by Lily Thomas
Daerk gave in. “I encountered her when I went to visit the pronghorn village. She appeared to be by herself and was scouring the village for supplies. She disappeared on me before I could find out anything more.”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Tor said eagerly as he rubbed his hands together. “One of us is finally getting a mate, and maybe some children.” Tor winked over at Daerk.
If she was his mate, what would their children be like? He had yet to meet anyone who had bred outside of the sabertooth shifter clans. Maybe some would be pronghorns, and some would be sabertooths. He’d never met a sabertooth shifter who’d mated to a pronghorn. He hadn’t even thought about it, which was part of the reason why he doubted she’d be his mate. It seemed farfetched.
“Looks like you have everything we might need,” Daerk said as he finished looking through the bags they’d brought. They’d even brought some herbs for healing. Good. Who knew what her condition might be. “Let’s head out before someone comes looking for us.”
Daerk liked his friends, but they were a bit on the chatty side. A couple of hours had passed, and he couldn’t recall even one second of silence. The main rambling of their conversations revolved around mates, and what they hoped their mates would be like.
It had him thinking back on the quick sniff of her scent. Every time he thought about it her image would come into his head as clear as if she were standing in front of him. His sabertooth purred again. He would admit she pulled at him, but a mate? A pronghorn mate? He wasn’t sure how that could work.
“We’re getting close to where I saw her last,” Daerk informed them, so their chatter would finally cease.
They crested the hill and looked down at the snow-covered village below them. It was eerie with how silent it was. Daerk could just imagine how full of life it had been before their clan had slaughtered the pronghorn shifters.
“It’s worse than I could have ever imagined.” Rir looked down at the village.
“We should go down and see if there are any fresh tracks to follow. She may have come back after the most recent snow storm.”
He looked up at the grey clouds. He couldn’t see the sun, but it was getting close to dusk. They’d want to explore the village quickly, and then find a place to stay the night.
He led the way down the hill, sliding through the snow until he reached the bottom.
“Crap!”
Daerk turned around just in time to dodge a flying Rir who had tripped and rolled down the snowy hill. He looked down at the jumbled mess of Rir and his supply bag.
“Having problems?” Daerk raised a dark eyebrow.
Rir scoffed as he rose and brushed the snow off his fur clothing. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“We shouldn’t have brought him along.” Tor hitched a thumb over at Rir.
“I tripped was all,” Rir muttered. “It could’ve been anyone.”
“It wasn’t even a steep hill.” Tor snorted. “I just hope you do that when you eventually find your own mate, and I’m there to witness it. She’ll be so impressed.”
Rir punched him on the shoulder, and Tor stumbled away with the force.
“Come, children, let us search for some tracks.” Daerk made his way into the village, leaving the two of them behind. They were going to drive him insane.
There were lumps under the snow that he assumed were bodies. “Make sure to step around the lumps.” He directed the other men.
Then he found a body that had been uncovered. Maybe the pronghorn had come back to say goodbye to her clanmates. This one was a man, and he wondered if he had just been a clanmate or something more to the pronghorn woman he’d seen.
His sabertooth growled at the thought of her with another man. Maybe Rir was right. His sabertooth was never this talkative.
He wasn’t going to jump to any conclusions, not that it mattered. The man was dead, and Daerk was still alive. If there had been something between them, there wasn’t now.
Daerk moved onto the next uncovered face. This time it was an older woman. A mother or aunt? He bent down next to the body and examined the face.
“Sorry, you had to die this way.” The poor woman had been defenseless against an attacking force of sabertooth shifters. It’d been unfair of them.
A little pile of burned incense caught his attention. He looked over at it. Was that why she’d come back? To help her people with whatever ritual they needed to get to the afterlife? He’d offer to bring their shaman if she wanted.
Daerk was sure Eron, the sabertooth shaman, would be willing to do a burial ceremony. Eron might even know the pronghorn shifter ceremony, assuming it was even different from what the sabertooths did.
“Find anything?” Daerk stood up and looked over to where his men were dodging lumps under the snow.
So many bodies. It was gut-wrenching.
“Nothing,” Rir reported.
Tor looked up and shook his head.
Daerk grumped. Her tracks had to be around here somewhere, unless she’d been a spirit.
Glancing around he found the direction he had seen her moving before he had lost sight of her. Daerk made his way over there. “Follow me!” He called out and soon heard his men crunching through the snow towards him.
“Where are we headed?”
“This was the last direction I saw her moving. I’m hoping there will be some tracks or a scent.” Daerk sniffed around. He was in his human form, but he still had a better sense of smell than a normal person.
Rir sniffed around. “I smell a couple of rabbits off to our left, but no scent of a woman.”
“I still think this would be the best area to check out. Spread out and let me know if you find anything. Otherwise, we meet back at the pronghorn village.”
They nodded and split off from him. Daerk headed straight into the forest, while he searched for a scent or some tracks. There was nothing he was picking up on.
Time to switch forms.
Daerk shed his clothing as fast as he could. He was a built man, but the cold of winter had definitely set in, and goosebumps spread out over his skin. The shift was painless and fast. It was like his conscious slipped into another form that had just been waiting nearby.
