The Hunter's Song II: Lost Blood

Ch 6: Drained🔥(Shale)

How is it possible to ache this much and not be the one in training?

I sat down on the central room floor and raised the floor mat's brace to recline and stretch out. It was little more than a low padded wall protruding from the floor, but at this moment, it was exactly the support my back required.

I rechecked the monitors linked to my wristcomm to confirm that the boys were sleeping.

Finally...

This afternoon's training session was a blur. My muscles spasmed like I'd spent the last four hours treading water.

I glanced at the little wooden staves on the floor beside my ankle.

They did well today but fuck, are they willful. Crazy Wolf, especially. He has much of Eh'kt in him.

And then there was Raven Tide.

My chest rumbled with a hearty chitter.

The pup went to bed covered in bruises from smacking himself so many times with his polearm. I had no idea a Zhaguai could be both clumsy and graceful at the same time.

Eh'kt's U'la'ke Liege skull stared back at me from the far end of the main living room.

It would be another hour until my Zhaguai mate returned home.

During these last two cycles, he and Lost Coyote had begun devoting significant time toward finding a solution that would allow razkurs and our offspring to fight U'la'ke.

A worthy endeavor.

However, I was still perplexed as to how my black-scaled mate managed to perform his duties as my Adjutant around his designated daily blocks for training the boys and still have time set aside for this new hobby.

Mounted on the wall beside Eh'kt's most prized trophy sat the skull of a Wind Shrieker, Mourning Crow's most recent Dread kill.

An Elder...

My pulse intensified at the revelation of our family overflowing with so much honor.

It was not surprising for Mourning Crow to take this rite of passage. If not for being preoccupied with caring full time for our sucklings, I suspect she would have gained the rank several cycles earlier.

Then my mate's other divulgement popped to the forefront of my mind.

Heat radiated off the crimson tips of my quills as I relived the argument that ensued immediately after.

Three days ago, when Mourning Crow returned from her summons, she informed us of Oru's edict, and then my mate came clean about her covert communications with my bearer.

Furious didn't come anywhere near describing the level of betrayal I experienced when she copied me on the entirety of their exchanges.

My chest thrummed as the evening replayed in my mind.

.

"The answer is simple!" I couldn't stop myself from shouting.

To my horror, the expression on my mate's faces proclaimed that they did not agree.

Even Eh'kt, with a bearer who had absolved all paternal connections, stood against me.

The two spoke of their deceased sires.

Eh'kt, shortly after the birth of our pups, delved deeper into his sire's achievements to share his lineage with our offspring better, only to unearth a plethora of records containing his sire's repeated requests to his bearer for involvement in his rearing from the moment of his conception.