The Dark-Hunters (814 page)

“Do you know what Makah’Alay means?” His eyes flashed bright red in the darkness. But it came and went so fast that she wasn’t sure if it happened or she imagined it.

She shook her head.

“It’s the Keetoowah word for crow-demon. Since my mother didn’t name me and I was returned to my father by a demon wet nurse, it was what they called me.”

No one had given him a name?

“What of your grandmother?”

He scoffed bitterly. “I know nothing of my maternal grandmother. Not even her identity. As for my father’s mother … She refused to even look at me or acknowledge me. It was why my father took me to the woods and left me there to die. After refusing to give me a name, she told him I would bring nothing but shame and sorrow to his clan. That I was defective and unworthy of being the son of a chief. And she was right. I brought nothing but misery and embarrassment to all of them.”

It wasn’t that cut-and-dry. She’d never seen him say or do anything in her visions that would embarrass someone else. While he would at times strike out at someone and fight, he wasn’t the one who initiated the conflict. At least not that she’d witnessed.

Which made her wonder one thing.… “Why did you torture your brother?”

The look on his face would melt an iceberg. But instead of answering her question, he pulled her against him and held her there in an iron grip.

Before she could ask him what he was doing, she stood in the past with him.

They were in a huge gilded dining hall, filled with people celebrating the arrival of a beautiful woman and her entourage. Dressed in a bright yellow gown that was decorated with bright embroidery, the woman came into the room surrounded by painted warriors from her clan. She wore an ornate headdress of feathers and gold that stood up around her head like a halo. Her parents followed behind her, standing proud as they presented her to the chief and his sons. Something that was very different from the customs of Kateri’s tribe where the husband went to live with the wife’s clan when they married.

Ren stood next to a man who looked so much like him that they could easily be mistaken for twins. The only way to tell them apart was by their posture. Ren kept his eyes cast down, his head lowered, and shoulders slumped. His brother stood straight with an arrogance that couldn’t be missed. It was as if he knew he owned the world and he expected everyone to bow down before him.

Even Ren.

Their father stepped forward to welcome the woman and her parents to their home.

“Butterfly, it is an honor to have you here. You are as beautiful as they have claimed. More so, in fact.”

Her dark eyes glittered like gems in her perfect face. She smiled up at him and it was dazzling. “You are far too kind, Chief Coatl.” Then, seductively biting her lip in eager anticipation, she looked past him to where Ren and his brother stood. “But no one told me you had twin sons. They are both handsome and strong. I’m sure they bring great honor to you and your clan.”

Ren looked up in stunned surprise at that kind comment to meet her gaze. The moment he did, his jaw went slack and hunger filled his eyes. He straightened his spine to show that he was actually taller than his brother. And with his shoulders squared, it became obvious that he also had a larger, more defined physique. The sight of him actually having a degree of pride brought a smile to Kateri’s lips. How kind of Butterfly to say something so sweet and make him feel better about himself.

A tic worked in his father’s jaw as he stiffened indignantly. “They’re not twins, Butterfly, and they’re nothing alike. Believe me. No one matches my heir in any capacity. He is truly the finest warrior ever born.”

Ren winced as if he’d been physically slapped.

With his back to Ren, his father continued speaking to Butterfly. “I fear
I
am the only thing they have in common.… They couldn’t be more opposite—in all things.” His father took her hand, then led her toward his brother, but not before he rudely shouldered Ren out of the way.

Deflating immediately back into his former stance, Ren glanced about as he realized how many people had witnessed his father’s verbal and physical swipe at him. Butterfly’s father scowled at Ren, but said nothing as Ren’s father introduced Butterfly to his brother.

“It is with the greatest honor that I present you to my son—the future chief of our people, Anukuwaya.”

Pride of the Wolf Clan.
Kateri sucked her breath in as she finally caught the dual meaning of his brother’s name. It not only meant the pride of his clan, it was an ancient name for Coyote—the great trickster.

Coyote stepped forward to take the hand of his future bride. “Butterfly … you are truly the most beautiful woman ever born. You honor our home by being here, and I swear I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret your decision to accept me as your husband. Welcome.”

