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Heartened, I wrap my arms around her and press a kiss to her brow.
"What do you think of the group?" she asks, surprising me.
What do I think? Does it matter? She needs them, and we need their food, so here we are. I want to shrug but I know Steff likes words. "I think…it is a big group."
"And are you sad to be here?" Her breath tickles my chest.
Am I sad? I do not like it, but I trust her when she says that things are different. That Pak and I will be accepted, as long as we hunt and do our fair share around camp. That is easy enough to do, and Pak needs more people. I would be fine completely alone but—
I stop myself, because perhaps once that would have been the truth, but it is not, now. Now I have a son whose laughter is so bright that it instantly makes any day better. I have a mate in my arms who is soft and smart and loves to touch me. I would miss those things if I was alone. The rest I do not care about. As long as my mate and my kit are well fed and happy, that is all that matters. I rub a hand down Steff's back. "I have you. I am content."
"Are you sure?" She looks up at me, her eyes full of worry. "I know you didn't want to join us."
"As you have said, things are different now." I shrug. "We will see what the future brings."
Her fingers tickle over my chest, and my cock twitches in response. "Can I ask something else?"
As if I would deny her anything. "Ask away."
She hesitates for a moment, and then her fingers trace the lines of one of my chest muscles. My sac tightens, and I hope this is leading into a mating. I really, really hope. Perhaps that is greedy of me, but I can think of nothing else when her body is pressed up against mine, and my cock is hard and aching for her.
"Pak," Steff says, dashing my hopes. "His hair is such a bright shade of blond. Yours is dark, though. Is it true that he's not yours?"
For some reason, her words make me defensive. "He is mine. I claimed him as my own son. I made sure he was fed. I took care of his stomach aches and his scratches. I am the one teaching him to be a hunter. He belongs to me."
Steff lightly touches my jaw. "I wasn't asking to hurt you, Juth. I'm sorry. I was just curious about his hair."
I relax at that. This is my mate. Of course she wishes to know my past. She will not attack me with it, or try to take my son from me. Just like everyone else Steff watches with those knowing eyes of hers, she seeks to understand. I rub her back in silent apology. "His mother, Haal, had the same pale mane. It was why she was Outcast. She was older, but I was told those that bore her came from Long Tail and every now and then, someone would be born with the same strangely pale mane. Looking back, it seems foolish to exile a perfectly healthy female simply because of her mane. She could hunt and fish as well as anyone else despite the color of her braid."
"It does seem silly," Steff says softly. "And…was she your mate?"
Is that why she asks? Is she jealous? For some reason, the thought makes me feel good. To think that someone would be jealous over an Outcast. My hand slides to the curve of her buttock. She is soft and round everywhere, and I cannot stop touching her. I love it. "Haal resonated to Ezz. They did not like each other much. Most Outcasts are very solitary and private. We do not get along with one another. I did not care for Ezz, nor he me. The resonance was a surprise. Haal did not mention it until her belly grew and it was impossible to hide. I think they tolerated one another for a time, but once Pak was born, he was small and weak, and Haal did not live long after." I lose myself in thought, remembering those terrible times. Of Haal with little strength to do anything save nurse her son. Of Ezz, who wanted nothing to do with either because they were “weak.” "I think Haal's khui must have been weak, always, or the birth was too much in her old age. The khui can mend many things, but it cannot fix everything. She died and Ezz did not care to take on the burden of the child. I had been caring for Haal, so when Ezz abandoned them, I claimed Pak as my son."
