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The Seduction of Seleste

from the world of the mating season

Serious Head

Chapter 33

Seleste was relieved when Keme met her and Talisa on the surface. He was accompanied by five burly warriors, who also bore traveling packs and spears. Keme told the girls that Ahote had insisted on sending an escort with them to the moon village, where they were to offer Ahote's scribbled note to the chieftess there, asking that she send the group across the sea to the sun village.

"What are we, his children?" laughed Talisa when Keme showed her the note. But Seleste could tell that, perhaps for the first time, she was actually fond of Ahote.

They set out together through the golden fields, and the plains wolves crowded round to wave their goodbyes. Small weeping children - frightened and confused - clung to Seleste's tail and begged her to stay. Males bowed their heads in deepest sorrow. Females wept and hugged their pups tight. Seleste felt their sadness as if it were her own, and it amazed her: had they really come to love her so greatly? And in such a short space of time?

Seleste knew they had left the plains when she looked back - and trees were there. It was as if a forest had sprung up around them. Twilight fell as the last sinking rays of the sun dwindled between the trees, and Ahote's escort insisted on making camp.

"We will travel by day," one male insisted when Seleste questioned him. His name was Soomse and he was the warrior in charge of the escort. With piercing black eyes and dark gray fur, he wore a belt of daggers and blowguns, and around his eyes, black tattoos were dyed in his fur. "Chief Ahote gave clear instructions that we were not to travel by night. It is for your safety, Chieftess."

"Geez, Seleste," Talisa said when the warriors started setting up camp. "You must've given Ahote some serious head."

Keme winced angrily and Seleste blushed.

"Can we stop talking about him?" Keme demanded. He looked at Talisa and said firmly, "Please."

"Awww," said Talisa, looking very amused by Keme's discomfort. "And I was going to ask how it went with him last night --"

"Talisa!" Keme warned and Talisa's laughter rose to the dark sky.

Under Soomse's command, Ahote's escort built up a fire. They rolled out sleeping furs for Seleste and the others, then set about keeping watch on the edge of the camp. They even cooked dinner, and as Seleste sat eating, she reflected again just how much Ahote must have cared to have done all this for her. She glanced at Keme across the fire - Keme, who had refused to speak of what had happened between himself and Ahote - and she realized with a little smile that Ahote had done this out of love for Keme as well.

Keme was stonily silent throughout supper, but Talisa talked with Seleste of the moon village and the journey ahead and of how she hoped they would soon find Honiahaka.

"I can't go back to the sun village without him," Talisa said, shaking her head. "I just . . . I can't."

"Oh, Talisa," Seleste said sympathetically.

Talisa lifted her head, and her dark eyes were large with worry. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. "To think he could be dead because of me. . . ." She shook her head darkly. "I should've known he'd be stupid enough to go chasing after us when we were taken. I kept hoping that he wouldn't, that he'd just stay put in the sun village and send someone else instead. . . ."

"Don't worry," Seleste begged. She reached over and rubbed Talisa's shoulder. "We'll find him! You're forgetting we have Keme." She smiled across the fire at Keme, as if to say he would make everything all right.

Keme smiled back at her fondly. "I don't deserve that," he said, "but thank you."

Seleste watched in silent dismay as Keme rose and went to the sleeping furs that had been set out for him. She had hoped - perhaps in vain - that he would stay up and talk with them. It all felt so familiar, sitting around the fire talking with Keme and Talisa. Seleste almost felt as if they'd been doing it any number of years.

"Keme knows where the shemales were last," Seleste told Talisa soothingly. "The red forest. We'll start there. And we're not alone in this - we have help!" She waved her paw at Soomse, who was standing nearby, his shoulder against a tree. Hearing Seleste, his dark eyes glanced from under his mane and he smiled.

Talisa carefully avoided Soomse's eye. "Right . . ." she said uncomfortably. "Soomse. . . ."

"What is it?" Seleste asked.

"Nothing . . . I'm going to bed."

Seleste sat taken aback when Talisa rose as well. She watched as her friend went some distance away to the sleeping furs that had been laid out for her and climbed in. Seleste sat stung. Did no one want to talk to her? After everything that had happened, having both Keme and Talisa back had felt like . . . well, it felt like coming home. But neither of them seemed half as happy about the reunion. Keme seemed more wretched as the hours went by, and Talisa had been moody and evasive as well. Seleste had expected for Talisa to be sad about Honiahaka - especially to hear from Keme that Kota was dead. But evasive? That wasn't like Talisa at all.

