Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Part 5: Wonderment

He had been sitting there for ages, deep in one of the caves that were only accessible from the outside of the mountains. All frustrated and angry. More than a thousand thoughts crossed his mind. Why did it have to be Leetah interrupting? Why did she come anyway. He didn't want to be here. His heart belonged in the woods, dark and mysterious, hunting at night, all the guards he had been on, the freshness of the newly grown leaves in springtime, the beautiful white blanket in the winter. All gone because of the humans and their fires. He hated them even more.

And Moonshade standing up against him, treating him like a child. He was no child anymore, by long. Well, Dart seemed to enjoy his new habitat. They just didn't understand his motivations, his feelings, and his pain. They were defending Leetah, even his life mate. he couldn't take it. It was too much.

He ran a hand through Briersting's fleece. The wolf was resting here from the heat outside, and enjoyed his rider's company. Little did he know about the worries of the archer.

Strongbow felt a headache coming up. This thinking was not good for him. It just made him tired and even more angrier. With a large sigh he stood up and climbed out of the grotto, glad the sun had reached the other side of the mountain. Still, the air was all lit up blue, much too bright for his night eyes and he squinted a bit. Silently, he climbed to the top, not being able to put his mind off the problems.

He didn't want to argue with Moonshade, not at all. And not with the other Wolfriders, but they left him no choice. Leetah as a Wolfrider? Ridiculous, he thought. Not in my lifetime. She was just not cut out to be one. And even though she was Cutter's life mate, she had no right, had she? A shadow passed over him, but he didn't notice it, so deep in thoughts he was.

"Well, hello to you, too," a voice suddenly said, which startled Strongbow and he almost lost his balance (while trying not to let it show). With a scowl he looked upwards, right in the cheer blue eyes of Cutter. The young chieftain smiled at him.

"What do you want, son of Bearclaw?" the elder demanded. Cutter sighed. "Ever the nice guy, aren't you?" He was just teasing, even Strongbow knew. Would he normally just ignore it or shrug it off as a bug, now it only infuriated him.

"Cutter, you don't want to go any further." The blond chieftain knew that when the archer used his name like this, he should pry a bit more.

"Alright," he sighed again. "You're no fun, y'know."

"I know. Let's leave it at that, then." Strongbow brushed past him and walked on without even acknowledging that the two just spoke, even if it had been for just a second.

Cutter raised an eyebrow. That was weird, he thought. This wasn't the Strongbow he knew. Of course, he was the one who scolded him as a cub and taught him hunting skills. Although… the archer always did it against his will, or so it seemed. He never seemed to have any fun in it. And when Cutter tried to be very obstinate, he never gave in. There was lots of fun in the thought.

But Cutter had never seen him so troubled. And he certainly wanted to know more about it. Silently, and a lot of paces behind, Cutter began to follow him, hoping the elder would not notice him doing so.

Strongbow, slowly walked back to the Wolfriders' caves, having the feeling he was being followed, but didn't pay much attention to it, his mind being preoccupied again with thoughts flooding his mind. He didn't want to confront Moonshade. He hoped she, and the others, would just leave him to himself.

But no such luck it seemed. As soon as he entered the cave, the tanner rose from where she was seated and approached him. "Beloved?" she started in soft voice, but he shrugged her off. I don't want to talk.

She let him pass, but didn't take her eyes off of him. He didn't even let her finish, which angered her a little. "Strongbow," she started anew, her voice less softly than before. He didn't react, even if she used his name instead of beloved or his soul name. He knew what it meant when she did. "Your son wants to see you," Moonshade finally said after a pause. With that she left.

Strongbow sighed. This wasn't supposed to happen like this. Maybe he was wrong. No, he said to himself. Leetah is no Wolfrider, she has no right. And she hadn't, had she? He looked outside and could just see Cutter duck away behind a rock. Strongbow almost smiled. Though Cutter was the chief, he was still only a cub. And he had been right when he had felt followed.

"Are you going to stay there behind that rock, cub?" he asked, his mental voice much gentler than the moment earlier when he met the chieftain on his way out of the outside grotto. Instantly, Cutter's head popped up from behind the rock and smiled wryly. "Oops, guess I'm loosing my touch."

"What touch?"

"Well..." Cutter hesitated for a second.

"You never were able to sneak up on me." True, very true, Cutter thought (though he made the mental note he had almost succeeded moments earlier). He always tried, when he was young, but the archer always scooped him from the bushes, scolding him, that he shouldn't sneak up on others, that it was only meant for the hunt and that he was terrible at it, and so on. The young chief smiled.

"What are you still doing here? I thought I had made myself clear enough." The tone in his mental voice had changed to that of a parent scolding his child.

"Well, yeah, you did, but I haven't seen you like this before. I just wanted to see if you were ok."

"I'm fine. You can leave now." There was no threatening tone in the archer's voice, but something told Cutter that it was better if he left. "Alright, but I will find out what's going."

Strongbow didn't reply as he walked past Cutter to go see his son. The chieftain sighed. He only now noticed how much he had missed in those two seasons he had moved in with Leetah. He wasn't aware of the well being of his tribe and the problems. It was obvious something was very wrong and that it had something to do with Strongbow...