Rakdi regarded Aranur with a slight frown. “We follow him; we ride with Ariye.”
But Dangyon shook his head. “Talon just turned his back on Ariye to follow his heart.”
“Drovic’s plans will not let him—or us—go so easily.”
But Dangyon looked down at his burly legs. Where the skates had bitten, the flesh ached like a deep bruise, but that was all. There was no tearing, no burning in his nerves, no sudden spasms of pain. Over the last two days, the wolfwalker had tended him as she had tended the others. There had been something about her ministrations that had softened even the worst of the skate bites that had refused to heal, and Dangyon smiled half crookedly. “Even Drovic’s dream must bend to the wolves. The Gray Ones own this world.”
As the fourth moon rose, barely beating the sun to the peaks, the riders gathered. The Ariyens packed their own gear, since both groups would move out together although they would split at the western road. The Lloroi spoke to Aranur briefly; neither was comfortable, but there was tacit agreement about Aranur’s decision. He could not simply return to Ariye, not after being a raider. And even though the Lloroi had accepted Aranur’s men into the county, those men must still prove themselves. Three or four years with the cozar, and Tyronnen could better fit the fighters into Ariye. There would be friction—there was still friction over Tehena for her past, though it was as much the woman’s abrasive manner that put people off as Tehena’s history, the Lloroi admitted. These men had more to live down, and he regarded them soberly as he watched his nephew ready himself to leave Ariye again. He was letting his nephew go back to Drovic’s world, hoping Aranur would be strong enough to hold to his convictions. He was putting a wolfwalker into the hands of raiders. And he was failing his people by letting both go, by letting their skills ride away.
Gamon noted his brother’s expression. “They may be gone, but they will not let go of Ariye. The mountains are too much a part of them.”
“We need them now.”
“They need each other.” He nodded at the wolfwalker. “They will return when they are healed. Force them, and you’ll lose them completely.”
The Lloroi’s lips thinned, but he said nothing, letting his silence be both his disagreement and his acceptance of what he could not change.
At the other end of the courtyard, Aranur looked over his riders: eight men, two women. There were also the pack dnu, but later those would be hitched to cozar wagons. Neither Dion nor Aranur worried about arranging for that transport. At the end of the caravan season, there were always available wagons.
A low murmuring flowed through the courtyard as each rider checked his gear and reported ready. Ki tightened his cinch and murmured to Harare, “Think he’ll ever tell me about the cow teeth?”
“Stay with him long enough, and he’s bound to run out of other livestock to tease you with.” Harare glanced at Aranur. There was something different about Aranur than Talon, and it extended to his riders. Drovic would not have given his life to save any one of them. Talon might have thought first before leaping to a rescue, but Talon would still have acted for his raiders. Aranur now, he expected them to be men, not raiders, to be more than they had allowed themselves to become. Harare found himself shrugging back toward the person he had been twenty years before. It felt awkward, like a coat too loose in the shoulders and far too tight in the waist. But it felt good in another way. He felt . . . confident, he realized. He knew that Aranur’s word would stand, that the tall man would share whatever they met together, and he knew, watching the wolfwalker, that having accepted them as her mate’s obligation, she would stand with them, too. Harare mounted his dnu and moved to the edge of the courtyard, where Dangyon already waited. It was enough, he told himself. And there was plenty of edge left in a blade that was used against—not for— other raiders.
Dion and Rhom worked side by side, savoring the nearness of each other as they packed the dnu. They rarely spoke; they didn’t need to. Their bond was as strong as the wolves. Aranur touched Dion often as he gravitated toward her while moving through the riders and preparing the rest of the dnu, and Rhom actually got him to smile as the smith teased him about his constant proximity.
Tehena and Kiyun stayed together on one side, their gear already packed. There was no question that they would ride with Aranur and Dion. They were not about to let the wolfwalker go unprotected among a pack of raiders.
Rhom finally moved up beside Gamon and the others. “Don’t scowl so,” Rhom told Tehena. “It’s not Dion you should worry about.”