Feeling at a loss, Seleste sat and watched a moment as Keme and Talisa slept. Their bedrolls were spread near the fire but just out of reach of its light, so their bodies were cast in silhouette as they moved beneath their covers. Talisa slept on her side, one arm folded under her cheek. Her great bosom was pressed under her other arm, and the cleavage rose magnificently as she breathed. Keme slept on his back, one muscular arm behind his head. Streaks of black mane fell in his face as he breathed gently, and Seleste sighed, thinking that even in his sleep, Keme was gorgeous. She wished they were as happy as her about being together again. She wished they had both stayed up with her, talking and laughing like they used to. Maybe they could have even had sex. Seleste's heart fluttered to think of Keme and Talisa touching her again, kissing her, stroking her clit as Keme pushed his way inside and Talisa massaged her breasts . . .god. She had missed being between them more than either of them could ever guess.

Seleste smiled politely when Soomse came and sat beside her. He poked the fire with a stick and smiled at her, and she realized he had noticed her disappoint and was trying to keep her company. How nice of him.

"You shouldn't expect too much from those two for quite a while," Soomse told her in his deep voice.

"Really?" Seleste said, surprised. "Why's that?"

Soomse nodded at Keme. "That one has a lot on his mind. He had a very satisfying night with our chief. The sounds that came out of that room as I stood guard!" He grinned when Seleste blushed just thinking of it. "I suspect he's not very experienced. And he looks so young. It's new to him. And frightening. He's going to need space."

Seleste nodded. She supposed she understood: the first time she had sex with MeRorr, it had been so confusing and frightening and at the same time wonderful. All those new feelings, discovering the things her body could do that she had never known it could! Her mother was in the ground by the time she came into sexual feelings, and the spare few older sisters that she got along with, they were married and gone. She'd had no one to talk to about what was happening to her. She supposed Keme must've felt as lonely. It made her want to go to him, crawl in his bed with him, hold him. But she knew Soomse was right: it was probably best to just . . . give Keme space.

"And that one," said Soomse, nodding at Talisa. "She and I had a hot time of it back at the palace." He chuckled when Seleste stared at him in amazement. "I took her out of the harem behind the chief's back, kept her hidden away in my hut for days. She did the nastiest, juiciest things to me . . ." He chuckled again.

Seleste stared at him. No wonder she hadn't seen Talisa in the harem: she hadn't been there! She had spent so much time feeling guilty that she had failed to bring Talisa out with Keme. There simply hadn't been time, and she had planned to sneak back the next night. Now she knew it would have been a waste of her time.

"But her heart belongs to another," Soomse said to the fire. "She feels guilty about what we did. Won't even look at me."

Seleste didn't know what to say. She suddenly understood what Talisa had meant when she made the "sex in moments of despair" remark. All this time and Talisa had been off with Soomse, in his bed, in his big strong arms. And when Ahote sent word to let Talisa "out of the harem" Soomse simply snuck her back in the palace? Seleste couldn't believe it.

"Soomse, I . . ."

"Yes, Chieftess?"

Seleste sighed. She wished he would stop calling her that. "I have to . . . go."

". . . oh," Soomse said as it dawned on him. He smiled in a lusty way that confused Seleste. "Right." He stood and gathered his spear.

Bewildered as to his sudden change in demeanor, Seleste went with Soomse into the trees. When they went far enough from the camp that she had a fair amount of privacy, she lifted her skirts and squatted. When she was done, she stood and was heading back when she felt Soomse's big paws cup her breasts from behind. Seleste squealed and smacked him off.

"What are you doing!" she cried and wheeled around.

Soomse held his paws up in confusion. "I thought - when you asked me to come with you --"

Seleste scowled as it dawned on her. "You thought I was propositioning you for sex!"

Soomse smiled and cocked an eyebrow. "Well, you wouldn't be the first female." He wagged his brows at her and flexed his big arm.

"Ugh!"

"Seemed like you were aching for something . . . long and strong." His large fingers pulled the strap of Seleste's top down over her shoulder. She took a halting step forward and slapped him across the face.

Soomse staggered back. "Wow," he said, massaging his cheek. "I just thought - you looked horny or something --!"

Seleste colored up. "Stop thinking with your dick and take me back to camp!"

"Yes, Chieftess . . ." Soomse said as miserably as an abashed pup.

Seleste was shivering with rage. She could still feel the hard press of his paws on her breasts and wished desperately that she could wash him off.

