The Cry of the Wolf Chapter 62

Dark Star flinched as her husband draped his muscled arm across her ribs, pulling her closer to his side. His scent was heady - intoxicatingly masculine. Ignoring her rapid heartbeat, she waited until his breathing grew heavy before inching away from his embrace. Her eyes traced the outline of his silhouette before stepping away from the furs that served as a bed. Why was she torturing herself? He had never truly loved her or he wouldn't be leading the tribe on a quest to find his one true love. She would be a fool to stay with him only to be humiliated in front of the entire tribe when he found the one who held his heart.

Torris. Would this other woman accept the baby as her own? Her own child would be chief instead, not the babe innocently suckling his fist. Torris would have no future in his father's new family. A fate no better than the Biblical Ishmael, Dark Star could only presume. That settled the matter. After all, she had lost everything - her children lying in an unmarked grave. Without Torris, she would have nothing. The chief, on the other hand, was about to find his long-lost child.

Hushing her baby, she held him to her breast to muffle any sound that might give her away, and, without a backward glance, slipped into the night.

****

Gretjen sat in a far corner of the makeshift camp, her boys fast asleep on their mats at her side. Her husband had stayed up late speaking with the warriors in hushed tones, then returned without saying a word to explain why a frown etched his brow. Kissing his son's head, he led his family in prayer before turning to his own sleeping mat. Gretjen knew her husband enough to know something was wrong, but she wasn't one to pry.

A movement in the darkness caught her attention as she raised her infant to her shoulder, rubbing his tiny back. Dark Star. Gretjen watched for a moment as the younger woman slipped out of the entrance without a backward glance, clutching her baby. Something wasn't right.

Without making a sound, Gretjen followed her into the darkness, well aware of the dangers lurking in the surrounding forest. What was Dark Star thinking leaving the safety of their camp?

"Dark Star," Gretjen called out, her long legs quickly making up the distance between them.

The younger woman looked back with a start, her face ashen in the moonlight.

"Oh Gretjen, I thought you were sleeping," Dark Star bit her lower lip, but didn't say any more, averting her eyes.

"It's dangerous being out alone at this hour…" Gretjen reached out, placing a hand firmly on her friend's forearm. "Talk to me."

"No, Gretjen, you've been a friend to me over these past weeks, but the less you know, the better. Please, I need to do this."

"So the chief doesn't know…" Gretjen's voice was low as she expressed what was becoming more clear by the moment. "But why? You won't make it far alone Dark Star…"

Dark Star sighed, "I'm not Dark Star. I'm Adelaide." She winced at the name which now sounded so foreign on her own tongue.

"Are you trying to find your sister?" Gretjen refused to let the matter rest. "I'm sure if you speak to your husband, he will send some warriors out to search for her. Perhaps they will bring her back. There must be a better solution than you disappearing into the night. Dark...I mean, Adelaide, this is foolishness. You won't survive and abandoning your husband will devastate him. Taking his child.... Have you thought this through?"

"Please, this is hard enough. I've thought of everything you have said, but no, I need to do this and before the tribe wakes. I need to be long gone by sunrise."

"I know you love Jaira, but Adelaide, you are the chief's wife. You cannot leave like this. Your sister may come to her senses…"

"Gretjen, I know you mean well, but it is Jaira that is right. In fact, she was right all along. It was a sin for me to marry Long Knife…"

"I don't understand…"

"I am married to another. It is so hard to explain, but my first husband Gavin is likely worried sick about me. If I had tried to go back to him when first captured, I'd still have my children."

A sob caught in Adelaide's throat even as she spoke the lie. Theirs hadn't been a great marriage. Long Knife treated her like a queen in comparison, but sin was a sin. She would have to return to her loveless marriage and then, just maybe, God would forgive her for what she had done.

Gretjen embraced Adelaide with her free arm, "Let me walk with you for a bit then. You know you can always talk with me, share your heart, don't you?"

The kind words were Adelaide's undoing. The silvery moonbeams illuminated Adelaide's tear-streaked face.

"I need to find my husband. The chief is looking for his first wife and will be happy once he finds her. There is no place for this baby and I in that future. Don't you understand? Had I not married the chief but run away and looked for my husband, I would still have my children. It rips my heart out every time I see your boys, and now this… I can't bear it, Gretjen. I had thought to leave Torris with you. After all, you could see to his needs, but what would he be in his father's eyes once the first child is found - the rightful heir? No, my son cannot be an Ishmael in his father's eyes. My children are gone. God, in His mercy, has given me another child to hold in my arms…"

Gretjen dabbed tears spilling from her own eyes as she listened to her friend's heart. What could she really say?