As if he’d sensed her, Wo'itsa turned his head to glance over his shoulder. His face remained impassive, but his eyes betrayed him. Without words, he seemed to beckon her to him, winding an invisible rope around her and drawing her in. On weak and trembling legs - so unlike her - she walked toward him.
Wordlessly, she sat down in the grass beside him. The warmth of his bare skin radiated toward her, seeping through the doeskin of her dress and heating her insides.
“How are the claw marks?” Kendra didn’t look at him as she asked the neutral question. Slowly, her head turned to glance up into his face.
Wo'itsa met her gaze. His lips twitched in a slight smile.
“The healer, Dosa Haiwi, has strong medicine. The wounds still give me pain, but if she had not sewn my skin together, it would be worse.”
“I don’t remember if I ever thanked you properly for coming back for me and saving my life.”
Kendra reached her hand up to touch his upper arm. Her fingers grazed along the smooth and hard contours of his muscles, which tensed under her touch. Wo'itsa placed his larger hand over hers before he responded.
“I would do it again.”
Kendra stopped breathing. She squeezed her eyes together momentarily. This was not going according to plan. She’d meant to keep everything businesslike, but being near him made it impossible. It was time to put a stop to her crazy emotions.
“Wolf, I know everything you learned today must come as a shock to you.” She sniggered. “It definitely was a shock to me when I time traveled and was told I belonged to the Sky People and had to save the world . . . or, at least save Yellowstone – the sacred mountains – as the future will know it.”
Wo'itsa stared at her. His eyes roamed her face, and he smiled. “I am trying to understand everything that Day Star, my mother, has told me, and what the elder has said. All my life, I thought of myself as a hunter of the Tukudeka, not as the son of the Wolf Clan chief. The shaman could not satisfactorily explain my first vision and why I possess such powerful spirit medicine when I have done nothing to deserve it.”
“I guess now you know.”
Wo'itsa nodded. His hand came up to touch the side of her face. His thumb caressed along her cheek, sending an instant longing through her that was impossible to resist, no matter how much she fought against the feeling.
Kendra closed her eyes and scarcely dared to breathe. Wo'itsa’s simple, tender touch crumbled her resolve to keep her distance.
“Today I was told I am a child of the Sky People. I do not know how I am supposed to feel about that. As I sit here, the only thing I can think about is you.”
Kendra opened her eyes at his words and nearly groaned out loud. Why did he have to say those things and make it even more difficult? She sucked in a deep breath.
“Wo'itsa, I don’t know what’s happening between us, but I just don’t see how a relationship between you and me is going to work.” Saying the words out loud to him would create some distance. “I’m here in this time to find a missing time travel vessel and apprehend an old man. All I know is that I need your help.”
Wo'itsa’s hand dropped, and his smile vanished. “That is what Mukua has said to me, as well. He needed my help to bring him the other vessels.”
Kendra shifted in the grass to face him more fully. “I don’t know what it’s going to take to convince you that Mukua is only thinking of revenge for the death of his wife. He can’t see past the blame he’s placed on the leaders of the Bear Clan to realize he’s not doing anything to help the sacred mountains he’s supposed to be protecting.” She paused before telling him, “I know you care about the land and the visions of your ancestors. Mukua used your vision to find me, and to kill another child of the Sky People, Matt . . . Matunaaga. Do you really want to keep helping him?”
Pain clouded his eyes. And the muscles along Wo'itsa’s jaw twitched. His internal struggle was plainly visible on the hard lines of his face.
Kendra waited in silence. The pouch around her neck containing the snakehead seemed to grow heavier as the minutes passed.
After some time, Wo'itsa’s eyes fell to it as well, as if the vessel pulled on him, too. He glanced up at her, their eyes meeting in a silent exchange, and his features softened. He reached for her hands, clasping both of them between his palms.
