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Three males leaped into action. Selecting two spears, they each stripped their bison fur from around their hips and tied the hide with their sinew strings between the two wooden poles. Marching forward, bare with only war designs smeared on their chests, they squatted down and gently picked Darro up by his legs and shoulders.
His head lolled to the left as his messy black hair licked over his handsome face. His lips parted as they laid him over the strips of fur. Once he was placed correctly, two males positioned themselves at the front and back of the travois, gripped the two horizontal spears, and picked him up.
I blinked at how quickly they’d created a carrier, immensely grateful that I didn’t have to fight for help.
The hunters marched into the grasslands without another word, heading in the direction of the Nhil camp such a long, long walk away.
My heart ached the moment I couldn’t see him.
My feet drifted after him, drawn by whatever linked us together, urging me to stay close, stay near.
Natim bounded after me, meek and wary of everything that’d happened. I bent and scooped the trembling fawn into my arms, all while Syn gave me a sombre look and didn’t leave my side, her two tails flicking.
Tral slipped into a walk beside me, throwing a harsh glance at Aktor who’d bandaged his leg with a spare bison fur. The faintest knowing of the chief’s thoughts fed into me: he was grateful that Aktor wasn’t seriously injured but frustrated that his heir had turned out to be so lacking.
Leca, the Nhil male who’d lost his mate and had caught Niya’s eye, hoisted Aktor upright, keeping his arm wrapped around his waist.
Two other hunters gathered Kivva’s body to take him home.
Aktor’s gaze burned into me as I moved past.
His attention never left me as he fell into a walk behind me and Tral. The rest of the Nhil, including a red-eyed Lida, fell in behind him.
Long grass enveloped us, and moonlight showed us the way, the only sounds as we moved were soft breathing, hushed whispers, and the gentle rustle of sun-dried stems.
A wolf’s howl suddenly pierced the sky, sending prickles over my skin and sorrow through my heart.
Natim struggled in my embrace, his little bleat making my chest ache. It felt wrong to take him away from Kiu and her pups. What would he eat at the Nhil camp? Was it right to take Darro away from his pack? To carry him away from the alpha who’d saved his life and given him a family after being alone for so long?
I shivered and pressed a kiss to Natim’s knobbly head. Tomorrow, once Darro woke, we would discuss where we should live. I would tell him everything Tral had told me. I would share everything that’d happened tonight with the wolves and the hunters and...me.
And then, we would decide together.
Because, even though the Nhil had been the ones to bring me back to life and had opened their homes to me, they weren’t my true family.
Darro was.
Another wolfen howl followed us as we travelled deeper into the grasslands. As their song tapered off, I made a promise to myself, and to Darro, that we would see Salak and his pack again.
We would return—
A wolf suddenly streaked past, whip fast and camouflaged in the dark.
The hunters gasped and jumped, their spears clinking with beads and feathers as they reached for weapons out of fear.
Even Tral stiffened beside me, but I merely smiled.
Zetas.
The wolf who always nudged me in hello and watched Darro with overflowing adoration. She galloped toward the hunters carrying Darro, then slowed.
The males slammed to a halt as Zetas sniffed Darro’s dangling hand and licked his wrist.
Natim relaxed in my arms at the sight of a wolf, recognising a member of his carnivorous family. Syn sniffed the air but didn’t challenge the wolf, content to stay by my hip.
I said to the quaking men, “She won’t hurt you.”
The male holding the spear ends by Darro’s feet looked at me with worry. “She’s trying to eat him.”
“No.” I moved closer, Tral keeping stride. “She’s protecting him.”
“Will she follow us all the way to camp?” Tral asked quietly, his eyes narrowed on the wolf.
I looked at Zetas, studying her determination and puffed-up chest. Sinking into the power humming in my blood, I slipped into her spirit and tears came to my eyes.
She loved him.
She viewed Darro as her brother.
Another lone traveller who knew the pain of loss and loneliness.
She’d chosen him over Salak.
Her home was now wherever he was.
I pushed a hug of welcome and understanding through the bond before closing myself off and looking at the chief. “She now goes where he goes.”
Tral chewed the inside of his cheek. “Will she harm my clan? Can she be trusted around our younglings?”
