Page 4 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

He turned and left, ignoring Jace’s parents' calls to please stay.The rain was cold and slithered down his threadbare shirt.His feet sank into the soft soil of the forest.Tears burned his eyes, and he rubbed his stomach.Jace’s punch hadn’t hurt as much as surprised him.

Unwilling to face his parents' questions, he returned to the fire ring.Despite the steady, light rainfall, the fire still burned.It would take a while for the bed of coals to be extinguished.He sat on the log and stared at it.Wrapping his thin arms around his waist, he shivered.He started when a warm pelt was wrapped around his shoulders and his head was protected from the rain.Looking up, he stared into the compassionate eyes of Cyrus.

“Come, there is warm stew and a soft bed for you in our hut,” Cyrus said.

Mitchell looked at the hut where Cyrus and his wife, Elaina, lived.Pulling the pelt tighter over his shoulders, he rose and followed the elder to his hut.Elaina smiled at him.

Twenty minutes later, he was dry, warm, and sitting by their firepit eating a bowl of rabbit stew.He pushed the meat around in his bowl, pondering if it was the rabbit he had given them earlier that morning.

“Cyrus, do you think my dad is crazy?”he asked, looking across at the storyteller and his wife.

Cyrus chuckled and shook his head.“Darius?Crazy?No, Mitchell.Your father is one of the wisest men in the village.”

Mitchell swallowed, afraid to share what he had told Jace, afraid the elder would react the same way.He lowered his bowl to his lap and studied the couple’s faces.

“My dad says he had a dream.He saw humans and shifters living together as one.”

He waited for their response.Their expressions changed, but not in anger the way Jace’s had.There was a flash of confusion, then acceptance, and then… confirmation.

“There is… a story.One that has almost been forgotten,” Cyrus said.

“Most do not wish to hear it,” Elaina explained."After the losses we have suffered, it is easier to remember only our own heroes, human heroes, but life is not so black and white."

Cyrus held her hand and smiled sadly.“Yes.This hero was a shifter, and it is now time for his story to be shared.”

Mitchell drew his knees up, steadying his bowl when it tilted.He scooped a spoonful of the delicious meal into his mouth and stared with wide eyes at Cyrus.

“This story is about an orangutan-shifter named King Or’Ang.He believed the same as your father, that humans and shifters were not meant to compete; they were destined to live together as one.”

Mitchell sat in rapt attention, his eyes wide with wonder, as he listened to the captivating tale.Unlike all the other stories he had heard, this one filled him with a renewed sense of hope and promise for humanity.He placed his empty bowl on the ground at his feet and leaned forward when Cyrus grew quiet.

“Why haven’t you shared this story with the others?Maybe if we were to meet shifters that liked us?—”

His voice died when Cyrus shook his head.There was a sadness in the older man’s eyes.One he didn’t understand.

“Our people aren’t ready for this story—yet.Perhaps one day, but not today,” Cyrus replied.

“But… we could be looking for him!What if we find him?Has anyone ever looked?”

Cyrus chuckled at his enthusiastic response.“No, son.It is a tale hidden within my family, passed down through the centuries, until the day a hero of our own needs to hear it.”

“A hero,” Mitchell murmured.

“Yes.Maybe one day you’ll be able to tell our hero the tale.Here, I have something to show you,” Cyrus said.

Mitchell watched as the man rose stiffly to his feet.Full of curiosity, he watched Cyrus as he pulled a small wooden box out from under a table and sat down next to him.

Cyrus slid the lid off and pulled out a thick leather hide.He unrolled it.Inside was a metal cylinder with carvings.

“Can I....?”Mitchell breathed, staring at the cylinder in awe.

Cyrus lifted the cylinder and handed it to him.He ran his fingers over the tube, marveling at the etchings.It showed a large half-man, half-ape sitting on an ornate throne.Pillars rose behind the man.They were covered in thick vines.What fascinated Mitchell were the images of humans and shifters sharing a meal together.

“Where did you get this?Is there anything inside?”he asked, looking up at Cyrus.

Fingers etched with scars gently took the cylinder from him.Mitchell bit his lip, watching as Cyrus carefully rolled the leather back around the metal tube, tied it with twine, and carefully returned it to the box.His fingers twitched with the need to hold and trace the patterns again.

“This has been passed down from my father’s father’s father to me.What is inside remains a mystery.”

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