“Stop!” he said as loudly as he could. It wasn’t a yell because lungs were near ribs and every deep breath disturbed the break, or breaks, more.
The travois came to an abrupt halt. Redruff shifted and hurried over to take a look at Ken. He felt the icy wind keenly as it bit into thin, bare, sensitive human skin.
“Good to see you awake.” Her teeth were chattering.
“Where are we?”
“Half way home. Better question. How are you?”
“Where are the others?”
“Nearby. Just a little ahead.”
“They left you?”
“Well, I think they’re a little panicked by the snow. None of us have ever seen snowfall like this.”
“So the bear…”
“She heard that lion scream and ran off to see about the babies.”
“Everybody else is alright then?” When Redruff looked away and didn’t answer, Ken prodded. “What aren’t you saying?”
“Starfire ran to the bear’s haunches when you were in trouble. Got knocked off the ledge.”
Ken’s eyes clouded as he remembered. “Where is she?” When Redruff said nothing, he stood, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her even though that hurt him much worse than it did her. “WHERE IS SHE?”
“We don’t know! We don’t even know if she survived the fall. The snow started coming down so hard we couldn’t see. There was a bear. And a lion. So Loper and Brackish agreed the only reasonable thing to do was skedaddle and try to get help for you. They thought Star was a lost cause, but you were definitely alive.”
Ken looked at her like she was an alien species.
“You left her.” He almost whispered it.
Seeing the recrimination in Ken’s eyes, Redruff flushed and lowered her eyes. She realized they may not have made the right choice, but shrinking under the shame in Ken’s gaze, she had to confront the reality of that choice and how it would be perceived by others.
Ken gave Redruff one more reproving look before he shifted into wolf form and trotted away in the direction of the ledge from where Star had fallen.
“Where are you going?” she shouted. “You can’t go back there by yourself!”
She knew as she said it that searching for the last place Starfire was seen, by himself if necessary, was exactly what he was going to do. Alpha personalities, whether they were active or dormant, were known to be sticklers for drawing right and wrong lines in the sand. And Cinaed had just made it clear that Redruff, Brackish, and Loper were on the wrong side of the line.
Ken’s eyes squinted against the wind. His natural impulse was to find a place to curl into himself and wait out the worst of the weather, but the human mind inside his wolf form was relentless in pushing him eastward. He knew there was practically no chance that Starfire was still alive, but the tiny shimmering hope kept him moving forward. If she’d survived, minutes could make all the difference.
He moved as fast as he could given a couple of broken ribs that might be threatening to puncture a lung and the rough terrain where no trail had ever been established. As he ran through the snow he replayed scenes of the battle with the grizzly. He’d been doing his best to draw the bear’s attention so that the rest of the tiny pack had an opportunity to weaken her from the rear, but he’d been keenly aware of where each wolf was and what they were doing.
Brackish, Loper, and Redruff had engaged the bear when they were certain she was focused on Ken. Starfire, on the other hand, had fought with the ferocity of a wolf twice her size. She’d been fearless, without heed to personal safety. And to think he had publicly called her unsuitable for the expedition. He knew that, for that alone, he deserved to be shamed every bit as much as the wolves who had left her behind.
He thought about what she’d said about his name and it had caused his heart to swell with pride. He was not just Ken, youngest Cu Alee brother. He was Born of Fire and he would not be returning home without Starfire, dead or alive. Of everyone on the exploration team, she was undoubtedly the one most deserving of a long life and an honorable legacy.
He came to a fast-moving creek and had to follow it to find a place that was narrow and shallow enough to cross so that he wouldn’t be swept away by the current. He drank his fill of water even though the near frozen liquid chilled him to the bone because he had no pack or canteen and didn’t know when he’d be able to drink again.
When darkness fell, he had no choice but to stop. The moon would be full in three days, but dense snow clouds obscured the light. Without being able to see where he was going, he knew he’d be more likely to injure himself worse than to find Starfire quicker.
CHAPTER NINE
Three explorers returned to New Elk Mountain. Though they stopped briefly at the guest house on the outskirts of the settlement to shift to human form and don clothes that they’d left there, each of them wished they could linger and delay the inevitable. Each one dreaded the walk up the hill to the king’s house.
The residents of New Elk Mountain who were out and about stopped and stared because they recognized them as being part of the expedition, the expedition that had departed almost three weeks earlier with a team of five. No one spoke to them and they avoided eye contact by keeping their heads low.
Technically they weren’t dragging their feet, but they were moving slowly.
By the time they were yards away from the king’s house, word had reached him. The front door flew open and a worried-looking alpha stalked toward them.
“What’s happened?” he demanded. His eyes flicked over the three of them, but landed on Loper because he was one of Stalkson Grey’s tribe.
Loper wished the duty to respond had landed on someone else, but he couldn’t disobey a direct order from his alpha and he’d been told to debrief.
“We were attacked by a bear. Ken was hurt. Unconscious. Star was knocked off the side of the mountain. That was the beginning of the blizzard. It was snowing so hard we could barely see. We thought the most important thing was to try to get help for Ken because we were pretty sure Star couldn’t have survived the fall. It would’ve taken days to climb down and find out. So we had to make a choice.”