They were walking back to the camp when a noise made them pause. Soomse held up his paw and the hard look of the warrior creased his face. Motioning for Seleste to stay, he took his spear in both paws and moved at a slow crouching walk through the trees. Seleste had no intention of staying behind: she followed in the same crouching walk and he glanced at her irritably but didn't protest. They went for some time through the bushes before two silhouettes took shape in the trees. Together, they crouched in the brush and watched. The noises intensified. Seleste slowly realized that she was hearing . . . sucking!

"Oh yes, just like that," whispered a male's voice. "You're so _good _at that . . ."

The slurping continued, and as Seleste peered through the darkness, she slowly realized that she was witnessing one wolf giving the other head. The one on their knees was female - well, they looked it, anyway. They were small and slender and shapely and their little breasts trembled as their head moved back and forth on the erect cock in front of them. But . . . the kneeling wolf also had a penis. Seleste blinked. That couldn't be right. Was she really looking at a shemale?

Seleste looked quickly at the wolf receiving head. This one clearly wasn't a shemale but a male, big and tall and muscular. His long mane lifted on the breeze as his head fell back and he whispered his encouragement. The shemale sucking him grabbed his hard buttocks in fistfuls and pulled his hips closer. He grunted weakly as she pulled back to flex the tip of her tongue along his shaft, then her mouth devoured him again in long sucks. He clapped a big paw on her head and helped her move faster on him. Seleste colored up when she noticed the shemale was fingering the male under his thrashing tail.

"You like that, baby?" the shemale whispered huskily.

"Oh, Chim," said the male weakly. "I _always _like that."

The shemale giggled.

Hiding in the bushes, Seleste and Soomse looked at each other.

"I move on your orders, Chieftess," Soomse whispered. "I could easily capture the shemale for questioning." He nodded to the blowguns in his belt, and Seleste knew he'd brought the same poisoned darts that had so easily tamed Keme.

The male receiving head grunted and came in the shemale's mouth. She choked and gulped, then started bathing his cock and balls with her tongue. His head fell back as he stroked her mane.

Seleste scowled. "Do it!"

"Yes, Chieftess," Soomse whispered. He carefully set his spear down, then lifted one of his blowguns to his lips. The first dart sank hard in the shemale's wrist. She screamed and dropped back on her butt. They saw her pull the dart free with a trembling paw, then she looked around, frantic. The male, meanwhile, froze in terror. The shemale pulled him down with her, and they sat as still as frightened rabbits. Soomse blew another dart that barely missed the shemale's ear. She leapt to her feet, and grabbing the male by the arm, she cried, "Come on!" and darted the away. The male was almost dragged after her, but Seleste leapt from the bushes as she suddenly realized . . .

"Honiahaka!" Seleste yelled, grabbing the male by his big arm.

A finger of moonlight had fallen across the male's face, and Seleste would know those pale eyes anywhere.

The shemale still clung to Honiahaka's other arm. She scowled at Seleste, but when Soomse leapt out of hiding with his blowgun, her eyes shrank with terror and she fled.

"Should I go after her, Chieftess?" Soomse said breathlessly. "She might return with others --"

Seleste waved at Soomse absently and shook her head. She couldn't take her eyes off Honiahaka. He was gorgeous. He stood tall and toned in the moonlight, his pale eyes smiling gently down at her. His broad shoulders, his rippling belly, his round calves, and the sweet musk of his body . . . She felt her heart thudding in her throat. And his voice was so deep now! What had happened to that skinny, scrawny little boy she used to know? Seleste put a paw to her breasts and just stared.

"Seleste?" laughed Honiahaka in disbelief. He brushed her mane from her eyes. "Is . . . is it really you?"

Seleste couldn't answer. She stammered something breathlessly and Honiahaka laughed.

"You sound like me," he said fondly. "The first time I laid eyes on you." He looked behind her at Soomse. "You're with others then? I thought I saw a fire in the distance but I wasn't sure. How did you get here? Seleste?"

Seleste felt something thump in her when he placed a paw on her shoulder. She was dragged hard back to earth. She hated herself when she realized she'd been lusting: she could feel her clit throbbing hard between her thighs.

"Seleste," laughed Honiahaka. "Say something!"

"Honia," Seleste managed happily at last, and without hesitating, she hugged him tight around the middle. She smiled when he hugged her back.

"Honia," he said into her mane. "I've been waiting all my life to hear you call me that again. Where is Talisa, Seleste? Is she with you?"