Her smile was dazzling. “It’s my pleasure and honor to be here, Anukuwaya. I promise that I shall always strive to bring nothing but happiness to you and your clan.” She turned expectantly toward Ren. When no one moved to introduce them, she exchanged a nervous, puzzled frown with her mother, who shrugged in awkward confusion as to why he was being publicly dissed.

Ren’s friend stepped forward to address her curiosity. “His name is Makah’Alay, and he is the elder brother of your future husband.”

“Buffalo!” his father snapped. “Mind your place!”

Ever loyal, Buffalo shrugged innocently. “I was only being hospitable, my most honored chief. She was curious about your eldest son”—Kateri cringed as Buffalo recklessly rammed that dig home—“and so I obliged her. No offense was meant to anyone.” He offered Butterfly a smile and something unspoken sparked between them. A mutual admiration that left Kateri wondering about the two of them and their relationship.

Coatl passed a cold smile to Buffalo before he spoke to Butterfly and her parents. “You’ll have to forgive my warrior. Since Makah’Alay was born mentally retarded, Buffalo champions him constantly and is his voice since he doesn’t have one of his own.”

Several of the others present laughed and whispered among themselves while Ren swallowed hard. He tightened his grip on his bow until his knuckles turned stark white.

“I’m surprised you kept him,” Butterfly’s father said. “It was my understanding that your people killed such infants at birth. I am glad to know that your clan has more mercy and decency than I was led to believe. You are indeed a most noble and admirable chief to take pity on a son so afflicted.”

Coatl cast a smug glance at Ren. “I try to be patient with him, though he doesn’t make it easy. I believe he was sent to remind me that no matter how much we might attain in our lives, we are all still frail humans in the end.” He clapped Coyote on the back. “Just a few weeks back, I almost lost Coyote when he rushed to defend Makah’Alay from a vicious wild animal. There aren’t many men who’d risk their life to save someone so afflicted.”

Her expression one of worship, Butterfly smiled up at Coyote. “You are indeed a most wonderfully brave man. I am thrilled to be marrying such a hero.”

Coyote smiled at her, then glanced to Ren. Something that appeared to be an unspoken apology passed between them.

What had really happened?

But Ren didn’t give her time to explore that. He pulled her out of his past and stepped away from her as if he was afraid of being too close to her for too long. “I didn’t care about being chief. Since my mother wasn’t Keetoowah, I never expected it to come to me. It couldn’t. Yet by all rights, Butterfly should have been mine. As the eldest, I should have married first. But my father refused, saying I wasn’t man enough to provide for a wife. That I wasn’t smart enough to have one. So I let my jealousy over their engagement infect me to the point that I took things out on my brother I had no right to. Coyote was a good and decent man until I turned him into the monster he is today.”

Somehow, she doubted that. “Why did he give you that look when your father spoke of his saving your life?”

He clenched his teeth hard enough to make the bones in his jaw protrude. “We were hunting.”

“Just the two of you?”

He nodded. “We ended up in a fight. Coyote wanted to head to the south where I knew boar made dens. Since we didn’t have the right equipment with us to hunt them, I wanted to head east for other game. He wouldn’t listen and stormed off without me. Angry, I went east, but I kept having a bad feeling about Coyote so I doubled back. All of a sudden, I heard him yelling for me. By the time I reached him, a wild boar had him treed. I killed the boar, but almost lost my life doing it. By the time I came to, I was in my bed at home and everyone was celebrating Coyote for saving my life.”

That irritated her. “Did he not tell your father the truth?”

“He tried, but my father thought he was being humble and didn’t believe it.”

Kateri narrowed her gaze on the ground as she saw a different play of events in her mind.

Coyote ran toward their town to get help for Ren. Luckily not too far from where he’d left Ren, he came upon two men who were also out hunting. She knew one to be Buffalo. The other she’d seen a few times in other dreams, but he never spoke.

“Choo Co La Tah, Buffalo … I need your help.”

“Did you kill your brother?” Buffalo accused as he saw the blood on Coyote’s clothes.

