Love Me, Still(6)

“Oh my God,” Riyu said, agony inflected in every word. “Oh my God.”

Lorna stood wringing her hands in front of her. “I struck her. I struck the girl who was my daughter.”

Niko stood in disgust. He moved to the door, and Cael knew he was a second from shifting and loping into the night to find Heather.

“Niko, wait.”

Niko turned to stare at him.

“You have every right to be angry. God only knows how I’ll ever forgive myself. But she’s our mate. It is Riyu and I who must set this to rights.”

Niko’s eyes flashed angrily. “You gave up that right when you turned your back on her. You are her mate no more, no matter that she wears your mark.”

“She is ours,” Riyu said, his voice tight with emotion. “We have wronged her more than the men who attacked her, but as the gods are my witness I will find a way to make it right. She will be avenged, and she will come back under our protection.”

Niko stared between the two brothers as if measuring their determination. His shoulders slumped the tiniest bit in defeat. Then he raised his head in defiance.

“You don’t know that she’ll accept you. We don’t know that she’s alive. You left her alone to fend for herself in an unforgiving terrain. I’m going with you, because if we find her, and she refuses you, I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy and protect her. Even if it means doing it from a distance. I will never allow what happened to her to happen again.”

Cael listened to Niko’s vow and felt a surge of pride at his pack mate’s defense of Heather.

“We welcome you on our journey, Niko. But know this. I will do everything in my power to regain Heather’s trust and her love. Even if it takes the rest of my life.”

Chapter Three

Heather gathered her courage and her strength as she pulled on the buckskin trousers John Quincy had made for her. They were fur-lined, a fact she appreciated as she shivered in the morning cold. Even the fire blazing in the hearth did little warm her.

This morning she’d woken to blessed numbness. She felt odd, actually. Her face was tight and felt warm to the touch, and yet, she shivered endlessly amidst the heavy blankets of her pallet.

But she’d lain here, moving little in the last month. Her splint had been removed for a week, so there was no excuse for her not to start getting up and around.

A wave of dizziness assaulted her as she stood and tested shaky legs. She wavered and caught hold of a nearby chair to steady herself.

She looked longingly out the single window of the cabin at the snow-covered landscape. It had been so long since she’d breathed fresh air.

Without making the conscious decision to venture outside, she headed in the direction of the door. John Quincy was out checking his traps, but he’d be back soon, and it wouldn’t hurt to stretch her legs just a bit.

At the door, she carefully pulled on her moccasins, the effort nearly exhausting her. It was odd, but she felt weaker today than in previous days. Her fingers shook as she secured the laces of her shoes.

Using the door to help support her, she eased outside, flinching as the cold air bristled over her body. As soon as she stepped into the snow, anguish poured into her heart, overflowing and ripping through her body.

The scenery was beautiful and horribly ugly. The last time she’d enjoyed a day such as this, a day where the sky was impossibly blue and the sun high overhead, had been a day where Cael and Riyu had played in the snow with her. Just hours before she’d gone into town with Niko and Magnus.

Tears slipped down her cheeks, and her body rippled with chills. She limped through the snow toward the cover of trees in the distance. Old habits died hard. Cael had taught her to always seek cover. Never stand in the open.

But she’d never see him or Riyu again. They’d left her, sure that she was the cause of their father’s death. And maybe she was. If she’d intervened sooner. If she hadn’t stood in the trees working the courage up to do the impossible. If she had just been braver and rushed to Magnus and Niko’s aid.

But she had never betrayed them. She loved her pack. They were the only family she had.

For the first time, she realized she had no one. No one but an old trapper who could ill afford to be responsible for a young girl who couldn’t care for herself. She had no where to go, no future to look forward to, no mates to keep her warm on the long cold nights.

Oh, Mama, how I miss you.

Tears gathered in her eyes. Her mother, gone so long now, still simmered in the vague memories of her childhood. If she closed her eyes and concentrated hard, she could conjure a memory from Christmas time. Her mother, decorating a small tree with homemade ornaments, her tender smile as she hugged little Heather to her bosom.

Another full body shiver skirted up her spine until her body was covered in goose bumps. She ignored the aching cold, the ache in her body and heart, and trudged further into the trees. Ahead she could see a steep drop off. Then she realized she was approaching a ridge.

Her eyes stung as she looked out over the vast mountainous region. Hundreds of feet below a river cut a path through the land. Were her wolves out there? Did they ever think of her? Or had their love died along with their father? And their faith in her.

A sob welled from her throat. It sounded harsh and ugly in the silence. She’d lost everything that mattered. How could she go on knowing what she’d never have again? Never hold in her arms.