Seleste pulled back to see the worry in Honiahaka's face. She smiled and took him by the paw. He watched her as one enthralled as she led him back to camp. Soomse walked in their wake, his spear on his shoulder.

"As beautiful as the day I met you," Honiahaka whispered helplessly.

Seleste blushed.

They reached the camp, and Soomse informed the other warriors that shemales were in the area.

"You needn't worry," Honiahaka said. "They won't come here."

"How do you know!" demanded Soomse. "We were under the impression you were their slave or something!"

"Their slave?" repeated Honiahaka and laughed. "Who on earth told you that?"

"I did. . . ."

Seleste looked around and her heart leapt to see Keme approaching the fire. She quickly let Honiahaka's paw go and couldn't look at him. She was glad when Keme didn't seem to notice or care: his green eyes were fixed with great relief on Honiahaka. The two males stood facing each other, and Seleste could tell Keme wanted to hug Honiahaka but he was hesitating. As if he sensed this, Honiahaka pulled Keme close in a rough hug. Keme went beet red as he was squeezed, but he hugged Honiahaka back, and when they pulled apart, they smiled at each other happily.

"But . . ." Keme said uncertainly and scowled. "I thought for sure they had . . ."

"Whipped me? Beaten me?" finished Honiahaka for him. "Tied me up?"

"Well - yeah!" Keme cried and waved his paw at Honiahaka as if it somehow wasn't fair.

Honiahaka laughed. "Oh no. They reserved those punishments just for the _mon_grel," he teased and clapped a big paw on Keme's head.

Keme playfully slapped him off. "Yeah. I feel so special." He said the last word with a lisp and Honiahaka laughed.

Seleste stood grinning. With Honiahaka's arrival, Keme was starting to seem like his old self! He was smiling and joking and seemed suddenly so at ease! She almost envied Honiahaka's ability to . . . well, to tame Keme. Keme relaxed around him effortlessly.

Hearing all the laughter and chatter, Talisa sat up groggily and climbed from her sleeping furs. "What's all the noise about? I need my beauty sle--" She froze to see Honiahaka standing beside the fire. "Honi!" They all grinned when she suddenly ran and threw herself on him. He chuckled as he caught her to his chest and they spun around together. Coming to Keme's side, Seleste watched happily as Honiahaka and Talisa exchanged frantic kisses, whispered loving words, breathlessly confessed how they had missed each other.

Seleste was surprised when Keme put his arm around her, as if the sight warmed his heart. "I didn't realize," he whispered to her, "how much Talisa loved Honi. I mean - I knew how he _felt about _her."

Seleste looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

Keme bit his lip as if he didn't want to say, and Seleste's breasts heaved.

Keme smiled at her frustration. "I dunno. It's nothing he told me outright. It's just the way he talked about her, the look on his face, stuff like that. I could tell it was . . ." Keme shrugged. "Love."

With Honiahaka's return, Keme and Talisa suddenly seemed more than happy to stay awake, and Seleste was glad. They sat around the fire and listened happily to Honiahaka as he related his adventures with the shemales - who he was adamant he must return to in the morning.

"What!" Talisa shouted. "Honi, are you out of your mind?" She playfully pulled his eyelid back as if she was checking and he shrugged her off. "They kept you prisoner in their camp --!"

"I already told you I wasn't a prisoner --!"

"--and we should go back there and slaughter them all!" Talisa growled. She waved a paw at Keme. "Do you even care _what they did to Keme! They beat him and _raped _him and sold him into _slavery_ _--"

"When did I say I condoned that? I didn't," Honiahaka snapped.

Seleste sat watching the argument in amazement. She had never seen cool and calm Honiahaka so excited before. She glanced at Keme and noticed he was calmly watching the argument while he poked the fire with a stick, his chin on his paw. So Honiahaka had the ability to tame Keme, and Talisa had the ability to rouse Honiahaka? It made Seleste smile.

"Good," Talisa said with a dark nod. "Then we march on them and wipe them out --"

"No, we don't!" Honiahaka growled and it was clear he was trying to keep his voice from a shout. His eyes went a little dreamy as he said, "They taught me about their culture, their world. They told me an amazing story - how they got to the red forest, the hardships they faced when their tribe was wiped out --"

"I don't fucking care," said Talisa, "if they rode across the sea on a purple unicorn to get here! They need to die! They are dangerous --"

"Keme has their same strength, their same speed," Honiahaka said, gesturing at Keme. "Would you kill Keme as well?"

"Okay," said Keme, rising and stretching. "This is the part where I go to bed."

