Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 106646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
"I seek V'za," I tell her. "I need advice."
"Oh boy." She ushers me inside. Z'hren rests on her hip, chewing on one of his fists as he gazes at me. Shail bustles around the inside of the tent, picking up scattered furs and toys around the fire. There is a small area at the back, their furs enclosed for privacy, but overall the tent is cozy and warm. It smells good, too. "Vaza ran off to trade with Hannah. She got some nice roots the other day and so I told him to give her some fresh dvisti meat in trade and I'll make him a stew." She beams at me, juggling the kit in her arms. "He'll be back in a minute, though. Are you hungry? We have some breakfast left over."
"I have not eaten," I admit, fascinated at the sight of Z'hren. I do not often spend much time with the small ones in the tribe. My clan had no very small young and I am not entirely comfortable with them. The Strong Arm kit is a big child, and Shail is small for a human, so it is an odd sight. I hold a finger out, wiggling it at him. "Do I interrupt?"
"Not at all," Shail says, and Z'hren makes a happy noise and holds all four arms out to me. "Oh, can you take him? I'll put on some breakfast and fix you right up." She offers me the kit and I take him, feeling a little panicked as Shail moves away.
The kit burbles and grabs at my vest, putting his mouth on the fur and drooling on me. Erm. I sit on one of the large cushions by the fire pit, careful to hold Z'hren against me. More drool slides down my chest and he makes nonsense sounds. "His mouth is leaking, Shail."
She chuckles, stirring a pouch over the fire. "He's teething. Just don't let him swallow anything and he'll be fine. So you were out all night with Bridget? I heard she got hurt. Is she all right?"
"She is with the healer," I say, pulling a fistful of vest-fur out of Z'hren's sticky grasp. "Her back muscles hurt her and she had trouble walking. Her ankle, too. I am told it is not serious, though."
"Poor thing," Shail says. She hangs a second pouch next to the first and puts on water and a few tea leaves. "She must have been miserable last night. You're a good man staying with her and helping her come back to camp. I can't believe O'jek just left her. That boy was not thinking straight." She shakes her head. "Someone needs to talk to him."
"I am rather angry at him," I confess to Shail. She is all action and confidence, and her warm manner reminds me of my mother in a way that makes my chest ache. For a moment, I feel as if I am a kit again when she hands me a bowl of warm stew and smooths my mane back from my brow. I juggle both the kit and the bowl, and Z'hren grabs a lump of root from my stew, shoving it into his mouth. I lower the bowl to my knee so we can share. Despite the slobber, I like holding him. I pick a chunk of meat out of the stew with my fingers, pop it into my mouth, and when Z'hren makes a sad noise, I grab a bite and offer it to him. "I know O'jek wishes to win the contest, but B'shit is…special."
Shail sits across from me, smiling as I feed her son bits of my stew. She watches us, a motherly look on her face. "And Bridget is special to you, too? Even after everything?"
I hesitate. "I want her to be my mate. Still. But she tells me no and I do not understand why."
"Hoo boy." Shail gives me an awkward smile. "How to say this nicely. I heard that, uh, things were not good. In bed."
That is not the first time I have heard such things, but it makes no sense to me. I mated with B'shit just as I have seen the animals do. I am entirely sure I did it right. And she welcomed my kisses last night, so that is not it. "I think that is wrong. She has shown that she likes my touch. It must be something else."
"Okay, honey," Shail says in a gentle voice. "Maybe it is, then. I know I'm not Vaza, but…you want to talk about it?"
I hesitate. There is something warm and easy in Shail's gaze, though, and I think of my mother again. "Yesterday…I found that O'jek had left her behind and I could not think straight. All I knew was that she was out there, alone, and he was not protecting her. I have never been so angry. I did not care about the contest, or the knife, or even hunting. All I knew was that I had to get to her. I made O'jek take D'see as his partner, and I gave them my kills, and I raced to save B'shit. When I got there, she was angry at me. She said she told O'jek to leave her. But…she was in pain. I could see she was. And yet she argued with me." I shake my head. "I do not understand."