Grey waited for him to continue, but not for long. “WHAT CHOICE!?!” he boomed, making all three jump. “WHERE IS HE?”
By that time they’d been joined by Windwalker, NightCloud, and several others who were simply curious.
“There are multiple ranges beyond the one you can see from here. He woke up when we reached the second summit.”
“And?”
Loper hung his head and spoke so low even wolf ears had to listen hard to hear him. “He went back for Starfire.”
Grey did nothing to disguise the combination of horror and disgust he was feeling for the people standing in front of him.
“First you left Starfire. Then you let Ken go back for her alone?”
He recounted what he’d heard like a review, but made it clear that, even though he had the facts, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Yes,” said Loper.
Grey turned to his son. “Win, ask for volunteers. We’re going after your cousin. Leaving in half an hour. Stress that it’s likely to be unpleasant. Cold. No clothes. No cooked food.”
“How many?”
Grey thought about it for a minute. “You going?”
Win clenched his teeth. “What do you think?”
“You, me, Cloud will want to go for Starfire. Take the first eight who say yes, but they have to be strong enough to keep up.”
With a last hateful glare, Grey turned on his heel and went inside. When Win shoved past Loper to find recruits, Loper caught his arm.
“What do you want?” Win said impatiently.
“I want to go.”
Win took a moment to gauge the depth of Loper’s sincerity and believed he was looking at a man who desperately wanted a second chance.
“Can you show us the way?”
“Yes. I was point. I know the way.”<
br />
“Okay. Be here in an hour.”
Loper’s grip tightened on Win’s arm. “Thank you.”
“Help me find seven more.”
Luna opened the door for her mate who emerged in wolf form along with Win and Cloud. Loper and seven others were waiting.
When Grey barked at Loper, he took off for the mountains like a streak, ears practically pasted down on his head, with the others right behind.
CHAPTER TEN
Starfire’s body betrayed her. She fell asleep again after she’d eaten her fill of venison. Her fear of Brand began to dissipate as he answered her questions about the shifters who lived intermixed with humans on the far side of the mountains.
When she woke again, he was gone. She tested her body’s reaction to sitting. She was bruised and had muscle soreness that made her wince with the slightest movement, but her head didn’t hurt as much as the day before.
She took a light blanket and wrapped it around her just before the door opened letting in a cold blast of air that made her pull the blanket around her shoulders. Brand carried firewood in his arms. She pulled herself up on shaky legs and it felt like a minor victory when she remained standing, feeling more steady by the second.
“Sweet wolf.” The way he said it sounded like some sort of decadent promise.
“You’ve got to stop calling me that. My name is Starfire.”
He stopped long enough to look at her as if seeing her for the first time. “Starfire,” he repeated. “Yes. It suits you.”
“Thank you. I guess.” She watched as he stacked the firewood. “I’ve been wondering about something.”
“Oh?”
“This is a cave. Right?”
“It is.”
“Why isn’t it filling up with smoke? Caves don’t come with chimneys.”
“So you have an interest in architecture.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Some caves do come with chimneys. There is a crack between some of the rock strata and it reaches to a plateau above.”
She cocked her head. “So somewhere it looks like smoke is simply coming out of rock.”
“Exactly.” He laughed.
And she laughed with him.
“How did you figure that out?”
“I didn’t. I’m not the first to live here. I inherited this place.”
He pulled cushions in front of the fire and invited her to sit with him. Not wanting to be impolite, she seated herself where he suggested, and said, “How long have you lived here?”
“A while.”
“By yourself?”
“Not the whole time. I had a mate once. A long time ago. Hundred winters maybe. She died.”
Starfire couldn’t help the ache in her heart. It would have been impossible for someone so compassionate not to feel sorry for a creature who’d been alone for twice as long as she’d been alive.
“I’m sorry, Brand. Were you happy?”
“Happy? That’s a strange word,” he mused. “A word for humans. I was content. I liked my life and had no complaints.” He looked at her longingly. “I want to like my life again.”
Starfire shook her head. “You don’t want me. I’m a wolf and you’re a…”
“We can mate.” The intensity of desperate persuasion shone in his eyes. “It’s been done.”
Star pulled her chin back. “It has?” She instantly regretted the question because she didn’t want to let her curiosity sidetrack the issue. “Never mind. The point is that you want a mate who’s like you.”
“There aren’t any more like me. Well, there are, but the few who remain have mated.”
“I see. You’re sure?”
“Quite.”
“My people will be looking for me.”
He shook his head. “Snowfall was heavy after I took you. It’s warming up, but the melt will confuse your scent all the more.”
“My people have very good noses.”
“Then we’ll leave here. I have other places to stay. Places no one else has ever found.”
Starfire’s fear began to creep back in. Only she’d exchanged the fear of being eaten for the fear of being kept against her will and forcefully mated by another species.
