A tic worked in her warrior's jaw as he began to sign to his friend.
His friend returned his comments with one last gesture she assumed must be obscene given the angry reaction of her warrior. Turning sharply on his heel so that he could stalk off, his friend left him.
"They should be told the truth," his friend growled under his breath.
Ignoring him, her warrior removed the bow from his back. His expression blank, he walked forward to lay it at the feet of the head priest before he bowed low.
The priest smiled in approval. "An offering to our future chief from his elder brother. Thank you, Makah'Alay. Your brother will be touched by your gift. Let you stand as an honorable example to all."
"Honorable my ass," one of the men said off to the side. "But for his brother, he'd be dead."
"Nah, he'd have been cast out years ago." They all laughed while her warrior stood there with nothing showing on his face at all. It was as if it was so common an occurrence that he didn't even hear them anymore.
"We respect you, priest, but please don't hold up a defect as an example of anything except why malformed children should be left in the woods to die."
The man came forward and snatched the bow from the ground before he shoved it into Makah'Alay's hands. "Our future chief doesn't need your castoff. No one wants the twisted bow of a deformed, retarded idiot."
The fire returned to Makah'Alay's eyes as he clutched the bow so tightly his knuckles blanched. Even Kateri feared for the other man. It was obvious Makah'Alay wanted to plant his offering in a very uncomfortable place.
Self-preservation must have finally kicked in. Without another word, the man quickly retreated from her warrior.
With his head tilted down and his expression darker and deadlier than before, Makah'Alay watched the others with an unspoken threat that he was plotting their deaths. Even though he was terrifying to behold, there was something intrinsically hot and sexy about that pose. He was like a predator in the wild that was one breath from attacking.
Any wrong move or word ...
And someone would be missing a throat.
Finally, her warrior pulled the bow around his body to lie diagonally across his back. He held the string with both hands, then he walked away. Only when his back was to them and none could see his face did he let the hurt show. His eyes betrayed the depth to which they'd wounded him. But even worse was the shame and self-loathing that he didn't deserve to feel. The tragic despair.
And that brought tears to her own eyes.
How could people be so mean to each other? She'd never understood what it was about some people that they couldn't allow anyone else to have a moment of dignity. That they had to rob others of any semblance of pride or happiness.
It was so wrong.
"Teri?"
She turned at the familiar voice, but she couldn't place it.
"Teri? Can you hear me?"
It came from a distance. But she didn't want to go toward it. She wanted to follow the warrior and make him feel better. To tell him that the others were wrong for what they'd done....
"Teri!"
She jerked awake so suddenly that she had to grab the couch to keep from hitting the floor. It took a second before her gaze cleared enough to see her cousin Rain Runningwolf standing over her.
Frowning, she tried to get her bearings. "What are you doing here?"
Where was here?
"Sunshine didn't want you to be alone. She threatened the boys if I didn't haul ass over to you ASAP. Since I'm rather fond of my boys"-he flashed a devilish grin-"here I be, cuz."
Tall, dark, and irritating, Rain would be gorgeous if A) he wasn't her cousin and B) he acted like a man and not a five-year-old kid.
She scowled at his short, military hairdo. He used to pride himself on his long raven locks. "When did you cut your hair?"
"A year ago when I decided I didn't want to work with my family for the rest of my life. You really never check your Facebook page, do you?"
Without pausing he continued with his ADD, "Love them, but distance doth make the heart beat stronger. It also does wonders for my social life, since women tend to look down on men who work for their dads and live over their father's club."
She pressed her hand to her temple as she tried to follow his train of thought. "I don't understand. You still live over your father's club."
"Yes, but now they don't know it's my father's club. I went from being a mooch to interesting with one little job change."
Deep, masculine laughter drew her attention to the man behind Rain.
Her heart stopped as she saw the one who'd rescued her. The one she'd wanted to comfort in her dreams. Only he didn't look so vulnerable now.
Rather he looked like the fierce warrior who'd been one step from carving the heart out of the man who'd insulted him.
Not sure of his intent where they were concerned, she tried to get up, but Rain stopped her. "Easy. Ren said you were cut pretty badly."
"Ren?"
He indicated her warrior watching them. "Intense dude over there, staring a hole through me. I know you haven't missed his presence. Only Sunshine could be that oblivious."
So his name was Ren and not Makah'Alay.... Much easier to pronounce.
But she still wasn't ready to let her guard down. Especially not with someone so lethal. "He's a friend?"
Rain glanced over at him. "God, I hope so. While I'm tough, I'm pretty sure he could kick my ass. Don't really want to test it. Know what I mean?"
Yes, she did. "Where am I?"
"Ren's place."