close and sniffed at Deborah’s cheek.
She let out a small, happy hum, then kissed Deborah just below her eye.
“That’s certainly an answer,” she whispered. “Maybe you should have gone to the gods weeks ago.”
“Zuh…?” Deborah muttered.
She managed to get her eyes open halfway. Blearily, she could see Rachel’s face, could see her friend smiling brightly and happily. That seemed not at all appropriate—not now, not with Gregory still missing.
Was he still missing? Maybe he’d been found…?
“Can you feel it?” Rachel asked.
“Where is he?” Deborah asked, and worked her hand out from underneath the covers so she could grope for Rachel’s. The thought that Gregory might be safe, might be nearby, gave her enough strength that she was able to lurch upright and sit with the quilt spread across her lap. “Where?” she begged, trying to see past Rachel, to see if her son was there in Sara’s house with her.
“You need to rest,” Rachel told her firmly.
“Noooo,” Deborah moaned. “I want to see my boy. Where is he?”
Rachel sat down on the bed alongside her and took Deborah’s elbows in her hands. “You need to protect this boy,” she said, then shrugged a little. “Or girl. You need to sleep.”
“What…?”
“Dear one. Healer. Can’t you tell?”
Tell… what?
Then, as if Rachel had shouted it aloud, Deborah knew what she was talking about. All of a sudden, she was aware of a tingling in her breasts, a tightness in her womb, a sense of something other inside her that wasn’t the wolf.
“Oh,” she murmured.
Rachel tugged her in closer and kissed her softly on both cheeks. “How wonderful,” she said happily. “What wonderful news.” Then she turned and beckoned for Sara to come close. “The gods have answered you,” she said when Sara too was sitting on the bed. “You can’t have any doubt about Jed any longer. They’ve given you his child to nurture and love.”
“Are we certain it’s Jed’s?” Sara asked dryly.
Rachel scoffed at her. “Of course we are. Here—do you have the special tea for mothers? I have some at home if you don’t. I have it for my new daughter, when the time is right. It’s on the shelf—”
Deborah shook her head.
“What is it, dear?” Sara asked.
It was difficult to form the words. “Have the gods given me this child in exchange for the other one?” she asked in a choked voice. “Have they taken Victor’s child along with Victor? Do they intend for me to start again?”
“No,” Rachel said firmly. “No, of course not.”
“But how do you know? No one’s found him. What if he’s fallen into the sea?” Deborah’s voice broke. “What if he’s gone ?”
Something seemed to snap inside her, and she began to sob in anguish, certain that she’d never see her boy again—that he’d fallen into the sea, either on purpose or by accident. That he’d gone to join the father he missed so much, the father he both adored and hated, because Victor had left him. The sobs wracked her from her to toe, and she was dimly aware that both Rachel and Sara were trying to comfort her to no avail, and that she was making so much noise that she could probably be heard all the way across the island.
She wept until darkness started to close in on her again, and clung to Rachel and Sara only to have something to hold on to, not because she wanted them nearby.
Through all of it, she could barely feel the presence of the wolf.
Then, when it seemed like days had gone by, that she’d somehow slipped into some other world that was full of nothing but pain, the door opened again and a voice she thought might be Aaron’s said loudly, “They’ve found him!”
Sixteen
It was a place Jed would never have found on his own: the smallest of crevices behind the rocks that faced the sea, slippery and hard to reach. How the boy—how both these boys—had found it in the first place, he had no idea. Nearly everyone in the pack liked to
She let out a small, happy hum, then kissed Deborah just below her eye.
“That’s certainly an answer,” she whispered. “Maybe you should have gone to the gods weeks ago.”
“Zuh…?” Deborah muttered.
She managed to get her eyes open halfway. Blearily, she could see Rachel’s face, could see her friend smiling brightly and happily. That seemed not at all appropriate—not now, not with Gregory still missing.
Was he still missing? Maybe he’d been found…?
“Can you feel it?” Rachel asked.
“Where is he?” Deborah asked, and worked her hand out from underneath the covers so she could grope for Rachel’s. The thought that Gregory might be safe, might be nearby, gave her enough strength that she was able to lurch upright and sit with the quilt spread across her lap. “Where?” she begged, trying to see past Rachel, to see if her son was there in Sara’s house with her.
“You need to rest,” Rachel told her firmly.
“Noooo,” Deborah moaned. “I want to see my boy. Where is he?”
Rachel sat down on the bed alongside her and took Deborah’s elbows in her hands. “You need to protect this boy,” she said, then shrugged a little. “Or girl. You need to sleep.”
“What…?”
“Dear one. Healer. Can’t you tell?”
Tell… what?
Then, as if Rachel had shouted it aloud, Deborah knew what she was talking about. All of a sudden, she was aware of a tingling in her breasts, a tightness in her womb, a sense of something other inside her that wasn’t the wolf.
“Oh,” she murmured.
Rachel tugged her in closer and kissed her softly on both cheeks. “How wonderful,” she said happily. “What wonderful news.” Then she turned and beckoned for Sara to come close. “The gods have answered you,” she said when Sara too was sitting on the bed. “You can’t have any doubt about Jed any longer. They’ve given you his child to nurture and love.”
“Are we certain it’s Jed’s?” Sara asked dryly.
Rachel scoffed at her. “Of course we are. Here—do you have the special tea for mothers? I have some at home if you don’t. I have it for my new daughter, when the time is right. It’s on the shelf—”
Deborah shook her head.
“What is it, dear?” Sara asked.
It was difficult to form the words. “Have the gods given me this child in exchange for the other one?” she asked in a choked voice. “Have they taken Victor’s child along with Victor? Do they intend for me to start again?”
“No,” Rachel said firmly. “No, of course not.”
“But how do you know? No one’s found him. What if he’s fallen into the sea?” Deborah’s voice broke. “What if he’s gone ?”
Something seemed to snap inside her, and she began to sob in anguish, certain that she’d never see her boy again—that he’d fallen into the sea, either on purpose or by accident. That he’d gone to join the father he missed so much, the father he both adored and hated, because Victor had left him. The sobs wracked her from her to toe, and she was dimly aware that both Rachel and Sara were trying to comfort her to no avail, and that she was making so much noise that she could probably be heard all the way across the island.
She wept until darkness started to close in on her again, and clung to Rachel and Sara only to have something to hold on to, not because she wanted them nearby.
Through all of it, she could barely feel the presence of the wolf.
Then, when it seemed like days had gone by, that she’d somehow slipped into some other world that was full of nothing but pain, the door opened again and a voice she thought might be Aaron’s said loudly, “They’ve found him!”
Sixteen
It was a place Jed would never have found on his own: the smallest of crevices behind the rocks that faced the sea, slippery and hard to reach. How the boy—how both these boys—had found it in the first place, he had no idea. Nearly everyone in the pack liked to
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