The thin woman gave him a sharp look. “That’s funny, coming from a man whose arm was nearly severed two days ago by one of that man’s raiders.”
Rhom shrugged, winced at the soreness left in his arm, and deliberately completed the motion. “The wolves will warn Dion if any of them plan violence, and Aranur will protect her.”
“He barely protected himself.”
Rhom quelled his instant response. Tehena always had rubbed him wrong, and it was only her loyalty to his twin that kept him from snapping back. “You’re wrong,” he said quietly. “Aranur never lost his self, only his direction, and Dion has given that back. In doing so, she has found her own focus and strength. Those men cannot frighten her. Look at them. She made their leader whole again. They don’t watch her like predators. They’re almost acting like guards.”
Tehena’s voice was dry. “As you say, it is Aranur’s influence. If he leaves her alone with them . . .” Her voice trailed off ominously.
Gamon followed her gaze, but agreed with Rhom. “He’s strong enough to hold them to their word.”
“For now,” Tehena agreed.
Gamon shook his head sharply. “I think for long enough. Forever, if he must. Look at the way they focus on him. They sit taller, have purpose. It may be self-righteous today and tomorrow, but it will become its own truth in time.”
Tehena snorted. “You have the faith of the wolfwalkers, Gamon.”
The older man exchanged a glance with Rhom. “I have had to. Dion forces that on those who live around her.”
The thin woman’s voice was dry. “She’s taught you that, at least.”
“That, and something else.”
The blacksmith asked the question with his eyebrows.
Gamon shook his head. “Never underestimate a Randonnen. When you people want something, you go after it like a worlag after a hare. Not even the path to the moons can keep you from taking back what is yours.”
Rhom grinned. “Remember that, next time you challenge me to a game of stars and moons.”
Gamon chuckled. But he sobered as he regarded the busy courtyard. “The moons put them together and then tore them apart. Their wounds are still raw and uneven.”
“Aye,” Rhom agreed softly. “They will not fit back together again as easily as before.”
“It has never been easy, for them.”
“No, but she is his heart, his forever; and he is hers, like the wolves and the moons in bonding. I knew when I first saw them together. She snapped at him like a wolf at her mate, and he was sore as a badgerbear. They could no more have resisted each other than the moons could resist the night.” Rhom smiled crookedly. “Look at her. She sees nothing but him. They will find their balance again.”
Beside Aranur, Dion felt her brother’s gaze. She turned to him from across the courtyard. Aranur turned with her. Then Dion smiled, and the light caught the slow expression until she seemed to glow.
Rhom nodded to himself. The moons had torn more than one bond, but some could never be severed. He could still feel his twin, feel her nearness, her heart, and he knew she could still sense him. He knew something else: when her child was born, it would be on Randonnen soil. Dion would want family for that. He would have to tell Shilia—they would need another nursery, even if it was only for one spring. For now, he merely sat his saddle and waited for the signal to ride. He would not be going back with Gamon, but with his twin for a while. She would need him to help face
herself, her mate, and the future she was choosing. It would be a strong one, he knew. No matter what she claimed she was giving up, she could never accept less than that.
Ten minutes later, the riders left the courtyard. Aranur’s ribs still felt the bone-crushing embrace that Gamon had given him. But the sky was clear, and the wind that cut across his skin was cleansing. The wolves were quiet as fog, hidden in the shadows that paced the string of riders. Aranur looked at Dion. She smiled. There was a third heart beating with them, and the sound of it was their future. Dion’s right hand rested on her slightly swollen belly as they reached the western road. Then she reached out toward Aranur.
He leaned to take her hand, squeezed it hard, and asked the question with his eyes. She smiled faintly. He nodded. Then he stood in the saddle and turned to the riders behind him. “Into the dawn, into the future, like the wind and the wolves, we ride!”
In the darkness, the thunder of their hooves clipped the snow. They moved out like a long, gray shadow. A long howl rose far to the east, then ahead of them on the road. In the dawn, the wolves’ eyes gleamed.