Seleste watched as Keme stepped over a few bags and rocks to get to his bedroll. He unrolled the furs again and climbed into the blankets. His back was to the fire as Talisa and Honiahaka raged on. Seleste had the strong desire to climb into Keme's bedroll with him, but she knew he probably wanted to be alone, and besides, she was frightened that if she left Talisa and Honiahaka in such a state, they were going to strangle each other. Or have angry sex. For some reason, she was terrified they would have sex.

"That's not fair," Talisa cried. "Don't you _dare _use Keme as some excuse to leave them alive! You only want them alive because of your history fetish, nothing more!"

"No, I want them alive because while they may have committed some very regrettable crimes, they are willing to _learn _from their mistakes --"

"They'll learn from their mistakes when I'm collecting their heads."

"For god's sake, Talisa," Honiahaka exploded, and his mane tumbled in his face as he tossed his paws. "Will you show some fucking _restraint _--!"

"And will you get some fucking balls!"

Seleste sat very still. Her ears were pricked forward in shock: Honiahaka never cursed.

"Could you guys tone it down?" Keme called wearily from his bedroll. "You know, for the non-married couples?"

Seleste laughed.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Talisa and Honiahaka avoided each other's eyes.

"What do you say, simp?" Talisa demanded.

Honiahaka shook his head. "Don't drag her into this."

"She's in it!" Talisa snapped. "Because those shemales could come back here and kill her in her sleep just like anyone else."

"I don't want to risk anyone's safety," Seleste said sheepishly. "Talisa, if Honia says they won't come here, then I believe him."

Honiahaka smiled dreamily at Seleste. "See?" he said to Talisa. "At least _she _believes in me."

Talisa scowled. She glanced at Soomse, who was standing behind Seleste, leaning against a tree as he watched them. Seleste saw him smile at Talisa sadly. Talisa averted her eyes. She lurched up from her seat and stomped to her bedroll.

Honiahaka took a shuddering breath and pushed his mane back from his eyes. "She always was a hotheaded fool," he said to the fire. "Has she learned nothing? Doesn't she realize that her wild need to run off playing hero is why we're all here?" He shook his head angrily.

Seleste moved around the fire and sat on the ground near Honiahaka's foot. She rested her cheek against his knee and smiled when he stroked her mane.

"My dearest Seleste," Honiahaka said. "How I've longed for you, ached for you. But it's alright now. I know who you love."

"Oh, Honia . . ." Seleste said miserably. She looked up at him. "You've lost everything because of me."

"It was my choice. And even knowing what I've lost to stand at your side . . . I'd probably make the same choice again to ensure your safety."

They smiled at each other.

"Promise me we'll always be friends, that you'll keep in touch."

"Of course," Honiahaka said. "I'll always write you. When all this is over and you're living somewhere comfortably with Keme, you'll hear from me." He paused and asked gently, "Do you know where you'll live with Keme? I can only assume you plan to live together."

Seleste smiled as she realized: Honiahaka was asking them to live in the sun village.

"Keme has family in my village," Seleste admitted. "He's going to go there. I'll have to go with him. . . ."

Honiahaka frowned as he stroked her mane. "Keme told me what happened, that your village was on fire and in the midst of a great battle when he met you. You lost everything too, Sel. Long before I had." He touched her face.

Seleste closed her eyes miserably. "Yes. I'm not sure I can go back there, face what happened. But for Keme, I'd . . ."

"You'd do anything," Honiahaka finished for her. "Keme. He's a lucky male."

They fell into a thoughtful silence, and Seleste could not ignore the rising thrill of guilt in her chest. Honiahaka had lost so much to find her! She had never known Kota, but Honiahaka had mentioned him often in his letters, and it had been obvious to her that Kota was someone he cared about very deeply. She kept thinking of MeRorr and how if she had just run away with him, none of this would have happened. Honiahaka and Talisa would be at home in the sun village, Kota would be alive . . . but then, Talisa might still have gone after Tahki on her own, and without Seleste and Keme to distract the witch, Talisa might have fallen victim to her magic. Honiahaka would have lost Talisa instead of Kota, and Seleste . . . she never would have met Keme. Seleste was starting to realize that there was probably danger ahead any way she sliced it. It hit her for the first time that she was not responsible for all the misery around her. And she realized in that moment how . . . naive she was.

"Honia?" Seleste whispered sleepily. Her cheek was still against his knee and he was absently curling his fingers in her mane.

