She had no idea what had prompted Sharluff’s wild dash. She’d thought he’d begun to grow used to the strange scents and sounds of the Others, but he could have scented another beast and gotten spooked. Or simply wanted to see her. He didn’t like to be separated. Either way, she’d have to be more careful.
She waited until the others departed. “Grif,” too nervous to lay a hand on him, she settled for wringing her hands in front of her, “what Malin suggest not true.”
“I know, wild thing.” Closing his hands around hers, he pulled her to him. “I checked that damn leash before I followed you and it was more than secure. Maybe Sharluff got himself out anyway. He’s definitely wily enough.” He squeezed her tighter. “Or…maybe someone else is up to something.”
39
Two rotations later, Nayla picked her way carefully to where Sharluff was tied, working the stiffness out of her arms and legs. Since his breakout, she’d been instructed to place his sleeping area a good deal farther from the sleeping tents.
She didn’t mind though. It was nice to have the time alone. After so much time wishing otherwise, she was finding being around others more challenging than expected.
Especially when there was a chance one of them was trying to cause problems for her or the mission.
It was hard to believe, but Grif was watchful all the same.
Grif.
Being with him was like riding the fastest, most exciting, seething current. Every rotation better than the last. Her heart slammed inside her chest each moment she was with him, her blood running hot. Carried along by his will and strength, her joy was close to effortless. She could have spent all her rotations by his side, all her nights in his arms.
But with every step deeper into pack territory the rest of her new life seemed to grow only more complicated.
“You need help?” Zale passed her, heading away from the water back to the campsite, a few dofels slung over his back.
True to his word, Grif had figured out a way to catch them and chalky rations were a thing of the past. Even her belly, once hollow, was now as full as her heart.
“No. I am good. Thank you.” Thankfully, while a few of the crew remained standoffish after the incident with Sharluff, most were just as friendly as they’d been before.
It meant a lot.
“Any luck with the spear?” He turned around to ask, walking backward, his small braids swinging in time with the evening’s dinner.
“A little.” The whole crew was interested in such developments—and asked her about it. It was another wonderful change from her past.
She’d left Grif with Bain and Quil. The three of them huddled over the danashe crystals and red powder, trying to get her spear to light. She’d never been privy to the pack hunters’ secrets about the balance needed, but she had been able to offer some basic suggestions based on what she’d observed. She wasn’t sure, though, that any of the crystals they were using were the right size and weight, but none of them had yet to come across anything better.
“So far, they get one flicker,” she reported.
“Hah.” White flat teeth flashed as he smiled. “Must be driving Bain crazy. Still, not to worry, those three will figure it out. Then, before long, we’ll have a whole slew of glowing spears ready to go.” With a final salute, he disappeared around the bend.
A familiar wave of nerves passed through her. Grif assured her more spears was for the best. That having the same weapon capabilities would make Talg more inclined to find a solution. She hoped it was the case.
She hoped, too, it gave Grif a little peace.
Since Sharluff’s escape, she had sensed the tension inside him growing. His rutting, while always fierce, was even more so with each passing night.
She understood. Her nerves were stretching tighter and tighter, too.
Before Grif, she had been miserable and unhappy and solely alone except for Sharluff. Now, she had so much.
Which also meant she had so much more to lose.
Low growls reverberated through the air.
Sharluff!
She’d left him near the shore contentedly snacking on his own dofels meal. He no longer sounded so relaxed.
If he’d gotten free again, they were both going to be in trouble.
She hurried around the last turn. His big feathered body came into view. Her steps slowed.
He was still tied by two strong ropes to a boulder even larger than him, but he wasn’t alone. Someone else hovered nearby.
“You can pet him if you like.” Nayla advanced, working to hide her surprise.
Cam whirled around, her eyes wide. “Oh, you startled me.” She clutched her chest. “He is so unusual looking.”
“Yes. And loud while he eats.” Nayla had not spoken one-on-one to any of the females since her last talk with Lana, but Cam, with her quiet, reserved manner, seemed a good place to restart.
Rising onto her tiptoes, she dug her fingers into the feathers behind Sharluff’s ears and gave him his favorite greeting. “Give me your hand. Let him smell us together.”
After a small hesitation, Cam moved closer. The thin scar on her cheek all the more prominent now that her face was pale. “You’re sure he won’t bite?”
“Yes. If I can get Sharluff to not bite Malin, I am sure I can get him to not bite you.”
Cam didn’t laugh.
Nayla cleared her throat.
“With me here, he will feel comfortable. We take it slow.” She took Cam’s hand, and guided it to Sharluff’s neck.
Her pet shifted under the strange touch, but quieted under Nayla’s repeated coos. Soon, he was leaning into Cam’s palm, especially after she learned to scratch behind the small earholes at the top of the neck.
Nayla removed her hand. Cam kept stroking. Sharluff remained content.
“It’s working.” The female never smiled, but she seemed pleased.
Nayla remembered what Grif had told her in the night. How Cam had been one of the females in 223’s prison. How each time he looked at her it renewed his determination to bring Melody and Hope’s mother home. It made Nayla wonder if being on this mission was Cam’s way of healing, too.
“Yes. Sharluff is not so scary now.”
“He’s not as scary. But that’s not saying much.”
Nayla was almost certain that was an attempted joke. She wasn’t sure, though. Clearly, neither she nor Cam had much practice.
It made her feel closer to the other female.
“Have you always kept him tied up?” Cam studied the intricate knots Grif had done to keep Sharluff from breaking free.
A stab of guilt. “No. When it is just me and Sharluff, he roams free. But Grif thinks it is better for everyone’s nerves.” She patted Sharluff’s side and barely missed getting poked by his beak as he scratched his front leg. “Better anyway, because there is always a chance he just go home.”
“He knows his way?”
“Yes. One time, when running from animal attack, I was knocked out. He carried me to village for help.”
“That must have been scary.”
“It was.” She’d woken up in Talg’s dwelling, his enraged face looming above, but that was not a story she would share with anyone but Grif. “I would not have given such a command, but his instinct to protect me is strong.”