Finis
Author’s Note
Wolves, wolf-dog hybrids, and exotic and wild cats might seem like romantic pets. The sleekness of the musculature, the mystique and excitement of keeping a wild animal as a companion—for many owners, wild and exotic animals symbolize freedom and wilderness. For other owners, wild animals from wolves to bobcats to snakes provide a status symbol—something that makes the owner interesting. Many owners claim they are helping keep an animal species from becoming extinct, that they care adequately for their pet’s needs, and that they love wild creatures.
However, most predator and wild or exotic animals need to range over wide areas. They need to be socialized with their own species. They need to know how to survive, hunt, breed, and raise their young in their own habitat. And each species’ needs are different. A solitary wolf, without the companionship of other wolves with whom it forms sophisticated relationships, can become neurotic and unpredictable. A cougar, however, stakes out its own territory and, unless it is mating or is a female raising its young, lives and hunts as a solitary predator. Both wolves and cougars can range fifty to four hundred square miles over the course of a year. Keeping a wolf or cougar as a pet is like raising a child in a closet.
Wild animals are not easily domesticated. Even when raised from birth by humans, these animals are dramatically different from domestic animals. Wild animals are dangerous and unpredictable, even though they might appear calm or trained, or seem too cute to grow dangerous with age. Wolves and exotic cats make charming, playful pups and kittens, but the adult creatures are still predators. For example, lion kittens are cute, ticklish animals that like to be handled (all kittens are). They mouth things with tiny kitten teeth. But adult cats become solitary, highly territorial, and possessive predators. Some will rebel against authority, including that of the handlers they have known since birth. They can show unexpected aggression. Virtually all wild and exotic cats, including ocelots, margay, serval, cougar, and bobcat, can turn vicious as they age.
Monkeys and other nonhuman primates also develop frustrating behavior as they age. Monkeys keep themselves clean and give each other much-needed, day-to-day social interaction and reassurance by grooming one another. A monkey kept by itself can become filthy and depressed, and can begin mutilating itself (pulling out its hair and so on). When a monkey grows up, it climbs on everything, vocalizes loudly, bites, scratches, exhibits sexual behavior toward you and your guests, and, like a wolf, marks everything in its territory with urine. It is almost impossible to housebreak or control a monkey.
Many people think they can train wolves in the same manner that they train dogs. They cannot. Even if well cared for, wolves do not act as dogs do. Wolves howl. They chew through almost anything, including tables, couches, walls, and fences. They excavate ten-foot pits in your backyard. They mark everything with urine and cannot be house-trained. (Domestic canid breeds that still have a bit of wolf in them can also have these traits.) Punishing a wolf for tearing up your recliner or urinating on the living room wall is punishing the animal for instinctive and natural behavior.
Wolf-dog hybrids have different needs than both wolves and dogs, although they are closer in behavior and needs to wolves than dogs. These hybrids are often misunderstood, missocialized, and mistreated until they become vicious or unpredictable fear-biters. Dissatisfied or frustrated owners cannot simply give their hybrids to new owners; it is almost impossible for a wolf-dog to transfer its attachment to another person. When abandoned or released into the wild by owners, hybrids may also help dilute wolf and coyote strains, creating more hybrids caught between the two disparate worlds of domestic dogs and wild canids. For wolf-dog hybrids, the signs of neurosis and aggression that arise from being isolated, mistreated, or misunderstood most often result in the wolf-dogs being euthanized.
Zoos cannot usually accept exotic or wild animals that have been kept as pets. In general, pet animals are not socialized and do not breed well or coexist with other members of their own species. Because such pets do not learn the social skills to reproduce, they are unable to contribute to the preservation of their species. They seem to be miserable in the company of their own kind, yet have become too dangerous to remain with their human owners. Especially with wolves and wolf-dog hybrids, the claim that many owners make about their pets being one-person animals usually means that those animals have been dangerously unsocialized.
