Read Wolf Shadow for Free Online

her she was different?
    With a toss of her head, she stood up. She might have the
blood of the wasichu in her veins, but she was Lakota in her heart and
soul. Nothing could change that. She belonged here, with Mountain Sage and
Eagle Lance, and here she would stay.
    Smiling, she turned away from the river’s edge and came face
to face with Wolf Shadow.
    “So,” he said, “we meet again.”
    Her smile faded and her heart began to beat faster. “Are you
following me?”
    “Maybe.”
    “Why?” she asked, her voice thick with suspicion.
    “Why not?” One corner of his mouth lifted in a smile.
“Lakota men often follow pretty women to the river in hopes of catching them
alone.” And she was pretty, with her sky blue eyes and pouty pink lips. And her
hair…it fell to her waist like a mantle of dark brown silk.
    “Why would you want to be alone with me?” she asked
suspiciously. “You do not even know me.”
    “Maybe I would like to know you better.” He had a sudden
image of her lying on top of him in his lodge, her hair tickling his skin. He swore
under his breath. Where had that come from?
    She stared up at him, stunned by his words. “I…that
is…Strong Elk and I…we are…”
    He frowned, and then nodded. “He is courting you.”
    “Yes,” she said proudly. “He will bring horses to my father
one day soon, and we will be married.”
    Chance muttered a short, pithy oath. That complicated
matters. He would never get her away from here once she was married. Somehow,
he had to woo her away from the People, and away from Strong Elk.
    His gaze moved over her. Wooing her wouldn’t be any trouble
at all.
    * * * * *
    Later that night, long after Mountain Sage and Eagle Lance
were asleep, Winter Rain lay awake under her sleeping robe, her thoughts
troubled. Strong Elk had come courting that evening. They had stood side by
side under his courting blanket, but it had been Wolf Shadow who had been in
her thoughts. Strong Elk had told her of his plans to go hunting. There were
two types of hunts: the wani-sapa , which was a tribal hunt and was
shrouded in custom and ritual, and tate , which was a family hunt
undertaken whenever a warrior wished to add to his food supply. This time,
Strong Elk was going with his two best friends, Two Beavers and Pony Boy. They
were leaving in the morning. She had nodded, all the while wondering where Wolf
Shadow was and what he was doing.
    Now, listening to the sweet notes of Strong Elk’s siyotanka ,
Winter Rain found herself again thinking of Wolf Shadow. What was there about
him that he occupied so much of her thoughts? He was tall and handsome, yes, but
so was Strong Elk. Wolf Shadow wanted only to take her away from here; Strong
Elk wanted to make her his wife. He was a brave warrior and hunter; he would
make her a good husband.
    Clinging to that thought, she turned on her side and
pillowed her cheek on her hand. The music faded and she closed her eyes,
seeking sleep. Instead, she found herself trying to remember her life among the wasichu . Had she been happy there? Why couldn’t she remember anything of
her life before she came to this place?
    Why couldn’t she put Wolf Shadow out of her mind?
     
    Chance sat in front of Kills-Like-a-Hawk’s lodge. Overhead,
a quarter moon hung low in the sky. Everyone else in the village had gone to
bed long ago but sleep eluded him. His thoughts turned briefly to the ranch but
he had nothing to worry about. His cowhands were competent and loyal; his
foreman knew as much about running the place as Chance did.
    The bittersweet notes of a courting flute were borne to him
on the night wind. Hearing it brought Winter Rain to mind. He had nothing to
worry about at home, he mused with a shake of his head. But the woman…she
worried him. She was too young, too pretty, too tempting.
    He cocked his head to the side, listening to the music of
the flute. Was it Strong Elk sitting out there in the dark, pouring out his
heart in the haunting melody