In the Woods, Bears

Chapter 23 - A Sweetgrass Ring

In the morning, David woke them. After knocking beside the door, he entered their room carrying coffee and two seed muffins on a tray. Hair still wet, smelling of toothpaste, he sat down next to their bed on the floor. Kennedy sat up, unsure if she should protect herself or attack the young man. Terry rolled over groggily and mumbled what might have been the word coffee. Her teeth were still bared when the Vet reached over her, crushing her into the thin mattress to claim a muffin as if nothing had happened the night before.

From his place on the floor, David said, "I'm sorry about last night. I would have done something if they were going to kill you. Helped you escape or something. I wish there had been another way to set things right."

Terry shrugged as he took a bite of the muffin, sprinkling Kennedy with crumbs. Annoyed by the man's response to getting beaten to a pulp, she turned her face away when David pushed the plate toward her. Terry pulled her close to his side, as if his warmth could remove her frustration.

David carefully placed a little braided grass ring onto the seat of the chair next to the bed. "It's just a little token. I wanted to say thank you for the pools." He seemed shy and a little uncertain about making the gesture.

Terry narrowed his gaze in David's direction and Kennedy couldn't resist sneaking a peek at the peace offering. A simple braided grass ring sat on the wood, the kind a child might make. As the young man held Terry's intense gaze, he stammered, "I don't mean no harm." He dampened his lips and returned his focus to her. "If you decide to cub. If you make that choice, just on the rare chance, he might be mine. I'd like to meet him. If it happens. And I'd like to protect you."

Terry snorted, yawned, and rubbed his eyes. "First heat... No cub." He stretched as if he hoped the motion might ease his soreness. He looked a mess. His ribs were dark purple where they had kicked him, and one eye was blackened and swollen shut.

"Old Joe said that wasn't so in the old days. He said she came into everything so late that she might be full ripe."

Terry sat up abruptly. Kennedy reached for the ring out of instinct, to keep the gift from falling onto the floor. David silently handed her one of the coffee cups. Ring tucked into her palm, she blew across the hot surface. The aroma of milk and cream made her nose twitch with interest as she cradled the heat with both hands. "Don't worry. I'm on the pill. No cubs." She was confident.

David hesitated. "That way, pills, don't work with our kind. It's useless. The chemistry is wrong."

Kennedy choked on her sip of coffee, and Terry patted her firmly on the back. Her eyes watered as she caught her first breath and swallowed. "You've got to be shitting me?"

"I'm not."

She snapped her gaze toward Terry. "I don't plan on having kids. If my mother is an example of parenting in my family, then I clearly don't come from good stock. No fucking little sky bears for me."

Awkwardly, she slid out from under the covers and headed toward the clothes that had been left for them at the room's entrance. Surprisingly, they were her own things. With efficiency, she dressed, not caring that David and Terry were watching her. When she finished tucking in her shirt, she approached David and extended her hand toward him, uncurling her fingers from around the ring to return it. David pushed the little twist of grass back toward her, closing her fingers around it. "Take it. It's lucky."

Luck was probably something she could use, but what was she going to do with a little woven bit of grass? Unsure where to put it if he wouldn't take it, she shoved the ring deep into her pocket.

"I want to go home, Terry. This was all a mistake. I want to get out of here. This morning." Petulantly, stomach grumbling, she grabbed a muffin and took a frustrated bite. Behind her, Terry reached out and very gently touched her back, but she pulled away from him. The two men exchanged concerned glances.