Page 78 of The Warlord's Survivor

“Maybe they’ll start. Asha already has the beginnings of wool, and soon we’ll have blankets different from yours. Who knows what else we might have that you’d be interested in.”

“Elena…we’ve already mated…we could have a life together.”

“What kind of life is spent in hiding?”

“With you? A happy one.”

“And what if we were to have children? Are they to grow up alone? Without friends?”

“We will give them brothers and sisters.”

“But they’ll need more than just each other. They’ll need aunties and playmates. I never got to have others in my life, and I wouldn’t wish my loneliness on a child.”

“So you would give up on a life with me?”

“I don’t want to, but I see no other option.”

His lips curl into a sneer, and for a moment, I’m afraid he’s going to tear down the tent we shared. It seems so unfair that he’s so forthcoming with his anger when I have to hold my shit together so my people aren’t driven to fear.

“Can we keep the tools you’ve given us?”

“Everything we’ve left here is yours.”

“Then if that’s all you came to tell me, you can leave. I have things to do.”

“And if you’re with child?”

“I’m probably not. My people are fertile, but it usually takes more than once.”

His face falls like I just destroyed the last shred of joy he was capable of feeling.

I don’t give him one last embrace, one last kiss, one last sensual touch, and not just because there’s an audience.

The truth is, I’m terrified that if I feel his skin against mine, I won’t be able to let go, and too many people depend on me now to even consider leaving.

We might have been weak when we crashed on Melgrim, but we’ve weathered great storms and we’re finally making our way through to the other side of this. We can hunt, fish, tan leather, and we have the start of actual wool. We’ll move into the caves, where there’s shelter from the elements, and we’ll make the best lives we can in this godforsaken place.

And it won’t be because we’ve had the help of any man. It’ll be through sheer iron grit and determination.

I just have to pray that with this bad news, the girls don’t lose faith.

24

ELENA

Months Later

“The fish have been salted, though I wish there was a better way to preserve them.” Arwin puts her net carefully on a branch. “I can barely stomach the flavor.”

“We’ll still eat them fresh, but this way ensures we’ll have plenty to eat during the cold season.”

“About that. Will Asha be able to make enough blankets?”

“She’s working as fast as she can.”

“We don’t have enough skins, and—”

“I’m well aware of what we do and do not have. I’m working with Violet to use the skins of the bigger fish we catch to make clothes. We’ll get by.”

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