“I can accept that I am a child of the Sky People. It answers many questions I’ve had since my first vision.” He held on to her hands while his eyes connected with hers, making it impossible to look away.
“What must happen for you to embrace your ancestors and lead the life for which you were born, Natukendra’eh, and make you realize you belong in this time and not to the future?”
Chapter 25
“Maybe I should take a look at your wounds before we do anything else. It’s been almost a week. A few more days and you might be healed enough to take the stitches out.”
Kendra hovered over him, her words coming fast as if she was uncomfortable or anxious. Her eyes were still slightly dazed.
Wo'itsa kept his eyes on her as he stood, his legs not as steady as usual. He hardened his face against the dull ache to his chest. The wounds were no longer painful, but there was a slight discomfort at times, especially after he traveled to another time.
He gripped the vessel in his hand, glanced at it, then held it out to Kendra. “You should return this to the pouch for safekeeping.”
She raised her head to meet his gaze before she took the snakehead from his outstretched palm. There was no longer that familiar look of suspicion in her eyes, and Wo'itsa’s heart warmed in response.
It was a start. He would win her complete trust, and then her affection. The elder of the Bear Clan had hinted that Natukendra’eh and he should join as a couple. His mother had said so as well. All he needed to do now was get her to listen to her own heart to realize they were meant to be together. He and Natukendra’eh would be the last of the true Sky People after the elders were gone. That might explain why he felt in his heart that she was his soul mate.
Cameahwait and Matunaaga had both married women who were not even Tukudeka. Their children and their children’s children would carry the blood of the Sky People, but if he and Kendra were to marry and have a child, their son or daughter would also truly be one of the Sky People. Despite the Sky People dying out, their legends would live on forever.
Wo'itsa closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath as sorrow swept through him. Matunaaga was dead, and it was his fault. Naatoyita hadn’t cast blame on him, however.
It was still difficult to believe that Mukua had used him for his own gain. His vision had merely guided the elder to find Matunaaga and Kendra, but had he truly wanted Matunaaga dead? Mukua had been looking for the vessels – just as Naatoyita was using Kendra to do - not to kill someone. Surely, Mukua wouldn’t want the Sky People to die out completely.
“Wolf? Can I look at your wounds to make sure there’s no infection?”
Kendra’s soft words and her hand tapping his arm brought him out of his thoughts. Wo'itsa met her gaze, the softness in her eyes once again startling him. Before they’d time-traveled, he had asked her what it would take for her to embrace her heritage. In a clear attempt to divert his attention from his question, she’d handed the vessel to him, then reached for his hand.
She’d glanced from the snakehead to him. “The last time you used this, it took us where we needed to be.” Her face had softened in a smile. “I know you wanted to go back to where that man was killed in the hot springs to save that woman. Even though it didn’t quite take you where you thought you should be, according to Naatoyita, you made things right. Let’s see where it will take us this time.”
Wo'itsa had stared at the snakehead for a long time before he’d taken it from her and touched the red stone that would send them to another time. Only one place had come to mind where he’d wanted to take Kendra. Looking around, it clearly hadn’t worked. They were nowhere near the high mountains where he’d receiv
ed his first vision. Taking Kendra there, guiding her to be closer to the spirits, might help her connect with her ancestors . . . and with him.
Instead, they were in the black canyon along the mighty Elk River, or as Cameahwait called it, the Yellowstone River. Several Tukudeka clans frequented this area in the winter for elk hunting. Wo'itsa had been here himself not more than a year ago, when he’d met Matunaaga’s woman, Kayla.
The area was mountainous and the terrain was beautiful, with many hidden side canyons, creeks, streams, and waterfalls that all joined with the main river that flowed through this vast canyon.
The exposed rocks in the area were dark in color, not the brilliant yellows and reds that painted the mighty canyon to the east where the Sky People oversaw from high above in the mountains. It was no less spectacular, however, but why had the vessel brought them to this place?
