Chapter 6 Drawn In

• *Chet*
• I know that my cousins and younger brother will chastise me the moment we step away from the beautiful girl in the shop, and I am not wrong. Hell, they started the moment she looked in my direction, shouting out their rude thoughts in a language I was thankful she doesn’t understand.
• We head outside, and it’s my brother, Mowanza, who is the first to make a snide remark, speaking in our native Shaconage tongue. “She was pretty, but she won’t make it fifty miles.”
• I turn and glare at him. “Watch it, Mo.” I am in no mood to put up with his nonsense at the moment as I go over my conversation with the girl again and again. Why do people take such stupid risks? Why would guides act so foolishly?
• “Yeah, Mo,” our cousin, Howahkan agrees, but I know he is about to switch sides. “Don’t speak ill of the dead.”
• I turn and give Kan a playful shove, making him laugh. He is two years older than me at twenty-three and has always been thin as a rail until about a year ago when he finally started to put on some meat. Still, I know I can put him in his place if I need to.
• I could put all three of them to shame in a fight–all at once–and they know it.
• Takoda, whose name means friend, is the only one I can rely on to let it go. “We should head back home. It’ll take a while, and we have much work to do.”
• I nod in agreement as we make our way to where we left our horses. Normally, we shift and travel on foot, like the girl spoke of. We are used to running in our wolf form through the prairie grass and across deep rivers. The people that make up these packs are not. A vision of Unega’s beautiful face, even paler, her bright blue eyes closed, enters my mind, and I know what we need to do.
• “Let’s get home, do what is required of us, and then come back to offer our assistance to the members of Crimson Pack traveling west.” I speak with the authority my position as the Alpha’s son affords me, and the others take note.
• Mo stops in his tracks and looks at me. “You want to help them?”
• “I do.” I continue walking, and he rushes to catch up. I’m out-pacing the others now, driven by my decision. “We have all the weapons, coin, and other items Father requested. We should be able to reach our lands in a few weeks if we push through. Another month to do our work, and we can find them.”
• “They’ll be dead by then.” Kan isn’t trying to be funny now. He’s serious. “Most of them, anyway.”
• “We don’t know that.” I hate the thought of it. Hearing Unega speak of her father, I have to think he is intelligent enough to keep his family alive, if no one else. I know who he is–even if she doesn’t.
• “Why not lend a hand?” Takoda asks. “We’ve got nothing better to do.”
• “Except protect our own people from rogues and enemy packs,” Mo reminds us, not that I need him to remind me. “Atsila pack continues to move south toward our border.”
• “And they will as long as these packs who do not belong out there take over the northern lands,” Kan agrees.
• I turn and look at all three of them. “I understand. I know the history of our people as well as you do, probably better. They will keep coming, though, and there’s not much we can do about it. We will not fail to perform the duties to our pack, but we will do what we can to help the girl.” I meet their eyes, and then I spin around, hearing my horse, Sine, whinny as he recognizes my voice.
• “Why?” Kan isn’t moving. I can tell by the distance between his voice’s origin and my ear. I keep walking, and he shouts after me, drawing the attention of the cluster of people passing us on the sidewalk who do not speak our language because he is loud. “Why?”
• I do not answer him. I do not have to. I untie Sine and mount. My brother and Takoda do the same. Eventually, Kan gives up on getting a reply and walks over, taking his time untying his horse and climbing up. He stares into my eyes, and I take a deep breath, not sure I can answer him.
• “There must be a reason,” Kan continues. His horse trots backward, kicking up dust. Our load is lighter without the pelts we’ve been trading throughout villages. The weapons are not as heavy because they are fewer. Coins tinkle in our pockets. The rest of our wares hang from my belt, weighing next to nothing. He repeats himself. “What is your reason, cousin?”
• I’m not sure how I know the answer to his question, but I do. I knew it in my heart the moment I spied her across the walkway. I’ve seen beautiful women before and stopped to admire them, but I’ve never felt a pull like the one I felt staring into her sapphire eyes.
• “Because… she is my mate.”