“No!” Coyote snapped. “We were hunting when Makah’Alay was attacked by a boar. I managed to kill it, but he’s badly wounded. I need help carrying him—”

Buffalo grabbed him by the arm and started running with him before he could finish his sentence. “Show us!”

Coyote took them to where Ren lay beside the boar that was riddled with arrows. The animal had torn him apart.

“Makah’Alay?” Buffalo breathed, reaching to see if he was still alive.

Ren moaned low, but it was enough.

Buffalo picked him up and carried him. “You killed the boar?” he asked Coyote.

“Yes.”

“Then why do you have a quiver full of arrows and Makah’Alay has none?”

Coyote curled his lip and gestured to the injury on his own leg. “I was injured, too!”

Buffalo rolled his eyes. “From what? Climbing up a tree like a scared little bitch? You think we’re so stupid we don’t know the difference between the gash from a boar’s tusk and skinning your knee on tree bark?”

Coyote turned to the other man with them, who had retrieved Ren’s blood-soaked bow and quiver. “Choo, you believe me, don’t you?”

Choo Co La Tah sent a pointed stare at Buffalo. “A wise man does not question his future chief.”

Buffalo snorted. “Between wisdom and loyalty, Choo, I pick loyalty and truth. One day, brother, you’re going to have to choose too. I hope when that day comes that you’re even wiser than you are today.”

Coyote snarled at them both. “You may not believe me, but my father will.”

“I’m sure he will,” Buffalo muttered.

Kateri shook her head. Yeah, for all of Ren’s denials, Coyote wasn’t the one who had stood by him in her visions.

Only one man had never wavered with his loyalty.

“Your friend, Buffalo … why was he always so quick to defend you?”

“He was a fool.”

She laughed at his deadpan tone. “I doubt that. Tell me, Ren. What did you do to make him see the truth?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Ren let out a long breath before he spoke. “When I was fourteen, a bad epidemic ravaged in our town. It was one of the worst you can imagine. The priests couldn’t keep up with the number of deaths, and many of them were too sick to help anyone else, so bodies were piled in the street. People were starving and everyone was scared of catching it. Since I was one of the few who wasn’t ill, I’d go hunt and leave fresh meat for those who couldn’t feed themselves. One night, as I was leaving some for Buffalo’s family, he caught me before I could get away.”

Kateri was baffled by his charity, especially given how young he was and how badly they’d treated him. “Why did you help them?”

He shrugged. “I felt guilty. I never had a cold of any kind. Not even a sniffle. I don’t know if it’s because my mother was a goddess or my nursemaid a demon, but I was always healthy. For weeks, my father and the priests had been sacrificing to no avail, and they blamed me for bringing the sickness to the town. I didn’t want the innocent punished because of me so I tried to help as best I could by leaving foodstuffs for the homes that were stricken the worst.” He laughed bitterly. “Everyone thought it was Coyote who helped them. They regaled him for his charity for years afterward.”

“You never told them the truth?”

Snorting, he shook his head. “No one would have believed me so I kept silent. The last thing I wanted was for my father to beat me for lying about it. When Buffalo finally recovered from the fever, he came to thank me. I told him to forget what he’d seen. Not to tell anyone what I’d done. He swore to me that he was forever in my debt, and that so long as he lived, he would be the most loyal friend I’d ever known.”

Now that sounded like the man she’d seen. “And he never told another soul?”

Ren sighed in disgust. “Stupid fool. He never listened to me about anything. He only saw the best in everyone. And he was a firm believer in the old adage that the truth was always the best course of action to take. So, he tried to tell the town who really left the food while they were ill.”

“And?” she prompted when he failed to continue the story.

“His father beat him for lying.”

She gaped at that. She’d ask if he was serious, but she could tell by the angry look in his eyes that he wasn’t making it up. “Why didn’t Coyote tell them you were the one who did it? He had to know he hadn’t done anything.”

“He said if they knew it had been left by me, they wouldn’t have eaten it. They would have assumed it tainted. And I knew he was right. They would have, and rather than eat what I left, they’d have starved themselves to death.”

Indignant rage for him darkened her sight. She really wanted to beat someone over it. “Your brother was
not
a good man, Ren. Had he been, he would have told your father the truth.”