“Wolf? Stop daydreaming and take off the bandage.”
Wo'itsa’s gaze returned to Kendra, who stood facing him with a deep frown of displeasure on her face. He smiled, then reached for the white material that was wrapped around his chest.
“The shaman already looked at the wounds and said all was healing well. He was intrigued that someone had sewn the skin together.”
Kendra studied the three dark, jagged lines that marred his skin. The edges of the lacerations were held together like the seams of a hunting shirt. Dosa Haiwi had used hair from the tail of one of those creatures that carried people on their backs.
“You might not have much in the way of scars, after all. Aimee did a fabulous job stitching you up. And nothing looks infected.”
The tips of Kendra’s fingers slid along his skin near the edges of the wound, eliciting a shudder from him. Wo'itsa’s hand snatched her wrist and held tight, bringing it up against his chest. She stiffened, her face rising to meet his gaze. Her lips parted slightly, as if inviting him to kiss her again, but there was apprehension and uncertainty in her wide eyes.
Wo'itsa reached for her other hand, bringing it to rest over his pounding heart. No man in his clan would be so bold to display affection openly for a woman in this way, especially if the woman was not yet his wife.
Here, in this unknown time, they were completely alone. Would he have behaved this way in the middle of his village, allowing all his friends to see his desire for a woman?
The answer was already clear. He had hidden away in the shaman’s hut to stay away from Kendra for three days, but when he’d finally sought her out, he had done something uncharacteristic of his people. He had kissed her.
“Is this where you wanted the vessel to bring us?”
Kendra drew back, but it was a half-hearted effort to escape his hold on her hands. Wo'itsa leaned forward.
“I wanted the vessel to bring us somewhere close to the spirits, so you might learn to reconnect with your ancestors.”
She smiled hesitantly. “And? Did you succeed?”
He shook his head. “Perhaps the vessel brought us here for a different reason.”
“What reason might that be?” Her voice trembled uncharacteristically.
The look of affection she held for him was clear in her eyes, but she was afraid of the emotion. For the first time, her fear and vulnerability were not of him, but because of him. Wo'itsa eased his hold on her and straightened.
“What do you fear, Kendra? The truth that you try so hard to deny?”
Her eyes widened even more, glistening as they reflected the setting sun. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know in your heart that you are meant to be here, yet you fight it. Why are you afraid?”
Kendra pulled one of her hands free and ran her fingers through her dark strands. She blinked several times and averted her eyes.
“I’m not –”
Wo'itsa tugged at her wrist, pulling her closer until their bodies touched.
“You faced me like a fearless warrior when you thought we were enemies,” he murmured, leaning close to her face. “Now your body trembles, but I do not believe it is fear of me. You fear yourself and what you feel for me.”
Her head moved slightly from side to side, but then stopped before it fully turned into a gesture of denial.
“Why do you fight what is between us?” Wo'itsa’s heart beat strong against the soft hand that was pressed to his chest. He was acting boldly, but this was his chance to make his feelings known, or he might lose Kendra forever.
She stared up at him, the shadows in her eyes filled with indecision and confusion. Wo'itsa remained motionless, holding her close while the battle inside her mind played out. Her heart would come out the victor.
“I don’t know what I’m afraid of,” she finally whispered, her gaze locked on his. “Everything that’s happened recently has all been so overwhelming.” She laughed softly. “My entire life has been turned upside down.”
“Sometimes it is good to stray off the path and find a new direction,” he coaxed. He paused, before continuing to speak. It wasn’t easy to talk of something hurtful from the past, but perhaps it would help her understand.
“I was sure of my path all of my life. I was content as a hunter of the Tukudeka. Several seasons ago, I saw myself with a wife and perhaps a child.”
“So why aren’t you married?”
“The woman I was going to marry chose someone else. After she left, I decided on a new course. I was not going to marry.” He smiled, then laughed. “And now that path has altered again. I discovered I am a child of the Sky People, and my thoughts are once again on the future with a wife.”