“I don’t want to stay,” she said quietly, hoping to get across that he wouldn’t be ‘content’ if he kept her.
“You will. After a time.” He nodded as if his will could make it so.
When Ken found the ledge where they had fought the bear, he inched toward the edge of the drop off being careful of his foothold because of the loose snow. The rock face plummeted into a narrow valley below, the sort that turned winter snow melt into a deadly current for any unfortunate enough to get caught unaware.
He looked to the right and left without spotting a route that looked passable. It seemed the odds were even as to which way to go. His grim thought was that a coin toss would have worked as well as any other method of choice. If he’d been in human form he might have laughed about the fact that there were many residents of Lunark who’d never seen a coin, didn’t know what it was, and would have been baffled by an explanation of money.
With no indication that one way would be better than the other, he turned to his left and ran northward as fast as he could, berating himself every step of the way for not acknowledging what Starfire meant to him when it would have been easy to do. Searching in solitude had given him enough time to recognize he’d been denying that Star was his mate, hurting both her and him in the process. He had a lot to make up for and hoped he’d have the chance to do it. If not, he’d follow her into the next world. Happily. There he would find her and make amends.
When he came to a forest that covered a steep slope running down to the valley floor below, he decided it might be the only way down. He knew that if he lost his footing, he could only fall as far as the next tree. It was either that or look for another route and he’d run out of time to do that.
As soon as he stepped off the plateau the snow went out from under his feet and he went into a skid. As predicted, his fall was stopped by the first tree he hit. It caused him to yelp out loud because it jarred his broken ribs. Half an hour, thirty trees, and many new bruises later, he lay panting on level ground in the shadow of rock walls looming on either side.
When his breathing began to even out, he winced and whined as he struggled to stand. It was almost dark, but he hoped to at least get as far as the spot below the plateau, the site where Starfire would have fallen.
The weather had warmed and the snow was melting which meant that it would turn to ice as soon as the sun went behind the mountain.
“None of that matters,” Starfire said, “because I have a mate.”
She blurted that out omitting the next sentence which was, “He just doesn’t know it.”
Brandish looked agitated. “No doubt he’ll be sorry to lose you. But he’ll get over it in time. There are others of your kind for him to choose from.”
Not the response she was hoping for.
“I’ll run as soon as I get a chance.”
Without shifting he extended claws from his right hand, a skill that was both fascinating and terrifying. Wolves could either shift or not. They couldn’t manifest certain features of their alter form at will.
“Not if I cut the tendons on your back legs.”
Starfire gasped. “At the moment I don’t have back legs. I just have legs. And you wouldn’t do that to me.” She knew that was a combination of hope and bluster, but hoped her tone would force him to take that option out of his menu of possibilities. “Would you?”
After staring for several seconds he sighed and retracted his claws. “Probably not. I’d like you to decide to stay.”
“I know that’s what you want, but it’s not going to happen. Look I really appreciate that you picked me up when I was injured and brought me to your, um, here. But I don’t belong with you.”
“You could. I know you’re attracted to me. And I am certainly attracted
to you.” His eyes skated over her as if to punctuate that declaration.
She gripped the knot on the blanket sarong tighter. “I won’t deny that you have a certain appeal but that’s because of your beauty and the growly way you talk to me when you’re thinking about mating. But recognizing your appeal is not the same thing as choosing you for a mate.”
“It could be.”
“No, Brand! It could not be! I. Have. A. Mate already. And I’m not going to simply give him up and forget about him.”
Brandish narrowed his eyes. “Maybe he’s already forgotten about you.”
Star felt that comment like an arrow to the heart knowing that was probably true.
In the last rays of light before the valley was cast into darkness, Ken felt the gratification of victory when he found a hint of Star’s scent under the melting snow. Blood frozen into ice. He sniffed, then licked and whined because it was the physical proof that she was hurt, if not dead. But the good news was that there was no body nor any remains.
There was little time to revel in that newfound hope because, within seconds, he picked up the scent of the mountain lion. A growl erupted from deep in his throat. If the lion had killed Starfire, Ken would tear out its throat even if the thing shredded the last vestige of flesh from his body in the process. As darkness overcame his ability to search, he grudgingly gave up for the night, curled up next to the wall, nose to tail, and closed his eyes.
Exhaustion overcame both his injuries and his anxiety about Star. He slept, but his sleep was full of fitful dreams of Starfire’s sparkling eyes and sensuous smile freezing in fear at the scream of an unseen mountain lion, hidden in the forest.
He was awake at the first sign of light. The stream by which he slept had swollen and grown a resistant current. Its babbling meant that the sun was rapidly melting snow and ice up higher away from the shadows of the valley.
Picking up the trail where he’d left off the night before, he added hunger to his body’s long list of complaints that he was determined to ignore. He hadn’t caught Star’s scent once after he’d found where her body came to rest after the fall. He was tracking the lion instead, although his scent had become confused. The smell had traces of the lion, but was different. Whatever it was, it was Ken’s only hope.
Fire Wolf: CINAED (New Scotia Pack Book 3) Page 7
