Author's Note: The end of this chapter contains a passage describing a sexual encounter which, though consensual, some readers may find disturbing or offensive. Please do not read further, or stop reading after page 3, if you are offended by depictions of brutish sex acts.
~*~*~
Six days passed since Sala and Jakal returned to the settlement. Although they remained wary, to their surprise the Spiritwalker had taken no threatening actions, made no unfriendly overtures at all. Largely he ignored them, and for now they were more than happy to reciprocate.
Life, given the circumstances, was beginning to return to normal.
With one exception; Sedon, the Wolf Clan's Lead Tracker, had yet to find his way home.
Technically, given Jakal and Sala's circuitous route, his arrival might yet be delayed for another day or so, presuming he had traced their path and rested at Fox Camp for a time before moving on. Nevertheless, Keta could not quite shake the sense that something had gone awry.
Because of the great anxiety his long absence stirred among her people, she hesitated to send the Light-Eyed One back into the wild so soon. At the same time, if Sedon had indeed encountered trouble, who better to locate him than a man with the same chosen skill, the very man the other had been charged with tracking down.
Keta invited Jakal and his mate to share the evening meal at her dwelling. In addition to discussing the Lead Tracker's missing status, she intended to probe further into the matter of their tense relationship with the Spiritwalker. She noticed no further conflicts since the night of the gathering celebrating the young couple's return and recent joining; if anything they appeared to avoid him, and he, them. But again, she felt uneasy.
The Clan Leader frowned. The calm stability of her Camp upended, as someone who greatly valued normality and order, she found the irregularity of the last moon cycle unsettling. This all started when Sala decided to run away rather than fulfill her obligation. Her stubbornness set off all this disarray.
Actually, that was not altogether true. The young woman left because of her selection as the Spiritwalker's future mate. It was he who instructed the Light-Eye to find her, and then Sedon to go after them both.
Sala possessing the talisman belonging to the Fox Clan's spiritual leader also proved a disturbing twist, and one she could not simply overlook. Giving an important, powerful object to one outside of their rank, the memory of it last occurring existing only in the Elders' stories, could not have been done lightly. The old woman was very close to the old Spiritwalker, and much like him in many ways.
Keta wanted to question the shaman further, but he had been spending more and more time in the Ceremonial Hut. As an individual who primarily dealt with concrete matters of reason, the Spirit World unsettled her, and she was satisfied to leave such matters in the hands of the spiritual caste. He did not like to be disturbed when he communed with the Spirits, and she was not particularly inclined to interrupt him, so usually it worked out well enough. But now that she had many questions... Was he evading her?
~*~*~
Sala, Essa, Nefa and Yaja sat in the sunshine just outside the settlement. Large leather hides were spread out on the ground, with an assortment of edible plants lined up in neat rows according to type, drying in the heat of the summer sun. They talked as they worked and fussed over Yaja's baby, taking turns holding her.
Essa and Nefa were discussing the meal they were sharing this evening. "Would you like to join us?" Ritol's mate offered.
"I appreciate the offer, Essa, but Jakal and I are sharing the evening meal with Keta and Mifir."
"What about you, Yaja?"
"Thank you for asking, Essa, but Belak and I have already made other plans as well. We have arranged to share pleasures with Letan this evening," she confided with a smile.
Her friends twittered knowingly.
"That should be very pleasurable. He is exceptionally...well endowed," Nefa remarked, unintentionally releasing a sigh. The man's prodigious organ made him a novelty that nearly every woman in the Camp, and a great many outside of it, had to sample at least once.
Yaja nodded, blushing. "That is one of the reasons I asked him to share our furs this night."
The other women giggled.
"Oh, I do not know," Essa dissented. "It is true the Spirits gifted him with a manhood the size of two men. Before Ritol and I were joined, I coupled with Letan once. He was far too large for me; it was uncomfortable and not very pleasurable."
"It would be too much to be mated to him," Yaja conceded, "but it is fun to be pleasured with such a tool once in a while."
"And you, Sala? Would you and Jakal bring him to your furs?" Nefa inquired.
"I do not think so. I appreciate a well-sized manhood, but I agree with Essa; Letan's is too long. It kept bumping the back of my womanhood which caused much discomfort. Jakal fits my body perfectly." She sighed, her skin tingling as she recalled the snug fullness, the completeness she felt whenever their bodies joined together. "Besides, my mate and I have agreed to share bodies only with each other."
The others looked at her with some surprise.
"Whose idea was it, if you do not mind my asking?" Yaja wanted to know.
"Jakal's. But I do not mind," she told them. "He brings me greater pleasure than anyone else so it was not a difficult decision to make."
"I am surprised by that," Essa commented. "Jakal has coupled with a great many women. Why would he wish to be with only one now?"
"It is...complicated. I am not sure I feel comfortable discussing it, Essa. It was a very private conversation."
"Apologies, Sala. I know that sometimes mates are exclusive with each other. I just was surprised that one who has been with so many would wish to stop."
"Sometimes other things matter more than sharing furs with a variety of people," Sala replied somewhat cryptically.
"Well, if you are not going to share bodies with a third perhaps you should get a...carving," Yaja suggested.
"A carving?"
"When Belak returned from a trade mission once," she revealed, leaning forward, "he brought home a carving made of an antler. It was smoothed and shaped to look very much like a manhood."
Gasping, her friends laughed.
"He gave it to me to use if I wished while he was away on his missions." She smiled, flushing. "Well, one night when we were sharing pleasures, he used it while he entered me...as if we had a third. It felt highly pleasurable."