She dropped eye contact, inhaled deeply, then looked up at him again with a faint smile. She’d understood his meaning regarding a wife, but she clearly chose to ignore his comment.
“I thought I’d carved my own path when I left my grandfather. I never felt like I truly belonged anywhere, so I didn’t let myself get close to anyone. I was happy being a cop.” Her head shook. “I’m still happy being a cop, but I can’t shake the feeling that something’s missing. With you, I feel a connection I’ve never felt before. I can’t explain it, and to be quite honest, it scares me, Wolf.”
Kendra pulled away and turned her back, hugging her arms around her waist. Wo'itsa stepped up behind her. His hands were on her shoulders, turning her to face him, but she resisted.
“I need some time to think.”
Her voice was raspy and he leaned in closer to hear better. He waited until she turned to face him without needing any coaxing.
“I’ve never met a man like you before. You’re honest and real, and you’re true to yourself.” Her lips quivered, and she even smiled a little. “I was horrible to you from the first day we met, but you always treated me with respect.”
Wo'itsa leaned forward slightly. He touched light fingers to her forehead, where the faint scabs of her head wound served as a reminder of one of their first encounters.
“You surprised me when I first met you. You acted like a warrior on the outside, but underneath you are strong in ways that only a woman can be.”
When she frowned, he reached for her hand and held it over his wounds and continued. “You cared for me when I lay dying from the bear attack. You are my strength in your softness. The love that flows from you heals me.”
She stared at him with a disbelieving look, as if his words were something foreign to hear. Finally, she scoffed. “You’re the one who was brave enough to face that grizzly to save my life. I can think of only one other man I’ve met who would do something like that for me, and his name was Matt Donovan.”
“The spirits gifted men with the strength to stand in defense of our women and provide for them with kindness and honor. These are the teachings of the Sky People. I would always protect you with my life from any danger you might face.” His hand cupped the side of her face, letting his fingers caress her soft skin, while his other hand still held her palm to his chest. “We are meant to be together, and I will honor you always with my love.”
Kendra lowered her gaze to the ground, but not before she revealed the moisture in her eyes and the tender look of longing.
“This is all too new to me, Wo'itsa. I don’t know how to respond.” She pulled her hand out from under his and straightened. A determined look, perhaps even a hint of regret, replaced the softness in her eyes. “Right now, we should figure out why we’re here in this area. There has to be a reason why the vessel sent us to this place.”
Reluctantly, Wo'itsa dropped his hands. He was trying to bare his heart to her, but she wasn’t completely ready to answer or fully accept the life into which she’d been born. All he could do for now was guide her in the right direction and give her the time she desired. He stepped back.
“If you wish to remain in this canyon and learn why the vessel has brought us here, we should find a place to make camp for the night.”
Kendra nodded. She looked up at him, letting her eyes linger on his face for several silent seconds before she stared off in all directions. Her gaze followed the course of the river. Wo'itsa let his eyes roam in the same direction.
“Maybe we should figure out how to find the missing snakehead. Naatoyita told me the missing vessel was last held by Kayla, Matt’s wife, when she was sent to the past by Mukua. Maybe that’s a clue to what time we’re in. Why else would he mention it?”
She raised her finger to point at him. “You, Wolf, were the only person other than Matt who had direct contact with Kayla while she was in the past. If she had the vessel, wouldn’t she have used it and time traveled back home?”
Wo'itsa shook his head. “When I found the woman, she was suffering from exposure to the elements. She had been wandering for several days. The cold made her sick in the mind, and she accused Mukua of sending her to the past to kill her. She was not in possession of the vessel.”
Kendra scoffed. “You should have believed her. She must have lost the snakehead when she time traveled. Since it wasn’t with Matt in the future, it has to be lost in the past somewhere, but that could be anytime and anywhere.”
Yellowstone Legends Page 28