He lifted his sabertooth nose to the air and sniffed around. There was a slight trace of something in the air. Was it her? Only one way for him to find out.
Putting his nose to the ground, he followed the trace. It led him zigzagging through the trees. This had to be her scent from when she had been trying to lose him. He’d probably scared her witless in his sabertooth form.
The scent got a bit stronger, and once he broke out of the forest, he looked up to see a fur covering the mouth of a cave.
His heart puttered in his chest. Would she be in there? Should he change into his human form and deal with the cold, so he didn’t scare her?
He approached the cave cautiously. His massive paws barely sank into the soft snow, but the scent wasn’t indicating that there was anyone inside. So Daerk decided not to shift out of his sabertooth form.
Pushing the fur out of the way with his snout he entered the dark and cold cave. She wasn’t here, but her scent was all over the place, as was another delicate female scent. His sabertooth side purred in delight at being surrounded by her sweet scent.
“I have your clothing.” Rir’s voice called out from behind him.
Good. Now he wouldn’t have to go and find it.
Daerk shifted back into his human form. He grabbed his clothing out of Rir’s hands as he strode out of the cave and threw it on before the cold froze him. His clothing warmed within seconds.
“We’ll camp here for the night and go back out to search for her.”
“Someone is going to notice our absence from the village,” Rir warned.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. I had hoped to find her before the day was out, but I’m not about to give up.”
“We at least know her scent now and can help a little more tomorrow.” Tor strode into the cave
. “Brrr. Let’s get the fire started before night falls and the cold freezes us to the bone.”
“Please.” Daerk motioned him forward.
Tor hopped to it and had a fire roaring into life within a couple of minutes. “There we go.” Tor held his hands out to the fire.
“Do we leave at first light?” Rir asked as he pulled some furs out of storage from further inside the cave.
“Yes. I want to find her before she gets herself killed or something kills her. Winter storms can come up unexpectedly, just like wild animals.”
“Here.” Tor dug into the pack he’d brought and handed out some dried meat.
Daerk took the meat. He wasn’t too hungry, more worried than anything else. He wanted to get a hold of his wandering pronghorn. His sabertooth purred in agreement.
Tor sniffed the air. “Is there another scent in here?”
“It seems like she might be traveling with another woman,” Daerk commented. He was just glad his friends were here to help him find her. It showed the depth of their friendship.
“Smells nice,” Tor commented absently.
Daerk threw him a raised eyebrow, but Tor seemed lost in thought. Whatever.
“Brog’s going to be more than just angry when he discovers we went away from the village for more than a day without telling him,” Rir commented as he got cozy under some furs.
“He will be.” Daerk wasn’t trying to provoke Brog, but he may just end up doing that. It was the pronghorn’s enticing scent though. He just had to explore it some more and find out why it was drawing him in.
“Ready to face his wrath?”
“For her?” Daerk raised an eyebrow. “Of course. I just hope we find her so that his wrath will make it all worthwhile.”
Tor scoffed and scratched his beard. “You haven’t even met her, and she has you wrapped around her finger.”
“Our clan decimated her village. If we can help her, we should. I wouldn’t call that being wrapped around someone’s finger.” Daerk commented as he chewed on the dried meat.
“I think Rir is right. You may have found your mate.” Tor sighed as he leaned back against the cave wall. “I can only hope it will be that easy for me.”
“He’ll never find her,” Rir said from where he was laying down.
Daerk rose an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“She’d take one look at his ugly face and go running in the opposite direction.”
Daerk nearly choked on the piece of dried meat, as he laughed.
“Ha ha. Very funny, Rir.” Tor threw him a look.
“Get some sleep you two and try not to keep me awake with your bickering. As funny as it might be, it will keep me up, and then I’ll have a foul mood tomorrow.” Daerk grabbed himself a couple of furs, laid them out, and faced the wall of the cave. He was so close! He could feel the jitters enter his body, his sabertooth thrumming with excitement.
Daerk walked back into the cave and looked down at Rir and Tor. They were snoring soundly, even though the sun had risen about an hour ago.
So much for getting out of here at sunrise. Daerk walked back out of the cave, grabbed a handful of snow, balled it up, then grabbed another handful of snow and balled that one up.
Then he took his two snowballs and walked back into the cave. Taking aim, he nailed Rir in the face with one.
“Oomph!”
He took aim and nailed Tor in the side of the face.
“What the…?” Tor bolted up, scraping the snow from his beard looking thoroughly displeased.
“What part of sunrise don’t you two understand?” Daerk folded his arms in front of his chest.
“So, we deserved a snowball in our face?” Rir flicked the rest into the fire, causing it to sizzle and pop.
“Could have woken us up like a normal person.” Tor grumped.
“You could have woken up on your own. Come on. I already packed your bags.” Daerk was eager to get back on the trail.
The men got up and shuffled out of the cave.
“Still cold.”
“Get used to it. We will have several more months of it.” Daerk looked out over the snowy landscape. This might be a dismal time for some, but he enjoyed the crisp white that coated everything around them.
