Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“You’re not,” she says firmly. “Resonance is a force of nature. I’m not telling you what to do, but if you hate Skarr and can’t stand the thought of being with him, you get a little drunk, you have a night of the worst sex ever, and then you go on with your life. We’ve all had a heinous one-night stand that we regretted in the past, but you don’t have to shack up with the guy. If you can’t get along, as long as you can co-parent, no one will blame you if you go your separate ways.”
I stare at her back. “You make it sound so easy.”
She laughs, stabbing at another drift of snow and then skirting around it, gesturing that I should do the same. “Oh, it’s not. It’s not easy at all. There’s a baby involved, and I know how overwhelming resonance can feel. It’s just that everyone’s painting you one specific picture, and I’m letting you know that you can make your own future. It can be what you need it to be, as long as you fulfill resonance.”
“Or get the healer to turn it off.”
That makes Nadine stop. She turns and gives me a long look. “I’m not pro-resonance or trying to talk you into anything, but I did see what happened to Mari when she had Veronica shut off her resonance. She was like a zombie. Well, not completely. Just totally out of it, like she was numb. No one should have to go through life like that. If you’re totally opposed to being a mom, there are other people here that would happily raise your kid, no questions asked. If you don’t want to stay with this tribe because Skarr is here, there’s another one farther inland. I’m not here to talk you into anything one way or another. You get to make your choices, okay? I’m just being a friend and letting you know that you don’t have to have the white picket fence like everyone thinks you do.”
I manage a wry smile. “A picket fence would look stupid on the beach.”
She snorts with amusement. “Yeah, it would. Come on, our stream isn’t too far ahead. We’ll start to smell it when we go around that ridge.”
Nodding, I follow after her when she starts again. “I appreciate the talk. It’s just a lot to think through. And…I know he can be difficult, but I don’t hate Skarr.”
“Girl, you don’t have to tell me about difficult, obnoxious men. Have you met Thrand?”
I pause. “I actually don’t think I have.”
“Well,” she drawls. “He is a piece of work. And I say that with love as his mate. Let me tell you about the time he—oh, tracks. Hang on.”
She crouches in the snow to examine a line of tracks nearby, and I do the same, wanting to learn. To my surprise, they’re the same tracks I saw from before—the drag on one side, and the big paws on the other.
The wounded snow-cat is here. It’s following us.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
SKARR
I take a few steps back and admire my handiwork in the late afternoon sunlight. It is a good hut, I decide.
No, it is the best hut. Because Vivi deserves the best.
I have worked hard to make this the perfect home for her. I know she does not like to be in the thick of things, so I have made her hut at the far edges of the group, at the farthest end of the cliffs. The door is facing toward the cliff, as well, so anyone that comes in will have to circle the platform to approach. Ashtar thought this was odd, but I like it. It adds a level of privacy for my Vivi that I know she will appreciate. The roof is tall and well-angled so the smoke can escape out the hole at the top, and the floor is made with the smoothest rocks I could find, joined together with the mortar that Jason helped create out of sand, seashells, and clay. The interior has a large dip in the center for a firepit, lined with more rocks, and the walls are bricked together with more mortar and smaller rocks in a repeating pattern. I do not have furs or goods for Vivi to put inside yet, but Ashtar says the tribe has more than enough and she can pick out her own.
I am eager to show it to her. I hope…I hope it makes her like me despite the fact that my body is different than hers. I’rec says human females like presents, and I hope she likes this.
I adjust the covering over the door one more time and then step down from the stone platform and onto the beach sands. This end of the beach is quiet, but the main tribal sprawl is farther ahead. Vivi will be there, spending her time around the fire and absorbing information. She is so clever, to learn as much as she can from the others. Perhaps if I did the same, she would look upon me with interest.