Zoo workers may wish they could rescue every mistreated animal from every inappropriate owner, but the zoos simply do not have the resources to take in pets. Zoos and wildlife rehabilitation centers receive hundreds of requests each year to accept animals that can no longer be handled or afforded by owners. State agencies confiscate hundreds more that are abandoned, mistreated, or malnourished.
The dietary requirements of exotic or wild animals are very different from domesticated pets. For example, exotic and wild cats require almost twice as much protein as canids and cannot convert carotene to vitamin A—an essential nutrient in a felid’s diet. A single adult cougar requires two to three pounds of prepared meat each day, plus vitamins and bones. A cougar improperly fed on a diet of chicken or turkey parts or red muscle meat can develop rickets and blindness.
The veterinary bills for exotic and wild animals are outrageously expensive—if an owner can find a vet who knows enough about exotic animals to treat the pet. And it is difficult to take out additional insurance in order to keep such an animal as a pet. Standard home owner’s policies do not cover damages or injuries caused by wild or exotic animals. Some insurance companies will drop clients who keep wild animals as pets.
Wild and exotic animals do not damage property or cause injuries because they are inherently vicious. What humans call property damage is to the animal natural territorial behavior, play, den-making or child-rearing behavior. Traumatic injuries—including amputations and death—to humans most often occur because the animal is protecting its food, territory, or young; because it does not know its own strength compared to humans; or because it is being mistreated. A high proportion of wild- and exotic-animal attacks are directed at human children.
Although traumatic injuries are common, humans are also at risk from the diseases and organisms that undomesticated or exotic animals can carry. Rabies is just one threat in the list of over 150 infectious diseases and conditions that can be transmitted between animals and humans. These diseases and conditions include intestinal parasites, Psittacosis (a species of Chlamydia), cat-scratch fever, measles, and tuberculosis. Hepatitis A (infectious hepatitis), which humans can catch through contact with minute particles in the air (aerosol transmission) or with blood (bites, scratches, and so on), has been found in its subclinical state in over 90 percent of wild chimps, and chimps are infectious for up to sixty days at a time. The Herpesvirus simiae, which has a 70 percent or greater mortality rate in humans, can be contracted from macaque
s. Pen-breeding only increases an animal’s risk of disease.
Taking an exotic or wild animal from its natural habitat does not help keep the species from becoming extinct. All wolf species and all feline species (except for the domestic cat) are either threatened, endangered, or protected by national or international legislation. All nonhuman primates are in danger of extinction; and federal law prohibits the importation of nonhuman primates to be kept as pets. In some states, such as Arizona, it is illegal to own almost any kind of wild animal. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service advises that you conserve and protect endangered species. Do not buy wild or exotic animals as pets.
If you would like to become involved with endangered species or other wildlife, consider supporting a wolf, exotic cat, whale, or other wild animal in its own habitat or in a reputable zoo. You can contact your local reputable zoo, conservation organization, or state department of fish and wildlife for information about supporting exotic or wild animals. National and local conservation groups can also give you an opportunity to help sponsor an acre of rain forest, wetlands, temperate forest, or other parcel of land.
There are many legitimate organizations that will use your money to establish preserves in which endangered species can live in their natural habitat. The internationally recognized Nature Conservancy is such an organization. For information about programs sponsored by the Nature Conservancy, please write to:
The Nature Conservancy
1815 N. Lynn Street
Arlington, Virginia 22209
Special thanks to Janice Hixson; Dr. Jill Mellen, Ph.D.; Dr. Mitch Finnegan, D.V.M., Metro Washington Park Zoo; Karen Fishler, The Nature Conservancy; Harley Shaw, General Wildlife Services; Dr. Mary-Beth Nichols, D.V.M.; Brooks Fahy, Cascade Wildlife Rescue; and the many others who provided information, sources, and references for this project.
Return to the Beginning of Dion’s Story An Excerpt from the Acclaimed Novel
Silver Moons, Black Steel Page 47
