“He went after Dace and Maroumak by himself,” I hazarded a guess.
“Heard there was a search party.” Sorak stood in the doorway, dipping his head so his horn would fit through the doorway.
“No play no know Candy-ass go off, look for Purr-roo mates in huedman’s wor-eld.”
“She what?!” Sorak bellowed.
Before Berkr could say another word Sorak was scrambling from our hut like a shot.
“That’s not good,” I whispered.
Berkr snarled and took off after him.
Celuk cocked his head as he watched them go. “Leave two packs on outside hut,” the male rumbled with a knowing look.
Odix, standing just off to the side, nodded and went to do just that.
“Do I want to know?” I muttered.
“No really,” Kehl answered for him.
“Berkr, Sorak want find Dace more most,” Celuk reasoned with a shrug. “Any find, they find. Sorak smart. Berkr good hunter.” Pausing for a moment, he added, “Good at hunts for Dace.”
“He’s shit at catching his prey and keeping it,” I snarked.
Celuk grinned and pointed a claw tipped finger my way as if to say,Exactly, now you get it.
“Ugh,” I grumbled as I walked away, “you guys are so weird.”
“Go see our Jo, our babies.” Celuk motioned for the mostly quiet Jehkal to follow and the enormous male dipped his head in a polite good-bye to us and left.
True to Celuk’s guess, Berkr and Sorak departed in the wee hours while everyone else was sleeping, but they didn’t just take the supplies left outside for them. Somehow, they managed to sneak in past me and my sleeping Krampus mate, and take more than half of the supplies we’d gathered.
That was about the time Celuk called a temporary halt to the hunters’ planned expedition, just for a little while. He didn’t really have much of a choice unless he wanted to head out unprepared. All of the medical supplies gathered had been scavenged.
Kehl was as pissed as I was, if not more.
“We wait. We see,” Celuk had tossed out casually, then waltzed right back up his mountain to his Jo and his babies, like Berkr and Sorak hadn’t just done a shit thing.
It was a week into this temporary waiting period that the horn they used to alert to danger blew.
“Krampus attacking! Needs help!” a beast bellowed in warning in Lo denaii, and then it was like a frenzy of activity.
“Stay! Keep my Purr-roo, babies safe!” Kehl shouted, leaving me standing there staring after him in his fabric stall as he grabbed the enormous axe he favored and kept out of sight in his stall booth and other males dropped whatever they were doing to grab crazy looking, cleverly hidden weaponry and take off.
“Oh god,” I whispered as I watched my male take off towards where they were pointing, jumping right into the fray.
It felt like time stood still as I watched until his furry back was a speck in the distance.
Daisy, watching all but two of her mates do the same, came over and hugged me so tight I felt my back crack. “They’ll be okay,” she whispered.
Absently, I found myself hugging her back.
“They’ll be okay,” I mumblingly repeated, dazedly. I felt numb with shock.
Daisy sniffled softly and gathered her little ones close.
“You should go in your hut. We all should,” I murmured as I released her to go close up Kehl’s stall.
