"You hate him that much?"
"Oh, yes." He smiled wistfully.
"You'd destroy me? Ruin roe rather than let me go to Runs In Light?"
"Actually, I'm saving you from a terrible fate." He turned the meat, now thawed and beginning to sizzle. "If you go to Light, you'll be so miserable you'll pray for Crow Caller to come back and get you."
"I doubt it."
"I know you do. Now. But like my foolish brother, I, too, see bits of things in my head. I've never told anyone. They're scattered, unconnected." He stared at her with a curious emptiness. "But I see how wretched you'd be trying to live with him and his delusions. He's mad, you know. Completely mad. Crazy as a maggot-infested caribou and just as possessed by things that eat at him."
"I don't care."
"Then you've made my decision for me. I'll be taking you back."
"I won't go."
"You think that has some bearing on the subject?"
Wetting her lips fearfully, she said, "Yes. You may kill me, Raven Hunter, but I'll fight you to—"
"Did no one teach you feminine shame when you were growing up?" he asked nonchalantly. Reaching to his dart, he removed the meat and blew on it to cool it, then sliced it in strips and handed her a piece.
She stared at the meat dangling in his fingers for a long moment, trying to convince herself not to take it, but when he started to withdraw it, she snatched it quickly and tucked it in her pocket—for later.
"Smart move. We'll have a long trip back to the People."
"You'll have to drag me the whole way."
The look he gave her froze her very heart.
A deep pain glinted in his black eyes. "I don't mean to hurt you this way, but I've seen, Dancing Fox. You understand? You'll think I'm ruining you, degrading you, but it's the right thing in the end."
Her eyes narrowed in fear. He's insane. Dear Star People, I've got to get out of here.
He smiled weakly. "I love you, you see. You're the only person in the world I truly love. What I'm about to—"
"Then prove you love me and let me go."
He shook his head miserably, then pursed his lips, brow lining with intensity. "Oh, I can't. It's because I love you more than you can understand—"
"Do you want me dead? Crow Caller won't cast me out! He hates me, he'll—"
"No." He shivered suddenly, as if possessed by a deep chill. "No, never that."
"Then—"
"I ... I don't know why. I've just . . . just seen it. Dreamed it maybe, huh?" And he laughed sourly. "Like my bone-brained brother. Only this is real. It's like I'm only a-leaf in the wind. I have to marry you or destroy you."
He said it so precisely, he set her heart to slamming dully against her ribs. He leisurely ate the thin strips of meat. He wiped his hands on his long boots and offered her another piece. "Eat," he said softly. "You'll need the strength if you're going to try and escape me."
She took it numbly, enjoying the warmth, chewing. She recognized the rank taste: wolf. So he'd eaten of it, too. She choked it down, afraid to do otherwise.
"What else have you Dreamed?" she asked, stalling, darting fear-bright eyes past him to the darkness beyond.
Handing her the last of the meat, he swallowed his mouthful and poked at the ash-covered piece of dung. "There's blood and death coming." He pointed northward with his chin. "I can't see it all, but I know my path has been fixed. Like a caribou bull in rut, I have to follow it.''
"Even if it means ruining the woman you love?"
He nodded absently. "Even if it means ruining both of us. If I believed that mouse dung about Father Sun, I'd say I was his plaything. Made to do these things because they amused him."
She bolted, trying to jump past him for the snow-choked opening, but his powerful arms closed about her waist, dragging her back. His grip bound her tight, flipping her over. She kicked and struck at him as he wrestled her down. His legs pinned hers, hands tight on her wrists.
She stared up into his face, lit now as the disturbed dung fire flared up. She struggled, trying to avoid his eyes; they possessed her, drilled into her very soul.
He's so handsome . . . like Light.
His breath smelled sweetly of meat.
He lowered his head, his cheek brushing hers. His skin felt wondrously warm against hers, the touch gentle.
"Let me up." She seemed to fall into the soft blackness of his eyes. Her vision swirled. Exertion along with hunger ... or the power of his soul searching hers?
"You won't be mine?" he asked, misery in his voice.
She shook her head slowly, eyes still locked with his. "Never."
He winced, pain tormenting his expression. "Then I'll have to do it the hard way.''