you. But once you are out in the world, you will have no one to watch over you.”
“Why would you care?” Mia asked, now searching his dark eyes and seeing emotions that surely he would not say aloud.
“I will continue telling you about the way my warriors trap animals when they hunt,” Wolf Hawk blurted out. He felt a need to change the subject, which was becoming much too personal.
He had to wait and make certain that his feelings for this woman were real.
“Yes, please tell me,” Mia murmured. “I would truly like to know. The steel traps are so inhumane. I have always thought they should not be allowed. But there are a lot of things that are wrong, yet used. I am glad to know that you have chosen a more decent way to trap the animals that you need for your people’s survival.”
“Yes, it is for our survival,” Wolf Hawk said thickly. “Once you hear, though, you will see that our way is definitely the best way.”
“Please do tell me,” Mia murmured, feeling more comfortable with him by the minute.
“My men build the trap by propping up a heavy log on a pole. The bait is tied to the pole,” Wolf Hawk said. “As soon as the animal touches the bait, the heavy log falls on its head. It is killed instantly. There is no suffering.”
He realized just as soon as he said it that even his people’s way of trapping did not lessen the sadness in Mia’s heart at the killing of animals. She was a gentle, caring woman, who preferred to take in animals and care for them, not kill them.
