Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“What’s his name? Does anybody know it?”
“Tonka,” someone says.
“Okay, Tonka,” I murmur. “This isn’t going to taste like you’re used to, but I promise it’s as good as I can do right now.”
His little flat nose flares a little as he scents the milk, and the claws on his paws extend with an instinctual response as he makes what looks like a reach for the bottle, but is actually an attempt to knead what his instincts are telling him is the teat.
Tonka latches almost immediately, which is excellent, because I can hand him over to Azlan and start with the next cub, Rex. Fortunately, neither one of the baby cubs is stubborn. They are both more than hungry enough to take their bottles. The whole process takes quite a while because their feeding is less efficient than it would be if their mothers were feeding them, but soon enough the babies are fed and dozing. I have the two in my arms, pleasant, hefty weights that fill me with tenderness.
Most of the crowd has drifted off toward a larger fire, where food is being prepared. They need to eat. Everybody here is absolutely starving from the effort of battle. Their reserves have been seriously depleted, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Azlan and his brothers have adjourned nearby to further strategize. I haven’t dared move, so I sit by the small fire that was built in front of us while I fed the babies, and I hold them, and I hope for better days for us all.
I can hear them speaking, just faintly at the edge of my hearing. They’ve been talking about how formidable Leonidas is, and how the females will not be permitted to leave. According to Azlan and his brothers, there is no doubt in their minds that their father will kill the females he has taken rather than let them go.
After going around in circles on that topic for quite some time, Azlan comes to check on me.
“You look good with babies in your arms,” he says. “How are they doing?”
“They’re asleep,” I say, stating the obvious, because it feels like a miracle. Happy, fed cubs are all I could hope for. More than I could hope for. “Is everything okay?” I ask the question while knowing it is absolutely not okay.
“I am so proud of you,” Azlan says, not answering at all. “What you did today was…”
He is interrupted by Kain barging toward us, because Kain has absolutely no sense of timing, and because Kain has no boundaries at all.
“Shh!” I chastise him before he has the chance to boom something loudly and wake the babies. While they’re sleeping they don’t know anything is wrong. They can dream of their mothers, as I am sure their mothers dream of them.
Kain crouches slightly, indicating that he is going to be quiet by taking a sneaky position. “Thank you,” he whispers, looking me in the eye for the first time without any smirking, predatory intent. “We are fortunate to have a mother in our midst.”
“I’m not a mother yet.”
“You’re a mother to all those cubs who will now have life.”
“More like a milkmaid,” I say with a self-deprecating smile. I am glad that I have managed to help the babies. It will be work to keep them fed until their mothers can be freed, but it will be work of the satisfying, meaningful kind.
“Alpha! My alpha! Alpha brothers. I can wait to speak to you no longer.” A young adult male comes through the dark and into the light of the fire. He looks worried and scared, both about the events of the day and about approaching Azlan.
“My mate was taken. She is about to have our cub. She could be giving birth any day. If she gives birth in his custody…”
“We understand,” Azlan says. “We fully intend to launch an assault on Leonidas and reclaim all the lost mates.”
“A full assault? With what? He came with his machines. We were unable to fight them, even with our most advanced weaponry,” Kain interjects.
“We are here now,” Azlan says in reassuring tones, shooting a shut the hell up look at Kain, who does not take the hint at all.
“Sure. Here with a human bride.” The male dares to be resentful. “A mate Leonidas would not be interested in. She is safe, but our women are not.”
I’ve heard enough. I shift the two sleeping babies in my arms so I don’t get the blood-flow cut off and pins and needles setting in. “Listen,” I say. “We’re going to get all the females back. All the moms, all the mates, and all the maidens. They’re coming back.”
I expect the male to ignore me, or tell me to shut up, or behave in some other dismissive way, but instead he nods. “Thank you, pride mother.”