They headed back to the pronghorn shifter village, which took them no time at all.
“Now that you know her scent. Help me find it.” Daerk was positive she’d come back to the pronghorn village. While the men had been sleeping, he’d tracked it back this way.
The men walked around the village sniffing the air.
“I might have something over here,” Rir called out.
Daerk rushed over and sniffed the air. It was faint, but it did seem to be her scent. It gave him some hope that he was still hot on her trail.
“We’ll follow it and see if it leads anywhere.”
Tor came to stand beside them. “I think I can pick up the second woman’s scent.” Tor looked around. He bent down and examined the ground. “This looks like a small drop of blood.”
Daerk bent down next to him to examine the drop Tor was pointing at. Was it his pronghorn’s blood or the mystery woman who’d interested Tor?
He took a whiff of the air, but it all came up as the unknown woman. Not his pronghorn. Relief flooded him.
He glanced over at Tor and ended up seeing a little bit of concern marring the other man’s face.
“Something wrong, Tor?”
Tor shook his head slowly, but Daerk noticed his fists clenched at his sides.
“Something could end up tracking them other than ourselves because of this blood. I’m sure predators would be eager for any sign of weakness.” His pronghorn was wandering around with an injured woman who was leaving a blood trail for anyone to follow.
“Animals in winter would be eager for an easy kill.” Rir agreed.
“We need to find them before something else does.” Daerk rose and led the way out of the village.
They traveled for half the day, following blood spots in the snow. The blood spots were increasing not only in size but in frequency.
“Daerk, you might want to see this,” Rir called out.
Daerk glanced over to where Rir was standing just a few feet away. He walked over. “What is it?”
“We aren’t the only ones following the pronghorn.”
Daerk saw the deep tracks in the snow. He bent down and gave the air around the print a sniff. “Bear.”
“Shouldn’t they be sleeping?” Tor sprinted over to give the print a look. “It does look like a bear print though.”
“They could be in danger.” Rir met Daerk’s eyes.
Daerk got the hint. As he shed his clothing, he told his men, “Come along, but not in your shifter forms. One sabertooth shifter will scare them enough.” He stripped off his shirt and pants and let the shift overtake him. It felt refreshing. Both of his skins felt normal to him. He shook out his thick tan fur. Then he shot off across the snow. Who knew what kind of lead the bear had on him, so he had no time to spare.
Chapter 6
“Come on, Ezi, we can do this.” Aiyre encouraged her longtime friend as she noticed Ezi beginning to weaken.
Ezi’s arm was draped across her shoulder, as Aiyre tried to take weight off Ezi’s twisted ankle. She glanced over her shoulder and saw some drops of blood marring the pristinely white environment. Her wound must be worse than Aiyre thought. She cringed.
“I don’t… know… if I can.” Ezi panted.
“If you give up, we’ll both die, because I’m not leaving you by yourself.”
“Anyone… tell you… you’re stubborn?” Ezi’s jade eyes flashed with slight annoyance.
“Every day,” Aiyre confirmed. “It might not be the best trait, but it might just help to save your life.”
“I’m just slowing us down,” Ezi grunted. “I’m going to keep you from finding cover before night falls.”
Aiyre shook her head. “Then we tough it out in the open, but I’m not gi
ving up on you. For all I know we are the last two of our clan alive, and I’m not letting you die.”
“I still can’t believe they are all dead.” She could hear the tremble in Ezi’s voice.
“We will never forget them. They will live on in us, but we must live to make sure that happens.”
A crunch sounded behind them. Aiyre spun around, dragging Ezi in a tight circle.
“Ouch!”
“Shh.” Aiyre gazed at the giant bear standing before them.
Its nose was down to the ground, sniffing a drop of blood on the snow. Then its muzzle rose, its loose lips exposing horrible yellow teeth, as it opened its mouth. White air puffed out of its leathery nose as it snorted.
“You should run,” Ezi whispered horror shaking her words.
“No.” Aiyre would die protecting her friend before she turned tail.
“We’ll both die, and then the clan won’t live on.”
“So be it, Ezi.” Aiyre let go of Ezi’s arm slowly, allowing her to sink to the ground. “Just stay there and try not to attract the bear’s attention.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Aiyre reached a hand behind her and detached her spear from her pack. She hefted her spear. She was glad she brought it, but she wasn’t sure it was going to help save them. Taking a bear down with one spear? She’d better start praying for a miracle shot to the heart.
The bear gave another huff, as it eyed them with its beady black eyes. It was probably trying to decide what its chance was when it came to taking them out.
Aiyre met its gaze, not willing to back down. It might be more than five times her size, but she had determination on her side and a desire to live.
“Go away.” She whispered, hoping the bear would think they were too difficult for a before-hibernation-snack.
The bear decided they were worth the effort. It started to circle them as it grunted into the cold air, and Aiyre made sure to keep herself between the bear and Ezi. If it wanted Ezi, it’d have to go through her.
It gave another huff, almost like it was exasperated with her persistent efforts to save her friend.
“You should just leave me.” Ezi pleaded from where she was sitting in the snow. “My leg will probably kill me anyway.”
