Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
A low murmur sweeps through the tribe. I see several people nodding approval. I agree. The thought of spending the brutal season split apart from each other is a lonely one. Our tribe is close-knit. There is no way we would do well spread apart.
Raahosh speaks up. “It is a good plan. Let me go with you, my chief, to investigate this new place.”
Vektal nods. “Hassen will guide us. It took him several days to journey there with Mah-dee, but with fast hunters, we can run for very long distances without tiring, and make it there and back quickly. I would like for Harrec to go, as well. He is swift on his feet.”
Eh? Harrec? I am twice as fast as he is. I jump up. “I wish to go, my chief. I am fast. You know I am.” I also need to prove myself once more—not just to my tribe, but to my own mind. That I am not as broken as everyone thinks I am. Also, I want time away from Stay-see and her sad, accusing looks. I do not say this aloud, though.
It grows silent once more.
Vektal crosses his arms, frowning at me. “You are newly healed, Pashov.”
“I feel fine.” I do not look over at Stay-see. I cannot. But I must do something. I am restless and unhappy around camp. “Let Maylak put her hands on me. She will see I am well.”
Vektal gazes at me for a long moment, and then shakes his head. “You will stay. If the healer says you are well enough, you can hunt for the tribe.”
I sit down again, frustrated.
At my side, Salukh nudges me. “Give yourself time, my brother. We will all be going there soon enough.”
He is right. I do not like it, but he is right. I nod.
“We will leave in the morning,” Vektal says. “Until then, pack everything you can. We will need sleds to carry our gear and for the pregnant females to ride upon when they get tired. Make no mistake, it will be a difficult journey, but I think we will find our home at the end of it.”
Vektal’s human mate breaks into a smile, showing her square white teeth. It makes me think of my human mate. I glance over at Stay-see. She is not smiling. Her gaze meets mine, and she stares at me long and hard, and then looks away.
It is almost like she knows I wanted to escape, and it fills me with guilt.
2
STACY
Ten Days Later
Of all days to be fussy, my little Pacy picked today. Moving day.
He’s normally so good. He loves to hang out in his papoose, he naps like a pro, and when it’s feeding time, he’s not picky. He’s a good baby. He really is. But he is a baby, and he’s prone to the occasional fit…and he seems to want to have one right now. He screams in my ear, banging a fist against my jaw as I hold him. Right now? He doesn’t want to eat. He doesn’t want to nap. He wants to crawl around and explore, but it isn’t the time. Everyone’s packing the last of their gear on sleds as we prepare to leave.
The hunting party checked out the new city, found it a good place to live, and have returned. So now, it’s time to go. Everything’s being trundled up and we set off today.
I’m trying to pack my tent while holding my child. My screamy, screamy child. And I love the little bugger with a fierceness and intensity, but right now, I wish someone would walk a little closer so I could pass him off. My sled is tiny compared to some of the others. Kemli and Borran are helping Farli pack, arguing if they can squeeze more furs onto their already laden sled. Georgie and Maylak are talking nearby and juggling their own kits while their mates prep their sleds. Two of the hunters are butchering a carcass as a last-minute meal, and in the distance, I see Raahosh hastily putting together another sled because, even though we’re homeless, we already have too much crap. Ironic, that.
Theoretically, the supplies are a good thing. Even in a short timeframe, we’ve managed to recover and remake a lot of our missing stuff. It helps to have the small things again, but when you have to carry them across the snow to a place god knows how many miles away? You start wishing you had less gear. And babies? Babies need so much gear. There’s Pacy’s favorite teething rings. His nappies. His extra nappies. The dishes that have the rounded edges. Cups. Blankets. Booties. More nappies. Hell, half my sled is his crap, and I’m pretty sure the other half is my tent.
Pacy screeches like he’s in pain, yelling again.
“What, little man? You want into your papoose?” I start to put him in there, but he only cries louder and waves his arms, indicating I should hold him. All right. I give up on packing for now and hold my son, who decides that I’m still holding him wrong and continues to wail in my ear. Heck, give me a few minutes and I’ll probably be ready to start crying, too. We haven’t even taken step one to the new campsite and I’m already mentally and physically exhausted. I don’t know how I’m going to do this. I don’t know what other choice I have.