"What, Sel?" he said, as greatly amused by her sleepiness as if he wanted to carry her to bed.

"How did the shemales get to the red forest? When they're from our lands? Across the sea."

Honiahaka grinned. "I was waiting for someone to ask." Seleste heard him clear his throat, then he said to her, "The shemale leader . . . her name is Watseka. She and her shemales were children when the shemale village was taken. The pygmies came with fiery arrows and poisoned darts. They escaped into the jungle, but they watched as their mothers were slain."

"No . . ." Seleste whispered sadly.

"The pygmies attacked while the queen was away. They told me it was because the pygmy leader was in love with the shemale queen and wanted her out of harm's way. In her absence, they slaughtered all the shemales and took the jungle. Or so they thought. Watseka and the others hid in the jungle. The shemale queen returned and she was imprisoned. She had a baby. That baby was Keme."

"But Keme was just a baby when it happened," Seleste said in exasperation. "How was _any _of it his fault?!"

"It wasn't," Honiahaka agreed. "But they still blamed his mother for the deaths of their own. They were forced to flee the jungle when they were discovered. The pygmies chased them for months. Many more of them were killed as they fled."

Seleste waited, wondering when the "amazing" part was going to happen.

"And then . . ." Honiahaka's voice softened and Seleste looked up at him: he had that excited look in his eye, the one that always came over him when he was sharing a bit of culture or lore.

"And then," Honiahaka repeated and lifted his paws, cupping them on the air, "this beautiful creature walked out of the mist one night. They were so tired and dirty and bleeding. They had been running so far, so long. And many of them were dying. They had run far to the east, along the coast, near the uninhabited wilds - the darkest, most dangerous reaches of the jungle. And they were so frightened and so lost. And right when it seemed this was the end and they were going to die . . . he came."

"Who?" Seleste said eagerly, her large eyes fixed on Honiahaka.

"He gave them no name. In fact, he never spoke. Just came walking across the water to them and healed their wounds. They called him The Ama, The Water Walker of Tails - for he had many tails. They spoke as if he was a spirit. Light danced from him, they said, like the rays of the sun. He was white and glowing - Chim told me he was handsome, too," Honiahaka added with a laugh, and Seleste remembered "Chim" was the one who had given him head. She glowered.

"He knelt beside them and healed them one by one," went on Honiahaka. "Watseka said they were so grateful that they worshipped him, they kissed his feet, and they told him they were homeless, that they had been run from the jungle and had no where to go. He gave them a ship - just like that, out of no where!" Honiahaka tossed his paws and grinned.

"The ship took them across the sea. I mean, it took _them on its own! They didn't sail it. And when they stepped off onto the sand, it disappeared in a splash of light. They found themselves near the village of the moon wolves, where they were welcomed as creatures of myth and legend - which they _are in many ways. There are few who even knew the shemales really existed before they were . . . defeated.

"They began to work as merchants, carrying the wares of the moon wolves from village to village. I asked if they ever saw The Ama again. They said no. But sometimes, they still pray to him. They even have a little statue of him - well, it's not really him. It's a random statue of a fox that they got off some moon wolves at the market. But they say it looks a great deal like The Ama. Imagine that!" Honiahaka grinned at Seleste. "Kitsune! Real."

"I can sympathize with their story - assuming magical foxes are real," Seleste said, "but how do you look past what they did to Keme!"

"I don't," Honiahaka told her gravely. "With their story finished, I asked Watseka if The Ama would be pleased with what she had done to Keme. After some heated questions passed between us, she admitted that The Ama was good and kind and that he would not be happy to learn what she had done to Keme. Watseka admitted to taking her rage and frustration out on someone who was as much a victim of the circumstances as she. The only ones really responsible were the pygmies."

Seleste smiled at her toes. It was just like Honiahaka to reason with his enemies until he had ultimately befriended them.

"You see?" whispered Honiahaka after a pause. "Just like any other wolf, the shemales can make terrible mistakes. But they can admit to those mistakes as well. Perhaps even redeem themselves, if given the chance. If . . . if I could just make Talisa see that."

Seleste snorted. "Good luck with that." She rose to her feet and kissed Honiahaka on the cheek. She laughed when he seemed delighted by this affection. "Goodnight, Honia."

"Goodnight, Seleste," he returned and gazed at her breathlessly.

Seleste was moving past him to her bedroll when she halted. She heard Honiahaka rise to stand behind her.

"Seleste? What is . . ." Honiahaka's voice trailed into silence.

Talisa's sleeping furs were empty.